Hearing him say this, Liang Ling felt a surge of warmth in his heart and let out an upbeat, “Mm!”
Wen Ming smiled slightly, opened the car door, and sat down in the driver seat. He reached out to turn up the air conditioner, instantly dispelling most of the chill brought by the night rain. Under the dim lights inside the car, Liang Ling nibbled on the sweet strawberry cake bite by bite. Looking at Wen Ming driving calmly up ahead, he asked, full of expectation, “President Wen, did you enjoy watching the competition today?”
“Mm, I enjoyed it,” Wen Ming replied. Glimpsing Liang Ling’s flushed little face through the rearview mirror, then looking at the oversized school uniform on him, Wen Ming felt a slight pang of discomfort in his heart. Pretending to be casual, he asked, “Why did Lu Ming give you his clothes?”
Liang Ling froze for a moment, tugging at his collar. “You mean this? Oh, Xiao Ming was afraid I would catch a cold, so he told me to wear it for now and return it to him in a few days.”
Wen Ming’s expression darkened slightly. That kid Lu Ming hangs around Liang Ling all day, calling him Brother Liang this and Brother Liang that, and now he is even showing off unwanted attentiveness. Who knows what ulterior motives he has?
“I have a woolen overcoat in the backseat that I do not usually wear. It is warmer than a school uniform. Wear that instead,” Wen Ming said, suppressing the nameless flame rising in his chest and keeping his tone as calm as possible.
“Oh, okay.” Hearing this, Liang Ling obediently took off the school uniform, picked up the woolen coat, and slipped it on. The overly loose collar almost buried half his face, making him giggle softly.
“President Wen, it is too big. It does not fit me.”
He was clearly talking about the coat, but Wen Ming inexplicably let his thoughts wander into the gutter. His face turned slightly red, and stiffening his neck, he blurted, “It does not matter. Bigger is warmer.”
Liang Ling had no choice but to nod helplessly. Because Wen Ming rarely wore this coat, the Longjing tea scent on it was not very distinct. Liang Ling sniffed hard several times, yet still could not catch that reassuring scent.
“What are you doing?” Seeing Liang Ling clutching his coat and sniffing it intoxicatedly through the rearview mirror, Wen Ming could not help but frown.
“Mm, President Wen, you really are a Beta. Otherwise, if it were pheromones, more of it should have lingered.” Liang Ling shook his head regretfully and sighed.
Three black lines slid down Wen Ming’s forehead. Yet, surprisingly, he did not scold him for talking nonsense this time. Instead, he asked humbly for clarification, “What exactly do you mean by this Beta and Alpha stuff? And ever since the first time I met you, you have been obsessed with the Longjing scent on me, calling it pheromones, was it? What on earth is that supposed to be?”
“Oh, that.” Liang Ling rubbed his nose, unsure where to start explaining. Based on his observations, people in this world did not seem to understand these concepts at all, especially someone as conservative as Wen Ming. For all he knew, hearing the truth might prompt Wen Ming to send him straight to a mental hospital.
“It is nothing. Just think of it as my own setting for classifying people,” Liang Ling rambled off the top of his head while rubbing his hair.
Wen Ming said, “Alright then.”
The familiar Riverside Residential Area came into view. Wen Ming escorted him back inside his apartment. Holding the half-eaten small cake, Liang Ling felt it was a bit of a pity and turned around to ask, “President Wen, this cake is a bit too big for me, and I might not finish it. Why do you not help me eat some?”
Wen Ming paused for a moment, then immediately shook his head in refusal. “I do not eat sweets, especially cake.”
Huh? Liang Ling was somewhat shocked. Although Wen Ming usually maintained a very health-conscious lifestyle, as a fine young man in his twenties, would life not be utterly devoid of joy if he did not eat sweets at all?
Wen Ming’s gaze shifted downward. Seeing Lu Ming’s school uniform still hanging over Liang Ling’s other hand, he reached out expressionlessly. “Give me the clothes. I will return them tomorrow.”
The grand President Wen was actually going to run an errand for him? If colleagues at the company found out, would not that be insane! Liang Ling hurriedly waved his hands in refusal and smiled, “No need, no need! I can do it myself.”
Hearing this, Wen Ming raised an eyebrow, a hint of anger showing in the corners of his eyes, though his tone remained even, “You do not have a car, and taking a taxi there is very expensive. Besides, you have taken a lot of leave this month. Little Liu from the finance department reported everything to me truthfully, and I deducted your salary according to company policies. It is quite a hefty amount. If you do not cut back on your expenses, watch out or you will be living on steamed buns and rice porridge every day next month.”
Upon hearing this, Liang Ling completely wilted, protesting with a trace of dissatisfaction, “Did you not agree to let me take leave?”
Wen Ming shrugged, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. “I agreed, but I never said it was paid leave.”
Liang Ling was so furious he wanted to give him a couple of punches to the face. Aha! No wonder he agreed so readily at the time! Turns out he was finding roundabout ways to dock his hard-earned money. What an unconscionable capitalist exploiting working-class folks!
“So, give me the clothes. I will return them for you.” Wen Ming extended his hand toward him once more. Liang Ling sighed helplessly and obediently handed over the clothes.
Wen Ming nodded in satisfaction and turned around to leave. Suddenly remembering something, he turned back to look at him and said expressionlessly, “By the way, starting this week, you will go to the R&D department to take on some proofreading work.”
Liang Ling, who had been slacking off and taking it easy at the company for a long time, said, “Huh?”
Wen Ming smiled slightly, pulled out his phone, and sent him a file. “Next month, a new app of ours is about to launch on the market. The engineers in the R&D department have already completed the UI design and code development. What remains is mainly pre-launch testing and client acceptance. I have decided to give you an opportunity to gain experience by assigning you to complete those last two tasks.”
Hearing this, Liang Ling froze on the spot, nervously wringing his fingers, “Is this so sudden? Actually, I could handle the first two tasks instead. I am pretty good at app page construction, interaction flow design, and backend development…”
After all, as a tech corporate slave, Liang Ling much preferred dealing with code over dealing with people.
Wen Ming looked at him quietly, the expression on his face already saying it all: I am merely notifying you, not asking for your opinion.
Liang Ling sighed, surrendering once again. Tsk, President Wen feels really weird tonight. Usually, Wen Ming looked down on him for being practically incompetent in daily life and handled even organizing documents himself, while Liang Ling, his assistant, spent his days eating, drinking, and having fun. Anyone who did not know better would think Liang Ling was the boss of Mingqi and Wen Ming was working for him. Why assignment of a major responsibility all of a sudden?
Could it be that he discovered my deeply hidden extraordinary talents?
Liang Ling suddenly realized, feeling strangely touched. As expected, a man as wise as President Wen saw at a single glance that I am no ordinary person! I must perform well, strive for a promotion and raise, and reach the pinnacle of life!
“Thank you for valuing me, President Wen! I certainly will not let everyone down!” Liang Ling declared with a look of righteous determination as he grasped Wen Ming’s hand, leaving Wen Ming somewhat bewildered. “What?”
Liang Ling snickered internally. As expected, in order not to hurt my self-esteem, President Wen is deliberately acting indifferent, when in reality, he must already be heaping praise on me in his heart!
Such painstaking thoughtfulness!
Liang Ling flashed a confident smile and assured him repeatedly that he would handle this matter well, telling him to put his mind completely at ease. Only then did he contentedly see off a completely bewildered Wen Ming.
Wen Ming said, “…”
That night, after sitting on his bed in deep thought for a long time, President Wen finally called the culprit behind this plan.
“Hello, Wanqing?”
On the other end, Ye Wanqing let out a massive yawn, sounding a bit dissatisfied, “Brother, do you know how late it is? I have to get up for training tomorrow morning.”
“My sincere apologies,” Wen Ming apologized with zero sincerity before immediately asking, “You told me to assign Liang Ling work that exceeds his capability, and then lend him a hand when he cannot finish it so I can win his favor. Does that really work?”
Hearing what it was about, Ye Wanqing instantly became confident, patting her chest in guarantee, “Of course! In the workplace, this is the best way to eliminate the barrier between superior and subordinate and bring you closer. Ask yourself, who could refuse a boss who takes great care of them and grooms them for success?”
Wen Ming stroked his chin, frowning in thought for a moment. It sounded flawless in theory, but why did it feel so odd when applied to Liang Ling?
Seeing that he was still somewhat skeptical, Ye Wanqing could not help but say anxiously, “Aiya, just look at his reaction when you assign him the task! He is bound to feel flustered, caught between joy and worry. That is the first step to success!”
“No,” Wen Ming said expressionlessly, sounding somewhat pained. “He seemed very happy. There was only joy. I did not see any worry at all.”