Jingxia Rose

Chapter 64: Giving Gifts
After dinner, Ji Xuan and Polina worked overtime for another hour to finish translating today's documents.

After Ji Xuan, Ye Xueyan, and his assistant sorted out the categories, they packed their things and prepared to leave.

Wen Qi, who was watching the stock market fluctuations on his laptop, had been paying attention to this area. When he saw the two of them get up, he called out, "Wait a minute."

Ji Xian paused in his work of assembling the computer and looked up.

Their gazes met perfectly in mid-air.

Ji Xuan's gaze remained calm and natural as always, without any intention of avoiding it. He asked in a generous and appropriate manner, "Is there anything else, Mr. Wen?"

Wen Qi did not answer, but only called out, "Secretary Ye."

Ye Xueyan said "Ai" and immediately understood. She walked to the cabinet in the distance, took out two beautifully packaged double apples, and handed them back to Ji Xuan and Polina.

"This is a Christmas Eve gift prepared for us by President Wen. May you both have peace and good fortune every year."

Ji Xuan was taken aback. The cabinet was far from where they worked and ate, so she hadn't seen it.

It's quite unexpected to suddenly receive an Apple product.

Polina readily and happily accepted it, thanked Wen Qi, and wished him all the best, peace, and joy in the future.

Wen Qi has always been a person with a strong sense of ritual. In the past, on Christmas Eve, he would give her an apple, and she would cut the apple in half and say that she was sharing peace with him.

I never expected to receive an apple from him so long after we broke up.

"Thank you."

Since it was a normal holiday gift, there was really no reason to refuse, and she thanked him with a light smile.

Wen Qi's lips curled up slightly as he instructed, "You're welcome. It didn't snow tonight, but please drive slowly and be careful."

He actually wanted to give it to her, but he knew she would refuse without even saying a word.

Ji Xuan nodded and left the hotel with Polina.

Ye Xueyan was the last to leave. When she heard Qi say that she needed to prepare Christmas gifts for tomorrow, she was momentarily stunned, but then she quickly realized what he meant.

It's exactly the same tactic as giving away apples today.

Because she wanted to give Ji Xian a gift, and was afraid that he wouldn't accept it out of politeness, she prepared gifts for everyone else. Since everyone else had accepted them, she certainly couldn't refuse.

President Wen really went to great lengths to give this gift.

Ye Xueyan asked, "What gift should Ah-Xian choose?"

Wen Qi said, "I've picked out her gift. You can decide on the others, preferably something that's appropriate for Russia."

"Okay, I understand," Ye Xueyan replied.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The following day, Christmas, was a bright and sunny day.

Ji Xuan followed them around until just before three o'clock, when the trip was over.

After they parted, Polina turned to her and asked, "Demi, what gift are you planning to bring over tonight? I haven't picked out many gifts for you Chinese people before, and since you're familiar with Mr. Wen and the others, you must know his preferences."

This……

What does Wen Qi like?
Upon reflection, she couldn't really put her finger on it; it seemed that Wen Qi didn't particularly like or dislike anyone.

Oh, I especially hate people who are not punctual.

"It's best to follow local customs. Just give whatever you like to give as gifts during festivals. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as the sentiment is there."

Polina nodded thoughtfully. "So what are you planning to give as a gift?"

When dining out abroad, it's customary to bring a small gift to the host's home, usually red wine, bread, or cake.

She naturally couldn't come empty-handed.

Ji Xuan pondered for a while, unsure of what to give, so he decided to stick to the traditional approach and suggest "red wine."

She figured Wen Qi probably wouldn't want to see bread, so she reminded her. Polina nodded, said she'd think about it, and then waved goodbye.

Today's schedule was a bit rushed, and despite it being the dead of winter, she was sweating profusely.

After returning home and washing up, she changed into some casual clothes. Knowing that she would be on the terrace that night, she put two heat packs on her body and wore a beige down jacket over them.

There was red wine readily available at home.

She had received many wine gifts from customers before, and now she has accumulated five or six bottles at home.

She doesn't like drinking much and doesn't know much about alcohol. Since the bottles were just sitting there anyway, and they looked expensive, she picked out two at random.

One bottle was packaged in a wooden box, and the other was in a high-end leather box.

It's hard to say which one is more expensive; Ji Xuan just picked whichever one looked good to him.

The two large boxes were quite heavy. Ji Xuan could carry one, but carrying both together was a bit of a struggle.

When she finally arrived at the hotel, the staff saw how hard she was struggling to carry the two boxes and immediately came forward to lend a hand, helping her into the elevator before handing her the slightly heavier wooden box.

Ji Xian smiled and said "thank you," took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and made it to the floor where Wen Qi and the others were.

Seeing that she was about to lose her grip, she quickly walked a few steps to Wen Qi's door. Just as she was about to put the things down and ring the doorbell, the door opened from the inside.

It was Wen Qi who came out, and the two of them stared at each other in surprise.

"Hurry up and answer it!" Ji Xuan didn't feel much; his arm was so sore he couldn't hold on any longer.

Before Wen Qi could react, the object had already been thrown to him. He instinctively reached out to catch it, and his arm sank down.

Fortunately, he was in good physical condition, otherwise the things would have fallen to the ground.

He glanced down at the box and guessed, "Red wine?"

Ji Xuan shook your sore arm with a sigh of relief, revealing his pain mask, and nodded.

Wen Qi placed the two wine boxes on the cabinet next to him, reached out to pinch her arm, and frowned slightly. "Does it hurt a lot? I'll call the hotel's medical team to come up and take a look."

Ji Xian froze when he touched her, feeling the pressure from his knuckles, neither too light nor too heavy, just enough to relieve the soreness from holding heavy objects for a long time.

The electric current was a bit slow to arrive, taking a while to travel from the soles of the feet to the whole body.

She quickly pulled her hand back. "It's okay, I'll be fine in a bit."

Wen Qi's hand hovered in mid-air, and an awkward atmosphere gradually filled the air. Wen Qi didn't insist, and glanced at the two boxes of red wine again, "Why did you think of bringing wine over?"

"It's a custom for gatherings abroad," Ji Xian said vaguely.

Upon hearing this, Wen Qi's thin lips pressed into a straight line.

Having studied abroad for several years, he naturally knew that the custom of dining together abroad involved gift-giving, and that the gift was about the sentiment, not the monetary value.

He wasn't a big drinker, and he didn't like to hoard wine at home.

Then there is only one possibility.

Ji Xuan picked these two bottles of wine at random.

But in terms of price, the sentiment is there.

"Thank you."

Wen Qi felt somewhat disappointed, but thinking that it was at least a gift from her, he decided to drink it.

Good.

He suggested, "The grill and barbecue grill are all set up on the terrace. Would you like to go up and take a look?"

It seemed there was no one else inside; even the bodyguards who usually stood guard outside were nowhere to be seen.

Rather than just sitting there, he thought it better to go up and take a look, so he nodded.

After entering the elevator, she remembered to ask, "Where is Secretary Ye?"