sbdcsierra Chapter 116 Hehehehehehe
Chapter 116 Hehehehehehe
Little Cabbage's birthday party has come to a successful end.
The food tasted delicious. She chewed it slowly and elegantly, taking small, ladylike bites while simultaneously gulping it down. She ate quickly and gracefully.
His cooking skills are unparalleled.
However, most of the people present were celebrities, and most of them had to maintain their figures, so the dishes on the table were mostly eaten by Xiaobaicai and Xie Yan. But there were just too many dishes, and most of them were left over in the end.
Those eight handsome men were all very busy. After finishing their meal, they gave Xiaobaicai a gift and then hurriedly left.
Seeing that all her friends had left, Bai Xiao immediately winked at Xie Yan excitedly, no longer pretending.
"How about it, Sister Xie! Aren't these guys I found for you handsome? Aren't they top-notch!"
Xie Yan, no longer caring about maintaining a facade in the face of this stubborn brat, gritted her teeth and said, "You little punk, you don't want to live anymore, do you? Who told you to make such a big fuss?"
Bai Xiao seemed to be still reveling in his ingenious plan. He raised his head and flicked his bangs with his delicate little finger. His face was exquisitely beautiful and otherworldly.
"Oh, don't be shy, Sister Xie. I knew you were embarrassed to add friends one by one, so I created a group for the nine of you, making a total of ten including me. You can chat with them slowly when you get back."
Xie Yan was speechless and almost burst out laughing.
Nine people created a group chat.
Very niche text.
Today's meal was pure torture for Xie Yan.
Bai Xiao had been trying to steer the conversation toward Xie Yan, subtly praising how wonderful and outstanding Xie Yan was to those men. She wished she could disappear under the table right then and there.
"What are you talking about, sisters? Isn't today my birthday party?"
The little cabbage looked up from the fruit cake, its little eyes full of confusion.
Xie Yan quickly turned her head and smiled, "No, no, we were talking about something else. Today is just to celebrate your birthday."
"Oh."
Little Cabbage nodded, then counted the several exquisite gift boxes on the table, all of which were gifts given to her by the other older brothers.
She wasn't really interested in things like diamond hair clips, gold bracelets, smartwatches with hands-free calling, or the latest game consoles.
She looked up at Xie Yan again, her eyes sparkling, "What about my sister's gift? What did my sister give me?"
"..."
Faced with the little girl's expectant and excited eyes, Xie Yan was drenched in sweat.
She gave Bai Xiao a subtle glare: This is all your doing! How am I supposed to explain this?!
Bai Xiao cleared her throat and looked at Xiao Baicai seriously, saying, "How can you ask others for gifts? Where is your ladylike manners?"
When it came to being a lady, Xiaobaicai indeed fell silent. She sat on the stool with her short legs barely touching the ground, pursed her lips, and looked at Xie Yan with a pitiful expression.
Although he didn't say it, his eyes still showed anticipation.
The little cabbage's big eyes blinked, she was so pretty and cute, who could resist her?
Xie Yan immediately said, "Your birthday is the day after tomorrow, so how about I give it to you in a couple of days? Or how about I take you out to play next weekend? We won't bring your brother!"
"Okay, okay, okay! I won't take my brother! I won't take my brother! Let's go out and have fun!!"
The little girl perked up immediately, "I haven't been out to play in so long. My parents go on overseas trips without me, my brother is filming and doesn't take me with him either, and my classmates at kindergarten are all so rude. They can eat their food all over their eyebrows, and they can even roll onto the floor while sleeping. I don't want to play with them."
Little Cabbage's fair and tender face, like a baby's, was puffed up with anger as she listed the "seven deadly sins" of the other children in kindergarten, her expression full of disgust.
Xie Yan was absolutely charmed by her earnest expression.
The embarrassment I felt earlier, to the point of digging my toes into the ground, has finally dissipated.
The meal, which included both eating and chatting, ended at around 6 p.m.
Xie Yan felt a little sorry for the expensive dishes on the table that had hardly been touched, since each dish cost over four figures. Bai Xiao didn't seem to think it was a waste and was planning to leave, so she wanted to pack them up and take them with her.
The "Clean Plate Campaign" is about responding to the national call to avoid wasting food, and there's nothing to be ashamed of.
Tan Qing, who had been rather unnoticed, was quick to notice and went to get someone to pack his things. After a while, he came back carrying a pile of takeout boxes. "Miss Xie, would you like me to take you home?"
To be fair, Tan Qing has a refined appearance and is wearing a nice coat, giving him the air of a high-level executive. However, he is carrying more than a dozen packing boxes in his hands, which makes his appearance quite incongruous.
Xie Yan pursed her lips. She originally wanted Tan Qing to take her home directly, but Xiao Baicai held her back, saying that she hadn't seen her in a long time and wanted to play with her. There happened to be a newly opened arcade not far away.
Xie Yan thought about it and agreed. After all, she hadn't prepared a gift for her child's birthday, so playing with him for a while would be fine.
Bai Xiao, being the older brother, though he always complained about his sister, was actually celebrating Xiao Baicai's birthday the day after tomorrow because he had other commitments and couldn't come back. So he put on a mask and accompanied Xiao Baicai to the arcade to play claw machines all night.
As she was playing, Bai Xiao suddenly frowned and her beautiful eyes scanned the surroundings.
After a while, he moved closer to Xie Yan, his voice muffled through his mask, "Sister Xie, it seems like there are paparazzi taking pictures of me. Let's call it a day, you can go home first."
Xie Yan blinked and looked back.
There weren't too many people in the mall, and they were playing in front of the claw machine in the corner without attracting anyone's attention. So Xie Yan searched for a long time but couldn't find anyone acting strangely in the arcade.
"Don't bother looking, you can't find it. Paparazzi use high-powered lenses these days, so it's definitely not in front of us. But I just saw someone across the street with a professional camera. Anyway, you should leave quickly, or it will be troublesome."
Although Bai Xiao's face was mostly covered by a mask, his eyebrows and eyes were still very distinctive. He dared to come to the mall because it was newly opened and there were relatively few people, but he didn't expect to be followed by paparazzi.
His voice was unusually serious, and he took out a mask from his pocket and gave it to Xie Yan, saying, "Put on your mask and walk to the back so your face isn't showing."
The atmosphere immediately became tense, causing Xie Yan to also become serious.
Although Xie Yan sees Bai Xiao as a childish and effeminate stubborn mule, he is still a top celebrity in the industry, with a fiercely loyal fanbase and an astonishing number of die-hard fans.
It's not hard to imagine how much discussion would arise if a top idol were to appear privately with a young woman late at night.
Top-tier scandals involving men and women are so sensational that even a major scandal like the one involving Baijia (a Chinese online gambling platform) couldn't be contained by simply bombing accounts.
Xie Yan immediately thought of Bai Xiao and his male CP's insane popularity, and she was instantly shocked. She said goodbye to Xiao Baicai, put on a mask, and ran away.
She took the elevator downstairs and just as she took out her phone to call a car to go home, she saw a car slowly driving up. The window rolled down, and it was Tan Qing.
Xie Yan was a little surprised, "You haven't left yet? It's almost ten o'clock."
"Mr. Gu instructed me to take good care of Miss Xie today, so I need to make sure you get home safely. Please get in the car, Miss Xie."
"Alright, then I'll trouble you."
The passenger seat was full of takeout boxes, so Xie Yan sat in the back.
Xie Yan was dressed lightly. She had originally planned to have lunch in the afternoon and then go back without feeling too cold. She never expected to stay out so late, so she didn't even wear a coat.
Fortunately, the temperature inside the car was a little warmer than outside, and Xie Yan finally felt her body warm up a bit.
"There are cashmere blankets in the back seat. Miss Xie can wear them if she gets cold."
Tan Qing's attitude remained professional and businesslike. He showed no interest in asking any questions about today's nonsensical dinner, and was extremely considerate and polite.
Xie Yan, however, said somewhat shyly, "Actually, you can just call me by my name. I'm not the eldest daughter of the Xie family anymore, so you don't need to be so polite."
Tan Qing smiled, a rare occurrence. "It's not just politeness, it's the respect that's due, after all, you're someone that Mr. Gu cares about a lot."
"……All right."
Xie Yan sighed helplessly. It seemed that Tan Qing was only doing what her boss asked her to do today, including eating and driving people around – all part of her job duties.
Her plan to find a partner can be described as a spectacular failure.
For some reason, Xie Yan also breathed a sigh of relief, and her heart, which had been pounding, finally seemed to settle down.
She had asked Xie Qingyu to introduce her to someone before, which was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment decision. Who knew that Xie Qingyu would arrange things so quickly that she didn't even have time to back out.
But today, sitting right in the middle of a group of men, she felt like she was sitting on pins and needles, uncomfortable in every way.
The overly strong atmosphere of male hormones made her somewhat uncomfortable.
She should hurry home. She packed so much food; she could heat it up at home and eat with Shen Yan. She was hungry, and Shen Yan was probably hungry too, since he also loved late-night snacks.
Xie Yan thought of the pile of food worth tens of thousands of yuan in the passenger seat and tried to comfort herself, saying that at least today's trip wasn't a complete waste, as she had gotten a luxurious meal with ginseng, foie gras, and all sorts of other things.
There was no sound along the way.
It was past 10:30 when the car stopped, and Xie Yan's eyes were already squinting with sleepiness.
Tan Qing hesitated for a moment, feeling that the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the car was a bit large, and worried that Xie Yan would catch a cold if she got out of the car and was suddenly exposed to the wind, so she gave her the cashmere blanket and told her to wear it on her way home.
The car couldn't go any further after parking on the side of the residential building. There were still dozens of meters to walk to the unit entrance. Tan Qing got out of the car, picked up the takeout boxes, and prepared to deliver them. Xie Yan quickly thanked him.
"Assistant Tan, thank you so much for today. And I'm also very sorry, Bai Xiao was so bossy towards you today, but that's just how he is, he looks down on everyone..."
“It’s okay, we assistants are used to it, and I think my salary should include some compensation for emotional distress, which is why it’s so high.”
The man spoke in a serious tone while making funny remarks, and for a moment Xie Yan couldn't figure out if he was joking or not.
...but it's really funny.
As the night breeze blew by, Xie Yan instinctively wrapped the pretty cashmere blanket around her shoulders, a smile spreading across her bright face.
"I didn't expect you to be so humorous. By the way, could I ask how much your compensation for emotional distress actually is?"
Xie Yan was really curious about how much a multi-talented worker like Tan Qing actually earned each month.
"Of course, it's okay if you don't say anything; I was being presumptuous."
Tan Qing didn't seem to care much. "Including the year-end bonus, it's less than 800,000 a year, but there are no days off all year round, and I'm available 24/7."
Xie Yan was shocked to hear this.
She used to work as a programmer and only earned around 50 or 60 yuan a year. As an assistant, she could earn 80 yuan a year. That would require her to be incredibly versatile. But working year-round without a break must be really tiring.
It seems that the assistants of domineering CEOs are indeed required to be available at any time.
No wonder he's a top student who completed his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees; he's truly outstanding.
The distance of a few dozen meters is very short; the two arrived in no time after exchanging just a few words.
The streetlights downstairs have been broken for several days, making the area very dark with poor lighting.
Xie Yan looked down and groped for the takeout boxes, but Tan Qing said, "There are too many dishes, they're a bit heavy. Do you need me to help you carry them upstairs?"
Xie Yan thought to herself that she was as strong as an ox, so what was there to be afraid of carrying some vegetables?
Just as she was about to politely decline, she heard a cold, indifferent young voice coming from not far behind her.
"No need, I'll carry it for her."