When Will My Childhood Sweetheart Marry Me?-Chapter 192: Underestimating Her Too Much
The furniture website needed twenty-three pages designed, and Jiang Shuyao spent two days to draft them. Although she studied art and painted with a brush on canvas, designing with a mouse and keyboard in Photoshop was fundamentally a different matter.
Just as a few seniors had said, treat a dead horse as if it’s alive, she was now the only hero who could rescue the base from fire and water.
Hero.
Jiang Shuyao felt a little amused when she heard this term.
On the day she sent the design drafts to the client, she casually asked Boss Pei if there was a contingency plan in case they got rejected again.
The guy, with his hair in a wild disarray as if he had roamed the ends of the earth, gave her a half-asleep glance and indifferently said, "With the Princess in charge, what need is there for a backup plan?"
Look at this damn confidence.
He practically worshipped her blindly.
Doesn’t he realize the higher you’re lifted, the harder you fall?
Pei Yan changed his posture to continue feigning sleep, the back of his hand covering his eyes, his tone lazy and relaxed, "As long as your dad is still alive, he’ll be your cushion for life; a future so bright, you won’t hit the ground."
Jiang Shuyao stood beside the table, looking down at the man lying on the lounge chair.
Twenty years old, he might as well be called a man.
She didn’t know precisely since when, probably since that night, his psychological hold on her seemed to have far exceeded the extent normal for a romantic relationship.
Occasionally, she wondered if this was really a good thing.
Once, while chatting with Tang Xing on WeChat, they touched upon this topic.
"Understanding you is truly loving you, better than some guys who feign ignorance knowingly—who are they trying to fool?"
Tang Xing’s tone was filled with silent grievances, making Jiang Shuyao suddenly realize she’d better make an appearance at Zhongyuan Band’s performance tomorrow night.
Chen Jin, Wen Lin, Tang Xing.
Such a TNT combination, once ignited, had infinite power.
On Saturday morning, Jiang Shuyao quickly had a bite to eat and arrived at the base by seven.
Thinking she would be the first one there, she was surprised to find a bunch of people lying haphazardly upon entering.
Why say a bunch?
Because a dozen seniors, Jiang Xubai, and her guy were all there.
The moment the door opened, someone reminded, "She’s here."
The person on the chair near the wall clearly flipped up swiftly.
Jiang Shuyao, feeling something was off, instinctively stayed put at the door.
Across the ten-meter distance, she locked eyes directly with those hangover-laden eyes.
Pei Yan was chewing gum, his expression comparatively normal.
Jiang Shuyao frowned, about to ask what had happened.
After a stare-off, Pei Yan suddenly closed his laptop, stood up with one hand on his waist, facing the entire base.
Seeing his stance, she felt a conditioned sense of foreboding internally.
She stepped back, ready to make an exit.
Pei Yan knocked on the table, "Come on, everyone shape up."
Shape up what.
No one offered her an answer.
Boss Pei raised his hand, and introduced with proper enunciation pointing at Jiang Shuyao—
"From now on, this is our base’s chief designer, give her a round of applause."
She: "..."
Jiang Xubai, wearing his usual casual smile, made an effort to clap, and those familiar with him knew he was genuinely happy.
Pei Yan glanced at the time, "Tonight I’m treating, to reward the Princess for her hard work these past days. Whoever wants to come can join, Jiang Xubai will count the number of people, I’ll book the seats in advance."
Hold on.
She hadn’t said a single word...
"Who’s treating, I want to go too."
A crisp voice rang out from behind her. Jiang Shuyao turned around to face a brightly unfamiliar face.
"Beauty, excuse me."
The scent of rosemary wafted around, and the girl with high boots squeezed through the gap between Jiang Shuyao and the door frame.
Once inside, like a joyful butterfly, she flitted toward Jiang Xubai.
Jiang Xubai stiffened his face, pretending to be nonchalant as he tried to peel the person off him.
"There are many people here, be conscious of the impression you’re making."
In contrast, the reactions of the others seemed nonchalant, as if they were used to it.
Jiang Shuyao tugged the corner of her mouth slightly; she’d missed quite a lot in this half month.
He didn’t ask further and sat down at his workstation.
Jiang Xubai only felt awkward, took a sip of water from the cup beside him to calm his nerves, and explained to Jiang Shuyao, "She’s my cousin from my hometown, a sophomore in the media studies program."
Cousin, sophomore.
Turns out she’s an upperclassman.
After hearing Jiang Xubai’s introduction, the girl didn’t seem too pleased.
"I’m not his cousin, I’m the girl next door."
Then she turned her face this way, "Hello, beautiful, my name is Zhang Xinxin, Xinxin meaning ’thrive and prosper.’"
The other party conveyed friendliness and enthusiasm to her.
She smiled, "Jiang Shuyao, hello, upperclassman."
Zhang Xinxin blinked, this name seemed vaguely familiar.
Xinxin’s arrival meant that Jiang Xubai couldn’t settle down to work all morning.
Sitting opposite, Jiang Shuyao was naturally affected to varying degrees.
Getting up to fetch water, Boss Pei, who was tapping away at code, casually reached around her waist, his eyes still on the screen, already talking to her, "What do you want for dinner tonight?"
Upon mentioning this, Jiang Shuyao remembered the matter from earlier.
"What ’chief designer’? You didn’t explain it clearly."
"The design for the furniture website; the client is very satisfied."
Hmm.
And then?
She noticed he could also type efficiently with one hand.
Glancing at the black screen, the speed of the characters was nearly the same with one hand.
Jiang Shuyao watched for a while, listening to Pei Yan continue, "Now that the design is confirmed, you can arrange the subsequent project content as you wish—work on it if you want, or rest if you don’t."
She didn’t understand.
"What does ’rest if I don’t want to work’ mean?"
Her tone was off.
Pei Yan stopped what he was doing and looked up.
Meeting her stormy gaze, he lazily chuckled low, "Come on, Princess, aren’t you happy I’m cooking you a special meal?"
Cooking a special meal.
She joined the base to enhance her professional skills, not to retire.
Jiang Shuyao lowered her gaze, looking down at him, "You’re worried that I can’t manage both art class and the base, running myself ragged, right?"
Pei Yan nodded with satisfaction, thinking the Princess was on the right track this time.
Her pride lasted only two seconds; after finishing with the water and closing the lid, she casually dropped a line and left.
"I managed to handle both the college entrance exam and Yangjin without issue before, and I can do the same now. I didn’t become the top scholar for nothing; you’re underestimating me."
Wow.
Pei Yan couldn’t help but laugh.
Giving her the title of chief designer was just to make things easier for her in the future, so she could be a hands-off boss; after all, it’s not good for a girl to stay up late often.
But her reacting this way was not out of his expectations.
Accepting it silently would be uncharacteristic of her.
Pei Yan took out his phone and sent a WeChat message.
"Tonight, let’s go to that Japanese restaurant you like."
"I’ve decided, no guests, just the two of us."
"A world for two."
...
A world for two...
What Jiang Shuyao feared most now, aside from Aunt Fu, was hearing "a world for two."
She closed her eyes, fingers moving to reply.
"Busy tonight, I must decline your company."
The message was hardly sent when, from the corner diagonally across, came the sound of a chair’s rollers scraping against the floor.
She deliberately avoided looking in that direction.
"Stop clinging to me all the time, can you give me some personal space?"
He: "..."
Damn it.
