06. Luckily, What You Ran Into Was Abs.
Thanks to the cushioning of Zhou Mingye’s body, Ling Xi did not fall to the ground.
The force with which she crashed into him was not small, yet Zhou Mingye stood firmly in place and instinctively steadied her by the shoulder.
The part she collided with was solid and hard. Ling Xi could clearly feel the defined contours of muscle, unmistakably the result of long-term training.
She froze on the spot, her mind crashing completely.
After a few seconds, Ling Xi forced herself to calm down.
Zhou Mingye lowered his gaze and saw Ling Xi with her head down, her face almost buried toward the floor. Her voice was very small. “Sorry, President Zhou. I haven’t trained my legs in a long time, so they’re a bit weak. I didn’t stand steadily just now.”
Before Zhou Mingye could speak, she slowly straightened up, picked up her phone, and fled into the changing room at lightning speed, never lifting her head the entire time.
Zhou Mingye looked at Ling Xi’s retreating figure and let out a low scoff.
Of course, he did not believe her explanation. She had been secretly staring at him several times just now. Did she think he was blind?
It was clearly a deliberate attempt to manufacture an opportunity to get close to him, using such a cliched tactic.
*
What was originally a one-hour workout plan ended after only half an hour.
Standing in the shower, Ling Xi could still clearly remember the sensation of bumping into him just now, as well as the fresh scent of laundry detergent on Zhou Mingye’s clothes.
He probably did not think too much of it, right?
After all, she really had stepped on a dumbbell plate by accident. Even when riding the subway, people step on others’ feet. It was nothing unusual.
Fortunately, she had locked her phone screen before it slipped away, so none of the chat records were exposed.
On the way back to the office, Ling Xi’s embarrassment gradually settled.
She turned into the pantry, grabbed two biscuits to stave off hunger, and vented to Su Wanwan about her awkward experience.
Su Wanwan replied first with several bursts of “hahahahaha.”
Then came another message: Luckily, what you ran into was abs. If it had been any lower, he’d probably accuse you of sexual harassment.
Ling Xi desperately wanted to erase this socially disastrous scene from her mind.
She shouted into a voice message, “Su Wanwan, don’t imagine it anymore!”
Ling Xi had gone through this ordeal for Su Wanwan’s sake.
Su Wanwan did not dare joke anymore and quickly comforted her: Sister, you’ve suffered. As long as he didn’t get suspicious, it’s fine. Who hasn’t had a few embarrassing moments growing up?
Ling Xi: That makes sense.
As long as she did not act guilty, Zhou Mingye could not possibly make things difficult for her over an accident.
The incident of bumping into the abs was temporarily pushed to the back of her mind. Ling Xi and Su Wanwan reviewed the information she had gathered during her first week at the company. Zhou Mingye and Han Zhao were disguising things well at work. When the two went out together, there were no strange looks, and she had not heard any rumors from colleagues either.
Su Wanwan: After all, he’s a company boss. He still cares about his image.
The two then discussed the photos of Zhou Mingye working out. His outfit during training fully highlighted his strengths. His muscle lines were smooth, and his physique had no excess at all.
Tsk, tsk. Men really spare no effort managing their image in order to gain favor from the same sex.
Ling Xi’s emotions came and went quickly.
By the time she reached downstairs at the company and saw the newly opened restaurant, her mind was left with nothing but hunger.
Pushing the door open, Ling Xi ordered a beef rice bowl, rewarding herself for having worked out for half an hour today.
*
The next morning, after getting off the subway, Ling Xi went straight to the hotel next to the company.
The Human Resources Department had taken the lead in organizing a management training session. They were short-handed, so she and Xu Jing were called over to help.
The venue had already been set up the night before.
Ling Xi was assigned to handle sign-ins at the entrance. She stood at the table, guiding participants inside.
There were many people in the company, and some leaders had not met her before. After signing their names, they looked her over. Ling Xi was not intimidated. She handed them water and materials and took the opportunity to introduce herself. “Hello, I’m Ling Xi from the President’s Office. I joined last week.”
When she spoke, her eyes were bright and she wore a smile, making it easy to leave a good impression.
By the end of the morning, Ling Xi had become a familiar face to many senior executives she had never interacted with before.
After the training began, the lecturer’s assistant joined in. Ling Xi and several other staff members went to rest on the sofas outside the hall.
Although they had been called in to help, it was easier than their usual work. From time to time, they went in to replenish refreshments, ordered lunch at noon, and in this way drifted into the afternoon.
After the training ended, the President’s Office arranged a banquet at the hotel.
Zhou Mingye also attended in person.
When he entered, Ling Xi was busy checking the dishes with the service staff.
With her head lowered, she heard someone softly exclaim, “wow.” Ling Xi lifted her eyes and, pretending to be casual, glanced at Zhou Mingye.
He was wearing a casual outfit today, a gray T-shirt paired with beige trousers.
They were clearly the most basic styles, yet on him they looked refined and high-end.
His broad shoulders stretched the fabric into an excellent silhouette, making the clothes look like tailored, ready-to-wear.
Ling Xi’s gaze involuntarily shifted to the area she had collided with yesterday. Zhou Mingye walked to the table and bent down to shake hands with the lecturer, the fabric faintly outlining the contours of his abdominal muscles beneath.
Everyone present stood up to greet him. Zhou Mingye’s eyes swept over Ling Xi. His expression looked no different from usual. Ling Xi also remained composed and prepared to greet him.
Unexpectedly, before she could even speak, Zhou Mingye had already turned his head, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
Ling Xi awkwardly returned to her spot. Could it be that what happened yesterday had made him unhappy?
He was a company boss, after all. He could not possibly be that petty.
After everyone had arrived, dinner began. Seeing that Zhou Mingye’s cup in front of him was empty, Ling Xi went over to pour him some tea.
As soon as she got close, Zhou Mingye lifted his arm to block her. Without even looking at her, he directly took the teapot from her hand. “I’ll do it myself.”
Ling Xi looked completely baffled.
What did that mean? Was he afraid she would poison him?
Ling Xi silently returned to her seat again, feeling confused and unable to make sense of it.
When the server came in to serve the dishes, Ling Xi was busy attending to the people beside her, so she did not continue thinking about it.
From the corner of his eye, Zhou Mingye caught sight of Ling Xi’s lost and bewildered expression. A strange sense of satisfaction flickered through his heart.
That was more like it. He really should be colder toward her, make her put away those thoughts she should not have.
There were many young people present, and the atmosphere was relaxed. At Ruisii’s dinner gatherings, no one forced drinks. Everyone ate and drank as they pleased.
Ling Xi got along especially well with the lecturer’s two assistants and even exchanged contact information with them.
At nine in the evening, the group gradually filed out of the private room.
Ling Xi went to the restroom. As she walked into the corridor, Jiang Huai stopped her. “Xiao Ling, you know how to drive, right?”
“I do.”
“Then go help President Zhou drive.”
Ling Xi froze slightly.
The driver and Han Zhao had been arranged to send other people off, and Jiang Huai had been drinking and could not drive.
Since a superior had already said so, Ling Xi could only agree. “Alright, I’ll go now.”
In the elevator, Ling Xi adjusted her hair in front of the mirror. Thinking about having to be alone with Zhou Mingye shortly, the lingering embarrassment from last night suddenly spread again.
She bared her teeth in a smile. Mm, her expression still looked fairly natural.
As long as Zhou Mingye did not bring it up, she would pretend that nothing had happened.
When she reached Zhou Mingye’s car, Ling Xi waited for a few minutes. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. Turning her head, she saw Zhou Mingye already walking over.
“President Zhou.” Ling Xi looked calm and smiled at him.
Seeing her, Zhou Mingye was clearly taken aback for a moment. “Jiang Huai told you to drive?”
“Yes.”
Ling Xi reached out to take the car keys. Zhou Mingye happened to hand them over at the same time, and their fingers’ skin accidentally brushed against each other. Ling Xi quickly withdrew her hand, her heart giving a sudden jolt.
Zhou Mingye’s gaze lingered on her back, his eyes growing a shade more inscrutable.
After fastening her seat belt, Ling Xi started the car carefully, her whole body tensing up.
She had gotten her driver’s license right after graduating from university, but she did not drive often in daily life.
Driving for her boss was already nerve-racking enough. Adding yesterday’s embarrassing incident of crashing into her boss’s abs, Ling Xi’s back was damp with sweat.
Fortunately, they were seated front and back and did not need to look at each other.
Zhou Mingye had drunk quite a bit that evening.
The car was filled with a faint scent of alcohol, mixed with the car’s fragrance. In the confined space, his presence felt infinitely magnified.
Ling Xi spoke softly. “President Zhou, where should I take you?”
“Yunqi.”
Ling Xi reached out to set the navigation and drove the car onto the main road.
Along the way, the two of them did not exchange a single word.
Given Ling Xi’s position, there was not much she could really talk about with Zhou Mingye anyway.
Ling Xi silently told herself to relax and focus on driving.
But being alone together, her mind uncontrollably replayed the image of herself half-kneeling on the floor yesterday. It was both awkward and nerve-racking.
When she accidentally touched him while taking the keys earlier, Ling Xi had clearly felt Zhou Mingye react as if he had been shocked.
He had been acting strange at the restaurant today too. She did not know whether he had noticed her observing him.
Her thoughts wandered, and she continued straight on a stretch of road where she should have changed lanes earlier.
As they neared the intersection, Zhou Mingye’s voice came from behind. “You need to turn left ahead.”
At the same time Zhou Mingye reminded her, Ling Xi also reacted.
She quickly turned the steering wheel and moved into the left-turn lane in time.
“Sorry, President Zhou. I haven’t driven in a long time, so my reaction was slow.”
Ling Xi let out a breath of relief. Luckily, there were few cars on this road. Otherwise, she would have had to drive far ahead to turn around.
“It’s fine.” Zhou Mingye adjusted his posture. “You don’t need to drive that fast.”
“Okay.” Ling Xi had been worried that driving slowly might annoy her boss. Hearing him say this, she gradually eased off the speed.
The drive from the hotel to Zhou Mingye’s home took half an hour.
Through the rearview mirror, Ling Xi vaguely saw that he had his eyes closed, resting. Her mood relaxed as well, and she maintained a steady pace.
At a traffic light, the phone placed on the center console rang.
Ling Xi glanced at it. It was a call from Su Wanwan.
The car was stopped at the intersection, and there were still forty seconds left on the red light. Not answering would seem odd, so Ling Xi put on her earphones and answered the call.
Su Wanwan had just finished up and was calling to ask Ling Xi out for drinks.
Afraid of disturbing Zhou Mingye, Ling Xi lowered her voice. “I can’t go today. I have something going on.”
“What is it?”
After hesitating for a few seconds, Ling Xi told the truth. “I’m driving for my boss.”
Su Wanwan immediately understood, lowering her voice as well. “Alright then, you go take care of it. We’ll meet another day, babe.”
The call ended just as the light turned green. Ling Xi started the car again. After driving a few meters, Zhou Mingye’s low voice sounded from behind.
“You don’t seem very willing to drive, do you?”