Sweet Chief Secretary

The choice was already listed to her face. She knew Shen Yan would never vote Jiang An.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Then you have to ask yourself. If you don"t want to help him, then you can pretend you didn"t know anything and let it go. You just need to wait for the result backstage and leave it to fate. If you want to help him..."

"What if I want to help him?" Xia Yu interrupted in obviously anxious tone.

Shen Yan held his fingers tightly underneath. Good, very good. Shen Yan sneered in his heart.

"It depends on your behavior if you want to help him. Mind your att.i.tude." Shen Yan suddenly lowered his head and rubbed Xia Yu"s ears. Stimulated by the hot breath, she couldn"t help leaning back, yet Shen Yan took her in his arm. "Think it over yourself!"

Xia Yu almost tottered in a cafe, making even the waiter suspect she had suffered from some severe stimuli, or maybe...

"Oh, I was thinking about something. Give me a cup of coffee, please." Xia Yu finally found her expression scary, so she lifted her head and smiled at the waiter.

What a serious incident it should be to make her look this way. The waiter handed a cup of hot drinks right away.

"Hey, how come you"ve got ants in your pants?" Now that this woman had won me, I had thought she would hold her head high, but why did she look as if she was blackmailed?

Was it because second aunt warned her? She got what she deserved! Seeing Xia Yu"s expression, Yang Ke"er felt somewhat at ease in her heart.

Xia Yu sat on a chair and looked at Yang Ke"er after hearing her voice. "Nothing. I just suddenly found I"ve really underestimated your Brother Yan..."

"Your face is so pale, so is it because of this?" She sat down opposite Xia Yu.

Xia Yu frowned. "Or else? Yang Ke"er, it isn"t until now that I found he really isn"t your cup of tea. You may be happier if you let go of him."

"What do you mean?" Yang Ke"er"s wide-open eyes were like copper bells. Would this woman die if she didn"t show off in front of her?

"I didn"t mean anything. Forget about my words just now." Xia Yu breathed out and managed to control her emotions. Yang Ke"er wasn"t very familiar with her, so why should Yang Ke"er listen to her? In other words, was she eligible to say it to this girl?

"You look so scary this way. Were you taught a lesson by Brother Yan?" Yang Ke"er looked Xia Yu in the eye very seriously, and didn"t ignore any subtle expressions.

"It wasn"t a lesson, but a threat." Xia Yu said with a wry smile. That"s it. Shen Yan was truly threatening her.

Since she was acquainted with Xia Yu, the impression of Xia Yu had always been a calm girl, and she rarely appeared so depressed.

"Oh, I thought you were his favorite, and you"ll always be the apple of his eye." Realizing Xia Yu"s words were true, Yang Ke"er couldn"t help but smile.

"You"re even his cousin, yet he still didn"t accept you either, right?" She picked up the cup and sipped. As a result, she frowned completely. "What"s this? So sweet!"

Xia Yu looked at the stuff in the cup. It was brown and a bit like chocolate.

Drinking something sweet could make the unhappy ones happier. This waiter was really considerate.

It was just that she hadn"t had anything sweet for a long time. Without candy or snacks in the childhood, she hated everything sweet after growing up.

"It"s your own order. Who are you asking about?" Yang Ke"er curled her lip at her side. Didn"t she get her dues sometimes?

If she had behaved herself, would she be threatened by Brother Yan?

"What?" Xia Yu looked at the stuff in her hands and smiled.

"As you make your bed, so you must lie on it!" Yang Ke"er stood up and walked outside, not even in the mood to quarrel with her.

Perhaps Yang Ke"er was right. If she hadn"t kicked Shen Yan"s car at Sheng Da"s entrance, and if she hadn"t meddled but kept her nose clean by working as an ordinary secretary, she shouldn"t have faced the troubles today.

Everything depended on her own choices. It was just like playing online games. When you teamed up with others to attack the boss, but were tired of it halfway and wanted to quit, then teammates" anger was fair enough.

Xia Yu breathed out, stood up and walked outside. There were a lot of taxis, so she randomly hailed one and got in the car.

The phone rang and she answered it in the car.

"Sister Xia, I"m really sorry, but you know Young Master Yan"s burst of rage was like a startling earthquake. I really can"t afford to offend him!" Zhang Peng was almost crying. He had been waiting for so long until Shen Yan was finally willing to give up Xia Yu, but only to find it was just an illusion.

He had never thought of this at all. Zhang Peng was really unable to compete for the one with him.

"You needn"t apologize. I didn"t blame you." Xia Yu smiled unconsciously. She had been too naive, mistakenly believing she could threaten Shen Yan this time, but it ended up with her complete failure.

"What the h.e.l.l is going on with you and him? He has never lost his temper so seriously." Zhang Peng had known Shen Yan for more than twenty years. Admittedly this guy was a bit cruel, but he always concealed his cruelty with a smile. It was the first time that he had fallen out with one so directly.

"Really nothing happened. You can regard him as a patient of recurrent insanity." Xia Yu brushed over it, unwilling to talk about him with anyone.

A patient of recurrent insanity. All right, only you dared to say so.

Xia Yu went to the hospital to see Xie Gendi. Xie Gendi was in a really bad mood, probably because of the phobia to surgery, so Xia Yu held her hand and kept maundering as soon as she arrived.

Xia Yu tried her best to comfort Xie Gendi, and didn"t leave the hospital until she gradually calmed down.

Standing on the roadside, Xia Yu took a deep breath and looked up at the gray sky.

"Coming here to see Xie Gendi? You aren"t Young Master Yan"s secretary now. Why did you still come?" Zhang Hanyu stood by Xia Yu.

"After all I"ve come to see her at times since she was here." Xia Yu glanced at Zhang Hanyu and turned away, focusing on the opposite side. "Anything to ask me for?"

"Come to me. Now you won"t be bothered by Young Master Yan only if you stay with us." Zhang Hanyu didn"t beat around the bush. He believed Xia Yu understood it.

"No, I didn"t mean to come, really!" Xia Yu refused without hesitation. Compared with being blackmailed by Shen Mo, it was better to be with Shen Yan, right?

"Xia Yu, don"t be stubborn. You have already fallen out with Young Master Yan, and it won"t do you good if you insist this way." Zhang Hanyu"s tone sounded like imploring her. "You can rest a.s.sured. I won"t force you to do anything against your will if you stay with me."

"Thank you. I said I won"t go." Xia Yu certainly knew he wouldn"t, but the problem was even if the ending of something was a.s.sumed at the beginning, the result still often deviated from the original intention, right?

"Xia Yu!" Zhang Hanyu looked Xia Yu in the eye helplessly, "You have a bias against Young Master Mo, and that"s because you don"t know about him. When you know more about him, you"ll find he"s a really nice guy."

"It doesn"t matter whether I know about him or not. I don"t go to your place just because you"re a friend of my respected boss. I don"t want to ruin this feeling." Xia Yu said and then left without even turning away.

Zhang Hanyu heaved a deep sigh behind her. Maybe she was right, but who knew.

"Did you fail again?" Shen Mo asked the moment he answered Zhang Hanyu"s call.

This wasn"t beyond his expectation, right? However, Shen Mo still admired this woman. After all, she dared to go against Shen Yan. There weren"t many people daring to refuse him.

"Yes!" Zhang Hanyu"s voice was full of deep disappointment and frustration. He didn"t expect Xia Yu would reject him so completely.

"Where is she going next? Jiang Group?" Shen Mo had figured on it. There were many people longing for Xia Yu, but few of them dared to offend Shen Yan. With the relations.h.i.+p between Jiang An and Xia Yu so obvious, he should be Xia Yu"s next boss.

However, was it safe to stay there? As far as Shen Mo knew, Jiang An had a lot of problems to solve himself.

"I think, possibly yes." Jiang An was fighting against Jiang Tao now, and he wasn"t necessarily in the mood to care about Xia Yu. However, if Xia Yu begged him personally, presumably he would arrange a position for her. Then problem was, would Xia Yu beg him voluntarily?

The next day came as usual. It began to rain again. Seemingly it had always been so overcast, humid and cold in the past week.

Dong Qingyuan had been waiting for a whole day, and Xia Yu still showed no sign of leaving. She thus gave Xia Yu a call, asking her to meet at Dong Qingyuan"s villa.

It wasn"t easy to hail a cab in rainy days, so Xia Yu drove her cousin"s car outside, but before long she was stuck at the crossroad. The traffic was awful every time it rained. She turned on the radio in annoyance, in the meantime Shen Qiang called her, "Sister, my brother is also forced by second aunt, and he"s under much pressure now!"

Xia Yu gripped the steering wheel.

What could she do? Or what could she change?

"Shen Qiang, I think I"m unable to help him."

"Sister, you can"t just leave my brother alone. My brother is too poor." Shen Qiang was a bit impatient.

Was he poor? A wry smile showed on Xia Yu"s face. He appeared prestigious from all aspects. "You really think a lot of me. Am I able to deal with his problems?"

"I don"t know, but I know my brother is quite upset. His pressure has been too heavy these days. He might feel better if you can accompany him." Shen Qiang stopped halfway, and continued, "Sister, you know what? Your photo is still hidden in my brother"s wallet!"

Xia Yu turned away and took a deep breath. The rain outside was. .h.i.tting the window, and the light was scattered in disorder, which was all from the pa.s.sers-by who were eager to go home.

With the traffic light turning green, Xia Yu stepped on the gas, driving gently forward.

There were all rus.h.i.+ng cars beside her, and the rain was. .h.i.tting them.

Dong Qingyuan"s villa where she lived alone wasn"t far from the urban district. Xia Yu"s car already stopped at the villa entrance twenty minutes later. There was no light on the first floor, and some orange light gleamed from the window on the second floor.

She got out of the car and it was still raining. She didn"t have an umbrella and went straight down to the eaves. The door was closed so she stood by the pillar.

She rubbed her hair anxiously. When she raised her hand and was about to ring the bell, the door suddenly opened. Dong Qingyuan stood in front of her wearing the homewear.

"Xia Yu, you must help me this time. If Jiang An loses the election tomorrow, do you know what his family requests him to do?" Dong Qingyuan hugged Xia Yu right away as if she had seen the savior.

"What"s he requested?" Xia Yu patted Dong Qingyuan. It wasn"t suitable to talk about this at the door. "Let"s go in first."

"He"ll be requested to marry a widow 8 years older than him." Dong Qingyuan burst into tears as soon as she went inside.

"..." Shen Yan"s words yesterday soon came back to Xia Yu. The situation was far more complicated than she thought. She had been thinking about how complicated it could be, but now she finally realized it. Maybe it was just the tip of the iceberg, but already shocking enough for Xia Yu. "Did Jiang An agree?"

"Although his father has several sons, none of them has succeeded. Otherwise Jiang An wouldn"t have been supported. Jiang An"s uncle lost when competing with his father that year. He took it to heart these years and has told others more than once that Jiang An"s father won him through dirty tricks then, so he refused to accept the result. If he could be in power one day, he must make Jiang An"s clan would rather die. If Jiang An loses this time, there will be no place for his clan in Jiang Family anymore." Dong Qingyuan took the handkerchief handed by Xia Yu and wiped her tears.

"But Jiang An"s lifelong happiness shouldn"t be exchanged for it anyway. How did Jiang An agree?" It was really hard for Xia Yu to imagine what Jiang An"s expression would be like when such a handsome and romantic man stood by such a woman.