After dropping Nana off, Jianyu went to meet his bossy cousin in question.
There he was sitting like the king of hell waiting to pass a death sentence on his subjects. In this case, his employees.
"Is this the best you can do?", he asked very slowly and very quietly. But the pressure it gave could clearly be felt.
The senior employees sweated. The collaboration of theirs and Chen Corps with the Fu Enterprise was an important venture. Both of the brother's companies invested in building child care centers for their safe upbringing and education. The employees were tasked to give a presentation on the feasibility of this project, land, neighboring area and much more.
But obviously, they failed to impress their big boss. So, they kept quiet. Never give excuses. He hated them.
He coldly stared at them and after few seconds of torturing silence he said, "If by tomorrow I don't get a decent presentation, collect your last paychecks."
The employees were relieved. At least they didn't get fired.
"Yes sir!", and they quickly scrammed.
"Have mercy on those poor employees.", Jianyu sighed as he entered his office.
The man ignored his comment.
"So tell me. Why did you call me in such a rush?"
He asked, "You were busy?"
Jianyu scowled. Do you think others are so free?
"Yes, my dear cousin. Apparently, I was busy."
"Doing what?"
Why is he asking so many questions?
"I am the CEO of my company. Can't I be busy with what you call 'work'?"
"And yet your presentation is not ready." He said emotionlessly.
His eyebrow twitched. Fine. You win.
"WellI was gone for lunch. But like you see, I straightaway came at your service."
He noticed the pause.
"I seeis this about the girl aunt was talking about?"
Jianyu widened his eyes.
"What!? Mom told you?"
"En. She did tell me about a girl you both met a few days ago. She really liked it for you. She was praising her like she has found a gem. I had to listen to her talking non-stop for thirty minutes until I excused myself for a meeting", he sighed. "I guess that was your lunch date with her."
Jianyu gaped. Mom! Why did you spill everything! We don't even know if this is going to work out.
He shook his head helplessly.
He sighed. "Yes, she is that same girl. But it was not a date. We went there just as friends."
He raised his eyebrows.
"So have you decided to move on?"
Silence.
He took a deep breath.
"Honestly, I don't know. But you know how mom is. She will not let go of this so easily. So for her satisfaction, I am giving this a chance. And", he paused giving it a thought, "till now, I found her quite decent and kind. So I suggested to try and be friends first."
"I see."
The man was now genuinely interested. He can never forget how his cousin was a wreck when she left. That was a very difficult time for him. He drowned himself in work. He locked himself in his office. He hardly used to come back home. He looked like a ghost whenever they got to see him after a long time.
They all wanted him to forget her but he just couldn't do it. But slowly, very slowly, things started to get back on track. Mother Chen, frustrated with his behavior, once slapped him hard on his face to beat some sense into him. She had to remind him that life is not over. He cannot continue to live like this just because one person left. And who didn't even deserve him?
So then he finally realized. There was still a long life ahead of him. He possibly cannot be like this till the day he dies. So he started to change.
But that didn't mean he was ready to get into a new relationship. He was still not ready for that. So now his cousin was interested to know the girl who could make him change his stubborn mind; even if it was a simple friendship. It meant that somewhere along the way, Jianyu himself was starting to accept her.
Jianyu then said, "Anyways. Enough about me. Now your turn. Tell me how's sister-in-law?"
He said, "She is good. But she is complaining about how you haven't met her in a while."
He scratched his head. "Ahaha..please tell her to forgive me this time. I will surely make it up to her", he said sheepishly. Then something struck him.
"Oh yeah! Your marriage anniversary is in two weeks, right? So..what are the special plans?", he teased.
"Well, this time she wants me to take part in all the preparations with her. Not just a celebration. Organizing stuff as well. So we are looking into the venue, decorators, invitations, caterers and all that. Before this meeting, she called to tell me that she has shortlisted two Michelin star chefs for the dinner party", he said as if it was a very simple thing to hire them.
He chuckled. "She is clearly so excited. Hiring even Michelin star-"
Then something suddenly struck him.
"Hey, you said that she has only shortlisted them right? Not finalized?"
"Yeah. Why?"
He smiled. "I know a chef who can be the best choice for this."