“I mean I want to hire you as my assistant!” Shen Xue blurted out.
Lu Xiulan’s mouth formed an ‘o’ and nodded. Shen Xue couldn’t understand what was wrong with her.
“My secretary is ill and will not be able to follow me here for at least two weeks so I need someone to sort out my schedule and arrangements for three months.” Shen Xue continued to explain. “I’m going to need someone who can run a very busy schedule for me while I’m here in Country D.”
“No problem. I think I can handle that.” She hummed. “When do I start?”
“This is a delicate job, Lu Xiulan. You think you can handle it?” His brow arched. The Shen Group not only hired the best but someone who’s also capable of their jobs. Lu Xiulan was a director for marketing campaigns. How would she know the ins and outs of being someone’s assistant?
“I’m good at handling delicate things, Mr. Shen.” She winked back at him.
Great, Shen Xue thought. Now, who’s having perverted thoughts between them?
“But this job requires one to have the necessary skills…”
Shen Xue gritted his teeth as he thought about how he chose the wrong set of words. He chastised himself while trying to push away the unwanted thoughts on his mind. Lu Xiulan peered up on him, and he realized that she had a nice pair of brown eyes.
“You need me to…?” She pointed out.
Good god, Shen Xue thought. Why did it suddenly sound too dirty to him? What the hell was wrong with him? He closed his eyes and started counting backward from one hundred to one, hoping he could distract himself.
He was definitely going to choke his secretary to death once he arrived. This was all his fault!
—
The next day…
Lu Xiulan stepped out of the taxicab, her high black heels hitting the pavement with determination as she clutched the strap of her bag on her shoulder. She eyed the imposing glass front doors of Shen Group’s Country D Branch with awe, and her eyes scanned the ninety-eight floors of the building.
She thought of how lucky her cousin was to marry one of the Shen family’s young masters. With his wealth and status, Shen Yi would be able to provide and protect Lu Xinyi from the Sun family.
Lu Xiulan sighed to herself. This was her first time working in a business setting. She usually spends her time working on her private studio as she edited videos for different campaigns. Her musing was disturbed when the taxi driver cleared his throat to get her attention. She reached into her pursed and handed him the bill before making her way to the entrance of Shen Group.
Walking in, she paused for a moment to look around. The building’s first floor lobby wasn’t crowded at all although people wearing sharp suits with a poker face plastered on their faces passed by quickly.
She then spotted the security desk near the back of the lobby. She sauntered towards it to see a man sitting behind the desk. He looked up when she reached the desk, his eyes gazing up to her with a questioning look. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“Good morning. My name is Lu Xiulan. Vice President Shen is expecting me today. I was told to come and see you,” she greeted with a smile.
“Good morning, Miss Lu. Boss Xue has informed us about your arrival. Let me help you set up your identity card for Shen Group, and then I’ll give you a temporary pass for Boss Xue’s office floor,” the man said in a neutral voice. He motioned to the other guard to man the desk while he assisted Lu Xiulan.
Under fifteen minutes, her photo was taken; and she was asked to fill out her information. The guard handed her her new identity card as Shen Xue’s temporary assistant.
“Looks like you’re ready. You are set to go. Boss Xue’s office is located on the 97th floor; only those with secured passes are allowed to enter so you better make sure to keep your pass safe. The 98th floor is where Boss Yi’s office is. It’s currently locked so you have nothing to worry about new works being passed to Boss Xue’s department.
Lu Xiulan nodded in understanding and thanked the man for his help. She took the elevator, used her temporary pass, and punched for the 97th floor. Stepping off the elevator, she turned down the hall and found the office entrance where a nameplate indicated it as Shen Xue’s.
She then turned into a wide hallway and passed a vacant secretary desk and continued to open the inner door for Shen Xue’s main office. She found him busy on his laptop, his fingers moving over his keyboard in swift movements with headphones on his ears.
“Goddamnit, Kang Wei! What the fuck are you doing? Come on, man! Don’t feed yourself to the enemies,” Shen Xue cursed out loud.
Lu Xiulan cleared her throat, hoping she would get his attention but failed. She then walked silently towards him and peeked over his shoulder to see what he was doing. She groaned when she found out that he was playing an online game at this time.
Lifting her hand to check the time, she was sure as hell that it was already office hours so why the hell was Shen Xue not doing the pile of work on his desk but playing instead. So what happened to the demanding and hectic schedule he was talking about yesterday?
Her right eye twitched before she slammed her hand on his desk to get his attention. Shen Xue jumped back from his seat with a curse and stared back at her with wide eyes. His headphones fell to his neck, and he could vaguely hear what Kang Wei was saying.
‘Hey, Xue. Did you go AFK?’
She Xue realized what had happened and shot her a scathing look as if she’d offended him. She glared back, refusing to back down on his intimidation.
“Vice President Shen…” Lu Xiulan said dangerously, “I have received your email with your schedule last night and did an all-nighter to fix it, only to find you playing during your office hours?”
The man frowned but didn’t say anything in defense. In fact, he’d stayed awake all-night playing in front of his computer. The suit he was wearing was still the same one from the day before, but that was because he hadn’t gotten back to his apartment since leaving it.
“Give me fifteen minutes. I’ll finish this quest, and we’ll go to our first appointment,” he said.
Lu Xiulan crossed her arms under her chest. Her long black hair was tied in a long loose braid that hung down heavily on her left shoulder. Her dark blue blouse, black jacket, and black pencil skirt fitted her figure well. She checked the time once again and slightly nodded.
“Fine, you better get ready in thirty minutes. I’ll prepare the documents you’ll need in your meeting,” she said before leaving his office to settle on her own desk outside.
Shen Xue slumped back in his seat and groaned. He did hire her to help him with his work, but why did it feel that she was the boss between them?
