Departing for the Desert
Just as Su Ruixi was struggling with indecision, her assistant entered. Su Ruixi tidied up her conflicted expression in one second, restoring the image of an ice-cold, domineering female CEO. However, this image of hers, right now in front of the assistant, did not have much deterrent force left.
Especially since when she entered, the assistant also saw the scene of Su Ruixi fiercely slamming the desk drawer shut.
Normally, President Su should be eating afternoon tea right now.
Truth be told, President Su’s little girlfriend, that preparation was truly meticulous in every detail. Once, the assistant even saw Su Ruixi chewing on small dried fish. That small dried fish—one look and it seemed especially fragrant, much more delicious than snacks bought outside. Even for the assistant, this kind of person who didn’t care much about eating, she couldn’t help but swallow several mouthfuls of saliva.
But today, President Su actually wasn’t eating.
In the morning when the assistant helped Su Ruixi separate the boxes into the refrigerator, she had seen it: one box of lunch, one box of fruits, and the small snacks were put in the drawer. When washing bowls at noon, only one big box and one small box were washed. What about the other small one?
What’s going on, not eating?
The assistant was somewhat curious, and it just so happened that matters weren’t very urgent, so she simply asked directly: “President Su, you haven’t eaten the small snacks prepared by Miss Sun today? What is it today, dried sweet potatoes? It looks quite tasty. My grandmother often made them for me when I was young. The kind sold on the internet now always feels too dry and too hard; I can’t even chew it.”
“Even so, I won’t give you any to eat.”
“…” The assistant’s mouth instantly shut tight. She didn’t really want to eat it that much anyway!
But just following her own recounting, the assistant felt that, seemingly, she really was a bit craving. Because that one moment of Miss Sun’s making… it was handmade, not the kind left for a long time, surely sweet, looking dry but likely becoming soft and glutinous after a few chews.
Before the assistant could immerse herself in memories and think about the taste of her grandmother’s dried sweet potatoes again, Su Ruixi rapidly knocked the topic onto work. Although it wasn’t an urgent matter, the assistant’s work ethics were online, so she immediately threw the matter of dried sweet potatoes to the back of her head, preparing to handle work with a focused mind.
Su Ruixi, however, was not like this. This person was comparatively smart, and her ability was strong, so she could—use one heart for two purposes1. While working with the assistant, she could still think about the dried sweet potatoes in her drawer.
She originally wanted to eat them quite a bit, and after the assistant described them just now, she wanted to eat them even more.
Su Ruixi thought in her heart, What does what your grandmother made count for? That is just a rural old lady figuring it out herself, how could it be as delicious as what Miaomiao makes? Even if it wasn’t taught by the System, even if Miaomiao researched it herself, that would still insta-kill2 everyone!
Su Ruixi did not look down on rural little old ladies; she purely felt that Sun Miao was number one under heaven.
A love brain3 is just like this.
When the work came to a pause and the assistant went out holding the processed documents, Su Ruixi once again opened her drawer. The time had already arrived at 4:30 PM. Normally at this time, Su Ruixi would have already finished eating the small refreshments Sun Miao prepared for her.
At this moment, Su Ruixi’s stomach was empty as can be. The instant she saw the dried sweet potatoes, her stomach staged a rebellion, rumbling gu gu gu gu without stopping.
Su Ruixi thought, If I stay hungry like this, I guess I can starve myself a bit thinner. But reason told her: She only missed one afternoon meal, and it was just a few dried sweet potatoes; even if she would get thinner, that would be limited.
Two strips of dried sweet potato have no way to make oneself thin, but they can make oneself fat!
Su Ruixi understood this logic in her heart, and two thoughts warred in her mind. In the end, Su Ruixi still couldn’t control herself: Weight loss needs to be done step by step, slowly. Besides, Miaomiao put the dried sweet potatoes in the small box; if I bring them back untouched, Miaomiao will be sad.
Thinking of this, Su Ruixi still extended her evil little hands.
Sun Miao really hadn’t packed much, just enough to moisten the mouth when craving in the afternoon. How much could a small box hold? Just a few strips. Su Ruixi looked at documents while chewing the dried sweet potatoes. That dried sweet potato was truly delicious; it wasn’t very sweet when it first entered the mouth, and was a bit dry and hard.
But after eating a few bites, the more she chewed the more fragrant it became, the more she chewed the softer it became, the more she chewed the sweeter it became, making one unable to stop producing the sound of chua chua chua chua4, eating up the whole small box just like that.
When the box was empty, Su Ruixi was somewhat in disbelief: No, such a small box of dried sweet potatoes, how is it all eaten?! In this moment, Su Ruixi profoundly felt that she had been spoiled rotten by Sun Miao.
Returning home in the evening, Sun Miao tried to take the bag from Su Ruixi’s hands as usual, but Su Ruixi wasn’t quite willing. She furrowed her brows and spoke to Sun Miao with deadly seriousness: “Miaomiao, you really cannot make refreshments for me anymore. I sit in the office every day, I really will become fat.”
Sun Miao originally didn’t quite approve, but seeing this look of seriousness on Su Ruixi’s face, she also began to think. However, as a lover, she was still terrified of Su Ruixi going hungry.
Toward Su Ruixi, she really had a kind of old mother’s mentality5.
But both people were very serious. After passing through several rounds of discussion, Sun Miao decided: “Then I will make some small snacks that are not easy… that have relatively lower calories, suitable for eating in the afternoon.”
Su Ruixi finally let out a sigh of relief, but was also somewhat curious about exactly what kind of small snacks had lower calories and wouldn’t cause fatness.
Sun Miao began to give examples to Su Ruixi: “For example, seaweed, or small snacks made of konjac, and also dried fruits and dried vegetables; these are all relatively low calorie and not likely to cause fatness.”
Between their words, they had already changed locations to the dining table. Hearing what Sun Miao said, Su Ruixi approved of the first two, but when speaking of the latter ones, she was somewhat in disbelief: “Aren’t dried fruits very high in calories?”
“That is because the dried fruits on the market nowadays all add a lot of sugar powder. Once the quantity of sugar powder goes up, naturally it becomes much. Besides, one doesn’t necessarily have to eat small snacks in the afternoon. I generally set up the stall in the morning; in the afternoon, I can act like before and deliver some beverages I made myself.”
Sun Miao said, “The beverages I make myself won’t have too much sugar put in; mainly they are fruit teas. This way is healthy and delicious, and I can also go see Susu-jie more often.”
Hearing these words, Su Ruixi’s annoyances from these past two days vanished like smoke and dispersed like clouds; her heart felt as if it had been smeared with honey. Sun Miao wasn’t just coming to deliver afternoon tea to her; more so, she wanted to see her.
But on the surface, Su Ruixi still had to put on an act and be polite: “Would this be too much trouble for you?”
Su Ruixi clearly wanted it very much, yet the words spoken were exceptionally reserved. Sun Miao also liked this contrasting appearance very much: “It won’t, it is something I want to do myself.”
Their first time being awkward with each other, having reached this point, could be considered over.
Time slowly flowed, and soon it was the night of September 30th, the eve of the National Day holiday. The time Su Ruixi’s company wrapped up work on this day was relatively early. It looked as if Su Ruixi, as an excellent capitalist, was showing consideration for the employees by releasing them early before the festival, but in reality, the boss could already not wait to depart together with Sun Miao.
Su Ruixi had arranged early with Sun Miao: when the time came, the driver would pick up Sun Miao at the house entrance, help lift the luggage of the two people, and then head straight for Su Ruixi’s company. After picking up Su Ruixi, they would rush to the airport at fire-speed.
The plane tickets were also booked early by Su Ruixi, just waiting for this day to go directly out the door. Su Ruixi had never looked forward to a holiday this much for a single day; no one could make her stay behind, nothing would work. Also because of the reason that Su Ruixi released the employees to go home early, everyone chose to let Su Ruixi go first even at the company floor’s elevator.
“President Su, you’ve worked hard. You first, you first.”
If it were former days, Su Ruixi probably would have upheld her identity as the boss and politely declined, letting the employees go first. But today was the day the two of them were going out to travel. Su Ruixi didn’t have a single thought of modest yielding; she sat directly on the elevator and comfortably arrived at the B1 floor.
Being a conscientious entrepreneur still had benefits. Look, even the employees would genuinely let the boss go first from the bottom of their hearts.
Su Ruixi’s feet generated wind6. As soon as she exited the elevator hall, she saw Sun Miao lying at the back seat window of the car, waving toward her: “Susu-jie, here~ here!” Sun Miao smiled like a little sun, making the already jubilant Su Ruixi look forward to this trip even more.
However, even though she got off work ahead of time, the roads on October 1st were still blocked.
Even on the road to the airport, it was full of people, blocked to the point of unspeakable misery. Fortunately, their time of departure was relatively early, so even if it was blocked, they could sit calmly in the car and wait. Actually, the most important thing was who was beside her. With Sun Miao at her side, Su Ruixi felt stable.
If this were changed to someone else, Su Ruixi might have already put on a cold face.
Actually, Sun Miao didn’t do anything either; she just sat beside Su Ruixi, scrolling through her phone, and occasionally when encountering something funny, she would lean close to Su Ruixi and show her as well.
To speak the truth, Sun Miao was truly just that kind of very ordinary person. Aside from improving herself by making some new dishes after returning home from the stall, she just scrolled through her phone and watched videos, occasionally cupping short videos in her hands and laughing non-stop over there. She was almost a person from two different worlds compared to Su Ruixi, who would read various professional theory books and work reports even at home.
But the two of them just could harmoniously get along together.
Su Ruixi knew the things she did were too boring, so she wouldn’t take her own things to show Sun Miao; if Sun Miao saw something funny that could win a smile from Su Ruixi, or something she felt was interesting, she would run over and share it with Su Ruixi.
For example, videos of going to Iceland to see the aurora and shivering from the cold, or being dragged crawling by a guide on a snow mountain.
When Su Ruixi watched them, she would also feel it was very funny and couldn’t help but reveal a smile.
Now it was the same, though what Sun Miao shared with Su Ruixi this time made her somewhat unable to make heads or tails of it. It was a surveillance lens focused from very far away; one could only see densely packed small cars slowly advancing on a large bridge.
Su Ruixi didn’t understand: “Where is this? What’s wrong?”
“It is the Sutong Bridge7.”
Sun Miao answered. Su Ruixi still didn’t quite understand: “How could it be blocked like this?”
“Susu-jie, you don’t know, ya. This bridge is one of the inevitable paths for returning to the hometown from the Jiang-Zhe-Hu8 area. Tonight at 12 o’clock the high-speed toll becomes free, so many people left at noon. However, it is quite a pity that everyone was afraid of blocking, so they are all blocked on the Sutong Bridge. I saw the bullet comments say that every year, this bridge is a must-block musical piece.”
Su Ruixi didn’t know what was so funny about watching other people in a traffic jam, but one sentence from Sun Miao made her brows and eyes curve up as well: “Susu-jie, will your assistant also be blocked on this later?”
Thinking of the assistant who always dug at her, Su Ruixi nodded viciously: “She will definitely be blocked just like us!”
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