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

How come I never noticed before that this person is a bit neurotic, Fang Chuning wondered to herself.

It took about twenty minutes for Fang Hong to finish her meeting and return. She glanced at the person sitting on the sofa, walked straight to her desk and draped her suit jacket over the chair. Her first words were: “How is your father?”

“He’s doing well, eating well, drinking well, and sleeping well.”

Fang Chuning pretended not to understand the meaning behind her question.

Fang Hong nodded without pressing further. Her fingers lightly tapped the desk surface as she calmly changed the subject, “Is everything settled for your school performance?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“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 that this person suddenly cared about such things. In the past, she would just casually hand her a bank card without asking about these “small matters”. Now it seemed a bit out of character for the big boss.

Fang Chuning looked suspicious, “Just… a fairy tale.”

“Hmm?”

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

Having never experienced childhood herself nor participated in her own child’s childhood, Fang Hong didn’t even know what kind of story this was. She nodded as if she understood and asked, “Are you playing the sleeping one?”

Fang Chuning’s forehead darkened, “Of course not…”

Fang Hong nodded again. She sat down in her office chair, her face solemn for a while, “Do you think it would be good if I went to the school to watch you that day?”

After all this talk, she actually just wanted to see Fang’s father, because she knew he would definitely go to the school to watch her perform that day. Fang Chuning had never seen her mother be so indirect before. Why not just say it directly instead of beating around the bush so much!

Fang Chuning leaned back on the sofa with her arms crossed, pressing down the corners of her mouth as she shook her head at her.

This surprised Fang Hong a bit, “Why not?”

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

Regardless of whether there was anything between them or not, Fang Chuning would of course stand unconditionally 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 affairs yet, so you don’t understand.”

Then there was nothing more to say. Fang Chuning simply shut her mouth and lowered her head to play with her phone.

“Then it’s settled,” Fang Hong concluded on her own.

Realizing that she had just come over to be used as a tool in this process, Fang Chuning was even less inclined to speak.

At this moment, there was a crisp knock on the door outside, and the next second the office door opened. A man walked in carrying a cup of coffee, skillfully placing it on the woman’s desk, “Director Fang, your coffee.”

“Mm,” Fang Hong responded indifferently.

Fang Chuning’s gaze secretly darted between the two, trying to find something fishy, but the man really did just bring in a cup of coffee and was about to leave after finishing.

Just as Fang Chuning was about to give up and withdraw her gaze, the man suddenly turned his face slightly, his alluring eyes glancing gently at her, his lips curling into a charming smile.

Despite having a face that could topple nations, he was dressed very modestly, with his shirt buttoned all the way to the top, and his hair, even smoother than hers, neatly tied back. That kind of ascetic yet seductive aura was irresistible.

This type of man undoubtedly had a devastating effect on women, so it was no wonder that even someone as serious as Fang Hong couldn’t resist. Unfortunately, this appearance didn’t work on Fang Chuning, who had more than one string to her bow. In her eyes, the man’s smile seemed to carry a hint of provocation, making him look unpleasant no matter how she looked at him.

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 mischievous tone: “Oops, I spilled it by accident.”

The girl’s exaggerated action was clearly intentional to anyone who wasn’t blind. Fang Hong raised an eyebrow, “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 your gaming time, you’ll have plenty of time.”

Fang Chuning was speechless, pouting and looking away somewhat guiltily.

Li Yipeng, seeing the girl’s defeated look, smiled more deeply, “Let me do it.” He found a cloth and crouched down next to the girl to clean up the milk stains on the table.

Being so close, Fang Chuning could smell his cologne. It smelled very good, so good that she wanted to ask him what brand it was. As she kept smelling it, she felt her whole body relax a bit.

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

The man’s gentle whisper brought Fang Chuning back to her senses. Looking down, she saw that the milk had dripped from the table onto the floor and was flowing towards her shoe tips. She moved her feet, and the man immediately wiped away the spilled milk stains with the cloth. 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 acting like a good husband and father in front of Fang Hong, did he need to be so serious about it? For a moment, she had the illusion that she was a noble young lady in ancient times being served by someone who didn’t mind lowering his status.

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

However, this feeling also made her a bit uncomfortable, so she simply got up to go find Gao Qiong on the top floor.

Even after the office door was “bang” closed, Li Yipeng’s gaze hadn’t withdrawn, “Miss Fang’s temper has improved a lot compared to before.”

Fang Hong raised an eyebrow: “Are you being sarcastic?”

Li Yipeng smiled, “If Director Fang has nothing else, I’ll go out first.”

“Wait,” Fang Hong called out to the person who had walked to the door. She put down the coffee she had drunk a few sips of, “About that matter last time, could you help explain to my spouse? He won’t listen to me, but in fact that day… there really wasn’t anything.”

“Of course.”

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

Li Yipeng nodded and left the office.

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

On the top floor, as soon as Fang Chuning arrived, she saw Gao Qiong eagerly watering the flowers. Above her head was heat-insulating transparent glass, letting in sunlight that wasn’t glaring, while still providing ample light for the plants.

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

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

Gao Qiong seemed to have been particularly enthusiastic about watering plants since before. She didn’t know why someone would have such a strange hobby.

Finally, when she finished watering, the elevator door suddenly opened. Both of them looked over simultaneously. The person who came was Secretary Li, whom they had just met. He was holding two cups of hot milk and slowly walking towards them.

Seeing this type of man for the first time, Gao Qiong’s eyes widened.

Li Yipeng politely smiled at her, “Director Fang asked me to bring you two some hot milk.” He then turned his eyes to the girl with a displeased expression, “Director Fang hasn’t seen you for several days. She must hope that Miss Fang can stay a bit longer.”

“If I stay any longer, it’ll be dark. My dad called me to go home for dinner.”

Fang Chuning didn’t give any face at all.

Gao Qiong squeezed past her, staring straight at the man, “Brother, do you have a girlfriend?”

Li Yipeng’s gaze shifted slightly to her face, his smile unchanged, “No, I don’t.”

“Ah, that’s great! I’m single too!”

Fang Chuning was used to Gao Qiong’s reaction. After all, she was known as the school player, sticking close to any good-looking guy she saw. She had boyfriends both in and out of school.

But this time was different, “Don’t call him brother carelessly. He’s almost ten years older than you.”

Fang Chuning glanced at the man’s face. His outstanding appearance made it difficult to discern his true age. If she hadn’t accidentally seen his information in Fang Hong’s office, she would have thought he should be in the same year as them. No, maybe a year ahead, after all, he was an adult and his demeanor was more mature.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s older. Love knows no age!”

Just meeting someone once and already talking about love. Fang Chuning felt tired just criticizing her.

Li Yipeng blinked, “If I had a girlfriend your age, wouldn’t people say I’m an old cow eating young grass?”

Gao Qiong thought she had a chance and shook her head frantically: “They won’t! You’re so handsome, no one will say that about you!”

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

“About what?”

“Could Miss Fang accept a boyfriend who is nearly ten years older than you?”

Wait, why is he asking her this question? Fang Chuning’s gaze meaningfully surveyed the two of them, her mind turning several loops. Suddenly, she broke into a bright smile, “Of course I could. Why not? Didn’t you hear her say that love knows no age?”

If these two really got together, wouldn’t that prove that Fang Hong actually had nothing going on with him? Although leaving the Fang family would mean more freedom, she also didn’t want Fang Hong and her father to really divorce.

Li Yipeng smiled, his smile no longer containing that distant politeness, but pure joy. His sparkling phoenix eyes also revealed a hint of shyness.

The two looked at each other with silly smiles, their minds thinking of two completely different things.

Gao Qiong’s smile gradually stiffened as she looked from one to the other, feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

…

Time flew by quickly. On the day of the school anniversary performance, the school was packed with people. Besides parents, there were also some TV station staff. As an elite private school, New Star couldn’t avoid being on TV for even the smallest event.

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

Fang Hong looked in the rearview mirror, “Lili, what did you just say to Dad on the phone?”

“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 realized it was pointless to ask. She reached out to unbuckle her seatbelt, “You two go in first. I’ll come find you later.”

Fang Tianli responded with a sound and happily said to the boy next to 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, “Aunt Fang, then Lili and I will go in first.”

“Mm.”