Chapter 1: Heartbeat Start Critical Hit
Text/Hazel
2025/6/16 unique
"My heart is beating for you." - Heartbeat Echo
——
"Have you heard? Our company's top executive is having an affair with our secretary, and she's pregnant. They're coming to the company to cause trouble."
"Who told you that? There are only two female secretaries in the CEO's office. I saw Secretary Wen walking hurriedly this morning."
"Of course it couldn't be Secretary Wen! Secretary Wen is a humble and gentle person, how could she do such a shady thing? I'm talking about Chen Rongrong."
"Is it her? She seems easy to get along with on weekdays, why is she so dishonest?"
"Why don't you say that the top brass is dishonest and seduces others even though they have a family."
In mid-July, the sun is high in the sky.
It's not just the cicadas in the trees that are suffering from the unbearable heat.
The sudden surge in temperature seemed to have caught everyone off guard. Amidst the scorching heat, adequate central air conditioning became a vital source of survival for everyone.
It also became the culprit of Wenhuai rhinitis.
After another sneeze, Dong Chen's phone on the other side rang.
During lunch break, the empty office was filled with the sound of bells. Wen Huai remembered that five minutes ago, Dong Chen had rushed to the bathroom for the third time and hadn't come out yet.
Before leaving, he asked me to answer any takeout calls that came in.
"Hey, I left your takeaway at the front desk, please come and pick it up!"
After hanging up the call, Wen Huai put down his phone and walked towards the elevator.
The three girls at the front desk gathered together. When they saw her coming, they fell silent. One of them said, "Secretary Wen, here to pick up the takeout?"
Wen Huai nodded, a faint smile between his eyebrows, "Have you eaten?"
"Yeah, I've been so bored at work lately that I took the takeout while I was slacking off."
Everyone was stunned, and the atmosphere at the front desk was weird.
At the Peak Group where Wen Huai worked, the chairman had been hospitalized for a week due to a heart attack, leaving General Manager Sui at the helm. However, General Manager Sui hadn't been in the office for three days, and the pile of documents requiring signature on her desk was half a person's height.
If the boss is like this, what about the employees?
The man realized who he was talking to and shut up.
She told the chairman's secretary that she was slacking off during work hours and really didn't want to work anymore!
Wen Huai didn't take it seriously, and gave a soothing smile to the girl who blamed herself for her wrong words: "It's okay to take a proper rest after finishing the work. Next time, remember not to say it out loud. If your boss hears it, it will mean something else."
The implication was that she was not her leader and that was all she had to say.
The girl immediately showed an expression of gratitude and squeezed the hand of the person next to her. The two looked at each other with envy in their eyes.
When it comes to bosses' secretaries, the most common and least noteworthy thing is their boldness and beauty. But Wen Huai is different from them. She has her own unique gentleness and beauty.
She was wearing a grey suit petticoat today. The thin black belt around her waist outlined her slender waist. Her long dark brown curly hair fell neatly on her shoulders. The pair of plump pearls on her small earlobes made her look simple and eye-catching. One could see the smile in her bright and curved eyes at a glance.
Apart from the unusual redness on the fair skin on her nose, she was outstanding.
The man's tone became much more lively: "Secretary Wen, you are a very nice person, unlike the other person in your president's office-"
Her companion squeezed her hand and signaled her not to say anything.
Wen Huai saw their little movements, but still smiled: "What?"
Her phone happened to vibrate with an incoming call, giving them a way out. Seeing this, the other person quickly took the opportunity to say goodbye: "It's okay, it's okay. She's dizzy and started talking nonsense. Secretary Wen, we'll get back to work now. See you next time!"
"See you next time."
I exchanged a smile with the receptionist, who reminded me, "The takeaway is in the takeaway cabinet, Secretary Wen."
"Thanks."
Wen Huai didn't know what the girl was hesitant to say, but the President's Office was naturally isolated from other departments of the company. She knew they had a small group that excluded company executives and also included people from the President's Office.
That is a special group for them to discuss company gossip or complain.
The phone was still vibrating, touching the note. Wen Huai rubbed his nose and walked to the other side to answer it.
"Xiao Ai, it's grandma." The charming Jiangnan accent reveals the host's calmness and elegance.
"I know, grandma. Good afternoon."
"Why are you still so polite to grandma?" The person on the other end was laughing, but then he seemed to realize something was wrong and stopped smiling. "Xiao Ai, why is your voice so nasal? Do you have a cold?"
"I don't have a cold. It might be because I've been in the air-conditioned room for too long, so my nose is a little stuffy."
"Is it rhinitis? Oh, this is a chronic disease. Have you taken the medicine? You can't delay it."
Feeling genuine concern, Wen Huai smiled.
She had had rhinitis since she was a child, and it would get worse when exposed to cold air or catkins. No matter how many herbal remedies she took, it wouldn't get better. But she didn't explain and agreed, "Grandma, don't worry, I ate it."
"How can I not worry? You said your father is gone and your mother is not here. Why don't you move to the old house? Or moving to your and Ajing's wedding house would be a good idea too. At least there will be more people to take care of you, don't you think?"
Wen Huai's heart skipped a beat when Xu Youjing's name was suddenly mentioned.
This was the first time she heard her husband's name from someone else in the month after they got married.
Mrs. Xu thought she was embarrassed and comforted her, "I really shouldn't have told you this. It's all because Ajing was busy with work and neglected it. Wait until next week, when it's Grandma's birthday, and I'll ask Ajing to come pick you up and take you home!"
"Grandma, there's no need to be so..." troublesome.
Wen Huai moved to the side when he caught a glimpse of someone approaching him.
She and Xu Youjing only got the marriage certificate; she didn't even have his contact information. His attitude was clear, and Wen Huai didn't want to make things awkward for him, so he simply said, "I'm so sorry, Grandma. The company arranged for me to go on a business trip on your birthday. I've already bought the gift and will have someone deliver it to the old house. Although I can't be there, I sincerely wish you good health and a long life."
“…”
After hanging up the phone, Wen Huai stood by the takeaway counter in a daze, not knowing what kind of mood he was in when he said what he had just said.
The Xu family had been very kind to her, and after her father passed away, Madam Xu had taken great care of her. For a single-parent family like hers, being able to be associated with one of the most powerful families in the North City was a godsend, so there was no reason to refuse.
But Wen Huai could not face this kindness equally because she really liked Xu Youjing.
She knew that he didn't like her, and she was even more afraid that her feelings would be exposed, which would completely restrict his freedom.
Instead of forcing someone to stay by your side in the name of love, it is better to hide this feeling and wait for the right time to part ways. It will be better for everyone.
"Excuse me." Someone tapped his shoulder lightly. Wen Huai turned around and saw a pair of bright eyes. She reminded him, "Are you feeling unwell?"
After Wen Huai realized that she had misunderstood, he explained that he was distracted and thanked her.
The girl behind him said, "Sister, you look good. Let me introduce myself. I just joined the technical department last month. My name is Jiang Xuechao."
"Hello, I'm Wen Huai from the President's Office."
Jiang Xuechao's beautiful eyes widened. "Are you from the CEO's office? Then you must know the person causing trouble at the door, right? I heard she used to work in your department."
"Working in our department?"
"Yes, he was just there. He said he was going to find the chairman to report that the company's top management got her pregnant and abandoned his wife and children."
Wen Huai frowned and was about to leave, but was caught by her.
"Don't go. They've all dispersed. They must have been chased away by the security. Don't you see so many people coming in and out of the elevator now? Most of them are people who came upstairs after watching the excitement."
...
Wen Huai returned to the office and placed the takeaway on Dong Chen's desk. She glanced at the empty seat next to her, found Chen Rongrong, and sent her a WeChat message, but received no reply.
Dong Chen walked over, holding his stomach, and almost cried when he saw the takeaway. "Sister Wen, why did you bring it back for me? I'm so touched."
"It's just a simple thing." Wen Huai saw that his face looked very bad, "Are you okay?"
"It's okay, I'm dehydrated from the air conditioning." He took out a cold drink and handed it to Wen Huai. "I was so exhausted that I didn't even have the energy to take my phone to the bathroom."
"I ordered something cold even though I have a bad stomach."
"It's okay, fighting fire with fire."
Wen Huai took out his usual medicine and gave it to him, and asked, "Do you know where Chen Rongrong has been these days?"
Dong Chen shook his head: "Didn't the HR department say she asked for leave? It seems she has gastroenteritis. This disease is very popular recently. Sister Wen, you should be careful too."
She thanked him and didn't ask any more questions.
18:00
Peak Group gets off work on time.
Wen Huai followed the crowd out of the elevator. She didn't drive today because of the license plate restrictions. Looking at the sea of people, she guessed how hard it would be to get a taxi later, so she prepared to walk to the snack street to buy dinner and turned around to the other side.
Before she had taken two steps, the crowd in front of her blocked the intersection. Wen Huai was about to take a detour, but someone said, "The troublemaker from this morning is here again," forcing her to stop.
She pushed through the crowd and saw a slender figure kneeling on the ground.
If it’s not Chen Rongrong, then who else could it be?
Chen Rongrong had already noticed Wen Huai, her cries choking on her. Before she could stand up and walk over, a woman suddenly rushed out from the crowd, grabbed Chen Rongrong by the hair, and pulled her so hard that she staggered.
"You bitch, I'll let you make trouble!"
She was holding a thermos, but her grip seemed to be slipping and she tried to open it several times without success. Wen Huai had intended to pull Chen Rongrong away, but he saw from the corner of his eye that the woman had already unscrewed the lid. He instinctively tried to pull her, but a force pulled his arm away first.
Before she could even look, the next second, her hair, back, neck, and forehead were all wet with cold liquid, and the unpleasant smell of paint cleared her nose.
-
"It's still so hot at night!"
The car door was opened, a brief flash of heat passed by, and the man in the back seat looked up lazily.
He leaned against a cushion, his legs casually crossed, causing his neatly tailored trousers to droop. The wrinkles caused by his movement didn't detract from the fine craftsmanship of his suit. His matching jacket was discarded, and the collar of his custom-made, deep black Brioni shirt was slightly open, revealing the cool white skin beneath.
He seemed a little tired, his deep eyebrows were hidden in the shadow of his forehead, and his long eyelashes covered the color of his pupils, showing his coldness.
"Thank you for waiting for me, Young Master Xu. Here, this is a welcoming gift for you." Xi Guan handed over the exquisite box in his hand, and his hearty smile made his eyes look even bigger.
The bony fingers took it, and the sparkling diamonds embedded in the watch on the wrist quietly cut through the air in the night as the owner moved.
Xu Youjing's eyes fell on the lustrous stone on the exquisite brooch, and he knew it was no ordinary object.
"I brought this sapphire back from Kashmir specifically. There's only one like it in the world! It's one-of-a-kind!" Xi Guan said this, not to claim credit. He knew this picky young master had few tastes except for shiny things and sports cars, so he'd finally made it just in time for his return, so it was worth the wasted gems.
There is only this one left among the five carefully selected pieces of good quality. Isn’t it unique?
"Thank you."
Xu Youjing closed the lid and said slowly, "Go to the garage and choose one yourself."
Xi Guan's eyes widened in disbelief: "Any one will do?"
"Um."
He confirmed again: "Really any one will do?"
Xu Youjing ignored him and turned his face to the window: "If you ask again, there is no wheel."
"No, no, no, I won't ask anymore! Just don't regret it later."
“…”
The car drove slowly on Binjiang Avenue, turned into Zhongshan Road, and slowed down.
Xi Guan was still immersed in the luxury car, but when he noticed the crowd, he pointed.
"Brother Jing, look! Did something happen to Peak?"
Before he spoke, Xu Youjing had already seen his gaze fall on the woman covered in red paint. After making out her figure, his eyes darkened.
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