Chapter 20 Why not tell him about the rumors?
Even Secretary Tang, a female warrior as strong as steel, gets tired.
His heart felt filled with something, a warm and fulfilling feeling. He tiptoed over and took the gray blanket she had prepared for his afternoon nap from the back of the sofa.
The blanket was thick and warm, and even though he preferred to keep the air conditioning at a low temperature of 20 degrees Celsius, he never felt cold when he slept wrapped in it.
As Zhang Minglang stroked the soft fur of the blanket, he felt a part of his heart sink.
He looked around the office.
The glass of the floor-to-ceiling windows is clean and clear, without a single trace of water stains.
The green plants on the side were lush and vibrant, with water droplets still clinging to the tips of their leaves;
The carpet was spotless, without a single stray feather.
Ever since his rhinitis flared up once, the humidifier has always been turned on when he walks into the office every day.
She's always been like this.
If you can persuade him to stop his bad habits, then do so; if you can't persuade him, then quietly help him handle everything.
Zhang Minglang slowly and silently bowed, gently covering her with the blanket, then got up and sat on the sofa, unable to describe his feelings.
His hunger reminded him that he hadn't eaten yet. Just as he was about to get up and leave, he suddenly noticed the takeout box on his desk.
He slowly walked over. On the table were not only food and drinks, but also a strip of headache medicine and a glass of cold water.
It feels like somewhere inside me is quietly collapsing.
He picked up the plastic bag and medicine and went out the door without making a sound.
Everyone in the secretariat noticed that not only did General Manager Zhang and Secretary Tang stop arguing, but they were also inseparable, spending almost all their time working in the same office.
More accurately, it was General Manager Zhang who suddenly and unilaterally stopped deliberately making things difficult for Secretary Tang.
However, with so many people involved, rumors inevitably spread. Some people were simply curious and gossipy, while others were secretly observing the interactions between the two.
Suddenly, the entire company was inexplicably thrown into a gossip frenzy.
Even someone as oblivious as Tang Yi could sense something was wrong. Usually, when she was in the elevator on her way to work, everyone would keep their distance from her because of her expressionless face and aloof aura.
Although it wasn't intentional, Tang Yi admits that her innate temperament and personality have saved her from a lot of unnecessary disturbances.
However, in the past few days, whether in the break room or in the elevator, she could always vaguely sense that her colleagues were talking behind her or casting ambiguous glances.
What's more, when she was wearing her new jade earrings today, a girl actually ran up to her and said bluntly, "Ms. Tang, your earrings are so beautiful! As expected of President Zhang..."
Before she could finish speaking, she was pulled away by her colleague.
Tang Yi frowned, and with quick reflexes, stepped forward and grabbed the girl's wrist.
The girl was startled by her sudden movement, realized she had caused trouble, and stood there with her head down, thinking of a solution.
"Explain yourself, what does my earring have to do with President Zhang?"
Tang Yi's voice was icy cold, and her serious expression startled the other person, who stammered and didn't know how to reply.
Seeing that the girl couldn't explain clearly, she turned her gaze to the girl's colleague, exuding an aura of intimidation.
Seeing that he couldn't get away with it, the colleague could only reply in a low voice, "It's just that lately... everyone's been talking about you and President Zhang... you two..."
Tang Yi understood her meaning almost instantly.
Before she could even get angry, she was already calculating who the source of the rumor might be.
When the girl and her colleagues realized she wasn't reacting, they prepared to run away.
"etc."
Tang Yi's voice grew louder, echoing down the corridor. The two men froze for a moment, stopping in front of her in a panic.
She glanced at their name tags; they were two interns. After considering her words for a moment, she said, "I hope you will stop spreading such rumors."
Realizing she had sounded a bit abrupt, she softened her voice and said calmly, "As fellow working women, you should be able to better understand how devastating these rumors can be. This isn't just simple gossip; sometimes it can become a weapon that destroys someone. I hope you can put yourselves in their shoes and stop aiding and abetting such evil."
Upon hearing this, the two girls apologized repeatedly and said they would never spread rumors again.
"Go back to work."
She watched their figures disappear into the distance and let out a long sigh.
Back on the 16th floor, Tang Yi was still quietly contemplating how to deal with these unfounded rumors.
As she pushed open the door to the president's office, Zhang Minglang happened to be walking out, and the two almost bumped into each other.
"Where have you been? Why are you so late?" He turned back to his desk as she came in. "I needed to talk to you about something. How's the legal department?"
"Everything is going well," Tang Yi replied, but her gaze shifted to the coffee table she had been using for the past few days, which was covered with various documents.
Everyone is busy enough; she can't let these pointless rumors cause any more trouble.
With that thought in mind, she walked straight to the coffee table and methodically began tidying up the documents on it, gently closing her laptop and putting it into her bag. The sound of the zipper creaked out clearly in the quiet office.
Hearing the rustling sound, Zhang Minglang looked up from his computer and asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm packing my things and heading out." Tang Yi turned back, her hands still moving.
He stopped typing upon hearing this: "What do you mean? I've been doing just fine here these past few days?"
Tang Yi had finished organizing everything. She stood up, holding several stacks of documents in her arms and her laptop bag slung over her arm.
Her voice was calm but firm: "Everything has been going well lately, so it's more appropriate for me to go back to my workstation. Staying here might interfere with your other important tasks."
Before Zhang Minglang could retort, she had already gotten up and walked towards the door. Upon seeing this, he jumped up from his chair almost without thinking and blocked the doorway.
"Explain yourself, why do you suddenly want to leave?"
Tang Yi looked up with mixed feelings, meeting his serious yet slightly hurried gaze.
He frowned deeply, his eyes filled with doubt and confusion.
She mentally rehearsed for a moment, but still didn't intend to tell the truth. She just casually said, "Mr. Zhang, I need personal space. Being in the same room with you is a bit stressful. Please understand the common feeling that employees don't want to be with their boss."
Zhang Minglang was so angry at her absurd explanation that he laughed. He put his hands on his hips, took a step back, and was about to start arguing when Tang Yi quickly opened the door and slipped out.
Zhang Minglang: "?"
"Secretary Tang? What brings you out?"
Assistant Zhou walked towards her and saw Tang Yi coming out of the president's office with her head down and carrying so many things in her hands. He quickly asked her what was wrong.
"Hmm? It's nothing." She heard the voice, looked up and smiled, then brushed past him and went back to her workstation.
Assistant Zhou scratched his head, clueless about what had happened. But he had more important matters to attend to, so he didn't press the matter further. He walked straight to the door of the president's office, grabbed the door handle without warning, and gave it a hard shove.
It felt like they bumped into something, and a muffled groan came from inside the door.
Assistant Zhou cautiously peeked out from outside the door and looked behind it, only to see President Zhang covering his nose and gasping for breath.
"Mr. Zhang!!" he shouted hurriedly as he squeezed through the door.
Outside, heads appeared like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, sprouting from stacks of documents; it was unclear what had happened.
Tang Yi was the only person in the know present at the time. She silently rubbed her forehead, opened the drawer next to her, and found a spare medicine box.
"Mr. Zhang, why are you hiding behind the door!"
"Dodge?" Zhang Minglang covered his nose, enduring the pain from the impact, while still stubbornly insisting, "This is the CEO's office. Even if I lay under the coffee table, it wouldn't be considered dodging!"
Assistant Zhou helped him sit back on the sofa.
“You’d better have some new evidence.” He came to his senses and began to do the math.
Assistant Zhou then remembered the purpose of his visit. He took out a stack of bound A4 papers from his briefcase and handed them to Zhang Minglang: "This is a compilation of server tracking records."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Minglang felt some relief from his pain. He quickly took the document and began to carefully review it.
Seeing that he had calmed down and was looking down at the documents, Assistant Zhou couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Zhang, um...um..."
"Speak your mind," Zhang Minglang turned a page, glancing at him. "Are you stuttering?"
Assistant Zhou rolled his eyes, trying to find the right words: "Recently, there have been some rumors circulating in the company, I don't know if you've heard them..."
Zhang Minglang responded, signaling him to continue.
"I've heard a lot of rumors at the company lately, saying that you and Secretary Tang spend half a day in the same office every day without leaving, that you two are... having an office romance..."
After he finished speaking, he looked up and quietly observed the boss's expression.
Zhang Minglang's face suddenly darkened, his jawline tightened, and the edges of the documents in his hand wrinkled as he clenched his fingers.
He slammed the file onto the coffee table with a loud "thud." Assistant Zhou sat beside him, his face serious, not daring to utter a sound.
He leaned back against the sofa, exhausted, and looked up at the ceiling. Many of his questions were answered.
No wonder Tang Yi suddenly packed her things and left as soon as she came in, refusing to share a room with him again.
He almost believed her when she said she was under a lot of pressure. He quietly reflected behind the door, wondering if he had offended her in any way in the past few days.
She was just being spread rumors, and since she knew about it, why didn't she tell him?
"Can you find out who posted it?"
"It's possible to find it, but it will be very troublesome and time-consuming..."
"President Zhang."
Just then, Tang Yi knocked on the door and came in. Zhang Minglang quickly gestured for his assistant, Zhou, to stop talking. He rested his elbows on his knees, watching her approach step by step with a complicated expression.
"This is a band-aid."
Tang Yi handed him the band-aid, while Assistant Zhou guiltily rubbed his forehead.
Zhang Minglang reached out and accepted it, but didn't immediately stick it on. He just held it in his hand and played with it, tentatively asking, "Secretary Tang, don't you have anything to say to me?"
Tang Yi glanced at him, raised an eyebrow, and began to wonder what kind of trouble this man was up to now.
She was silent for a moment, then hesitated before asking, "Are you sure you want me to say it?"
"Of course!" Zhang Minglang sat up from the sofa, his eyes gleaming with encouragement.
After a few seconds of mental preparation, Tang Yi squeezed out, word by word, "President Zhang, your nose is swollen."
Zhang Minglang: "???"
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