Rebirth of a Star - Chapter 111

Chapter 111 – Quarreling For The First Time (1)

While Lan Jinyao was standing in the elevator, she started to get a bit nervous, and her heart thumped incessantly. Her gaze was fixated on the ascending numbers as she inwardly scolded herself for being stupid.

That day on the rooftop she was overwhelmed by helplessness, so she’d temporarily lost her rationality and had accepted Jiang Cheng’s embrace in front of so many people. After that, she’d asked Fu Bainian if he minded, and had heard him indifferently reply that he didn’t.

She was so stupid! If Fu Bainian honestly hadn’t minded, then that would’ve meant that he didn’t love her at all. She thought about it from a different perspective. Fu Bainian loved her dearly, but he was still a man after all. How could he not be jealous and mind her being hugged by another man?

Fu Bainian was for sure deeply hurt about what had happened that day!

Lan Jinyao couldn’t help but smack her head as she muttered, “Lan Jinyao, how can you be so stupid and dense? What if Fu Bainian was working until the wee hours not because he was busy, but because he wanted to use work to numb himself instead? Or, maybe, he simply didn’t want to stay in the same room as you.”

The more she thought about it, the worse she felt deep down in her heart. As she was staring at the reflection in the mirror, she suddenly extended a finger to poke herself and at the same time she scolded, “You’re so stupid, really stupid…”

Right at that moment, the elevator door suddenly opened, and an employee walked in with a startled expression. Meanwhile, Lan Jinyao froze, leaving her finger hanging in the air.

“Madam, I…am I really that stupid?”

The employee had a sullen look on his face as he stared at her with a somewhat aggrieved expression.

Lan Jinyao slightly frowned and quickly explained, “I wasn’t talking about you…”

Another employee who was following the first employee widened his eyes and blurted out, “Is it possible that Madam was talking about me? But, I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?”

“…” Lan Jinyao was utterly speechless. She then stepped aside on her own initiative to let the two employees pass and stand behind her.

She was already in a bad mood, so she didn’t want to repeat the same thing. The elevator door slowly closed and started ascending once more. The two employees, who were standing behind her, were on tenterhooks and nervously stared at her.

When she got out of the elevator, she heard the two employees discuss anxiously, “Did we offend the Madam somehow?”

“Don’t tell me that we’re getting fired?”

“Sigh, how would I know? But, there must certainly be some criticism. You must surely not have been to the office of the President’s Secretary, right? The atmosphere over there is extremely cold and intense. Those poor secretaries, I bet they’re nearly frozen to death by now. I heard it was because the Madam…”

The elevator slowly ascended, and the voices of the pair gradually faded.

Lan Jinyao then leisurely walked towards the President’s office and pondered about how to start and what to say when she saw Fu Bainian.

The words those two employees had said earlier, as well as their nervous expressions, had made Lan Jinyao realise how important she was to Fu Bainian. So, she felt even more heavy-hearted now.

After a while, she halted in front of the office and was about to knock when Qian Ran stopped her.

Qian Ran softly told her, “President Fu has instructed that he’s very busy now, so no one is to go in and disturb him.”

Lan Jinyao obviously understood this. No wonder when she’d arrived she hadn’t seen Qian Ran. It turned out that he was standing guard at the door not letting anyone go in and disturb Fu Bainian!

She then asked Qian Ran, “Not even I am allowed to go in?”

Qian Ran’s expression was a little awkward. He remained silent for a moment before he replied, “President Fu specially told me that if it was you, then I definitely couldn’t let you go in because you would divert his attention.”

Qian Ran had even used the formal ‘you’ to address her. When Lan Jinyao heard this, she coldly snorted. “What if I insist on going in?”

Qian Ran helplessly blocked her path. “I’m really sorry!”

Sandwiched between the President and the Madam left Qian Ran feeling like he was standing between an iceberg and an ocean of fire; no matter which side he leaned towards, he wouldn’t be able to escape ‘death’!

He heaved a long sigh, and his face almost creased into a chrysanthemum as he expressed, “Madam, it’s not that I don’t want to let you in, but this is what President Fu has instructed. Can you come another day? Or, maybe you should give President Fu a call first? If you rashly go in now, I’ll be put in a tough position.”

Lan Jinyao gnashed her teeth and said, “Fu Bainian, very good! You won’t even let me go in!”

She’d initially wanted to console Fu Bainian, but at this very moment, Qian Ran’s deadpan words had made her furious.

With no choice left, she turned around to go. But, just as Qian Ran breathed a sigh of relief, she suddenly walked a few steps back, bypassed Qian Ran, and shouted at the door, “Fu Bainian!!”

Following that, she made way to the elevator again.

In the next second, irregular footsteps could be heard from the office before the door opened in front of Qian Ran, who was currently mourning with his head hung low. Qian Ran was inwardly thinking: He was done for this time! He’d pleased neither side!

The elevator door opened in front of Lan Jinyao, but she didn’t step in and instead turned around to stare at Fu Bainian, who was standing at the doorway.

Neither of them spoke for a long time until Fu Bainian opened his mouth and dimly said, “Come in!”

Lan Jinyao no longer insisted and followed him in. However, before she walked in, she ferociously glared at Qian Ran standing in the doorway, her eyes clearly indicating, ‘Humph, you’re a villain who wanted to drive a wedge between us!’.

At this sight, Qian Ran felt wronged and speechless. He was clearly just following President Fu’s orders. He took the risk of offending Lan Jinyao and had sent her away with great difficulty. Why did President Fu have to come out? Could it be that President Fu wanted to send him to the gallows?!

Under Lan Jinyao’s intense glare, Qian Ran helplessly forced a smile.

“You’re so early today; you’ve got something urgent to discuss with me?”

Lan Jinyao sceptically eyed Fu Bainian in front of her. How come she felt that Fu Bainian didn’t seem angry? She didn’t feel any of that so-called cold atmosphere at all.

Soon after, Fu Bainian asked again, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Lan Jinyao then probed, “Qian Ran said that you’re very busy now, so you’re not letting anyone in.”

Fu Bainian faintly replied, “Yea, I’m a bit busy!”

He sat next to her, then skillfully and elegantly prepared a pot of tea before pouring her a cup.

Lan Jinyao calmly took the cup, and then said, “I came over today to discuss something with you…”

She said that she was here to discuss something but, in fact, she’d already made a decision. She didn’t want to live amongst danger and nightmares. Her happiness was just within her reach, yet she was still hesitating. Could she really reach out her hand towards that? This kind of wavering feeling was genuinely awful.

Before she could finish, she was interrupted by Fu Bainian.

He said, “Try it, it’s a newly bought Oolong tea of the finest grade.”

Afterwards, Lan Jinyao dejectedly drank her tea. How come she felt that Fu Bainian had done that on purpose?