CHAPTER 270: CHAPTER 252: GROWING UP

The man sitting on one side, despite having given up hope, still couldn’t help but sneak a glance over from time to time to check on the two people’s progress, and he immediately felt a surge of righteous indignation.

Mu Shuoqian winced with pain, murmuring, "You’re murdering your own husband."

Gu Qili ignored him, drank some sour plum juice, then adjusted her seat back a bit and lay down.

The flight from Aus City to City A took three hours, and she wisely chose to sleep.

During the flight, Mu Shuoqian asked a flight attendant for a thin blanket, and gently covered Gu Qili with it, then tenderly tucked a stray lock of hair beside her temple behind her ear.

These most ordinary actions caught the eye of the bespectacled man sitting nearby,

Mu Shuoqian woke up Gu Qili just as the plane was about to land. She sat up groggily, saw Mu Shuoqian right beside her, and suddenly broke into a broad smile, hugging him tightly.

So this wasn’t a dream, after all, he was really on the same flight as her.

The flight attendant doing the landing checks was startled by her sudden hug, but quickly walked away with a suppressed smile.

After the plane landed, Mu Shuoqian, pulling Gu Qili’s luggage, walked out together with her through the first-class passage.

Not far from them, the man from before kept on watching them,

Indeed, Mu Shuoqian had booked a suite in advance, but he didn’t even enter his room and went directly to Gu Qili’s business suite instead.

He acted as though he planned to stay there for the next few days.

Having learned her lesson from the previous experience on Palm Island, there was no way Gu Qili dared to send him away.

"The restaurant doesn’t open for another three days, do you have other business to tend to?" Gu Qili handed him a towel to dry his hair.

"Mhm, I came over early because there happened to be some matters to deal with," he replied.

Nonsense, there wasn’t any work that required his personal attention, even the task of ribbon-cutting was snatched from the hands of the vice president.

If every establishment required his personal supervision, even if he could duplicate himself multiple times, he wouldn’t be able to keep up.

"By the way, I happen to have some questions to ask you." Gu Qili pushed Mu Shuoqian, who was still drying his hair, to sit down at the desk, took out a stack of documents from the drawer, and pointed out places that needed to be resolved.

Mu Shuoqian had no interest in these tasks and pushed them aside, "We can work on this later. What do you want for dinner tonight?"

"Let’s order takeout. I’m tired and don’t really feel like moving."

"If you’re tired, go to sleep, we can work tomorrow," Mu Shuoqian said as he lifted Gu Qili up, walked over to the bed, placed her on it, and lay down beside her.

Gu Qili was truly exhausted. She had rushed back without stopping right after her defense, enduring the weariness of the long journey.

~

When Mu Shuoqian arrived,

Everyone knew that he came for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the French Restaurant,

During the welcome banquet that evening, Mu Shuoqian suddenly said to the person in charge: "Invite Vice Manager Liu and Supervisor Gu as well, they have been working hard lately."

The person in charge felt Mu Shuoqian was very understanding of the common people’s struggles and immediately called Liu Zhining.

Before Liu Zhining and the others arrived, all the seats were taken; the person in charge sat to the left of Mu Shuoqian, while to his right, a jacket was placed over a chair, which Mu Shuoqian had taken off.

When the waiter wanted to tidy up and keep his jacket, he waved it off, not even hanging it on the chair’s back, just throwing it directly onto the seat. So although several people coveted that spot, no one dared to move his jacket.

It was only when Gu Qili and Liu Zhining came in—with Liu Zhining taking the empty seat at the entrance—that Gu Qili, after looking around, found there were no other available seats except next to Mu Shuoqian.

The person in charge was about to ask a waiter to add a chair when Mu Shuoqian, who seemed to be engrossed in the menu, nonchalantly removed his jacket from the chair and said without looking up, "Sit here."

Gu Qili walked over calmly and sat down, courteously saying, "Thank you, President."

While others wore smiles on their faces, they were inwardly murmuring. Just now, so many people had come in, yet the president had refused to give up his seat. The moment Supervisor Gu arrived, he immediately had her sit by his side. Could there be something fishy going on?

Upon closer inspection of Gu Qili, everyone found her eyebrows and eyes refined, her demeanor graceful, and her temperament unique; indeed, she was a beauty that would make it difficult for anyone to look away after just one glance.

However, everyone soon felt a bit terrified because it was widely rumored that Mu Shuoqian was indifferent to women, which explained why only male leaders were summoned for this dinner.

After Mu Shuoqian ordered a few dishes, he passed the menu to Gu Qili.

Everyone was shocked again. Was the president being considerate of his subordinate, or were the rumors just that—baseless, and in fact, the president was quite the gentleman towards ladies?

Although Mu Shuoqian had handed the menu to her, Gu Qili knew that in such an occasion, a mere supervisor like her wouldn’t get the chance to order, so, she promptly passed the menu to a senior executive beside her.

The senior executive thought the same as Gu Qili. Anyone randomly pulled out from the meeting would be at the director level; her presence there was merely by virtue of the president’s word, so naturally, she had no right to order.

As the senior executive was about to open the menu, he suddenly felt an icy gaze on his face. Turning his head, he met Mu Shuoqian’s warning look. Startled, he almost threw the menu away and hurriedly stuffed it back into Gu Qili’s hands, chuckling, "Little Gu, you order, you order. You’re the only lady here, take a look and choose some dishes suitable for ladies."

Gu Qili declined several times, but the senior executive insisted, leaving her with no choice but to casually pick a couple of dishes.

Gu Qili knew this was Mu Shuoqian’s intention and stealthily kicked his leg under the table. All she wanted was to quietly eat her meal without causing any trouble.

The man was the picture of composure, not moving a muscle.

Soon, the dishes they ordered were served one after another.

At a dinner party, toasts were of course a must. Others began to toast to him, and Mu Shuoqian, with a glass of red wine in hand, did not turn anyone down.

Seeing him drink one glass after another, Gu Qili frowned with disapproval, knowing he had a stomach condition and should exercise some moderation.

But in such a setting, it wasn’t appropriate for her to say anything, lest it draw more pointed glances.

Bored, Gu Qili meticulously peeled crab shells. She was very careful, and after finishing one crab, she kicked Mu Shuoqian under the table.

Mu Shuoqian was about to clink glasses with a senior executive who had stood up across the table, but after she kicked him, he shifted his gaze to her. Gu Qili continued to eat unhurriedly with her head down, but next to her right hand, a "stomach" character pieced together from crab shell fragments glaringly struck Mu Shuoqian’s eyes.

He smiled knowingly and suddenly withdrew his wine glass, nodding slightly to the senior executive, "I’ll stop drinking."

The senior executive was taken aback, but if Mu Shuoqian said no more drinking, who would dare to insist?

He quickly and tactfully said, "We’ve all been busy toasting and Young Master Qian hasn’t had much to eat. Let’s stop toasting and let Young Master Qian enjoy his food."

Mu Shuoqian picked up his chopsticks, and when he looked again at the "stomach" character, it had already been scattered by Gu Qili into a small pile of leftover crab shells.

He couldn’t help reaching under the table to find her hand and gently squeezed it, to which Gu Qili responded by scratching his palm twice as a warning.

The subtle movements between the two were nearly unnoticed, but those present were shrewd and couldn’t help but sense that their president’s relationship with Supervisor Gu was far from shallow, leading to an instant one-hundred-and-eighty-degree change in their attitude towards her.

The dinner stretched leisurely for three hours. After the meal, the person in charge suggested singing karaoke. He turned to ask Mu Shuoqian’s opinion, who declined quite directly, "I have matters to attend to, so I’ll pass."

Having matters was just a pretext; he was, in truth, eager to return to their private world.

With that, he walked towards the exit, and naturally, nobody dared to say another word to stop him.

Rumors had it that Mu Shuoqian did not enjoy boisterous settings, and apparently, that was indeed the case.

At this point, one of the senior executives suddenly suggested to Gu Qili, "Little Gu, why don’t you join us for some karaoke? You young people love having fun, don’t you?"

"Yes, and Vice Manager Liu is going too."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhining knew everyone was keen on her joining, so he added, "Little Gu, come with us. It’s more fun with more people."

Since Vice Manager Liu had spoken, Gu Qili found it difficult to refuse and nodded, "Okay."

The moment Mu Shuoqian, who had almost stepped outside, paused abruptly in his tracks.