Substitute Bride to the Crippled Billionaire-Chapter 186: Hostile Relationship

"Everyone in the company knows about Hongjie liking the minister," Gu Xiaoxiao said with a playful wink, staring mysteriously at Su Qingnuan. "Today, after what happened between you and the minister in the pantry, the whole company is talking about how close you two are. Hongjie must be here to show off because of that."

"She likes Minister Xia....."

Although she had clearly felt it earlier, listening to Gu Xiaoxiao’s confident words, Su Qingnuan couldn’t help but smile.

"Speaking of which, Minister Xia doesn’t usually show up at the office much. Why did he suddenly decide to go to the pantry today?" Gu Xiaoxiao wondered.

Su Qingnuan raised an eyebrow, giving her a playful look: "You really asked the wrong person. If I knew, would I be chatting here with you? I’d have gone to butter up the minister long ago."

"Oh, come on." Gu Xiaoxiao lightly pushed her, "With your personality, if you’re really going to butter up someone, you might as well go and butter up that Mister Fu of yours."

"....."

Indeed, compared to Minister Xia, buttering up Mister Fu might actually be more beneficial.

"I’d love to...." Su Qingnuan sighed silently. "But Mister Fu has that ice-cold personality. No matter how much I wish, if he doesn’t give me face, there’s nothing I can do."

"Doesn’t give you face?" Gu Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow, laughing: "You’re a couple. Not giving face is just flirting, impossible."

Seeing Gu Xiaoxiao’s teasing look, it was clear she didn’t believe what she said.

"Alright." Gu Xiaoxiao shrugged, indifferent: "Interpret it however you like, anyway... there’s nothing I can do."

Gu Xiaoxiao faltered for a moment, about to say something.

"What are you two still doing here?" The supervisor’s voice suddenly interjected, frowning at them.

Su Qingnuan promptly stood up straight, speaking earnestly: "Supervisor, we were discussing the project."

"Why are you standing in the middle of the way discussing a project? If you have something to say, go back and talk."

"...Okay."

The two of them awkwardly ran off, returning to their spots.

Just as she sat down, she felt the desk vibrate.

Puzzled, she opened the drawer and her phone’s screen was vibrating continuously.

Seeing the caller ID, Su Qingnuan paused, then picked up the phone.

"Qingnuan." Shen Lin’an’s gentle voice came from the other end of the phone.

Su Qingnuan smiled softly: "Lin An brother, what’s the matter?"

Ever since that conversation, Shen Lin’an had clearly gotten over it. Though he still said some caring words from time to time, he was very measured.

"I haven’t seen Su Yuerou these days, do you know what she’s busy with?"

"Yuerou?" Su Qingnuan was puzzled, hesitantly saying: "I rarely contact Su Yuerou nowadays."

"..." There was silence on the other end for a while, then he sighed: "I’m looking for Yuerou because she has some of our photos, and I want her to delete them."

Hearing him say that, it probably wasn’t good photos.

"Okay." Su Qingnuan replied knowingly: "I haven’t seen Su Yuerou for a long time either. She should be with Fu Yixing."

"Fu Yixing?" Shen Lin’an was surprised: "When did she get involved with Fu Yixing?"

Su Qingnuan gave a wry smile: "This is a long story, but Lin An brother, I want to remind you, if possible, stay away from the Su family."

There was silence again on the other end of the phone.

After a while, Shen Lin’an said softly: "Qingnuan, I know Auntie did this and wronged you, but Uncle still cares about you."

"I know." Su Qingnuan frowned slightly, interrupting Shen Lin’an, "Lin An brother, I have work to do here. Let’s chat later if there’s anything."

"Alright."

After hanging up the phone, Su Qingnuan held the phone in silence for a while until footsteps approached behind her. She then put down the phone and picked up the document to work again.

Tonight, there was still night duty, but not just Su Qingnuan alone.

Gu Xiaoxiao pulled over a chair, sitting next to Su Qingnuan: "This is just the right time to discuss what we should do with that."

"Okay." Su Qingnuan tidied up the desk, taking out the phone.

The language system wasn’t Su Qingnuan’s strong point, nor was Gu Xiaoxiao’s, so they were both starting to learn from scratch.

Based on the information collected during the day, they roughly put forward two plans.

"Let’s try this first." Su Qingnuan followed plan one, seriously: "I think this has the highest possibility of being feasible."

Gu Xiaoxiao nodded in agreement: "I think so too, so let’s give it a try."

"Alright."

They leaned their computers together and began coding separately.

In the quiet office, only the crisp sound of keyboards could be heard.

Suddenly, a shadow drifted in.

She peeked at the two busy people, her bright black eyes gleaming with glee.

Xia Xiaoyuan bent over, tiptoed to the opposite side of the two, then suddenly stood up.

"Wow!"

"Ahhhhh!"

Gu Xiaoxiao jumped up abruptly, retreating back.

Su Qingnuan was also stunned, her heart skipped a beat as she blankly stared at that cute face.

"Oh my....." Gu Xiaoxiao clutched her chest, recovering from the scare, "Where did this kid come from? Nearly scared me to death!"

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Su Qingnuan looked pale.

"Xiaoyuan, why did you come over?" she asked softly.

Hearing this, Gu Xiaoxiao asked puzzledly: "Do you know this child?"

Su Qingnuan nodded, lowering her voice: "Minister Xia’s daughter."

"...." Gu Xiaoxiao paused, her eyes widening, then turned to look at Xia Xiaoyuan.

Xia Xiaoyuan’s round face lit up with a warm smile as she waved: "Hello!"

"...Hello." Gu Xiaoxiao replied awkwardly, "Nice to meet you, I’m Gu Xiaoxiao."

"Little Xiaojiejie."

"How sweet."

Looking at the harmonious atmosphere between the two, Su Qingnuan suddenly doubted whether Gu Xiaoxiao’s guarded expression the first time they met was real.

It seemed that because of Gu Xiaoxiao’s childlike innocence, she had much in common with Xia Xiaoyuan when talking.

In their conversation, Xia Xiaoyuan had already looped around to stand beside Gu Xiaoxiao.

The two were tired from coding, so they took this time to tease the child and take a break.

"Xiaoyuan! Do you want some candy?" Gu Xiaoxiao somehow produced a piece of candy.

Xia Xiaoyuan blinked, suddenly looking at Su Qingnuan.

Following her gaze, Gu Xiaoxiao chuckled: "What’s up? Do you need Sister Qingnuan’s approval?"

Xia Xiaoyuan nodded, seriously: "Sister Qingnuan, can I have it?" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Su Qingnuan paused, raising her hand to gently touch Xia Xiaoyuan’s head, smiling softly: "Little Xiaojiejie is Sister Qingnuan’s best friend. If you trust Sister Qingnuan, you can also trust Little Xiaojiejie."

Hearing this, Xia Xiaoyuan nodded and took the candy.

Watching the obedient little one, Gu Xiaoxiao remarked: "I never expected that with Minister Xia’s indifferent appearance, his daughter would be so adorable."

Su Qingnuan chuckled lightly: "Actually, it’s not surprising. Maybe it’s because we don’t interact much with Minister Xia, so we feel he’s cold."

"True." Gu Xiaoxiao nodded in agreement.