Chapter 19 Strawberries

"What's the matter? Speak up!"

Mu Shen's icy voice suddenly rang out, startling Li Yan, who was holding a document, and the secretary, Ms. Jin, trembled in fear, immediately straightening her eyes and standing up very straight.

"Secretary Jin?" Mu Shen raised his eyes to look at her.

"You've sneakily looked over here no less than ten times, is there something going on?"

Li Yan stared at his colleague, the great beauty Ms. Jin, in astonishment. Why on earth would she secretly look at the boss!

Under the highly authoritative gaze of her boss, Ms. Jin braced herself and moved two tiny steps forward.

Inside, she regretted it to death, with a dry smile on her face.

"President... there's nothing really..."

"Speak."

Mu Shen leaned slightly against the back of his chair, rhythmically drumming his fingers on the desk, casting a casual glance at her.

Ms. Jin instantly shivered, feeling a tingle from head to toe, and blurted out what was on her mind.

"It's just that everyone's been saying you came in late today, and I was wondering if it had something to do with Little Lovely Ruanruan..."

The more she spoke, the softer her voice became, and after finishing, she felt she was done for.

The air pressure around Mu Shen seemed to drop even lower.

Li Yan "......"

He felt like stitching that foolish woman's mouth shut with a needle!

Mu Shen, with a dark face, said, "It appears I've given you too little work, giving you all this leisure?"

"No, no, no... absolutely not, I'm wrong, President, I won't dare to do it again!"

Ms. Jin shook her head quickly, silently praying in her heart, Little Lovely Ruanruan, you must protect your sister from being dealt with by your dad!

"Secretary Jin, your salary is deducted for one month; don't let me see you all so 'relaxed' again."

Ms. Jin had already closed her eyes, bracing for a scolding, but who would've thought the president would brush it off so casually?

Although losing a month's salary hurt a lot, it was nothing compared to being scolded under the president's chilling pressure. It's just the money for a handbag or a piece of clothing!

"Alright, President, no problem, President, I'll immediately warn the employees downstairs."

After speaking, she quickly slipped away, closed the door, and Ms. Jin patted her own little heart as if she'd escaped from death, putting her hands together and mumbling under her breath.

"Little Lovely Ruanruan, you're really miraculous, I'll be praying to you from now on, hehe."

In the office, Li Yan stealthily glanced at Mu Shen's complexion—good, not as angry as he'd expected.

He couldn't help but become curious—today, the President didn't lose his temper; could it really be because of Ruanruan?

No sooner had he thought this than he immediately denied it to himself. How could that be? He knew the President too well; the man had little patience for children, let alone having his mood brightened by one.

Mu Shen, unaware of what his assistant was thinking, sped up his pace in handling the documents, aiming to finish before leaving work.

If he was late going back, that little rascal would start crying again, which was so annoying.

As he thought this, recalling the way the little rascal had looked at him with big earnest eyes when he left, his lips unconsciously curled up slightly.

***

The renovation team was very efficient; in just one day, Ruanruan's bedroom had already undergone a major transformation.

After finishing her homework and having breakfast, Ruanruan watched TV for a while, but unable to sit still, she went to play in the garden with Little Baibai for some time before coming back. The butler was right on time, sending the workers off.

Turning around and seeing Ruanruan waddling back, a smile bloomed across his face.

Walking over, he crouched in front of Ruanruan and took out a clean handkerchief to wipe the fine sweat off her forehead.

"Miss, you must be tired from playing, aren't you hungry? I'll have someone prepare something for you to eat."

Ruanruan touched her little stomach and smiled shyly.

"Actually, Ruanruan just had milk, my tummy isn't that hungry."

The butler's keen eyes spotted that the little tyke was obviously hungry, but too shy to say it.

He instructed the maid, "Go and have Auntie Liu prepare some food."

"Yes," the maid responded, and hurried off to find Auntie Liu.

Ruanruan blinked her pitch-black eyes and pulled a milk candy from her pocket.

"Butler Uncle, here's a candy for you."

Although he had known that Ruanruan had prepared a milk candy for him, now that the little one actually produced it, he couldn't help but be delighted.

"Is this specially for me, little miss?"

"Mhm," Ruanruan nodded earnestly.

"Butler Uncle is good to Ruanruan, so Ruanruan wants to be good to Butler Uncle too."

She was just too endearing.

The butler almost broke into tears.

Ruanruan unwrapped the candy and fed it to the butler, then watched him eagerly.

"Is it tasty?"

"Delicious, this is the tastiest candy Butler Uncle has ever had."

Hearing this, Ruanruan laughed, her pink lips curling into a smile, revealing her small, pearly teeth, and she looked even more adorable.

The butler happily led Ruanruan into the villa to eat. Strawberries and cherries, bought fresh that day, lay on the table, and while Ruanruan's meal wasn't ready yet, the butler pushed the fruit plate towards her.

"Miss Ruanruan, have some of these to tide you over."

The fruit was so fresh and beautifully red that it made one's mouth water.

"Strawberries!" Ruanruan exclaimed at the sight of the big red strawberries.

She loved strawberries the most. Her master had also grown some, and they were delicious. She could eat several at a time.

The little one joyously grabbed a strawberry and bit into it with a big, "Awww."

Ruanruan's eyes narrowed in pleasure, as her little legs swung under the chair.

It tasted wonderful, but still not quite as delicious as the strawberries her master grew.

"Butler Uncle, here you go," she said, not forgetting the person beside her as she bit into her own strawberry and offered one of the larger ones to the butler.

The butler smiled as he took it and even took a picture of the strawberry in his hand.

He felt a bit regretful that he had forgotten to take a picture when Miss Ruanruan fed him the milk candy earlier.

After editing the message quickly, he sent it to his circle of friends, and, seeing a string of question mark comments underneath, he felt satisfied.

"This one is for Daddy, we'll save it for Daddy, and one for master too."

After finishing her own strawberry, Ruanruan picked out the two biggest and prettiest ones and held them in her little hands, looking at one, then the other.

Then she muttered with a hint of sadness,

"Master can't eat the strawberries Ruanruan gives him anymore."

"That's alright, Miss Ruanruan, when your master comes back, we can buy more," the butler reassured her.

Ruanruan's eyes lit up.

"Right, when master comes back, Ruanruan will buy him the biggest and tastiest strawberries herself!"

Butler "......"

Suddenly, his heart felt sour for some reason!

"Then… then Ruanruan will save these two for Daddy," she said, her eyes reluctantly leaving the strawberries. Ruanruan carefully placed the two strawberries aside, then turned her attention to the cherries.

"Is this a cherry? There are cherries in the mountains too, but those are sour," she remarked.

Seemingly recalling the taste of those cherries, the little one's delicate features scrunched up together, looking both amusing and playful.