Today's dinner was organized by Liang Tao. He has a project he wants to discuss with Shen Du about cooperation.

After Shen Du and Shu Yang finished exchanging pleasantries, Liang Tao smiled and said a few words before getting down to business.

Hearing the two start talking about work, Xie Yao listened attentively. The others, who were all employees, also listened quietly to their conversation, except for Shu Yang, whose gaze fell on Xie Yao beside her, lost in thought.

Recently, there have been more and more rumors about Shen Du and his secretary Xie Yao, so many that Shu Yang can't concentrate on filming. She finally found an opportunity to have a meal together, and she immediately left the whole crew to come here, but it wasn't just for this meal.

Seeing the waiter bring in the food, she smiled and looked at Xie Yao, who was focused on her work.

The waiter placed the dishes one by one on the turntable. Shu Yang casually turned the plate on the table, ladled a bowl of white fungus soup and placed it aside, put the spoon back on the turntable, leaving half of the spoon handle sticking out.

"It is a great honor for Senlai that this project has received Mr. Shen's support. I would like to raise a glass to Mr. Shen."

After saying that, Liang Tao ignored Chen Du's reaction and drank the wine in his glass.

Chen Du nodded, drank the tea in his cup, and Liang Tao smiled without saying anything. He then busied himself urging everyone to eat.

The lazy Susan on the dining table started spinning rapidly, and the spoon handle hooked a cup of silver ear fungus, which rolled towards Xie Yao with a thud.

A series of ping-pong sounds came from the table. Xie Yao tried to dodge, but in the end, she couldn't avoid the cup of white fungus that rolled over.

"Hiss..." Xie Yao couldn't help but make a sound as the scalding, thick white fungus soup was poured over her.

"What's wrong?" Everyone looked over, and the Senlai employee next to Xie Yao hurriedly handed her a piece of paper.

Shen Du also looked over upon hearing the sound and asked, "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

Xie Yao lowered her head to wipe the sticky white fungus off her skirt. Suddenly, a great sense of grievance welled up in her heart. She stood up and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Shen, I'll go downstairs to deal with this first."

Seeing that the soup stains on her legs were still steaming, Chen Du frowned slightly and asked, "Did you get burned? I'll have Xiao Chen take you to the hospital."

Xie Yao simply shook her head, lifted her skirt, turned around, and went out.

Shu Yang curled the corners of her lips and reached out to pull Chen Du's arm, saying, "Alright, Du, this white fungus isn't hot. I just tested it. She's a girl, and she'd be embarrassed if she got her clothes dirty, so don't ask."

Shen Du quietly moved his arm away, picked up his phone, and sent a message to Xiao Chen.

Shu Yang's eyes darkened slightly, as if she hadn't noticed his deliberate gesture, and she smiled as she said, "Now that we've finished talking about work, can we have a proper meal?"

Unexpectedly, Shen Du suddenly stood up and said to Liang Tao, "Since we've finished discussing work, Mr. Liang, let's call it a day. I have something to attend to and will be leaving now."

"President Shen..."

He tried to persuade him to stay, but Shen Du had already strode away.

"Adu!" Upon seeing this, Shu Yang's expression changed drastically. He got up and chased after Shen Du, but before he could catch up with Shen Du, the door to the private room bounced back and closed automatically after Shen Du left.

The private room fell silent for a moment. The employees of Senlai exchanged glances but did not speak.

In the deathly silence, Liang Tao slowly said, "Shu Yang, come back for dinner first? This restaurant..."

Before he finished speaking, the door to the private room opened and closed again, and Shu Yang left.

Someone asked in a low voice, "Mr. Liang, is it alright for President Shen to just leave like this?"

Liang Tao smiled indifferently: "What is it? President Shen isn't the kind of person who holds grudges. If we were to hold grudges, it wouldn't be us."

"Then Sister Shuyang..."

Liang Tao twitched the corners of his mouth, a half-smile on his face, and said, "If she doesn't want to eat, then she doesn't have to."

Meanwhile, in Chen Du's car, he looked at Xie Yao, who was bowing her head and remaining silent, and asked, "Is the burn very bad?"

Xie Yao simply shook her head and said, "It's not serious."

Realizing that something was wrong with her, Shen Du's expression darkened slightly, and he didn't say anything more.

Shu Yang's appearance at the dinner party was unexpected, which is why he brought Xie Yao along. Who knew Shu Yang would be so audacious, daring to bully people like this right under his nose? It was because he was too lenient that Shu Yang became increasingly outrageous.

Over the years, he had vaguely sensed Shu Yang's feelings for him, but considering their long-standing relationship, he was unwilling to make things too ugly and difficult to resolve. He simply ignored Shu Yang's subtle probing, but he did not expect that she not only did not understand his meaning, but even began to target Xie Yao.

He had thought he had misunderstood her before, but he never expected that she would dare to go so far right under his nose today.

"It won't happen again," Shen Du said softly.

Xie Yao was stunned, almost thinking she had misheard. She turned her head and met his deep, dark eyes.

The bustling traffic outside the car window passed by Shen Du one by one, his handsome face seemed to be frozen in that moment, and Xie Yao felt a slight ripple in her heart.

"We've arrived at the hospital." Xiao Chen's voice came, and Xie Yao suddenly came back to her senses, the dazed look in her eyes completely gone.

Xiao Chen took Xie Yao into the hospital. Chen Du leaned back in his chair, pinched the bridge of his nose with slight fatigue, and then picked up his phone to make a call.

"Mr. Chen, the progress of 'The Psychologist' can't be delayed any longer."

"If she has any opinions, let her come to me."

"Um."

After hanging up the phone, Shen Du was about to close his eyes and rest when two messages popped up on WeChat. Yan Xu had sent two videos.

Chen Du hesitated for a moment, but still clicked on one of them. In the video, a fair-skinned little boy was sitting on the carpet, intently watching a TV series. Noticing the camera, he turned around and looked at it, his eyes slightly narrowed with a smile: "Auntie, do you want to come and watch with me?"

Her voice was so sweet and gentle, it was unbelievably well-behaved.

Shen Du thought to himself, "Is this his child? Ye Zhao has indeed raised him very well."

Looking into those clear, innocent eyes in the video, Shen Du's expression shifted slightly, and a smile unconsciously crept onto his lips.

In the second video, the little girl is sitting on the sofa, eating her meal obediently. Judging from the background, it should be a restaurant.

Suddenly, an adult next to him leaned closer and whispered something. The little boy looked up, searched around, and then suddenly shouted at a certain spot, "Uncle, my aunt said you're so handsome!"

As soon as he finished speaking, an adult's hand frantically tried to cover his mouth, but he calmly dodged and said, "It's okay, Auntie. My mom says you have to be brave."

Shen Du couldn't help but smile. Yan Xu was right; Ye Zhao really took good care of him.

Thinking about the question Yan Xu asked him today, Shen Du's emotions were somewhat complicated.

He didn't go to see the child not only because he didn't want to disturb Ye Zhao's peace, but also because he felt guilty and didn't know how to face him.