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Chapter 474: Secret Contest

Chapter 474: Chapter 474: Secret Contest

"Alright, I understand. I’ll get back to work now."

Master Yan also reverted to his serious demeanor, "Right, get back to work. If anything comes up, consult me directly. Don’t listen to the wild rumors out there."

Both were busy. After hanging up the phone, Master Yan cheerfully went to a meeting, whilst Zhu Qianying came out of the office, looking more relaxed than when she’d entered.

Store Manager Wang Chunsi handed her the takeout, "Ying Zi, what’s making you so happy?"

Zhu Qianying blinked, instinctively touching her face, "No, there’s nothing particularly joyful."

Wang Chunsi peered at her thoughtfully, "Are you trying to deceive me? You rushed into the office looking extremely enthusiastic earlier, and it scared me!"

Of course, Wang Chunsi was exaggerating, but when Zhu Qianying received a call from Xing Bailun and heard those unfavorable rumors about Yanhuang, she was indeed quite worried. Naturally, she couldn’t have been looking good.

"It’s just a misunderstanding, nothing to worry about now that it’s clarified!"

Zhu Qianying wasn’t exactly lying when she said this.

Compared to those groundless rumors and even Qin Xiu’s words, she still preferred to trust Master Yan.

Even if Yanhuang truly withdrew from the bid, it must be because doing so is more advantageous than continuing.

Sometimes, possession isn’t always a good thing!

And giving up isn’t necessarily a bad choice!

"Misunderstanding about what?"

Cheng Ye, who just walked in, heard Zhu Qianying’s words and asked.

He’d been back in L City for a couple of days, and Zhu Qianying, who had been resting for a few days, had become busy again.

"Ying Zi may have had some disagreement with her Yan Master earlier. Her face was all pale earlier! However, the affection between the couple is strong, just one phone call and the clouds were lifted!"

Wang Chunsi’s words were purely speculative and joking. But when heard by Cheng Ye, they carried a different implication.

"Ying Zi, do you have time tonight? Let’s have dinner together."

Cheng Ye had also been very busy lately. Although he had spent a lot more time with Zhu Qianying, their interaction had always been work-related.

He wished to spend some private time with Zhu Qianying but was either too busy or Zhu Qianying found various excuses to decline.

"Cheng, I’m sorry, but I have to help out at the restaurant tonight."

And recently, Zhu Qianying’s excuses almost always revolved around this.

But in truth, Zhu Qianying wasn’t lying. The business at the restaurant was as booming as when it first opened. Zhu Qianying really did need to assist Chen Jing in the kitchen after work.

"Perfect, I’ll go with you. I’ve never patronized Aunt Jing’s store since its opening."

With Cheng Ye’s remark, Zhu Qianying could no longer make any excuse to avoid him.

Around seven in the evening, Zhu Qianying and Cheng Ye got out of two different cars. Zhu Qianying spotted Master Yan’s car parked in its usual spot as soon as she got out.

Entering their shop together, Master Yan was nowhere to be seen. However, they spotted Bai Shao and Bai Xiangdong, who have been visiting the shop regularly these days.

"Ying Zi, this must be your boss, Mr. Cheng, am I right?" Bai Shao quickly identified Cheng Ye, although she had never met him before, from the bits and pieces Zhu Qianying had mentioned about him.

Cheng Ye, on the other hand, was unaware of Zhu Qianying’s close friend. He extended his hand to Bai Shao with a smile and said, "Hi, I’m Cheng Ye!"

After Zhu Qianying introduced them, they exchanged pleasantries. Zhu Qianying then looked around.

"Where is Xiaolu?"

Bai Shao pointed outside with her chin, "Master Yan has picked up the baby boy. The two brats ran out to play!"

Having anticipated this, Zhu Qianying merely responded with an "oh," while Cheng Ye was taken aback for a moment.

It took some effort to finally make time to come here, only to bump into him?

Cheng Ye, who had always been telling himself to take it slow, couldn’t help but feel a little irritable.

Before he even had time to think about how to face Master Yan, a familiar voice came from behind him.

"Mr. Cheng, long time no see!"

Strictly speaking, it hadn’t been that long since they last met.

"Master Yan, hello! It really has been a long time!"

Cheng Ye turned around and nodded at Master Yan with a smile.

With that, the dining table that had originally only been occupied by Bai Shao and her daughter now had three more adults.

Zhu Qianying had to start attending to Cheng Ye as the waitstaff were busy running around.

"Cheng, I’ve reserved a private room for you on the second floor. Shall we head up now?"

Cheng Ye understood that the business here was booming and normally needed to be booked a week in advance.

He glanced at Bai Shao and her daughter, "If Mr. Bai and Miss Bai don’t mind, would you like to join us?"

Only then did he find out that Zhu Qianying had such a good friend. However, looking at how familiar Master Yan and Bai Shao were, it seemed that they had known each other for a while.

So, compared to Master Yan, he actually knew less about Zhu Qianying?

"Not at all, in fact, I’m quite curious about you, Mr. Cheng!"

In just a few minutes, Bai Shao had sensed the complex relationship between these three people. Although Zhu Qianying hadn’t clarified anything to her.

Bai Shao only knew that both men before her had been rejected by Zhu Qianying.

And the current situation indicated that neither of these men had given up and were subtly competing.

However, from what she could see, Master Yan still held a significant advantage!

"Oh? Miss Bai is very curious about me?"

Cheng Ye couldn’t help feeling a bit elated inside. If Bai Shao was curious about him, did that mean Zhu Qianying had mentioned him to her occasionally?

Zhu Qianying didn’t want her friend to meddle and subtly glared at Bai Shao, hinting at her to keep her mouth shut.

Bai Shao pointed to the kitchen, "You should go help Aunt Jing in the kitchen. It’s too busy!"

Hearing this, Zhu Qianying looked up at the restaurant customers. Indeed, many were waiting for their meals.

"Alright, I’ll take a look. You all chat leisurely."

Zhu Qianying didn’t have time to think about all that, she got up and headed to the kitchen.

The gaze of Master Yan and Cheng Ye seemed glued to her back until she disappeared into the kitchen, then they withdrew their gaze.

"Master Yan, thank you for helping out Xiaolu!"

It had been a significant problem to secure an admission for Bai Lu since she just returned to the country. But Master Yan had solved it with a single phone call, so Bai Shao took the opportunity to thank him in person as soon as she saw him.

"That’s not worth mentioning."

Master Yan wasn’t one to boast about his deeds. Besides, helping Bai Shao was not only for Zhu Qianying’s sake but also because she was Zong Zhe’s former girlfriend. With Zong Zhe gone, helping this mother and daughter occasionally was only normal.

While Master Yan and Bai Shao were discussing children, Cheng Ye started a conversation about antiques and jewelry with Bai Xiangdong.

Compared to Master Yan, who knew nothing about antiques, Cheng Ye, the jewelry businessman, naturally had more topics in common with Bai Xiangdong. They moved from talking about gemstones to porcelain, and then from porcelain to the rise of oriental elements in the West in recent years.

Despite it being their first meeting, the two had an animated discussion in no time.