Chapter 451: Chapter 451: The Little Couple
He Qianhui came out, and the first thing she did was to come over to Zhang Hao’s side, where the two of them started whispering in front of so many people.
"The manager said he hadn’t expected me to actually secure this contract, so he gave me two weeks of vacation, and it’s paid leave," she said.
Given He Qianhui’s current status in the company, basics like her salary were no longer her concern.
An average of a hundred yuan a day was not much, but every little bit counts.
"Well, that’s not bad. Can you go home now?"
After saying goodbye to her other colleagues, He Qianhui looped her arm through Zhang Hao’s and they headed out together.
But they did not realize that some colleagues had already rolled their eyes.
Feng Nuo saw everything and she was on good terms with He Qianhui.
Seeing someone react like that, she couldn’t help but defend her friend.
But the person just sneered and said, "Just look at how flirtatious she is. Everyone knows that Director Qian likes to fool around with women. She probably got the contract signed so quickly because she has been in a hotel for the past few days, nowhere else."
Feng Nuo took out her phone, opened her Moments, and used the posts He Qianhui had shared over the past few days as evidence to prove her innocence.
But those people didn’t even glance at it, ignoring her actions and gestures.
Feng Nuo, huffy, sat down and suddenly didn’t feel like working anymore. She took the opportunity to get some water as an excuse to step outside for a breather.
She didn’t forget to tell He Qianhui about the incident, advising her to be mentally prepared when she came back to work after two weeks.
Moreover, the company had recently taken on quite a few new staff, and there were some negative attitudes towards their work.
Especially female sales representatives, whom they simply assumed got their contracts through their bodies.
While on her way home, He Qianhui saw the message from Feng Nuo. If it had been the old He Qianhui, she definitely would have been angry about this sort of thing.
But now she wasn’t going to let it upset her, choosing to interpret it as a reflection of her outstanding work capabilities, drawing envy and jealousy from the inept.
"It’s fine, let them talk. You don’t get angry either, it’s not worth it," she texted back.
Thinking of Feng Nuo’s efforts to defend her, He Qianhui felt grateful for such a colleague and good friend.
He Qianhui immediately sent a red envelope as a show of thanks.
Feng Nuo sent a confused emoji, not understanding the point of the red envelope.
He Qianhui didn’t explicitly express her thanks; instead, she suggested Feng Nuo treat herself to a milk tea or coffee.
Once Feng Nuo was sure it wasn’t a mistake, she accepted the red envelope and was surprised to find it was for 200 yuan!
A milk tea cost only twenty to thirty yuan; surely, this was about more than just inviting her for a milk tea.
When they passed by a seafood market, Zhang Hao pulled over.
"It’s not often I have time as well, so let’s treat ourselves tonight. That should be fine, right?"
He Qianhui didn’t object, as their days of living on a tight budget were behind them.
It was time to eat and drink well.
"I’m just worried that the better seafood might have already been sold out at this hour."
"Don’t worry about it. Let’s go in and have a look. If there’s nothing good, we can come back tomorrow. I’ll be at home for the next two weeks anyway," Zhang Hao replied with a smile.
Laughing, they both unbuckled their seat belts, and holding hands like a couple of lovestruck teenagers, they entered the seafood market.
As soon as they stepped inside, the distinctive fishy smell filled their nostrils.
They walked around for quite a while before finally buying the seafood they liked.
Two Australian lobsters, one king crab, and some other items added up to a substantial expense.
Luckily, the vendor was nice enough to prepare them properly.
Back home, all they had to do was steam them, saving Zhang Hao a lot of hassle.
He Qianhui noticed a basket of oysters next to them with a sign on top saying "Gold Label!"
"Honey, should we get some of these as well, give you a good boost?"
Seeing the oysters, Zhang Hao knew what He Qianhui meant.
"So, you want to beautify yourself."
He Qianhui pursed her lips into a smile and buried her face into Zhang Hao’s shoulder.
"You did that on purpose!"
Zhang Hao smiled slightly and had the boss weigh some more oysters. After all, the few extra didn’t matter.
Back at home, while He Qianhui rested in the living room, Zhang Hao donned his apron and started bustling about.
He poured drinks and brought out the freshly cut fruit.
However, Zhang Hai still cautioned He Qianhui to eat less, otherwise, she wouldn’t have much room left for the big meal to come.
"Alright, alright, you go ahead and cook, I’ll be waiting right here."
To get the food ready for He Qianhui as quickly as possible, Zhang Hao used both burners in the kitchen.
The seafood was steaming slowly, and he had to stir-fry a couple of his specialty dishes.
After more than an hour of bustling, he had all the dishes on the table.
He Qianhui, patting her stomach, came to the table.
"Not bad at all. Let me grab my phone to take a picture and post it to Moments."
She said she was going to grab her phone, but He Qianhui went back to the bedroom and deliberately chose a pretty dress from the wardrobe to change into.
She also applied a simple makeup look. Seeing her make such an effort, Zhang Hao also thought about going back to the room to change into more formal clothes, at least something better than what he was currently wearing.
But He Qianhui stopped him, clasping onto his arm and laughing, "I think you look better in an apron than in any other clothes. Come on, let’s take a selfie together first."
Zhang Hao held a spatula in one hand and a pan in the other, with a nicely seared steak still in the pan.
After taking the photo, He Qianhui spent some time adding an attractive filter to the picture.
She put together a nine-square grid and posted it to Moments.
Just after posting, someone knocked at the door. He Qianhui put down her phone to answer it.
Before opening the door, she wondered who could be visiting their home so late.
She guessed it might be the neighbors across the hall. Since they were having a feast that day, inviting them over would make for a livelier and better atmosphere.
However, once she opened the door, He Qianhui was stunned; standing outside was Zhang Hao’s parents.
"Uncle and Auntie, how come you’re here?"
Zhang Hao’s parents came in just as their son emerged from the kitchen.
"Who is it? Is it the neighbors across the hall?"
Zhang Hao didn’t even raise his head, hurriedly transferring the seared steak from the pan to a dish.
"It’s Uncle and Auntie," said He Qianhui.
Zhang Hao turned around and, indeed, it was his parents.
"Dad, Mom, what brings you here so late at night?"
Seeing his dad’s stern face and his mom’s mild smile, Zhang Hao felt unsure.
It seemed that tonight’s meal wouldn’t go as smoothly as planned.
"How come we can’t stop by to see how you two are doing, especially late at night like this?"
"Knowing that you’ve recently bought a house and are renovating, and that you’ve changed cars, I was worried that your two salaries wouldn’t be enough."
After his father finished speaking, he took a bank card out of his pocket and handed it to He Qianhui.
The numbers on the bank card were so worn that He Qianhui felt its heat in her hand.
"Uncle, what is this for?"
"Your uncle and I, our combined monthly salaries add up to over ten thousand yuan, but we old folks don’t spend that much."
"So, we divided it into three parts, one part for our day-to-day expenses, another saved up, and the last part, we kept in this card."
