Fated Love With the Billionaire
Chapter 156: Happy Birthday to You

Chapter 156: Chapter 156: Happy Birthday to You

Chen Ningxi knew he was all talk, just teasing her.

"Is that so? Tell me about the birds—I’m not familiar with them. If you find a good one, I’ll help you make the call."

"Ugh..." Cheng Qiaobei gritted his teeth, "Are you trying to piss me off?"

Chen Ningxi glanced back, seeing no one paying attention to her, she lowered her voice and playfully said,

"Honey, I’m outside, give me a little face."

Cheng Qiaobei’s eyebrow arched as he couldn’t help but laugh, "Alright then, since you’re being so good, I’ll let you off this time."

"Manager Chen, Manager Chen..."

Someone called her from behind, and Chen Ningxi hurriedly said goodbye to Cheng Qiaobei, "I’ve got something to handle here. Let’s chat when I get home tonight."

"Go ahead."

Cheng Qiaobei blew her a kiss through the camera, and Chen Ningxi caught it in the air and returned him a kiss.

Putting away her phone, Chen Ningxi quickened her pace toward the engineer.

After a busy day, she returned home and checked the time, calculating that it was only a little after 5 AM over at Cheng Qiaobei’s side, so she decided not to disturb his rest.

Due to the time difference, their communications often missed each other. Combined with Chen Ningxi’s busy work schedule and Cheng Qiaobei’s not-so-light workload, he had hardly any free time during the day, and even at night, he often worked overtime, leaving very little time and opportunity for them to have video calls.

After half a month of collaboration and multi-channel operations, the NY Jade Jiali Hotel launched its first trial run after renovations. Not only had the hospitality service improved, but new dishes and service projects were also added, giving the hotel a complete makeover, with the first-day revenue increasing by 30% compared to the same period last year.

In the following week, Cheng Qiaobei didn’t relax; he patrolled the hotel at irregular intervals, fixing problems as soon as he spotted them. Jiang Wanyi also spared no effort to promote Jade Jiali through various channels. Aside from Cheng Qiaobei, she was the one who most eagerly wished for NY Hotel’s revenue to skyrocket. The success of the NY Hotel would certainly become a classic case in the hotel industry, and she would gain more benefits from the project.

Her ultimate goal was to make her boss, Shen Tinglan, value her capabilities enough to give her a higher position.

Jiang Wanyi had been with Shen Tinglan’s company for two years, and in that time, she had received far fewer resources compared to her peers. If it weren’t for Cheng Xiangheng’s ulterior motives to use her to disrupt the relationship between Cheng Qiaobei and Chen Ningxi, she wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity.

For this reason, Jiang Wanyi was even more eager to prove herself with this project.

After a month of operation, Jiang Wanyi got the revenue reports of five overseas Jade Jiali Hotels and eagerly went to report the news to Shen Tinglan, but he didn’t react as she had hoped. His expression was calm, his eyes undisturbed, as if it was all expected of her.

According to Shen Tinglan, "Don’t think the success of the project is your credit. In this company, anyone could have done well with the Jade Jiali project, some even better than you. Because it’s not a difficult project; you should know that."

Leaving Shen Tinglan’s office, Jiang Wanyi felt a bit down. Lin Shuxing, who saw everything, took out a bag of candies from the drawer, placed it on her desk, with a cute card hanging from the candy bag, which read, "Happy Birthday!"

Jiang Wanyi suddenly lifted her head, realizing that today was her birthday.

"Happy birthday, Manager Jiang."

Jiang Wanyi said, "Thank you."

Lin Shuxing encouraged her, "Don’t listen to him, you’re amazing."

Jiang Wanyi picked up the candy bag, took out a fruit candy, and felt a twinge at the corners of her eyes.

"Thank you."

After work, standing at the company gate with a sudden heaviness in her heart and no one to talk to, Jiang Wanyi suddenly thought of Cheng Qiaobei and called him.

It was their first personal call, aside from work, while Cheng Qiaobei was inspecting the guest room department. Seeing her number, he didn’t think much of it, assuming it was work-related.

He answered, "Manager Jiang."

Jiang Wanyi asked, "Are you busy?"

Cheng Qiaobei was focused elsewhere, checking the cluttered utility room in the guest room department, where some disinfectants needed to be stored separately.

"Not too busy, tell me what’s up."

Jiang Wanyi looked up at the sky, "Today’s my birthday."

Cheng Qiaobei signaled the cleaning staff to move the disinfectants on the shelf to another storeroom and said, "Happy birthday."

Jiang Wanyi gave a small smile, feeling the greeting was a bit perfunctory. "We’ve been working together for a month now, and it’s been pleasant so far, hasn’t it?"

Cheng Qiaobei did not deny it.

Jiang Wanyi said, "Could you celebrate my birthday with me?"

Given Jiang Wanyi’s substantial contribution to the hotel’s revenue increase, it was only right to thank her. But the past between them was still there, and spending her birthday with her seemed a bit ambiguous.

While he hesitated, Jiang Wanyi said wistfully, "I have no friends here."

Cheng Qiaobei checked his watch, "You’re off work?"

Jiang Wanyi: "Mm-hm."

Cheng Qiaobei: "I’ll treat you to dinner. What do you want to eat?"

Jiang Wanyi thought about it. No matter how high-end the restaurants were, they couldn’t produce the taste she missed. "Forget the restaurant. I want to taste your cooking. Can we go to my place?"

Cheng Qiaobei lowered his eyes. He had no problem cooking, but going to her place wasn’t appropriate.

"Your ingredients wouldn’t do justice to my skills; come to my hotel instead."

He was indeed cautious. Jiang Wanyi said, "Can I order the dishes?"

Cheng Qiaobei said seriously, "Ordering requires tipping."

Jiang Wanyi laughed, "Cheng Qiaobei, you’re really something."

In a foreign land, it was just too lonely.

Cheng Qiaobei contacted a pastry chef to prepare a cake right away.

When Jiang Wanyi walked into the lobby and saw Cheng Qiaobei standing at the reception desk, just the sight of his back brought back memories, and everything before her seemed like it belonged to another life.

Jiang Wanyi approached him from behind, "Manager Cheng."

Cheng Qiaobei turned around, "Here’s the birthday star, this way please."

She followed Cheng Qiaobei into the restaurant.

Choosing a window seat with a view of the street, Cheng Qiaobei pulled out a chair, "Please sit."

Jiang Wanyi sat down, "Thank you."

Cheng Qiaobei said, "One moment."

The restaurant played soothing, elegant light music. Jiang Wanyi rested her chin on her hand, gazing out the window. Over the years, she had been working intensively; her mind and body were utterly exhausted. But in that moment, she felt completely relaxed, needing to think of nothing.

Cheng Qiaobei placed two dishes on the table, their familiar aroma wafting through the air. Jiang Wanyi said, "I knew you’d remember what I like to eat."

She took the chopsticks, and Cheng Qiaobei said, "Two more dishes are coming."

"No need, this is enough."

Cheng Qiaobei left and returned, and when Jiang Wanyi saw the Sautéed Three Delicacies and Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes, her heart felt warm.

These four dishes today were all her favorites, but she was not good at cooking, so while they were together, it was always Cheng Qiaobei who cooked.

Cheng Qiaobei pulled out a chair and sat across from Jiang Wanyi, poured her a glass of red wine, raised his glass, and said,

"Happy birthday to you."

They clinked their goblets, Jiang Wanyi said, "Thank you."