Chapter 448: The Wife-Watching Stone

As night falls slowly, the moon shines sparsely among the stars, and a cold wind begins to blow outside, the villa, however, buzzes with activity.

The dumplings are all in the pot now, bubbling away, bubbling, moving with the waves as they cook.

Dong Wenhao, known as the master chef of Room 208, has cooked up several delicious dishes.

Yet a dish called caramel sweet potato isn’t his strong suit. He had to look up videos online and follow along.

He doesn’t really enjoy cooking dishes he’s not good at, especially those that make a mess of the pots, but the boss demanded this dish specifically, so he bravely gave it a try.

“Such a big man, and he likes sweet food, tsk tsk tsk…”

Dong Wenhao mutters while starting to boil the sugar as a bunch of lazy folks gather on the living room carpet, waiting and playing cards.

Soon after, Deng Yuan arrives, who has a good relationship with Sun Zhi from the business department. She brings a set of exquisite tea set as a gift for the boss.

Following her are Xu Kaixuan and his wife who works with him in Shanghai. Both used to barely scrape by, but they’ve recently moved into middle-class life, having moved out from a sublet balcony partitioned room to a small one-bedroom.

It’s rented, but Xu Kaixuan has begun to consider the suddenly attainable idea of buying a house.

Next is Lu Xuemei, who runs around major shopping districts. She’s 208’s very committed photography-loving design department manager. Many famous photos are her work.

Photos including “208 members visit the Global Financial Center,” “Jiang Qin manages both business and studies simultaneously,” “Wei Lanlan meets warmly with Linchuan city leaders,” “Bears climbing trees,” and others.

She has also brought a gift; it’s a handmade album she designed, titled “Confession.”

It contains pictures of Jiang Qin, Feng Nanshu, and their photos together featuring various scenes – each rated nearly perfect.

The boss’s wife reserves a perfect ten, the boss loses a point.

The cover features a photo of Feng Nanshu in the snow, looking pure, ethereal, standing on white snow that brightens the whole world.

From the inside out, every page of this album reveals meticulous design, each section perfectly spaced, appearing both natural and not too empty as if echoing the album’s title.

Seeing this, everyone in 208 is stunned.

“Xuemei, are you this eager to progress?”

“I suggest you throw it out now and just email me the original, let me handle it.”

“With this album… maybe even a villa could be exchanged, you never know.”

“That’s really capturing the madam’s liking, Xuemei. I remember you once fought with the boss, what happened to that outspoken you?”

Lu Xuemei flips her hair, “The boss’s wife is my beloved model, the boss just happens by association. It’s called… Riding on the Spouse’s Coattails!”

Wei Lanlan pats her shoulder, “Looks like Xuemei also cracked the promotion code.”

Promotion does not matter to Lu Xuemei; the people at 208 all know she absolutely adores the boss’s wife’s beauty. It’s like that summer break she spent market scouting, only photographing the boss’s wife.

“Where is the boss’s wife, by the way?”

Wen Jinrui looks up, “She went to her aunt’s house. I saw her this afternoon, as elegant as ever, just like the boss’s wife.”

Lu Xuemei feels a bit disappointed, she wanted the boss’s wife to see it first, no choice but to please the boss first, but she realizes even the boss isn’t around after walking around the house.

“Hey, where did the boss go?”

“Look at the entrance, doesn’t that ‘Wife-Watching Stone’ look like the boss?”

“???????”

Lu Xuemei turns and indeed spots someone squatting in the shadow at the door, staring towards the entrance with a toothpick in his mouth.

His gaze holds a mix of cool indifference and casual disinterest, a pie chart of expressions hiding a trace of longing.

It’s normal to catch up when we haven’t seen each other for a while, but it’s been an entire afternoon. How can it be dark already and he’s still not back?

Truly, this friend is worrisome.

Jiang Qin mutters and calls Wen Jinrui over to help him change his tea.

He doesn’t feel like he has been waiting that long, but his cup of tea has completely cooled – proof of Shanghai’s cold winter.

Just as Wen Jinrui goes to change his tea, the villa’s entrance is suddenly lit by two beams of light, followed by a black sedan driving up and parking steadily.

Feng Nanshu steps out first, followed by Gao Wenhui and Wang Haini, who went with her to the aunt’s house. They approach the villa one after another.

Jiang Qin is stomping his feet from the cold, a stark contrast with the brightly lit interior, looking pitiful, wrapped in his clothes.

“Brother, what are you doing?”

“I’m waiting for Gao, da Vinci, and Sea King Nai!”

Jiang Qin coughs and earnestly asks, “Gao, Sea King Nai, why are you back so late? Didn’t you see it’s already dark?”

Gao Wenhui pauses, then turns to Feng Nanshu, “Nanshu, you won’t need to buy a nutcracker next time, let Jiang Qin crack them with his mouth.”

“?”

Wang Haini reaches for her phone, “A Nokia can crack nuts, but I think even that can’t pry open President Jiang’s mouth.”

Jiang Qin spits at them, “So my kindness is taken for an undue advantage, huh? It’s the middle of the night and you just come back. Who am I doing this for? I’m afraid someone might kidnap you, you’re 150 pounds!”

“Did you hear that, Nanshu? This is him bitching about you coming back late.”

“Enough, what a mess, don’t talk so much, hurry inside. The dumplings are about to fall apart.”

Jiang Qin talks as he clings to the little rich girl’s hand, “It’s still quite warm. Gao, next time don’t come back this late, heard?”

Feng Nanshu nods, “Got it, she’ll come back before dark next time.”

Gao Wenhui: “……”

Wang Haini: “A bed doesn’t make two different people, really.”

As the boss’s wife arrives, the dumplings are ready, and Dong Wenhao calls for Lu Feiyu and others to help serve up the dishes.

At this moment, Lu Xuemei pulls out the thoughtfully prepared album and presents it to Feng Nanshu.

Upon seeing this album, Feng Nanshu’s expression becomes incredibly animated, her eyes seem to ripple with water, creating a glistening effect as though about to drown Lu Xuemei in a flood of niceness cards.

And even more bizarrely, Gao Wenhui exclaims, “What kind of album is this? It’s basically a sugar jar!”

Jiang Qin is also baffled, pointing to a photo of him walking with the little rich girl among fully tinted maple trees, asking, “When was this taken? I don’t recall it at all.”

“Last autumn, I was capturing the scene at the school and stumbled across it.”

“And this one where she is riding an electric bike carrying me?”

Lu Xuemei leans to look and responds, “This spring, I was capturing scenes under the girls’ dorm and stumbled across it.”

Jiang Qin: “??????”

“And this one in the dessert shop eating ice cream?”

“This summer, I was capturing scenes in the dessert shop and stumbled across it.”

“You were capturing scenes in a dessert shop? You hear yourself? Isn’t this stalking? And where did this weird hobby come from?”

Lu Xuemei looks at Feng Nanshu, “Madam, it was genuinely a coincidence.”

Feng Nanshu nods, “It was a coincidence, I believe you.”

“It was really just a coincidence, boss. Although there are many people at the school, the boss’s wife stands out so clearly, I just snapped a couple of pictures.”

Jiang Qin closes the album and tucks it into the little rich girl’s embrace, “Let’s look after dinner, everyone’s waiting.”

“Okay.”

Cold wind, winter night, lights, friends—a lively meal of dumplings and dishes as everyone enjoys and lauds Dong Wenhao’s culinary skills.

Though Professor Yan didn’t join them, they missed having him around; his absence took away some of the fun of making the good go bad.

Even Lu Feiyu feels this way, recalling how every festive occasion he used to coordinate toasts with the boss; teasing the old man was more fun.

After dinner, everyone plans to head back to the hotel. Since the furniture is new, and the place, too, there’s likely some formaldehyde, plus they all have to leave tomorrow, and their luggage is at the hotel. No need to stay over.

“Let’s clean up the trash; take it with us when we leave.”

Wei Lanlan directs everyone to clean up the living room.

Though she’s no longer Jiang Qin’s secretary, when it comes to being considerate, no one can beat her in 208.

“Hey, where did the boss go?”

“Not sure, he seemed to have disappeared after eating half his meal; boss’s wife isn’t around either.”

“Then let’s wait a bit. It’s still early.”

Hearing Wei Lanlan’s suggestion to wait a bit longer, Gao Wenhui quickly scoots to the couch and sneaks out the “Confession” album from Feng Nanshu’s bag, ready to devour some sweetness herself.

Unbeknownst to her, if she’d gone upstairs at that moment, she’d hear continuous murmurs from Feng Nanshu in one of the bedrooms, sweeter than anything else.

“Silent admirer, did you stick out your tongue again?”

“No, no, it was you who pulled it.”

Jiang Qin, holding her slim waist, looks perplexed, thinking, ‘How could it be me?’ Then he leans down, determined to prove otherwise with actions.

The little rich girl, kissed again, melts completely, her hands clasp tightly around Jiang Qin’s neck, and she even tiptoes to reach better.

Jiang Qin feels numb; his good friend’s lips are just too enticing, having tasted them once, he can’t stop.

Eventually, as their lips start to burn, the two gradually pull apart, both panting heavily.

“I told you not to let Dong Wenhao make caramel sweet potatoes; he did it anyway, doesn’t even listen to his own boss. Who knew cleaning up after adding sugar would be so hard.”

“Wenhao really is a good guy.”