It was 10 a.m. in the office.

Xue Xiaodie was drawing, and she was quite engrossed in it. She was wearing headphones, blocking out all external noise, and was simply sketching the image in her mind with a digital pen.

Every line required repeated revisions. She would draw it, erase it, draw it again, erase it again... until she achieved the effect she was most satisfied with.

Therefore, for every stroke drawn, there are many lines behind it that have been erased.

So the girl naturally couldn't see that Lu Zhe, who was sitting next to her, was leaning back in his chair, silently watching her.

Lu Zhe stared at her for a short while before standing up and walking towards the bathroom.

To outsiders, it was just a simple matter of going to the toilet.

But he didn't go into the restroom; instead, he walked towards the elevator at the back door.

Lu Zhe hadn't forgotten that Tang Qi was still in that hotel room, waiting for him to carry her home. Neither the hotel nor her home was far from the company. All he needed to do was go into the hotel, carry or help her out, take a taxi, drop her off at her apartment building, help or carry her into the elevator, go upstairs, and take her to her door. That would be all.

If you move a little faster, you should be able to finish it in about half an hour.

It should be possible...

But even at the very first step, Lu Zhe encountered a small problem.

Before he even reached the elevator, he saw a man emerge from the stairwell—his direct superior, Mao Kai, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

Mao Kai scratched his head and asked, "Where are you going?"

Lu Zhe had a sudden inspiration: "I'll go downstairs and buy a drink."

Logically speaking, this excuse was perfect. Buying a drink was a perfectly normal thing to do, and the company's rules and regulations certainly wouldn't care. Once he was downstairs, who could track him down? Of course, the slightly longer absence was a potential problem, but Lu Zhe knew that the company's management was relatively humane and wouldn't hold a grudge over those half an hour.

Logically, that should be the case...

However, Mao Kai stubbed out his cigarette and said, "Then I'll go down with you. I've finished my cigarette, I'll buy another pack."

Lu Zhe: "?"

Seeing that he seemed a little dazed, Mao Kai asked, "Is there a problem?"

Lu Zhe slowly shook his head: "No problem."

No problem, but a big problem – my boss will definitely go straight home after buying cigarettes, so what am I supposed to do? Stay in the store and refuse to leave? Is that even possible?

The two took the elevator downstairs to the convenience store.

Mao Kai went straight to the cashier, pointed to the row of shelves marked "No Minors Allowed," and said, "Give me a pack of Marlboro... not that one, but the Black Ice Burst Beads over there."

Lu Zhe asked from the side, "Cigarettes also have flavor capsules?"

Mao Kai: "Of course, it's so refreshing to smoke a menthol capsule. It has a minty flavor, which is especially cool and invigorating."

Lu Zhe: "Kai, are you sleepy?"

Mao Kai: "I went to bed at 2 a.m. last night, so of course I was sleepy."

Lu Zhe laughed and said, "What are you doing so late at night?"

Mao Kai: "I didn't play much. After get off work, I just took care of the kids and stuff... After the kids fell asleep, I turned on the computer and played Total War for a little while, just a short time."

Lu Zhe: "Raising children is hard work."

Mao Kai: "You'll know when you get married. Hey, what time did you go to sleep last night?"

Lu Zhe thought for a moment and said, "It's about the same as yours, maybe a little earlier, around 1 a.m.

Mao Kai asked with a smile, "Do you play games too?"

Lu Zhe: "Yes, it's kind of a visual novel."

"The kind where you date pretty girls?" Mao Kai raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize you were such a homebody!"

Lu Zhe smiled and said, "I have a wide range of interests and hobbies, and I enjoy playing around with a wide variety of things."

Mao Kai: "What do you mean by having a wide range of tastes? You mean you accept everything from lolis to mature women?"

Before he finished speaking, Lu Zhe's smile froze for a moment, but he quickly recovered.

While the two chatted, the shop assistant had already handed Mao Kai the cigarettes he wanted. After Mao Kai paid, he noticed that Lu Zhe was still empty-handed, so he naturally asked a question:

"Didn't you want to buy a drink?"

Lu Zhe scratched his head, looking embarrassed: "Yeah, but I'm having trouble making decisions right now, I don't know which one to choose."

Mao Kai chuckled and said, "What's so difficult about that? Just choose whatever you want to drink!"

Lu Zhe: "I just don't know what I want to drink."

Mao Kai: "Mineral water?"

Lu Zhe: "That's too bland and tasteless. Besides, there's a water dispenser in the company. I came down specifically because I didn't want to drink plain water."

Mao Kai: "Cola?"

Lu Zhe: "Carbonated drinks aren't good for your health."

Mao Kai: "Green tea?"

Lu Zhe: "It's possible, but I don't really feel like drinking this..."

Mao Kai pointed at him and laughed, "What you just said was so manipulative, you know? How come I never noticed you had this potential before?"

Lu Zhe smiled, but a hint of helplessness flashed in his eyes.

He's not picky about drinks, whether it's cola, green tea, or even plain water.

The problem is, he originally wanted to use the excuse of having a hard time making a decision to get his boss to go back to the office first so he could sneak away. But then, on second thought, he realized that this excuse was really terrible.

If you use an excuse like "let me stay here a little longer," it will definitely attract your boss's attention. If they return to the office and find you're late, that would be highly suspicious.

So he took a bottle of yogurt.

There's a reason I chose yogurt, of course. I can use the excuse that 'this yogurt seems to help with bowel movements' to go to the bathroom, then find a chance to sneak out and go find Tang Qi.

When Mao Kai saw the drink he had chosen, he laughed and said, "So you want to drink milk!"

Lu Zhe: "..."

He suddenly realized that his boss's mouth did seem to have a slight problem. For some reason, Mao Kai always seemed to have a knack for hitting the sore spot when he spoke.

————

Lu Zhe and Mao Kai returned to their workstations together.

After sitting down, Lu Zhe inserted a straw and took a sip when he noticed that the girl at the next workstation had taken off her headphones.

Xue Xiaodie took off her headphones and stretched out a long yawn—she was still wearing a JK skirt today, and the top was rather thin, so when she stretched, her youthful and beautiful curves were naturally revealed.

It's not revealing, but it looks great.

After stretching, Xue Xiaodie turned slightly to look at him and asked, "Since Xiaocaitang isn't here, what are we having for lunch?"

To be honest, he could only say that he really hadn't thought about it.

After all, all he could think about now was how to slip away quietly.

So Lu Zhe asked in return, "What would you like to eat?"

Xue Xiaodie smiled and said, "Anything you like to eat is fine."

Lu Zhe paused for a moment, then touched the tip of his nose. Thinking of the young, legally-owned loli-like lady waiting for him at the hotel, and then looking at the beautiful young woman before him, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

————