Chapter 284: You're worrying about me

With a "glug" sound, Xia Xi instinctively swallowed what was in her mouth, it got stuck a bit, she turned her face and coughed.

Xu Yanfeng's fingertip twitched, the emotion in his eyes faded, he raised his hand and lightly patted her back, the corners of his mouth slightly curled, a half-smile: "How can you even choke on a piece of fruit?"

Xia Xi's face flushed red, she forced calm, asked indifferently: "How come it's you?"

Xu Yanfeng spoke slowly: "Who did you think it was?"

Xia Xi didn't answer, her gaze returned to the computer: "I have to work."

In other words, you can leave.

Seeing her like that, Xu Yanfeng knew she was still angry, he sighed silently, told himself not to rush, he had to take it slow.

"Fine, I won't disturb you." Xu Yanfeng placed the glass bowl of fruit beside her computer, his knuckles lightly tapped the tabletop, "Remember to eat the fruit."

Xia Xi didn't look at him.

Xu Yanfeng turned and left her room, restoring the door to its previous ajar state.

After the person had disappeared, Xia Xi finally turned her head, glanced at the doorway, paused for a few seconds, her gaze shifted to the bowl of fruit, her expression relaxed a little, she picked up a strawberry and bit into it.

A memory surged into her mind, her expression stiffened, had she just bitten Xu Yanfeng's finger?

The cold war lasted a week.

Monday came again, Xia Xi woke up early, hearing the incessant clatter of pots and pans from the kitchen, she didn't know what Aunt Zhang was up to.

Unable to curb her curiosity, Xia Xi walked over.

A similar scene unfolded before her—Xu Yanfeng had taken over Aunt Zhang's spot, wielding the spatula at the counter, Aunt Zhang stood aside looking flustered, wanting to drive him away but constrained by his employer status, she had to respect his wishes.

Aunt Zhang would occasionally say, "Let me do it."

No matter how many times Aunt Zhang said that, Xu Yanfeng remained unmoved, acting as if he hadn't heard. It was as if he'd made a bet with someone, vowing to prepare a decent breakfast.

Aunt Zhang suddenly caught sight of Xia Xi at the kitchen doorway, froze for a moment, then gave her an expression that was both laughing and crying.

Xia Xi understood her helplessness, didn't go over to dissuade her, slipped out of the kitchen silently, and went to check on the two children in their rooms.

Zi Heng and Youyou had both woken up, washing up in the bathrooms of their respective rooms.

After a while, Xu Yanfeng brought out his masterpiece and placed it on the dining table.

He stir-fried a plate of shredded potatoes, fried a few eggs. The rest was made by Aunt Zhang: she simmered pumpkin millet porridge, pan-fried beef mille-feuille, and prepared several small dishes—a very typical Chinese breakfast.

When Xia Xi and the two children had seated themselves at the table, Xu Yanfeng served them each a bowl of porridge.

Xia Xi reached out: "I'll do it myself..."

"Don't move." Xu Yanfeng interrupted her, placing a bowl of millet porridge before her, "Try my cooking."

He especially emphasized the three words "my cooking".

Even if he didn't say it, Xia Xi knew, she had seen it with her own eyes.

However, at that time Xu Yanfeng was fully focused on stir-frying the vegetables in the pan, and hadn't noticed her.

Xia Xi stared at the plate of shredded potatoes, its appearance was just so-so, a few strands were even burnt, then she looked at the other plate with fried eggs; compared to the previous pile of "black charcoal", it could be said to have improved by leaps and bounds.

Seeing Xia Xi still not moving her chopsticks, Xu Yanfeng used the public chopsticks to pick up a bite for her: "It won't kill you, really."

Xia Xi: "..."

Does he have such low standards for his own cooking?

Zi Heng and Youyou didn't know why they suddenly started laughing. Xia Xi looked at them: "What are you laughing at?"

Youyou said: "Mom, your expression is like when I take medicine, haha."

Zi Heng said: "Mom, your stomach isn't good, don't force yourself to eat if you don't want to."

Xu Yanfeng: "..."

Xia Xi turned her head to look at Xu Yanfeng, his expression seemed a bit hurt. She paused, then ultimately couldn't bring herself to be hard-hearted, and ate a mouthful of the shredded potatoes he had just picked for her.

It wasn't as awful as she had imagined, but it couldn't be called delicious either. She gave a bland evaluation: "It's okay."

Zi Heng didn't believe her: "Really? Don't lie to the kid just to spare someone's feelings."

The "someone" he referred to, namely Xu Yanfeng, pulled a face and said: "You little brat, don't think I won't beat up a kid."

Zi Heng stopped talking, lowered his head and gnawed at the mille-feuille.

Xia Xi timely spoke up to vindicate Xu Yanfeng: "It's really okay."

Xu Yanfeng was instantly appeased, he said gently: "You like it, I'll make it often from now on."

Xia Xi's expression stalled, she took a sip of porridge, then said: "No need."

Xu Yanfeng hesitated: "You just said it's okay, are you just comforting me?"

Xia Xi glanced at him, pushed the plate of shredded potatoes toward him: "You made the dish yourself, you haven't tasted it?"

Xu Yanfeng indeed hadn't tasted it; hearing her, he picked up a few strands and put them in his mouth. Perhaps because he viewed his own cooking through a filter, he felt that achieving this level already counted as talent.

But why did she refuse his offer to cook for her again?

Xu Yanfeng voiced his inner thought, Xia Xi fell silent, then said: "There's no need to learn cooking, aren't you busy with work?" A big boss handling myriad affairs, why waste time on these trifles? Having something to eat is enough.

Xu Yanfeng: "Are you worrying about me?"

Xia Xi: "Worrying about what?"

Xu Yanfeng lowered his eyes, gave a low laugh: "Worrying that I work too hard."

Xia Xi was somewhat speechless, his comprehension ability is truly top-notch.

"Xu Yanfeng." She called his name earnestly.

Xu Yanfeng's eyelids twitched slightly, he lifted them: "What?"

Xia Xi bluntly said: "I'm giving you a way out so you can step down, not so you can climb higher."

Xu Yanfeng: "..."

Youyou and Zi Heng were snickering again; Xia Xi stopped asking them what they were laughing at—in a child's world, everything is fun.

Xu Yanfeng also wasn't discouraged by this; no matter what, Xia Xi was willing to say this much to him, compared to her attitude toward him a few days ago, he already felt satisfied.

After arriving at the company, Xia Xi had been busy; Huang Shiyu came in and brought her a latte, only then did she pause to rest a bit, sipping coffee while rubbing her neck.

Huang Shiyu took the chance to gossip: "A wealthy lady came to our company; she seems to be a client, and everyone is guessing her identity."

"How do you know she's a wealthy lady?"

Xia Xi smiled, her eyes occasionally flicking to the computer, and even during her break she couldn't stop pondering work problems.

"I can tell. That lady is decked out in brand-name goods, dripping in gold and silver, with a mighty aura." Huang Shiyu chattered excitedly, "Even the manager nods and bows when he sees her."

After chatting a few sentences, the door to Xia Xi's office was knocked.

Xia Xi set down her coffee cup and said, "Please come in."

The person who entered was the client manager; after Jiang Tian was fired, a young man named Tan Zhi Cheng was promoted. He is much steadier than Jiang Tian—although a client manager needs to be glib, this man obviously focuses more on strategy.

Tan Zhi Cheng rubbed his palms against the back of his hands, smiling, and said, "Xia Gong, a client wants to see you."

Seeing Xia Xi's puzzled expression, Tan Zhi Cheng sobered his smile and explained in detail: "The client wants to renovate a private estate; I just chatted with her for half a hour and showed her the portfolios of several designers from our Broad and Elegant firm. She compared them and prefers your design style, wishing to talk with you first before deciding whether to sign a contract."

Thinking that Xia Xi still had the Xu Clan's Jingyu Yuan project in hand, Tan Zhi Cheng's expression suddenly became a bit awkward: "But I don't know if you can adjust your schedule."

That client's private estate covers over a thousand square meters, also counting as a big project; landing it would naturally be best.

Xia Xi also didn't dare to outright agree without understanding the situation: "How about I first talk with the client to clarify her needs before deciding?"

"Fine, fine, fine, I'll take you there now; she's in the meeting room."

Tan Zhi Cheng was practically grateful to the point of indebtedness, afraid she would directly refuse.

Xia Xi simply tidied her desk, took only her phone, and followed Tan Zhi Cheng to the meeting room.

Hearing the sound of the door being pushed, the woman sitting beside the meeting table drinking coffee looked over; seeing Xia Xi, her eyes flickered slightly.