“Lin Ranran, what’s wrong? Why are you so distracted?”
“Ah!” Lin Ranran jumped in fright, accidentally spilling the coffee in her hand and scalding her skin.
“I’m fine.”
The other person eyed her with suspicion. “If you’re fine, why are you spacing out? You’ve been in the break room since work started. Who are you hiding from?”
Lin Ranran bit her lip guiltily. “I’m not hiding from anyone.”
“Since you’re not hiding from anyone, make the coffee and deliver it to the Secretariat. And make the president’s too—he only drinks espresso.”
Lin Ranran widened her eyes. “I’m going?”
“You’re the only one free right now. If you don’t go, who will? Don’t worry, you don’t need to take the president’s coffee inside yourself. Leave it with the Secretariat, and they’ll take it in.”
“Oh.”
Lin Ranran dragged her feet. Since she didn’t have to take it inside herself, she wouldn’t have to face Shang Xu, right?
She had no right to entertain such thoughts. Why assume that Shang Xu treated her differently just because he had secretly helped her twice?
She was only a low-ranking employee, while he was the eldest young master of a family worth hundreds of billions. They had never been a good match.
So what had she been brooding over yesterday? Why had she run away in such affected behavior? Shang Xu had done nothing wrong to her, yet now she didn’t even know how to face him.
If she truly didn’t need this job, she would resign and leave.
Forget it. From now on, she would be a wage worker and stop coveting what she had no right to covet.
But what should she do about the lingering heaviness in her heart?
“Should I leave the coffee here?” Everyone in the Secretariat was busy, and no one else even looked up.
“Take the president’s coffee inside.”
“Me?” Lin Ranran widened her eyes.
The capable female secretary, her makeup immaculate, gave her a rapid-fire set of instructions: “Put the coffee on the right side of the desk. Don’t look around or touch anything inside. The president will arrive shortly, so don’t delay.”
Oh, so he wasn’t inside. Lin Ranran breathed a sigh of relief and carried the coffee in.
She had barely set it down and turned to leave this troublesome place when a chorus of orderly greetings came from outside the door: “Good morning, president.”
Lin Ranran panicked. Why had he come? Why had he chosen this moment?
The moment he pushed open the door and saw her inside, Shang Xu paused as well. Then he furrowed his brows. “What happened to your hand?”
Lin Ranran instinctively hid it behind her back and lowered her head as she tried to leave. “They asked me to bring in the coffee. I’ll return to my department.”
“Stop.” His cold, magnetic voice came from behind her. He took her scalded left hand in his grasp.
Warm breath brushed across the back of her hand, making it seem even hotter. “Don’t you care about your own body? Lin Ranran, look into my eyes. What are you being difficult about?”
A wave of grievance rose in Lin Ranran’s heart. He had been the one to distance himself first, saying she was merely a low-ranking employee of the Shang Corporation. Why was he showing concern for her now? Did he treat other ordinary employees this way too?
“The president is joking. How could a low-ranking employee like me dare to be difficult with you?”
A hurried, brief chuckle sounded above her, his voice filled with certainty. “Lin Ranran, you’re jealous.”
Lin Ranran tried to pull her hand back, but the man’s broad, powerful palm held it fast, and she couldn’t break free. “I’m not. Don’t make things up. Let go, President Shang. Do you normally treat your employees this way?”
He let out a helpless sigh. “Only you. Don’t move. You’ll worsen the injury if you keep moving. Let me apply some medicine first.”
Shang Xu still wore a cold expression, but the tenderness in his eyes was impossible to conceal.
Lin Ranran’s voice was hoarse. “Then what does this make you? And what about the young lady of The He Family? In your office, aren’t you afraid people will find out?”
Shang Xu didn’t know either. Seeing Lin Ranran’s scalded hand stirred an inexplicable ache in his heart, and he followed that feeling.
Did he like her?
It seemed he did, at least a little. But compared with the future of the Shang Corporation, the corporation mattered more. Still, he saw no conflict between the two.
“I didn’t say anything wrong yesterday, Lin Ranran. If you felt hurt, I can apologize to you.”
How could he be so self-righteous, without any awareness of his mistake? What, exactly, did he think feelings were?
With a forceful tug, Lin Ranran pulled her arm back, her voice turning icy. “President Shang, if that’s the case, don’t do things like this to me again and make people misunderstand. Treat me the way you treat your other employees.”
Having said that, she bent at the waist thirty degrees. “President Shang, if you have no other instructions, I’ll return to my department first.”
Shang Xu watched her leave with a cold expression, as if weighing the advantages and disadvantages. Then he irritably swept the documents onto the floor.
The employees of the Shang Corporation were on edge today. He reprimanded nearly every manager or secretary who gave a report, leaving the entire building silent with fear.
Guessing the reason, Lin Ranran pressed her lips together and forced herself to focus on work. She should never have developed such unwarranted fantasies.
“Lin Ranran, don’t work overtime today. What if the CEO’s Office has an urgent document to handle and we make a mistake? The president might hold us accountable. I’m leaving first.”
Lin Ranran shut down her computer. Her colleague had a point. If she didn’t leave now, what would she do if she encountered Shang Xu again while working overtime?
She packed up and went to the hospital to visit her mother.
Her heart pounded all the way there, as though something was about to happen. What could it be?
Her mother’s condition was stable and she could leave the hospital after one more day of observation. Her younger brother had gone to boarding school, and his teacher said he had been doing well lately, with his grades improving. The company had finished work, so nothing should happen there either. Her father…
Her father!
Lin Ranran’s expression tightened. Her father had taken her scholarship money from home nearly two months ago and had not shown his face since. Judging by the timing, he must have almost spent it all by now.
Whenever he returned, there was no peace at home. Lin Ranran nearly ran to the hospital.
In the inpatient department, Ji Yan and his Assistant had come to visit one of the company’s directors. His new cooperation with the Su Corporation could move forward smoothly because of the directors’ wholehearted support.
As he was about to enter the elevator, he saw a ferocious-looking man dragging a young woman outside. It was Lin Ranran.
“You little wretch, I’m your father! I gave you life, so you should earn money for me to spend.”
“Impossible.” Lin Ranran struggled with all her might. “Mother needs money for her treatment, and my younger brother needs money for school too. I can’t give you the money to gamble.”
The passersby who had wanted to intervene stopped when they heard this. Gamblers were unreasonable, after all, and no one knew what the middle-aged man might do if he couldn’t get the money. Besides, this was a family matter.
“I have a feeling I’ll win this time. You’ll all enjoy a good life with me from now on, so hurry up and withdraw the money.”
“No.” Just as Lin Ranran’s heart was turning to ashes, she suddenly saw a familiar figure and cried out desperately, reaching for him. “Young Master Ji, I’m Lin Ranran. Please help me. I can’t go with him.”
At that moment, the elevator beside them opened, and a thin, pale, middle-aged woman stepped out. She ran over to stop the middle-aged man and nearly fell.
Ji Yan stepped forward to support her and shouted coldly at the middle-aged man, “Let go.”
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