04. Come to My Office for a Moment.
Zhou Mingye glanced at Ling Xi’s slightly flushed face. He suddenly realized that this girl had a pretty good mindset. Every time she made a mistake, she could quickly recognize the problem, then just as quickly turn the page and move on to the next step.
It seemed she was not entirely without redeeming qualities.
“No.” Zhou Mingye withdrew his gaze. He had not slept well the night before, and his head was faintly aching. He did not want to say more.
Ling Xi gave a soft “oh,” very sensibly turned around, sat properly, and quietly looked out the window.
*
The hotel hosting the summit was not far away. Twenty minutes later, the car stopped at the entrance, and Ling Xi followed Zhou Mingye inside.
From the moment they entered, people continuously came up to greet Zhou Mingye. His attitude toward everyone was the same. He simply nodded lightly, distant and indifferent.
Ling Xi also showed good judgment and did not exchange pleasantries with anyone, following closely behind Zhou Mingye.
After taking their seats, Zhou Mingye unbuttoned his suit jacket and began flipping through the summit booklet.
On both sides of the conference hall were buffet snacks and coffee drinks.
Ling Xi quietly considered that if Zhou Mingye had brought Han Zhao, aside from taking meeting minutes, he would also need to pay attention to the boss’s needs at all times.
This was a rare opportunity for her to get closer to Zhou Mingye. She had to perform well.
Zhou Mingye had just read two pages when he heard Ling Xi ask him, “President Zhou, would you like something to drink?”
Zhou Mingye lifted his head and pointed to the bottled water on the table.
Two minutes later, Ling Xi leaned forward again and asked, “Would you like me to get you some dessert?”
Zhou Mingye put down the booklet in his hand and looked at Ling Xi. She was also looking at him, her bright eyes fixed on his face.
As the distance closed, the scent of Ling Xi’s perfume drifted over. Zhou Mingye’s brow tightened slightly. What was she being so proactive about now?
Being interrupted twice in a row, Zhou Mingye’s patience ran out. “Are you very free?”
Having been shut down like that, Ling Xi silently retreated back to her seat and consciously fell silent.
Zhou Mingye took a sip of water when he heard the sound of a chair moving beside him. Suddenly, an arm draped around his shoulders. “Why are you drinking bottled water?”
“I don’t drink coffee in the afternoon. It affects my sleep.” Zhou Mingye turned his head and patted Xue Yang’s hand away.
Xue Yang let out a snort of laughter. “With your sleep, does it really need to be affected?”
Ling Xi opened her laptop and placed it on her knees. When she looked up, she saw a man sitting beside Zhou Mingye, arm slung around him.
Her internal radar went off. She stared straight over, unable to suppress her curiosity.
Zhou Mingye’s popularity with men was really something. He came to a summit, and a handsome man immediately leaned in. Unfortunately, there was some distance between the rows and the hall was noisy, so Ling Xi could not hear their conversation clearly.
Xue Yang looked past Zhou Mingye’s shoulder. “Where’s Han Zhao?”
“He went to help me receive a client.”
Xue Yang’s eyes shifted back and forth before landing on Ling Xi’s face. Ling Xi did not know this man, but she still smiled at him.
Xue Yang jerked his chin backward. “New assistant?”
“Administrative secretary.”
“Does your company have a looks requirement? Even your admin staff is this good-looking.”
When Xue Yang mentioned Ling Xi, Zhou Mingye’s peripheral vision followed, sweeping toward the person slightly behind him. He vaguely sensed a line of sight. When he turned his head, Ling Xi immediately lowered her head and pretended to type on her computer.
Ling Xi’s obvious guilty behavior was written all over her face. Zhou Mingye found it amusing and let out a soft scoff before turning back.
Xue Yang picked up the materials in Zhou Mingye’s hand to flip through them, only for Zhou Mingye to snatch them back.
“Can you even understand it?”
“Can’t understand it. I mainly came to see you.”
Xue Yang leaned closer, deliberately acting clingy.
Zhou Mingye shot him a look full of disdain.
Xue Yang was the owner of this hotel and also Zhou Mingye’s high school classmate and close friend.
He took out his phone and snapped a few photos of the venue, then asked Zhou Mingye, “Drinks tonight?”
“Not going.”
From time to time, Ling Xi lifted her eyes and discreetly took out her phone, sending a message to Su Wanwan.
Ling Xi: I came to a summit with my boss. A man came to find him and even put his arm around him.
Su Wanwan: !! Just tell me, what straight guy acts like that with his friends?
Ling Xi: Could he have a whole harem? I kind of feel sorry for Han Zhao.
Su Wanwan: Sorry, my ass! Maybe that scumbag knows and is willing.
Ling Xi: I’ll continue observing.
After she sent the message, the main lights in the hall gradually dimmed, and the host announced that the summit was about to begin.
The venue slowly quieted down. Xue Yang stood up and left. Ling Xi put her phone away and sat up straight.
The summit proceeded according to schedule. After discussing the direction of industry development, it moved into the sharing segment.
As a sharing guest, Zhou Mingye was the first to take the stage.
He did not bring a script and walked straight up to the microphone. On the large screen behind him was his personal introduction.
Zhou Mingye disliked overly official embellishments, so the introduction consisted of only a few simple lines: graduated from XX University, founded Ruisii Technology five years ago, with the company focusing on providing solutions for core scenarios in urban Internet of Things.
Once Zhou Mingye began speaking, Ling Xi’s mind immediately went into high gear.
Her ears listened to Zhou Mingye’s professional content while her hands typed notes, occasionally lifting her head to glance up.
On stage, Zhou Mingye shared the company’s key business focus for the year. It would provide clients with comprehensive artificial intelligence solutions tailored to the needs of different vertical fields.
Ling Xi recorded each key point one by one.
Zhou Mingye looked far more agreeable standing on stage than he did in private. He had a pleasing face and explained his professional field clearly and concisely, without a single wasted sentence or anything obscure.
Although Ling Xi did not have a good impression of Zhou Mingye, she could not help admiring his ability. As an outsider to the field, she still found it interesting listening to him talk about the application of intelligent devices in everyday life.
When preparing at noon, Ling Xi had seen that Zhou Mingye had attended five summits the previous year. After each one, the summit content would be compiled into a PDF and shared internally within the company to synchronize industry information.
She took photos of all the key PPT slides displayed on the screen, making it convenient to match images later.
As Zhou Mingye’s sharing was coming to an end, Ling Xi took out her phone and snapped a photo of Zhou Mingye speaking on stage.
Whether it would be used or not, taking more material was never a bad thing.
Applause rang out. Zhou Mingye’s gaze swept across the conference hall. Sitting there with her head down, scrolling on her phone, who else could it be if not Ling Xi?
Instead of taking her notes properly, what was she doing with her phone?
At six in the afternoon, the summit concluded successfully. The organizer arranged a dinner banquet, but Zhou Mingye declined it.
He was not someone who enjoyed lively occasions. Rather than exchanging tedious pleasantries in social settings, he preferred to enjoy the night on his own.
The car was already waiting at the entrance. After getting in, the driver asked Zhou Mingye, “President Zhou, where are we heading now?”
“Yunqi.”
“Understood.”
When Ling Xi heard those two words, she guessed they were heading to take Zhou Mingye home. She was just about to ask the driver to drop her off by the roadside when she heard Zhou Mingye ask her, “Where are you going?”
“Please stop at the nearest subway entrance. I still need to go back to the company.”
Friday evening marked the start of a pleasant weekend, yet there were several pending tasks on Ling Xi’s phone that she had to go back and deal with. She secretly thought that her fate was truly miserable.
Zhou Mingye was not the kind of boss who only cared about his own convenience and ignored his employees. He told the driver, “Take her back to the company first.”
Hearing this, Ling Xi turned around with a beaming smile. “Thank you, Boss.”
At least he still had a bit of humanity. Otherwise, squeezing onto the subway at this hour would take at least forty minutes to get back to the company.
However, Ling Xi’s gratitude toward Zhou Mingye did not last more than a minute before she heard the man behind her speak again. “How did you find the summit content?”
“I checked the materials in advance and took careful notes.”
Oh? Then who was the one he had just seen with her head buried in her phone screen?
Zhou Mingye was rarely this mild toward Ling Xi. “Good. The report will be used at next week’s regular meeting. Send it to me before Monday.”
“Alright.”
Wait. Monday? Wouldn’t that mean working overtime over the weekend?
Ling Xi turned to confirm with Zhou Mingye. “Is it the mid-level management meeting on Monday morning?”
“Yes.” Zhou Mingye spoke unhurriedly, the expression on his face somewhere between a smile and not a smile.
Just a second ago, Ling Xi thought Zhou Mingye was a capitalist who did not squeeze his employees dry. Now she could not help cursing him inwardly.
Deflated, she agreed, “Alright, President Zhou.”
The driver stopped the car by the roadside near the building. Ling Xi quickly returned to the office building. By the time she finished handling her tasks, it was already close to eight.
Opening the materials, her mind felt sluggish. After hesitating for a long while, she decided to take the report home to work on.
In the past, Ling Xi was someone who clearly separated work from life. She hated overtime and absolutely would not let work trouble her on rest days.
She would not even attend team-building activities scheduled on weekends.
But now, Ling Xi had no choice. No matter what, she had to complete the content she was responsible for on time.
*
On Saturday morning, Song Yan knocked on her daughter’s door. “Xixi, we’re getting ready to go camping later. Get up and get ready.”
Ling Xi opened the door, yawning repeatedly. “I’m not going, Mom. I have a report I need to rush out this weekend.”
“Oh! Has my daughter changed her nature? Working on the weekend now?”
“The boss needs it urgently.” Ling Xi rested her head against Song Yan’s shoulder and said in a muffled voice, “You all have fun.”
Song Yan rubbed Ling Xi’s head. “Alright. There’s breakfast on the table. Remember to eat.”
“Okay.”
After the family left, Ling Xi finished the breakfast on the table and sat down in front of the computer to start writing the report.
Her previous job was in copywriting and planning. Every month, she had to write promotional plans based on the company’s marketing activities. With her ability to organize language, completing a meeting report posed no difficulty at all.
However, Zhou Mingye had high standards. If she merely simplified the content, he would definitely be able to pick out a pile of problems.
The reports previously written by Han Zhao and Liang Ru, aside from extracting key points, also expanded separately on information that held value.
As a result, Ling Xi put a great deal of thought into her wording and identifying the core focus.
By the time the sky was nearly dark, the first draft was finally finished. Ling Xi pinched her sore shoulders, closed the computer, and immediately played two rounds of games to recover her energy.
On Sunday afternoon, Ling Xi finished revising the report, checked it once more, and sent it to Zhou Mingye’s email.
She originally wanted to ask Su Wanwan out for a couple of drinks at a bar, but worried that she would not be able to get up the next morning, so she gave up the idea in the end.
*
At the start of the new week, Ling Xi arrived at the company right on time.
Standing at her workstation, she glanced toward the President’s Office. Through the glass window, Zhou Mingye was already working. Was he really that diligent?
After taking a sip of coffee, Ling Xi began handling the day’s tasks.
Half an hour later, a message from Zhou Mingye popped up on the internal office software:
Come to my office for a moment.