Qi Youxuan sat opposite Qi Chenglin, and the duo stared at each other at the dining table.

Ruan Danchen turned off the lights in the living room, the room swallowed by the encroaching darkness. She returned to the kitchen and lit the candles on the birthday cake before serving it to Qi Chenglin.

"Youxuan and I made this together. I baked the cake and Youxuan decorated it with creamy designs and fruits," Ruan Danchen explained and sat beside Qi Youxuan. The duo stared at Qi Chenglin with anticipation and anxiety.

Qi Chenglin took a glance at the two of them, admiring the similarity in their facial features. The candlelight accentuated the innocence and honesty in Qi Youxuan's big, round eyes, all too identical to Ruan Danchen's.

Warmth coursed through his heart. He closed his eyes as though making a wish and blew out the candlelights.

Ruan Danchen then turned on the lights and served the dishes. Sitting back down, she spoke sheepishly, "It may not be a grand celebration with no special surprises, but this is the first time I'm celebrating birthdays with you and Youxuan. I want us to celebrate birthdays at home, it's cozy and warm that way."

"This is good enough. To be honest, it's been a long time since I last celebrated birthdays. I don't need any surprises, this is good enough for me." Qi Chenglin's gaze on Ruan Danchen was soft and gentle.

Guan Liya probably felt unnecessary to celebrate Qi Chenglin's birthday as he became more mature. Moreover, he really did not bother about birthdays.

He only wished that Ruan Danchen would remember every occasion related to him as they now shared a special relationship. He did not need a grand or special celebration—it was more than enough if she could just remember his own birthday.

He truly felt that the three of them celebrating birthdays cozily at home was better than the most grand celebration in the world.

Being the birthday boy, Qi Chenglin made the first cut on the cake before cutting out a small piece to Qi Youxuan.

Surprisingly, Qi Youxuan did not gobbled down the piece of cake even though he appeared gluttonous at that moment.

Qi Chenglin served another piece of cake to Ruan Danchen before cutting a small piece for himself. Eyes filled with anticipation and nervousness, Qi Youxuan stared at him. "Dad, have a taste."

Even though Qi Youxuan merely placed all the ingredients and decorative items pre-prepared by Ruan Danchen on the cake, he felt that at least he had his fair share as if he baked the cake himself.

Qi Chenglin nodded after tasting the cake. "Delicious."

Qi Youxuan let out a sigh of relief. He relaxed and started munching on the food.

Qi Chenglin felt Qi Youxuan was not his usual self after staying with Ruan Danchen.

Even though he was cheerful all these while, his attitude seemed to have changed for the better.

…

…

The designing and refurbishment of Qi Chenglin and Qi Youxuan's bedrooms along with the kid's toy room in Prestige Residences took approximately two months time. The entire process finished in October, and what was left now was the elimination of paint smell. The best guess was that they could move back in during November.

Song Yu reported back to work at Chengshi after her maternity leave in October. Surprisingly, Yang Yunshu did not cause troubles to Ruan Danchen this month, probably due to Song Yu's presence.

They would just ignore each other's presence, not greeting despite passing by each other. However, Ruan Danchen did not bother about this—at least she felt happy to be able to chat with Song Yu during work.

Qi Chenglin and Qi Youxuan would accompany her when she returned home after work. If Qi Chenglin's identity was disregarded, this was the life Ruan Danchen desired the most.

However, Song Yu quit her job after one month and stayed at home, waiting for the birth of her baby.

Qi Chenglin came to fetch Ruan Danchen back to Chengshi after her lunch with Song Yu.

Ruan Danchen returned to her office and took a peek at the table beside hers unconsciously. Song Yu packed up all her personal belongings so the table was empty, and the desktop was turned off too.

Yang Yunshu just came out of the resting area. This time she was unsure to whom she gossiped with again.

She took a glance at Song Yu's now-empty workplace and smiled coldly. "Are you feeling upset now since you lost all possible support in the company after Song Yu quit her job?"

Ruan Danchen did not feel like arguing with her, so she inhaled deeply and replied with a flat tone, "Find someone else to play with if you're bored. I don't have spare time for you."

Ruan Danchen then sat down and started working on her desktop, ignoring Yang Yunshu.

Yang Yunshu mocked and her lips curled into a cold smile. Surprisingly, she did not argue with Ruan Danchen and went back to her seat, continuing her work.

…

…

The first week was uneventful, peaceful and quiet. On the second week, Ruan Danchen had an appointment with Xu Haode, a financial manager from Huanghua Property.

Huanghua Property was bidding on a land for the establishment of commercial housings. The land itself was decently sized, thus the scale of the compound would be limited—around ten high-rise residential buildings in total. Even though the bidding result was not announced yet, there had been rumors that Huanghua Property was quite certain that this land would be theirs. They were just standing on ceremony with the bidding process since they were using a closed bidding system this time.

Thus, Huanghua Property seized every minute and made every minute count. They started discussing with every possible design company instead of waiting patiently for the bidding result. They would choose the company which provided the best design and refurbishment proposal.

Naturally, Ruan Danchen participated in the competition to try and seize the opportunity. Even though the compound was not huge, it was still a business opportunity. Back in the day, she would have passed on this kind of small-scale projects without hesitation.

She had an appointment with Xu Haode at Shengyue. Whenever she had a business discussion with a male client, she would always book a place at the dining hall to avert any calamity. She could not be too careful even when the other person involved was only planning for a simple business discussion—that way she could avoid any potential rumors from spreading.

However, Xu Haode insisted for the discussion to be held in a private dining room with the reason of noisy environment in the dining hall. Ruan Danchen tried to reject his suggestion indirectly but this induced annoyance in Xu Haode. He reasoned that it would be fine if she gave up on this job opportunity as it was a simple job discussion, but if she insisted on causing trouble, did she mean that she did not trust his personality?

If this issue was made public and Xu Haode lost his reputation, how was he going to continue on his work?

Ruan Danchen could not disagree with his suggestion as she really wanted to seize this job opportunity. After all, Huanghua Property was one of the few companies who was willing to give her a chance to prove herself.

The waiter led Ruan Danchen to the private dining room when she arrived at Shengyue and waited patiently for Xu Haode who would be reaching shortly after her.

The door to the private dining room opened a quarter-hour later. A man in his forties with an average build and well-shaped facial features stood at the doorstep. Overall, there was nothing special about this man who just walked into the room.

Ruan Danchen stood up and greeted politely, "Manager Xu."

"Ha ha. Let's not stand on ceremony here, Miss Ruan. Come, let's have a seat," Xu Haode walked over with a smile. There was a big, round table in the center of the private dining room, and he chose to sit beside Ruan Danchen.

"Manager Xu, I had collaboration with your company before, I—" Xu Haode then interrupted Ruan Danchen's statement.

"Miss Ruan, let's order for food first before continuing our talk in business," Xu Haode interjected with a smile. He ordered quite a number of dishes and wanted to order alcoholic beverage too. "Miss Ruan, which kind of alcohol do you prefer? I suggest wine for ladies, will that be alright for you?"

Ruan Danchen's lips curled into a polite smile and said, "I have to get back to work in the evening. I don't think my boss will be pleased if I went back to work reeking of alcohol."

Xu Haode ignored Ruan Danchen and waved to the waiter. "I'll get a wine please, the one which costs one thousand four hundred and eighty Yuan."

Then he turned towards Ruan Danchen with a smile, drawing near to her as he spoke. "This meal is on me. It'd be a shame if I ask a young lady like you to pay for this."

Ruan Danchen became stiff and she could hardly maintain the smile any longer as the situation became increasingly uncomfortable. She tried to move further from Xu Haode without making it too obvious in the waiter's presence.

However, Xu Haode wrapped his arm around Ruan Danchen's shoulder unexpectedly and leaned himself forward, his face almost resting on her shoulder right after the waiter left the room. The tobacco stench in his mouth assaulted her nostrils during his speech.

"Don't you worry, Miss Ruan. Ask your boss to call me if he scolds you, I'll tell him it's my request. We should drink some wine since we're out now. It's happier that way." Xu Haode's hand that was initially on her shoulder slipped downwards gradually during his speech. He rested his hand on her waist, attempting to go further downwards.

Ruan Danchen was shocked and she stood up immediately. She then distanced herself from Xu Haode by shifting to the empty seat next to her.

Ruan Danchen got away just in time as Xu Haode lunged at where she originally sat.

"Manager Xu, I'm here to discuss about the proposal, so it's unwise to have alcoholic beverage now," reminded Ruan Danchen with hardened expression.

Xu Haode sat up straight. He was smiling a little, a smile with a twist to it—the smile one wore in annoyance. "Miss Ruan, don't disappoint me, we should have fun when we're having meals outside. There were rumors saying that you were good at drinking. Since you can drink with others, why can't you do it with me now?"

Ruan Danchen kept her back straight, getting prepared to run out of the room. "Manager Xu, I hope you're viewing me in a professional manner. With all due respect, my sole purpose of coming here was to discuss regarding the project—"

"Am I not doing this? We will discuss about the project later. Miss Ruan, I've heard about your 'professionalism' during work discussion, I hope you'll treat me with the same 'professionalism' too." Xu Haode smirked. He sat closer to Ruan Danchen and held her hand.

Ruan Danchen felt that there was a hidden message behind his statement. Xu Haode massaged her hands and gave up hiding the creepy, pervert look in his eyes. "Miss Ruan, come to think of it, you were so beautiful and appeared especially cute since I first saw you. You made my heart itch, touch it if you don't believe me."

Xu Haode put Ruan Danchen's hand on his precordium without asking for her permission.

His action disgusted Ruan Danchen and nearly made her vomited. She knew only too well that she would not be able to get this job opportunity, so she stood up abruptly and pulled her hand back with all her might.

"Manager Xu, please behave yourself. I believe this business opportunity with Huanghua is considered a failure. I don't care what you're trying to imply but sorry, I don't use whatever method you have in your mind for business discussion. All the work I've done were all based on my skills and potentials. If the client chose not to use my proposal, then it'd be due to my lack of skill, and I won't win over any projects using disgraceful methods," Ruan Danchen's tone was cold and flat. Her face reddened after his insult and she tried desperately to contain her tears.

Xu Haode stood up, his face appeared ferocious and hideous. "You're willing to do so with others, but why not with me? Why are you pretending to be chaste? God knows how many times you've had sex with them for your previous projects!"

Xu Haode knocked the chair and charged towards Ruan Danchen. "Miss Ruan, I've known you all too well, so why are you even trying to pretend? Let's be honest here. If you make me happy, then this project is yours. Didn't you do the same for all other projects too?"

"Sorry, I think this was a misunderstanding. I've never done such actions before." Ruan Danchen held on to the slight calmness inside her and said before opening the door.

Just when her hand was about to reach the doorknob, Xu Haode grabbed her arm from behind and pulled her back. His face was wild like a barbarian when he exclaimed. "Ruan Danchen, I gave you a chance so stop making yourself an embarrassment, or else don't even think about getting projects from Huanghua ever again! If you served me well this afternoon, not only that this project will be yours, I'll give you every project available in Huanghua. Since you can provide special privilege to others, you can provide the same to me too, so don't even try to pretend that you're chaste unless...you're actually despising me? Do you think my position was unworthy of your special privilege?"

He tried to pull Ruan Danchen into his embosom as he spoke.

Ruan Danchen was exasperated and yelled, "Xu Haode, are you out of your mind? Let go of me! I don't care where you heard all these nonsense, but I never provide such special privilege! I don't want any projects from Huanghua anymore!"

Xu Haode confirmed his suspicion that Ruan Danchen looked down on him as she did not want to give him the special treatment.

Burning rage hissed through Ruan Danchen's body, screeching a demanded release in the form of unwanted violence. She lashed out at his face without hesitation when she was about to fall into his embrace, which accidentally caught his eye in the process.

Xu Haode released his grip due to the intense pain in his eyes which were now teary after the assault.

He cried out in pain and grimaced, pressing on the eye that was injured. His menacing eyes were a blazing red as his hand cracked across Ruan Danchen's cheek. Then, with an aggressive tone, he roared, "B*tch! All the staff in your company knew you had sex with your clients in exchange for projects, stop pretending now!"

Ruan Danchen's head was snapped backward with the force of his blow and the pain she felt had an unpleasant warmth to it.

Her eyes glowed red as she stared at him and hissed through gritted teeth. "Who fed these nonsense to you? Is it Yang Yunshu? Xu Haode, just wait for your complaint letter. If your company found out regarding your attempt in demanding sex in return for giving me business project and physically violated me when your attempt had failed, let's see how you'll survive then."

Xu Haode was stunned upon hearing her statement.

He did not expect such strong resistance from Ruan Danchen.

Ruan Danchen quickly escaped the room when Xu Haode's mind went blank. Her nervous system was fired up when she faced Xu Haode in fear that he might force her into copulation.

Ruan Danchen let out a sigh of relief after her escape, but soon the relief was followed by a great sense of mortification. Tears started welling up in her red-rimmed eyes, and they burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down her face.

Ruan Danchen trembled with wrath. She did not want to cry in public but she just could not hold it.

Yang Yunshu went a bit too far in her bullying!

Ruan Danchen had heard rumors spreading in the company. One would know who started and spread the rumors by thinking with the foot, since this was not the first time Yang Yunshu accused her in her presence.

Still, she did not expect that she would go this far and affected her job.

Ruan Danchen rushed off with her head lowered, and accidentally ran into someone else.

"Sorry," she mumbled without lifting her head, attempting to run away again.

The floodgate was failing as she struggled to contain her tears, and she could not even make a statement clearly. The apology she just uttered was mixed with a sobbing tone.

However, the other person she ran into did not plan to let her go. Suddenly, her shoulders were held firmly and a familiar voice traveled to her ears. "Miss Ruan?"

Petrified on the spot, Ruan Danchen did not lift her gaze as her look was not appealing due to tears.

Xu Haode reached the door with an obvious palm mark on his face. He was stunned upon noticing Mu Huaisheng and slammed the door in their faces, returning to the private dining room.

Mu Huaisheng frowned and lifted Ruan Danchen's face up with a stony expression. He noticed the tears made wet tracks down her face and dripped from her chin, and one side of her face was red and swollen from the slap.

"What happened?" Mu Huaisheng questioned monotonically.

Ruan Danchen's hair was messy after the commotion. There was an obvious palm mark on her cheek and her eyes were red from the constant crying.

Ruan Danchen quickly shook his hand off and took two steps back before noticing that Mu Huaisheng did not come alone.

"I'm here for business discussion," Mu Huaisheng explained.

Ruan Danchen nodded and was about to leave when Mu Huaisheng stopped her in her path. "Hold on, I can't let you leave alone in this condition. I'll ask someone to send you back."

Mu Huaisheng turned towards his assistant, Chen Zhengming and said, "Send Miss Ruan to wherever she wants."