Fated Love With the Billionaire
Chapter 79: Spring Brings Life to All Things

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Spring Brings Life to All Things

Each year, for Arbor Day, our company organized activities, and this year was no exception. Bai Haifeng led the power company’s tree-planting team to the upstream area of the Danjiang River in Shihezi Town. This time, they purchased one hundred saplings. There were fourteen groups, each consisting of three men and one woman, with each group responsible for planting seven trees. The remaining two were taken on by Bai Haifeng as the leader.

Chen Ningxi and three male colleagues from her department divided the work efficiently. Zhang Yujiang and Ma Xueyi dug holes, Fu Chuan transported the saplings, while Chen Ningxi was responsible for filling in the soil. It seemed like a straightforward task, but when put into practice, they found it quite labor-intensive. They had arrived in the morning, and by the time they finished planting, the sun was nearly setting. Everyone stood in front of the newly planted trees for a group photo, a red banner read, "Spring brings all things to life, protecting green comes first — Danjiang Power Company."

Lunch was a makeshift meal by the roadside, and for dinner, Bai Haifeng organized a gathering, calling to book a large table at Weiheo.

On the way back, the minibus was lively, but within ten minutes, it fell silent. Everyone was presumably exhausted from shoveling and digging. Leaning back on her seat, Chen Ningxi fell into a sleepy daze.

As they neared the company, Chen Ningxi received a WeChat message from Cheng Qiaobei.

north: "Are you busy?"

She was too tired to hear the phone notification, and when the bus stopped in front of the restaurant, everyone began getting off.

Beside her, Wang nudged Chen Ningxi, "Chen, Chen, wake up, we’re here."

"Mm..." Chen Ningxi opened her eyes, rubbing their corners, "I fell asleep too."

Wang joked, "Who didn’t fall asleep? Everyone was too tired to make a sound."

The two disembarked one after the other, heading straight for the largest private room in the restaurant.

"Wang, can you take my bag? I need to use the restroom." Chen Ningxi handed her bag to Wang, then headed down another hallway.

When she returned to the private room, Wang handed her the bag back. The room was too noisy for Wang to hear the mobile phone ringing.

At that moment, Cheng Qiaobei’s car was parked at the company entrance. It was already dark, but her office light was still on. For some reason, she hadn’t answered his calls.

After waiting ten more minutes, Cheng Qiaobei sent her another message.

north: "Very busy?"

She still didn’t respond.

Cheng Qiaobei tried calling Chen Ningxi again, but inside the lively room, the phone’s ringtone was drowned out by the chatter.

He got out of the car and approached the security guard, knocking on the door, "Hey, has Mr. Chen left work yet?"

The guard said, "Mr. Chen hasn’t come back yet."

"Where did they go?" Cheng Qiaobei asked.

The guard replied, "Today is Arbor Day, the company organized tree planting."

"Where did they plant trees?"

"They should be at the usual spot, in Shihezi."

"Oh, thank you."

Cheng Qiaobei wasn’t sure how far Shihezi was from Danjiang, but seeing that Chen Ningxi’s car was still parked in the yard confirmed she hadn’t returned.

He returned to his car, searched for Shihezi, and estimated he could drive there in under an hour, figuring the event should be over by then.

Cheng Qiaobei dialed Chen Ningxi’s phone again. At that moment, Bai Haifeng pulled her aside to toast everyone.

Bai Haifeng, his face flushed from drinking, said, "Most of the people here today are long-time employees of Danjiang Power. You’ll need everyone’s support at work in the future, so let’s toast to that."

Chen Ningxi raised her glass without hesitation, understanding that Bai Haifeng was paving the way for her.

She drained her glass and the crowd cheered.

Returning to her seat, she heard her phone ringing. Retrieving her bag, she saw there were three missed calls; two from Cheng Qiaobei and one from Ye Yujun.

She called back in order, "Did you call me? I didn’t hear it earlier."

Cheng Qiaobei sat in his car, outside the window cars were bustling by.

He lit a cigarette, rolled down the window a crack, "I’m back. I thought about surprising you by picking you up. But you didn’t respond to my WeChat or answer my calls. I asked the guard and found out you were out planting trees today. How was it, are you tired?"

"Not too bad."

Hahaha... Another burst of laughter erupted from the dining table, and Chen Ningxi couldn’t hear what Cheng Qiaobei was saying, so she stepped out of the private room.

As she moved into the hallway, it became much quieter on the line.

"Are you having dinner with colleagues?"

"Yes, we’re all very tired today, so Manager Bai organized a dinner for us."

"Have a drink?"

"I had a little, not much."

Cheng Qiaobei said, "When will it end? I’ll pick you up."

"It’s hard to say, some people are really getting into it." Chen Ningxi was worried about him driving at night, "If you’re in a hurry, you can head back first."

Sending him away?

Cheng Qiaobei flicked the ash from his cigarette, "No hurry, I’ll wait for you."

Chen Ningxi said, "It’ll be late, and the road back to Danjiang is difficult."

Still sending him away?

He decided to see what was going on.

Cheng Qiaobei asked, "Where are you having dinner, I’ll wait for you there."

She gave him the address, "Let me know when you arrive."

Cheng Qiaobei stubbed out his cigarette, "Okay."

The car stopped at the restaurant entrance, and Cheng Qiaobei messaged her.

north: "I’m at the door."

Chen Ningxi replied, "Got it."

The gathering lasted from shortly after five until half-past eight. As soon as Chen Ningxi exited the restaurant, she saw Cheng Qiaobei’s car. After saying goodbye to her colleagues, she headed straight for his vehicle.

In full view of everyone, Chen Ningxi got into Cheng Qiaobei’s car.

People are naturally curious; someone asked, "Didn’t she break up with the last one? They got back together?"

"Can’t be, it was such a bad breakup, she wouldn’t go back to him."

"I thought so too. Then who came to pick her up?"

Someone chimed in, "Just as she was leaving, I saw it’s a different guy this time."

There are always those whose mouths run unchecked, who fear you doing better than them and gloat if you do worse.

"Broke up and already seeing someone else? Smooth transition?"

An older person patted a younger one’s back, "Watch your mouth, it’s been a while since she broke up. What smooth transition? It’s a good thing Manager Bai isn’t here, or you’d get a scolding."

The younger one laughed sheepishly, hiding his embarrassment.

Chen Ningxi asked, "Did Wei Lai’s dad get discharged?"

Cheng Qiaobei replied, "Not yet, but soon. They said by next Monday."

"When you’re back, who’s looking after the hotel?" Chen Ningxi asked.

Cheng Qiaobei looked ahead, "There isn’t much going on these days. I came back to grab some clothes."

"Are you going back tonight?" she asked.

Cheng Qiaobei said, "No, I’m staying the night."

The car stopped at the entrance to Chen Ningxi’s apartment complex. Just as she was about to get out, Cheng Qiaobei pulled her back.

"Hey..." Chen Ningxi turned around, and he held her chin, suddenly leaning in, staring into her eyes, "You don’t seem happy I’m back?"

Chen Ningxi said, "No, why wouldn’t I be happy?"

Cheng Qiaobei could smell the alcohol on her, and her answers, thanks to the alcohol, seemed genuine.

"Are you happy I’m back?"

Chen Ningxi said, "Of course I am, no need to ask."

"Happy, yet you’re sending me away."

While she had been drinking, Chen Ningxi was not drunk to the point of forgetting things.

"I wasn’t sending you away, I was worried about the mountain roads at night, the winding paths aren’t safe." Chen Ningxi caught on, narrowing her eyes to assess him, "I see, you insisted on picking me up just to see who I was having dinner with?"

Cheng Qiaobei laughed, "Don’t pin that on me."