Chapter 399: This Is Getting More and More Surreal!

Chapter 399: This Is Getting More and More Surreal!

Much better.

Wu Jiao had understood perfectly. Li Ruobing wanted to hear her say “Sis-in-law.”

At first, when Wu Jiao had called her “Sis,” Li Ruobing hadn’t minded at all. They barely knew each other, after all. Calling her “Sis-in-law” right off the bat would have been strange. Far too familiar.

But after a while, “Sis” had started to grate on her.

It felt wrong.

She hadn’t come to be Wu Jiao’s big sister. She meant to be her sister-in-law. Or rather… the only woman Wu Jiao would ever call sister-in-law.

So she had all but spelled it out. Call me Sis-in-law.

Just as she had Li Ruotai call Wu Chen “brother-in-law,” whether anyone was actually married didn’t matter to her when it came to what they were called.

And there was more to it than that.

Li Ruobing was also making a statement. She needed Wu Jiao to feel that she and her brother truly loved each other. There was a great deal Wu Jiao couldn’t be told yet, and still more that Wu Chen’s parents couldn’t. And going by what Wu Chen showed of himself on the surface, the gap between him and Li Ruobing really was enormous. Several whole tiers apart.

A gap that vast, Li Ruobing could well imagine, would make Wu Chen’s family nervous. Get them imagining things.

It might even leave them deeply uneasy.

So.

She understood that her attitude mattered.

And one more thing.

To put it bluntly, she had come today to “win over” Wu Jiao, her future little sister-in-law.

“Good girl.” Li Ruobing smiled at her, delight written all over her face.

Wu Jiao was astonished. All she’d done was say “Sis-in-law.” Was it really worth being this happy about?

Just how much did she like her brother?!

This was getting more and more surreal!

Card swiped. Done.

Wu Jiao’s own bag was crammed full of things, and moving it all over would be a hassle, so the Chanel was boxed up for now and Wu Jiao carried the shopping bag.

The three of them left the boutique.

“Those are all clothing stores over there… Oh, right, Jiaojiao, have you ever worn heels? You’re seventeen now. You’re old enough…” Li Ruobing knew Wu Jiao had never set foot in a mall like this, so she pointed things out as they went.

“Heels? N-no, never…” Wu Jiao said.

“Then come on, this way…”

Wu Jiao could see exactly where this was heading. Li Ruobing meant to take her on a spree. She knew Li Ruobing didn’t care about the money. She had far too much of it. She could spend several hundred thousand dressing Wu Jiao head to toe and never feel a thing.

But for Wu Jiao, the pressure was enormous.

On two fronts.

First, she was embarrassed. Or rather, she didn’t dare accept anything that expensive. It had taken everything she had just to accept the bag.

Second, what was she supposed to say when she got home?

Even if Mom and Dad knew the gifts came from her brother’s girlfriend, they would probably still scold her, because the things were just so, so expensive. Taking all those pricey gifts from someone? How thoughtless could she be?

One bag was enough. It was pressure, but not nearly as much.

“N-no, let’s not. Never mind, Si—Sis-in-law. One bag’s plenty. I don’t wear heels anyway. If I want anything else, Xiaoxue and I can go shopping ourselves…” Wu Jiao said.

Li Ruobing looked at her, then at Chen Xue.

She found herself liking Wu Chen’s sister more and more.

The girl was so sensible.

From Wu Jiao’s behavior alone, Li Ruobing could tell that, ordinary as Wu Chen’s family was, his parents had raised their children well. Wu Jiao’s character couldn’t be faulted.

“How about this, then?” Li Ruobing took her card out again and held it toward Wu Jiao, nodding at Chen Xue as well. “Take the card. There’s no PIN. You and your best friend go shopping together, and whatever you buy today, put it on this. I need to pick up a few things for your brother anyway, so we’ll split up and meet back when we’re done…”

She was being very generous.

Partly because she didn’t care about such a trivial sum. But partly because she suspected Wu Jiao’s reluctance had something to do with Chen Xue. The two were best friends. Their bags and shoes matched. They were one step from wearing matching best-friend outfits.

Anyone could see how close they were.

Under those circumstances, if Wu Jiao suddenly stopped matching Chen Xue and a wide gap opened up between how they dressed, it really could hurt their friendship.

A friend you could tell absolutely anything was hard to come by.

Li Ruobing had no wish to come between them.

Wu Jiao didn’t dare take Li Ruobing’s black credit card.

She didn’t dare accept any more gifts, let alone a card.

“No, no, really. We’re not buying anything…” Wu Jiao waved both hands.

“Right, right. We’re not buying anything,” Chen Xue echoed, waving hers too.

Birds of a feather. Wu Jiao and Chen Xue were alike in temperament. In fact, Chen Xue’s family was much, much better off than Wu Jiao’s, and she could easily have spent on a whole other level. But so the two of them would always match when they went shopping, she never bought clothes or shoes Wu Jiao couldn’t afford.

And when it came to accepting gifts, they were exactly the same. Neither dared. Chen Xue felt it even more keenly: Wu Jiao at least had a reason to accept, since the gift came from her “sister-in-law.” But if Chen Xue took something too, what would that make her?

In that moment, Li Ruobing finally understood what Wu Chen had really meant by keep it low-key, don’t scare her.

Two good kids.

Wu Chen naturally knew his own sister’s character. And it was safe to assume he knew Chen Xue’s as well. Chen Xue was the little girl next door he had watched grow up.

The gap in wealth meant the two sides saw money in completely different ways.

To Li Ruobing, picking up a small gift at a first meeting was perfectly ordinary. But because of the price, Wu Jiao could hardly bring herself to accept it. She barely dared take it at all.

Was a bag of a few tens of thousands expensive?

Li Ruobing knew it wasn’t cheap. But this had already been her “low-key” choice. She couldn’t go any lower. Any lower and she’d be into ordinary brands, which didn’t feel right for a gift.

To Wu Jiao, though, tens of thousands was frighteningly expensive.

Only now did Li Ruobing realize she had already “scared” her.

She wondered whether Wu Chen would hold it against her later.

“Tell you what, Sis-in-law, let’s head back. Didn’t you say we were going to your company?” Seeing Li Ruobing looking at her, Wu Jiao added quickly, “Let’s go now. Can we go see your company? Have a little look around?”

She was genuinely scared. She wanted out of this mall right away.

And she wanted to see her brother as soon as she could.

She had a whole stomach full of questions for him.

“All right, then. To the company…” Li Ruobing didn’t press any further.

An hour later.

Two-thirty in the afternoon.

South District, Donghai. CBD Tower 7, the president’s office of Huancai Fashion.

Li Ruobing had brought Wu Jiao and Chen Xue in half an hour earlier. The moment she got back, she had started going through documents. Wu Jiao and Chen Xue sat on the sofa, heads together, whispering, glancing up at her every so often.

On the way in, they had already seen the bodyguards outside the president’s office.

And then they had seen what Li Ruobing was like when she worked.

Severe.

Cold.

Like a different person. Her presence was so forbidding, so unapproachable, that the two girls barely dared make a sound.

Was this what a female president was like at work?

What they didn’t know was that this was how Li Ruobing always was. The warm, smiling friendliness she had shown them was the exception.

Behind the desk, Li Ruobing’s pen raced across page after page. Her assistant stood to one side, head slightly bowed, waiting in silence.

“…Why isn’t the acquisition plan for the western-suburb factory done yet?” she asked coldly, still signing at speed.

“Um… Vice President Sun’s side says it might be tomorrow afternoon.”

“What the hell has he been doing? How long has it been? Tell him to get his ass in here. Now!”

“Yes, Bos—” the assistant began.

Then Li Ruobing seemed to remember something. She glanced up at the two girls on the sofa, then turned back. “Never mind… We’ll go over it at the meeting.”

She had remembered Wu Jiao was there. If she started tearing into someone in front of her, she’d scare the girl half to death.

Li Ruobing knew perfectly well what she was like when she lost her temper.

She finished signing and handed the documents over, adding, “Push the three o’clock meeting to four.”

“Yes, Boss.”

The assistant took the documents and hurried out.

Barely a minute after he’d gone, footsteps sounded outside the door, along with a bodyguard’s voice.

“Mr. Wu.”

The door opened.

One hand in the pocket of his suit trousers, Wu Chen walked into the president’s office.