Chapter 206 Extreme Sorrow Turns to Joy
That meal was only for Edward and Justin. Jane made four dishes and a bowl of soup. There was fish with two types of sauces, chicken fillets, braised pork, fried vegetables, and pumpkin soup.
The dishes were served. She placed two sets of cutleries on the table. When Edward walked closer, he realized that. But Justin voiced out first. "Aren't you going to eat here?"
Jane said, "I've got something else to do. Please eat."
Justin remained quiet. However, Edward said, "What's going on? Go after you eat. If not, others will think I physically punish you."
Jane said, "My superior asked me to eat with him. It's a military order. I can't refuse him."
Edward immediately thought of Aiden. Wasn't Aiden Jane's superior?
"Does the same rule apply in Forward Education? You've got to work twenty-four hours a day?" There was more or less some sarcasm in Edward's words.
Jane was used to his way of talking sarcastically. She remained calm and replied, "He's not only my superior but also my senior. He's also my friend even if we're not going to talk about work."
She was referring to Charles, but Edward seamlessly pictured Aiden in that incident. Both Aiden and Jane graduated from the same college.
"If that's the case, I won't detain you." He decided not to stop her from getting a promotion.
Jane smiled lightly. "Please eat while it's hot. I'll take my leave now."
She then picked up her bag and left quickly, leaving only Edward and Justin in the house. They sat facing each other at the dining table. Edward said, "Let's eat."
Justin ate the fish first. Edward secretly compared the portions of the fish. The portion with the black pepper sauce was larger. She was a liar.
Jane quickly went home to change her clothes. She then contacted Charles before she hailed a taxi to go to the restaurant. When she arrived at that place, Charles was there. She greeted him. "Charles."
Charles said, "Sit. Let's order some food. I've been busy the whole day. Now only I've got the time to eat."
Jane said, "You can't be like this. There's no end to earning money. Don't exhaust yourself so." If Aaron learned about it, his heart would ache for Charles.
Charles told Jane about his schedule for that day. He actually started working at around seven up until now. That was not the kind of treatment for the boss of a subsidiary company. It appeared like he was a salesman on errands.
Jane sighed with feelings. "Charles, it'll be very hard for your subordinate like me if you work so hard. I think I'm working hard. But look at you. I feel like I need to have three more lessons."
Charles treated her as a friend, so he said honestly, "It's the end of the year. We've got to improve all the sales, so we can be proud during the annual meeting."
Jane said, "There are a total of four companies for Forward Education. The one in S City is the newest. Even if your sales here are worse than the other three companies, no one will look down on you."
Charles said, "We can't work hard so we won't be laughed at. I want others to look up to me."
Jane looked up, smiled, and said, "I'm afraid it's a bit difficult given your height."
Charles looked up. "You're bolder now. You even mocked your superior face-to-face."
Jane said, "I think you're very tall and sturdy."
Charles said bitterly, "If it weren't for the bad conditions at home when I was young and that I didn't receive good nutrition, I would definitely be a tall man of five foot ten."
Jane said, "You can find a woman who's five foot ten."
Aaron was more than five foot ten.
Charles said, "Stop teasing me. I like petite and cute girls. I won't fall for one who's tall and sturdy like you."
They teased each other, and whoever was weak would give up.
Jane corrected him calmly. "I'll admit to it if you said that I'm tall. But sturdy? Wasn't our language teacher the same?"
Charles replied, "I don't like tall and slim girls either. I want the petite and chubby ones. They're adorable."
Jane said seriously, "I've got a feeling that you'll get a woman who's more than five foot ten."
Charles was struck speechless for a moment. He then said, "I actually wanted to tell you a piece of good news. But now I've lost all interest."
Jane was unmoved. "It's fine. What belongs to me will be mine. I can wait."
Charles said, "I need to tell you that it's within my power whether it'll be a piece of good news or not."
Jane remained composed. She poured herself a glass of drink and raised the glass before she said, "Charles, don't be mad at me. I'm young and ignorant."
Charles was immediately amused. He admired the most how she could adapt to any kind of circumstances.
After they teased each other for a while, Charles said, "I met Aiden today. He asked me how have you been, and I said it was good. You're proactive and serious at work. You work very hard. He said he saw your free teaching hours on the official website. You've been here less than half a year, but your accumulated hours have surpassed ninety-seven percent of people. So, I took the chance to praise you. I even claimed that you were forced to engage in the fight previously. What's more, I also punished you. If it's possible, you should attend the annual meeting too."
When Jane heard that, she felt nervous. She knew that she had done something wrong. She would certainly lose the chance to attend the annual meeting that year. Hence, she did not even dare to mention it in front of Aiden.
"Aiden told me that he's about to discuss this with me. He wants to invite you to the annual meeting this year."
After that, Charles fixed his eyes on Jane. He thought that she would cheer excitedly. But she was hesitant.
Charles asked, "What's wrong? Isn't this piece of news enough to make you happy?"
Jane was hesitant for a short while before she said, "Previously, Bobby was put up on the Internet, and Aiden was burdened. Both Jennifer and I spoke in support of him. I meant what I said. I just said something fair for him from an outsider's point of view. I didn't expect that he would see it, remember it, or..."
It was rare to see her unable to convey her thoughts in words. But it happened now.
Jane was non-committal.
Charles said, "Then you underestimate him. Aiden knows that business is business. If you purposely fawned on him, he could see it. He knows when one is giving him timely aid or if one is trying to gain benefits from his misfortunes. You have got a clear conscience. Then you can leave the rest for him to decide."
Of course, Jane had a clear conscience However, she said, "But I got into trouble the moment I started working at the company. What will others think if I attend the annual meeting?"
Charles raised his brows and made a joke. "Of course, they'll think that you curry favor with me."
Jane was caught off guard, so she laughed and said, "Then I'll have to try my best for that."
Charles said, "Stop overthinking. I'm your superior, and Aiden is my superior. He owns Forward Education. Since he asked you to go, who dares to say no?"
Jane lowered her eyes slightly. Her thick and long eyelashes covered the emotions in her eyes.
Charles continued and said, "I would like to save Aaron a place too."
Jane immediately looked up. Her surprise was deeper than when she knew that she could go.
Charles said, "Don't tell him first for fear that he might be smug."
Jane said, "If he knows, he'll be flabbergasted."
Charles said, "I remember that he used to be careless and casual. He was not very motivated. I thought he would act that way his whole life. I didn't expect that he'll become more sensible after he grew up."
Jane thought to herself, "The power of love is great. If Charles is a priest, Aaron would be a part of the church long ago."