After her confrontation with Zhao Moyao, she made her way to Feili where Huo Qiudong was already anticipating her arrival. The people at the front desk had already informed him of the arrival of a young woman in blood-red Bugatti.
He was impatiently tapping his foot, standing outside of her office door with a disgruntled expression. When the sound of heels greeted him, his eyes narrowed onto his apologetic boss. "What happened to you?" Was the first thing he asked her. No one informed him something happened until men in black stormed into the office, demanding to see the security footage. When the entire office felt like it was relocated to Antarctica, he knew President Yang was behind it. Luckily enough, he was also there to encourage, well more like force, President Ling to reschedule the meeting date.
"Something came up." Zhao Lifei sheepishly said. His permanent scowl deepened.
"First, you went into a coma, then, you disappeared for a couple of days. You're lucky I'm such a hard-working man." He ran a tired hand through his hair, staring at her like she was the epitome of his demise.
Zhao Lifei felt guilty for making him work this hard. She had promised to be more present in the company but then disappeared too often. "Yes, yes, that's why you're going to get a lot of bonuses. Happy?" She leaned up and pinched his cheeks, treating him like a child. "You shouldn't scowl so much, you'll get wrinkles. Qinqin only dates cute, good looking guys."
He stopped scowling.
His automatic response provoked her to tease him some more. "So, how did your date with Qinqin go?"
"We didn't go on a date." He snapped, stepped back and proceeded to leave but she grabbed his wrist before he could go anywhere.
"What do you mean?" Zhao Lifei's brows etched together, lines dancing on her forehead. Did Yang Ruqin not like Huo Qiudong? It's weird to fathom that when the woman in question showed up drunk at his house. It was a miracle how she got there in the first place, but at the least, her actions demonstrated that he was the first person in her head.
"She said she was busy with releasing her new clothing line." Huo Qiudong didn't want to be reminded of the embarrassing and nearly traumatic event a couple of days ago. He had spent two hours at home, deciding on the outfit to ask her out for a cup of coffee. It took him an additional hour of pep-talk to gather the courage to send her a text. To his disappointment, she responded two hours later, turning down his proposal.
"Oh." Zhao Lifei blinked. "Maybe she's just playing hard to get. Qinqin is like that, you know. How about I talk to her for you?"
"No need. I'll woo her myself." Huo Qiudong said out of anger. He immediately regretted the words a second later when he realized that he would need to do some intensive research on how to get a girl in the first place. All of his relationships started because the other party initiated the date first. It was never the other way around.
"Are you sure?" Zhao Lifei prompted a brow, crossing her arms to scrutinize the helpless man in front of her. Judging by his nature, she could tell he was heavily inexperienced in what he just said. His looks could only get him so far — especially when Yang Ruqin constantly worked with A-list celebrities and runway models. The people around her were always stunning and whenever they would be seen with her, the air around them was much more different.
"Yes." He curtly said, grabbing her hand and prying it from his wrist. He was worried about his physique when he had to apply extra force to remove her tight grip. She didn't look like she was straining herself to hold onto him. Why did she look like she was effortlessly holding him?! He couldn't get over how strong she was. Maybe it would be a good idea to go to the gym again…
"Double sure?" She pressed on, letting go of his wrist and placing it on her hips. Wow, he was really weak.
'I only used 50% of my strength!' Zhao Lifei wondered how he would be able to handle Yang Ruqin, especially now that she had begun strength training.
"...Yes." Huo Qiudong was becoming less and less confident about his capabilities, but he was too stubborn to tell her that.
"Triple sure?"
After a couple of seconds, he dropped his head in defeat. "No."
Zhao Lifei smirked in triumph, "As a reward for covering my workload, I will personally teach you how to court the great Yang Ruqin!"
- - - - -
After writing down all of Yang Ruqin's likes and dislikes, Zhao Lifei sent Huo Qiudong on his merry way. She spent the majority of her day tackling documents, overseeing the management of operation and resources, communicating with the directors, regulating the company decisions, and checking up on projects.
Finally, the day came to an end. Careful to not repeat the mistakes of her past, she would take frequent twenty-minute breaks to surf the internet and generate ways of telling Yang Feng about her pregnancy. She couldn't find the proper way to announce it. After sitting down and thinking to herself for a while, she finally came up with the perfect method of surprising him.
The workload for Feili reminded Zhao Lifei of all the workload she had to do as the Vice President of Zheng Corporation. Because of this, she was very used to the strenuous tasks and handle them without any difficulties. Speaking of the company, she wondered what was happening with it. She had checked the media in the afternoon and saw that everything about the company had tanked. They were on the verge of supposed bankruptcy and she didn't know why.
Shaking her head from unwanted thoughts, Zhao Lifei grabbed her coat and purse, then walked out of the door. She was going to head straight to the elevator but decided to visit Huo Qiudong. Popping her head into his office, she was disappointed to see he was engrossed in reading a packet of paper. Then her eyes lit up upon realizing he was diligently studying the papers she had given to him this morning about Yang Ruqin.
"Working hard, I see." Zhao Lifei stepped inside, her eyes scanning over the meticulously clean office space. Every folder was neatly organized on the bookshelves and the important documents were properly stored away. Unlike her office, his was very minimalistic, simple, and clean-cut. Even his pen and pencils were perfectly aligned beside him, with equal spacing between them. There was a lingering smell of peppermint and eucalyptus from the humidifier behind him. At least he was working on the moisture of his skin.
"Yeah…" He trailed off, circling and underlining specific details about Yang Ruqin.
Zhao Lifei didn't elaborate on anything about Yang Ruqin's past and the relationships she previously had. The information written in the packets were Yang Ruqin's current likes and dislikes, her pet peeves, and so on.
"When are the interviews for a new secretary going to start?" Zhao Lifei asked, slipping on her coat.
She noticed he was buried in the packet as if it were a textbook that deemed his success or failure on a test. My goodness, he must've been a stellar student in school.
"Whenever you're ready." Huo Qiudong murmured, finally lifting his head to acknowledge his boss. He gave her a nod then went back to the papers.
"If you memorize everything, your interactions will be too artificial. Don't change yourself just because you want to suit her interests. Don't instantly agree with everything she does." Zhao Lifei placed her hands on the paper to distract him and catch his attention.
"Since Yang Ruqin hasn't cried to me about how much she dislikes you, then you're in the clear. It indicates she likes you as you are. If you suddenly change your demeanor based on the information here, she will instantly notice it. Qinqin majored in Psychology, as indicated on line eight."
Huo Qiudong blinked, then slowly nodded his head.
"I only wrote the most basic information down, so that I didn't spoil the fun. You need to properly interact with her to bring out her real side. Trust me, she's a girl of many faces, but not in a bad way."
Because Yang Ruqin had worked as a model, she was good at blending into any personality that she liked. She could be innocent and demure, wearing a lacy white dress one day, but fierce and sexy in a well-fitted black dress the next. It was part of her charm.
"Understood."
"Good. Now, start packing up. Everyone is heading home now. Don't bother the janitor everyday by staying behind longer than he does." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot, almost begging him to get up from the desk. "Well? I'm waiting." She said when he took out his laptop and proceeded to work.
"I already have one workaholic to deal with and another in the making. I don't want another one on my hands." Zhao Lifei was referring to Yang Ruqin who was beginning to be more and more engrossed in her work. She was completely fine with that for they were grown adults now with their own lives to worry about.
"Fine." Huo Qiudong sighed and began to pack his belongings into a suitcase. Under the careful watch of his boss, he was able to leave the company at a reasonable hour.