Chapter 115 The CEO’s Divorced Wife’s Gentle Knife (14)

Chapter 115: The Gentle Blade of the CEO's Ex-Wife (14)

On Tang Qing's opening day, Sheng Baihui made a special trip to come support, personally arranging a ribbon-cutting ceremony and even organizing a lion dance troupe. The small storefront was alive with the sound of gongs and drums, creating an exceptionally festive atmosphere.

Though Zhong Jiaze didn’t attend in person, he thoughtfully sent flower baskets.

The only surprise was Assistant Zhai, who arrived with six flower baskets and grudgingly said, "Miss Tang, my boss sends his best for your business."

Perhaps due to Li Zhou's direct orders, the usually haughty Zhai Shi addressed Tang Qing with noticeably more courtesy this time.

"Oh?"

It was actually Li Zhou's arrangement—quite unexpected. That cold, almost-ex-husband had such a considerate side?

"Assistant Zhai, didn’t you say last time that your boss wouldn’t spare a glance for my little restaurant?" Tang Qing deliberately provoked, her eyes curving into crescents. "Seems like he still cares about me."

Recalling her previous words, Zhai Shi was momentarily speechless.

To this day, Zhai Shi couldn’t understand why her boss would extend such a courtesy to Tang Qing. Based on her years of experience working for him, President Li thoroughly disliked the parasitic woman before her and had absolutely no reason to curry favor.

After a long pause, Zhai Shi dared not say more, fearing another slap in the face. She could only scoff, "My task is done. Miss Tang, best wishes."

"You too, Assistant Zhai. Come by for a meal sometime!"

Handing Zhai Shi a business card with a smile, Tang Qing waved cheerfully.

Tch! The parasite was clearly rubbing it in! Zhai Shi turned away indignantly, her steps heavy with frustration.

Even the system found it odd and chimed in, "Li Zhou wouldn’t even take a photo with you, yet he sent you flower baskets? What’s he up to?"

"Could he be worried you’ll bail on the divorce at the civil affairs bureau next week? Trying to butter you up?"

The moment the system voiced its speculation, Tang Qing scoffed. "After helping Gu Xiaoman bag so many guys, you’re still this clueless?"

"Why... always insulting me..."

Expressionless, Tang Qing replied, "Does Li Zhou need to placate me? He has plenty of ways to finalize the divorce..."

"Didn’t you say his Love Points rose after the photo incident?"

"Maybe our alpha CEO has realized I’m not what he imagined and is starting to find me... interesting?"

Snapping a photo of the flower baskets, Tang Qing began typing a message to Li Zhou: "Thanks for the flower baskets! Drop by for a meal sometime!"

She added a cute sticker and hit send.

President Li was in a meeting when the message arrived. He zoomed in on the restaurant’s sign in the photo—"Haitang Kitchen"?

It was indeed a modest little eatery. Li Zhou couldn’t imagine the always crying Tang Qing running her own business.

Oddly, he suddenly recalled the little white rabbit’s fierce retorts at Sheng Baihui’s birthday party. He smirked, not even noticing the corners of his lips lifting...

Everyone in the meeting, witnessing their CEO’s rare smile, exchanged shocked looks. In their group chat (without Li Zhou), the group blew up:

"Who just texted the boss? He’s actually smiling!"

"Shocking. Are we getting a new Mrs. CEO soon?"

"That kind of smile—nine times out of ten, he's fallen for someone!"

"Assistant Zhai didn’t mention which young lady the boss has met. Keep investigating and report back!"

...

Tang Qing’s little shop quickly caught the interest of the office building across the street in its first week of opening, though everything was happening on the down-low.

Everyone tacitly understood—this small restaurant was opened by the president’s almost-ex-wife.

When forwarding the "Haitang Kitchen" 50% discount promotion, Li Zhou’s staff instinctively blocked their boss.

At first, only one or two did it, but as more and more people joined in, Li Zhou noticed something was off.

His friends' updates had suddenly become much cleaner recently—all that pointless chatter had disappeared... At first, he didn’t think much of it, until one day, President Li accidentally clicked on the profile of one department manager and found it was restricted.

He tried several other employees—same result...

Did they all block me together?

Even stranger, today Li Zhou received a report that fewer people were eating in the company cafeteria lately, and they needed to adjust food orders...

What's going on here?

Still pondering, Li Zhou called the finance department—yet no one answered.

Frowning, President Li called in Assistant Zhai. "Where’s the finance department today?"

"Probably out for lunch?" Zhai guessed—it was indeed lunch hour.

Li Zhou checked the time and thought it was fishy. It had only been three minutes since lunch break started—how had the finance department left so quickly?

Zhai also sensed something was off. Like her boss, she seemed to have been quietly frozen out by the company. Even her usual lunch companions had strangely disappeared—Assistant Zhai had been eating alone for four days straight...

It felt like... there was something tasty going on... and everyone was keeping it from them.

While still mulling it over, the office door suddenly opened.

It was Du Wenxing from the finance department, delivering a report.

The moment he entered, both Li Zhou and Zhai immediately caught a whiff of a rich, tempting smell clinging to him—nothing like what the company cafeteria’s chef would make.

The scent was especially strong when Du handed over the report...

Li Zhou instinctively felt like he’d smelled this fragrance somewhere before.

Keeping his expression neutral, Li Zhou offhandedly asked, "Manager Du, already had lunch?"

"Not yet, just went downstairs to pick up some takeout," Du replied carelessly. "Lately, a lot more people have been ordering from the same place—even the elevators get crowded."

Li Zhou arched a brow. "What takeout? That good?"

As soon as he asked, Du Wenxing—who had been so relaxed just seconds ago—suddenly froze.

He hesitated, his expression turning awkward, as if hiding something. "Nothing special... just, uh... just some mala tang, I guess."

Du was clearly a terrible liar—his eyes darted everywhere as he spoke.

"Manager Du doesn’t even remember what he had for lunch?" Assistant Zhai, quick as always to peck, shot back. "Just pull up your order history."

Thinking of ordering takeout?

No way... Du Wenxing winced, suddenly regretting his decision to deliver the report in the first place.

"Boss, I didn't eat anything special..." he said carefully, squinting to read Li Zhou’s face. "Just that place across the street..."

Not letting it go, Li Zhou pressed further, "Which one?"

"Tell me."

"Well... that..."

"Um... Haitang Kitchen." Under his boss’s sharp stare, Du Wenxing had no choice but to answer.

Like a man bracing for impact, he shut his eyes and finally spat out the name.

Sure enough, as soon as the words left his mouth, Li Zhou and Di Shi's expressions immediately changed!