"That's settled, then."
A smug smile crossed Wen Yue's face. She waved a hand dismissively at Qin Yuan and said in an indifferent tone, "Take your copy of the contract and go look over our company materials on the sofa over there."
"Familiarize yourself with the company's business in advance. Administrative staff will take you through the onboarding procedures later, and after that, wait for my instructions."
"Alright." Qin Yuan stood up and nodded politely to Wen Yue.
At that moment, Qin Yuan suddenly realized that all the worldly sophistication and seduction tactics he had accumulated over the years had instantly failed him. In front of Wen Yue, he felt as naive and green as a fresh recruit.
Qin Yuan took a deep breath, looked up to steal a glance at Wen Yue, and a thought began to sprout in his mind.
"This woman is truly terrifying. She's an absolute madwoman who threatens me with dirt on me at every turn. Now I know the ancients weren't lying—serving a ruler is like sleeping with a tiger."
"No, I can't stay on the defensive like this. I have to find a way to get some dirt on her as well, so I can secure some bargaining power."
A moment later, someone knocked on the door outside the office.
"Come in," Wen Yue replied calmly.
A woman in professional attire, looking to be in her thirties, walked into the office. She cast an inadvertent glance at Qin Yuan before turning her attention to Wen Yue, speaking in a respectful tone.
"President Wen, did you look for me?"
"Yes." Wen Yue nodded calmly, her gaze shifting to Qin Yuan as she introduced him, "This is Lisa, our HR director. His name is Qin Yuan, my newly hired chief assistant. Take him through the onboarding process and familiarize him with his duties along the way."
"Understood. Please come with me, Mr. Qin," Lisa said with a nod.
Qin Yuan acknowledged her, picked up his contract, and stood up to follow Lisa out.
As soon as the two of them left the office, Wen Yue spun her office chair around to face her desk, where a folder was propped up with its camera lens pointed straight ahead.
"Alright, Yaoyao, you can talk now."
Wen Yue seemed like a completely different person, a natural smile blooming on her face. On her phone screen, a video call was clearly displayed—the call duration already at 48 minutes.
Which meant...
Even before Qin Yuan arrived at Tianheng Building, Wen Yue had already started the video call.
If Qin Yuan ever found out about this, he would probably develop a permanent psychological trauma regarding Wen Yue.
"I'm here!"
Appearing on the screen was an adorable young woman wearing pink and white cartoon pajamas. She wore non-prescription glasses, a bunny-ear headband, and held a cup of black coffee as she leaned close to the camera.
"I finally get to see him in the flesh. Look at this guy—all fair and tender-skinned. The legendary 'puppy boy', and quite handsome too."
The speaker was Xue Ziyao, far away in country M. She was Wen Yue's longtime best friend; the two had known each other since middle school, studied abroad together in country M, and were both top-tier academic achievers.
Unlike Wen Yue, while Xue Ziyao's family wasn't quite as wealthy, her family background was far from ordinary.
The 680-page personal background document on Qin Yuan that was open on Wen Yue's tablet had been investigated and compiled by Xue Ziyao.
To put it in one sentence: practically nothing existed that Xue Ziyao couldn't dig up if she wanted to.
Of course, she did hit snags occasionally.
For instance, she had been completely unable to uncover the identity of Qin Yuan's father.
Xue Ziyao took a small sip of her black coffee, crossed her legs in her chair, and continued with a smile.
"Yue, why did you only read a tiny bit of that file to him just now?"
"His relationship with his second uncle is the real kicker! Once you brought that up, it would've been the ultimate power move."
"Being able to dig up his connection to Qin Changhua proves just how formidable you are. After that, he'd have no choice but to obediently do whatever you say."
Hearing this, Wen Yue leaned back in her office chair and chuckled lightly.
"I don't think so. If I'd read it all out, what if he started overthinking? Don't let his harmless look fool you; this guy is actually pretty sharp."
"Besides, isn't he listening to me already? Don't forget, I still have leverage over him because of what happened that night."
At the mention of this, Xue Ziyao instantly perked up. A mischievous grin spread across her face as she hurriedly brought her phone closer, wearing the expression of an intensely curious child.
"Oh, come on, Yue, now you've really got my attention."
"Tell me, that night at Kaiya Hotel... did the two of you actually... you know, *do it*?"
Wen Yue: ?
Her face flushed slightly, and she instinctively avoided Xue Ziyao's gaze while placing her phone flat on the desk. After a moment of silence, she hesitated and said, "Don't ask things you shouldn't. You little brat, stop prying into adult matters... That's enough for now, I need to get back to work. Qin Yuan will be back in the office soon, so video calling isn't very convenient."
"Hmph, stingy! You're only a year older than me."
Xue Ziyao wrinkled her nose and muttered with a disgruntled expression, "You always dodge the topic at the crucial moment! Just wait until I get back to the country—I'll show you how a real interrogation works!"
Before Xue Ziyao could finish, Wen Yue abruptly hung up on her.
In the blink of an eye, it was 11:55 AM, nearly time to knock off for lunch.
Wen Yue glanced at the time on her computer screen, then raised her eyes to look at Qin Yuan, who was sitting on the sofa and looked almost bored enough to fall asleep.
"Time to head out for lunch. I'll take you home, brief you on a few things, and you can move in afterwards."
With that, Wen Yue shut down her computer screen and stood up, walking toward the office door.
Qin Yuan let out a soft acknowledgment, feeling a wave of relief wash over him as the agonizing morning finally came to an end. He stood up and followed behind Wen Yue.
The next second, Wen Yue stopped in her tracks, glanced back at Qin Yuan from the corner of her eye, and said coolly, "Did you forget something?"
"What?"
"My bag."
"Oh..."
Realizing his mistake, Qin Yuan hurried back to her desk, picked up her shoulder bag, and finally caught up to her side.
Right.
A CEO's assistant was also supposed to carry her bags—that was one of the most basic job descriptions.
A satisfied smile tugged at the corner of Wen Yue's lips as the two of them left the office one after the other. Once they descended to the underground parking garage, the driving duties naturally fell to Qin Yuan.
Before long, guided by the GPS, Qin Yuan arrived at Jiangzhou No. 1, undoubtedly one of Jiangzhou's top-tier luxury residential compounds.
As the two of them walked from the parking garage toward the Wen family's luxurious grand villa, Wen Yue slowed her pace, pulled a card with a protective sleeve out of her shoulder bag, and handed it to Qin Yuan.
"Here, your room card. I've already texted you the passcode."
"Head right when you reach the elevator on the third floor. That's your room..."
Right as they reached the front door, Wen Yue cut herself off, looked up at Qin Yuan, and said, "Open the door."
"Alright."
Qin Yuan forced a smile, checked his phone for the door code, and stepped forward to unlock it. Just then, however, the housekeeper Wen Ming opened the door from the inside.
"Miss, Mr. Qin, lunch is ready," Wen Ming said respectfully, standing aside as he held the door open.
Though his impression of Qin Yuan was mediocre at best, the man had been chosen by the eldest miss. What was done was done—they had already registered their marriage—so he had to at least put up a proper facade.
The two stepped through the gates into a massive, lush garden filled with blooming flowers, clearly tended to with great care.
Qin Yuan cast a glance around his surroundings.
This was what the life of the wealthy looked like. To own a luxury villa this large in Jiangzhou No. 1—the area was practically the size of an estate.
A mansion like this easily cost over a hundred million.
Yet, a thought suddenly crossed Qin Yuan's mind.