Chapter 32 I want to discuss a big project with President Zhou, something more...
As Chen Ci was still admiring the view from the floor-to-ceiling window, the door to the president's office was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
She thought it was Zhou Shilin who had returned, but when she turned around, she saw Tian Xu walking in from outside.
"Oh, it's Assistant Tian," Chen Ci said with a regretful expression.
Tian Xu's lips twitched slightly as he carried a tray to the sofa: "The president is still in a meeting and specifically asked me to come and take a look."
Chen Ci immediately raised both hands to prove her innocence to Tian Xu: "I didn't touch anything, and I didn't see anything I shouldn't have!"
"..." Tian Xu placed the cake and fruit on the table, glanced at Chen Ci across from him, and said, "These are all from the company's break room. If you're bored, come and have something to eat."
"Wow, thank you so much, Assistant Tian. You're so kind." Chen Ci happily walked back to the sofa, looking at the food Tian Xu had brought. "As expected of Shijie's tea room, the standards are really high."
No wonder her friend used to post pictures of the food in Shijie's break room on her WeChat Moments.
Tian Xu didn't answer. He should have realized something was wrong when the president deliberately placed his phone on the table during the meeting today.
"You came here specifically to spy on me?" Chen Ci picked up a piece of cake, glanced at Tian Xu, and said, "Actually, when Secretary Liu asked me to wait for President Zhou here, I wondered, is the president's office something you can just walk into?"
"..." Tian Xu's lips twitched, and he couldn't help but say, "Going into the president's office is nothing. After all, you're someone who can see President Zhou whenever you want without an appointment."
Chen Ci, biting her fork, stared at Tian Xu and thought for a while: "Now that you mention it, it feels like I have a lot of privileges."
"..." You're only realizing this now?!
"However, it was Mr. Zhou who invited me to meet here today, so I don't need an appointment to see you."
"..." Tian Xu had vaguely heard Zhou Shilin mention that Chen Ci was going to give him something. For Chen Ci to deliver it personally and even arrange to meet in the office, it must be something very important: "Did you bring the thing for the president?"
"I brought it." Hearing his question, Chen Ci took out two carefully wrapped buttons from her bag and placed them on the table. "These are them."
"..." Tian Xu stared at the buttons on the table for two seconds. "That's it?"
Shen Ci was very dissatisfied with the disdain in his tone: "I asked President Zhou, and these buttons are very expensive!"
"...The president's things are indeed very expensive, but is it really necessary to deliver them personally?" Tian Xu asked sincerely. "Or what if you left them at the company and had someone else deliver them?"
Chen Ci said, "I won't be able to see President Zhou."
Tian Xu: "..."
oh. :)
He remembered the phone call Zhou Shilin made in the car that morning; these must be the two buttons that Chen Ci had torn off the president's clothes.
So what exactly is the relationship between their CEO and Shen Ci?
Where is Shen Feifei? Is she really Shen Ci's twin sister?
"Assistant Tian, it's perfect that you're here. I have some questions I'd like to ask you." Chen Ci ate a piece of cut fruit and looked at Tian Xu before speaking.
Tian Xu snapped out of his reverie and gave her a professional smile: "Please go ahead."
"Ahem." Chen Ci suddenly became inexplicably coy again. "Why don't you sit down and have something to eat?"
"No, thank you."
"Oh." Chen Ci picked up another piece of fruit, but this time she didn't eat it. "Mr. Zhou's birthday is coming up soon, and as a partner, our General Manager Wu would like to give him a birthday present. I wonder what Mr. Zhou usually likes to eat?"
It's quite common for business partners to give Zhou Shilin gifts, and Shen Ci wasn't the first person to ask Tian Xu about Zhou Shilin's preferences. Faced with Shen Ci's question, Tian Xu replied matter-of-factly, "He likes making money."
Chen Ci: "..."
Yes, that's a good hobby, and she likes it too.
She smiled at Tian Xu: "Besides making money? Or is there anything he's wanted lately?"
Tian Xu said, "The president has recently taken a liking to a property development."
Chen Ci: "..."
Mr. Wu's budget is probably insufficient.
"Actually, you can just give whatever you think is appropriate for these kinds of social exchanges. The president can buy whatever he wants himself, and he doesn't often use gifts from others."
“…Oh, I see.” Chen Ci thought for a moment, then asked Tian Xu, “I saw fishing gear in the office. Does President Zhou like fishing?”
While Chen Ci was admiring the scenery in the office, she noticed the fishing tackle. It looked like it was custom-made and very exquisite.
It perfectly matches Mr. Zhou's taste.
Hearing her say that, Tian Xu also glanced at the fishing rod: "It's not a matter of whether the president likes it or not. Some bosses like to go fishing when they meet people for business, it's more like a social skill. But our chairman really likes fishing. I was even lucky enough to eat fish that the chairman caught himself before."
"Oh, oh." Chen Ci nodded repeatedly, almost taking out a pen to take notes. The chairman of Shijie is Zhou Shilin's father. He's been around his father since he was little, so he must like him a bit.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door again. Chen Ci looked up at the door once more, and this time it was indeed Zhou Shilin who had returned.
"Hello, Mr. Zhou." Chen Ci immediately smiled and stood up from the sofa.
Zhou Shilin glanced at the smear of cream on the corner of her mouth, then walked to the sofa opposite her and sat down: "Is the seat of President Shijie comfortable?"
Tian Xu: "?"
Chen Ci laughed awkwardly twice and sat down next to Zhou Shilin: "I was just joking. Aren't you usually quite tech-savvy?"
Tian Xu: "??"
Is their CEO very tech-savvy?
He stood between Zhou Shilin and Shen Ci, looked at the two of them, and suddenly felt extremely superfluous: "President, if there are no other instructions, I'll go and get back to work."
"Mm." Zhou Shilin nodded, and Tian Xu left the office, closing the door behind him.
Suddenly, only Zhou Shilin and Shen Ci were left in the room. Memories of last night suddenly surged into Shen Ci's mind, making her feel uneasy.
"Um, Mr. Zhou, I brought you the buttons." She pushed the two buttons on the table next to Zhou Shilin. Zhou Shilin responded and said to her, "Just put them there."
"Okay." After replying with "okay," Chen Ci didn't know what else to say. Facing Zhou Shilin in person was definitely different from chatting with him on the phone. "Oh, by the way, Gouwa and the others told me today that the lawyer you hired is very capable and has solved all their problems."
"That's good. Can the restaurant reopen today?"
"Yes, they went to get new health certificates this morning."
"Yes, please make sure they remember to do the things I mentioned before."
"...Okay, Mr. Zhou." Sure enough, when people are around Mr. Zhou, they unconsciously want to work for him. :)
Zhou Shilin glanced at the half-eaten cake and fruit on the table and asked Chen Ci across from him, "Is there anything else you'd like to eat?"
"No, no, no." Chen Ci was afraid that if she ate any more, she would really want to stay and work at Shijie. "I have to go back to the company later. I have some things to take care of."
Zhou Shilin gave a barely perceptible smile, his eyes seemingly tinged with amusement as he looked at her: "Manager Chen is quite busy."
"Not bad, not bad." At this point, Chen Ci cleared her throat again, her back straightening up a bit more than before. "To be honest, I'm about to be promoted to director."
When Pupu Paradise was first established, it had very few employees and a small structure. Wu Junnan never imagined that he could grow the company to its current size. Now that the company has moved to a new building and has more and more employees, Wu Junnan has added several positions that didn't exist before and is preparing to promote Chen Ci's title to director.
Zhou Shilin raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at her, saying, "Then congratulations in advance, Director Shen."
His shout made Chen Ci a little embarrassed: "Thank you, but actually I've been holding several positions this past year, and I've been working as a director for a while now."
"But your salary will also increase if you get promoted."
“That’s true, hahaha.” Chen Ci laughed happily a few times, then her laughter stopped abruptly. “But I will still pay you back 10,000 every month.”
"……Um."
After a moment of silence, Chen Ci picked up her bag and stood up from the sofa: "Well then, I'll head back to the company first?"
Zhou Shilin seemed to be taken aback for a moment, then nodded: "Okay."
Chen Ci walked outside, but when she reached the door, she turned back to Zhou Shilin and said, "I forgot to mention earlier that Uncle Li and the others are very grateful to you. They wanted to ask when you'd be free so they could treat you to another crayfish meal."
Zhou Shilin looked at her and said, "I'll let you know when I'm free."
"Okay." Chen Ci smiled at him, opened the door and walked out.
Tian Xu breathed a sigh of relief as he watched her come out of the president's office. His president still had a schedule to attend, and he was afraid that if he went to remind him, he might see something he shouldn't.
"Miss Chen, are you leaving?" Secretary Liu asked with a smile as she saw her come out. "Would you like me to see you downstairs?"
"No need, I can go down by myself." Chen Ci smiled and politely declined her offer, then took the elevator downstairs by herself.
After she left, Secretary Liu couldn't help but ask Tian Xu, "What exactly is the relationship between this Miss Shen and the president? Last time she came, you said she was signing a contract with the president, but I didn't see you prepare any contract this time."
“…The president left something with her, so she came to return it to him.” After Tian Xu finished speaking, he didn’t forget to remind everyone, “Don’t overthink it.”
Secretary Liu: "..."
But after you say that, it's even easier for people to overthink things.
When Chen Ci returned to the company, she was summoned to Wu Junnan's office. Wu Junnan, sitting in his executive chair, looked at her and asked, "Have you finalized any new collaborations with Shijie?"
Chen Ci, sitting opposite him, blinked and said, "Mr. Wu, do you know? Mr. Zhou's office is five times the size of yours."
Wu Junnan: "..."
Who asked you? :)
"Judging from what you're saying, you even went into President Zhou's office?" Wu Junnan smiled at her. "You talked directly with President Zhou, so it must be a big project."
"..." Well, she also wanted to discuss a big project with President Zhou, like dating or something.
"I see. This cooperation can't be finalized in one go, but my trip today wasn't entirely fruitless."
"Oh." Wu Junnan adopted an attentive listening posture. "What did you find?"
“I’ve noticed that Mr. Zhou might enjoy fishing. How about we cater to his interests and gift him a high-end fishing tackle set?” Chen Ci suggested. “You also enjoy fishing, so you must know a lot about it, right?”
Wu Junnan thought about it and realized that it was indeed feasible: "If President Zhou is fishing, he will definitely have his own suitable fishing gear. He may not use the ones we give him."
Chen Ci thought of the custom-made fishing tackle he kept in his office, and it was indeed hard to find anything better than the one they gave him: "Then let's give him a completely unusable fishing tackle instead."
Wu Junnan paused for a moment, looking at her with some surprise: "That's a good idea, and you're quite knowledgeable about this stuff."
A fishing rod specifically for collecting would be a perfect gift for Mr. Zhou.
"I'll buy it myself, and you can deliver it to Mr. Zhou later."
"I have no problem with that, but are you really not going to meet with President Zhou yourself?"
Wu Junnan smiled at her and said, "I think between you and me, President Zhou probably doesn't want to see me."
"..." What, even President Wu noticed President Zhou's favoritism?
The company had already decided on a birthday gift for Zhou Shilin, but Chen Ci also planned to give him a personal gift. Remembering the cedar scent she smelled on Zhou Shilin last night… Chen Ci decided to give him a bottle of perfume.
While I was snuggled in bed at night searching for perfume reviews, I received a message from Zhou Shilin: "Are you asleep?"
Chenci: Not yet [dog head with rose in mouth]
Zhou Shilin: Hmm, you look quite energetic.
Chen Ci: Mr. Zhou, you didn't call me so late just to praise me, did you? [shy]
Zhou Shilin: ...I've been quite busy this week, I probably only have time to eat crayfish on the weekend.
Chen Ci: No problem, I'll have them reserve seats in advance.
Zhou Shilin: Okay, that's all then, goodnight.
Chenci: [Goodnight, my friend.jpg]
After sending Zhou Shilin an old-fashioned emoji, Chen Ci opened her phone calendar and realized that this weekend was the 24th, which happened to be Zhou Shilin's birthday.
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