At 9:00 a.m., Sheng Yanqing stepped into the CEO’s office right on time.
The moment he pushed the door open, he saw Jing Xun lounging against the sofa, wearing an ambiguous grin.
Sheng Yanqing ignored him. Without even sparing him a glance, he sat down in the executive chair, switched on his computer, and prepared to start work.
“Oh ho,” Jing Xun said when he saw himself being ignored. He strolled over to the desk, stared at Sheng Yanqing for a moment without blinking, then spoke with a teasing smirk.
“Old Sheng, are you not capable? You brought her home and still didn’t make a move?”
Sheng Yanqing looked at him coldly.
As expected, nothing good ever came out of that mouth.
Jing Xun chuckled lazily and continued provoking him.
“Last night in the group chat, we were all betting on how many times you’d manage.”
Then he clicked his tongue twice.
“A little disappointing.”
Hearing that, the man remained expressionless. Calmly, he undid his cufflinks and rolled up his sleeves.
Then he walked behind Jing Xun and, with a sweeping kick, knocked him straight to the floor.
“Fuck! Old Sheng, that was a sneak attack!” Jing Xun howled, baring his teeth in pain.
Half-kneeling, Sheng Yanqing pinned his leg against Jing Xun’s chest and grabbed his mouth shut with one hand.
“That’s what you get for running your mouth.”
Jing Xun twisted and struggled desperately while muffled curses poured out through the hand covering his mouth.
“Woo! Mmph! Mmmph!”
“President Sh—”
Chi Ruanli pushed open the door and immediately froze at the sight before her.
She had knocked.
The three of them stared at one another.
Time seemed to stop.
No one moved.
Chi Ruanli was the first to speak.
“The people from Hengyuan International have arrived. They’re waiting in the conference room.”
After saying that, she looked at the two men again.
Then she burst out laughing.
Before Sheng Yanqing could react, she turned and ran out of the office.
Inside the conference room.
The representatives from Hengyuan International were presenting their project proposal.
Meanwhile, Chi Ruanli’s gaze drifted back and forth between Sheng Yanqing and Jing Xun, her face filled with amusement.
Naturally, Sheng Yanqing noticed.
On the surface, he maintained a serious expression and stared attentively at the presentation slides.
Underneath his shirt, however, his back was already soaked with sweat.
Cold sweat.
She had misunderstood!
Jing Xun also looked thoroughly uncomfortable.
He certainly did not have that kind of preference.
After the meeting ended and Chi Ruanli escorted the guests out, Sheng Yanqing immediately called after her.
“Secretary Chi, don’t misunderstand.”
Chi Ruanli smiled so broadly that her eyes disappeared, revealing her little canine teeth like a cunning fox.
“I didn’t misunderstand anything.”
After speaking, she glanced at the two men again and walked away with a crisp laugh.
Even from a great distance, her laughter could still be heard.
The misunderstanding had become enormous.
Sheng Yanqing frowned and glared at Jing Xun.
This was all your fault.
Jing Xun glared back indignantly.
I’m a victim too, okay?
If looks could kill, they probably would have murdered each other hundreds of times already.
The partnership was successfully secured.
As host, Shengshi Group arranged a banquet at one of its luxury hotels.
Sheng Yanqing attended with Jing Xun, Chi Ruanli, and two project managers.
Lin Hengbo, the young master of Hengyuan International, also arrived with his subordinates.
Ten people in total.
Just enough to fill a table.
Lin Hengbo’s secretary, Anna, wore a tight white dress that barely covered what it needed to. She looked nothing like the professional woman she had been during the day.
Hooking her arm around Lin Hengbo’s, she swayed her hips as she walked into the room.
Jing Xun quietly raised an eyebrow and exchanged a look with Sheng Yanqing.
See? CEOs and secretaries are never innocent.
Sheng Yanqing shot him a glance before turning toward the little woman seated beside him.
She genuinely seemed to have come solely for the food.
From the moment she sat down, her chopsticks had never stopped moving.
Her cheeks were stuffed full, making her resemble a tiny hamster.
Stretching out his arm, Sheng Yanqing moved the plate of brown sugar lotus root stuffed with glutinous rice closer to her.
He had noticed her reaching for that dish repeatedly.
Chi Ruanli smiled sweetly at him.
The adorable expression caused the corners of Sheng Yanqing’s lips to curl upward.
Whenever she ate happily, she seemed to reveal that same expression.
She had been the same at his house last time.
“Anna, go toast President Sheng.”
Lin Hengbo had clearly drunk too much. His words were already slurred.
No matter how displeased he was, Sheng Yanqing still had to maintain basic courtesy.
When Anna leaned forward to pour his drink and deliberately pressed her barely concealed chest toward him, Sheng Yanqing never once shifted his gaze.
Suppressing his disgust, he raised his glass.
He thought that would be the end of it and everyone could continue eating peacefully.
Unexpectedly, after drinking a few more glasses, Lin Hengbo became completely oblivious to his limits.
Using the excuse of reciprocating courtesy, he loudly demanded that Chi Ruanli also toast him.
Chi Ruanli glanced at Sheng Yanqing and was about to stand when he pressed a hand onto her shoulder and seated her back down.
Then he turned a sharp gaze toward Lin Hengbo.
“President Lin, Shengshi does not have a tradition of secretaries offering drinks.”
Lin Hengbo was drunk, his eyes unfocused.
“President Sheng, are you refusing to give me face? It’s just returning a courtesy. Asking for a toast isn’t excessive, is it?”
Everyone in their circle knew of Lin Hengbo’s notorious reputation.
The toast was probably just an excuse.
What he really wanted was to take advantage of her.
Sheng Yanqing remained firm.
Every time Chi Ruanli tried to stand again, he pressed her back into her seat.
Just as the atmosphere reached a boiling point, Jing Xun rose and attempted to smooth things over.
“President Lin, I’ll drink with you.”
“Assistant Jing, I wouldn’t dare.”
A trace of clarity returned to Lin Hengbo’s eyes.
“But I only drink alcohol poured by women.”
Then, still utterly reckless, he continued,
“What? President Sheng can’t handle it? She’s just a secretary. She’s there to be—”
Before he could finish speaking, Sheng Yanqing’s fist smashed into his face.
Blood immediately streamed from Lin Hengbo’s nose.
“Fuck! Sheng Yanqing, you’ve got some nerve!”
Lin Hengbo sobered up completely.
Having never suffered such humiliation before, he immediately retaliated, landing a punch on Sheng Yanqing’s mouth.
Everyone present was stunned.
Who had ever seen CEOs throwing punches at one another?
The entire room stood frozen like wooden stakes.
Jing Xun was the first to react.
He rushed forward to separate them and, amid the chaos, managed to sneak in two kicks at Lin Hengbo.
By the time Lin Hengbo was loaded into an ambulance, there was hardly a spot on his face that wasn’t bruised.
The sight was miserable.
Anna knelt beside him, crying nonstop.
The noise only irritated him further.
“Why are you wailing like someone’s dead? I’m not dead yet!”
He continued cursing the entire time.
Compared to him, Sheng Yanqing’s condition was much better.
Only the corner of his mouth had split open slightly, with a trace of blood seeping out.
Chi Ruanli appeared to have been frightened.
Her doe-like eyes shimmered with tears as her small hands trembled slightly while applying medicine to his wound.
“That hurts. Be gentler.”
Sheng Yanqing sounded almost spoiled as he grabbed her hand.
A moment later, he released it.
His eyes remained fixed on her.
Tsk. This is unbearable to watch.
After dismissing everyone else, Jing Xun wisely left the room as well.
Gradually, Chi Ruanli’s face grew warm.
She felt as though she were treating a giant fireball.
The intensity of his gaze was so scorching that it nearly melted her.
Clearing her throat softly, she looked into Sheng Yanqing’s eyes.
A moment later, she blushed and looked away.
Within those eyes, she saw her own reflection.
The affection in them was so deep it nearly drowned her.
“President Sheng, you really didn’t have to do that. It was only a drink. I could have offered the toast. There was no need to make such a big issue out of it.”
Her voice was tiny as she continued,
“If the partnership falls apart because of this, I can’t bear that responsibility.”
“I’m not asking you to bear it.”
Sheng Yanqing gently moved her hand away from his face.
If she poked at the wound any longer, he feared he would suffer a second injury.
“Shengshi’s contracts have never been won through secretaries drinking with clients.”
His voice softened as he comforted her.
It was so gentle it almost seemed filled with water.
As though he feared startling her away.
Although Chi Ruanli had only recently entered the professional world, she knew those words were merely meant to reassure her.
What she couldn’t understand was why a powerful and distinguished man like Sheng Yanqing would completely disregard the bigger picture and attack a business partner over something as minor as a toast.
“Why?”
Gathering her courage, she met his gaze directly and voiced the question that had been lingering in her heart.
“Why do you think?”
Sheng Yanqing moved closer.
Close enough that Chi Ruanli could count his eyelashes.
Long.
Dense.
The scent of grapefruit mixed with cedarwood surrounded her completely.
The fragrance grew so overwhelming that it nearly stole her breath away.
Just as Sheng Yanqing leaned even closer, Chi Ruanli suddenly shoved him away and ran from the room.
Watching her retreating figure, Sheng Yanqing let out a bitter laugh.
The movement pulled at the wound on his mouth, making him suck in a sharp breath from the pain.
He had frightened her away again.
After the night she had gotten drunk, he had originally intended to make their relationship clear the very next day.
But when he saw her standing barefoot beside the bed, her head lowered and her posture so cautious and timid, his heart had ached too much to force the issue.
Instinct told him that the day he finally revealed his feelings would be the day Chi Ruanli ran away.
How could he keep her in his world?
What could he possibly do to make her stay?