07. [Ling Xi’s Daily Life-Saving Power Source]
Zhou Mingye got into the car from the right side. After drinking alcohol, he felt a little dizzy and could not be bothered to move, so he simply sat in the seat behind the front passenger.
From this angle, he could see Ling Xi’s side profile perfectly.
From the moment he got into the car, Ling Xi had been frowning. She was not focused while driving either, to the point that she was nearly making him feel nauseated from the swaying.
After finishing the phone call just now, she even wore a look of utter despair, the corners of her mouth drooping downward.
In Zhou Mingye’s eyes, it looked like silent complaining.
Did failing to ingratiate herself with the boss make her become negative about work?
Ruisii had never been stingy when it came to overtime pay.
“No, no.” Ling Xi forced out a faint smile.
She was hungry, and driving while nervous meant she had no energy left to manage her facial expression.
At the afternoon banquet, Ling Xi had been busy entertaining others. The dishes today were light and did not suit her taste, so she had barely eaten.
She had originally planned to grab something to eat after the banquet ended. Who knew she would be called over at the last minute to drive?
As soon as she finished speaking, her stomach growled once, the sound exceptionally clear inside the car. Ling Xi did not try to hide it and said frankly, “I didn’t really eat dinner tonight. I’m just a bit hungry.”
Zhou Mingye had been busy socializing at the banquet and had not paid attention to Ling Xi’s table.
Hearing her say this made it seem as though he were some black-hearted boss exploiting his employees.
He had never had the habit of making employees work overtime on an empty stomach.
The car continued forward. Zhou Mingye cleared his throat. “Pull over. Go buy something to eat.”
Ling Xi froze for a moment, nearly blurting out a quick “okay.”
Then she reconsidered. It was just her boss casually showing concern for a subordinate. How could she climb the pole so readily? She turned her head slightly. “Thank you for your concern, Boss. I’ll eat when I get home.”
Zhou Mingye caught the fleeting smile on Ling Xi’s face. She was clearly a little pleased.
He thought it was necessary to make things clear, so she wouldn’t let her imagination run wild and mistakenly believe that her deliberate closeness yesterday afternoon had been reciprocated.
“Hunger affects concentration. You should be thinking about my safety. Driving on an empty stomach, are you trying to end up on tomorrow’s social news?”
Ling Xi nearly slammed on the brakes when she heard this. She really wanted to retort, yes, yes, you’re the boss, you’re noble.
Remembering the important task she carried, Ling Xi forcibly squeezed out an awkward smile and replied, “Alright. Then I’ll trouble you to wait for me for a moment.”
After driving for two minutes, Ling Xi spotted a convenience store by the roadside. She pulled over, turned off the engine, and said, “I’m going to buy a rice ball, I’ll be quick.”
“No rush. Eat first, then come back.”
Ling Xi rushed into the convenience store. Seeing the shelves full of food, her sense of hunger was magnified endlessly.
She picked up a box of buckwheat noodles, hesitated for a moment, then put it back down. The boss was still waiting outside.
After circling around twice, she ultimately bought a tuna rice ball.
Sitting by the window, Ling Xi took big bites of the food in her hand. When she looked up, she saw Zhou Mingye standing by the car on the phone. She did not know who the other party was, but Zhou Mingye had a slight frown between his brows.
Seeing that he was not just standing there waiting idly, Ling Xi slowed down the speed at which she ate the rice ball.
On the other end of the call, Zhou Mingye’s younger brother, Zhou Siheng, was asking whether he wanted to join the family’s cruise trip next month. Liang Fangyue had planned it long ago and had invited several relatives and friends.
After graduating from university, Zhou Siheng returned to work at the family company. Their parents gradually stepped back into the background, had more free time, and often organized family activities.
“I’m not going. The company has a new product launch next month. I need to keep an eye on it.” Zhou Mingye refused decisively.
“The whole family is going. Brother, taking two days off won’t have that much impact.”
“You can accompany them. It doesn’t really matter whether I go or not.”
Zhou Mingye had attended boarding school since middle school and was not particularly close to his parents. After finishing his master’s degree and returning to the country, he had not moved back home either.
He was used to going solo. Harmonious family gatherings made him uncomfortable.
“How can that be the same?” Zhou Siheng had opinions but did not dare say them outright. There was a hint of resentment in his tone. “Dad and Mom both want you to come.”
Zhou Mingye could not be bothered to continue discussing the topic. “Alright, that’s it. I’m hanging up.”
After ending the call, Zhou Mingye turned around and discovered that Ling Xi had somehow already walked up behind him.
The roadside at night was silent. The two nearly bumped into each other. Their gazes met, and for a moment neither spoke.
Ling Xi had finished eating the rice ball and reapplied her lipstick. Behind her was the bright white light of the convenience store, casting over her face and making her lip color appear even redder.
Zhou Mingye’s gaze landed on Ling Xi’s face. He suddenly recalled last night’s scene, when he went into the shower, took off his clothes, and saw a faint smear of lipstick color left on them.
His expression flickered evasively for a moment. Then he pulled open the car door and got in.
After Ling Xi got back into the car, she glanced through the rearview mirror and saw Zhou Mingye sitting behind the driver’s seat, his face turned toward the window.
The car was completely silent.
Ling Xi felt puzzled inside. Zhou Mingye was very off today, especially earlier when their eyes met. His expression had even been a little awkward.
He was someone not interested in the opposite sex. He could not possibly feel embarrassed just because she had collided with his abs, right?
She was not some 188-centimeter-tall handsome guy.
Fortunately, a few minutes later, Zhou Mingye’s phone rang again. A business partner was calling to consult with him on professional matters related to a project.
Zhou Mingye patiently answered each question. By the time he hung up, the car had already arrived at the entrance of the residential community.
Ling Xi had heard of this villa district before. It was regarded as the top-tier luxury residential area in the city.
Only after being inside did she understand why other property developments always used [Yunqi] as the benchmark in their sales promotions.
The villas were not arranged in neat rows. Instead, they were scattered along the lake. As Ling Xi drove along the roadway, she could not hear a trace of noise around them.
Ling Xi was already very satisfied with the greenery in her own residential community, with its lush tree-lined paths. But compared to here, the gap was still quite large.
Under Zhou Mingye’s guidance, Ling Xi drove the car to the front of the villa.
She had originally worried about exposing her parking skills in front of Zhou Mingye. Just as she turned the steering wheel, she heard Zhou Mingye say to her, “You drive the car back first. Drive it to the company tomorrow.”
It was difficult to hail a taxi near the villa district, and it was already close to ten o’clock. Hearing this, Ling Xi did not exchange further pleasantries with Zhou Mingye.
“Alright, President Zhou. Please rest early.”
After Zhou Mingye entered the house, Ling Xi started the car and drove out of the community along the original route.
There were not many cars on the road. With no boss sitting in the back seat, Ling Xi’s tightly tensed back finally relaxed.
She turned on the center console screen, opened the music app, logged in, and played her favorite playlist, leisurely driving home.
After parking the car in her own residential complex, Ling Xi suddenly realized that this had been an opportunity to collect evidence.
She had been alone in Zhou Mingye’s car!
Ling Xi did not get out immediately. Instead, she turned on the interior light and scanned the entire car, trying to find any clues.
Zhou Mingye’s car did not contain any clutter at all. There were not even documents, only two finance magazines lying in the door storage compartment.
The pitch-black interior was just like him, devoid of warmth.
Ling Xi had ridden in leaders’ and colleagues’ cars before, but she had never seen such a clean interior.
He never smoked in the car. Aside from the car fragrance, there was no other smell.
It left no trace of his everyday life for anyone to pry into at all.
From the front seats to the back seats, and then to the trunk, Ling Xi scanned everything with her eyes.
Not to mention traces of another man, there was not even a lighter or a water bottle used in daily life.
In the end, she found an eye mask in the center console compartment.
Ling Xi picked it up and turned it over in her hands. The dark blue fabric felt smooth. Tsk, it was actually silk.
She recalled Xu Jing saying that the boss did not sleep well. She had not expected that he would even catch up on sleep in the car.
Ling Xi, who could fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, unexpectedly felt a trace of pity for Zhou Mingye.
No matter how decisive and forceful he appeared, he still had the troubles of an ordinary person.
Putting the item back where it was, Ling Xi shrugged, closed the car door, and went home.
*
The next morning, Ling Xi drove to the company. When she reached her workstation, she stood on her tiptoes and took a look. Zhou Mingye had not arrived yet.
The company was recently planning to acquire a highly promising startup technology company and had already reached the quotation stage.
There was a small-scale discussion meeting scheduled for ten o’clock that morning.
Ling Xi prepared the materials and sent a message to Zhou Mingye, informing him that she had parked the car safely and intact in the parking space. He did not reply.
Tossing her phone aside, Ling Xi sat down and began working.
At nine o’clock, Han Zhao arrived. Seeing Ling Xi, he nodded at her. “Morning.”
“Morning.”
Since working together, aside from work-related matters, the two of them had exchanged fewer than five sentences in private.
As the President’s assistant, Han Zhao was often not in the department. Ling Xi wanted to probe him under the pretext of being colleagues, but there was practically no opportunity.
After sending out a meeting notification, Ling Xi glanced at the car keys in her hand, her eyes shifting slightly.
She walked over and tapped Han Zhao. “These are President Zhou’s car keys. Can you pass them to him for me? I might need to go out to handle something later.”
Han Zhao took the keys and looked at her. “Why are they with you?”
Ling Xi stared at Han Zhao’s face and caught a fleeting trace of surprise flash across his expression. See, see. He did care.
She paused for a moment. “I helped President Zhou drive last night on short notice.”
Han Zhao nodded, put the keys into his bag, and turned back to continue working.
What? That was it? He did not even ask a few more questions?
Ling Xi returned to her seat and could not help turning around to look at Han Zhao a few more times. He showed no reaction at all.
She let out a sigh. His guard was quite strong.
Zhou Mingye arrived at ten to attend the meeting.
After it ended, he picked up his coat and left to meet a business partner.
When he came to the company that morning, Zhou Mingye had driven another car from home, which was a bit eye-catching.
When he reached the parking area, he hesitated for a moment before switching back to the one he usually drove.
After starting the car, the music automatically began to play inside.
He glanced at the screen. The app shown had been downloaded by the driver before. He had never used it.
The music was not Zhou Mingye’s preferred style, nor did it resemble what the driver usually listened to.
After driving for a short distance, Zhou Mingye realized that it must have been Ling Xi who listened to it last night.
He opened the app, casually switched to another playlist, and let it play in order.
From the speakers came drumbeats with a very strong rhythm, noisy enough to make his head ache.
Zhou Mingye glanced at the playlist name: [Ling Xi’s Daily Life-Saving Power Source].
He cast a glance at the artist’s photos. It was a young male idol group, all dressed in styles so trendy that he could not make sense of them.
So this was her “power source”?
Zhou Mingye gave a cold snort and reached out to turn off the music.