novellhall Chapter 131 More Than Friends
Chapter 131 More Than Friends
"I remember," Zhuang Qingxiang replied with a polite smile.
I remember that Li Shengnan met Liang Xinzheng by chance. After Li Shengnan introduced herself, he introduced her to Liang Xinzheng.
I don't know what she said, but Liang Xinzheng started to deliberately get close to me after that.
Although they never met or had any contact afterward, Zhuang Qingxiang still remembered her, but subconsciously disliked her.
"I ran into Li Shengnan on my way here. She happened to be looking for you, so we came together," Shi Peiran explained, then asked Zhuang Qingxiang how she was doing and if she felt unwell.
Zhuang Qingxiang explained that she was fine and that Director Lu had misunderstood her as being sick.
Shi Peiran was worried, so he asked Zhuang Qingxiang to take her temperature.
Li Shengnan laughed and said, "Director Lu usually has a stern face that's quite intimidating, but I didn't expect him to be so caring."
"Director Lu is a really good person," Shi Peiran said with a smile.
Zhuang Qingxiang nodded in agreement, then smiled at Li Shengnan: "Comrade Li, is there something you need?"
"Right! I almost forgot. Look at my memory." Li Shengnan slapped her forehead. "The boss asked me to ask if you've started working on that embroidery yet, and what the final design is."
"The design is still waiting for the leader to approve it," Zhuang Qingxiang said, taking out the drawing to show her.
Shi Peiran watched for a couple of seconds and exclaimed in admiration, "Sister Zhuang, you're good at painting too!"
Zhuang Qingxiang said shyly, "I can only draw some patterns, it's not much of an art..."
Li Shengnan looked at the drawing and nodded: "Comrade Zhuang, don't be modest. Even if it's just a drawing, it's very good. I think it's fine, but we need to take it to the leader for review. How about this, I'll take it first, and I'll let you know once the leader has made a decision, okay?"
"Sure," Zhuang Qingxiang said with a smile.
While we were talking, my temperature was taken. I didn't have a fever, so I'm fine.
Only then did Shi Peiran feel relieved and leave with the first-aid kit.
Li Shengnan didn't follow, saying she wanted to chat with Zhuang Qingxiang for a bit.
As a result, her casual conversation turned to asking Zhuang Qingxiang if she had a conflict with Chef Jiang from the cafeteria.
"You two used to be together all the time, but I haven't seen you going to and from get off work together lately. Did you have a fight?"
Zhuang Qingxiang frowned slightly: "Comrade Li, have you misunderstood something? Master Jiang and I are just ordinary colleagues."
Li Shengnan couldn't hide her surprise: "Just ordinary colleagues? You two aren't... dating? Everyone says you two are dating, and Master Jiang hasn't denied it..."
"Really not." Zhuang Qingxiang frowned. "If anyone spreads such rumors again, please ask Comrade Li to explain for me."
Li Shengnan sighed, "Actually, I think Chef Jiang is quite good..."
As she spoke, she gave an apologetic smile: "Speaking of which, I should apologize to you! I was thinking of introducing Comrade Liang Xinzheng to you, but I never expected him to do such a thing. Alas... I misjudged him and almost ruined you."
"I've wanted to apologize to you for a while, but we're not close, and I felt too ashamed to face you, so I kept putting it off until now. Today, I'm going to swallow my pride and say sorry, Comrade Zhuang Qingxiang, can you forgive me?"
Li Shengnan finished speaking in one breath, her face slightly flushed, showing that she was genuinely embarrassed.
Zhuang Qingxiang smiled and said, "It's alright, it's all in the past, let's not talk about it anymore."
Li Shengnan immediately broke into a happy smile: "Zhuang... I saw Shi Peiran call you Sister Zhuang, so I'll shamelessly call you Sister Zhuang too! Sister Zhuang, I'm from the union. Although I'm not a leader, I know a lot of people. Since you don't like Master Jiang, tell me what kind you like, and I'll help you find someone you're satisfied with, okay?"
"No need to trouble yourself, I don't want to look for someone." Zhuang Qingxiang refused directly, not understanding why Li Shengnan, at such a young age, liked to introduce people to potential partners. Anyway, she firmly stated that she didn't want to find a partner and told Li Shengnan not to bother.
"I understand you don't want to contact me right now, but I think you shouldn't be so stubborn, Sister Zhuang. Who knows what the future holds? What if you meet someone even better? You know what I mean? I'll keep this in mind. I'll be going now."
Li Shengnan finished speaking with a smile, then took the drawing Zhuang Qingxiang had made and left.
Zhuang Qingxiang shook her head helplessly. One after another, they wanted to introduce her to potential partners. Was it such a heinous crime not to get married?
So it turns out this isn't just happening in the village, it's happening in the factory too.
Actually, back in the village, just seven or eight days after her husband died, someone came to her door saying they would introduce her to a suitable man, but she kicked him out.
Later, someone approached her mother-in-law, wanting to propose marriage for her. Her mother-in-law was very willing, but she firmly disagreed. After that, her relationship with her in-laws ended. Her parents-in-law spared no effort to smear her and drive her away.
She didn't want to look for someone again back then, and she doesn't want to now either.
She felt there was no better man in the world than Lu Congyue, but they were not a good match.
Zhuang Qingxiang sighed, putting these worries aside, and carried the child to the cafeteria.
She originally thought that after she said those things at the Jiang family, Master Jiang might not let her work anymore. Unexpectedly, Master Jiang didn't say anything, and although Jiang Weihai avoided her, he didn't say anything either.
After finishing her work, when it was lunchtime and Zhuang Qingxiang was carrying her child home, Jiang Weihai caught up with her.
"Zhuang Qingxiang, I... I meant to say, we're still friends, right?"
Zhuang Qingxiang's eyes lit up: "Of course!"
Jiang Weihai then revealed a simple and honest smile: "I was worried that you would get angry and cut ties with me, and stop considering me a friend."
"How could that be?" Zhuang Qingxiang smiled brightly. "As long as you're willing, we can be friends."
Jiang Weihai was momentarily stunned by her smile.
He really liked Zhuang Qingxiang, but she didn't reciprocate his feelings, so he couldn't force her.
However, he was willing to wait and remain friends for now. If one day she suffered hardship elsewhere and wanted to get married, he would have a chance.
Anyway, he doesn't fancy any other women, so he'll just wait and see.
Jiang Weihai quickly composed himself and said to Zhuang Qingxiang, "We're not only friends, but also business partners. Your pastries are really good; people want to buy them. Do you still have time to make more?"
"Yes, yes." Zhuang Qingxiang nodded hurriedly.
This is such a wonderful surprise!
She had been thinking about making money all along, and unexpectedly Jiang Weihai brought it up, just like a pillow appearing when she was sleepy.
"What needs to be done?" she asked.
Jiang Weihai skillfully took Xiao Chenglin from her arms: "I'll take you back, we can talk on the way."
Back home, Zhuang Qingxiang invited Jiang Weihai into the house. After putting the child down, she took out paper and pen and had Jiang Weihai repeat everything. She wrote down each item herself to avoid making mistakes.
Jiang Weihai looked at her writing and praised, "Your handwriting is also very beautiful."
Zhuang Qingxiang learned to read when she was a child at the Zhuang family home. Later, when there was a literacy class in the village, she took her younger brother there to learn, and she learned quite a bit.
After finishing taking notes, Jiang Weihai asked with some concern, "There are quite a lot of questions. Can you handle them? Didn't the factory assign you another task?"