Chapter 36 - 36: Tsk tsk, so domineering now?
Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Tsk tsk, so domineering now?
Ning Yichu couldn’t help but laugh and cry. She’d never imagined that her terrible marriage to Li Lingyang would actually endear her more to her boss.
Only two months on the job and the penalty for breaking the contract wouldn’t apply—an idiot would refuse!
Mo Baiyou quietly gazed at her, without urging her to make a quick decision; he believed she would choose wisely.
Seconds later, Ning Yichu gave her answer, “When can I start working?”
“Now.”
Ning Yichu completed the onboarding process and became a Jade Sculpture artist at the Beiji Group, under the umbrella of the Jewelry Department’s Jade Sculpture Studio.
Currently, there were only a few ordinary staff members in the studio, and being the most experienced, she naturally became the supervisor.
Though it was just a two-month engagement, she still took her responsibilities seriously and earned high praise from Mo Baiyou.
That day, after work, her department decided to hold a welcome event for her over dinner.
Ning Yichu happened to have a document that was stuck, so she let them go ahead.
After dealing with the document, she quickly made her way to the gathering’s location, which she assumed would be a restaurant. To her surprise, it was the Jiangnan Club.
Wasn’t this the club where Li Lingyang had taken her from after she’d had too much to drink last time?
Just thinking about that embarrassing day made her want to crawl into a hole and hide.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ƝօνǤο.сο
It was rush hour, and there was an endless stream of cars, causing chaos on the roads.
At a traffic light, Ning Yichu called Aunt Wang to ask her to stay a little longer that evening to look after Ningning; she might be back late.
After hanging up, feeling a bit stuffy in the car, she rolled down the window to get some fresh air and unexpectedly saw an old lady, nearly eighty years old, sitting in a Bentley parked next to a taxi.
She was dressed in luxurious clothes and sat lazily on the cushion, talking to the driver about something…
Ning Yichu recognized her at first glance—it was Granny Li, whom she hadn’t seen in five years!
So many years had passed; the wrinkles on her face seemed to have multiplied, yet her eyes remained as kind and amiable as ever.
Ning Yichu wanted to greet her granny, but knowing she would leave again in two months, she swallowed her words.
Granny Li seemed to sense her gaze, slowly turning her head, but saw nothing.
Aunt Tong asked, “Madam, what are you looking at?”
“I just felt like someone was watching me.”
“Maybe it’s the charm of a beautiful car with a beautiful lady; you must have dazzled them with your aura,” Aunt Tong joked.
Granny Li playfully scolded with a laugh, “At my age, still a beauty?”
“Beauty is in the bone, not the skin. You, you’ll still be a great beauty even at a hundred years old.”
Ning Yichu was hunched over inside the car, barely catching Granny Li’s voice until the green light came on and the driver had moved a distance away before she straightened up feeling deeply upset.
When she arrived at the club, everyone else was already present, laughing and chatting heartily with both men and women present, including many top-tier designers from Beiji’s European headquarters, all with renowned international reputations.
Ning Yichu, new to the group and arriving so late, naturally ruffled some feathers.
Especially those of the old-school European designers.
“You Asian women are so arrogant, making us wait just for you as soon as you arrive at the group…” The woman speaking was named Deelia, famously prejudiced against Asians.
Ning Yichu picked up a glass of wine, “I’m truly sorry, the traffic was terrible and I was delayed, I’ll drink a penalty glass for this.”
“Just a penalty glass and that’s it?” Deelia’s assistant designer sneered beside her, “I heard Miss Ning was specially approved by the boss to enter, more impressive than all of us, so how about Miss Ning hosts tonight?”
Mo Baiyou hadn’t mentioned she was on the job for only two months, and Deelia’s people thought she was there to stay, so Ning Yichu, aiming to keep the peace, agreed generously.
“Enjoy the food and have a great time everyone.”
“Wow, Lady Ning is so mighty!”
“Lady Ning, here’s to you.”
Deelia’s smirk froze, then she signaled to her lackey with a glance, and ordered quite a few expensive bottles of liquor.
Someone whispered a warning, “Those bottles cost five to six thousand a piece, isn’t that too much…”
Deelia, with a smile that was not really a smile, said, “There has never been a precedent for Beiji to specially recruit an Asian female designer. Who knows what kind of backdoor Miss Ning went through. A few bottles of wine are nothing compared to that, right, Lady Ning?”
“A few bottles of wine surely aren’t much, but it also depends on whether the person drinking it is worth it.”
Ning Yichu was no pushover, Deelia was clearly looking for trouble, and she wasn’t about to let herself be exploited willingly—that’d be madness.
Deelia’s smile instantly stiffened, “Bitch, what did you say?”
“Can’t understand Mandarin? Oh, sorry, I forgot, you’re a European designer, English is your first language.” Saying this, Ning Yichu repeated her earlier words in English.
Deelia turned an angry shade, glaring furiously at Ning Yichu.
She had long harbored a crush on the president and heard he was coming to Imperial City to explore new markets; she had decisively given up her base in Europe to follow him.
She had imagined the president would make her head of the jewelry department, but no such order had come, and instead, they’d brought in an impressive Jade Sculptor.
“…We’re all colleagues here, let’s not take jokes too seriously.” Someone attempted to defuse the tension.
“Deelia, please, calm down. She’s just a lowly oriental woman, all talk. Ultimately, it’s the work that will show who’s best, and the boss will surely see who is the most outstanding,” Deelia’s assistant tried to soothe her.
Deelia’s eyes flickered as if she’d thought of something and sat back down with a cold snort.
Ning Yichu simply smiled and continued to greet others.
Inside a neighboring private room, a waiter had just told Mu Bailang about the incident.
“Tsk, tsk, Xiao Chuchu’s become so assertive after a few years,” Mu Bailang’s thin lips curled, turning to ask Li Lingyang, “I remember when she was married to you, she was as meek as a lamb, wasn’t she?”
Li Lingyang downed his wine in one go, a shadow crossing his handsome brow. Ning Yichu had long ceased to be the same person she was five years ago.
Mu Bailang smirked and raised his eyebrows, “I heard the illegitimate child who looks so much like you, isn’t his mother Xiao Chuchu?”
Li Lingyang was in a foul mood and replied dismissively, “If you say it’s not, then it’s not.”
“Phew, you’re really a scumbag. I might have gone through my share of romances, but at least I never left a woman with a baby. You’ve got Shen Jiangqing, and now this mysterious woman…” Mu Bailang said disdainfully.
Li Lingyang glared at him coldly, almost ready to have him thrown out, “Is your grandmother setting you up on too few blind dates, making you this idle?”
Fearing that Li Lingyang would complain to the old lady, Mu Bailang squinted like an ancient fox, “I’m just helping you analyze, aren’t I? That woman had a child and never came to you; suddenly she appears out of nowhere. What does she want?”