Chapter 28 Reluctant to Part He responded to her reminder with a single word...
With a creak, Zhu Liushuang pushed open the conference room door, about to call out "Teacher He," but couldn't find He Ming anywhere.
Lin Hui, on the other hand, came up to her eagerly, took the insulated bag from her hand, and said repeatedly, "Thank you for your hard work!"
"Where...where did Teacher He go?" Zhu Liushuang asked casually. "Did he go back to the firm early?"
In the blink of an eye, Lin Hui was already seated. He unpacked the insulated bag and eagerly opened the lunchbox, his face beaming with satisfaction: "I still have to communicate with the technical department this afternoon, so I won't be back so soon. Teacher He went to the restroom..."
Oh! So he didn't leave after all...
Zhu Liushuang smiled and invited Lin Hui, "Try it. Lunch was ordered from a private restaurant. I didn't know your tastes, so I chose a few light dishes."
"Delicious—" Lin Hui said hastily, holding chopsticks in one hand and dragging the lunchbox in the other. "Although I like strong flavors, this dish is quite fresh. It should suit Teacher He's taste, as he prefers light flavors."
He Ming prefers light and bland food.
Zhu Liushuang silently kept his preferences in mind.
As the two were talking, the conference room door opened from the outside. The person who entered was none other than He Ming.
"Study..." Zhu Liushuang realized it was inappropriate and immediately changed her words, "Teacher He, lunch is here, hurry up and eat while it's hot."
"Thank you." He Ming took a tissue from the table and carefully dried his hands, then picked up his plate and sat down opposite Lin Hui.
Under Zhu Liushuang's watchful gaze, he slowly opened the lunchbox, unpacked the disposable utensils, scooped up a mouthful of rice, and put it in his mouth.
Perhaps feeling uncomfortable under Zhu Liushuang's direct gaze, He Ming choked on his soup and immediately covered his mouth and nose, coughing violently.
Zhu Liushuang hurriedly went to He Ming's side and handed him a napkin: "Teacher He, are you alright?"
He Ming remained turned to the side for a moment before taking the tissue and offering a soft thank you. Noticing the girl beside him still staring at him expectantly, he became even more uncomfortable and said, "Aren't you going to have lunch? I saw everyone else in the company go downstairs..."
"Oh, I'll go eat after I've treated you all... Mr. Guo instructed me to provide excellent service!" To find a reason to stay in the meeting room, she brought up Guo Yang. Besides, it wasn't exactly a lie; Guo Yang had indeed instructed her to treat the people from Zhonghe well.
"By the time we finish eating, the food in the cafeteria downstairs will be cold, right?" He Ming's face, which had turned red from coughing, returned to normal.
Zhu Liushuang wanted to stay, but He Ming didn't give her a chance to fight for it.
"After lunch, Lin Hui and I will rest in the conference room for a bit, and then we'll talk to the head of the technology department again this afternoon. If there are any other finance-related matters, I... will come to the finance office to find you then."
The implication that she wanted them to leave couldn't be clearer. They needed to rest after lunch, and her presence might be inconvenient and disturb them. Since she wasn't needed for the time being, she could leave…
Zhu Liushuang lowered her head and mumbled an "Oh." Suddenly remembering that Lin Hui was still in the conference room eating with relish, she immediately raised her head.
A polite smile appeared on her fair face, and her voice remained as friendly and sweet as ever: "Then please enjoy your meal. You've worked hard this morning! It was a pleasure doing business with you."
Lin Hui was so engrossed in eating that when he heard Zhu Liushuang was leaving, he took a moment to look up and say, "Take care."
He Ming calmly glanced at Zhu Liushuang's smiling face, as if the barely audible "oh" he had just heard was a hallucination.
He didn't say anything more and lowered his head to concentrate on eating.
Zhu Liushuang knew that if she stayed in the conference room any longer, she would be showing a lack of tact, so she wisely turned around and left.
As she approached the door, she added as if to reassure him, "Oh, right... turn right after you go out, and walk about ten meters ahead to the tea room. There are two large trash cans in the corridor by the window outside. Teacher He, you can throw your trash there after you finish eating."
“Okay—” He Ming responded to her reminder with a single word.
————
Stepping out of the meeting room, Zhu Liushuang felt like a deflated balloon, every pore on her body screaming "unhappy."
Although she knew it was work, and He Ming seemed to be someone who clearly separated public and private matters, she still felt that he was so cold and unapproachable!
It was lunch break, and the company was quiet; no one saw her face contorted in a grimace. Zhu Liushuang reluctantly shuffled back to the finance office, slumped into a chair, and huddled inside.
"Look at this, what happened?" Zhuang Xiaoqian walked out from the corner behind the door and clicked her tongue twice: "It looks like a wilted eggplant."
Zhu Liushuang was startled by the sudden sound and almost jumped out of her chair: "Sister Zhuang, you can't be so frightening! Didn't you just get back this afternoon?"
"If I had come back later, I wouldn't have seen you looking so dejected," Zhuang Xiaoqian teased her deliberately. "Did you break up with your boyfriend or get scammed?"
Zhu Liushuang silently raised her head, glancing at Zhuang Xiaoqian, who was tidying her clothes, out of the corner of her eye, and replied haphazardly, "Neither..."
"I heard from some of the girls in HR that a really handsome guy joined our company today..." Zhuang Xiaoqian pulled over her chair and sat down next to Zhu Liushuang. "What's wrong? Feeling pressured working with a handsome guy?"
Zhu Liushuang opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
"Hey, you look great in this outfit today. Did you wear it specially to welcome the handsome Mr. He?" Zhuang Xiaoqian's unfounded speculation made Zhu Liushuang's heart pound.
Has her behavior become so deliberate that it's obvious to anyone with eyes to see through it?
I will absolutely never admit it!
Zhu Liushuang gave her a mournful look: "Sister Zhuang, please stop making fun of me. This is just a normal outfit, isn't it?"
She deliberately sighed and said, "I got criticized as soon as Teacher He came today. He said, 'Why did you put the hardware and software together when you were issuing invoices?' His look and tone made it sound like I had made the most basic mistake. Although it really was a very basic mistake."
"Huh? What should we do? But weren't all the tickets from last year issued by your master? It shouldn't be counted against you..." Sure enough, Zhuang Xiaoqian's attention was immediately drawn to this matter.
Zhu Liushuang pursed her lips and forced a smile: "Teacher He said he would take me to the tax bureau next time to communicate with them, and that should be able to resolve the issue."
Zhuang Xiaoqian's emotions rose and fell with Zhu Liushuang's narration: "That's alright... problems that can be solved through communication aren't really problems. So... you looked so lifeless because of this?"
Zhu Liushuang had no choice but to nod in agreement: "Let's not talk about it. Fortunately, no other problems arose afterward."
"Don't worry, even if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. Besides, we're just lowly oxen and horses. If there's any problem, it'll fall on the leaders' shoulders." Zhuang Xiaoqian comforted her, then took out a box of eight-treasure soup and a bag of mint water from the cooler bag. "I bought these on the way back. I remember you seem to like this."
Zhu Liushuang instantly perked up, stood up, and lightly put her arm around Zhuang Xiaoqian's shoulder: "Sister Zhuang, you're so kind!"
"But... what does He Ming actually look like? I've been listening to the girls in the HR department chattering about him, making him sound like a legend. I'm so curious."
“They’re probably taking a nap in the conference room right now…” Zhu Liushuang glanced out the door. “They’ll probably be working in the technical department this afternoon. Why don’t you go see them when you have time?” she casually encouraged.
Zhuang Xiaoqian pouted: "The technical department is all men. It would be too conspicuous for a woman like me to suddenly go there. It would be so embarrassing."
As observant as Zhu Liushuang was, she understood the implication and readily agreed, "That's easy. Let's go to the tea room together this afternoon for some tea, and we'll stop by the technical department on the way."
"Then I'll go in and serve them some tea on behalf of the administration." Zhuang Xiaoqian understood immediately.
After her lunch break, Zhu Liushuang put He Ming out of her mind and threw herself into her work with a different mindset. The vouchers for June hadn't been bound yet, so she neatly stacked them all, took them to the binding area to have holes punched in them, and then bound and edged them.
I got up early this morning, and the buzzing of the hole punch became a lullaby. Zhu Liushuang couldn't help but yawn several times, which slowed down her binding speed.
She mechanically repeated the monotonous actions, and after a long time, a thick "building of certificates" had been piled up on the table.
"Is it finished yet?" Zhuang Xiaoqian asked as she seized the opportunity to walk up to Zhu Liushuang.
Zhu Liushuang stretched: "Finally over. Shall we go?"
"That's exactly what I was waiting for you to say." Zhuang Xiaoqian chuckled as she picked up her ceramic cup, and the two walked out of the finance office hand in hand.
As they passed the technical department, the wooden door was closed, but they could hear voices coming from inside. Zhu Liushuang winked at Zhuang Xiaoqian: "Shall we go in?"
Seeing Zhuang Xiaoqian nod, she went to the tea room first to get a kettle. Handing the kettle to Zhuang Xiaoqian, Zhu Liushuang encouraged her, "Sister Zhuang, I'll wait for you at the door."
Zhuang Xiaoqian wasn't one to mince words; she grabbed a kettle of hot water and knocked on the door of the technical department.
"Please come in—"
Watching Zhuang Xiaoqian enter with a smile to pour water, she took a small step to the left, hiding herself against the wall. The people inside couldn't see her, but she could clearly see their every move.
He Ming was sitting facing her, his face serious, with a pair of frameless glasses perched on his high nose.
Zhu Liushuang had never seen He Ming wearing glasses before, and she found it all quite novel. She couldn't help but stare at his face for a long time. He Ming with glasses seemed even more unapproachable than when he wasn't wearing them... She thought to herself, he was somewhat like the kind of "refined scoundrel" described in novels.
While Zhu Liushuang was still lost in her own thoughts, Zhuang Xiaoqian had already come running out. She hurriedly closed the door and excitedly pulled Zhu Liushuang toward the finance office.
"He's a real gem! He's way better looking than those overconfident Tom, Dick, and Harry in our company... I've never seen such striking phoenix eyes before. Even though they're mostly hidden by his glasses, it doesn't stop him from radiating charm at all."
"Watch your words and actions, Sister Zhuang. You're already married..." Zhu Liushuang reminded her with a sly smile.
"So what if I have a certificate? It doesn't stop me from enjoying the good looks of handsome guys!" Zhuang Xiaoqian retorted with a "tsk".
...
That afternoon, Zhu Liushuang's mind was constantly occupied by He Ming's face with frameless glasses.
He Ming didn't set foot in the finance office until he left work. Zhu Liushuang reluctantly left work, still hoping for a chance encounter between the two while standing in the elevator.
The person she wanted to bump into had already returned to the office half an hour early.
As the sun set, He Ming sat in his office organizing materials for Ruixin Company. Halfway through, he suddenly stopped what he was doing and dialed Guo Yang's number.
The call mainly concerned Ruixin's invoicing issues and some details in the product development process.
After speaking with Guo Yang, He Ming suddenly lowered his voice and reminded him, "There's an employee in your company's technical department you should keep an eye on; he has some character issues. His name is... Wang Yizheng."
"This young man works really hard, how did he offend you?" Guo Yang asked in surprise. "It's rare to see you label someone so harshly."
The scene that happened at noon today flashed through He Ming's mind.
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Author's note: Is Senior He cold-hearted?
But he would help her solve her problems when Shuangshuang couldn't see him...
My darlings, your likes and comments are my motivation to keep writing.
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