Chapter 13
Chapter 13
***
Shen Xi, who was holding a very fat cat in her arms, gave Liu Fang a polite smile.
They sat down on a nearby table.
"It's already been a week since your wedding to Su Hang." Liu Fang commented.
"Ah, yes, about a week." Shen Xi nodded.
"Really, that child! He finally got married but didn't even take you out to a honeymoon. He really wronged you." Liu Fang apologetically said.
"I know he's busy." Shen Xi replied with a smile.
"I knew you were a very kind and considerate girl." Liu Fang grabbed Shen Xi's right hand and held it on top of the table. She then continued: "The company really has been busy. After all, we recently took a large sum of money out of it."
Shen Xi's expression froze, and her eyes flashed towards Liu Fang.
"Auntie Liu has no other meaning with those words, Little Xi don't mind me." Liu Fang's expression turned worried. "I just wanted to explain why Su Hang traveled to HK right after marrying you. The collaboration planned with the company in HK is really important, and there can be no room for error. When Su Hang put forward the idea of helping Shen Group in the shareholders meeting, he was meet with great pressure, you know. You have to try and be understanding."
"I know. I will treat Su Hang well. Thank you for your concern." Shen Xi pulled her hand out of Liu Fang's grip and moved it under the table to scratch the chin of the orange cat on her lap.
"Then Auntie Liu is relieved." Liu Fang then asked: "Are you here to see Su Hang today?"
"No." Shen Xi shook her head. "I opened this coffee shop and just passed by to have a look."
"Oh?" Liu Fang looked surprised. "I didn't know Shen family's daughter knew how to do business. Your coffee shop is quite well-known in the area."
"I just opened the store for fun. I'm nowhere near as amazing as Aunt Liu." Shen Xi replied.
"What amazing? I only manage a small part of the company's business. It can't be compared to you. In the future, won't you be managing the entire Shen Group?" Liu Fang tentatively asked.
"Ah." Shen Xi shook her head. "I don't like doing business. Owning this coffee shop isn't as complicated as it sounds. And my father already told me that if I didn't want to manage Shen Group, I could ask a professional to do it on my behalf."
"Hire a director?" Liu Fang was flabbergasted.
"Yes." Shen Xi affirmed. "But I don't think we'll do that anymore. In the future, Su Hang will probably help me take care of it instead."
"You want Su Hang to help you manage Shen Group?"|Liu Fang's fake smile was starting to crack.
"Un." Shen Xi gave her a gentle and pure smile.
Liu Fang looked at Shen Xi's innocent expression and felt jealousy blooming in her heart. Why are there people in this world that didn't need to do anything, yet have countless people loving them? They live comfortably and happily, all without lifting a finger; they're so blessed it's disgusting.
"Ah, at the shareholder's meeting, Su Hang did say that the Shen family and Su family were going to be one family in the future. As a matter of fact…" Then, as if realizing her mistake, Liu Fang stiffly coughed and changed the subject. "Anyway, you haven't visited the Su family home for so long. When are you planning on coming by? Su Hang's father hasn't said anything, but it's obvious that he's upset."
"…I'll ask Su Hang about it tonight." Shen Xi hesitated and didn't agree to anything.
"Alright. Then we'll wait for you two at home." Liu Fang looked down at her watch and said: "It's getting pretty late, I have to go back to work."
Shen Xi immediately stood up and carried the fat cat in her arms as she walked Liu Fang to the door.
Liu Fang had a kind smile as she waved goodbye. But the moment she turned away, her face immediately sank. As she walked back to the Su company building, she was deep in thought. Shen Xi, that silly naive girl, would never actually like that illegitimate bastard Su Hang, right? If Shen Group really did fall into Su Hang's hands, then there would be no hope for her plans to overthrow him.
"Chief Liu, President Su wants to convene a meeting to discuss the collaboration plans with HK Industrial." Liu Fang's secretary immediately informed her of the meeting as soon as she entered the building.
"I see." Liu Fang took the folder her secretary offered her and walked towards the meeting room.
As she approached the conference doors, she saw Su Hang. Liu Fang gave him a friendly smile and sounding like a concerned elder, asked: "Su Hang, why didn't you tell me that Little Xi came!"
Su Hang, who had been about to step inside the conference room, stopped and turned towards Liu Fang.
"Why didn't she have lunch with you? I went to a nearby coffee shop for lunch and happened to see Shen Xi there. You should have told me! She was there all alone; people might misunderstand." Liu Fang deliberately said.
Su Hang looked at Liu Fang coldly. He didn't say a word, seemingly wanting to hear what it was she could possibly say.
Liu Fang had been working in the business world for so many years that she naturally wouldn't feel stage fright when talking to Su Hang. Instead, her solo-performance became even more energetic: "I talked to her for a bit and mentioned visiting the Su family house, but she seemed hesitant. I guess that's understandable. After all, Little Xi came from a famous family, while your identity is somewhat embarrassing…but I'm sure she'll figure things out soon. After all, you're so outstanding."
"Manager Liu." Su Hang turned away and coldly said: "While in the company, please call my President."
Liu Fang's smile turned stiff, and her face turned red with embarrassment.
"Also, we're not going back to the Su family house." Su Hang said. "Like you've said before, Shen Xi married me, not a Su family member."
Liu Fang's expression twisted at his words. But Su Hang ignored her and went inside the meeting room. Fang Yu, who had been listening nearby, was also very angry. He turned towards Liu Fang and rudely said: "Manager Liu, please move, you're blocking the way."
Fang Yu knew that as the chairman's wife, the domineering Manager Liu could never stand to be looked down on by a small secretary.
And sure enough, Liu Fang was so angry she threw the folder she was holding onto the floor. But nobody was concerned. Everybody knew that Su Hang had complete control of the company. Su BoNian might be the chairman, but that was only Su Hang giving him face. Su BoNian had no real power.
But in the end, Liu Fang's words still had an effect. Su Hang's expression was foul during the entire meeting.
Su Hang knew that Shen Xi owned a cat cafe nearby. When he first started working for the company, he had encountered many different difficulties and all kinds of harassment. So whenever he was in a bad mood, he would go to Shen Xi's cafe. He would drink a cup of coffee and imagine that his coffee was made by Shen Xi herself. Sometimes he would take a book from the shelves and read through them, daydreaming that maybe one or two of the books had been read by Shen Xi too. As long as he thought like this, his irritable mood would always disappear.
In all honesty, Su Hang didn't really have low self-esteem. It's just that for some reason, every time he sees Shen Xi, he would always cover himself with mud. He would turn back into that child covered in rags, secretly looking up at the little princess.
==
Meanwhile, Shen Xi was casually looking through the invoices Manager Mi Na had printed out for her. A little surprised, Shen Xi asked: "How can we be selling cat food? And so much of them?"
Mi Na smiled. "You don't get it. These white-collar workers are always so stressed, ah. With the pressure of their work mounting more and more, they enjoy are cute cats more and more. They can't help but want to stuff them silly."
"So they buy cat food from us?"
"In the beginning? Of course not. They used to bring in canned food, dried fish, or feed the cats whatever food they ordered from the menu." Mi Na replied. "But cats can get sick from that, so we later restricted people from feeding them. Now, if they want to feed them, they can only buy the cat food in our shop."
"We sold so much cat food, no wonder our cats have grown fatter." Shen Xi laughed.
"Yep. I also want to buy another batch of cat toys." Mi Na excitedly replied. "It'll definitely sell."
"You can decide on such things in your own discretion." Shen Xi returned the invoices to her. Then she suddenly had a thought. "Do any employees from Su come here often?"
"Oh, yeah." Mi Na suddenly smiled wide. "Even brother-in-law used to come here. A lot."
Shen Xi was surprised. Then blushing, she asked: "A lot?"
"He used to come here a lot. Nowadays he doesn't visit as often, but his secretary still comes in to buy coffee. At least twice a day." Mi Na answered.
"What does he order?" Shen Xi was curious.
"The overtime standard: Black coffee, no sugar." Mi Na replied.
Shen Xi frowned, thinking about Su Hang's weak stomach. She was quiet for a moment, then said to her: "From now on, whenever he orders black coffee, change it to milk tea.
"Milk tea?" Mi Na was befuddled. "But we don't have milk tea here."
Shen Xi thought for a bit, then stood up and walked over to the bar. When the barista saw her come over, they immediately made way. Shen Xi looked around and asked: "Do we have any milk and marshmallows?"
"Yes." The barista immediately took out the milk and marshmallows.
Shen Xi took an empty shaker, and poured half a cup of black tea in it. She then mixed in half a cup of fresh milk, a few drops of coffee and closed the shaker. She shook it well, then poured the drink into a coffee cup. After putting in two or three pieces of marshmallows, Shen Xi put the lid on. One order of delicious milk tea, finished. Shen Xi put the finished product in front of Mi Na and said: "Give it to him later."
"Sure, no problem. Little Lei, come and deliver the takeout!" Mi Na's eyes were bright and she immediately yelled for their college student part-timer.
"Manager?" Little Lei ran over and asked: "Where am I delivering it to?"
"Su Company, the president's office. The Boss made it herself." Mi Na glanced at Shen Xi as she passed the cup over to their part-timer.
"I'll go now!" Little Lei immediately understood. He took off his apron, then walked away with the cup in his hands.
Shen Xi had no time to react to what was happening in front of her. After a while, she managed to shout out: "You…wait a minute!"
==
At the end of the meeting, Su Hang calmly walked out of the conference room and returned to his office. When he approached his desk, he saw a familiar coffee cup with an unfamiliar note attached to it.
[I visited my coffee shop today. I'll wait for you, so after you finish work let's go back together. — Shen Xi]
Su Hang's dark pupils flashed, and with trembling fingers, he picked up the cup.
Meanwhile, Fang Yu entered the secretarial office, smelled the aroma of coffee, and saw the familiar cup on the table. He couldn't help but praise the person nearby. "Perfect timing with the coffee. The Boss is in such a bad mood right now. He's experiencing a great kitty coffee deficiency."
"We didn't buy it. It's from the Boss's wife." Secretary Lilith answered with a smile.
"The Madame?" Fang Yu jaw dropped, surprised.
Fang Yu hadn't even closed his mouth yet when the door to the President's office suddenly opened. Su Hang walked out, all dressed up. He turned to Fang Yu and said: "I'm leaving first, there's something I have to do."
Su Hang quickly left without waiting for Fang Yu to answer. It took his entire self-restraint to not start running. He walked out of the building, crossed the road, and eventually stood in front of a coffee shop. Su Hang looked through the glass window, at Shen Xi's beautiful profile. He didn't dare step inside.
Shen Xi turned and saw him. Leaving her store, she gave him a small smile. "You're off-duty?"
"Un." Su Hang replied with a wooden expression.
"Then…let's go home."