The moment Gu Qingyin stepped out, Bai Jiali, who had been watching her, came over. With a polite smile, she said, "Miss Gu, are you leaving? I can see you out."
Gu Qingyin remained standing, sizing her up thoughtfully.
"What makes you think I’m leaving? Are you trying to kick me out on Huo Xingye’s behalf? Does a secretary at the Huo Family have that much power? Enough to boss the boss around? You look so practiced, this can’t be the first time. Does Huo Xingye know you overstep your bounds like this?"
Bai Jiali immediately panicked. "No, I didn’t! Don’t make things up. I just saw you come out, assumed you were leaving, and asked casually." At this, she suddenly felt justified and retorted, "If you’re not leaving, then why did you come out?"
"To get something to eat. Where’s the breakroom?" Gu Qingyin asked with perfect composure, as if she wasn’t the one who had just been laying into her.
Bai Jiali was fuming but didn’t dare let it show. She coldly pointed in a direction.
As she left, Gu Qingyin glanced back at her and advised, "You should find some time to work on your emotional intelligence."
Bai Jiali froze for a second, then her face flushed crimson. ’My emotional intelligence isn’t low at all!’ Standing in place, she took two deep breaths and forced herself to calm down.
’I have to admit, Gu Qingyin is different from the other women. He dotes on her, she has a vicious tongue, and she’s not easy to deal with. I’ll have to change my strategy.’
Lost in thought, she turned back toward her workstation, failing to notice the other secretaries and executive assistants furtively exchanging glances. ’The little white flower is about to star in her own palace drama again. Looks like we’re in for a good show.’
It was a no-brainer that the breakroom on the Huo Family president’s floor wouldn’t be anything less than stellar, but when Gu Qingyin actually walked in, the sheer luxury still made her say, "Wow."
She had been to plenty of companies, large and small, for her job, but not one of their breakrooms could compare to this.
A coffee machine, a dessert stand, a section for imported snacks, a beverage area, even self-heating hot pot and rice—the selection was staggering. There were even proper tables and chairs for eating. While none of it was anything she couldn’t afford herself, the thought of it all being free for the taking made it seem especially delicious.
’Wow, the employees at the Huo Family really have it made.’
After a quick tour, Gu Qingyin grabbed a slice of cake, heated up a glass of milk, and carried them back to the office.
Without a word, she placed the items on Huo Xingye’s desk and then simply stared at him.
Huo Xingye said, "I’ll eat in a minute."
Gu Qingyin nodded and said with great understanding, "It’s fine. You finish your work first. I’ll just watch." And then she continued to stare.
The pressure was immense. Huo Xingye sighed in resignation, set aside the file in his hands, and finished the small cake in a few quick bites. Then, he gulped down half the glass of milk.
The cloying smell of the milk rushed up his nose. Huo Xingye couldn’t help but frown. "I can’t drink any more."
Gu Qingyin raised an eyebrow. "Milk might taste bad, but it’s nutritious. Be good. Drink it like it’s medicine and finish it off."
Huo Xingye...
Holding his breath, he drank the rest of the milk, then quickly grabbed a nearby glass to rinse his mouth out.
After finally managing to wash the unpleasant taste from his mouth, he felt a dawning sense that he had lost some kind of freedom.
’A mother’s love truly isn’t so simple.’
Once he finished, Huo Xingye went back to work. Gu Qingyin, satisfied, returned to her own spot, spread out some yellow paper, and prepared to draw a couple of talismans.
By the time they were both finished with their work, it was already nearly twelve-thirty.
Gu Qingyin was exasperated. ’It’s a good thing I made him eat that snack earlier, or he’d be starving by now.’
"Come on, let’s go eat!"
The "mother-son duo" had just opened the door to leave when Bai Jiali, who had been waiting at her desk this whole time, quickly stood up and walked toward the elevators without looking back.
Only when Huo Xingye came to a stop beside her did she look back with feigned surprise and a smile. "President Huo, you haven’t eaten yet either? Why don’t we go together? I heard a new seafood place just opened downstairs, and it’s supposed to be very good."
Huo Xingye didn’t have any objections. He turned his head and asked, "Do you want seafood?"
"Sure," Gu Qingyin said with a wide grin. "But I don’t like to shell them, so I’ll leave that to you."
Huo Xingye agreed with a matter-of-fact "Mm."
’Although he’d never waited on anyone like this before, Gu Qingyin wasn’t just anyone. It was only right that he take care of her.’
Bai Jiali kept the smile on her face, but inwardly she was screaming. ’How dares that bitch!! And Huo Xingye actually agreed! Has he been put under a spell or something?!’
The moment the thought occurred to her, Bai Jiali’s heart skipped a beat. What started as an internal rant was, the more she considered it, starting to feel like the truth.
’Otherwise, how could she explain Huo Xingye’s sudden, bizarre behavior? There was no other way to explain it!’
"Secretary Bai?"
Bai Jiali snapped back to reality to find that Huo Xingye and Gu Qingyin were already in the elevator. She hurried inside, apologizing, "Sorry, I spaced out." With that, she turned to face the elevator doors, her expression hardening with resolve. ’I have to expose Gu Qingyin’s true colors and save President Huo from this disaster!’
The Huo Family’s cafeteria occupied the entire first and second floors. It offered every imaginable type of cuisine, and its chefs were all poached from famous restaurants. The resulting dishes, a feast of color, aroma, and flavor, were one of the Huo Family’s signature perks.
Many college graduates applied to the Huo Family specifically for the food.
Even so, Huo Xingye’s appearances in the cafeteria were few and far between.
Therefore, the moment Huo Xingye stepped into the cafeteria, he became the center of attention. Most people didn’t dare to stare openly, sneaking glances out of the corners of their eyes while wondering why President Huo had suddenly decided to descend from his heavenly perch today.
’A few glances turned into a few more... They all knew Secretary Bai, but who was that beautiful woman they’d never seen before? What was her relationship to President Huo?’
’Whoa! President Huo got her food for her? President Huo is peeling her shrimp? President Huo is even cracking her crab?!’
Before the lunch break was even over, news of Huo Xingye and his suspected girlfriend’s public display of affection in the cafeteria had spread like wildfire through every company group chat, not even sparing the one for senior management.
Bai Jiali was so furious after seeing the messages that she felt dizzy. She promptly requested the rest of the afternoon off and left.
Gu Qingyin, completely oblivious to all this, returned to the office. After taking a nap in Huo Xingye’s private lounge, she emerged to find that the entire world had changed.
The secretaries, who had been so cold and aloof that morning, were suddenly so friendly it was almost overwhelming.
Carrying her afternoon tea, she politely declined an offering of fruit from the fifth secretary and made a quick retreat back into the office. Walking over to the desk, she asked suspiciously, "Did something happen at the company over lunch?"
Huo Xingye asked back, "What do you mean?"
Gu Qingyin looked at his clear yet utterly bewildered eyes and waved a hand. "Never mind. Go back to your work." After sitting down, she pulled out her phone and sent a message to Xue Ning: Add me to the company gossip chat.
Xue Ning, away on a business trip, was completely baffled but did as he was told.
After adding her, he took a quick look at the group’s messages.
When he saw the messages about President Huo’s suspected girlfriend making an appearance, he was both shocked and intrigued. At the same time, he was confused. ’If Huo Xingye had a girlfriend, shouldn’t I be the first to know?’
Then he scrolled up further and saw the photo of Gu Qingyin and Huo Xingye eating together. Xue Ning just about lost his mind.
’What in the world is this? Who started this rumor?! Do they have a death wish?!’