Chapter 491 - 490: What-If: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? 59

Chapter 491: Chapter 490: What-If: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? 59

A corner of He Hanshi’s lips lifted imperceptibly. He stood right beside Shi Lan, his tall and well-built frame shielding her from much of the sun. The scorching afternoon sunlight barely touched her, leaving only a long, slanted shadow in its place.

Shi Lan was used to seeing He Hanshi in a wheelchair, or struggling to support himself on bent legs during his rehabilitation. ’This is the first time I’ve realized he’s so tall.’

Just then, He Hanshi suddenly asked, "Come to think of it, I don’t know what to call you yet. How did you know my surname is He?"

He Hanshi was very private. Other than his name and some news articles, there were no photos of him online, so it was impossible for Shi Lan to have recognized him from the internet.

Shi Lan’s heart skipped a beat, but she forced herself to remain calm. Thinking back on their two previous encounters, she realized He Hanshi had indeed never mentioned his surname.

She made herself relax so she wouldn’t give anything away and smiled. "I heard your assistant say it. He called you Mr. He, so I figured it must be right to call you Mr. He as well."

"By the way, my name is Shi Lan."

Calling him ’Mr. He’ was like a verbal tic for Assistant Chen; even he sometimes didn’t realize he’d said it.

He Hanshi glanced at the bewildered Assistant Chen, then looked back at Shi Lan, his tone no longer pressing. The coldness around his eyes softened. "Alright. Then let me introduce myself properly. My name is He Hanshi. Thank you for your help this time, Miss Shi Lan."

Shi Lan feigned shock, turning to look at the luxury car he had gotten out of. Her eyes widened as she asked in a low voice, "Y-your name sounds just like that tycoon who was in the car accident a while ago..."

Generally, people tend to remember the richest person in the country, but not necessarily everyone else in the top ten. He Hanshi was an exception. The news of his car accident had been so big that even people outside of financial circles knew about it, so it was hard not to make the connection.

He Hanshi didn’t hide it. As he looked into her wide, almond-shaped eyes, he found himself thinking she was rather cute.

"Yes, that’s me."

Shi Lan’s mouth fell open in a stupor. Then, she adopted the appropriately reserved and nervous demeanor of someone meeting a celebrity. "Oh, uh, you must be busy. I won’t disturb you any longer."

He Hanshi was about to tell her she didn’t have to be so formal, but she turned and hurried away as soon as she finished speaking.

After walking for a good while, she finally unclenched the fists she hadn’t realized she’d made. Her palms were sweaty.

’That was too nerve-wracking. When He Hanshi asked how I knew his surname, I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest. Thankfully, I was careful enough not to use his full name when I helped him up.’

’He probably didn’t suspect a thing.’

Shi Lan breathed a sigh of relief. After she left, He Hanshi retracted his gaze and asked Assistant Chen, "After you gave Shi Lan your business card, did the two of you ever communicate privately?"

Assistant Chen immediately shook his head. "No, she never even added me."

"Mm."

He Hanshi’s lips suddenly curved into a smile. He was quite certain that Assistant Chen hadn’t called him ’Mr. He’ in front of Shi Lan last time. And even today, Assistant Chen had only rushed over after she had reflexively called out to him.

So, Shi Lan had lied.

’What’s more,’ he thought, ’logically, there’s no way she could have reacted so quickly when I fell. She was walking beside me, looking forward. It would have been impossible... unless she was secretly watching me, which would be the only way she could have caught me in time. Just like Pumpkin was. He was always afraid of hurting my legs, so he would refuse to jump on me.’

He Hanshi’s gaze softened. The lingering doubt in his heart finally gave way to certainty.

It was just that... he had always wanted to find Pumpkin. Now that he knew Pumpkin was, in fact, a person, he felt somewhat at a loss.

He sighed to himself. Assistant Chen’s hesitant question—"Mr. He, where to now?"—pulled him from his thoughts. "I remember the company was considering sites for a new branch office before the new year," he said. "Let’s just decide on L City. As it happens, several of our major clients are close to L City, too."

L City had actually been one of the locations under consideration from the start. But before confirming that Shi Lan was Pumpkin, He Hanshi had been leaning toward another city. It was also a second-tier city, similar to L City, but it had more top-tier universities, which would make it easier to recruit fresh talent.

Still, L City wasn’t a bad choice. It had two excellent universities of its own. And most importantly, Pumpkin was here.

Even if he hadn’t figured out how to deal with the situation, he knew subconsciously that he would end up wherever Pumpkin was, sooner or later. Placing the branch office here would just give him more reasons to come.

At these words, Assistant Chen immediately started making arrangements for the CEO’s office to notify the relevant departments. Now that the location of the branch office was confirmed, there was much to be done.

——

Shi Lan was rather busy today. She needed to have a florist deliver flowers to her shop so she could start setting up.

She had originally planned to bring Ping’an out and let it play at the cat cafe, but its reaction last time had been a bit much. Worried that she’d be too busy to look after it, Shi Lan left it at home. As she left, she locked the door from the outside to prevent a repeat of her previous mistake.

After the florist delivered the flowers, they were lined up in a long row in front of the small shop. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought it was a flower shop.

Chen Xinyi came over from the cat cafe, leaving one employee to mind the shop while the rest came along to help Shi Lan.

The employees at the cat cafe were all young women. Shi Lan didn’t normally interact with them much, but as a regular, she could at least exchange a few words with them. They weren’t complete strangers.

They naturally began helping Shi Lan move the flowers and asked her what to do. Shi Lan shared her ideas with them and even showed them the final renderings from the custom design. She didn’t awkwardly refuse their kind offers of help.

With everyone working together, it took a little over two hours to get all the floral decorations for Shi Lan’s new shop arranged. The once-empty storefront was suddenly filled with bright colors. A multi-toned forest green served as the base, complemented by natural wood accents. With the addition of fresh blossoms and lifelike artificial flowers, the shop looked vibrant and alive, like a relaxing escape into nature.

Everyone was instantly amazed, feeling a deep satisfaction with the results of their collective effort.

Shi Lan exchanged a smile with her best friend and announced magnanimously, "Thank you all for the help. I’ll treat everyone to seafood hot pot later. That new place, Pinhai Pavilion, is really popular. Let’s go try it together."

The seafood at Pinhai Pavilion was said to be live and caught to order, and a meal there cost seven or eight hundred yuan per person. Aside from Chen Xinyi, the other women felt a bit awkward. That was considered very expensive in L City. The total bill for all of them would come out to more than half a month’s salary for one of them—it was far too extravagant.

Chen Xinyi quickly interjected, "Don’t go easy on her, everyone. My girl here is going to be a big boss someday. We’re just taking her for a ride in advance."

Shi Lan indulgently played along with her friend, winking as she said, "That’s right, that’s right. I’m about to be a boss. This is all small change to me."

After that bit of banter, the others relaxed a little. They knew Shi Lan was well-off, but that wasn’t a reason for them to shamelessly take advantage of her generosity.

In the past, though, none of them had dared to get close to Shi Lan. She rarely spoke at the cat cafe and seemed very cold and aloof. Only their manager, Chen Xinyi, had been willing to keep trying to be friendly despite getting the cold shoulder.

But over the years, they had gradually discovered that Shi Lan was actually quite easy to get along with. She just wasn’t keen on socializing. Once they became more familiar, they realized she wasn’t a petty or stingy person at all; when she occasionally bought coffee for the manager, she would bring some back for them, too.

Thinking of this, everyone stopped trying to refuse.