Chapter 12
In the following days at work, Xiaoming not only had to deal with the backlog of work, but also had a lot of new tasks. Apart from having a quick bite for lunch, she barely had time to drink water throughout the day. Even so, she resolutely refused to work overtime. If she ever had to work overtime to continue her work, she would have to say goodbye to the company.
Jiang Lan, on the other hand, is having a tough time. He just started dating his girlfriend and then had to work a grueling 996 schedule, only able to squeeze in a few words with Xiao Ming on Green Bubble each day.
After being seconded to the company, he was assigned to take over some projects. Their industry is a key sector supported by higher authorities, and after years of development and accumulation, many achievements are now emerging. Although he had been working as a self-employed individual for several years, he had always been involved in the company's technological development progress.
Now that Jiang Lan is willing to come to work, Liu Zhen feels much less pressure. Although the key employees all have stock options, none of them are as trustworthy as Jiang Lan, who initially took a liking to him. So he put a lot of pressure on Jiang Lan and even joked that if he ever met Jiang Lan's girlfriend, he would have to toast her a few times.
Before you know it, it's the weekend again, and the weather is getting colder.
Xiaoming went to a shopping center not far from her home this morning to buy some seasonal clothes. She bought several sets in one go. She doesn't like to buy clothes, pants, shoes and socks online because it's too difficult to find something she likes.
Having completed her mission, she was about to head home when the phone rang: "Yes, I'm out... buying clothes... buying you some? I can't, I don't know what style you like... Okay, I'll wait for you."
Xiao Ming ordered a coffee and sat in the coffee shop waiting for Jiang Lan.
After scrolling through his phone for a while, a hand landed on her shoulder. Xiaoming looked up and couldn't help but exclaim, "Handsome!"
Today he wore a dark short trench coat, a white shirt underneath that revealed the collar of a white T-shirt, black straight-leg trousers, and a pair of thin-soled black leather shoes.
Jiang Lan's lips curled into a smile at those words. She carefully examined Xiao Ming, who was also wearing a trench coat today, with a white stand-up collar shirt with large ruffled edges, jeans, and sneakers underneath.
She also sincerely complimented him, saying, "You're still so beautiful today."
Xiao Ming nodded: "Sure, we'll even compliment each other. Do you have to go back to work later?"
Jiang Lan took the coffee from Xiao Ming, took a sip, and hummed in agreement: "Today, some partners are coming over to adjust the parameters, and the product needs to be rushed to the exhibition."
Xiao Ming got up and walked out: "Let's go eat, and then go back to work."
Jiang Lan quickly caught up and took her hand: "Where are the things you bought?"
"It was stuffed into the motorcycle."
They walked hand in hand, and many people turned around to look at them, some even taking pictures with their phones.
In this era where appearance is king, anyone who is good-looking will always attract a lot of attention, and some people even take photos of others and post them online to gain traffic.
She already attracts attention, and Jiang Lan's level of attention is probably even greater. When they go out together, the effect is more than the sum of its parts. So she always prepares before going out. Before leaving the coffee shop, Xiao Ming took out a baseball cap and a mask, one for each of them.
After finishing his meal, Xiaoming asked Jiang Lan, "What time do you start work?"
"Just get there before 3 o'clock. Let's get a room for a few hours, you can keep me company and help me rest for a while, I didn't get much sleep last night."
Xiao Ming saw through his scheme and said, "You'd better really take a break."
"Look at the bloodshot in my eyes, do you think I'd lie to you?" Jiang Lan pointed to her eyes and leaned closer to show Xiao Ming.
The two booked a room at a nearby hotel by the hour. As soon as Xiaoming took off his coat, someone grabbed his waist, pressed him against the wall, and kissed him.
Xiao Ming's eyes were covered again, and he was kissed so hard he couldn't breathe. When the two separated, panting, Xiao Ming felt that his lips had gone numb and he had no feeling of touch. His tongue was also sore and numb.
After rinsing his mouth in the restroom, Xiao Ming looked up at himself in the mirror, his cheeks flushed and his lips so red they looked like they were about to bleed. His ears burned.
He splashed several handfuls of cold water on his face, dried his face, and came out to see Jiang Lan sitting on the edge of the bed with a blanket draped around her waist and legs.
She turned on her toes, walked over to the sofa, sat down, and said to Jiang Lan, who had been watching her, "Go to sleep. I'll wake you up when it's time."
"Come here." Jiang Lan patted the edge of the bed.
Xiao Ming shook his head.
"come over."
"You either go to sleep now, or I'm leaving. Don't you know how dangerous you are to me right now?"
Jiang Lan smiled and looked down at Xiao Ming, saying, "Don't worry, what can you do in such a short time? Come here, I haven't seen you for so many days. As your girlfriend, you have an obligation to ease my longing."
Xiao Ming was speechless at these words. He dawdled to the bedside and said, "Lie down inside."
Jiang Lan pulled her into his arms, then pulled her onto the bed. After a few rolls, he trapped her and the blanket in his arms, pecked her red lips, and said with squinted eyes, "Okay, go to sleep."
Xiao Ming stared at the white ceiling for who knows how long, until the alarm clock rang.
Jiang Lan must have been exhausted these past few days, because the alarm clock rang for quite a while but didn't wake him up.
"Jiang Lan, wake up. It's time." After calling her a few times, Jiang Lan woke up groggily, snuggled against her shoulder a few times, and then opened her eyes and sat up.
After they finished tidying up, Xiaoming looked at Jiang Lan and pointed to his pants: "They're wrinkled."
Jiang Lan glanced down and said, "It's okay, we still have time. Let's go buy another one."
After leaving the shopping center, Jiang Lan changed into jeans and sneakers, looking like she and Xiao Ming were wearing matching outfits.
After they parted ways, Jiang Lan drove back to the company. As soon as she entered her office, she ran into Liu Zhen. Liu Zhen knew she had gone to see her girlfriend, and his small eyes gleamed as he scanned Jiang Lan from head to toe: "Wow, this man who just got out of being single is really something. He went out with his girlfriend for a few hours and even changed his pants, shoes, and socks."
Jiang Lan saw that he opened his mouth and said things she didn't want to hear, so she stepped over, covered his mouth, and dragged him into the small office, locking the door behind her.
"There are a bunch of people listening outside, what nonsense are you spouting!"
"You can do it, but I can't say it? Besides, what did I say wrong?"
"Are you praising me or mocking me? You keep saying how amazing I am, and you've been talking for hours. What will other people think?"
After hearing this, Liu Zhen sorted through his thoughts and looked at Jiang Lan with disbelief: "Brother! I'm calling you brother! You didn't mistake this adult film for a tutorial, did you? Do you think two hours in it is the norm, or do you think the 'seven times a night' in novels is the norm? Several hours is definitely a compliment!"
After saying that, he realized something was wrong. He thought about it for a moment and then suddenly understood: "I thought you were going to be successful, but I overestimated you. In the end, you're still a novice!"
Jiang Lan watched with a blank expression as Liu Zhen slapped his thigh and let out a loud, booming laugh.
Fearing he might get angry, Liu Zhenqiang suppressed a laugh and earnestly said to Jiang Lan, "Brother, you just lack experience. You'll understand once you've spent more time with your girlfriend. Men! Anyone who can last twenty minutes is a strong one, many can last three to five minutes, and even one or two minutes isn't unusual. Action movies are all edited and spliced together. I'm afraid you don't know that if your expectations are too high, you'll have self-doubt and it won't be good for you in real life."
Just as Liu Zhen was about to continue speaking, an employee knocked on the door: "President Liu, President Lan, the meeting is about to begin."
The meeting lasted for several hours. Afterwards, several senior executives of the company finalized the details and plans, and signed agreements with the parties involved in the meeting. Jiang Lan's recent work finally came to an end.
Just as he finished packing his things and was about to leave, Guo Haitao came to find him, saying that Liu Zhen had invited him to have dinner at a hotel together.
"I'm not in the public relations department. I'm not responsible for maintaining client relationships or entertaining clients. I'm not going!"
Before he even stepped out of the office, Liu Zhen called: "Brother, you absolutely have to come. They specifically asked for you. It's nothing, just for a drink. If you come, starting tomorrow, no matter how busy business is, you can leave on time and have weekends off!"
"Am I working overtime because someone else is making me work overtime? Fatty, show some sincerity."
"I'll give you another week of annual leave. Just say the word if you want to come or not!" Jiang Lan thought for a moment. She had worked so hard for so long, so this little bit of pressure wouldn't make a difference. She would go see Xiao Ming later.
"go!"
Jiang Lan and Guo Haitao entered the private room, and Liu Zhen pointed to the seat next to him: "You sit here."
Jiang Lan glanced at the young woman sitting next to her who had asked for her QR code several times that morning, and pulled Guo Haitao aside: "Let's switch seats."
Ignoring Liu Zhen's attempts to signal him, he sat down calmly.
The beautiful woman next to him looked really unhappy, and Guo Haitao couldn't eat a thing during the meal.
After raising their glasses for a few rounds, Jiang Lan stood up, patted Liu Zhen on the shoulder, and said, "I have something to do, so I'll be leaving now." She nodded to everyone in the room and then left the private room.
After the man left, the woman complained to Liu Zhen, "Mr. Liu, your manager is quite capricious. The client is still here, and he just leaves like that. How is your company supposed to do business like this?"
After being put through the ordeal at the dinner, Liu Zhen's patience finally wore thin: "He's a tech guy, not in sales or public relations. His job doesn't include attending company business dinners. He only came because of the company's goodwill; there's no question of him being willful or capricious!"
The beautiful woman was scolded, bit her lower lip, slammed her chopsticks down, making a clattering sound as she threw down the dishes, but she still managed to hold back and not slam the door and leave.
Liu Zhen chuckled to himself and calmly continued eating and drinking.
They are a tech company; technological leadership is fundamental. Only by standing up for themselves can they have a voice. You see, so what if they are the client? When there's no substitute, the client will back down. Whether you're a princess or a prince, even emperors need to eat. Aren't all the other clients just blind to the truth?
Jiang Lan knew she was going to drink, so she left her car at the company and didn't drive it over.
I dialed Xiaoming's number: "I had a business dinner tonight and drank a little. Could you come pick me up? ... I'm not drunk and don't want to take a taxi. I just want you to come pick me up... I've sent you my location. I'm waiting for you to come."
After waiting for a while in the coffee shop next to the hotel, Jiang Lan glanced out the glass window every now and then and saw Xiao Ming riding his bike over. She quickly packed her things and went outside.
As soon as the group left the hotel after dinner, they saw Jiang Lan wearing a helmet, straddling the back of a motorcycle, holding the waist of the girl in front of him, and the two riding away into the distance.
The beautiful woman chuckled and muttered two words under her breath, something like "poor bastard" or something like that.
Whether intentionally or not, Guo Haitao loudly said to Liu Zhen, "Mr. Liu, these young people these days are so different from us when it comes to dating. They pursue unconventional things. They don't drive luxury cars, they drive scooters instead."
Liu Zhen laughed heartily: "You don't know the market, do you? That motorcycle wasn't anything special, but that license plate is priceless. But they have to be open-minded and not care about face. They can drive any kind of car. They're more carefree than us."
There was supposed to be a second half, but the princess from the client side couldn't stand being squeezed out, so she pouted, turned around, and left. All the underlings and ministers also left in a flash.
"Boss, is everything alright?"
"No problem! The technical department needs to step up its efforts in the future. Let's try to earn money with integrity and let those who force us to sell our mouths and butts go to hell."
After hearing this, the men and women in the company burst into laughter.
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