You Should’ve Said Earlier that you’re Such a Little Flirt! - Chapter 42

The two of them rarely sat down for breakfast together. Lin Konglu followed a disciplined routine, while Xu Qingqiong rarely woke up early; their schedules usually just missed each other.

Xu Qingqiong had a rare moment of playfulness, but to her surprise, Lin Konglu’s expression didn’t change as she picked up her fork to continue eating.

“I was joking,” Xu Qingqiong said, immediately pressing down on Lin Konglu’s hand and sighing in exasperation. “Don’t you think it’s too sweet?”

Lin Konglu’s head was buzzing from the sugar. Still clutching her fork, she looked at Xu Qingqiong with a dazed expression. “No.”

“…”

Xu Qingqiong stared at her for a few seconds before reaching out to swap their plates. She was somewhat speechless. “You’re quite stubborn, aren’t you?”

She had added peanut butter and condensed milk to her own portion. She had tasted it right after making it; it was very sweet. Since she found it sweet, Lin Konglu—who didn’t like sweets to begin with—would find it even more unbearable. That was why she had only seasoned Lin Konglu’s portion with black pepper and sea salt.

Having been seen through, Lin Konglu felt her confidence waver. “…How did you know I don’t eat [sweets]?”

Xu Qingqiong took a bite and replied as if it were a matter of course, “…Because you don’t like them.”

After saying it, she paused. That logic didn’t quite track—Lin Konglu often brought desserts home for her. Every time, she brought two portions so they could eat together. Lin Konglu wasn’t just stubborn; she was very good at “acting.” Every time, she would finish them off with a blank face and total efficiency, showing no sign whatsoever that she disliked them.

Holding her fork, Xu Qingqiong’s thoughts drifted. So, why did she instinctively feel that Lin Konglu didn’t like sweets?

Lin Konglu didn’t argue with the answer. She lowered her head and began eating the portion intended for her.

After breakfast, the two took the elevator downstairs together. Xu Qingqiong was taking the subway to the art museum, while Lin Konglu was going to the garage to drive to the office.

As the elevator approached the first floor, Lin Konglu asked, “Should I give you a ride?”

“No,” Xu Qingqiong refused. Lin Konglu had been busy lately, with her rest time constantly being encroached upon; Xu Qingqiong didn’t want to take up any more of her time. “Maybe next time.”

With a ding, the elevator stopped at the first floor. As the doors opened, Xu Qingqiong took two steps out, then suddenly remembered something. She turned back, pressed Lin Konglu’s nape to pull her closer, and planted a kiss on the corner of her lips.

Then, she quickly dashed out before the doors could close.

In the final second before the doors shut, Xu Qingqiong waved through the closing gap, her tone cheerful. “Bye-bye!”

Lin Konglu stood stunned, raising a hand to touch the corner of her mouth, where the soft, warm sensation lingered. It suddenly reminded her of things from the past.

There was a period of several years when she had no news of Xu Qingqiong at all, knowing only that she had likely gone abroad. But as for which country or which city, she had no idea.

The only person she could turn to was Grandma Xu. Gritting her teeth, she squeezed out every bit of her free time to visit the art gallery every single day. Because there had been a previous “accident,” Grandma Xu was even more cautious regarding Xu Qingqiong.

Lin Konglu came to find her again and again, which made Grandma Xu feel helpless; she felt she had no right to make decisions on Xu Qingqiong’s behalf. To the current Xu Qingqiong, Lin Konglu was a stranger. Allowing her to force her way back into Xu Qingqiong’s life was a gamble with unknown consequences.

However, facing Lin Konglu’s stubborn persistence, she couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity. Eventually, she compromised with a middle-ground solution. She gave Lin Konglu Xu Qingqiong’s current location—but it wasn’t a specific address, only a general neighborhood. Whether they met or not would depend on fate.

Lin Konglu used her business trips as excuses, taking detours to go searching time and time again. But a city is so vast, and aside from going to class, Xu Qingqiong didn’t go out often. Most of the time, Lin Konglu’s efforts were in vain.

The day she saw Xu Qingqiong again was a rainy one. Her flight had been delayed, giving her a few extra hours in that city. Because the rain was getting heavier and she was a lone foreign face sitting in the rain, she stood out significantly.

Xu Qingqiong watched her from a distance for a few moments while holding an umbrella, then turned and went into a coffee shop. When she came out, she held a cup of hot coffee.

Lin Konglu noticed her walking toward her with the umbrella. In fact, she had noticed the moment Xu Qingqiong stepped out. She just wanted to look at her for a moment longer—after all, the next time she could come back might be a month or two away.

But until the umbrella was over her head, she never imagined that Xu Qingqiong was actually coming for her. Her brain stalled instantly because she didn’t know what Xu Qingqiong would say to her.

Xu Qingqiong stood before her, holding an umbrella in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. With no hands free, she used the tip of her shoe to lightly tap Lin Konglu’s shoe and frowned slightly. “It’s raining. What are you doing here?”

This sentence stunned her; the tone was so familiar. Lin Konglu immediately looked up, staring at her with wide, hopeful eyes filled with surprise.

But the moment she saw Xu Qingqiong’s eyes, a bucket of cold water doused her back to reality. Xu Qingqiong’s gaze was strange and calm—it was the look one gives a stranger.

Under that gaze, Lin Konglu struggled to control her emotions. Seeing no reaction, Xu Qingqiong thought she might have misjudged and that the girl didn’t understand Chinese, so she repeated herself in English.

Only then did Lin Konglu react. She forced a smile and used the back of her hand to hide the tears in her eyes. “It’s okay, I’m leaving soon.”

“I just bought this, it’s hot.” Xu Qingqiong stuffed the hot coffee into her arms. Her gaze swept over Lin Konglu’s rain-drenched hair. She hesitated for a moment, then gave her the umbrella as well.

Lin Konglu gripped the umbrella handle, her throat dry. “Then what about you?”

Xu Qingqiong shrugged. “It’s fine, my apartment is nearby.” After saying that, she quickly ran into the rain, waving back at her. “Cheer up, bye-bye!”

Back then, Lin Konglu had sat there watching her silhouette disappear into the rain.

Now, she was also watching her silhouette leave, but… Lin Konglu raised her hand again to touch the corner of her lips. She thought that things were already so much better than before.

The atmosphere at the office was unusually quiet—so quiet it felt oppressive.

Barff maintained a smile, but she was secretly anxious, her eyes darting toward the elevator multiple times. When Lin Konglu finally arrived, she hurried to meet her and whispered, “Director…”

Lin Konglu’s footsteps paused for a fraction of a second. Barff said, “The Chairman is in your office.”

Lin Shuhai usually came to the company on a fixed schedule of Mondays and Tuesdays; otherwise, he generally didn’t show up. His sudden appearance today was highly abnormal, making it hard not to suspect whether their plan had been exposed.

Barff hesitated to speak, and the two exchanged a knowing look.

“I understand. Go back to your work,” Lin Konglu said, her expression unchanged as she reached out and pushed open the office door.

Lin Shuhai was sitting leisurely on the sofa, a cup of tea placed before him.

The deep-set wrinkles at the corners of Lin Shuhai’s brow grew even deeper, mirroring the harshness of his expression. Every time Barff faced him, she felt an underlying psychological pressure.

Lin Konglu shut the door with a loud thud, cutting off all outside eyes.

Lin Shuhai glanced up at her and pointed to the seat across from him, commanding, “Sit.”

Without a word, Lin Konglu chose not to sit directly opposite him, opting instead for a single-seater sofa off to the side.

Lin Shuhai shot her a look. A flicker of displeasure flashed in his eyes at her choice of seat, and he cut straight to the point: “Your work lately has been a bit negligent.”

“What’s wrong? Lost your focus on work since you got married?” Lin Shuhai tapped his finger on his knee. “I’m doing this for your own good.”

“The company is vast. You still need more training and exposure to the world so you don’t lose your nerve. Otherwise, how can I feel at ease handing the company over to you?”

His words were sheer nonsense. Lin Shuhai’s word was law within the company, but Lin Konglu’s competence was obvious to everyone—she was more than capable of leading on her own merits.

Lin Konglu’s hand tightened into a fist, then she forced herself to relax. A smile appeared on her face as she feigned ease. “I know.”

Lin Shuhai took in her small movements, thinking she was still the same as she was in her teens—lacking calm composure, possessing a bit of cleverness but not much. He felt a hint of contempt mixed with a predictable sense of triumph, believing everything was under his control.

He had originally considered whether he should give his shares to Lin Konglu, but she was just a girl, after all… and sure enough, her performance confirmed his suspicions.

He shifted the topic. “How is Xu Qingqiong lately?” He hadn’t attended the wedding, seeing no necessity in it.

Lin Konglu: “She is… very well.” She pursed her lips, her expression shifting to reveal emotions beyond mere calm. Her eyes shimmered with a soft, expectant warmth. “She made me breakfast today; it was delicious…”

Lin Shuhai tapped his finger on the table. Hearing these trivial, insignificant details only made him more impatient. “Enough.”

Lin Shuhai considered himself a playboy who had spent his youth drifting through a sea of women without ever leaving his heart with any of them. He felt nothing but disdain for someone controlled by so-called “love”; what could such a person ever achieve?

If it hadn’t been for the accident that left him unable to father children—precluding him from finding another woman to bear a son—he wouldn’t need a daughter like Lin Konglu at all.

“I don’t care about your personal affairs. Just get done what needs to be done, and don’t make me keep reminding you.”

“The assistant has already contacted the hospital in the U.S. Next month…” Lin Shuhai scrutinized her expression for a moment and instantly changed his mind, issuing a condescending command: “No, you’re going next week.”

Likely thinking of his future heir, Lin Shuhai added a rare extra sentence in a tone of earnest advice: “Since your relationship is so good, having a child would be the icing on the cake, wouldn’t it?”

“Though stem-cell-derived sperm reproduction is a prospective technology, it is perfectly safe, and you can even choose the baby’s gender. I will personally raise and train this child later.”

Lin Konglu lowered her gaze and remained silent for a long time.

Lin Shuhai didn’t need her opinion. He settled the matter with finality: “Next week.”

He loathed losing control, and Lin Konglu’s repeated delays had already displeased him. This casual command was his way of reining her in.

“…”

After Lin Shuhai left, Barff pushed open the office door under the pretext of delivering documents.

Lin Konglu’s eyes were fixed on the documents on her desk, her fingers tracing her ring, lost in thought.

Barff asked tentatively, “Is everything okay?”

Lin Konglu: “Something’s happened.”

Barff’s heart skipped a beat. She had been under a lot of pressure lately as well.

Lin Konglu continued, “Congratulations. You can take a few months of vacation now.”

Barff let out a sigh of relief and smiled, instantly understanding her meaning. The plan was progressing smoothly. Moving forward, the company would likely fall into chaos; with the struggle between the board members and Lin Shuhai, no one would be paying attention to her.

Barff: “You should get some rest too.” Lin Konglu was surely under much more strain than she was.

Lin Shuhai thought Lin Konglu was easy to manipulate and control, but Lin Konglu felt exactly the same way about him. Lin Shuhai had been shrewd for many years, but the older he got, the more foolish he became. What was left in his head? Only the panic of aging and the powerlessness over his own authority. He was desperate for an heir.

The more a person seeks to control, the more they fear losing it. Lin Konglu was looking forward to seeing his scene of powerless, blind rage.

She reined in her thoughts and gave a slight nod with a faint smile. “Thank you.”

Xu Qingqiong had much to learn; she was sent to whichever department was short-staffed, making her a “floating staff member” at the museum. She was in the office with several colleagues discussing next month’s exhibition theme.

As they talked, a colleague flipped through the calendar and said in surprise, “Oh, next week is Qixi (Chinese Valentine’s Day)!”

Another joined in: “No wonder I saw the nearby mall changing its decorations today.”

“Qingqiong, do you have any plans?”

Xu Qingqiong was looking down at a proposal and looked up blankly. “Huh?”

She hadn’t spent any holidays with Lin Konglu before; this question was out of her league.

Seeing her expression, the two older women exchanged a glance and laughed. “You two just got married; you have plenty of time ahead of you.”

Xu Qingqiong went back to her work, listening idly to their conversation. She heard them discussing how to spend the holiday—whether to go to a movie and dinner or take a short trip to a nearby city.

One of them said, “There’s a music festival on Qixi; I’m buying tickets.”

Another added, “The flyer says there’s a music market with lots of small stalls. It sounds interesting; I want to go and hunt for some fun little trinkets.”

Xu Qingqiong flipped through her files and realized they were incomplete; a section was missing, likely left at home. Since it was almost time to clock out, she made a note and organized her current materials into the cabinet.

Still thinking about work details, she stood up.

Her colleagues’ eyes landed on someone behind her. With playful smiles, they whispered to her, “Qingqiong, Qingqiong…” gesturing for her to look back.

Xu Qingqiong didn’t understand. “What is it?”

When she turned around, she saw a figure waiting outside the window. She was startled for a moment but then relaxed, her face flushing slightly.

Lin Konglu was waiting for her, not rushing her. Her eyes rested quietly on Xu Qingqiong, like a sunflower following the sun, silently keeping watch.

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