Shen Binglan was only twenty-five years old and had no prior business experience, yet she had taken the helm as the head of the Shen family conglomerate.
One had to remember that Elder Shen still had two sons and a daughter, all of whom possessed quite impressive abilities. According to common sense, the authority of the Shen family should have been handed over to one of those three.
Therefore, Elder Shen's decision left many of the older generation in the Shen family secretly dissatisfied, and outsiders were utterly unable to guess what he had been thinking before his death.
In addition, Shen Binglan's breathtaking beauty and icy-cold personality were frequent topics of private gossip among many people.
When Chen Xuan saw her in person today, he realized that both her looks and her temperament surpassed the rumors. Exquisitely beautiful and chillingly aloof—that was the impression Shen Binglan left on everyone.
Finally, there was the increasingly absurd gossip circulating around. It was said that Shen Binglan hated men by nature; some claimed she was a lesbian, while others whispered that she suffered from some bizarre disease.
Yet there was one true incident: a month ago, a male employee was walking along when he accidentally brushed against the hem of Shen Binglan's skirt, only to be kicked flying several meters by her—a scene witnessed by quite a few people.
Ever since then, any male employee in the company who happened to run into Shen Binglan did not dare to get within five meters of her.
Thinking back to the moment they collided just now, Chen Xuan had shared zero-distance, intimate contact with Shen Binglan for at least two or three seconds, and yet Shen Binglan had not shown the extreme reaction of legend. Could the rumors be wrong?
Before Chen Xuan could dwell on it, he heard Zhou Tao's harsh, copper-gong-like shout ring out from behind: "Chen Xuan, you blind bastard, how dare you knock down the chairwoman!"
Zhou Tao came running over in a huff, gloating with malicious glee inside. This time, Chen Xuan was completely finished, and Zhou Tao wouldn't even need his backer to make a move.
Shen Binglan stepped out of the elevator, cast an icy glance at Chen Xuan, and said not a word.
Reading the expression on her face, Zhou Tao offered a flattering smile. "President Shen, this Chen Xuan is simply courting death by daring to offend you like this. I think we can just fire him right now. I'll have someone throw him out this very minute!"
With that, he glared fiercely at Chen Xuan, waiting only for President Shen's single command to unleash his mighty fury.
Thinking that the bet to make Chen Xuan bark like a dog was about to pay off, Zhou Tao flushed with excitement.
"Are you telling me how to do my job?"
A voice of the utmost chill instantly plunged Zhou Tao from heaven down to hell.
The person who spoke was none other than Shen Binglan, who had remained silent until now.
A single sentence broke Zhou Tao out in a cold sweat all over, making his body tremble uncontrollably as he said in a panicked tone, "I'm sorry, President Shen, how could I dare let you..."
Seeing him unable to even finish his sentence, the people present had no doubt that this fellow would be kneeling on the floor the next second.
"Hmph!" Without wasting a single extra word, Shen Binglan walked straight out of the headquarters lobby.
Everyone present breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief. It was clear that Shen Binglan's mood at that moment must have been terrible.
In truth, Shen Binglan's mood was indeed very bad. She had merely forgotten something in her car, and she never expected that when she took the elevator down to retrieve it, she would crash straight into a strange man's arms, even letting him stare at her chest for several seconds.
To her past self, this was something absolutely intolerable. Shen Binglan knew all too well how strong her body's rejection response to males was.
Yet for some unknown reason this time, when she collided with the embrace of the man named Chen Xuan, she had not felt even a shred of aversion.
What on earth was going on?
A deep confusion welled up in Shen Binglan's heart. In over twenty years, Chen Xuan was the first man she had ever encountered who did not trigger a physical rejection.
If it weren't for the crowd of people around, Shen Binglan would have loved to immediately "capture" Chen Xuan and have her medical experts study him—after all, this concerned the strange illness that had plagued her since childhood.
"Seems his name is Chen Xuan... Hmph, I'll have Secretary Lin call him up in a moment." Silently repeating the name in her mind, Shen Binglan vanished through the front doors.
Watching Shen Binglan's graceful back disappear through the entrance, Chen Xuan turned around and stepped into the elevator.
On the fifty-fifth floor, the Marketing Department of the Shen family conglomerate.
The moment Chen Xuan walked in, he heard a thunderous roar: "Chen Xuan, why the hell are you only just getting here!"
Following the sound, the man doing the roaring was a suit-wearing, balding middle-aged man with a rather wretched appearance—none other than Chen Xuan's direct superior, Liu Bin.
At that moment, Liu Bin's gaze looked as though he wanted to devour Chen Xuan alive. Everyone in the office sat frozen in fear, not daring to cast even a glance in his direction.
"Manager Liu, isn't it just turning nine o'clock right now? Is there a problem with me arriving at this hour?" Chen Xuan asked in a relaxed tone, acting as if nothing was the matter.
The employees at their desks were stunned to hear Chen Xuan's reply. Had he lost his mind today, actually daring to talk back to Manager Liu?
Liu Bin's eyes bulged larger than a cow's, veins throbbing on his temples. Everyone could sense that this volcano was about to erupt!
"Fine, Chen Xuan, looking to rebel today, are you? Have you forgotten everything I stipulated beforehand?" Liu Bin laughed out of sheer fury, his tone aggressively overbearing.
The rule he was referring to was that department members had to arrive half an hour early, and failure to do so meant getting fired. Although this was an anti-human rule, everyone was too afraid of losing their jobs to voice their anger.
Today, Chen Xuan had actually become the very first person to violate Liu Bin's rule, and no one doubted that Chen Xuan was done for.
Yet to everyone's surprise, Chen Xuan remained completely nonchalant, saying lazily, "Manager Liu, the only official work hours stipulated by the Shen family conglomerate are nine o'clock in the morning. May I ask what right Manager Liu has to arbitrarily alter the company's rules and regulations?"
"Rules and regulations? I'll tell you what, Chen Xuan, in the Marketing Department, I, Liu Bin, am the rules and I am the regulations!" Liu Bin laughed coldly with anger, fire practically shooting from his eyes. "Anyone who dares violate my rules is courting death! Chen Xuan, I'm telling you right now, you're fired!"
With that, Liu Bin looked at Chen Xuan with a smug expression. The feeling of holding the power of life and death over an employee was immensely gratifying to him, and he eagerly anticipated seeing Chen Xuan beg him pitifully next.
However, Chen Xuan quickly disappointed him.
"Manager Liu, do you think I care all that much about this job? To be honest, working with someone like you every day makes me want to vomit every second. If you don't fire me, I'm firing you!"
Chen Xuan's words choked off Liu Bin's breath instantly. *What the hell, this kid thinks he's invincible now? He used to be so timid, but today he actually dares to talk back like this—he's grown some serious guts.*
"You're courting death!" Furious beyond measure, Liu Bin raised his hand to slap Chen Xuan across the face.
Just as Chen Xuan prepared to counterattack, a slender figure stepped between them and said timidly, "Manager Liu, please don't hit him!"
Chen Xuan and Liu Bin looked closely and saw that the person blocking them was Bai Chun, a female intern in the department.
She had joined at the same time as Chen Xuan and had often been chewed out by Liu Bin herself, so she and Chen Xuan shared a similar plight and spoke the same language.
Therefore, seeing that Chen Xuan was about to be fired by Liu Bin, she had finally mustered the courage to stand up.
"Manager Liu, this is Chen Xuan's first time being late. I hope you can be the bigger person, give him a chance, and not fire him, please?" Bai Chun bit her lower lip, gathering her courage to plead for Chen Xuan.
Naturally sweet and cute with a soft, gentle voice, she easily stirred a sense of pity in others.
To Liu Bin, a middle-aged man facing a nag of a wife at home every day, such a pure girl who had just stepped into society possessed irresistible lethality. Liu Bin had also been coveting Bai Chun for a long time, but simply hadn't found the right opportunity to make his move.
Seeing Bai Chun intercede for Chen Xuan, Liu Bin's jealousy flared up from the bottom of his heart. He bared his teeth in rage and snapped, "Bai Chun, you don't want to work here anymore either, do you? If you're going to plead for him, believe me, I'll fire you right along with him!"
The more Bai Chun wanted Chen Xuan to stay, the more Liu Bin wanted to fire Chen Xuan.
Hearing the manager's words, Bai Chun grew so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes. She hadn't expected that trying to help Chen Xuan would backfire.
"Bai Chun, you don't need to plead with this kind of person. I wasn't planning on staying here anyway." Chen Xuan was very grateful to this courageous girl, but he didn't want to drag her down and cost her her job as well.
"Chen Xuan, are you really leaving?" Bai Chun's voice carried a crying tone, looking pitiful in the extreme.
Chen Xuan had helped her out a lot with work in the past; if Chen Xuan left, she would truly be isolated and helpless.
Seeing Bai Chun like this, Chen Xuan couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.
"Chen Xuan, since you've got such high aspirations, let's see if you can find a better company than the Shen family conglomerate out there!" Liu Bin had seen plenty of young people like this; until they got battered and bruised by society, they wouldn't bow their heads.
Moreover, relying on his connections, Liu Bin believed that a single phone call from him would ensure Chen Xuan didn't get a single interview.
Chen Xuan smiled indifferently. "Liu Bin, I advise you not to judge others with prejudiced eyes. There are many things in this world that you can't even imagine."
Hearing Chen Xuan dare to call him a dog, Liu Bin was about to explode with rage. Eyes blazing with fire, he roared, "Chen Xuan, get the hell out of here right now! Get out of the Shen family conglomerate!"
Everyone felt that Chen Xuan's situation was beyond saving and he could only pack his bags and leave, while Bai Chun's gaze dimmed as well.
Just then, a woman dressed in business attire walked in and asked straight away, "Is Chen Xuan here?"
Hearing this, Liu Bin's pupils constricted. He instantly recognized the newcomer as the assistant to the company's president, Shen Binglan, and hurriedly put on a smiling face as he went up to her. "Secretary Lin, what brings you here?"
"I'm looking for Chen Xuan from your department. Which one is he?" Secretary Lin asked expressionlessly, as if infected by her ice-queen president.
Before Liu Bin could answer, Chen Xuan stepped forward and said, "I'm Chen Xuan. What does Secretary Lin want with me?"
"President Shen is looking for you. Come upstairs with me quickly." Secretary Lin's words were brief, leaving everyone utterly bewildered.
No one could connect an intern about to be fired with that high-and-mighty beautiful president. What business could President Shen possibly have with Chen Xuan?
Liu Bin was completely baffled too. Secretary Lin's words seemed to reveal nothing, yet carried a massive amount of implication; he had no clue what was going on.
At that moment, someone whispered, "I heard people from other departments say just now that Chen Xuan knocked down President Shen while waiting for the elevator. Didn't you guys know?"
Gasp!
Those words were like a blockbuster bomb, setting off a storm throughout the Marketing Department.
Upon hearing this, Liu Bin nearly grinned from ear to ear. Chen Xuan had actually brought down a catastrophe upon himself; it seemed that even if he didn't fire him, the Shen family conglomerate wouldn't have any place for Chen Xuan now.
Legend had it that Shen Binglan had studied abroad and even mastered top-tier combat arts. The employee who had previously been kicked flying by Shen Binglan had spent three months laid up in the hospital.
With this Chen Xuan offending President Shen, wouldn't he lose his life once he was called up there?
Chen Xuan felt not a shred of fear, calmly following Secretary Lin out of the Marketing Department.