clingy

"Chen Peiyuan, do you know what you look like right now?"

"What"

Chen Peiyuan was confused by your question. "What am I like right now? Why did this question suddenly pop up?" He stared at you blankly without saying a word.

"It's nothing. I think I should go to the study. Please make yourself at home, Young Master Chen."

You suddenly don't want to talk anymore. You think that if you do, he will be even more smug. As his arch-enemy, you won't let him have his way.

After all, it's best if only you know the truth about the adorable little dog Chen.

Chen Peiyuan watched in astonishment as you got up, and the conversation ended abruptly. Seeing that you were really heading to the study and didn't intend to continue the conversation, he became anxious and quickly stood up to follow you, muttering that you should clarify what you had just said.

You smiled and gave him vague answers as you entered the study, and he followed you in.

Someone put a handle to the door, and the door began to move slowly. The two figures inside the room gradually narrowed until, with a click, the dark brown door closed tightly, until not a sound could be heard.

The sunlight in the living room lengthens and hangs quietly as time goes by.

-

In the company's break room, two or three people huddled together.

"Have you heard? Assistant Li, who was always by President Chen's side, has stepped down."

A woman in purple overalls leaning against the coffee machine spoke up. She was Li Xiang from the customer service department. She and a few other people in the company would often hide in the break room to chat and gossip. Today, during a break, she went to the break room to make coffee and unexpectedly ran into two other women who were also there to make tea and coffee.

The hottest gossip recently is about Assistant Lee, who is about to leave his post. He has been coming to the company much less often lately, which has attracted the attention of others.

"What do you mean by stepping down? He's been transferred. I heard he's been transferred to work at a subsidiary." Xu Meng, dressed in a black and white suit, who was stirring her coffee with a cup next to Li Xiang, spoke up. As a colleague of Li Xiang's assistant in the secretariat, she naturally knew more accurately.

"Ah, isn't this the legendary demotion?" Mo Lizhi, who came last to get water, asked her two older sisters in surprise. She was wearing a cute cartoon dog T-shirt and dark jeans. As a graduate who had been with the company for less than a year, she was the youngest of the three and naturally knew less than the other two. She often heard shocking news like a newbie. This was quite an impact on a recent graduate. Even though she had been there for a while, working in the busy design department and getting a headache from looking at the endless design drawings every day, she naturally had no interest in gossip. It was only recently that the company's business had entered a slow period, which gave her a chance to catch her breath and slack off.

"That's right. But I heard that Assistant Li's hospitalization and leave of absence seemed to have other reasons. At first, President Chen didn't know, but he found out later from Wu Cheng. You know Wu Cheng, he can't keep a secret. Wu Cheng said that when President Chen heard the news that Assistant Li was hospitalized, he seemed unaware, which didn't seem fake. Then suddenly his expression turned sour and dark, and he looked at him in a scary way. Maybe this made President Chen angry."

As she spoke, Li Xiang took a sip of the coffee she had just brewed and let out a comfortable sigh. Chatting was her favorite thing about being a customer service representative, especially since Wu Cheng had a crush on one of the younger women in their department and was always visiting them. He always shared his news with them first. He even patted his chest, still shaken by the memory of what he had just witnessed, saying, "Luckily I didn't get angry at him, otherwise you wouldn't be seeing him today." Wu Cheng's exaggerated words made them burst into laughter.

"You got angry over that? I think President Chen seems quite approachable, not like someone who gets angry easily." Mo Lizhi had just torn off the label from the tea bag and thrown it into the steaming water bottle. The tea bag sank with a gurgling sound. She recalled the times she had met President Chen before. Although he seemed cold, he would greet her several times and she would greet him back. Although he didn't smile, she noticed the slight upturn of his lips and dimples on his beautiful face. She inexplicably felt that President Chen wasn't as cold and heartless as everyone said. Every time she saw President Chen, she would blush and her heart would race. It was just that President Chen was so handsome.

Hearing Xiao Zi say this, Li Xiang and Xu Meng exchanged a glance, a knowing look and amusement flashing in their eyes.

"Xiao Zi, this isn't my opinion. You can ask Wu Cheng to find out. But Xiao Zi, you're so eager to say nice things to President Chen. You wouldn't happen to be President Chen's dream girl, would you?" Li Xiang said with a laugh, winking at Xiao Zi as she finished the sentence.

Mo Lizhi's face turned red as if her secret had been exposed. She quickly denied it to cover up the truth, but her two older sisters were not going to let her off so easily. Their teasing grew louder and louder, and Mo Lizhi, seeing that she could not hold back, simply started to act shamelessly.

The three were fooling around in the tea room, completely unaware that a figure had quietly left outside the door.

You left the break room without batting an eye after hearing the whole thing, so it seems no one knows the real reason Assistant Li left. That's good for you guys.

You couldn't help but glance back at the break room again. The three people were probably still chatting and laughing inside. You sighed once more at how magical the break room was. Every time you passed by, you would hear what you wanted to hear. Every time, it was the same three employees talking. You didn't know if this coincidence was good or bad for you or for them.

but,

What did you mean by the "dream woman" I just mentioned?

Why do children react so strongly when this word is mentioned?

You pondered, could it be a bad word?

You asked the question without thinking, but unfortunately the person you asked was Chen Peiyuan.

Chen Peiyuan was stunned for a moment when he heard the word come out of your mouth, and then he burst into laughter, clutching his stomach.

After you've laughed enough, wipe away the non-existent tears from the corners of your eyes and ask where you heard that word.

As you watched him laugh at you, you already regretted asking him that question. Damn it, wasn't that just exposing your weakness to the enemy?

You bit the soft flesh in your mouth, remaining silent for a moment, trying to decide whether you could trust him.

Seeing that you were squinting at him, seemingly considering whether to tell him or not, Chen Peiyuan quickly raised three fingers as if to swear, indicating that his trust level was absolutely high.

"I overheard an employee in the break room saying that another young woman was my dream girl, and that young woman suddenly reacted very strongly."

You concealed what you had heard earlier and only briefly mentioned what you heard about the topic.

You recall that scene again. You remember the casually dressed young female employee; you'd seen her several times and she'd always greet you with a smile, her vibrant energy effectively dispelling the mental strain of work. That day, her face suddenly turned a deep red, like a tomato. To anyone with eyes to see, something was amiss, but the expressions of the other two employees didn't seem mocking; it looked like a normal, playful scene, which only added to your confusion.

Chen Peiyuan rested his chin on his hand, pretending to think while secretly glancing at you. Unexpectedly, Lanlan didn't use any internet slang or trending terms. Seeing you struggling with the words made him itch to join in. Lanlan is so cute like this.

You didn't notice his subtle movements. Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, you assumed he didn't know the meaning of the word either. It seems it really isn't a good word. You sighed slightly.

More than a week has passed since that incident. When Assistant Li's leg injury was about 70-80% healed, you transferred him to a subsidiary in the next city. On the surface, it was a transfer, but in reality, it was a demotion. You can still remember the look of astonishment on Assistant Li's face when he heard the news that day. You sat on the sofa, took the documents he handed you, flipped through a few pages, and threw them aside. You crossed your hands on the table and looked at Assistant Li, who was looking very surprised.

"What? What did you say, Mr. Chen?" Assistant Li seemed not to have heard clearly, or perhaps he was still reeling from the shock of the news. He wanted to hear it again.

"Repeat it? Assistant Li, I'm transferring you to N City to start as a clerk. Are you willing? You can choose not to go. If you don't go, you can stay by my side as my assistant, but that means you'll only ever be an assistant for the rest of your life. If you go, to be honest, I don't know what will happen in the end. Everything depends on yourself. You know this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Think it over and tell me. Time waits for no one."

You've been thinking about this for a long time, and you feel that you can't waste such a talented person like him. You also know that Assistant Li won't be content to just struggle in this position. Coincidentally, a position became vacant during a personnel reshuffle a while ago, so you decided to send Assistant Li there to gain some experience, hoping that he wouldn't let you down.

Assistant Li lowered his head, pursing his lips as if he wanted to say something but ultimately didn't. When he raised his head, only a resolute expression remained on his face. He nodded firmly and said that he was willing to go.

If you smile, you'll know he'll go.

Upon hearing this, Chen Peiyuan merely raised an eyebrow slightly, remaining silent.

"Lanlan, it's time to get off work. Let's go home first. It's getting dark, and it's not safe." Chen Peiyuan took your bag from the table and stood beside you, urging you to leave work.

You're packing your things. Chen Peiyuan is really annoying. Ever since he lent you his car, he's been clinging to you like a leech. He waits for you to enter the office before leaving for get off work, and he squats in the office an hour early to wait for you to leave. You've asked him many times if he doesn't have to work, and he just says he's already finished his work. There's just no way to deal with him.

Just as you stepped out of the company door, you saw the three female employees you had seen in the break room earlier. They seemed to be leaving get off work together and were standing in front of the elevator waiting.

You recall that dream woman's words again, and you purse your lips, standing still, inexplicably unwilling to go over.

Chen Peiyuan was following behind you when you suddenly stopped and almost bumped into you. He walked around you wondering why you had stopped, but then he noticed that your expression seemed a bit off. He saw that you were looking ahead and, following your gaze, he naturally saw the three of you. He looked back and forth between you two or three times, and then suddenly seemed to understand what was going on.

"Lanlan, is it them?" Chen Peiyuan suddenly leaned close to your ear and whispered.

You felt the heat from his breath on your ear and unconsciously moved away from Chen Peiyuan. Chen Peiyuan, as if he couldn't see you, came closer again and asked once more. You quickly pushed him away and nodded.

The three people in the elevator seemed to hear your voices and immediately fell silent. It was the first time they had ever seen the two Mr. Chens walking together.

Seeing this, you guessed that they knew you were behind you, so you pretended not to know and walked up to them and stood not far away, with Chen Peiyuan following closely behind.

They glanced furtively in your direction, only to meet Chen Peiyuan's smiling gaze, which startled them so much that they immediately looked away.

Upon seeing this, Chen Peiyuan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, touch his nose, and whisper something in your ear.

"Lanlan, your employees seem so timid."

You glared at him and said, "Then how dare you do this?"

"Hehe, isn't this just for fun?"

Seeing that you weren't paying attention to him, Chen Peiyuan looked elsewhere. His eyes darted around and he saw a young girl among the three staring intently at Lanlan, her face slightly flushed, looking like she wanted to greet her but didn't dare.

He thought he might know which one was the legendary little girl Lanlan dreamed of.

"Lanlan, little Dream Girl is secretly watching you."

You reflexively look over there.