Yan Yincheng was a bit pleasantly surprised. This was the first time she had taken the initiative to call him and ask him what he wanted to eat! Was this the benefit of being engaged? Had she started to care about him?
"Really? I can order anything I want?" he asked.
"Of course. Aren't you the one who prepares all the ingredients? Even if you want to eat steaks from Country X, sashimi from Country R, or drink red wine from Country F, I have no objections," she said playfully.
Yan Yincheng thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll have someone prepare it right away!"
Infected by her good mood, the usually cold and aloof expression on Yan Yincheng's face softened a bit. A faint smile actually appeared on his lips. And somehow, either intentionally or not, after hanging up the phone, he showed off the ring on his middle finger in front of Pei Jun.
Sure enough, Chairman Pei's expression changed when he saw it.
"A Cheng, this ring of yours..." Wearing a ring on the middle finger meant that he was engaged?
When did this happen?!
To whom?!
Was it the woman named Zixi on the phone?!
"Did it blind you, Uncle Pei? I'm sorry. I just bought it for my engagement, so it's still quite shiny. It'll be okay after I wear it for a while," he said. Serves you right, old man. Last time you brought that annoying fly to ruin his dinner. He hoped that his daughter with the ear - piercing voice would stay far away from him and stop having any illusions about him.
Pei Jun's face turned a bit awkward, but he still tried hard to maintain the curve of his lips:
"You've kept this news well - hidden. Such a big event as getting engaged, and you didn't even make a fuss about it?"
"Don't worry. I'll definitely invite Uncle Pei's whole family to my wedding to have a glass of wedding wine," Yan Yincheng said.
Pei Jun probed, "Does your father know about this?"
"Uncle Pei, do you mean to reveal this news behind my back?" Yan Yincheng said lightly. "Then I'd advise Uncle Pei to give up this thought as soon as possible."
"Hahaha, you misunderstood. How could I?" Pei Jun said. "Then Uncle Pei will be waiting to drink your wedding wine."
But in his heart, he couldn't help but scoff. Humph, the rumors outside were so exaggerated. He thought this kid really had no interest in women. It turned out he was just like the others. He didn't know which woman of unknown origin had stolen his soul.
To cover up his embarrassment, Pei Jun looked down at his watch: "I didn't expect lunchtime to come so soon. How do you plan to solve your lunch today? After lunch, let's go to the site to take a look at that coral reef."
"I've made arrangements. I'll just have lunch in the staff canteen," Yan Yincheng replied.
On the 29th floor.
There was a knock on the office door. Xu Zixi looked up. Cui Jiandong was standing outside, looking a bit shy as he said, "Assistant Yuan, do you want to go to the canteen for lunch together?"
Xu Zixi smiled and said, "Sure."
The two walked towards the elevator together. Cui Jiandong asked, "Do you plan to participate in the competition, Assistant Yuan?"
Xu Zixi said, "Of course. What about you, Manager Cui?"
Cui Jiandong scratched his head. "I... I still need to think about it."
The numbers on the elevator were counting down. Xu Zixi pressed the button. But then came a call from behind:
"Yuan Xi!"
She turned around. Pei Mingyuan was standing at the office door, calling to her, "Come here for a moment!"
"You go first. I'll catch up later," she waved to Cui Jiandong and then turned to walk towards Pei Mingyuan.
As soon as her figure disappeared into the office, the elevator "dinged" and opened. Cui Jiandong's eyes widened slightly, and he hurriedly bowed and greeted, "Good day, Chairman!"
"Going to the restaurant? Why don't you come in?" Pei Jun invited.
Cui Jiandong quickly shook his head. "No no no. I'm going up. You guys go first!"
In the president's office, Pei Mingyuan handed a thick stack of materials to Xu Zixi and said,
"These materials need to be delivered to Supervisor Zhang of the Engineering Department at the project site right away. By the way, you can also go to the site to take a look at the situation. If you plan to participate in the competition, it will be very helpful for your product design. Oh, do you need me to arrange a car for you?"
The materials in her hands were quite heavy. Xu Zixi raised her eyebrows and said, "President Pei, it's lunchtime now."
Only then did Pei Mingyuan slap his forehead. "Look at me! How about this? After you deliver the things and finish your work, you can go home early. I remember you have two babies at home. Going home early, you can also spend some time with them. How about it?"
This was already a special favor. Xu Zixi naturally wouldn't refuse. She readily said,
"Okay, President Pei. I guarantee I'll complete the task."
The Pei Group's staff canteen had independent private rooms for the senior management. At this time, Pei Jun and Yan Yincheng were sitting face - to - face, having lunch together. Seeing Wei Shu place several lunch boxes with cartoon bears on them in front of Yan Yincheng, and when they were opened, inside were the most ordinary sweet and sour spare ribs, pumpkin soup, and scallion tofu. Pei Jun couldn't help but say,
"A Cheng, is this the home - cooked dish you mentioned last time?"
It didn't look anything special. Why did he keep refusing his invitations because of this?
Yan Yincheng just grunted and then ignored Pei Jun opposite him. He lowered his head and started to enjoy his meal. After putting the food into his mouth, he frowned slightly, but then quickly returned to normal.
Aunt Li's cooking skills had indeed learned a bit from Zixi, but compared to Zixi, it was still far behind. Humph, this woman actually wanted to fool him with Aunt Li's cooking? Fortunately, he had noticed in time. But thanks to Aunt Li, otherwise, she wouldn't have agreed to marry him so quickly that day.
He might consider giving Aunt Li a bonus when he got back, just to thank her for promoting their engagement.
After lunch, Yan Yincheng and Pei Jun headed to the project site together to take a look at the coral reef that had been discovered today.
On the west coast of Haicheng, a long - stretching bay was surrounded by blue iron sheets with the Pei Group's logo on them. The car drove in for a long time before they saw the entrance opened by the engineering team. After passing through the checkpoint at the gate and driving along a narrow road, they finally arrived at the simple office building of the engineering team. Xu Zixi got out of the car and turned around to look around the project site.
Part of this bay had already started construction, but most of it still retained its original appearance. Looking south, all that could be seen were dark rocks. There were also a lot of weeds and unknown shrubs on the beach. About dozens of abandoned fishing boats were stranded on the shore, creating a rather desolate atmosphere.
After inspecting the situation on - site, Xu Zixi had a clear idea in her mind. She withdrew her gaze, ignored the mud under her feet, and walked towards the project office building with the materials in her arms.
Suddenly, a door opened, and a group of people walked out while discussing heatedly. They were so focused that they didn't notice Xu Zixi who had come to deliver the materials.
And the content of their discussion also reached Xu Zixi's ears.
"I'm sure it must be the secretion of the 'Golden Amber'!"
"We'll have to wait for the research institute's test report to be sure! This kind of fish has been extinct for twenty years. It's not that easy for it to appear."
"If it can be confirmed that it's really the 'Golden Amber', then our project will definitely be a hit."
"I have to say, it was right to cooperate with the Yan Group. If this piece of fat fell into the hands of the Zhao Group, Haicheng would probably be in an uproar."
"Is the chairman on his way here?"
Xu Zixi wanted to hear more, but the people had already walked away. She had no choice but to continue walking inside. She found Supervisor Zhang as Pei Mingyuan had said, handed over the materials, and then turned to leave.
On the way back, the content of the discussion by those people came to her mind again. She asked Hu Yuankang in the driver's seat:
"Brother Hu, do you know what the 'Golden Amber' is?"
"Sure! Why did you suddenly ask about this, Miss?"
When they turned a corner, they passed a car. Xu Zixi and Brother Hu, who were focused on the discussion, didn't notice that the shape and license plate of the car were very familiar.
It was Wei Shu in the Maybach who let out a soft "Huh".
Yan Yincheng asked, "What's wrong?"
Wei Shu shook his head. "It's nothing. I must have been seeing things."