"Everyone who saw the boss' wife tonight said that she looked only about 18 years old."
The rumored boss' wife, Lin Xiaowan, felt a little embarrassed upon hearing this.
'D-do I really look that young?'
"Do all of you like the boss' wife so much?"
"No, we're just curious. Aren't you curious?"
The young woman scooped a bowl of ice cream for herself and stood at the side. She continued to chat as she ate.
"Moreover, what does it matter if we like her or not? She's the boss' wife, not ours."
"I'm curious as well," Lin Xiaowan said with a straight face and nodded. Then, she spared no effort in smearing herself as she continued to say, "However, I don't think she's compatible with the boss. I heard that she doesn't know anything. She's not a young miss from a prominent family. She's just an ordinary person and doesn't even have a job. She spends the boss' money every day and relies on him to support her."
"You're so strange. You've never seen her before, but why does it seem like you dislike her?" the young woman asked, raising an eyebrow. Then, she thought about it for a few seconds before her eyes widened and her face paled. She asked, "Don't you tell me you have a crush on the boss?"
Lin Xiaowan hurriedly waved her hands and shook her head frantically to deny those words. "No, no, no! I've never even met the boss. How could I have a crush on him? I only heard those things from someone else."
"Oh, then that person must be jealous and deliberately said bad things about the boss' wife. What's wrong with her spending the boss' money? She's so beautiful so she should spend money beautifully as well…" the young woman said. Then, she added with a disdainful expression, "Let me tell you. Although I've just started working at the company recently, there are always people who don't know their places and dream about marrying into a rich family. Those women are the most annoying. They belittle and trample on people of their own gender just to attract the attention of the opposite sex. That person who told you this must be making up lies before she's jealous. Women should always get along with each other."
Lin Xiaowan gave the young woman a thumbs up and said, "You're right."
…
After a while, the lucky draw was finally about to take place on the stage. The young woman wanted to see if she would win so she bade farewell to Lin Xiaowan. However, seeing that Lin Xiaowan seemed to have nowhere to go, she invited Lin Xiaowan to the table.
Lin Xiaowan politely declined the invitation.
The young woman said, looking slightly disappointed, "Alright. By the way, which department are you from? You look very young. Perhaps, we can have a meal together when we're free."
Lin Xiaowan naturally did not know about the departments in Huo Zheng's company. She had never even been to the company before. Hence, she could only laugh it off and say, "I'm not telling you."
After that, Lin Xiaowan continued to eat for a while more before she returned to the lounge where Huo Zheng had shown her earlier.
Huo Zheng was not around, but as soon as Lin Xiaowan entered, a waiter pushed a small cart in and brought a fruit plate to her.
Lin Xiaowan continued to eat. When she finally brought her phone out, she discovered that it was almost 8 PM.
When Huo Zheng finally came to the lounge, Lin Xiaowan was lying on the couch watching a variety show, giggling to herself. When she saw him, she paused the show and quickly got up.
"You're finally here. Where were you?"
Huo Zheng had to go on stage to present the gifts for the lucky draw.
Lin Xiaowan had taken off her down jacket earlier, and she was only wearing a cashmere sweater now. Huo Zheng reached into her sweater and felt her round stomach. He asked gently, "What did you eat?"
Lin Xiaowan did not always enforce the rule of 'You're pursuing me so don't stick so close to me'. At this moment, she felt very comfortable when he rubbed her stomach so she did not say anything. She burped twice happily.
"I ate a lot of delicious food."
Lin Xiaowan naturally did not go into details. There were many, many things that Huo Zheng prevented her from eating after she was hospitalized.
In her previous life, Huo Zheng never cared about such trivial matters. She was free to do as she wanted and ate whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. However, she could not do that now.
When he was at home, how much she could drink also depended on him. She thought that it was a little too much. The juice was freshly squeezed. There were no additives at all. Was it any different from eating fruits?
Nonetheless, Lin Xiaowan also enjoyed his care. Although she would occasionally protest a little and eat when he was not looking, she still liked it.
Lin Xiaowan said smugly, "I met your employees. They like me very much. They said that I'm especially good-looking."
Her words were a little exaggerated. She did not meet his employees; she only met one of his employees. Nonetheless, it did not stop her from showing off happily.
"Everyone says I'm too good for you!"
Huo Zheng chuckled and did not comment on her words.
Lin Xiaowan fisted her hand and pretended to hold a microphone to Huo Zheng's mouth before she asked, "Do you have any comments regarding your employees' words?"
Huo Zheng held her hand and said, "They're right. Miss Lin is too good for me."
His voice was low and magnetic, and it carried a hint of joy, making Lin Xiaowan's heart melt.
…
In a blink of an eye, it was already the eve of the lunar new year.
Everyone in the old residence was on vacation, and after having early lunch, they discussed what dumplings to make for dinner. They decided to make a few sweet dumplings for good luck.
The Huo brothers and Qiao You'an knew how to make dumplings, but Lin Xiaowan did not. Although she could wrap the fillings, the dumplings she made had very little fillings, and they were wrapped in such a way that they did not look like dumplings at all.
Huo Cheng rolled the dough with a rolling pin and gave it to Lin Xiaowan and his two children to play with. The children, like Lin Xiaowan, did not know how to make dumplings.
Huo Zheng learned how to make dumplings from his parents when he was young. Mrs. Huo loved dumplings so the family would always make dumplings together during the holidays.
In the beginning, when they got together, Lin Xiaowan had been very intrigued when she saw Huo Zheng making dumplings. She felt that it was rare that a tycoon like him was so adept at making dumplings. However, as time passed, she had gotten used to it.
After making the dumplings, they put them aside and only planned to cook them after midnight.
Huo Cheng brought the children to the courtyard to set off fireworks.
Huo Zheng was worried that Lin Xiaowan would stand too close to the fireworks so he planned to accompany her. However, he was stopped by Qiao You'an.
When everyone left, Huo Zheng looked at his sister-in-law and asked, "What's wrong?"
Qiao You'an wanted to speak to Huo Zheng about persuading Lin Xiaowan to make friends and get hobbies of her own. She said, "I don't think she has any goals in life. She's always revolving around you and doesn't have her own life at all."
In Qiao You'an's opinion, a person should live for themselves, not solely for others.