Tang Luoqing froze in place, her grip tightening around the document in her hands.
For a moment, the air around them seemed to solidify.
Inside the office, the young woman who had been leaning close to Zhou Yancheng straightened at the sound. She turned around and looked toward the doorway.
The woman was very beautiful, with exquisite makeup and a perfectly tailored professional suit that accentuated her graceful figure.
When she saw Tang Luoqing, she looked her up and down. The girl standing at the door was wearing a simple knitted dress and canvas shoes, her face completely free of makeup. At first glance, she seemed like the kind of girl who posed no threat at all.
Although, even without makeup, this girl was more beautiful than every woman Ling Yueyue had ever seen, including herself.
Still, Ling Yueyue did not take her seriously. The corners of her lips lifted slightly as she put on a standard professional smile.
“May I ask who you’re looking for? The director’s office isn’t a place anyone can just walk into. Surely you understand that…”
Before she could finish, Zhou Yancheng stood up from his chair.
The relaxed and carefree demeanor he had displayed earlier had disappeared completely. He casually straightened his tie, his presence becoming steady and imposing as he cast a淡淡 glance at Ling Yueyue.
“This is my girlfriend, Tang Luoqing. Assistant Ling, you can leave for now.”
“So you’re… Miss Tang.”
Ling Yueyue pretended to realize who she was and walked toward Tang Luoqing with a smile. She extended her hand and deliberately lifted her wrist slightly, intentionally revealing the diamond bracelet around it.
“Hello, I’m Ling Yueyue, Assistant to Young Director Zhou from the Marketing Department. I was just asking Director Zhou for some advice about work. Please don’t misunderstand.”
Tang Luoqing glanced at the bracelet on Ling Yueyue’s wrist.
It was the latest diamond bracelet from KY.
Tang Luoqing had seen this bracelet before. A single one was worth as much as a house in a small county town, so it was highly unlikely that an assistant’s salary could afford it.
But Tang Luoqing did not care about the bracelet itself. It was the deliberate way Ling Yueyue had displayed it, combined with how unusually close she and Zhou Yancheng had been standing just moments ago, that left Tang Luoqing feeling inexplicably uncomfortable.
Suppressing the sourness rising in her heart, Tang Luoqing handed the document to Zhou Yancheng, who had already walked over to them. Her voice was noticeably colder than usual.
“Here’s the document you wanted.”
With that, she turned around and was about to leave.
The next moment, Zhou Yancheng grabbed her wrist.
Holding Tang Luoqing’s wrist with one hand, he turned to Ling Yueyue and spoke more seriously than before.
“Put together everything you still don’t understand about the work and send it to me online in a document. Now go out and take this document to Director Xie as well.”
Ling Yueyue accepted the document, pressing her lips together as a trace of grievance appeared on her face.
“Director Zhou…”
Zhou Yancheng’s expression darkened slightly.
The grievance in Ling Yueyue’s eyes immediately disappeared. She did not dare to argue any further and hurried out in her high heels, leaving behind a faint, sweet fragrance that only made Tang Luoqing feel more stifled.
Once the door closed, only the two of them remained in the office.
The coldness faded from Zhou Yancheng’s face. Before Tang Luoqing could question him, he pulled her into his arms and asked casually, “Why are you leaving right after you arrived? You don’t want to see me?”
Tang Luoqing pushed Zhou Yancheng away.
When she looked up, a thin layer of moisture had already gathered in her eyes.
“Don’t you think you owe me an explanation? Your assistant was practically leaning against you just now. And you asked me to bring you a document, yet you made me wait downstairs for an entire hour. I called you so many times and you didn’t answer. Do you really think that’s appropriate, Zhou Yancheng?”
Zhou Yancheng frowned when he heard this.
“You called me?”
After a slight pause, Zhou Yancheng took Tang Luoqing’s hand and led her to the desk. He turned around, picked up his phone from the desk, and when he saw the missed calls, he immediately pulled Tang Luoqing into his arms apologetically.
When she pushed him away again, Zhou Yancheng could only let out a helpless sigh.
“I’m sorry. I was focused on calculating the project figures just now. I put my phone on silent and left it on the desk, then completely forgot about it. I didn’t notice any of your calls. It was my fault.”
As he spoke, Zhou Yancheng lowered his head. His voice gradually became muffled, making him sound almost like a child looking for comfort.
“But you know that as the second young master of the Zhou family, I’m always overshadowed by my older brother. If I can’t even do my job well, people will criticize me even more for being the second young master. As for the first thing you mentioned…”
Zhou Yancheng took a deep breath, seemingly trying to suppress the emotions that had surfaced when he mentioned his older brother. Then he made a phone call.
Once the call connected, Zhou Yancheng held the phone to his ear.
“Director Zhang, yes, it’s me. Didn’t you say your project team was short an assistant last time? I have someone in mind. Ling Yueyue. Have her report to you this afternoon.”
After saying that, Zhou Yancheng hung up.
He remained silent for a moment before raising his eyes to look at Tang Luoqing again. His tone had also softened.
“If anyone ever makes you uncomfortable, just tell me directly. Otherwise, sometimes I really… don’t notice these things.”
His expression was unusually serious, and there was a rare, awkward sincerity in his eyes.
The anger in Tang Luoqing’s heart immediately faded by half. After all, once Zhou Yancheng realized what the problem was, he was willing to change, and he had dealt with it so quickly.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, Tang Luoqing glanced at the desk, which was covered only with work documents. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she asked, “Didn’t you say last time that you liked the painting I made of Milk Candy? Where is it?”
“The painting?”
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Yancheng released Tang Luoqing and walked behind his desk. He opened one of the drawers and took out a painting.
On the paper was a little kitten curled up beneath a romantic peach blossom tree. Petals drifted through the air, while warm sunlight spilled down in the distance, creating a scene that was both peaceful and soft.
It was Milk Candy, whom she had painted, with the background depicting the home where Tang Luoqing and her grandmother had depended on each other.
Seeing Tang Luoqing’s expression gradually soften, Zhou Yancheng wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on the top of her head.
“Your painting is so important to me. What if the cleaners damaged it?
That’s why I’ve kept it in the drawer all this time. It’s almost as if you’re always here with me.”
Then he slowly turned Tang Luoqing around to face him. Holding her gently by the shoulders, he looked at her with intense warmth.
“I really was careless just now and made you feel wronged. Forgive me, okay?”
Meeting Zhou Yancheng’s deep, captivating eyes, the tips of Tang Luoqing’s ears grew slightly warm.
She had to admit that although Zhou Yancheng had been notoriously flirtatious before he started pursuing her, his deep eyes were truly mesmerizing. When he smiled, he looked incredibly affectionate, and even when he wasn’t smiling, there always seemed to be a hint of one in his eyes, making it easy for people to become lost in them.
Especially when he looked at someone as seriously as he was now, he could make that person feel as though they were the only one in the entire world who mattered to him.
Tang Luoqing could no longer stay angry with him.
As something occurred to her, she casually asked, “I remember you told me before that your office used to be on the fifth floor. Why have you moved to the top floor now?”
When she had come upstairs with Zhou Jinbai earlier, Tang Luoqing had even wondered whether Zhou Jinbai had gotten on the wrong floor.
Seeing that Tang Luoqing had completely calmed down, Zhou Yancheng leaned forward and gently kissed her cheek. He rested his chin on her shoulder and answered, “It’s just a normal personnel adjustment. They said my recent work performance has been pretty good, so they transferred me to the top floor.”
Tang Luoqing nodded after hearing that, but the image of Zhou Yancheng working late into the night in the study for such a long time recently surfaced in her mind.
In reality, this serious side of Zhou Yancheng was something only she had ever seen.
Just like that time during their third year of university, when he had squatted alone on the steps of the old teaching building late at night, reading a thick book under the streetlight with his brows tightly furrowed. He had looked completely different from his carefree self during the day, and that was something only she had witnessed as well.
“Let’s go eat. It’s almost lunchtime anyway.”
With his arm around Tang Luoqing’s waist, Zhou Yancheng opened the door and led her out of the office.
The two of them walked together down the long corridor.
As they walked, Zhou Yancheng kept glancing sideways at Tang Luoqing’s soft and sweet face.
Sunlight streamed through the floor to ceiling windows along the corridor, falling across her fair, delicate profile.
She walked with her head lowered, her long eyelashes casting shadows over her eyes and the tip of her nose carrying a soft pink hue.
Unable to resist, Zhou Yancheng lowered his head and planted another soft kiss on her cheek, making Tang Luoqing blush in embarrassment as she tried to push him away.
Unfortunately, this scene happened to be witnessed by Zhou Jinbai, who had just opened the door of the president’s office and was about to step out.
After taking one look, the tall man closed the door and strode back to his desk. He picked up a document and opened it, but after a long while, he still had not turned a single page.
Zhou Jinbai’s brows drew tightly together.
It was not until someone knocked on the office door that Assistant Shen entered after receiving permission.
“President Zhou, President Liao of Haicheng International is expected to check into Maoye Hotel at around eleven fifty. Shall we leave now?”
Haicheng International was the leading company in the hotel industry in Haishi. The Zhou family intended to cooperate with Haicheng International to build a top tier high end industrial chain.
Zhou Jinbai nodded and walked out of the office.
Meanwhile, in the lobby downstairs.
Zhou Yancheng had just walked out of the elevator with his arm around Tang Luoqing when his phone rang.
When he saw the name on the screen, he answered without much concern. A moment later, however, his brows furrowed slightly.
“Old Xie, I already gave you the documents. Why are you still calling me for a meeting? Fine, I know. I’ll be right up.”
After hanging up, Zhou Yancheng looked at Tang Luoqing apologetically.
“There’s an important meeting that came up unexpectedly, so I have to attend it first. I’m not sure when it’ll finish. How about I call Old Zhang and have him come pick you up? I’ll go home and spend time with you after work tonight.”
Old Zhang was the driver the Zhou family had arranged for Zhou Yancheng, although Zhou Yancheng usually drove himself.
Seeing Tang Luoqing nod, Zhou Yancheng called Old Zhang.
“All right, go take care of your work.”
After ending the call, Zhou Yancheng frowned tightly.
“Old Zhang’s child is sick, so he can’t come right now.”
“It’s fine.”
Just then, the private elevator opened with a chime, and Zhou Jinbai stepped out.
The man was dressed in a dark suit, with Assistant Shen following behind him. His steps were steady and his presence cold and imposing.
When Zhou Yancheng saw Zhou Jinbai, he raised his brows and called out casually, “Brother, heading out?”
“Mm.”
Zhou Jinbai answered indifferently.
The tall man glanced at Zhou Yancheng, then looked at Tang Luoqing and gave her a slight nod in greeting. He quickly looked away and continued walking toward the exit.
“Brother, where are you going?”
For some reason, Zhou Yancheng suddenly called after him.
“If it’s on your way… could you give my girlfriend a ride? She’s going to Yujing Bay.”
In just those few minutes, Zhou Yancheng had thought it through carefully.
Since he had already made Tang Luoqing wait in the lobby for an hour and she had also happened to witness what happened in the office, it would really be inappropriate to let her go home alone now.
But if he took her home himself, what about the meeting?
Tang Luoqing had not expected Zhou Yancheng to suggest that Zhou Jinbai take her home. When she unexpectedly met Zhou Jinbai’s indifferent gaze, she hurriedly shook her head in embarrassment.
“No, no, it’s fine, Brother. I’ll go home by myself. I don’t want to trouble you.”
Then she looked reproachfully at Zhou Yancheng and lowered her voice.
“Yancheng, I can go home by myself. Big Brother is so busy. How could you…”
Before she could finish, Zhou Jinbai lowered his eyes to check the time on his watch. He glanced at Assistant Shen, who stood beside him and spoke in a restrained, nervous voice that only the two of them could hear.
“President Zhou, but President Liao…”
Zhou Jinbai then looked up at Tang Luoqing. His expression remained unreadable as he answered calmly.
“I’m not busy. Let’s go.”
It was such a simple sentence that it sounded as though he had only agreed out of consideration for his younger brother, or perhaps that the matter was never important enough for him to refuse.
Even so, it left Tang Luoqing stunned. She had hardly ever interacted with Zhou Jinbai alone before.
She looked up in surprise and met Zhou Jinbai’s deep, intense eyes.
After only one glance, he turned his eyes away, turned around, and walked straight outside, giving Tang Luoqing no chance to refuse again.