Worried about Su Banxia being unsafe on the road alone, he drove around for a bit. After Yan Xin dropped Su Banxia off at her place, he opened his phone and saw several missed call notifications. All the missed calls were from Pei Shaoze. Looking at the messages, he sighed. He called back, and when the call connected, Pei Shaoze’s cold voice came through, “Where are you?” Yan Xin deliberately wanted to mess with him, pretending not to know what he meant, and asked doubtfully, “Who? Who are you talking about?” Pei Shaoze’s tone was harsh, “Su Banxia!” “No idea!” Yan Xin kept playing dumb, saying, “I just drove around looking for her, couldn’t find her, and my phone died, so I came back. It’s charging now!” “Beep, beep…” Before he finished speaking, the line went dead with a beep. It was easy to imagine that Pei Shaoze was barely holding back his anger at that moment. Yan Xin looked at the phone and smiled helplessly. It seemed someone was getting invested. Thinking this, he couldn’t help but glance up at Su Banxia’s balcony, a hint of melancholy creeping into his heart. In this world, there really were many people fated to meet but not to be together. After hanging up on Yan Xin, Pei Shaoze dialed Su Banxia’s number directly. The phone rang for a while before connecting, and a sweet, childish voice came through, still with a babyish lilt, “Hello, who are you looking for?” Pei Shaoze paused slightly, the stiff expression on his face softening a bit. He lowered his voice and said, “I’m looking for Su Banxia.” Guoguo held the phone, said “Oh,” glanced toward the bathroom, and replied, “My mom is taking a shower. Uncle, is there something you need? I can pass it along to her.” Whether it was the child’s sweet voice or the fact that his mood had already improved, Pei Shaoze held the phone, momentarily lost in thought. Facing the computer, he said gently, “Nothing important.” Guoguo was about to say more when she saw Su Hao come out of the bedroom with a book. She exclaimed happily, “Brother, some uncle called for Mom!” Su Hao glanced at her, uninterested, and said, “Don’t just answer Mom’s calls randomly. That’s very rude, Su Guoguo!” With that, the little guy went back to reading his book. Guoguo snorted softly, “I didn’t answer it randomly! Mom said I could!” Then, remembering she was still on the phone, she said, “Uncle, are you still there?” Pei Shaoze couldn’t explain why he didn’t hang up, why he quietly listened to a little girl’s chatter. When he heard Guoguo speak, he quickly responded, but then didn’t catch what she said next. The call was cut off. Pei Shaoze stared at the phone for a long time, lost in thought. When Su Banxia came out of the bathroom, she saw her phone tossed on the sofa and casually asked, “Did anyone call me?” Guoguo hugged her doll and nodded, running over to Su Banxia like she was reporting a triumph, “I answered it! Some uncle called. His voice was really nice—he must be a handsome uncle!” Su Hao heard this and shot Guoguo a look, saying disdainfully, “Boy-crazy.” Su Banxia scrolled through the call log. Suddenly seeing Pei Shaoze’s name, she was so startled her hands went weak. She quickly looked at Guoguo and asked, “Guoguo, what did you say to that uncle?” Guoguo tilted her head, thinking, and said, “Nothing much. I asked who he was looking for, he said you, I told him you were busy, and then he hung up.” Was that all? Su Banxia nodded and sighed silently. She hoped Pei Shaoze wouldn’t overthink it. … That night, Pei Shaoze seemed to have insomnia. The reason might have been Su Banxia, or maybe it was because he’d been working too hard lately. The next day. When Su Banxia arrived at the company, she was late. And Pei Shaoze, having slept poorly the night before, looked especially grim. As soon as she entered the office, she saw him leaning back in his chair with a dark expression, his cold, ruthless black eyes fixed on her. Knowing she was late, Su Banxia stepped forward properly to apologize, “President Pei, I’m really sorry. There was traffic on the way.” “Why weren’t you stuck in traffic?” Pei Shaoze was in a bad mood, so he shot her a cold glance and spoke harshly. Su Banxia lowered her head, not understanding what was wrong with this big shot, why he was suddenly angry again. Yan Xin, seeing Su Banxia had arrived, breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Pei Shaoze, “The morning meeting has been delayed for a while. Can we start?” Pei Shaoze didn’t answer, but his dark eyes turned to Su Banxia, and he asked coldly, “Did you prepare the documents I asked for yesterday?” Su Banxia didn’t dare hesitate. She quickly nodded, “Yes, they’re ready!” She swiftly found the files she’d organized yesterday and handed them to him. Seeing that Pei Shaoze’s mood had stabilized a bit, Yan Xin turned to notify the departments for the meeting. Pei Shaoze didn’t take the files Su Banxia offered. He just glanced at them coldly and then said, “You’re coming to the meeting with me.” Su Banxia was dumbfounded! What was she going for? The board meeting—she didn’t have the qualifications to attend. “President Pei, I…” “To pour tea and water.” He gave her those four words and headed straight for the conference room. Su Banxia followed behind him, completely bewildered. But only for a moment—then she caught up. In the conference room, most of Ding Sheng’s shareholders had arrived. Pei Shaoze was planning to acquire a few small companies. Normally, this kind of thing didn’t require a meeting to discuss. But since it involved some shareholders’ interests, a shareholder meeting was necessary. Su Banxia was really just there to pour tea and water. After Pei Shaoze entered the conference room, he laid out the issue and let the shareholders start discussing it. He leaned back in his chair leisurely and signaled Su Banxia to serve him tea and water. As his secretary, Su Banxia didn’t mind at first, but Pei Shaoze kept pushing it. At first, he just deliberately knocked over his coffee cup or spilled water on her. Later, he made her run dozens of blocks to buy him coffee. By the time she finally got the coffee back, the meeting was over. In the office, he coldly reviewed documents while interrogating her, “Su Banxia, buying a cup of coffee took you two hours. You wasted an entire morning’s work time.” He said it with a straight face! Su Banxia almost wanted to strangle him! Who told her to buy the coffee? Who insisted on that specific shop and made her run all those streets? He was clearly just messing with her, and then he blamed her for it. Unbelievable. For the sake of keeping her job, she suppressed the frustration in her heart and tried to maintain a good attitude, saying, “I’m sorry, I was too slow. Next time, I’ll be quicker.” Even though she wasn’t at fault, she still had to apologize humbly. That feeling was really awful. Pei Shaoze had expected her to lose her temper or snap, but seeing her still so patient only made him more annoyed. He looked at her and said, “Give me the coffee.” Su Banxia handed him the coffee she’d bought. He took the cup, tested the temperature—it was still warm—and opened the lid. Holding it up, he looked at Su Banxia and said, “Come here.” Not knowing what he wanted, she walked over to him, still proper, and asked, “President Pei, do you have any other instructions?” “You drink it.” He handed her the coffee and said. Su Banxia was taken aback, confused by his behavior. She asked doubtfully, “Is it cold?” Seeing her like that, Pei Shaoze frowned, “This coffee isn’t bad for you. It warms the stomach and aids digestion. Drink it.” Huh? Su Banxia was full of questions but obediently did as she was told. Seeing her drink it, Pei Shaoze’s expression softened a bit. He asked casually, “It rained heavily yesterday. Did you get wet?” Su Banxia nodded, walking to her desk, and said as she moved, “A little, but nothing serious.” Pei Shaoze was about to say more when the office door suddenly rang. “Come in.”