Sweet Chief Secretary

When she read about some daily news on the Internet, she found it was rife with news about Jiang Yayan as well as some reports on TV news.

Xia Yu felt tired and relaxed the muscle between her eyebrows. Yesterday she was busy looking for a suitable kindergarten for Jiangjiang and stayed up late because Jiangjiang kept asking her about his mother"s whereabouts. And now, she was still occupied with endless tasks to do. She got up with her mug, intending to go to the pantry room for some coffee to refresh herself. However, she heard some people talking inside.

"Hey, did you see that Yang Ke"er came with Young Master Yan to the company in the morning?"

"No. But I was told that Second Madame seemingly delivered an ultimatum to Young Master Yan to marry Yang Ke"er."

"Wow, eldest Miss of Yang Family. It"s true that those sw.a.n.ky families such as Shen Family will by no means choose a daughter-in-law from a humble one. Their match is based on wealth and power."

"Indeed. Miss Yang is young and beautiful, with an overseas education background. But Young Master Yan seemingly doesn"t like her, who is willful like a haughty princess."

"That"s right. She intends to replace Xia Yu"s position upon coming back from overseas. I hate to gossip but it"s true that Xia Yu"s position is quite challenging. Few people are qualified for it."

"Exactly! I didn"t know Xia Yu"s talent in the past but since she came to Tengfei, she had completed several tasks excellently, which could not be done even with the status of eldest Miss of Yang Family."

"Can"t agree more. I heard that Xia Yu was invited to our company by Young Master Yan on his own."

The pantry room was always a place filled with news and gossips.

Holding her empty mug, Xia Yu stood there and listened to their talks for a while. But she didn"t enter the pantry room. Instead, she turned around and went back to her office.

In Shen Yan"s office room, Cai Yanyan came in with a tray, on which there was a cup of coffee, some parcels of sugar and a tiny cup of milk.

"Miss Yang, I"m not familiar with your preference. You can call me if you need more sugar or milk."

Yang Ke"er got up from the sofa and took the whole tray from her, "Thank you."

Yang Ke"er became modest after she was treated coldly several times in the company.

"You"re welcome. Thank you very much for your gifts."

Yang Ke"er smiled, "Just a token of my goodwill." Then she looked at Shen Yan who was discussing with Liu Sijie, "You"re Brother Yan"s secretary. He needs you to support his work."

Cai Yanyan felt flattered and smiled with a hand covering her mouth, "You"re so nice to me. Young Master Yan is my boss. It"s my responsibility to support his work." These two people seemingly enjoyed talking with each other and their laughter rang through into Shen Yan"s office room.

Shen Yan frowned as if his thought had been interrupted by them. He raised his head and cast his eyes to the room nearby through the window when Yang Ke"er came to knock at his door.

"Brother Yan, I"ve reserved a restaurant for lunch. It"s still early now. Can I borrow your secretary? I"m bored and want her to show me around."

Could Shen Yan disagree? It was better for him to let her hang out so that he could have a quiet place to work. He nodded. Yang Ke"er immediately set off, arm in arm with Cai Yanyan, and said goodbye to Liu Sijie before she left.

Liu Sijie closed the door and shook his head, "It seems that you have quite a lot of trouble. I bet everyone will speak highly of Yang Ke"er if she comes here a few more times.”

Sugar-coated bullets, few people could stand up to it.

Shen Yan glanced at Liu Sijie, "Stop beating around the bus.h.!.+"

"I don"t like to nag. But I want to remind you. If she quits this time, you will be bothered to a headache."

"So?"

"So you must think over it!"

Xia Yu didn"t expect to meet Yang Ke"er in her own office. Why did she come here? What did she want? Xia Yu had no expression on her face as usual.

"Miss Yang, what can I do for you?" This was a common opening remark, in a natural tone. Yang Ke"er was showed around Tengfei for almost a day and now she showed up here.

Yang Ke"er gave a beaming smile, "It"s quite difficult to make an appointment with Miss Xia for dinner. I"ve waited for you the whole afternoon. Your a.s.sistant tells me that you ask for a several-hour leave."

"Dinner?" Xia Yu was a little confused.

"Yeah. We had a misunderstanding before. It was my fault. Sorry."

"You have apologized already. Let it go." Xia Yu said calmly.

"Miss Xia, don"t say that. You"re of great help to my Brother Yan. I want to convey my grat.i.tude to you."

That was what she came for. Xia Yu realized it and nodded, "Dinner is not a must. After all, I"m part of Tengfei. It"s my responsibility."

"I understand. But please don"t turn me down this time. I"ve waited for you for so long." Yang Ke"er straightly walked to Xia Yu. Wearing a light grey suspender overall skirt, a ginger slim-fit knitted sweater embellished by laces on the sleeves and a pair of high-heeled shoes, she looked fresh and beautiful together with her delicate makeup and curly fair hair.

Yang Ke"er, daughter of Yang Family, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, looked natural and graceful in front of Xia Yu.

"Xia Yu, I like you, indeed. I admit that I was jealous of you because I love Brother Yan too much. I hope you can understand."

"..." Xia Yu couldn"t withstand her enthusiasm. She was cool since she was a child, but she couldn"t imagine how should Yang Ke"er have deserted her not long ago and now turned so hospitable and carefree as if nothing had happened.

"Sorry. I have a lot of work to do. I"m afraid I need to work overtime late today."

"Well." Yang Ke"er seemed a little disappointed but she wore a smile again very soon, "Never mind. I will keep waiting for you. If you don"t have time for dinner, then we can have late-night snacks together. I"ll call the restaurant to put off my reservation." Yang Ke"er picked up her phone and was about to dial.

Xia Yu closed her eyes helplessly, "Miss Yang, you don"t have to."

"Never mind. I"m a VIP of that restaurant and the owner is my friend. It"s okay to change the time. Give me a word about when you will finish your work. I will ask them to prepare in advance."

It seemed that she wouldn"t give up unless Xia Yu agreed to have dinner with her.

Xia Yu twisted her own fingers and compromised, "Don"t bother, Miss Yang. Let"s have dinner at the time as you have planned."

"So, it means you agree? No extra work?" Yang Ke"er was excited and came to hold Xia Yu"s hand. But Xia Yu withdrew her hand unconsciously. She didn"t like to be touched.

Yang Ke"er seemingly sensed her unnaturalness but she didn"t feel any awkward. She withdrew her hand as if nothing had happened.

Xia Yu felt relieved in her heart, "It"s still early to be off duty. Would you..."

"I will wait for you in the lobby downstairs. At 5 p.m., let"s set off to the restaurant." Yang Ke"er turned around and walked away after she finished her word, leaving no chance for Xia Yu to change her mind.

Xia Yu felt tired, collapsed in her chair, leaning backward and giving a sigh of relief. Fifteen minutes later, she turned off her computer and prepared to go downstairs. She went to the was.h.i.+ng room before she left.

Staying up the whole night and being busy the whole day, Xia Yu looked languid with bags under her eyes. She thought of Yang Ke"er, whose makeup was so fresh and fair and whose ginger sweater and long dress were so beautiful. But she looked so languid in the mirror.

It was not until Xia Yu went downstairs that she found it began raining outside. How precise the weather broadcast was nowadays!

"Miss Xia!"

From a long distance, Xia Yu saw Yang Ke"er, who waited for her near the gate, waving hands to her. She came towards her and found that she added another white coat. Yang Ke"er"s fair complexion and rosy lips made her look gorgeous.

She must have fixed her makeup. Xia Yu drew this conclusion in her heart very soon.

"Did you drive?"

"No. I came here with Brother Yan in the morning." Yang Ke"er answered with a smile.

That was it. Xia Yu recalled what she heard in the pantry room in the morning and she felt it was stupid of her to ask this question.

"It"s raining outside. You stay here and I will fetch my car." Liu Sijie"s car key was still in her hand and it happened to come to use now. She took her bag, opened the gla.s.s door and was about to go outside when a black jeep stopped in front of her.

"Brother Yan, here!" Yang Ke"er made a sound behind her.

The window of the jeep was rolled down and Xia Yu was drawn to it by Yang Ke"er before she realized what happened.

Yang Ke"er smiled, "I invite Miss Xia to have dinner with us. You don"t mind, do you?"

Xia Yu looked at Shen Yan who was also confused.

Apparently, the man in the car was also totally unaware of it. Shen Yan turned around and cast his eyes to Xia Yu coldly.

Xia Yu withdrew her wrist from Yang Ke"er"s hand, "Now that Miss Yang has an appointment. We"d better change the date."

If she had known that this man would come, too, she would have never agreed to dine with Yang Ke"er. However, Yang Ke"er was reluctant to let her go. She grabbed Xia Yu"s hand again.

"Please don"t. Brother Yan is fine with us. Let alone, we can ask him to pay us for the bill." She didn"t sound like kidding. Suddenly, Xia Yu felt that she was set up to some extent.

"Get into the car." Shen Yan, who was sitting in the car and was silent just now, said in a low voice at last, without a hint of his mood.

Finally, Xia Yu was carried away into the car by Yang Ke"er"s enthusiasm. The two women sat at the back of the car. Yang Ke"er was talkative and hospitable. She had endless topics to talk about while Xia Yu only said a few words unless she could no longer dodge the topic. Under most circ.u.mstances, she answered in one or two single syllables and sat quietly, looking out of the window with her hands overlapped on her knees.

Shen Yan looked through the rearview mirror from time to time. The two women, sitting on the back-bench, one wore bright makeup and was pa.s.sionate while the other one wore light makeup and lacked vigor.

About half an hour later, the car stopped at the parking lot of the Ruyi Building.

"We"ve arrived. Let"s move." Yang Ke"er patted Xia Yu"s knee.

On the other side of the car, Shen Yan held an umbrella above Yang Ke"er"s head in advance and they circ.u.mvented the car towards the building. The rain was heavy. Xia Yu looked at these two people, sharing one umbrella, heading for the gate of the restaurant regardless of her.

Xia Yu got to the gate and stood at the gate, waiting with no expression on her face. Half a minute later, the two people came at last.

"Young Master Yan, Miss Yang, the booth has been prepared for you on the second floor southward. May I help deal with the umbrella?" The waitress handed over the umbrella from Shen Yan, folded it and shook the raindrops off it, unconsciously leaving some spilled over Xia Yu"s hand.

The rain was cold, but her hands were even colder.

"Miss Xia, why don"t you come in?" Yang Ke"er asked first.

Shen Yan glanced at Xia Yu, who was standing at the gate and whose hair and clothes got a little wet.

"Let"s move to the booth upstairs." Yang Ke"er intended to hold Xia Yu"s hand but she evaded in time.

The three of them were led by the waitress to the booth. Xia Yu still walked behind them. The other two walked side by side and Yang Ke"er held Shen Yan"s arm naturally all the way.

At the staircase, they came across Old Madame, who was accompanied by Shen Mo and Zeng Mina.

"Here you are, Great Aunt." Yang Ke"er hurried up to her, jostled Zeng Mina aside and replaced her position. She held Old Madame"s arm and acted girly.

Zeng Mina was annoyed but she had to withhold her temper. She said in an indifferent tone, "Granny"s appet.i.te is not good these days. She heard the big boss of Ruyi Building came to S city so we came here for his cuisine."

"Why didn"t you tell me earlier? I"ve reserved a booth. Great Aunt, let me accompany you upstairs." Yang Ke"er said with a big smile.

"We"ve had a reservation, too." Zeng Mina was unhappy that Yang Ke"er intended to replace her and please granny.