After the meal, Shao Pingxi’s mood had improved significantly. The thought of returning to work at the company crossed her mind.
“Jianshu, I’m going back to work,” she said after leaving the restaurant.
“Come find me when you’re free!” Li Jianshu raised a warm smile, gently stroking her hair with a brotherly affection. “And don’t drink too much coffee. When your stomach gets a hole, don’t come crying to me!”
“Got it! Are you annoying?” she pretended to be exasperated. “Stop nagging me! You need to take your medicine on time too, you know?”
Mentioning medicine, Li Jianshu unconsciously touched the back of his head.
“This is an old friend, just like you!” he said jokingly. “It’s okay to take the medicine a bit late because it’s learned to be flexible.”
Every time his head injury was mentioned, Li Jianshu would casually brush it off, but Shao Pingxi would still feel guilty about the past.
“Manager Shao, President Huo requests you to come and see him immediately.” Huo Juren’s secretary said from the other end of the phone.
“Okay, I’ll be right there.” Although puzzled about why he was calling her, her voice remained calm.
Putting down the document she was reviewing, Shao Pingxi stood up and walked towards the top-floor executive office.
Arriving at the executive office, she knocked on the door. A steady and cold voice from inside said, “Come in.” Shao Pingxi pushed the door open and entered.
“President Huo.” She greeted politely.
His sharp eyes slowly lifted, his expressionless and icy handsome face seemingly silently transmitting some dangerous message.
“Manager Shao, you took the morning off, correct?” His tone was as cold as winter snow.
“Yes.”
“Why did you take leave?”
“I wasn’t feeling well.”
“Not feeling well?” His long fingers lightly tapped the glossy desk surface, anger flashing in his eyes. “Someone who was unwell enough to take leave and rest at home can actually return to work after just half a day? Manager Shao, are you exceptionally gifted to recover so quickly, or did Li Jiangshu help cure your discomfort?”
Her colleague had reported that after leaving home, she initially wandered the streets, then went to Li Jiangshu’s music store, and later had lunch with him.
Upon learning this, Huo Juren was just short of snapping the pen he was signing with!
Suppressing his inner rage, he buried himself in work until he heard the news of Shao Pingxi returning from leave and coming to work in the afternoon.
After hearing Huo Juren’s speech, Shao Pingxi’s calm face suddenly rippled with emotion.
“I don’t like being followed.” Her cold voice revealed obvious displeasure.
“Is someone following you? How would I know?” Huo Juren spoke innocently.
“How would you know I met Jiangshu if you didn’t have someone follow me? Don’t treat me like an idiot!”
“From beginning to end, I never said you met Li Jiangshu. I just made a reasonable inference based on my understanding of you. After all, Li Jiangshu has a deep relationship with you. Perhaps a comforting phone call from him could instantly transform your ailing body into full health.” With a few words, he cleanly denied having her followed.
“I’ll say this one last time, I don’t want to be followed anymore!” Shao Pingxi glared at him, squeezing out words laden with anger from between her teeth.
“What a big attitude.” Huo Juren sneered, “Someone who doesn’t know might think you’re the boss and I’m your employee!”
She wanted him to stop following her? Not a chance!
He wanted to know her every move, who she met… everything about Shao Pingxi, he wanted complete control!
“If you have someone follow me again, I’ll call the police.”
“Call the police?” Hearing this, Huo Juren couldn’t help but laugh, “Go ahead! I’d like to see what the police can do for you.”
Shao Pingxi couldn’t help but bite her lip, “You can’t be above the law.” Though she said this, she was well aware that Huo Juren indeed had such capability!
“Is that so?” He exuded complete confidence.
Besides glaring at him, Shao Pingxi could do nothing, as the power disparity between them was too great!
“…President Huo, if you have no further instructions, I’d like to return to work.” Feeling powerless was unbearable, Shao Pingxi decided to leave.
“I haven’t dismissed you.” His cold, magnetic voice made her just-turned feet stop.
Forced to turn back, she put on a professional face and asked in a monotone voice: “President Huo, do you have any instructions?”
Huo Juren stood up and walked steadily to her side.
His tall body bent slightly, with only a finger’s width between his freezing cold face and her cold, beautiful countenance.
He traced a mocking smile, “A woman who’s seen her lover truly glows! Even Manager Shao, usually known for her coldness, now shows a woman’s tender expression.”
“President Huo, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” What lover? She had no lover.
“By now, just honestly admit that you’ve always had something going on with Li Jiangshu!”
Something going on? Jiangshu?
“Even as my boss, you have no right to slander me and my friend,” Shao Pingxi’s eyes widened, her tone rising to show her indignation.
“Slander?” Huo Juren was unconcerned, “You know in your heart whether it’s slander or not. At this point, why bother telling lies I won’t believe!”
“Jiangshu and I are just friends, nothing more.” Shao Pingxi didn’t know why she was explaining, what Huo Juren thought was none of her concern!
“Friends?” He raised an eyebrow, “What kind of friends are you and Li Jiangshu? The kind who can casually kiss and sleep together?”
He hadn’t forgotten witnessing her spending the night at Li Jiangshu’s place!
Enraged by his words, Shao Pingxi raised her right hand, about to slap Huo Juren for his offensive remarks—
“Want to hit me?” He firmly grasped her hand, his face full of frost, “You didn’t even have this qualification when you were my lover!”
“Let… go.” The hand he gripped transmitted an unbearable heat, causing her heart to leap.
“Shao Pingxi, don’t get it wrong. Only I have the right to order you. You have no right to tell me to do anything.”
Unwilling to continue talking, Shao Pingxi tried to break free from his restraint.
Whether through her full-force struggle finally succeeding or Huo Juren accidentally loosening his grip, she finally pulled back her jade-like hand.
Shao Pingxi turned and walked away. If she stayed any longer, she wasn’t sure she could escape from him again.
Huo Junren did not stop her from leaving, but confidently called out a phone number behind her.
Shao Pingxi’s footsteps instantly came to a halt.
A satisfied arc spread across the corner of her lips, and Huo Junren stepped closer to Shao Pingxi, who was still facing away from him.
Like a devil’s voice rising from hell, it rang in her ears: “Do you want to hear the other personal information about Li Jiangshu?”
Shao Pingxi bit her lower lip hard, with such force that a blood mark quickly appeared on her delicate red lips.
She was not afraid of angering Huo Junren or him settling scores with her, but she was afraid of implicating her good friends because of her.
Because of her, Si Feng almost got into legal trouble. Shao Pingxi did not want Li Jiangshu to follow in Nie Sifeng’s footsteps!
With Huo Junren’s current power to command winds and rains, she believed that with just a finger, Jiangshu would…
Shao Pingxi dared not continue thinking!
She turned around, staring directly at him, “What do you want?”
Seeing the blood on her lips, Huo Junren’s heart involuntarily ached.
His long fingers unconsciously gently caressed her cherry lips, wiping away the blood that made her lips appear even more alluring.
Unexpectedly, Huo Junren, who had just been threatening her with Li Jiangshu, would make such a gentle gesture. Shao Pingxi couldn’t help but be stunned.
