“But this isn’t part of my job!”
“Believe it or not, I can have you fired.”
Li Tingting shrank back, not daring to argue.
After starting work at the Xu Family, she had quit all her previous part-time jobs. It was only because an aunt she knew had something come up that she asked Li Tingting to cover for her for a few days. If she ended up losing the job she was covering for, Aunt Shen would be furious.
Li Tingting had no choice but to silently go downstairs to buy coffee.
Only when she reached the ground floor did she realize she had forgotten to ask what flavor the person wanted. The coffee at this shop wasn’t cheap—casually ordering something would cost twenty or thirty yuan, and anything slightly better would be several dozen yuan.
That amount of money was enough to cover her daily expenses.
Feeling the pinch, Li Tingting bought the shop’s signature drink: a cheese latte.
As luck would have it, the usually empty elevator was packed with people. Eager to get back upstairs, Li Tingting suddenly noticed an empty elevator next to her and rushed inside.
As soon as she entered, she froze: “Madam?”
Ruan Yao Yao: Oh ho~ What a coincidence?!
She really had just come today to scout things out, but she actually ran into her?
Seeing Li Tingting, Ruan Yao Yao knew she was in for some drama today.
Hehe!
This damn, unavoidable fate!
A faint smile appeared on her face: “It’s you. What, working a part-time job here?”
Li Tingting blushed. The Xu Family had clear rules forbidding servants from taking on outside part-time work. After all, they paid such high salaries precisely so that the servants could devote all their energy to the household.
“No, I’m just covering for someone for a few days,” Li Tingting quickly explained, saying that Aunt Shen was her former neighbor who had often helped bring meals to her mother while she was hospitalized.
Aunt Shen had something come up, so Li Tingting was covering her shift for a few days.
She assured Ruan Yao Yao that it absolutely wouldn’t interfere with her work at the villa.
“Oh, so you’re covering a shift.” Covering a shift and ending up at her second son’s company… tsk tsk tsk tsk…
Ruan Yao Yao’s gaze fell on the coffee in Li Tingting’s hand and said, “Did my second son ask you to buy this? Doesn’t he like coconut lattes? Did he change his taste?”
Maybe it’s different when it’s bought by someone he likes.
Li Tingting felt awkward and didn’t know how to explain.
The elevator soon arrived, and Ruan Yao Yao urged Li Tingting to follow her, telling her to deliver the coffee to Xu Cheng Yan personally.
Li Tingting: “…”
No, this isn’t for him—it’s for someone else.
But faced with Ruan Yao Yao’s enthusiasm, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse. She figured she might as well deliver it and just buy another cup downstairs later. Even though the coffee cost over twenty yuan, which was a bit expensive, she could still afford it.
Besides, Xu Cheng Yan was her crush!
Thinking she would get to see him soon, Li Tingting felt a hint of sweetness in her heart.
The secretary naturally recognized Ruan Yao Yao. Initially, she was about to stop the cleaning lady, but seeing her following behind Ruan Yao Yao, she assumed Ruan Yao Yao had brought her along. After greeting them, she let them in.
[Here it comes, here it comes—the classic Plot is here!]
Xu Cheng Yan stiffened and abruptly looked up to see a familiar figure.
“What are you doing here?”
Although Ruan Yao Yao’s endless chatter that day had made him somewhat aware of his “misunderstanding,” it was unlikely for Xu Cheng Yan to let go of his prejudice against her so quickly.
He had only arranged for a private detective to gather evidence, trying to prove she really hadn’t been lying.
“What’s wrong? Can’t I come? Afraid I’ll find some little yaojing you’ve hidden here?”
Xu Cheng Yan didn’t understand at first, but when he saw Li Tingting behind Ruan Yao Yao, he instantly got it.
No wonder this woman never visited without a reason—she was delivering this woman to him.
His already limited goodwill toward Ruan Yao Yao vanished, and his expression turned cold. “What are you doing? Sending a cleaner to me?”
What, looking down on him?
Thinking that as an illegitimate child, he only deserves a cleaner?
Ruan Yao Yao said, “Well, I ran into her on the way. Since you like her, just keep her by your side. Making her work as a cleaner—how can you have the nerve? Afraid people will gossip if they see her?”
“Who likes her?” Xu Cheng Yan bristled.
Li Tingting froze: He likes me?!
Could it be that Aunt Shen’s situation was arranged by him?
Her face flushed.
If he likes her, he should just say it. Why go through all this trouble?
She stole a glance at him, unable to hold back her delight.
Ruan Yao Yao said, “If you don’t like her, why let her into your company? And even have her fill in for a few days? Don’t you know the Xu Family has a rule that household staff aren’t allowed to take outside jobs? If the butler finds out, she’ll definitely be fired.”
“Wasn’t she sent by you?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk… shifting blame now. What, so afraid of me finding out?” Ruan Yao Yao laughed. “What guilty thing have you done?”
She didn’t send her? Xu Cheng Yan sensed something off and looked at Li Tingting with wary eyes.
This woman is quite scheming. Probably failing to use her charms on him at home, she came to his company, hoping to win his affection over time.
Xu Cheng Yan felt a wave of disgust.
He hated this kind of scheming woman who tried to climb up using tricks.
“Get out!”
“Why are you yelling? What’s the point of scaring this young girl? You yell in front of me, and as soon as I leave, you’ll have to coax her back…” Ruan Yao Yao rolled her eyes, stepping in front of Li Tingting. “This isn’t how you pursue someone. If you like her, you should be gentle and make her happy. Be careful she runs away with a baby bump, and you end up chasing her through hell.”
She’d be more than happy to watch that Plot unfold.
Xu Cheng Yan had a headache.
Where on earth did this woman get the idea that he liked her?
Oh, it’s about the future. Well, that explains it.
His brother getting confirmed by this woman was one thing, but why drag him into it too?
The more Xu Cheng Yan looked at Li Tingting, the more he disliked her.
Ruan Yao Yao had come for the gossip and to scope things out. After offering a few perfunctory words of advice, she left the office with a smile, giving the “little couple” some space.
On her way out, she even closed the office door to prevent anyone from disturbing them.
Of course, she didn’t really leave—she stayed outside to “watch the show.”
It was obvious because even inside the office, Xu Cheng Yan could constantly hear Ruan Yao Yao’s voice.
[Great, now they have privacy. Wonder if they’ve kissed yet.]
[Ah, what a shame. Someone’s too proud to let me watch.]
[Can’t even see a live romance drama!]
…
However, the scene inside the room was completely different from Ruan Yao Yao’s speculation.
With a cold face, Xu Cheng Yan questioned Li Tingting about how she got into his company. No matter what she was plotting, he wouldn’t let her succeed.
In just a few sentences, Li Tingting was brought to tears by Xu Cheng Yan.
“Xu Cheng Yan, you jerk!”
Li Tingting immediately threw the coffee in her hand at Xu Cheng Yan and ran off sobbing.
The coffee Li Tingting threw was hot, and even though it had been carried for a while, it hadn’t cooled down much.
When such a scalding cup of coffee landed on Xu Cheng Yan, his face turned green. Thankfully, it hit his clothes—if it had landed on his face, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
He quickly took off his clothes and went to the inner room to rinse with cold water.
As it was a startup company, Xu Cheng Yan often stayed at the office when he had nothing else to do, so he had even prepared a rest area for himself, complete with a bed and a bathroom.
Outside, Ruan Yao Yao was stunned to see Li Tingting come out so quickly and tried to guess what had happened.
Could they have gotten into an argument?
It made sense. Xu Cheng Yan was so prideful. Even though she had exposed their relationship, he stubbornly refused to admit it. No wonder Li Tingting was angry.
If it were her, she would have been furious too.