It seems that even a terrible teammate can be a decent human being sometimes.
"Yunxi, I've found you." Lee Sung-hwan said this while holding Song Yunxi in his arms and resting his chin on her shoulder.
There was no anger or blame; rather, it was as if the two were playing a game, and he had emerged victorious. Therefore, his tone was slightly coquettish and seeking praise.
Song Yunxi replied softly, "Yes. You found it."
Then she gently pushed Li Shenghuan away and looked at him with a smile.
Mu Chen turned to Pan Zhe, who had rushed over, and asked, "Who is that person?"
"I heard Miss Song call him: Sheng Huan."
Of course, the translation might not be accurate. Because Song Yunxi pronounced the other person's name in Korean, Pan Zhe could only use a transliteration.
Li Shenghuan?
Mu Chen certainly knew this name: the only son of Chairman Li, a director of ST Group, and the fiancé of the college classmate who was seduced by Song Yunxi, whom Fu Meilin had mentioned a few days ago.
With a cold face, Mu Chen walked up to Song Yunxi, glanced at her, and then turned his gaze to Li Shenghuan, who was standing opposite her.
Legend has it that Li Shenghuan once worked as a model in France. And the man before him did indeed have a sharply defined face, a tall and handsome figure, and fashionable clothes.
Song Yunxi reacted quickly, speaking two seconds after Mu Chen stood beside her: "Let me introduce you. This is Lee Sung-hwan, Executive Director of ST Group." She then switched to Korean to introduce Mu Chen to Lee Sung-hwan.
Mu Chen politely extended his hand and greeted him in English: "Executive Director Li, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Li Shenghuan shook Mu Chen's hand and said in English, "Mr. Mu, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Mu Chen glanced at the suitcase standing next to Li Shenghuan. "Commissioner Li, you must be tired from your journey. Let me take you back to your room to rest. We can arrange work matters this afternoon." Then he turned to Pan Zhe and instructed, "Get Commissioner Li a suite."
The concierge staff pushed Li Shenghuan's suitcase, while Pan Zhe took the room key and went to the elevator first to press the button, waiting for Mu Chen and Li Shenghuan, who were walking and communicating about hotel business in English, to enter the elevator.
Song Yunxi was very self-aware as a subordinate and quietly followed behind the two bosses.
The group took the elevator to the 30th floor, and Pan Zhe was once again tasked with opening the room door. He swiped the room card on the door, then gently pushed it open, while he himself stood outside and handed the room card to Li Shenghuan with both hands.
Li Shenghuan took the room key, thanked him, and went into the room.
Just as Song Yunxi was about to follow him inside, Mu Chen grabbed her arm. She turned to look at him, while he stared blankly at Li Shenghuan's retreating figure.
When Li Shenghuan noticed the quiet atmosphere behind him and turned around, Mu Chen spoke up: "Please rest well, Director Li. I'll treat you to lunch to welcome you back."
Li Shenghuan shifted his gaze to Song Yunxi. "Yunxi..."
He clearly came to see Song Yunxi. They hadn't seen each other for almost a month, and he had only managed to exchange a few words with her. Was he going to be treated like a business executive from ST Group and given commercial treatment?
ST Group is indeed a constraint.
Before Li Shenghuan could finish speaking, Song Yunxi smiled and reassured him, "President Mu is right. You should rest for a while. I'll come find you after I finish my work."
“Okay. I’ll wait for you.” After speaking to Song Yunxi in Korean, Li Shenghuan switched to English to thank Mu Chen: “Thank you, President Mu.”
Lee Sung-hwan knew that work had always been more important to Song Yoon-hee than him, even though he was unwilling to admit it.
After Li Shenghuan slowly closed the door, Mu Chen turned to look at Song Yunxi. "Miss Song's status in ST Group is indeed extraordinary."
The implication was that even the son of the chairman of ST Group listened to her every word.
Song Yunxi smiled, "Shenghuan is not only the executive director of ST Group, but also a very important friend of mine."
"friend?"
“Yes. Friend.” Song Yunxi nodded, then said goodbye to Mu Chen: “If Mr. Mu has nothing else, I’ll go and get back to work.”
He bowed politely, turned, and left. He showed absolutely no interest in the scandal that had topped the trending searches early that morning.
*
Jiang Hailang handed a beautifully wrapped box to Lin Xiaoran: "This is a gift I brought especially for you."
With the anticipation of opening a blind box, Lin Xiaoran was pleasantly surprised to find a box full of brightly colored macarons.
"How did you know I like macarons?" Lin Xiaoran asked with a smile, her tone cheerful and upbeat.
Ever since Jiang Hailang kept his promise and treated Lin Xiaoran to a meal a week ago, Lin Xiaoran has stopped being polite and distant towards him. Of course, Lin Xiaoran has never been polite to him either.
Young people these days live too carefree. It seems they've long forgotten the concept of workplace leadership. While fulfilling their job responsibilities, everyone is treated as an equal individual.
Moreover, local children from Lancheng like Lin Xiaoran, who have been pampered and cared for by their parents since childhood and have never seen the dark side of the world, have a face full of youthful arrogance and fearlessness.
Song Yunxi often thought: Even if everyone in the world suffers from depression, Lin Xiaoran must be the exception.
Jiang Hailang said, "It must be telepathy."
"Tch, that's greasy." Lin Xiaoran said with a laugh, handing over a macaron.
Jiang Hailang leaned forward and took a small bite.
"Mmm, delicious." Jiang Hailang chewed on his food and asked Lin Xiaoran, "Shall we have dinner together tonight?"
Lin Xiaoran shook her head, "Not today, I have plans tonight."
When Song Yunxi came in, she immediately saw the two of them sitting opposite each other eating macarons. Glancing at the black suitcase by the door, she figured Jiang Hailang had probably just returned from a business trip and come fishing in their office.
Jiang Hailang greeted Song Yunxi with a smile: "Oh, Miss Song, what a coincidence."
He had just heard Lin Xiaoran say that the executive from the Korean ST Group had arrived, and Mu Chen and Song Yunxi had accompanied him upstairs. He thought the show wouldn't end for quite a while, since the executive was Li Shenghuan, who had some kind of special relationship with Song Yunxi.
Song Yunxi smiled and said, "It's not too much of a coincidence, after all, this is my office."
"Hahaha... If Miss Song hadn't reminded me, I almost forgot that I still need to report to President Mu's office." Jiang Hailang stood up and pulled his suitcase: "Then I won't disturb the two beauties any longer."
Lin Xiaoran waved to Jiang Hailang and then handed the box of macarons to Song Yunxi: "President Lang bought these."
Song Yunxi casually picked one up. "When did you and CEO Lang become so close?"
"We've gotten quite familiar with each other since we added each other on WeChat last time. I think Mr. Lang is a bit older, but he's a nice person. Look, he even brought me a gift when he came back from his business trip. I guess I'll just consider it as finding a friend despite the age gap."
"Pfft..." Song Yunxi couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Friendships across generations? I wonder what Jiang Hailang's expression would be if he heard that term? But he's only four years older than Lin Xiaoran.
Jiang Hailang had no idea that in Song Yunxi and Lin Xiaoran's hearts he was already on par with an elderly person in their twilight years, because he was standing in an upward elevator sending a WeChat message: "Macarons are so sweet. As a return gift, I'll treat you to dinner tonight?"
On the plane, he chatted with the girl sitting next to him the whole way. When they got off the plane, the girl was clearly reluctant to part. He very gentlemanly asked the driver to take the girl home first, and before leaving, the girl gave him a box of macarons.
He had no interest in the things the girl liked and didn't know how to deal with them. He accepted them only to create an opportunity for them to meet again.
As soon as he entered the hotel, he saw Mu Chen, Song Yunxi, Li Shenghuan, and others walking towards the elevator. Torn between gossip, curiosity, and rationality, his best option was naturally to find Song Yunxi's assistant, Lin Xiaoran.
Just as the person on the other end of the phone replied "okay" to his invitation, the elevator doors opened.
Jiang Hailang smiled, put away his phone, and headed straight for Mu Chen's office.
*
The welcome banquet at noon was held in the Chinese restaurant of the Platinum Hotel, where Mu Chen, Song Yunxi, Li Shenghuan and Jiang Hailang sat around a large round table.
When Jiang Hailang stood up from next to Mu Chen to toast Li Shenghuan, he successfully received a glare from Mu Chen. Jiang Hailang didn't care; on the contrary, he was somewhat gloating.
When they took their seats, Mu Chen naturally intended to sit with Li Shenghuan. However, he winked at Jiang Hailang, signaling Jiang Hailang to sit on the other side of Li Shenghuan first, so that Song Yunxi could sit with him.
But Jiang Hailang pretended not to see it and instead ran over and sat down next to him.
Jiang Hailang is a very organized person. It's true he accompanied the leader to welcome the ST Group's executive director, but he was also really looking forward to seeing a good show. What if he did as Mu Chen asked and the show wasn't entertaining? Who could he complain to then?
"Please try this eggplant dish, Mr. Li. It's a dish that both Miss Song and I really enjoy," Mu Chen said, turning the eggplant dish towards Li Shenghuan.
"Oh? Does our Yunxi like this dish?" Lee Sung-hwan said, picking up a piece with his chopsticks and putting it into Song Yunxi's plate next to him.
Li Shenghuan wins this round after an unfavorable start.
"President Mu, please try this West Lake Vinegar Fish. It tastes quite good." Jiang Hailang pointed to the fish that had just stopped in front of Mu Chen.
Mu Chen ignored this troublesome teammate. He then picked up his glass and toasted Li Shenghuan.
Song Yunxi stood up and picked up the wine glass in front of her. "President Mu, Executive Director Li has a sensitive stomach and can't drink too much, so I'll drink this glass for him. Also, I want to thank President Mu for his kindness, so I'll toast you."
Mu Chen's gaze toward Song Yunxi was several degrees colder than when he had entered the room.
Normally, there's nothing wrong with a subordinate shielding their superior from drinking at a dinner party. But Song Yunxi is being a bit too dedicated; Li Shenghuan only had one drink, and she's already protecting him?
In this round, Li Shenghuan won again.
The two finished their drinks, and Mu Chen sat down with a cold expression. He neither spoke nor touched his chopsticks.
The waiter came over again and poured wine into each empty glass.
Lee Sung-hwan said something to Song Yoon-hee in Korean, and Song Yoon-hee smiled, her eyes crinkling. It was exactly the same smile she had when she flirted with Mu Chen before.
Jiang Hailang sighed deeply, fearing that if things continued like this, his boss, Mr. Mu, might flip the table in a fit of anger. Would he even be able to eat his meal then?
Jiang Hailang stood up with a smile. "Miss Song has a really good capacity for alcohol. Since Miss Song toasted President Mu, I'll be so shameless as to ask for a drink myself. After all, I've taken good care of Miss Song during her stay at the Platinum Hotel. I even invited Miss Song to Yan Zhen's cocktail party last time. This favor deserves a drink with Miss Song, right?"
“Of course, this toast is for Mr. Lang.” Song Yunxi stood up, raised her glass, and clinked it with Jiang Hailang’s.
After downing a glass of wine, Jiang Hailang once again received Mu Chen's displeased gaze, but he simply smiled and ignored it. Of course, he wasn't deliberately trying to get Song Yunxi drunk; he just wanted to elicit the next point.
Jiang Hailang spoke slowly in English, which all four people present could understand: "Speaking of the cocktail party, I remember that Miss Song went back wearing President Mu's clothes that day. That dress was President Mu's favorite."
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, Li Shenghuan turned to look at Song Yunxi.
Song Yunxi turned to Mu Chen and said in Chinese, "I'm sorry, Mr. Mu, the clothes have been washed, but I've been too busy these past few days to return them to you."
Mu Chen smiled and said, "It's alright."
It seems that even a terrible teammate can occasionally be a decent human being.
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