Chapter 53: Askew

"Ahem, what did my mom say?" She shook her somewhat sore hand. The two of them sure could talk—for so long, if she had known...
"Yiyi!"
"Hmm?"
"Hand sore?"
Couldn't he tell? Asking when he clearly knew the answer, she replied rather reluctantly, "Oh!"
"Next time, remember to use earphones!"
"You..." Retaliation, blatant retaliation!
"Haha~" The initially low chuckle grew louder. Chu Yitong reached up to cover her ears; she couldn't hear a thing!
"Huh?"
"What is it?"
"Drive slower." Her face was pressed against the car window. Just now, she seemed to have seen a familiar person, but why would they appear here? Weren't they supposed to be on vacation?
"See an acquaintance?" Xie Chenjing slowed the car down, pulled over to the side of the road, and turned to look at her.
"Seems like it." She reached out to tug at her long hair, not entirely sure, just—
"Hungry?" He raised his wrist to check the time; it was lunchtime.
"I want to eat ice cream!"
"What?"

"I-ce c-rea-m, mister!" She felt a bit restless, wanting dessert and revenge at the same time.
"Mister? Me?"
"You!"
"Yiyi."
"What?"
"I'm only five years older than you."
"Oh, mister!" He should have known the consequences of offending a woman—no, wait, the consequences of offending a girl.
"I—" For the first time in his life, Xie Chenjing was left speechless. His handsome face shifted through various expressions, completely losing its usual aloofness.
"Not moving?" She tilted her head slightly, her long hair slipping from her shoulder to cover half her cheek. Her clear, bright eyes looked at him in confusion, seemingly unaware of the impact her words had caused.
"Moving!" He took an imperceptible breath. No need to bicker with her, no need to take it to heart.
"Where are we going to eat?" Having received his reply, she pouted and leaned back against the seat. This past month had been too exhausting; relaxing a bit would be nice.
"You don't know?" He never ate sweets.
"Miste—"
"Fine, I know!" Not wanting to hear that title again and feeling rather vexed, he quickly dialed a number: "Secretary Xu—"
"President Xie!" Secretary Xu, who was currently discussing gossip with little Ruan, glanced at the time. It was lunchtime; she hadn't violated any company regulations. Upon hearing the other party's question, her mouth dropped wide open, refusing to close until little Ruan gave her a hard shove. She snapped out of it, uttering a couple of cover-up "uh-huhs," and said, "Well, the best place, especially suitable for couples—"
"Alright, sorry to disturb." Looking at the hung-up phone, the iron tree could actually bloom after all, and it bloomed so fast. Truly incredible.

"Sister Xu!" Little Ruan waved her hand in front of her eyes, feeling more and more that Sister Xu was drifting further and further away from the title of the calm and composed sister.
"Little Ruan!"
"Hmm?"
"I've discovered a monumental event, and I'm indescribably excited." She suddenly stood up and began pacing back and forth in the office.
In the secretary's office of the Qingcheng Group, fueled by Xie Chenjing's phone call, an intense discussion was underway. Meanwhile, inside the car driving toward the place Secretary Xu had mentioned, Chu Yitong stared wide-eyed at him and asked in disbelief, "You're not from Linghai?"
"I am!" What was the point here?
"And you've never had ice cream?"
"I have!" When he was little, she had given him some.
"Then why didn't you know about it?"
"Is there a connection?"
"None!" She reached out to massage her temples. What on earth was she doing? Why was she rambling about useless things? She was truly driving herself crazy.
"You don't want to eat it anymore?" Eating too much dessert wasn't good; not eating it at all was best!
"I do!" Were their conversations going off the rails? Why did everything sound so wrong?
"Oh!" Taking advantage of a red light, Xie Chenjing glanced at her and, suddenly remembering something, said in a deep voice, "You can't have it!"