Everything was fine during the inspection. The factory management was meticulous in following Orchidia Beauty's safety standards and quality control, especially since both Iris and Chen Fei who did the inspections before were both strict.
Iris treated people nicely but she was also very straightforward in pointing out any mistakes or deviations from her vision for her business. Her perfectionism was the most severe among the so-called Orchidia Beauty's trinity of goddesses. Since she was a perfectionist, she held high expectations of everyone working for her company. She had no qualms temporarily shutting down the entire factory if she ever found any problems that might lower the quality of Orchidia Beauty's products.
Similarly, Chen Fei had an innate bossy personality. She liked being in control and not afraid to show it to everyone. Like Iris, she was also very blunt but her words were much more poisonous. The factory employees were actually more afraid of her than Iris because of her vicious tongue. Despite this, she never crossed the line into verbal abuse territory. She knew her limits.
Compared to the two of them, Long Jinjing was considered to be the gentlest and most reasonable among the executives of Orchidia Beauty. Only when money was involved that she would turn fierce.
The factory manager looked relieved that it was her who came to do the inspection today. There would be no critiques in improving the already high standards in the factory from President Iris Long and no severe tongue lashing from COO Chen Fei. Nevertheless, Long Jinjing still took the inspection seriously and followed the official protocol.
After ensuring that everything in the factory was within Orchidia Beauty's high standards, Long Jinjing said goodbye to everyone and left. Robin was waiting for her outside with the car.
"Where to, Miss Jinjing?" Robin asked.
Long Jinjing looked at the time on her wristwatch. It was already late in the afternoon. There was no point in returning to the company because she already completed all her tasks today. She could go home now but thought of something. She smiled.
"Please drive me to the grocery store," she said.
"Okay, Miss Jinjing."
The car started moving. Long Jinjing fished out her phone from her purse and called Lu Zihao. There was no answer. She pursed her lips but didn't feel disappointed. After all, he was doing important work by catching the accomplices in the bombing accident. She didn't attempt to call him a second time, but just as she returned her phone inside her purse, he called her. She immediately answered.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"N-nothing. I just missed you."
Silence.
"Uhm, sorry for disturbing you. I just want to ask if you'll still be able to make it for our date tonight. If not, it's okay…."
"I'll make it tonight but I might be late. At your place, right?"
"Yes…."
"Hm." There was some muffled noises on his side.
"I won't disturb you anymore. Continue what you're doing. But please stay safe, okay?"
"Hm, I will."
"See you tonight, Nik—Zihao." She quickly corrected herself upon remembering that Robin could hear her.
"See you."
"I love you," she whispered.
"I miss you," he whispered back.
His voice was so sexy that something melted inside her. Her breathing accelerated and so did her heart rate.
The phone call ended. Although he didn't say that he loved her back, she was already happy that he admitted that he missed her.
She saw Robin glancing at her through the rear-view mirror. When she looked at her reflection on her window, she was taken aback by the stupid grin on her face. Her face and neck heated up from embarrassment. She tried fighting the smile but it couldn't be stopped. In the end, she gave up and just continued smiling like an idiot until they finally arrived at the grocery story.
Robin accompanied her inside. Long Jinjing bought ingredients for her dinner date with Lu Zihao tonight. She planned on cooking for him. There were a lot of meat dishes in the menu. He liked eating almost anything that had meat in it. She wasn't worried of cooking too much because Lu Zihao could finish eating everything served on the table all by himself. She noticed that his appetite was always impressive.
For tonight's dinner date, she requested that they do it at her condo. She didn't feel comfortable cooking in her sister and brother-in-law's huge, professional-grade kitchen. The people cooking there were literally certified chefs. She would only feel intimidated if she attempted to cook there.
In addition, she knew that Lu Zihao liked having sex with her after dinner. He said that she was his favourite dessert. Although everyone at Dragon Palace could already figure out that the two of them were sleeping together, she still felt shy.
The most important reason why she insisted that they stay at her place tonight, however, was because she wanted to be alone with Lu Zihao. She promised to woo him and that was what she planned on doing. Staying at Dragon Palace where many eyes were watching would just make her too self-conscious. It was better to execute her plans in the comfort of her own home. That way, she could feel braver in wooing the man who she hoped to become her husband and the father of her children in the future.
After she and Robin packed all the grocery bags inside the car, she saw a menswear boutique across the street. She told Robin to wait for her in the car and crossed to the other side by herself.
She stood in front of the boutique and hesitated for a moment before finally going in. A female sales associate greeted her and offered to help.
"Uhm, I'm looking to buy something for my b-boyfriend. Can you please recommend something nice?"
The associate recommended a bunch of items. Most of them were clothes. Long Jinjing didn't think that they would suit Lu Zihao at all. If they were for her brother-in-law Jin Liwei, then they would be perfect, but not for Lu Zihao. She was about to give up when a tall figure stepped in front of her view and handed her a simple yet high-quality leather belt with a solid metal buckle.
"May I suggest this?" the grey-eyed, foreign white man said with a smile.
Long Jinjing stared at the deep, charming dimples on both his cheeks.