Assistant Li couldn't help but run his mouth, teasing, "The boss is even thinking about lucid dreaming now. He asked me to find a watch that vibrates when he dreams, just so he can wake up the moment he starts dreaming."
Secretary Fu, sitting across from him, covered her mouth and giggled. "The Chairman is truly adorable."
"Right? He puts such high demands on himself—" Li stopped himself from adding "too high" and wore an expression of bewilderment. "Adorable?"
Secretary Fu nodded, smiling candidly. "Don't you think so?"
"…Maybe."
Li had never thought the word "adorable" fit such a tall, cold, and workaholic man. In his eyes, Shang Fuyan was just the patron who paid him to work—he could be ruthless, dignified, and aloof, but "adorable" was the last thing that fit him.
"Ahem."
Li swore inwardly. He looked up to see the lounge door open, and his boss appeared with an expressionless face, his handsome features looking sharp. His gaze, directed straight at Li, carried a hint of warning.
*Damn it. I talked too much.*
Secretary Fu, whose back was turned to the door, looked back blankly. "Chairman?"
Shang Fuyan gave a soft hum, his gaze visibly softening as he turned to her. "Secretary Fu, come with me to meet the project partners."
"Understood."
Fu You'an immediately rose to follow her boss. Before leaving, Shang Fuyan cast one final glare at Assistant Li.
*I know, I know. I'll shut my mouth from now on.*
Li felt truly defeated. He had only spoken the truth, and yet the boss appeared right on cue. It was just…
Fu You'an had assumed Shang Fuyan called her over because there was work to be done, but she didn't expect it to be just a meeting with partners where she sat on the sidelines as an observer. There was nothing for her to actually do.
"Assistant Li can handle his own dinner. You'll eat with us."
Shang Fuyan wiped his hands with a damp towel and explained as the food was served. The partners sitting opposite them were foreigners, and they asked quite bluntly and boldly in a foreign language if they were secret lovers.
"No," Shang Fuyan replied in fluent foreign language, denying it immediately.
He told himself he hadn't committed any overstepping actions toward Secretary Fu; everything was well within the boundaries of professional conduct—except for those occasional, wanton, and unrestrained dreams he had of her. That was indeed a failure of character.
But no one knew that.
Fu You'an nodded, indicating she was just the secretary.
The partners laughed awkwardly and changed the subject. They had seen many bosses bring beautiful women along, so they often assumed the two had an intimate relationship.
After the meal, the two took a car back to the hotel. Assistant Li hadn't returned with them, having been sent off on an errand.
In the car, just as Fu You'an was about to sit in the front passenger seat, Shang Fuyan reached out and grabbed her.
"Sit in the back. I have things to discuss with you."
"Understood."
Once in the back seat, Shang Fuyan pulled up the partition to block the driver's view. He opened the hidden desk built into the seat, set up his laptop, and began explaining to Fu You'an how they were going to secure the current project.
The project involved electricity for construction in the economic zone and was tied to bidding with a foreign government department, so it required extreme caution and attention to detail.
A businessman’s mind was sharp indeed. It turned out there had been a purpose to having Fu You'an sit in on the meeting earlier.
Furthermore, Shang Fuyan had no need to keep secrets. From the moment he decided to hire Fu You'an as his secretary, he had accepted the potential problems that might arise. Besides, a secretary's clerical work was so important that he needed to know exactly who he was dealing with.
Fu You'an took notes as she listened, quickly grasping his meaning.
"All right, I understand."
He opened a bottle of mineral water to moisten his throat. His gaze was sharp and serious while working, making him look exactly like a meticulous and stern head teacher. His eyes focused on her face.
"Very good. Reiterate it for me."
Fu You'an spent a dozen seconds reflecting, then organized the points methodically. She even remembered the documents that needed to be drafted and the submission process without a single error.
Over the past two months, she had become proficient in her role, so she remembered the repetitive procedures clearly.
After hearing her out, Shang Fuyan curled his lips in a rare sign of appreciation. "Very good." Her understanding of the material was completely correct.
Fu You'an finally smiled with relief.
"How many years do you plan on staying by my side?"
The contract was for five years, but he thought it might not take that long.
"According to the contract, five years. But I feel like I can learn a lot by your side, so I might not want to leave when the time comes." The longer Fu You'an stayed with him, the more her sense of ease grew with each passing day.
"We’ll see when the time comes." Shang Fuyan didn't want to admit it, but he was quite pleased by the flattery.
He handed her the bottle of water.
"Thank you."
As the atmosphere softened, Fu You'an’s phone rang. The screen displayed "Xu Shengsheng."
"It’s Madam."
Secretary Fu, unaware of the actual situation, thought they were a married couple. Shang Fuyan, the person involved, felt an involuntary rejection toward the title the moment he heard her say it.
Shang Fuyan didn't tell her to pick up, so Fu You'an answered.
"Hello—"
"Hello! Excuse me, this is the police station. Ms. Xu said this number could reach her husband." A deep, gravelly male voice came from the other side. Fu You'an had put the call on speaker, so Shang Fuyan heard it clearly.
He had never been called by the police before, so he turned to listen to the situation.
Secretary Fu asked what was going on.
The police officer on the phone explained that there had been a case of excessive self-defense at a bar; she had broken a man's head with a beer glass. Now that the police had cleared up the facts, they were asking a family member to come down and pay the bail to take her home.
Following Shang Fuyan’s silent instruction, Fu You'an replied quickly, "I will have Assistant Li send someone over."
After the call ended, Shang Fuyan picked up his phone to message Assistant Li. Seeing his tense expression, Fu You'an said softly, "Fortunately, Madam is fine. You—"
He raised a hand to stop her. "There is no need to comfort me. She—"
Shang Fuyan stopped himself just in time. He and Xu Shengsheng were in a sham marriage; no one but Assistant Li knew about it.
But hearing Secretary Fu address Xu Shengsheng that way made him feel incredibly irritable.
Back then, the old patriarch had said he had something to discuss with Shang Fuyan personally. When he walked in, a woman was already standing in the room.
At the time, he was exhausted by the arranged marriages organized by his relatives. He heard his grandfather talk about a childhood engagement promised to a comrade-in-arms and learned that this woman’s parents had both passed away and her family was bankrupt, making her easy to control.
Regardless, he knew he would never find anyone he liked in this lifetime, and since the position was troublesome to leave empty, it was better to have someone fill it. So, he made an absurd decision.
Thus, he entered into a private agreement with her for a contract marriage.
To be honest, he was used to being alone. Neither before nor after the wedding had he ever had a serious conversation with Xu Shengsheng. Since they were two strangers with nothing tying them together but money, there was no point in wasting breath.
Because of this, over the past few years, Xu Shengsheng had used that position to throw her weight around in the Beijing social circles. A few days ago, she had even tried to break the contract to demand more money, and now she was in the police station. She was bringing him more and more trouble.
He paid her five million every month, and all she brought in return was chaos.
Shang Fuyan was already thinking about how to end this contract marriage. After the bar incident, he wanted to clean up the mess of this marriage even more quickly.
The rights and wrongs of the bar incident didn't matter. The most pressing issue was protecting his own interests, preventing public opinion from escalating, and ideally nipping it in the bud.
So, in Fu You'an’s eyes, the stern-looking Shang Fuyan was merely calculating how to handle a divorce, overcome the patriarch's interference, stop the spread of rumors, and instruct Assistant Li to head to the station.
Assistant Li, having just seen the text message, lay silently on the floor.
*Is there no end to this?*