Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 70

Chapter 70

The matter concerning Song Qinglan was not a big deal for Shan Ling and Shen Qingyi. It was merely a small secret they had discovered; telling the other party was a gesture of goodwill, and not telling them was their prerogative. The only thing that made Shan Ling a bit sad was that she had promised Xu Wentao and Nuonuo Song Qinglan’s autograph, and now she had nothing.

Shen Qingyi looked at Shan Ling’s dejected expression and couldn’t help but pat her head: “Don’t be like this. If you really want it, you can ask that Fang Ran to get it for you. She’s Song Qinglan’s assistant; she can definitely help you.” Shan Ling was frustrated: “I don’t know her well. Is it right to ask for a favor?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Shen Qingyi said: “What she wants is still with me. Getting an autograph is just a small favor for her. If it gets you to say a couple of nice things to me, she’ll have profited.” Shan Ling looked at Shen Qingyi and commented, “Does this count as having leverage over her?” Shen Qingyi smiled: “You could look at it that way.”

While the two were chatting, Nuonuo lifted the curtain from the back kitchen and came out, asking curiously: “What autographs and what leverage are you talking about? Whose leverage?” “It’s certainly not yours,” Shen Qingyi joked with her in a good mood, and said to Nuonuo: “You have an early holiday on Friday. Did you make plans with your friend?”

“Yes, I did!” Nuonuo said happily: “My friend is off that day, so we agreed to wait for me nearby at 3 o’clock. Then we’ll go shopping and eat after we finish!” Shen Qingyi nodded: “All clearly arranged.”

Nuonuo looked at Shan Ling, leaned in, and asked: “Xiao Ling, you asked me the other day if I wanted Song Qinglan’s autograph. My friend is also a fan of Song Qinglan. Can you get one more for her?” Shan Ling blinked and said: “I can try to ask, but there was a change of plans, so I might not be able to get it for you.” “It’s okay, just try your best,” Nuonuo smiled brightly: “I’ll bring you something delicious then.”

Shan Ling’s ears perked up as soon as she heard “delicious food,” and she started excitedly discussing with Nuonuo where the good food spots were in the city, where new popular internet celebrity shops had opened, and which new cake shop had promotions. Shen Qingyi listened to their chatter without intervening. Unable to join the conversation, she went off to busy herself with her own tasks.

Meanwhile, at Song Qinglan’s studio.

Fang Ran had just returned from handling matters outside. As soon as she entered the company, she felt the atmosphere was off. As an A-list actress, Song Qinglan had long since separated from her original management company and established her own studio to exclusively manage her work.

“Fang Ran.” An older employee who had been at the studio for several years rushed over when she saw Fang Ran return and pulled her into a corner by the potted plants. “What’s wrong?” Fang Ran asked curiously. “The boss is furious again,” the old employee whispered to Fang Ran: “The new assistant made her coffee just now, and it seems they made it into something other than black coffee. She threw a huge fit.”

The ‘boss’ was Song Qinglan; in this studio, everyone except Fang Ran referred to Song Qinglan as the boss. Could a mistake in coffee warrant such an outburst? Fang Ran paused, then comforted her colleague, saying: “It’s fine. I’ll go check on her. You go comfort the new assistant. Qinglan only drinks black coffee. Tell her not to make a mistake next time.” The old employee nodded, watching Fang Ran push the door open and enter Song Qinglan’s office.

Generally, Song Qinglan did not frequent the studio; she was either traveling the world or resting at home. However, she was currently negotiating a major endorsement, so Song Qinglan would often visit the studio to show the brand her dedication. Song Qinglan’s mood seemed low today. When Fang Ran saw her sitting in the boss’s chair playing on her phone, she guessed that she had probably met with a setback.

“Weren’t you going to have tea with the brand representative? Why are you still here at this hour?” Fang Ran walked up to Song Qinglan and asked curiously. “Don’t even mention it,” Song Qinglan said, arms crossed and face dark: “We were supposed to have tea at 10 AM today and then lunch to discuss the partnership. But this morning I received a message saying the brand had scheduled another actress, so they pushed me to tomorrow.”

Song Qinglan said furiously: “Am I only fit to be scheduled on the second day?!”

Fang Ran heard this and asked: “Do you know which actress it is?”

“No.”

“Are they having tea or playing golf?”

“I don’t know.”

Fang Ran sighed helplessly at the boss who knew nothing, glanced at the coffee in front of her, and asked, gesturing with her chin: “What’s wrong with this cup of coffee? I heard you were so angry you put the whole company on edge.”

Song Qinglan glanced at the coffee sitting nearby and huffed: “Fire that new assistant! She actually put milk and sugar in my coffee. I spit it out after one sip! Is she trying to make me fat?”

Fang Ran walked over, picked up the coffee, took a sip, and remarked: “The taste is a bit off, but it’s not grounds for firing someone. They signed an employment contract when they joined the company. You don’t want bad rumors spreading in the industry that you fired an assistant for making bad coffee, do you?”

Song Qinglan was unhappy: “But I drank coffee with sugar and milk! I’m definitely going to gain weight! Yesterday you only put two noodles in my tomato and egg noodle soup. Now, one sip of this will take me days to burn off.”

Fang Ran laughed, glanced at Song Qinglan, and said: “Still holding a grudge? It was so late yesterday. I was being generous just letting you eat. If you want some, I’ll have that little assistant who messed up your coffee buy it for you. You can have more noodles this time.”

“Really?” Song Qinglan rested her head on her hand and asked: “I also want a braised egg.”

“No problem.” Fang Ran put down the coffee, pressed the intercom, and told the trembling assistant on the phone: “I’ll send you a location shortly. Go there and buy a tomato and egg noodle soup for the boss. Make the noodles half the usual amount, and add a braised egg.”

After the assistant agreed, Fang Ran took out her phone, found the assistant, sent her the location, and offered a few words of comfort. Song Qinglan watched her with her head resting on her hand and said with emotion: “Ranran, wouldn’t it be great if you were a man? So thoughtful and gentle. If you were a man, I would marry you.” Fang Ran’s hands froze on the keyboard for a moment.

She looked up at her and said half-jokingly: “Is it not okay if I’m a woman?”

“A woman is fine too~” Song Qinglan’s sulky expression was gone.

She smiled sweetly: “As long as it’s you, that’s all that matters.”

Upon hearing this, Fang Ran’s heartbeat involuntarily quickened, and her face flushed, but she still maintained her composure.

She put away her phone after sending the message and told Song Qinglan: “I’ll go check on the situation with the brand representative. Don’t worry too much. If we don’t get this endorsement, we can fight for another one. The D family’s Asia-Pacific endorsement I discussed today is quite good.”

Song Qinglan blinked and praised: “Ranran is amazing~”

Just as Fang Ran was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something. She took out two Happy Valley tickets from her bag and placed them in front of Song Qinglan. “What are these?”

Song Qinglan picked them up and asked. “Happy Valley has a fireworks show on Christmas night. Didn’t you say you wanted to go see it? I bought two tickets.”

“A fireworks show? Great, great! Although I often film scenes with fireworks, I’ve never actually watched them carefully.” Song Qinglan looked at the two tickets and asked curiously: “Are we going together?”

“Yes,” Fang Ran nodded: “Or do you want someone else to go with you?”

“When I have you, why would I need anyone else?” Song Qinglan’s eyes curved in a smile.

She shook the tickets and said: “We’ll go watch the fireworks show together then. There will be so many people, so you have to protect me, okay?”

Fang Ran also smiled: “I know.”

As she stepped out the glass door of the office, several familiar long-time employees quickly gathered around her: “Fang Ran, you’re amazing! How do you manage to calm the boss’s terrible temper?”

Another one said: “Don’t you know who Fang Ran is? She’s been friends with our boss for over ten years. The boss wouldn’t be mean to her.”

“Wow, Sister Fang Ran, you’re incredible!” Fang Ran felt a bit embarrassed by all the praise. Everyone thought Song Qinglan was respectful of her, but they didn’t know about the other layer of love she held for Song Qinglan. And this secret, Fang Ran had to hide it well, just as she had for so many years, not allowing anyone to discover it. Because once it was discovered, she and Song Qinglan might not even have this basic relationship anymore…

The closer it got to Christmas, the lower the temperature in the city dropped. Correspondingly, however, the Christmas atmosphere became more intense. After a discussion between Nuonuo, Shen Qingyi, and Shan Ling, they decided that although the coffee shop wouldn’t have an event for Christmas, a discount was still necessary. They also needed to put up some Christmas decorations inside; they couldn’t do absolutely nothing.

Shen Qingyi found it annoying, but Shan Ling was very interested. It was her first time celebrating a Western holiday in the city, and she was extremely curious. So, on Christmas Day, the three of them arrived at the shop an hour early and started decorating. Shen Qingyi held the ladder, watching Shan Ling stick Christmas window decals onto the glass with a sense of helplessness.

It was cold outside, freezing people’s hands stiff. “We should have put these up last week,” Nuonuo stood next to Shen Qingyi, looking up at Shan Ling and saying: “Xiao Ling, it’s a bit crooked, move it a little to the left.”

Shan Ling obediently moved the decal to the left, looked down at them, and asked: “Like this?”

“Perfect, that looks great.” Nuonuo pulled out a red and green garland from a plastic bag at her feet. It stretched for over ten meters.

She told Shan Ling: “After the decals, put this up. Make it an arch shape, okay?”

“I know, I’ve seen others put this up.” Shan Ling lightly climbed down, took the ten-meter garland, and climbed back up. She stuck it up while asking for the others’ opinions. The three of them worked with great enthusiasm.

They finally finished all the decorations before opening. Shen Qingyi glanced at the decorations inside. Although they were all soft furnishings—various decals and small bell ornaments—what was the use?

They would be useless after Christmas Day. “Let’s enjoy it while we can. As long as it’s before midnight, it’s still Christmas!”

Nuonuo flipped the “Welcome” sign on the door, happily rubbed her hands together, and wrote a message on the fluorescent sidewalk sign: “Christmas Appreciation: Buy One, Get One Free on All Coffee!”

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