The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Infinitely Charming, Dazzlingly Beautiful

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”This is a great direction for our future development. Lingling, if you work hard, we can open a large ornamental fish shop that caters to offices, and you can be the manager.”

”Really?” Wu Lingling was thrilled. ’Manager... the title alone sounds so impressive.’

”Of course,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile. ”But we’re just starting out, so let’s take it one step at a time. Opening a shop is the easy part; securing a supply of ornamental fish is a bit harder. The village is building an ornamental fish farm right now. Once that’s ready, we’ll have a steady supply, and then we can open a bigger store.”

Wu Lingling and Xu Wenwen were both filled with anticipation. ”Sister Xiao Rui, we’ll definitely work hard.”

”Wenwen, you’re still young, so don’t be in a rush. Just follow Sister Lingling and learn from her. You can be a manager in the future, too.” Han Xiaorui encouraged Xu Wenwen, hoping to boost her confidence.

After all, for a sixteen-year-old, just showing up and working diligently was already quite impressive.

Xu Wenwen nodded, her tone sincere. ”Sister Xiao Rui, I’ll definitely learn everything I can. But... I enjoy raising fish more than selling them.”

Han Xiaorui was surprised for a moment, then smiled. ”Alright. When our store gets bigger, I’ll hire more people. If you don’t want to work the storefront, I’ll arrange for you to learn how to breed ornamental fish, right here in our village.”

”Okay!” Xu Wenwen nodded repeatedly, beaming with joy.

When school let out for lunch, the ornamental fish shop was instantly flooded with adults and children. After half an hour of frantic activity, the crowd finally dispersed.

In that one lunch period alone, they made two to three hundred yuan. The after-school period in the afternoon was even longer, so sales could likely double.

Once the rush died down, they locked the door.

Han Xiaorui took them to a nearby restaurant to eat. Han Xiaoqing and Liang Xiaoyu had already brought the children there.

The kids were hungry, so they had already started eating.

Han Xiaorui ordered several of the restaurant’s best dishes—ones that Wu Lingling and Xu Wenwen would never splurge on for themselves. Today, they finally got to enjoy them.

As they were leaving, Han Xiaorui also bought them a large bag of pastries from a time-honored brand known for its delicious treats.

Young women love snacks, and a treat like this often made them happier than simply being given money.

After all, if she gave them cash, they might not bring themselves to spend it. The pastries were delicious but also quite expensive.

After lunch, they headed home.

On the way, Han Xiaorui pulled over right at the entrance to Ye Feng’s workplace and had her sister and Liang Xiaoyu take the children home ahead of her.

Today, Han Xiaorui was wearing a lightweight khaki trench coat over a short-sleeved top and black stirrup pants.

On her feet, Han Xiaorui wore a pair of expensive spring boots she had bought, with heels about five centimeters high that further accentuated the shapely lines of her already long calves.

According to the salesclerk, the boots were a Hong Kong design.

Han Xiaorui didn’t know if that was true, but they were comfortable, breathable, and looked great.

Han Xiaorui wore sunglasses, her lips painted a fiery red. Her fair, delicate skin and refined features lent her an air of glamorous beauty.

Her long hair, which she usually kept in a braid, was let down today, cascading over her shoulders in beautiful, glossy black waves. As she strode forward, she had the allure of a movie star from Hong Kong or Taiwan.

A small leather bag was slung across her shoulder. Inside, she carried her keys, a palm-sized notebook and pen, a wallet, lipstick, an eyebrow pencil, and a few folded tissues.

She had a naturally bold, assertive, and confident personality. When she lacked the means to express it, she simply made do. But now that she could afford it, she was more than happy to dress herself up beautifully.

Not to please any man, but to please herself.

When she looked in the mirror this morning, even Han Xiaorui herself had been captivated by her reflection.

”Miss... uh, female comrade, who are you looking for?” the soldier on guard duty asked, blushing nervously as Han Xiaorui approached.

Han Xiaorui took off her sunglasses and smiled. ”I’m here to see Ye Feng. I’m the one who recovered the surveillance device, and I’ve come to collect the reward money.”

”Please wait a moment.” The person at the reception desk made a call to notify Ye Feng.

Ye Feng was in the middle of reprimanding a subordinate for failing a mission. When he answered the phone, his voice instantly softened. ”Alright, I’ll go down and get her myself.”

When Ye Feng arrived at the reception desk, he was met with the sight of a stunningly beautiful and alluring Han Xiaorui.

He froze for a second. ’This is a far cry from the simple, plain fisherwoman from before!’

”Heh, what’s wrong? You don’t recognize me just because I changed my clothes?” Han Xiaorui chuckled. ”Mr. Ye, let’s hurry it up. I’m a busy woman, I have other things to do!”

Ye Feng casually touched his nose. ”Alright. Follow me.”

Seeing Ye Feng touch his nose, Han Xiaorui, for some reason, suddenly recalled something Sister-in-law Xiao Yu had said.

’You can deduce the size of a man’s ”assets” from his nose.’

Suddenly, she could no longer look directly at Ye Feng’s nose. Her eyes darted to his chin instead.

’This Ye Feng is seriously tall.’

Han Xiaorui was 1.68 meters tall, and with her five-centimeter boots, she now stood at 1.73 meters. Yet, when she looked straight ahead, her eyes only reached the space between his chin and his Adam’s apple.

’How can a jawline be that good-looking?’

’His Adam’s apple is really sexy, too.’

Ye Feng keenly noticed Han Xiaorui wasn’t meeting his eyes, but was looking somewhere else on his body. ”What is it? Is there something wrong with me?”

”No!” Han Xiaorui quickly denied. ”Everything’s fine. I brought my ID, so let’s hurry and get that reward money.”

Ye Feng smiled, finding it hard to believe this was the same gaunt Han Xiaorui he had only met last month. ”Alright, I’ll take you there.”

As Ye Feng was speaking with Han Xiaorui, many people nearby turned to look at them.

’Well, look at that. Their stone-faced Director Ye can actually smile!’

Then again, if they were in front of a gorgeous woman like that, they’d probably be grinning even more widely.

Ye Feng was tall and handsome, while Han Xiaorui was beautiful and elegant—they looked even better than those movie stars from Hong Kong and Taiwan you see on TV!

One of the men whispered to his colleague, ”Is that woman Director Ye’s girlfriend?”

The slightly chubbier man rubbed his chin. ”Look how sweetly Director Ye is smiling at her. Even if they aren’t a couple, there’s definitely something budding there.”

Just then, Zhou Yang and Wang Liang were notified that they were needed to sign off on some paperwork for Han Xiaorui along with Director Ye.

”Zhou Yang, Wang Liang, you two are always going out on assignments with Director Ye. Is that beautiful woman his girlfriend?”

Zhou Yang took a closer look and recognized Han Xiaorui. ”No, she’s not.”

Wang Liang narrowed his eyes, his tone laced with scorn. ”A divorced woman could never be good enough for our Director Ye!”

Zhou Yang stopped in his tracks when he heard that. ”Brother Wang, it’s not right for you to speak that way about a passionate, patriotic woman!”

”We’ve already conducted a background check on Ms. Han Xiaorui. The divorce wasn’t her fault—her ex-husband cheated on her.”

The other woman was Wang Liang’s own cousin.

Zhou Yang held back his next thought to save Wang Liang some face.

’You can’t be prejudiced against Han Xiaorui just because her ex-husband is now with your cousin.’

Wang Liang laughed awkwardly. ”Our Director Ye has an impeccable service record and a limitless future. There’s a long line of people wanting to set him up with someone!”

Zhou Yang turned and hurried after the others, no longer wanting to waste his breath on Wang Liang.

Even though he had only recently started working here, the more Zhou Yang got to know Wang Liang, the more he disliked him.

It was one thing to be lazy and not take his job seriously, but mixing personal grudges into official matters seriously compromised the integrity of their work.