11. Why Aren’t You Playing by the Usual Rules?!
On Monday morning, Ling Xi ran into Xu Jing at the company’s entrance.
Xu Jing grabbed her and asked about what had happened the day before. After hearing Ling Xi explain it in just a few sentences, she finally relaxed. “Good thing President Zhou is reasonable and went to clarify things himself. I worried about it for half the day yesterday.”
Ling Xi nodded. “From now on, when we give clients gifts, we need to be even more careful.”
The two chatted as they went into the company together and headed to the pantry.
After coming to Ruisii Technology, Ling Xi discovered that the company’s pantry could be described as luxurious.
Besides bread, floral teas and snacks, it was also equipped with a professional coffee machine, fresh milk, and several kinds of high-quality coffee beans.
Unfortunately, not many people in the company knew how to use the machine. Xu Jing always felt it was a waste.
She added some coffee beans and said to Ling Xi, “I went to a coffee experience class over the weekend. Let me make you a cup to try.”
Ling Xi leaned against the counter, waiting for Xu Jing to show off her skills.
The grinder roared for a moment, and the air filled with the aroma of coffee beans. After a series of steps, Xu Jing handed over a latte.
Ling Xi took a sip and saw Xu Jing ask eagerly, “How is it? How is it?”
After savoring it carefully for a moment, Ling Xi gave her evaluation. “Mm… it’s okay. It tastes about the same as Starbucks.”
“Is it really that bad?” Xu Jing laughed and punched her lightly. “I’m still not very skilled at frothing the milk.”
“I’m joking with you. It’s actually pretty good.”
While drinking coffee, Ling Xi casually asked, “Since the company has a coffee machine, why doesn’t the boss let Assistant Han make it?”
“What else could it be?” Xu Jing lowered her voice. “Han Zhao’s skills are even worse than mine.”
Ling Xi could not help laughing, and then heard Xu Jing add, “The boss thinks it tastes bad, so he just buys it downstairs himself. He also doesn’t like bothering other people with small things.”
Ling Xi lowered her gaze, thoughtful. “Where did you take that experience class? Recommend it to me.”
“No problem.”
After returning to her workstation, Ling Xi went to the meeting room to prepare materials for the mid-level management meeting. When she finished and came back, she saw Han Zhao typing on his phone with his head lowered.
From her observations over the past few days, Han Zhao was a workaholic.
When Zhou Mingye went out, Han Zhao followed him the entire time. After returning to the office, he would sit in front of the computer optimizing schedules and writing reports, never chatting idly.
Ling Xi caught sight of him chatting on WeChat and was a little surprised, glancing a few more times out of the corner of her eye.
Before Han Zhao finished typing, the receptionist hurried over, saying that a client insisted on seeing President Zhou.
Zhou Mingye had previously refused the client’s cooperation offer and didn’t want to meet them, but the client insisted that she handle the communication, which was beyond her ability to manage.
Usually, Han Zhao handled this kind of matter. He put his phone down and was pulled away by the receptionist.
Ling Xi slowly walked over to Han Zhao’s workstation and reached out to pull the blackout curtain, only to see that his phone screen had not yet locked.
Everyone else in the office was busy with their own work. Ling Xi casually glanced at the chat window.
She did not see the chat content clearly, only that there was a photo of Zhou Mingye in the conversation. Although it was a small image, the color of the shirt was exactly what Zhou Mingye was wearing today.
Ling Xi noticed that the chat partner’s profile picture was not Zhou Mingye’s. That meant he had sent Zhou Mingye’s photo to someone else?
Without lingering by the window, Ling Xi returned to her seat and sent a message to Su Wanwan, telling her about her major discovery.
“It’s a pity I couldn’t see the chat content clearly. What kind of relationship would make someone send Zhou Mingye’s photo to someone else?”
When employees chat with others about their boss, there is only one possibility: complaining. Who would take a handsome photo just to complain?
Su Wanwan replied: Only that kind of relationship. Sharing one’s significant other with friends.
That had to be it.
Since coming to Ruisii Technology, aside from seeing Zhou Mingye and Han Zhao talking together, Ling Xi had not seen any further developments.
Now, faced directly with “evidence,” her fighting spirit surged.
Ling Xi asked Su Wanwan, “Have you discovered anything recently?”
“We just had a fight this morning.”
Su Wanwan had mentioned to Ling Xi before that Han Zhao had been getting up early some time ago to make breakfast for Zhou Mingye, and she had expressed dissatisfaction back then.
This morning, when she got up and went out, she saw Han Zhao busy in the kitchen again.
“I asked him why his boss exploits his assistant so much. Can’t he afford to hire a helper at home, or are there no breakfast shops open outside?” Su Wanwan grew somewhat agitated as she spoke. “He told me he wasn’t making it for his leader. He was making himself a bento to take as lunch.”
Ling Xi asked, “Do you believe it?”
“Of course not.”
“Did Han Zhao bring a lunchbox today?”
“There wasn’t one at home. He probably brought it.”
Su Wanwan sent over a photo. The lunchbox was navy blue, with a bag in the same color scheme on the outside.
Just as she was messaging, Han Zhao came back. He put the phone on the desk into his bag, and continued working.
Ling Xi propped her chin on her hand in front of the computer, focusing as she thought.
She flipped through several documents in her hand. One of them required the boss’s signature.
Originally, she had planned to bring it together with other materials to Zhou Mingye in a couple of days. Thinking about it now, signing it today was not impossible.
After the mid-level management meeting ended, Ling Xi stood on tiptoe and looked toward Zhou Mingye’s office. Seeing him walk in, she followed after him.
Holding the documents, Ling Xi walked to the door of Zhou Mingye’s office and felt her palms begin to sweat slightly.
She took several deep breaths and raised her hand to knock.
“Come in.”
Inside the office, Zhou Mingye looked at the computer screen and asked, “What is it?”
Ling Xi took out the documents and handed them to Zhou Mingye. “President Zhou, there’s an approval here that needs your signature.”
Zhou Mingye took them and lowered his eyes to read.
While he was looking down, Ling Xi’s gaze quietly wandered over the desk, from the computer to the cup to the pen holder, then stopped at a box in the corner. She held her breath. That lunchbox was navy blue!
The lid was only half closed, clearly not finished. Under the transparent cover was a thick omelet.
Well done. Quite thoughtful, too.
After Zhou Mingye finished signing, he saw Ling Xi staring at his desk and followed her gaze. “What is it?”
Ling Xi snapped back to herself instantly, took the documents, and plastered on a flawless smile. “President Zhou, where did you buy your breakfast? It looks really delicious.”
Zhou Mingye raised his eyebrows and looked at Ling Xi. What was she scheming this time?
“Han Zhao bought it. I don’t know,” he said flatly, without any discernible emotion.
Pretend. Just keep pretending. The little figure in Ling Xi’s mind was already jumping up and down. It was clearly made by Han Zhao himself, yet he insisted it was bought. If that wasn’t guilt, then what was it?
If secretly filming could count as valid evidence, Ling Xi really wanted to lie in wait outside Zhou Mingye’s office and secretly record a video of Han Zhao delivering breakfast to him.
Just to hear what they would say.
She nodded. “Got it. Assistant Han not only does his job well, but he also prepares such exquisite breakfasts.”
“What are you trying to say?” Zhou Mingye’s brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. Why was she so idle today? Was her workload not full enough?
Ling Xi felt a little surprised. Why did Zhou Mingye’s expression turn so cold? She was praising Assistant Han. Shouldn’t he be smiling sweetly instead?
What kind of reaction was this?
“I just want to say that I really admire Assistant Han,” Ling Xi adapted quickly. “He’s an all-around talent in the President’s Office. I should learn from him.”
Zhou Mingye looked at her darkly. “You’re very interested in Han Zhao’s work content? How about I give you some of it?”
The topic was clearly drifting off course. Ling Xi quickly gave an awkward laugh. “No, no! President Zhou, I suddenly remembered I still have something urgent to handle. You go ahead and work. I won’t disturb you!”
Her feet moved fast as the wind, and she slipped out of the office in one swift turn.
When the door closed behind her, Ling Xi leaned against the wall and let out a long breath.
This Zhou Mingye really doesn’t play by the rules at all!
*
After lunch, just as Ling Xi returned to the company, the technical department manager sent her a message asking her to prepare an emergency meeting.
A bug had been detected during the debugging of a new product. Several core staff members entered the meeting room with their laptops. Not long after, Zhou Mingye also went in.
The meeting dragged on straight into the evening, and the President’s Office was just as busy.
Ling Xi was occupied with printing materials and adjusting equipment. From time to time, she had to go in to check on things, staying alert to any needs from the leadership.
At six o’clock, Ling Xi entered the meeting room to ask whether dinner should be ordered.
She pushed the door open. The room was deathly quiet. Only the technical department manager could be heard giving a low-voiced report on the discussion results. Han Zhao sat to the side, occasionally recording down issues.
Zhou Mingye leaned back in his chair, his elbow propped under his chin, his expression serious.
He only listened, occasionally knitting his brows. Ling Xi noticed the manager’s forehead beginning to bead with sweat.
Ling Xi quietly asked each person one by one and noted down the number of meals to order.
After dinner arrived, they ate hurriedly and continued the discussion.
On the desk, Zhou Mingye’s phone vibrated once. Liang Fangyue sent a message: You haven’t come home for two weeks already. You don’t even know how to call home.
Zhou Mingye placed the phone face down on the desk and continued looking up at the PPT.
A few minutes later, another message popped up. “Son, are you still blaming your parents for what happened when you were little?”
Zhou Mingye frowned and did not look at the phone again.
His relationship with his parents could not be called problematic. It was simply distant.
When he was young, Liang Fangyue and Zhou Wensong were busy with business. From kindergarten onward, Zhou Mingye spent most of his time with a nanny.
When he was six, Zhou Siheng was born. Perhaps feeling that they had not taken good care of their first child before, Liang Fangyue chose to return to the household at that time.
Zhou Siheng was still young, and Liang Fangyue’s focus was entirely on her second son. As the eldest, Zhou Mingye never competed for his parents’ attention.
In middle school, Zhou Mingye went to a boarding international school. As he grew older, his communication with his parents decreased more and more, and he grew accustomed to facing everything alone.
Yet Liang Fangyue’s emotional needs toward her son only increased, especially after Zhou Mingye returned to China following his postgraduate studies. Liang Fangyue always wanted to make up for the past.
Every day, she asked Zhou Mingye what he had eaten, how he slept, and even took it upon herself to arrange family gatherings for him. This put tremendous pressure on Zhou Mingye.
Especially at a busy time like today, one message after another made him increasingly irritated.
The meeting finally ended at ten o’clock. After Ling Xi finished tidying up, she ran into Zhou Mingye at the elevator.
The two stood there for a few seconds. Zhou Mingye’s private elevator arrived first. He stepped inside, then turned around and looked at Ling Xi.
Ling Xi froze for a moment, then immediately reacted. She hurriedly jogged in and stood beside Zhou Mingye.
In the cramped space, Ling Xi could clearly feel the low pressure radiating from her boss.
She tried to break the silence. Turning her head slightly, she wore her usual smile. “President Zhou, are you pretty tired today?”
Zhou Mingye did not even lift his eyelids. A very light “Mm” slipped from his throat as a response. His head felt heavy, and his chest was clogged with a stifling feeling.
Ling Xi was already used to his cold attitude. She smiled and asked, “Did you use the scented candle I gave you last time? Was it effective?”
A familiar suffocating sensation wrapped around him.
Ling Xi’s seemingly harmless, concerned question made Zhou Mingye unconsciously think of Liang Fangyue.
“Why didn’t you reply?”
“What did you eat for lunch? Was it nutritious?”
“It’s getting cold. Did you put on an extra jacket?”
At that moment, the phone in his pocket vibrated again. Zhou Mingye could not hide his irritation. His tone was clearly impatient, with a trace of anger. “No. Don’t give me things again in the future.”