Chapter 44: Teasing and Flirting

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That woman, though he was her big-order client, did not show excessive warmth toward him, nor did she display much admiration for Anyuan’s handsome, courtly appearance. She spoke in an unhurried, gentle, and elegant way; her eyes were clear and bright with intelligence, and her smile was warm and radiant without losing any of its charm. She was entirely another caliber from those women who pander for favor.

Could this woman have once been only a high-school-educated factory worker? Did she change her fate merely because she married Chen Bo?

Anyuan did not believe it. Chen Bo had surely said this on purpose, and that woman had intentionally deceived him.
That woman wanted him to flirt with Chen Bo’s wife, and yet she did not want him to truly fall for her. He was just a chess piece in their game.

“I’m done. I have a meeting this afternoon.”
After staring at him for so long, Li Tianer had reached her limit. She waved for a waiter to settle the bill.

“Time has passed so quickly. It feels like we barely exchanged a few words.”
Anyuan understood that this was a polite dismissal. He stood up with a smile, blocked Li Tianer’s hand as she reached for her wallet, afraid she might force him to pay first, and pulled the waiter to the bar himself.

“Director Li, I was rather abrupt today. If I offended you in any way, please accept my apologies.”

At the gate of the garment factory, Anyuan took his leave of Li Tianer with unusual formality.
His hand was cold when he held hers, and hearing his earnest words, Li Tianer did not pull away at once.
“Mr. Anyuan, there is no need for such formalities. Our cooperation was pleasant. If you’re satisfied with our service and quality, please introduce us to more clients. A small factory survives only through loyal customers.”

“Of course. I’ll remember that very well.”

Anyuan shifted tone.
“Once is once, twice we become acquainted. We’re friends now. May I call you Li Tiantian? And you can call me Anyuan, or Brother An. Calling me Director An sounds too formal.”

“Ah, of course.”
If one can make a fuss over a name, what else can be so important? In business there is no man or woman; the essence is to earn lawful profit. Everything else can be set aside.

“Director Anyuan,” Li Tianer smiled.

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“Tiantian, I may not be back before the New Year. Let’s keep in touch, and don’t refuse my call when I come this time. I still want you to take me to that romantic place you mentioned.”

It sounded like the kind of line freshmen-hosting seniors use when trying to flirt with new students.

In late pregnancy, she still felt hungry at odd times. Though she had eaten Western food with Anyuan at noon, her stomach felt just as empty. When she returned to the office, she found the snack shelf empty. She had thought of sending the clerk to buy some, but seeing the clerk buried in paperwork, Li Tianer decided to go herself.
A large mall stood near the factory, and the first-floor food section was full of everything imaginable. She came out with a large bag of snacks, only then remembering that her umbrella was still at the restaurant.

If it had been an ordinary umbrella, she might have let it go. But the one at the restaurant was her sole French-lace umbrella bought from Dongling Mall—a chic one for sun and rain, and lately her favorite.

She did not hesitate. She told the driver to head straight back for the umbrella.
Through the observation glass elevator, the rain-soaked Dongling City looked like a veiled young girl. Its neat four-by-four grid of streets resembled a chessboard, embedded in bands of pale and deep green, all wrapped in a light rain haze.

It was past lunch time, and there was no concierge at the restaurant door. At once she saw her teal lace umbrella on the stand by the door and hurried over to pick it up. Out of habit she glanced inside toward the window seat she had just occupied, and saw Anyuan’s back. For a moment she thought she was mistaken. Standing still by the doorway, she looked again more closely. The crisp, narrow brown-plaid suit was uncommon in Dongling City, and it was unmistakably Anyuan.

Could he have come back, too, because he hadn’t eaten enough the first time?
If two people were not especially close, a man and a woman sharing a meal would not go home half-full on a second round, Li Tianer thought. She smiled to herself and was about to leave. If Anyuan saw her now, both would be embarrassed.
One was pretending to be elegantly dashing while coming back for another bite; the other was a woman with a small domestic attachment, unwilling to part with her umbrella.

At that moment a full-figured woman sat opposite Anyuan, reached up, and lifted the red-wine glass on the table, holding it out to him to clink. Anyuan did not move at first; from behind him he looked as if he were searching for his wine.
Li Tianer edged closer to the door, deciding to stay a moment and then leave.
It was clear Anyuan was there on a date, not to go back for food.

The woman sat with her face slightly angled toward the entrance, yet Li Tianer could still read her features. Her face was round and moonlike, her features soft and full; her lips, freshly painted, looked lush. Her ear-length steel curls were knotted into a small sprig at the top of her forehead, giving her a playful air. She seemed to be around thirty-three or thirty-four, and even from a distance Li Tianer could sense from her tone with Anyuan that she was admonishing him.

Could she be Anyuan’s wife?
No woman, unless she were his wife, would speak to a man in public in that tone.

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Only when a wife sees her husband in intimacy with another woman does she become relentless.

How tiresome.

When Li Tianer came out of the hotel’s sightseeing elevator, her body felt damp. It was already nearly three o’clock. She remembered Chen Bo was supposed to come at four to pick her up from the factory. There was no important work waiting there, so she thought it was better to go home, bathe, change, and go out with Chen Bo, which would save him another trip.

Chen Bo was still asleep. Feeling disturbed, he lazily lifted his eyelids. When he saw Li Tianer seated by his bed, he pulled her into his arms.
“Don’t move around. This is the most important period. A wrong movement could bring on an early labor.”

Li Tianer, in her heart, wished to be free of this sooner.
“Right. We have to be careful. The New Year is coming soon; if labor starts in the first few days, the senior doctors will all be off, and I can’t trust the young doctors on duty.”

Chen Bo helped Li Tianer to her feet carefully.

Dressed and ready, the two went downstairs. Just then the nanny returned with Kaikai. The child clung to Li Tianer, wanting a hug.
“Good boy, be obedient. If Mommy doesn’t get to go out, both daddy and mommy will be late.”

Chen Bo now called Kaikai “son” with a fluency he had never had before, but Kaikai still refused to call him father. Since he had known Chen Bo, he had only ever been taught to call him uncle. He stared at Chen Bo with wide, blinking eyes and held Li Tianer’s neck tightly, refusing to let go.

Chen Bo, helpless, had to yank Kaikai away from her with some force. Kaikai howled. Chen Bo barked like a dog, then pretended to be a horse and made Kaikai ride on his back as he ran in circles around the room until the crying finally dissolved into laughter.

The appointment with Anyuan was at five. As soon as they left the house, Chen Bo sped up immediately.
The white BMW sailed through two red lights, and Li Tianer grew worried.
“Do you even want to keep your driver’s license? During the New Year holidays there’s no chauffeur, and everyone in the family depends on you to drive.”