Pushing away these messy thoughts, he walked through the door of the Pute Technology Building at exactly ten o’clock, his usual arrival time.
“Good morning, CEO!” The two ladies at the reception desk bowed in unison, with identical gentle smiles on their lips.
He was no stranger to such smiles. In fact, the female employees had almost always worn this shy, bashful expression when seeing him, but today seemed slightly different.
Behind those familiar smiles, the two women exchanged glances and whispered, as if sharing a secret.
He shouldn’t have paid attention to these smiles. But an hour later, when he was touring the departments, he found that many female employees were giving him the same smile, and he began to feel something was strange.
“…So the supplier list for Pute’s next season is finalized like this, right?” Vice President Xie Qi’er sat in the vice president’s office, handing the list to Long Jie.
Long Jie took the list, glancing at a female employee hurrying past the transparent window, who was whispering to another female employee and then letting out a soft laugh. That laugh was like the noise of mice at home – you know they exist, but you can’t stop them.
“What’s wrong?” Rarely seeing the boss in a daze, Xie Qi’er couldn’t help the smile at the corner of his mouth.
Others didn’t know how crazy Long Jie could be privately; everyone only saw the cold-faced CEO image. But as his master’s classmate, Xie Qi’er knew him very well.
“Many female employees are acting strange today,” Long Jie said in a muffled voice. He wasn’t keen on discussing such matters with Xie Qi’er, even though he knew Xie Qi’er would be more than happy to.
Xie Qi’er was very interested in studying women. With his various conditions, he always complained to Long Jie that having a CEO in front of him prevented him from becoming Pute’s number one.
Long Jie always scoffed at this.
He had no intention of studying the preferences of female employees or maintaining a list of romantic conquests in the company.
“Haven’t you gotten used to them looking at you with adoring eyes? It’s not been a day or two,” Xie Qi’er shrugged, with a hint of sourness in his words.
“It’s different. Today, people keep whispering behind my back, and I really don’t like this feeling.” It’s like being treated like a monkey in a zoo – how awkward! Long Jie shifted his body.
“Oh? Now that you mention it…” Xie Qi’er turned his shoulder-length stylish hair. “I had this feeling today too. I thought it was because of my new hairstyle being appreciated. Could something else be happening?” How strange!
“Aren’t you the gossip king? Go ask your ‘girlfriends’ and find out?” Long Jie’s tone clearly showed his disdain.
But whether Xie Qi’er was too naive or had too thick a skin, he actually grinned and said, “I’ll go inquire and get you an answer in the shortest time possible.” He looked enthusiastic.
“If you had this drive during work, I’m sure our performance this season would definitely reach a new high,” Long Jie threw some documents in front of him. “I’m leaving. Remember to finish what I asked you to do and report to me tomorrow.”
“I can find out today…”
A sharp glance nailed him in place.
“Ah! That’s not what you meant?” He restrained the exaggerated smile at the corner of his mouth. “No problem, I’ll personally bring those reports to you tomorrow.” He dared not provoke the tiger!
Alas! Perhaps he lacked this kind of courage, which is why women loved Long Jie more than him!
Long Jie returned to the thirty-third floor, his brow slightly furrowed as he passed by Pang De-nü.
Pang De-nü caught a glimpse from the corner of her eye and knew something was troubling him. As expected—
“Secretary Pang, please get me a cup of coffee,” came the CEO’s voice through the intercom.
“Yes, CEO.” The corner of her mouth curved slightly.
Long Jie was extremely disciplined; he rarely touched anything addictive, so he didn’t smoke, drank little, and only had one cup of coffee in the morning. She was actually quite surprised the day she saw him drunk. Usually, if he asked her to brew coffee outside of morning hours, it meant something was definitely bothering him.
“Sister Pang, you seem to be in a good mood?” He Yu-hua couldn’t help but lean over.
Pang De-nü ignored her, walking directly into the pantry to make coffee. Ten minutes later, a fragrant cup of coffee was brought out.
She knocked twice on the door, then walked into the CEO’s office and placed the coffee on his desk. “CEO, your coffee.”
Long Jie looked up and saw her outfit: a black suit, with the skirt reaching to mid-calf, even her high heels in the simplest, most conservative style. He had wanted to advise her to change her attire many times, but the words always died on his lips.
What she wore was none of his business! Even as her boss, he wasn’t used to forcing others.
But her outfit was really…
Long Jie pressed his temple. “Thank you.”
“Would you like me to prepare a headache medication?” A good secretary should anticipate the boss’s needs before he speaks. Pang De-nü was a hundred percent capable secretary, how could she be an exception?!
No need,” he waved his hand, but caught a glimpse of a strange smile at the corner of her mouth.
Why did he find it strange? Because Secretary Pang had been working beside him for two years, yet he had never seen her smile.
“Who does Secretary Pang usually associate with?” Would she know the reason for the recent strange behavior of the female colleagues? As soon as Long Jie asked the question, he immediately felt something was off – why would he want to chat with this rigid secretary? Could the recent strange events be making him strange too?
“Associates? I don’t associate with anyone. I go straight home after work.” Pang De’nü pushed her glasses up, her eyes’ light completely hidden behind them.
“I mean the people you’re more familiar with, like… He Yuhua, those who have lunch together…”
“I always eat alone.” This was true. She never went out to eat with colleagues. Everyone thought she was rigid and unable to get along with “young people”, and privately called her antisocial.
But the reason she didn’t go to lunch with colleagues, if revealed, would probably make everyone faint.
“Uh…” Long Jie’s words were stuck. As if he hadn’t said anything! This conversation was too cold. “Never mind, go about your work!”
“Yes, CEO.” She said respectfully and turned to leave.
The moment Pang De’nü turned away, Long Jie saw that strange smile again.
Why did he always feel that although his secretary was respectful, he occasionally felt looked down upon?
“Why are my thoughts so chaotic lately? Perhaps I should take a vacation.” He waved away these thoughts and prepared to start working.
Long Jie was not a workaholic. He insisted on enjoying life, so he tried to handle the company’s business in a short time, then delegate time-consuming tasks to trusted people, like Xie Qier, like Secretary Pang.
Perhaps some would call him a playboy, since he was not short of female companions in the evenings and holidays, and would travel abroad from time to time. But he didn’t care about others’ opinions, nor did he need to explain to anyone. He just wanted to be a good CEO of Pute Technology Group, regardless of anyone’s expectations.
Sipping his coffee, he felt his headache had eased a bit.
Opening the documents on his desk, he had barely started working when a knock came – and he knew immediately it wasn’t Secretary Pang; her knocks were always measured, brief, crisp yet not harsh.
Strange, why was he always analyzing this weird secretary lately?
“Come in.” If he wasn’t mistaken, this was probably Xie Qier.
Sure enough, as soon as the door opened, the answer was revealed.
