49 Congratulations Sir

"It's good to have you back." Lijuan told Jackie with a smile as they drove out of the house to visit Shan at the hospital.  

She smiled when Jackie handed her a pack of the same chocolate he had given her the previous time. 

"What's this for?" She asked as she opened one wrap and devoured it relishing the taste. 

"I heard your mother earlier, you earned it." Jackie told her turning to glance at her as he drove. 

"Thanks." She said happily. 

"So what was that in the news about you being engaged to Vice president Wang Yun" Jackie asked after a brief silence. 

"It's just a misunderstanding." Lijuan answered in an offhanded manner as she looked out of the window. She wondered what Yun thought about the whole situation and what he planned on doing about it. 

"Isn't that your friend?" Jackie asked when he saw Shan and Jinhai standing by the road waiting to board a cab.

"We should pick them up." Lijuan said before yelling Shan's name. 

Shan turned around and waved at Lijuan when she saw her. 

"I guess I can leave you now." Jinhai said to Shan with a small smile. 

"Thanks for everything." Shan said giving him a bright smile. If there was something she had learnt about him in the little time she had spent with him, it was that he was a very thoughtful and caring person even though he joked a lot. 

"Thanks for taking care of her and for trying to cover for me." Lijuan said the moment the car stopped in front of them. 

"You don't have to thank me." Jinhai said with a smile. 

"My father said to tell you to stop pretending to be other people, that you sounded like a pervert." Lijuan said with amusement in her eyes making Shan giggle while Jinhai smiled in embarrassment before stopping a cab. 

"See you ladies some other time." He told them before leaving. 

"He's a really nice guy." Lijuan said the moment they were seated in the car and Jackie drove off. 

"Yea, just like his brother." Shan said and hid a smile when she noticed how Jackie tightened his hands on the steering wheel.  

"Jinhai said his brother seemed pretty angry last night, what did you do? And what was that about you being engaged to him?" Shan asked curiously. 

Lijuan explained everything to Shan and reduced her voice to a whisper when talking about her menstrual cramp so Jackie wouldn't hear her. 

"You really did that to him when he was being so nice to you?" Shan asked with a look of utter disbelief.

"The thing... well the thing is.." 

"I'm really disappointed." Shan interrupted with a frown. 

"I know that already. You all don't need to hit on it so much." Lijuan said sadly. 

"Maybe we do. Maybe we haven't really observed this aspects until Yun showed up. And we are all supporting him because we know how much he is going out of his way to do things for you. I'd suggest you go to his house and render a proper apology. Get him a gift if you must but make sure he forgives you." Shan said. 

"But--" 

"There are no buts about it. I'm not going to talk to you if you don't do that before the end of today." Shan said raising her chin stubbornly. 

Jackie resisted the urge to glare at Shan through the rearview mirror. How could she suggest that Lijuan should go over to the house of a bachelor?  Couldn't she have asked Lijuan to simply give him a call? He wondered to himself angrily.

               ************

Yun was in a bad mood by the time he entered the office building. He had woken up a bit late and had missed taking coffee because he needed to be at the office to go through his schedule before the board meeting. 

He observed that most of the staff were smiling at him as they bowed to greet him. He frowned as he wondered the reason for their smiles. 

He met his personal assistant by the door who greeted him warmly. "Congratulations sir." The assistant said grinning broadly. 

"Was I promoted without my knowledge? Why is everyone beaming with smiles and why are you congratulating me?" Yun asked with a confused frown.

His personal assistant frowned in confusion as he dipped his hand into his pocket to take out his phone. "Didn't you announce your engagement last night?"

"Announce my engagement?" He asked with a frown. What was going on?

His personal assistant showed him the headline of the news on his screen. 

Yun blinked a couple of times and lifted his hand to massage his head the moment he saw the headline. Was he ever going to be free from Lijuan and the drama he always got by associating himself with her?

"Are you okay sir?" His personal assistant asked with a worried frown. 

"Yes I am. What time is the board meeting starting?" He asked. 

"By 10am sir." 

"Okay then." Yun said with a nod before heading into his office. He felt like screaming and cussing himself but he couldn't, he just stood by his office window as he tried to calm himself. 

He couldn't blame Lijuan for the mess he had put himself. He had said the words himself without thinking and now he couldn't say it was a joke. 

He wondered what was going on in Lijuan's home and how they were all reacting to the news, especially Lijuan who he had asked to stay away from him. 

He needed to think of a way to resolve this without sounding like an idiot. He could only hope his mother hadn't seen the news. If she did then he would be in trouble. 

He was distracted from his thoughts by the sound of his ringing phone. When he checked the caller Identity and saw it was Jinhai he groaned inwardly. 

He knew without doubt that Jinhai had seen the news so he decided to just ignore the call.  He wasn't in the mood for Jinhai's incessant chatter. 

The phone started ringing again the moment the first call ended, he glanced at it again and saw it was still Jinhai. He reluctantly decided to take the call knowing that Jinhai was stubborn enough to keep calling until he was heard. 

"What is it?" He asked the moment he answered the call. 

"Congratulation on your engagement. I always knew you both would make a great couple." Jinhai said chuckling happily. 

"Okay. If that's all you called to say, have a nice day." Yun said wanting to end the call. 

"Wait, wait. How're you? I know you didn't plan for this to happen. Maybe not just yet." Jinhai said suddenly serious. 

"I'm okay. I will be." Yun said honestly, grateful that Jinhai wasn't joking about his problem. 

"Do you think mother has seen the news? Has she contacted you yet?" Jinhai asked with a frown. 

The sound of his door being angrily flung open answered the question. 

"Fiance? Auction?" Madam Wang yelled angrily with glazed eyes. 

"Okay bro. Bye." Jinhai said and quickly ended the call. 

"You need to calm down." Yun said quietly as he put his phone away. His head was starting to bang seriously. 

"Calm down? How can I calm down when you keep acting so rashly? How can I calm down when you refuse to listen to me?" She asked angrily with raised voice. 

"You left the anniversary party last night to meet up with that thing? You left the party just to announce your stupidity to the world?" She asked angrily. 

"Mother! I take exception to that kind of insult especially in my office. I understand that you're upset, let's talk after work." Yun said in a harsh voice as he noticed most of the staff spying through the open door. 

"Upset? I'm not upset, I'm enraged! There's going to be a press conference and you're going to renounce whatever it was you said." Madam Wang said. 

"You know what you won't do? You won't come into my office and disrespect me in this manner neither will you order me around Director Wang. Now if that's all you came to say you can leave!" Yun said coldly in a tone of finality. 

"I'm not done yet." She said stubbornly. 

"Oh yes you're done. I'm done listening to you. It's either you leave or I have the security escort you out." He threatened. 

She opened her mouth to say something but snapped it shut angrily before turning around to leave.