In the end, Lin Qingle got into Xu Tingbai's car.
It was late at night, and the traffic became less and less frequent the closer they got to her home. After leaving the city center, there were only a few pedestrians on the street.
Lin Qingle was sitting in the passenger seat and moved over to turn up the temperature of the air conditioner a little higher.
"Is it cold?" Xu Tingbai asked.
Lin Qingle: "It's okay, but you can't catch a cold again. It's not worth it if you get a fever just to send me off."
Xu Tingbai smiled and was about to say who would be so fragile, but then he changed his mind and swallowed his words back.
Yes, he forgot the vulnerability he was going to show.
"Isn't today's movie good?" Xu Tingbai asked again.
Lin Qingle: “… just, it’s OK.”
Xu Tingbai: "Really?"
"Um… "
After saying that, she realized that Xu Tingbai looked at her with a half-smile, and Lin Qingle touched her nose: "Well, actually I don't quite understand it."
"It's just a fight, how can you not understand it?" Xu Tingbai said, "You didn't see it."
Lin Qingle: “…”
Xu Tingbai: "Yes, I understand."
"Know what?"
"If you don't like this type of movie, try another one next time."
Lin Qingle murmured: "There won't be a next time..."
"What?"
"Ah? Nothing."
Lin Qingle's residence was a little far from Xu Tingbai's home, but there were few cars at night and the road was smooth, so he arrived there quite quickly.
"Tell me when you get home. Be safe."
"oh."
Lin Qingle got out of the car and stood outside the window: "Then you go quickly, I'm going in."
"good."
Lin Qingle waved his hand and trotted into the community gate.
Xu Tingbai did not leave immediately. He sat in the car and watched her disappear.
The weather was already very cold. Lin Qingle walked into the house, breathing heavily, and put down the computer and documents in his hands. Just when he was about to take off his scarf, his cell phone vibrated.
Xu Tingbai: Have we arrived yet
Lin Qingle quickly replied to him:
Xu Tingbai: Then why didn’t you send me a message
Lin Qingle: I just arrived, I haven't had time yet...Aren't you driving
Xu Tingbai: Not yet gone
Lin Qingle was stunned for a moment, and then saw Xu Tingbai sent a message: You are home, then I will leave, go to bed early
It’s just the road from the community to her home, she won’t get lost.
Lin Qingle complained quietly, but her heart was out of control, she was filled with joy, she lowered her head and replied to him: I see, you too
After sending the message, she put down her phone and raised her hand to untie her scarf. As a result, when she looked up, she suddenly saw two figures standing not far away and staring at her.
"… What are you doing?" Lin Qingle was startled.
Yu Tingting narrowed her eyes: "You're back so late, huh?"
Dong Xiaoni: "As soon as I came back, I didn't even take off my shoes and I was already sending messages with a lustful look on my face. Who were you sending messages to? Tell the truth."
Lin Qingle: "No one..."
Yu Tingting: "No need to ask, it must be Xu Tingbai. Who else can make our Qingle show such an expression? I tell you, since high school, it has only been Xu Tingbai."
Dong Xiaoni cooperated by widening her eyes: "Really?"
Yu Tingting: "Really, there was a handsome guy in our class who liked her, but she never smiled at him."
Lin Qingle was speechless: "Don't talk nonsense, how could I have never smiled at anyone?"
Yu Tingting: "I don't care, the smile you just had was the real smile, nothing else counts."
"… "
Lin Qingle didn't bother to pay attention to them. She took off her scarf and coat and walked in: "I won't talk to you anymore. I'm going back to my room."
"Xiao Qingle, you are so angry that you are embarrassed. Just tell me whether you have been with Xu Tingbai all day today."
Lin Qingle: "Yes, I told you at noon that I was going to deliver the documents to him..."
"Oh~ it was delivered at twelve o'clock in the evening."
"Well... this is because he was sick, so I took care of him." Lin Qingle coughed lightly and said, "We are all friends, is this too much?"
"You just treat him as a friend?" Yu Tingting said with a smile.
Lin Qingle choked: "Well, that's still the boss..."
"Hey, these two kids are so difficult to deal with." Yu Tingting looked like a seasoned expert on love. "When I asked you in high school, you confidently said that you treated him well because you liked him. Why are you hesitating now? If you like him, then you like him. We all know."
Lin Qingle was stunned. She seemed to have said that in high school.
But at that time, she said that she just liked someone, and she probably didn't even realize that there was something mixed in. Because that was during the teenage years, liking someone was the simplest and easiest thing to say.
But the liking after growing up... that obviously doesn't mean the same thing.
But after hearing what Yu Tingting said, Lin Qingle felt confused.
In fact, Yu Tingting was right about one thing, that is, from childhood to adulthood, if she had to say which boy she had a special affection for, it would only be Xu Tingbai. She had only given him the strongest and most sincere feelings.
But she also admitted that she was not as pure and straightforward as she was when she was a child. When she was a child, she could be confident in talking to him, but now... she is not so brave.
—
"Qingle, go choose a seat and sit down first. I'll go get a drink." At lunch time, Lin Qingle and his colleagues went to the company's restaurant to eat. When they went there, they met HR Qian Xiaojing, so they invited her to eat together.
Lin Qingle: "Okay, I'll go first. I'll choose a window seat."
Qian Xiaojing: "Okay."
Lin Qingle took his meal and found a seat to sit down.
She didn't eat immediately. She took out her phone and checked Weibo, wanting to wait for her colleagues to finish their food before coming over to eat together.
"Come here to eat alone?" Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the side.
Lin Qingle looked up and was stunned when he saw the person coming. After a while, he said, "No... there are colleagues."
"Oh." Xu Tingbai put down the plate in his hand, pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down.
Lin Qingle stared at him blankly. She had been in the company for so long, but she had never seen Xu Tingbai in the restaurant. From what she heard from her colleagues, the meals on the upper floors were basically delivered to the office.
"Is it convenient for us to eat together?" Xu Tingbai raised his eyes to look at her.
Now that she's sat down, does she still dare to say it's inconvenient
Lin Qingle could only bite the bullet and say, "Sure..."
There were three colleagues with her, and there was enough room for them to sit at the table.
Lin Qingle: "Why did you come down to eat today?"
Xu Tingbai: "Nothing, just sitting for too long, walk around a bit."
"oh."
Lin Qingle picked up the chopsticks and was about to take a bite of the food when she saw Qian Xiaojing and the others walking towards her. She quickly raised her hand to signal them.
However, she saw Qian Xiaojing and others showing shocked and terrified expressions, and they quickly turned a corner and sat down at another table not far away.
Lin Qingle's raised hand froze slightly: "..."
Xu Tingbai lowered his eyes to eat and asked casually, "Didn't my colleague come?"
"I came, but..." Lin Qingle was too embarrassed to say directly that they probably saw you here so they didn't dare to come, so he just asked tactfully, "Are you very fierce in the company?"
Xu Tingbai stopped using his chopsticks: "What do you think?"
Lin Qingle: “…I don’t know.”
Xu Tingbai raised his eyes and looked at her: "Am I mean to you?"
Lin Qingle thought about it.
Xu Tingbai felt a little helpless: "What do you mean by this pause? Do you really think I'm mean to you?"
"No, no, he's not fierce now." Lin Qingle muttered and added, "He was quite fierce when he was young."
Xu Tingbai: “…”
He couldn't refute this.
Afterwards, the two continued to eat quietly, but as they ate, Lin Qingle felt something was wrong.
The restaurant was originally a public area, where colleagues from the company would come to eat. Although the place where they sat was a bit remote, Xu Tingbai was there after all.
Not to mention that he was already eye-catching, people passing by would greet him from time to time, and after saying hello, they would look at her a few more times, which made Lin Qingle feel very uncomfortable.
That's right. They are in the company now, and she is not a big leader. It must be weird for her to have dinner with Xu Tingbai, especially when they are just two people.
Wait... will others misunderstand something
Thinking of this, Lin Qingle unconsciously sped up his eating speed.
"Hello, Mr. Xu. Eh? Qingle, you're here too." Just then, Li Heng, the designer who had been on a business trip abroad with him, passed by with a dinner tray.
Lin Qingle's eyes lit up, and he immediately greeted, "What a coincidence, let's eat!"
Li Heng: "Ah? Yes, yes, what else..."
"Then let's eat together." Lin Qingle quickly pulled out a chair for him, "Sit down!"
Xu Tingbai glanced at the enthusiastic Lin Qingle, then looked at Li Heng with a frown.
Li Heng was a person who didn't care about any rules or regulations. He wasn't as afraid of Xu Tingbai as he was of other people, so after Lin Qingle asked him to sit down, he sat down naturally.
Lin Qingle breathed a sigh of relief.
This shouldn't be too strange, it looks like just an ordinary meal between colleagues.
"Mr. Xu, I don't usually see you eating in the restaurant." Li Heng didn't even notice the dissatisfied look from his boss and spoke to himself.
Lin Qingle: "I just asked this question, and he said to walk around."
"Mr. Xu, your office is so big, can't you move around freely?"
Lin Qingle hesitated, and seemed to...
Xu Tingbai gave him a cold look and said, "Do I need so many reasons to eat here?"
Li Heng paused and said, "Of course not."
"Then take care of your own food."
"oh… "
After eating for a while, Li Heng glanced towards the dessert area and stood up: "The newly made cakes are out. I want to bring one for my colleague. I'll go get it first."
The restaurant has an external cake shop. The cakes are of a famous brand and taste very good.
Lin Qingle: "Okay."
Li Heng went there, and when he came back, he brought two small cakes and pushed one of them next to Lin Qingle.
Lin Qingle: "This..."
"This is for you. Don't you girls all like desserts? I bought one for you. Oh, this is a new model that came out yesterday. It's delicious." Li Heng said.
Lin Qingle looked inside through the transparent window on the cake box and found a little bear made of cream on the top.
Lin Qingle: "Hmm... I didn't see it yesterday, this is so cute."
Li Heng: "Yeah, I knew you would like it."
"Thank you." Colleagues often bring food to each other, so Lin Qingle didn't bother to be polite with him, thinking of just giving him something next time.
"It's okay, it's okay. I'm telling you, this is strawberry flavor. It has other flavors. I've tried chocolate..."
The two people opposite can still chat over a cake and have a great time.
Xu Tingbai glanced at Li Heng who was chattering a lot, and then glanced at Lin Qingle who seemed quite interested, and he didn't feel like eating anymore.
After a while, Lin Qingle finished his meal.
Lin Qingle: "Then I'll go first, you guys eat slowly."
Li Heng: "Okay, bye."
"Um."
Lin Qingle put the plate in the designated place, picked up the cake and walked towards the elevator.
The elevator didn't arrive, so she stood there waiting for a while.
"Lin Qingle."
Lin Qingle turned around when he heard the voice and saw Xu Tingbai coming out as well.
Lin Qingle: "You've finished eating too."
"Yes." Xu Tingbai suddenly reached out to her, "Give it to me."
"What?"
"cake."
Lin Qingle glanced at the cake box he was holding, not understanding what was going on, but still handed it forward: "What's wrong?"
Xu Tingbai took the cake from her hand and hung the cake box he bought at some unknown time on her finger, "Take it."
Lin Qingle stared at him blankly as he replaced Li Heng's cake: "You..."
"Vanilla." Xu Tingbai said, "He bought strawberry flavor, which is not delicious."
The author has something to say: Strawberry flavored grievance!