A certain café, a man and a woman sat facing each other.
“Miss Lin, we’ve been chatting for a few days now. I think we shouldn’t waste time—just state your conditions directly.”
Lin Yue stirred the coffee in her cup, elegantly lifted it, and took a small sip.
“Mr. Li, it’s true that I’m here for a blind date, but we’ve only been talking for a week and you’re already asking me to marry you. I’m sorry to be blunt, but we’re not really compatible.”
“What’s wrong with you? Blind dates are supposed to be fast-paced. If we get along, we can start a life together. You’re just wasting time like this.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Li. The coffee today is on me.”
“Hmph, what gives a country girl like you the right to act so high and mighty? You’re just relying on your pretty face.”
Lin Yue said coldly, “I won’t see you out.”
The man surnamed Li snorted and stormed off in a huff.
The café was very quiet. There wasn’t a single person in sight where Lin Yue’s gaze fell, and the staff were behind the partition. She sighed, slumped onto the table, and began to cry quietly.
“Wahh… What kind of person is he? We were chatting so nicely on WeChat, how did he turn out like this in person? Getting married after just a week—even a rocket launch isn’t that fast… Wahh…”
While sobbing softly, Lin Yue muttered to herself. She took out her phone to block him on WeChat but accidentally hit the send button for a previously unsent message to this Mr. Li. When she saw the red exclamation mark, she couldn’t hold back her tears again.
“Wahh… How dare you block me first…”
After blocking him, she waited a while before wiping the tears from her face. Then, with complete rationality and calmness, she said to herself, “Alright, alright, stop crying. Today’s stress has been fully released.”
Her completely different demeanor before and after might make one think she had a split personality.
Suddenly, a low, soft chuckle reached her ears, followed by a blue handkerchief appearing in her line of sight.
Lin Yue’s inner monologue: This handkerchief looks so familiar.
The next second, she looked up and saw He Yuan’s exceptionally handsome face.
Startled, Lin Yue instantly stood up. “P-President He.”
Not a trace of her earlier sorrow from crying showed on her face, even though her eyes still glistened with moisture.
He Yuan curled the corner of his mouth slightly and pushed the handkerchief forward. “Secretary Lin, to my knowledge, this is your third failed blind date.”
Lin Yue: “…”
There’s actually a backstory to this.
When she first applied to be He Yuan’s secretary, she had already prepared herself for five years without marriage or romance. After all, even as a junior secretary to the president of a major group, she would be swamped with work. Moreover, many companies have such requirements.
Her current life goals were to earn money and start a family. However, the salary at Stellar Group was truly generous. She figured that being 30 after five years wouldn’t be too bad, and after weighing her options, she decided that making money was more important, so she applied for the position.
But it turned out the company had no five-year no-dating policy, so she didn’t deliberately hide her blind dates.
During her first blind date, she was still working overtime. Her phone kept ringing one call after another, causing He Yuan to frown and ask, “Secretary Lin, is something the matter?”
Fresh out into the workforce, Lin Yue wasn’t one to beat around the bush and directly said she had a blind date later.
Sure enough, He Yuan’s frown deepened.
Anyone with a bit of experience wouldn’t have said that, because it could easily get you fired the next second. Thinking about marriage right after getting hired clearly shows your mind isn’t on work—that’s a major workplace taboo.
It’s common knowledge that during job interviews, even if you have a boyfriend, you should firmly tell HR you don’t rather than admit it.
But the fact that she passed the interview also speaks to her capabilities. After all, she was applying for the position of executive secretary, and not only did HR interview her, but He Yuan also personally conducted the interview.
The second time was when He Yuan overheard her chatting with his executive assistant about going on a blind date. She never expected to be caught red-handed this time.
Lin Yue didn’t accept the handkerchief. Instead, she immediately changed the subject, “Thank you, President He. What brings you here?”
He didn’t seem like someone who’d have the leisure to visit a coffee shop in his daily life, what with his endless pile of documents to review.
“I was supposed to meet a friend, but they stood me up.”
Lin Yue thought to herself: Who on earth would dare to stand up the CEO of Stellar Group?
But she only dared to think it, not say it out loud.
Running into her boss during her break left this workplace novice at a loss. He Yuan simply put away his handkerchief and said to her, “Come on, I’ll give you a ride back.”
“No, no, that’s not necessary,” Lin Yue hurriedly declined. “I’m meeting someone else, so I won’t take up your time.”
He Yuan didn’t insist, merely nodding slightly before leaving.
But the look he gave her before leaving made Lin Yue pause before she realized—did he think she had another blind date lined up?
Lin Yue didn’t even want to imagine the desperate-to-get-married image she must have in her boss’s mind.
After a while, she sighed and got up to leave the café. When she went to pay, she was told the bill had already been settled. Lin Yue immediately knew it was He Yuan who paid, since Mr. Li hadn’t gone to the counter when he left.
By the time Lin Yue returned to her place, it was already dark. The reason was simple: her rented apartment was too far from the city center, requiring two subway transfers, and even farther from her company. All in all, it took at least an hour to commute.
She shared a three-bedroom apartment with two friends. Lin Yue had chosen the smallest room, while the master bedroom was occupied by Qin Yan, a foreign language teacher at a private elementary school. The second bedroom belonged to Qing Jing, who worked at the same company as Lin Yue.
Both had applied for the executive secretary position. Qing Jing, who believed she was superior to Lin Yue in every way, ended up not getting the job. However, due to her decent performance, she was hired as an assistant by one of the vice presidents under He Yuan.
This incident left Qing Jing with a lingering resentment. Lately, she’d been making sarcastic remarks toward Lin Yue. Knowing Lin Yue had OCD, Qing Jing intentionally left common areas, especially the bathroom, in a mess.
Why was it intentional? Because she hadn’t been like this before.
Like now, for instance. Looking at the greasy dishes piled in the sink, Lin Yue felt like smashing the damn things.
Qin Yan had returned to her hometown yesterday and wouldn’t be back for another two or three hours. It was obvious who was responsible. Lin Yue had had enough and went to knock on Qing Jing’s door.
Qing Jing had just finished showering and opened the door with a towel wrapped around her hair. When she saw Lin Yue, the corners of her mouth twitched downward almost imperceptibly. “What is it?”
“Please clean up the bathroom and kitchen. I need to use them later.”
“Wait until I dry my hair.”
Lin Yue returned to her room. Nearly half an hour passed, but Qing Jing still hadn’t come out to clean up. She knocked on the door again, but Qing Jing seemed to be on a phone call. Qing Jing didn’t emerge until Qin Yan returned home.
Furious, Lin Yue kicked the coffee table and turned back to her own room.