Chapter 15: Gentleness “Miss Fang, do you mind if your other half is older than you…

Fang Chuning muttered to herself, how come she didn’t realize before that this person was a bit neurotic.

After about twenty minutes, Fang Hong finally finished her meeting and came back. She glanced at the person sitting on the sofa, walked straight to the desk, draped her suit jacket over the chair, and the first thing she asked was, “How is your father doing?”

“Pretty good, eating well, drinking well, sleeping well.”

Fang Chuning pretended not to understand what she meant.

Fang Hong nodded without further questioning, tapped the desk lightly with her fingers, and calmly changed the subject, “Have you sorted out the performance at your school?”

“Mm.”

“Are you participating too?”

Fang Chuning looked up from her phone and glanced at the woman, “Yes.”

“What are you performing?”

Fang Chuning found it strange, when did this person start caring about such things? In the past, she would just generously give her a bank card and never asked about these “little things”. Now it seemed a bit out of character for a big boss.

Fang Chuning looked suspicious, “It’s… a fairy tale.”

“Oh?”

“The fairy tale is called ‘Sleeping Beauty’.”

Fang Hong, who had never experienced childhood and had not participated in her own child’s childhood, didn’t even know what kind of story this was. She nodded as if she understood and asked again, “Are you playing the sleeping one?”

Fang Chuning’s forehead broke out in black lines, “Of course not…”

Fang Hong nodded again. She sat down in the office chair, kept a straight face for a while, and said, “What do you think about me coming to school to see you that day?”

After all the roundabout talk, she actually just wanted to see Father Fang, because she knew that Father Fang would definitely go to school to see her performance that day. Fang Chuning had never seen her own mother being so wishy-washy. Why not just say it directly instead of going around in circles!

Fang Chuning crossed her arms and leaned back on the sofa, shaking her head at her with a suppressed smile.

This surprised Fang Hong a little, “Why?”

“You know very well why Dad is angry. If you want to make up with him, then do something about it. Are you going to keep that secretary Li in the company to be an eyesore to Dad?”

Regardless of whether the two had a relationship or not, Fang Chuning would of course unconditionally stand on her father’s side.

Fang Hong frowned slightly, “This has nothing to do with Secretary Li. There are many reasons why he can’t be fired. You haven’t been involved in company matters, so you don’t understand.”

If there was nothing more to say, Fang Chuning simply shut up and played with her phone.

“Then it’s decided.” Fang Hong made the decision on her own.

Realizing that she was just a prop who came over as a formality, Fang Chuning was even less inclined to speak.

At this moment, a crisp knock sounded from outside the door. The next second, the office door opened and a man walked in with a cup of coffee. He skillfully placed it on the woman’s desk and said, “Director Fang, your coffee.”

“Mm.” Fang Hong responded indifferently.

Fang Chuning’s gaze surreptitiously darted between the two, trying to find some clues, but unfortunately, the man really just came in to deliver a cup of coffee. After he was done, he turned around to leave.

Just as Fang Chuning felt disappointed and was about to look away, the man suddenly turned his face slightly, and his enchanting eyes glanced at her gently, with a charming slight smile on his lips.

Although he had a face that could devastate a country, he was dressed very conservatively, with his shirt buttoned up to the very top. His hair, which was even silkier than hers, was neatly tied behind his head. His abstinent yet alluring aura was irresistible.

This type of man undoubtedly had a huge impact on women. No wonder even someone as serious as Fang Hong couldn’t resist. Unfortunately, this look didn’t work on Fang Chuning, who had more than a few strings in her brain. In her eyes, the man’s smile seemed to carry a hint of provocation, and the more she looked at him, the more unpleasant he became.

When she was in a bad mood, she liked to make things difficult for people. Fang Chuning reached out to pretend to pick up the milk on the table, then “accidentally” spilled the milk all over the table. She leaned back on the sofa and imitated Gao Qiong’s coquettish tone, “Oops, I accidentally spilled it.”

Anyone with eyes could see that the girl’s exaggerated action was deliberate. Fang Hong raised her eyebrows slightly, “Clean up what you spilled yourself.”

“I don’t know how.” Fang Chuning quickly replied.

“If you don’t know, then learn.”

“I don’t have time.”

“If you free up the time you spend playing games, you’ll have plenty of time.”

Fang Chuning was tongue-tied. She pouted and turned her face away with some guilt.

Seeing the girl’s deflated appearance, Li Yipeng’s smile deepened. “Let me do it.” He said, finding a rag and squatting beside the girl to clean the milk stains on the table.

When he got close, Fang Chuning could smell the fragrance of his perfume. It smelled so good that she wanted to ask him what brand of perfume it was. As she kept smelling it, she felt as if her whole body had relaxed a bit.

“Move your feet away a little, they’ll get dirty.”

The man’s gentle whisper brought Fang Chuning back to her senses. She looked down and found that the milk was dripping from the table onto the floor and flowing towards her toes. She moved her feet away, and the man immediately wiped away the spilled milk with the rag. He looked up at her with a smile, “You can put your feet back now.”

His attitude made Fang Chuning feel very strange. Even if he was deliberately putting on an act of being a virtuous husband and father in front of Fang Hong, there was no need to be so serious about it, right? For a moment, she had the illusion of an ancient noble young master not hesitating to lower his status to serve her.

He’s really giving his all to get into the Fang family, Fang Chuning sighed inwardly.

However, this feeling also made her a bit uncomfortable. She simply got up and went to the top floor to find Gao Qiong.

Until the office door slammed shut, Li Yipeng’s gaze still hadn’t retracted. “Miss Fang’s temper has improved a lot compared to before.”

Fang Hong raised her eyebrows, “Are you being sarcastic?”

Li Yipeng smiled, “Director Fang, if there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first.”

“Wait,” Fang Hong stopped the person who had walked to the door. She put down the coffee she had taken a few sips from, “About that matter last time, can you help me explain it to my lover? He won’t listen to me, but in fact, that day… there really was nothing.”

“Of course.”

“Good, next time I’ll take you to see him. You can go out first.”

Li Yipeng nodded and left the office.

Fang Hong’s gaze lingered on the doorway for a few seconds, then moved to the half-drunk coffee. She reached out and gently pushed the coffee away, then shifted her attention to the documents.

On the top floor, as soon as Fang Chuning arrived, she saw Gao Qiong diligently watering the flowers. Above her head was a heat-insulating transparent glass. The sunlight shining in wasn’t dazzling and could provide sufficient light for the plants.

“Stop playing, let’s go back.” Fang Chuning called out to her.

“Okay, wait a moment, I’m almost done watering.”

Gao Qiong seemed to have been particularly enthusiastic about watering plants since a long time ago. Fang Chuning didn’t know why someone would have such a strange hobby.

After finally waiting for her to finish watering, the elevator door suddenly opened. The two looked over involuntarily. The person who came out was Secretary Li, whom they had just met a moment ago. He was holding two cups of hot milk in his hands and slowly walking towards them.

Gao Qiong’s eyes widened. It was the first time she had seen a man of this type.

Li Yipeng politely smiled at her, “Director Fang asked me to bring you two cups of hot milk.” After saying that, his eyes turned to the displeased-looking girl, “Director Fang hasn’t seen you for several days. She must be hoping that Miss Fang can stay a little longer.”

“If I stay a little longer, it will be dark. My dad called me to go home for dinner.”

Fang Chuning didn’t give him any face at all.

Gao Qiong squeezed past her and stared straight at the man, “Big brother, do you have a girlfriend?”

Li Yipeng’s gaze shifted slightly to her face, still smiling, “No, I don’t.”

“Ah, that’s great! I’m single too!”

Gao Qiong’s reaction was no surprise to Fang Chuning. After all, this person was a notorious slag in school, always sticking tightly to any good-looking man she saw, with boyfriends both inside and outside the school.

But this time it was different. “Don’t call him brother for no reason. He’s almost ten years older than you.”

Fang Chuning glanced at the man’s face. His outstanding appearance made it difficult to tell his real age. If she hadn’t accidentally seen his information in Fang Hong’s office, she would have thought he was in the same grade as them. Ah no, one grade higher, as he was an adult after all, so his demeanor should be more mature.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s older. Love has nothing to do with age!”

Seeing someone talk about love at first sight, Fang Chuning felt tired just mocking her.

Li Yipeng blinked, “If I had a girlfriend your age, wouldn’t people say I was a cradle robber?”

Gao Qiong thought there was hope and shook her head frantically, “No, they won’t. You’re so good-looking, no one will say that about you!”

“Is that so…” Li Yipeng murmured, his eyes gently looking at the young girl. “What does Miss Fang think?”

“What?”

“Could Miss Fang accept a boyfriend almost ten years older than you?”

No, why was he asking her this question? Fang Chuning’s gaze wandered meaningfully between the two, her mind turning several corners. Suddenly, she flashed a brilliant smile, “Sure, why not? Didn’t you hear what she said? Love has nothing to do with age!”

If these two really got together, wouldn’t that prove that Fang Hong had nothing to do with him? Although she was freer outside the Fang family, she didn’t want Fang Hong and Father Fang to really get to the point of divorce.

Li Yipeng laughed, his smile no longer containing that distant politeness, but pure joy, with a hint of shyness flashing in his sparkling phoenix eyes.

The two looked at each other and laughed foolishly, each thinking of two completely different things in their minds.

Gao Qiong’s smile gradually stiffened as she looked at one and then the other, always feeling that something was off.

…

Time flew by quickly. On the day of the school anniversary performance, the school was packed with people. In addition to parents, there were also some people from TV stations. As an aristocratic famous school, New Star couldn’t do without TV coverage for even the smallest thing.

Many luxury cars were parked outside the school, including Fang Hong’s car. Today, she didn’t have the driver drive, but drove herself and brought the two children.

Fang Hong glanced in the rearview mirror, “Lili, what did you say to your father on the phone just now?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Fang Hong’s fingers caressed the leather steering wheel as she watched the students coming and going outside the car. “Did he say when he’s coming?”

“No.”

Fang Hong found that asking was useless. She reached out to unfasten her seat belt. “You two go in first. I’ll come find you later.”

Fang Tianli responded and said happily to the boy beside him, “I know where Fang Chuning is. Let’s go find her now.”

Su Qi nodded and politely said to the woman in the driver’s seat, “Auntie Fang, then Lili and I will go in first.”

“Mm.”