As she moved the Christmas decorations from last year, she couldn't help but think of Sophie and Chen Ma again.
Last Christmas, Sophie had helped her decorate, and Chen Ma was still around. It had only been a year, but things had changed so much.
She couldn't help but wonder if she could bring Sophie some delicious food before Christmas, but she knew Tianyi wouldn't agree. She had to suppress her thoughts and continue waiting for the day Tianyi could let go.
...
After Tianyi returned to the group, he only shared this important discovery with Xiao Anjing.
Xiao Anjing also realized that they had a chance to turn the tables. From being extremely worried, he became overjoyed.
"You were right, things change in an instant. No one knows who the final winner will be until the last moment."
Tianyi retorted, "Now you believe me. We need to make good use of this leverage and catch Xie Zhendong off guard."
Anjing nodded repeatedly and said, "I'll call everyone to the conference room now. The preparations for the bid cannot stop."
"Good, but besides me and Susu, and you know about this, no one else can know, understand?" Tianyi instructed.
"Don't worry, of course I know the importance of secrecy." With that, Anjing bounced out of his office.
The senior executives and the president's office staff had been working overtime for a week. They thought that since President Qin was taking leave today, they could finally get off work on time.
But they didn't expect President Qin to return to the group in the afternoon to hold a meeting. Everyone thought they would have to continue working overtime today, and they all had grievances but didn't dare to speak up.
In the meeting, Tianyi did not put pressure on everyone again, nor did he emphasize how to race against time. He just encouraged everyone.
The meeting didn't last long. As soon as it was five in the afternoon, he announced, "No overtime today. Everyone can go home and spend more time with their families. Meeting adjourned."
As soon as he said this, everyone was stunned and hadn't reacted yet.
Anjing repeated his words and said, "Didn't you hear? President Qin has granted everyone permission to leave on time today."
After speaking, he left the conference room with Qin Tianyi.
Only then did excited discussions erupt from the conference room.
Anjing quickened his pace to catch up with him and said with a smile, "It's rare. We have to thank Susu for finding the breakthrough for us."
Tianyi stopped at the door of his office and looked at him, saying, "I relaxed a bit today and gained something, so I want you all to relax too. This will boost everyone's morale."
"Yes, we should have thought of this earlier." Anjing also wanted to go home quickly. "I won't talk to you any longer. I need to go back to my wife and kids. If I don't get home on time, even someone as good-natured as Lan Yu would get angry with me."
"You need to think carefully when you get back about how we should make our next move..."
Before Tianyi could finish speaking, he had already disappeared.
Tianyi couldn't help but shake his head with a smile. It seemed he had been putting too much pressure on his employees, and he needed to ease it appropriately.
He didn't stay in the office for long. After tidying up, he also went home.
Susu at home thought he would be busy until late again and didn't plan to wait for him to eat dinner. She was about to tell Xiaomei not to cook too much food, just enough for them and the housekeeper, when she saw Xiaolin driving back to pick up Tianyi.
She came out of the kitchen and ran to the villa entrance. Seeing that it was indeed Tianyi, she was stunned.
It wasn't until Tianyi walked up to her that she asked, "Why are you back so early?"
"Isn't it good that I'm back early?" Tianyi's deep voice was magnetic.
"Yes, of course it's good." Susu quickly turned around and said, "Then I need to go to the kitchen to cook a couple of dishes myself. Wait for me."
She deftly avoided his hand reaching for her and ran back into the kitchen like a diligent young wife.
Tianyi watched her evasive movements with amusement and walked into the villa. He saw that the living room had already been decorated with many Christmas ornaments, creating a festive atmosphere.
He went upstairs to change first. When he came downstairs, he smelled the familiar aroma of cooking and instinctively thought Chen Ma was still busy in the kitchen.
But he quickly came to his senses. The person cooking should be Susu, who had learned Chen Ma's skills.
This stir-fried chicken with ginger and scallions was Chen Ma's specialty and one of his favorite dishes.
He quietly walked into the kitchen. Susu was concentrating on cooking.
Xiaomei noticed him enter, smiled, and quietly retreated.
Susu, still unaware, said, "Xiaomei, pass me the white pepper."
Tianyi silently found the bottle with white granules among the seasonings and handed it to her.
Susu took it and was about to pour it into the dish, but realized something was wrong. She turned to Xiaomei and said, "This isn't white pepper, this is..." but found that the person beside her was no longer Xiaomei, it was Tianyi causing trouble.
She put down the chicken essence in her hand, pushed Tianyi aside, took the white pepper herself, and sprinkled it into the dish, saying, "Hurry up and go out, call Xiaomei in. Be good, just go wait to eat."
"I don't want to." Tianyi not only didn't go out, but hugged her from behind and said, "I want to watch you cook here."
"You always watch, but I've never seen you learn to cook a dish." Susu smiled and said, "Why don't you go rest?"
Tianyi let go of her and went to study the seasonings himself, saying, "I won't disturb you while you cook, I'll just see the difference between white pepper and other white seasonings."
Susu smiled and didn't drive him out of the kitchen anymore.
Every time she told him not to stay in the kitchen, she actually liked him to be by her side. When she occasionally looked at him while cooking, she felt that the years were still peaceful and beautiful.
When she finished cooking, they brought the dishes out together. Susu had originally invited Xiaomei to eat with them.
Xiaomei saw how loving they were and didn't want to disturb them. She made an excuse that she was going to bring some food to Xiaolin, leaving the dining room for them to have their time alone.
Tianyi picked up a piece of braised pork and fed it to her, saying, "Open your mouth, you should eat more meat to supplement protein."
Susu ate the meat and said, "But eating too much meat can also make you gain weight."
"As long as I don't dislike you, what does it matter if you gain weight?" Tianyi put a chicken leg into her bowl again.
Susu moved her bowl away and said, "Enough, enough. You're the one who should eat more. Look how much harder you work than me usually." As she spoke, she also put food into his bowl.
Tianyi affectionately stroked her head, "Let's stop feeding each other. If we don't eat soon, it will get cold."
Susu hummed and started eating. She happily watched him elegantly finish the entire plate of scallion chicken she made and asked, "Do you like the taste? This is my first time trying to cook it using Chen Ma's method, so I wasn't sure."
"I like it, it's as delicious as Chen Ma's." Tianyi put down his chopsticks, feeling very full, and his heart was filled with longing for Chen Ma again.
Susu saw his mood and changed the subject, asking, "Don't you need to find a way to deal with Xie Zhendong? Why are you back so early? Don't you need to strategize with Anjing?"
"I've also figured it out. These things can't be solved in one day. By letting everyone leave on time to relax today, we can then devote ourselves to more intense work starting tomorrow."