Playing with fire
【Host! Don't you... have to work?!】The system posed this soul-searching question in Qu Shiyao's mind.
Qu Shiyao munched on sunflower seeds, replying lazily in her mind, "Tongzi, it's obvious you've never worked a day in your life. Being an assistant can be incredibly easy, sometimes incredibly quiet, sometimes incredibly demanding! It's about finding the right balance, a good work-life balance! Don't you understand?"
System: [...] (Data in disarray)
"Hey! Breaking news!" Gao Huixin lowered her voice, speaking mysteriously. The six heads instantly huddled together, forming a small conspiracy circle. "Have you heard? President Si! He took the day off yesterday and today!"
"What?!"
Shi Qingqing was the first to exclaim in surprise, dropping her sunflower seeds in shock. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! That guy is a Super Saiyan who works 24/7, 365 days a year, and treats the company like his home! He can take a day off? Did the sun rise in the west?"
“Absolutely true!” Gao Huixin patted her chest to assure them, her eyes gleaming with the light of “my intelligence network is all-powerful.” “My second aunt’s husband’s younger brother’s neighbor’s sister works odd jobs in the president’s office! I personally heard Assistant Wen call to ask for leave for President Si!”
"President Si?" Qu Shiyao showed just the right amount of innocent, naive confusion, blinking her big eyes like a delicate, sheltered flower. "Is he... our big boss?"
His "naive newcomer" appearance instantly aroused the older women's protective instincts.
"Oh, Shiyao, you don't know yet!"
Chen Xu gave him a "you're too young" look, leaned closer, lowered his voice, and said with a hint of fear, "He's the living devil of CAQ! President Si Cheng! A workaholic among workaholics! It's only natural that he works overtime! It would be news if he didn't! The key is that not only does he work overtime, but his assistants and secretaries on his floor also have to stay up with him! It's inhumane!"
"Oh my god! Is it that scary?" Qu Shiyao covered her mouth, her eyes wide, trying hard to suppress the laughter that was about to spill out, her tone filled with lingering fear, "Luckily...luckily I didn't apply for the CEO's office..."
Inner monologue: That bottle-smashing was worth it! I've rid the people of a menace!
The system beside him silently added: [After all, he's the CEO. Without an extraordinary amount of guts, how could he support this trillion-dollar business empire?]
Its tone carried a subtle hint of admiration.
Qu Shiyao asked in her mind, "System, shouldn't this kind of domineering CEO be like a god in the company? The employees should either be in awe of him or infatuated with him. Why do these assistant sisters talk about him like he's the good-for-nothing son of the neighbor's second uncle?"
[Analysis in progress...]
The system data stream is flickering.
[Possibility 1: As a core variable in the plot, you, the host, influenced the logical judgments of the surrounding passersby. Possibility 2: They are purely passersby, not even worthy of being background characters in the original work, unaffected by the CEO's aura, and only concerned with their salaries and gossip.]
"However, I heard from my colleagues in the internal affairs department that..."
Zhuang Rou'er, who had been speaking softly, timidly opened her mouth, her voice barely audible, "It seems that President Si is... sick? Is it quite serious?"
"Sick?!" Shi Qingqing's voice rose even higher, filled with disbelief. "This is even more shocking than him not working overtime! I've been with the company for three years and I've never seen President Si sneeze! He's a walking iceberg, with his own icy aura protecting him from all poisons!"
Qu Shiyao, who had been quietly munching on sunflower seeds, elegantly spat the shells into the mini trash can beside the table and casually remarked with a knowing tone, "Maybe... he's finally exhausted? After all, working like this every day, even the strongest kidneys can't take it..."
She shook her head meaningfully.
"puff--!"
"That makes sense!"
"The truth has been revealed!"
"Brilliant!"
The other five were taken aback at first, then burst out laughing, nodding wildly in agreement.
This explanation makes perfect sense!
Thus, Qu Shiyao's first day at CAQ was spent happily "eating sunflower seeds, spreading rumors about the domineering CEO, and being fed cucumber-flavored snacks by Chen Xu."
---
When it was time to leave work, Qu Shiyao and her newly formed "gossip sisters" rushed to the elevator.
There were long queues in front of several elevators. After a long wait, they finally got on an elevator that had just come down, but it was empty. The six of them cheered and filed in.
The elevator descended smoothly, and when the number jumped to "4", there was a "ding" sound, and the door opened.
The people standing outside the door instantly froze the laughter and chatter inside the elevator.
Sicheng.
He was wearing a well-tailored black suit, but his face was unhealthy and pale, with dark circles under his eyes and chapped lips.
He held onto the cold elevator door frame with one hand, his figure seemed thinner than usual, and his usual imposing and stern aura had weakened considerably, replaced by a weak feeling that seemed forced and sickly.
He had just picked up an urgent document from the Ministry of Justice and was preparing to go home to continue his "rest".
The six people in the elevator instantly stood at attention and greeted him in unison, with a hint of nervousness: "Good morning, Mr. Si!"
"Good morning, Mr. Si!"
"..."
Si Cheng showed no expression, only nodding slightly in response.
He stepped into the elevator, and the space instantly became somewhat crowded.
He subconsciously glanced at the people in the elevator, and paused slightly when his gaze swept over Qu Shiyao, who was standing in the corner, trying to shrink herself into a ball and keep her head down.
This profile view... looks familiar?
He frowned, his memory shrouded in a thick fog, the lingering effects of his headache still present.
He pointed at Qu Shiyao, his voice low and hoarse from weakness: "Which department are you from?"
It's here!
Qu Shiyao's heart skipped a beat, but she showed no sign of it on her face.
She raised her head, her face quickly switching to the expression typical of a new employee—a mix of nervousness and respect—and said in a clear but not loud voice, "Hello, Mr. Si, I am Qu Shiyao, the new assistant general manager who joined the company today."
Her face was fully exposed to the elevator's bright lights.
Si Cheng looked at her pretty face, especially her eyes... who did she resemble?
Like… Qingyi?
Yes, she looks a bit like Shen Qingyi.
This realization instantly overshadowed the vague sense of familiarity he had felt.
Oh, a new employee who looks a bit like Qingyi. He didn't ask any more questions, just gave a faint "hmm," then looked away, closed his eyes wearily, and leaned his body slightly against the cold elevator wall.
The air in the elevator seemed to freeze. Until the "ding" sounded, indicating that they had arrived at the first floor.
As if granted a pardon, the six people quickly slipped away, scattering like birds and beasts in an instant.
Qu Shiyao blended into the crowd, her steps light and quick, her mind frantically calling out to the system: "System! What's going on? He really didn't recognize me? Did I smash that bottle on him and cause intermittent amnesia?"
The system was also in shock mode: [Impossible! I retrieved his field-of-view capture data… Wait! Analysis complete! Host, your entry into the hotel the day before yesterday was a special case. You didn't register your identity information, the bar's surveillance camera angle was tricky and the image quality was appalling, plus the CEO is currently in a triple debuff state of 'post-concussion syndrome + drug residue + severe cold from soaking in cold water,' his brain's CPU is severely overloaded! The fact that he recognized you as his white moonlight is already a testament to his good eyesight!]
System update: [But don't get too excited, host! Given the CEO's regenerative abilities and the plot's inertia, his 'face blindness' state probably won't last more than three days! Once the water in his brain… cough… fever breaks, you'll be in danger!]
Qu Shiyao pouted: "I know, I know, we'll deal with whatever comes our way!"
---
That evening, Si Cheng leaned against the luxurious sofa in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of his penthouse apartment, holding a glass of warm water in one hand and unconsciously stroking an old photograph with the other.
The girl in the photo has a bright smile; she is none other than Shen Qingyi, the white moonlight in his heart.
No wonder that new assistant looked familiar...it turns out she looks like Qingyi.
As he was thinking, his phone rang. It was Wen Yanbin.
"Mr. Si, we've found it." Wen Yanbin's voice was cautious. "The woman who attacked you with a bottle at LUXE the night before last has been identified. Her name is Qu Shiyao, 22 years old, a local. Clean background, nothing suspicious. The key is..."
He paused for a moment, then said, "She just joined our group today as General Manager Xu's assistant."
Si Cheng's fingers, which were caressing the photograph, suddenly stopped.
Qu Shiyao?
Xu Lixuan's assistant?
Isn't that...that newcomer who looks like Qingyi in the elevator this afternoon?!
A surge of anger at being fooled instantly welled up inside me! All the clues suddenly connected!
“Ha… Qu, Shi, Yao…” Si Cheng almost gritted his teeth as he uttered the name, and the back of his head seemed to start to ache again.
No wonder she looked familiar! She doesn't resemble Qingyi at all! She's clearly that audacious woman!
"Mr. Si, should we... fire her immediately?" Wen Yanbin asked cautiously.
"Fire her?" Si Cheng sneered, a cold yet amused anger surging in his eyes. "No. Let her stay."
He stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the dazzling city night view below, which resembled a galaxy. A smile appeared on his pale face, which was exactly the kind of smile that fits the old-fashioned domineering CEO novel setting, with three parts evil charm, five parts coldness, and two parts interest.
"I thought it was some clueless assassin sent by a rival... Turns out, it was just a carefully planned scheme to get my attention?"
He muttered to himself, his voice echoing coldly in the empty room, "Deliberately injuring me, and then going to great lengths to infiltrate my company... Qu Shiyao, you really are cunning."
He stared at his blurry reflection in the glass, as if declaring to that arrogant woman:
"Very good. You've successfully caught my attention."
"I hope you won't disappoint me too much in the upcoming games."
Outside the window, neon lights flickered.
Inside the window, the domineering CEO Si Cheng was immersed in his own imagined scenario of "woman, you're playing with fire," a confident smile playing on his lips.
Little did he know that his "scheming prey" was currently lying on his own sofa, munching on fried chicken and laughing like a fool at a variety show on TV, still basking in the joy of the rumors circulating today that he had "kidney deficiency."
The system looked at its carefree host, and then at the domineering CEO in the story who was posing in front of the glass window and imagining a 100,000-word tragic love story. Silently and deeply, it lit a row of virtual candles for the logic of this world and the CEO's intelligence.
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