Daddy! Come Home for Dinner!

Zhao Dingli spoke in a puzzled tone, "But didn’t you just find out this morning?"

"..." Li Xiaoyun instinctively waved her hand, forgetting Zhao Dingli couldn’t see it now, "Of course not."

"How can you be so insincere?" Li Xiaoyun felt she now had a certain understanding of Zhao Dingli.

From his tone, she knew how to respond to him.

"So, does this mean you want to thank me again for this?" Zhao Dingli asked right away.

Li Xiaoyun: "..."

She never said that, nor did she mean it!

But now, if she were to deny it, it would be very insincere.

Li Xiaoyun had to go along with Zhao Dingli’s words and said, "Of course, I definitely need to thank you."

"Just a verbal thank you won’t do. That’s too insincere, hahaha..." Li Xiaoyun laughed dryly.

Zhao Dingli nodded, "So how do you plan to thank me?"

Li Xiaoyun: "..."

Li Xiaoyun thought, how could someone as respectable as Zhao Dingli be so insistent on a tangible thank you from her?

But since Zhao Dingli had already mentioned it, and he wanted a thank you, Li Xiaoyun was quite troubled.

How should she thank Zhao Dingli?

If she were to cook a meal for him herself, her skills weren’t that great.

Even if she did it, it might not even count as a proper thank you.

"You need to give me some time to think," Li Xiaoyun said, "Thanking you is really not an easy task. I don’t even know what you like. If I keep cooking for you, it lacks novelty and creativity. Besides, my cooking skills are just average. But if I were to buy something, I don’t know what would be appropriate."

Zhao Dingli didn’t offer any suggestions and simply said, "Okay, think about it, and I’ll ask you again later."

Li Xiaoyun was dumbfounded, "..."

Is he pressuring me for this?

Who pushes someone to thank them like this!

However, Zhao Dingli didn’t have much time for idle chat.

Li Xiaoyun heard faint voices of Rui Changhuai coming from the other end of the phone.

It seemed like a reminder about some work-related matters for Zhao Dingli.

So, Zhao Dingli had to end the call with her for the time being.

Only then did Li Xiaoyun return to work.

But, she still couldn’t focus.

Because she owed a favor, she had to think about how to thank Zhao Dingli.

Obviously, Zhao Dingli wasn’t going to be polite with her.

By noon, Li Xiaoyun went to the cafeteria with Lin Lingli and Zhou Yunyun.

But along the way, Li Xiaoyun noticed that people were looking at her in a strange way again.

This oddness was different from the unusual looks she received in the morning.

Li Xiaoyun asked Lin Lingli and Zhou Yunyun, "Do you feel like people are looking at me differently?"

Zhou Yunyun, unlike Lin Lingli, wasn’t as quick to react and had a more carefree nature.

At this moment, she shook her head cluelessly and said, "Didn’t they look at you like this in the morning?"

"It’s all because of Zhao Dingli." Zhou Yunyun said nonchalantly, waving her hand as if it was nothing.

Because when Li Xiaoyun didn’t come in the morning, many in the company had already approached them asking about the situation between Zhao Dingli and Li Xiaoyun.

When Li Xiaoyun arrived at the company, her colleagues also bombarded her with gossip.

So Zhou Yunyun didn’t actually notice any difference.

Lin Lingli, however, was much more perceptive and quick to react.

She had been too focused on talking to Li Xiaoyun and Zhou Yunyun to notice.

After Li Xiaoyun mentioned it, Lin Lingli paid special attention to it.

Then, Lin Lingli saw that something indeed seemed off.

"It’s definitely different," Lin Lingli said.

Zhou Yunyun still didn’t see it and asked Lin Lingli, "How is it different?"

Lin Lingli frowned and said, "This morning, although colleagues were looking at Xiao Yun, the look was more of gossip and curiosity."

"Even when they came to our department and asked about gossip, it was mostly about your relationship with Zhao Dingli, nothing else," Lin Lingli stated.

"Though it was a bit annoying, these gossips weren’t malicious," Lin Lingli added.

"But now, their expressions are not as friendly. It’s a bit..." Lin Lingli frowned, trying to find a comparison for this look.

The look was quite familiar, but Lin Lingli couldn’t pinpoint it for a moment.

Li Xiaoyun chimed in at this point, "A bit like how they look at Zheng Xuelin."

Ever since the rumors spread that she would be taking over Zheng Xuelin’s job, and the company sent out emails.

And there were rumors that Zheng Xuelin used some not-so-aboveboard means to land the business deals.

Though those in the know didn’t publicize it, the company was small, after all.

How could nothing leak out?

There’s no wall impermeable to wind.

In contrast, the less they knew about Zheng Xuelin’s methods, the more they speculated wildly.

With more speculation, the matter seemed more and more serious and dirty.

Of course, after hearing the company’s guesses, Lin Lingli had to admit they weren’t wrong.

People thought their imaginations were grimy enough, not realizing Zheng Xuelin’s actions were even dirtier.

Because the truth was unknown and they relied on imagination alone, the sight of Zheng Xuelin was more unsettling, like being pricked by needles.

Initially, Lin Lingli found these looks quite familiar, but couldn’t recall immediately.

Now, after Li Xiaoyun pointed it out, Lin Lingli understood.

"Right, right." Lin Lingli nodded, "Why have they suddenly started looking at you this way?"

Li Xiaoyun shook her head, "I don’t know either."

She didn’t understand how things changed so suddenly in just one morning.

"I’ll find out," Zhou Yunyun promised, patting her chest, "Leave it to me."

Though she was carefree, she was adept at gathering gossip.

Due to her personality, many people enjoyed chatting with her.

If she wanted to learn something, people would tell her as long as they could.

"Go quickly," Lin Lingli urged, "This task is all yours."

"Don’t worry," Zhou Yunyun accepted the task.

But before she could leave, Zheng Xuelin arrived.

Because yesterday, Zhao Dingli had personally come over for Li Xiaoyun, even Zhou Chuanwu and Wang Honglin, Zheng Xuelin’s followers, didn’t dare associate with him anymore.

Given that Li Xiaoyun was set to be the next manager of the business department, why would they stick with Zheng Xuelin?

After what happened to Zheng Xuelin, it wasn’t even certain if he could stay in the company.

Even if he remained, he would have no future.

So what was the point of following Zheng Xuelin?

Previously, they stuck with Zheng Xuelin hoping to benefit alongside him.

Deals Zheng Xuelin secured could help them get some performance shares.

Once Zheng Xuelin got promoted, he could continue to support them.

But now there was no hope left.