President Ji’s Cat - Chapter 16

Although Ji Chufeng wanted to have dinner with Fu Sixue as soon as possible, she actually already had plans for tonight.

She could only settle for second best: continuing the conversation from the elevator over WeChat.

They had been WeChat friends for a while, but they had never actually chatted. Anything business-related was handled in the group chat; this was their first time speaking one-on-one.

Ji Chufeng thought for a moment. Sending plain text felt too stiff. She noticed many people in the group liked using stickers, but she didn’t have any saved.

She scrolled through the group chat history and saved a cute sticker of a little yellow chick wiggling its butt and sent it over.

The other side seemed quite shocked by the sticker, responding only with a string of ellipses.

Ji Chufeng was thinking of how to chat further to foster some feelings, but Fu Sixue went straight to the point.

[Fu Sixue]: What would President Ji like to eat? I will look for a restaurant.

“…” Ji Chufeng rubbed her nose. Was she really that disinterested in chatting?

She replied with a simple “Up to you.” Soon, the other side asked if she had any dietary restrictions.

Ji Chufeng was actually quite a picky eater. She didn’t eat sour things, sweet savory dishes, or bitter things. She hated garlic and celery. She didn’t like heavy flavors, but she didn’t like things too bland either. While she didn’t like sour or sweet things individually, she could accept sweet-and-sour dishes.

People who ate with her usually found it a nightmare to order. Luckily, she had lived abroad where Western cuisine was common; the standardized dishes and ingredients made it easy to avoid “landmines.”

However, China has eight major cuisines, each with its own characteristics—some heavy on spice, some sweet, some incredibly light. Picking a specific regional restaurant would be a massive headache.

Even Ji Chufeng knew she was a “difficult” diner. Currently, the only person in the world who could perfectly remember her tastes and avoid all the mines was her mother, Yu Rou.

Sure enough, after she sent over her list of dislikes, the other side fell into a long silence and didn’t send another message.

It was indeed a bit of a tall order. Since this was their first time eating together, Ji Chufeng didn’t want things to be unpleasant, but since the other woman had asked, she had instinctively sent the whole list at once.

Now, she regretted it a little.

After thinking it over, President Ji decided there was no need to force a compromise, so she stopped proactively messaging.

She didn’t get a reply from Fu Sixue, but she did get a message from Xie Qiu.

Xie Qiu had mentioned wanting to host a welcome dinner for her. They had all been busy, and it wasn’t until today that the three of them were free to eat.

Xie Qiu sent the address: a Western restaurant on the 72nd-floor rooftop.

As closing time approached, Ji Chufeng—adhering to her principle of not making people wait—left early for the restaurant.

The restaurant was nearly ten kilometers from the company. By the time she arrived, Yu Rou and Xie Qiu were still on their way.

The reservation was excellent—a window seat with a panoramic view of the entire city. Judging by the location alone, she knew this place wouldn’t be cheap.

She stared out the window, lost in thought, until two pings from her phone pulled her back. She glanced at the device on the table.

The screen showed a WeChat message from—Fu Sixue.

Ji Chufeng raised an eyebrow and reached for the phone.

She was somewhat looking forward to what Fu Sixue would say. After such a long gap, maybe she was figuring out how to decline.

Fu Sixue first sent a location pin, but the text below caught Ji Chufeng off guard.

[Fu Sixue]: I found that this restaurant has a very diverse menu that can avoid all your dietary restrictions. However, I haven’t been there before, so I’m not sure about the taste.

Seeing this rigorous text, Ji Chufeng chuckled. So she really spent all that time searching for a restaurant?

Fu Sixue sent another message listing the restaurant’s signature dishes and even bullet-pointed which ones were safe to eat.

Between the lines, Ji Chufeng could imagine a certain “little cat” with a serious face researching away. It was just too cute.

She was so focused on her screen that she didn’t notice Yu Rou had arrived. She didn’t even react when her mother stood right in front of her, still smiling at her phone.

Yu Rou had to speak up to snap her out of it: “What are you looking at to make you smile like that?”

“Nothing.” Ji Chufeng hurriedly flipped the phone face-down on the table, clearing her throat in a transparent attempt to hide her fluster. “Where’s Auntie Xie?”

“I just called her. She’s downstairs and will be up soon.”

Ji Chufeng gave a hum of acknowledgement. She glanced at her mother, then flipped the phone back over to quickly type a reply to Fu Sixue.

When Xie Qiu arrived, she was carrying a gift bag. After sitting down, she pushed the bag toward Ji Chufeng and smiled. “I didn’t have anything grand to give you, so I bought you a pen for work.”

Ji Chufeng opened the box. When she saw the fountain pen inside, a flash of surprise crossed her eyes. It was a global limited edition she had wanted to buy before but missed out on.

Seeing her expression, Xie Qiu and Yu Rou exchanged a smile; it seemed the gift was a hit.

Halfway through the meal, Yu Rou suddenly brought up the news from the afternoon.

“Fengfeng, what’s the situation between you and Fu Sixue?”

Ji Chufeng’s movements paused. She felt an inexplicable pang of guilt. “Just… exactly what it says online.”

“Is that so?” Yu Rou clearly didn’t believe her. “You wouldn’t be dating her behind my back, would you?”

“Uh, cough cough cough!” Ji Chufeng choked. “How is that possible!” She did have some thoughts in that direction, but given their current situation, she felt the chance of being blocked was much higher.

“Seriously, she’s a company artist. Am I supposed to just sit by when something happens?” For some reason, Ji Chufeng couldn’t bring herself to admit they had already spent a night together. Deep down, she was a little worried that her mother would form a poor impression of Fu Sixue because of it.

“I suppose so.” Yu Rou was persuaded, then asked: “Do you plan to boost Xingyao now?”

“Yeah, I want to try.”

“It might not be easy,” Xie Qiu added. “Fengyu Media intends to maintain a monopoly.”

To this, Ji Chufeng said dismissively: “At the end of the day, it’s just an entertainment company. If it really comes to a fight, ten Fengyus wouldn’t be enough to worry the Ji Group.”

At the mention of the Ji Group, Yu Rou frowned. She asked tentatively, “How is… his situation now?”

Even without a name, Ji Chufeng knew exactly who she was asking about based on her mother’s cautious look.

She gave a cold huff. “He was taken off the oxygen machine yesterday. Preparing to move out of the ICU.”

“Then you should go see him,” Yu Rou said quickly.

Ji Chufeng looked at her, her lips slowly curling into a completely fake smile. “Impossible.”

The secretary proactively reported Ji Shengjun’s condition to her every day and had mentioned several times that he wanted to see her after waking up. But Ji Chufeng never went.

She knew what Ji Shengjun was thinking. The “son” he had raised for over twenty years suddenly belonged to someone else, and now she was the only daughter he had left. Like a drowning man, he was desperately trying to grab a straw; of course he wanted to treat her as a treasure now.

Pah.

She wasn’t interested.