Standing completely still, Song Xi took a few moments to steady herself before she managed to find her voice.
“President, you can just wait in the car—or you can head straight to the company, you don’t need to wait for me.”
Internally, Song Xi was screaming at the top of her lungs. She absolutely could not let Jiang Yanzhou inside her apartment, or else how on earth was she supposed to take her medicine!
She reached out, trying to take the two heavy shopping bags from Jiang Yanzhou’s hands, but he didn’t cooperate in the slightest.
Fine beads of sweat broke out across her forehead. Song Xi put every ounce of her strength into it, yet those two massive bags remained firmly anchored in Jiang Yanzhou’s grip.
“Secretary Song, did you secretly hide a man in your apartment?”
Song Xi immediately launched into a triple denial: “I didn’t, I haven’t, stop talking nonsense!”
“Then why are you looking so guilty?” Jiang Yanzhou’s gaze pierced into Song Xi, sharp and probing.
The question only made her feel guiltier, causing her tongue to tie itself in knots!
“M-my place is t-too messy! I’m afraid it’ll offend your eyes, President.”
With an air of supreme, understanding accommodation, the President replied, “It’s fine, I don’t mind.”
Song Xi: “…”
You might not mind, but I do! I care a whole lot, immensely so!
Seeing that Song Xi was still standing frozen in place, the President took the initiative and strode forward.
Left with no alternative, Song Xi had no choice but to follow along.
Stepping into the elevator, Song Xi felt a wave of absolute despair wash over her as she watched Jiang Yanzhou press the button for the tenth floor.
What a terrifying man—he actually knew her address by heart.
“President, my place is tiny. There’s nothing to see here; it’s not worth wasting your precious time.” Song Xi put up a pale, dying gasp of a final struggle.
Without a word, Jiang Yanzhou simply stood there, quietly watching her.
Pressing her lips tight, Song Xi lowered her head. At this point, every extra word she spoke was just digging a deeper grave!
The elevator came to a halt, and without asking a single question, the President walked straight up to the door of her apartment.
Knowing full well that the President had a hundred different ways to open her door if he wanted to, Song Xi dragged her feet, having zero desire to go inside and every desire to run away.
Trudging slowly to the threshold, just as Song Xi was about to use one hand to shield the keypad while punching in the combination with the other, Jiang Yanzhou’s unhurried voice drifted from behind her: “What’s the passcode?”
Song Xi: “…”
As expected of the President; he could ask such an invasive question with absolute righteousness.
Naturally, based on her understanding of him, the President wasn’t about to give her the luxury of refusing.
Realizing resistance was futile, Song Xi punched in the numbers right under Jiang Yanzhou’s watchful gaze while explaining,
“588888—it means ‘I’m going to get rich, rich, rich, rich, rich!'”
Too bad she was going to have to change this passcode immediately after today.
The door clicked open, and Song Xi hurried inside.
Fortunately, she had stashed her medication away safely in a drawer.
As for her illness, Song Xi had no intention of sharing it with anyone for the time being.
She wanted neither pity nor unsolicited advice.
With the pitifully little time she had left, she intended to spend it entirely on her own terms.
Dropping the bags onto the coffee table, Jiang Yanzhou spoke without even turning to look at her: “Don’t even think about secretly changing the passcode.”
Feeling a surge of indignation, Song Xi retorted, “President, aren’t you sticking your nose into things a bit too much?”
The President maintained a deadpan expression. “If you dare to change the passcode behind my back, I dare to dock every single cent of your bonuses.”
“Jiang Yanzhou, you’re abusing your power for personal vendettas!” Dropping formal titles entirely, Song Xi was genuinely furious!
Fortunately, she had already put her apartment up for sale anyway; when the time came, the person changing the passcode wouldn’t be her, but the new homeowner.
Even if the property didn’t sell in the short term, Jiang Yanzhou could only use docked bonuses to threaten her for one more month at most.
With a sweep of his long arm, Jiang Yanzhou trapped Song Xi tightly against his chest, lowering his gaze to look down at her with a half-smile. “Am I really abusing my power for personal vendettas?”
Song Xi: “…”
With her waist aching and her legs feeling like jelly, various unspeakable, intimate replays of last night flashed across her mind.
What now? Once you board a pirate ship like the President’s, getting back off was practically impossible!
The worst part was that she had voluntarily climbed onto that pirate (bed) ship herself. Wearing a smile that looked far uglier than weeping, Song Xi told Jiang Yanzhou,
“You aren’t abusing your power at all! You are completely selfless and impartial!”
Withdrawing his arm, Jiang Yanzhou commanded, “Then why doesn’t Secretary Song give me a proper tour of her home?”
Forced into compliance with a complexion that looked terrible, the Secretary: “…”
Her place genuinely wasn’t big—just a single bedroom, a single living room, spanning a few dozen square meters. Compared to Shuimo Mansion where the President lived, it was an absolute joke!
“President, as you can see, my living room is just this tiny. There’s nothing worth touring here. Surely you aren’t planning to inspect my kitchen and bathroom?”
The President gave a slight, affirmative nod. “Mhm.”
If someone wanted to hide a man in this kitchen or bathroom, there was more than enough space to do it.
Utterly speechless, Song Xi led the President into the kitchen first. Though it was completely open and bare to the eye, the pots, pans, and utensils were meticulously complete.
Clearly, Song Xi was someone who cooked quite frequently.
With a deep, fathomless gaze, the President instructed, “Secretary Song, open up the upper and lower cabinets for me.”
Suffocating under the weight of several curses she desperately wanted to unleash, the Secretary: “…”
After pulling open every single cabinet in the kitchen, she ground out between clenched, grating teeth,
“President, if you distrust me this much, why didn’t you just let us have a clean break?”
“I did trust you initially. It’s your own guilty conscience that gave you away.”
Hearing that, Song Xi was so infuriated she literally stomped her foot on the floor.
The most frustrating part was that she couldn’t even formulate a comeback. Who else could twist black into white with such flawless, airtight logic like the President could?!
Acting with considerate, thoughtful efficiency, the President even helped Song Xi push the cabinet doors back into place.
Immediately afterward, he issued his next directive: “Secretary Song, open the refrigerator.”
With an expression of utter complexity, Song Xi asked, “President, are you suspecting that I chopped someone up and stored them in the freezer?”
Without changing expression, the President replied, “I merely want to see what delicious ingredients Secretary Song has stocked in her fridge.”
Her mouth twitching furiously, Song Xi yanked the refrigerator door open with eyes blazing fire.
Seeing that the interior was packed with a variety of fresh produce, Jiang Yanzhou remarked, “Secretary Song, when will you treat me to a meal you’ve cooked yourself?”
Song Xi: “…”
How could the President be so impossibly thick-skinned?!
She stalled with a vague evasion, “Let’s wait until the weekend!”
Instead of letting it slide, the President locked it in with solemn certainty: “Alright, this weekend it is.”
Giving her zero room to decline, the President walked straight out of the kitchen and stepped into the bathroom.
Because the cabinetry in the bathroom was relatively compact, the President spared her from opening every single one for inspection.
Without asking permission, the President pushed straight past and entered her private bedchamber.
His cold, aloof gaze landed directly on her bed. One glance at the slight furrow in his brow made it obvious just how thoroughly displeased he was with it.
It was entirely pink and impossibly small! Jiang Yanzhou would rather sleep on the living room sofa than set foot on a bed like that.
A spark of triumphant satisfaction crossed Song Xi’s face—as long as she was happy with it, that was all that mattered!
Then, the man’s flat, indifferent voice dropped right beside her ear: “Secretary Song, open the wardrobe.”
Her knees buckling slightly, Song Xi hurried over and sat down hard on the pink, diminutive bed.
Because tucked away in the very corner of that wardrobe was a thick stack of medical examination reports.
Her hands involuntarily clenched into tight fists, her heartbeat accelerating wildly as if trying to tear its way out of her chest. Song Xi felt simultaneously feverish and chilled to the bone.
Seeing Song Xi react this way, it would be impossible for Jiang Yanzhou not to feel suspicious.
The look he fixed upon the wardrobe doors was as chilling as polished frost.
Instead of throwing the wardrobe open himself, Jiang Yanzhou leaned down, his cold, firm hand clamping around Song Xi’s delicate jaw.
He forced her to lift her head and meet his gaze eye-to-eye.
“Tell me—what have you hidden inside that wardrobe?”