Fang Shiqing was quite calm about being summoned by the CEO.
She knocked and entered the office, saying, "President Pei, you wanted to see me?"
Pei Shaoze hummed in acknowledgment, handed her a file, and said, "These are from HR. Take them back, look them over, and arrange the work accordingly."
Fang Shiqing was taken aback. The CEO called her up just to hand her a file?
She nodded slightly, took the file, and looked at Pei Shaoze. "Is there anything else you need to instruct, President Pei?"
As if casually, Pei Shaoze asked, "Did anyone call in sick at the company today?"
In almost a second, Fang Shiqing caught on. Was this a roundabout way of asking about Su Banxia?
Pausing, she smiled and said, "Yes, Su Banxia called this morning, said she wasn't feeling well, and asked for leave."
Pei Shaoze lowered his gaze to flip through the documents. After she finished speaking, he nodded. "Alright, go back to work."
Fang Shiqing nodded and returned to her office.
She couldn't help but grumble internally, "As expected, the big boss is the quietly scheming type."
Su Banxia's drunkenness was thorough; she slept straight through until the afternoon. If the doorbell hadn't kept ringing, she probably would have kept sleeping.
Woken by the doorbell, Su Banxia's mind was still foggy. She groggily glanced outside—it was already dark. Checking the time, it was eight in the evening.
Su Hao and Guo Guo weren't there, and neither was Fang Shiqing.
The doorbell kept ringing. Su Banxia peered through the peephole and froze when she saw who it was.
Pei Shaoze!
So late, what was he doing here?
Not opening the door wasn't an option, so she unlocked it.
Looking at the man outside—dressed in a black suit and white shirt, his hair slicked back, exuding a sharp, cold aura—her gaze fell on the document bag in his hand. Su Banxia asked, "President Pei, what's this?"
"Delivering documents."
After saying that, he looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Not going to invite me in for a sit?"
Before Su Banxia could respond, he was already inside.
Su Banxia: "..."
Even if she didn't want him in, what could she do?
Apparently nothing.
Pei Shaoze walked over to the sofa and sat down, looking at her. "You missed quite a bit of work today. Handle these documents as soon as possible; I need to review them tonight."
Su Banxia: "..."
She was just a secretary, responsible only for reviewing these documents for any issues. Besides, there were substitute secretaries in the office. She had handed over how to handle these things in the morning.
Now he showed up with these files, telling her to deal with them quickly, with a tone implying her leave had delayed his work.
This man was really something.
"President Pei, Secretary Zhang and the other secretaries can handle these."
"Yeah."
He just acknowledged her and then fell silent.
Yeah? Yeah what?
Su Banxia felt he was doing this on purpose.
Suppressing her anger, she looked down at the documents in her hand and suddenly remembered that if Pei Shaoze stayed here, Su Hao and Guo Guo might run into him when they came back.
Kicking him out now was out of the question.
Suddenly, she stood up from the sofa.
Seeing her sudden movement, Pei Shaoze looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"
Su Banxia quickly clutched her stomach and said, "Sorry, President Pei, my stomach's a bit off. I need to use the restroom."
With that, she dashed straight into the bedroom.
Pei Shaoze watched her go into the bedroom, frowning slightly. Was there a bathroom in there?
Inside the bedroom, Su Banxia frantically pulled out her phone and called Fang Shiqing, who was out.
No one answered on the other end; it kept ringing.
The more flustered she got, the more urgent it felt. Su Banxia muttered, "Stay out a bit longer, don't come back, don't come back..."
Suddenly, she remembered that Shiqing usually didn't answer calls when she was almost home.
She quickly typed a few words: "Don't come back for now, Pei Shaoze is at home."
Two seconds after sending the message, Su Banxia's phone rang sharply.
It was Fang Shiqing calling.
She answered immediately. "Are you with Xiao Hao and them?"
Fang Shiqing: "Yeah, we just got downstairs. You said Pei Shaoze is at home?"
"Yeah, yeah! Don't come back for now. Maybe go somewhere else for a walk, or..."
Su Banxia was at a loss for words.
Fang Shiqing was exasperated. "Babe, we've already been out walking for ages, and we bought a ton of stuff. My hands are about to fall off."
"I'll come down and get the stuff. You take Xiao Hao and them for a walk."
After saying that, Su Banxia left the bedroom, pretending to be on the phone with a delivery driver. She walked toward the door, speaking loudly, "Oh, the delivery guy? Wait downstairs a moment, I'll be right down to get it."
Passing by Pei Shaoze in the living room, she smiled softly and said, "Sorry, President Pei, I'm just going downstairs to grab a package."
Then she bolted down the stairs.
Pei Shaoze watched her, his handsome brow furrowing deeply. She went into the bedroom for less than two minutes and then rushed out to get a package?
Wasn't her stomach upset?
How was she better so quickly?
His tall frame rose from the sofa, and he walked to the balcony. There, he saw Su Banxia downstairs taking a bag of fruit from Fang Shiqing.
Two children stood beside Fang Shiqing. They were too far away to see clearly, but they had good posture—likely Su Banxia's kids.
After taking the items, Su Banxia gestured for them to leave.
Pei Shaoze wasn't stupid. Even a fool could see now that Su Banxia was deliberately keeping him from meeting the two children.
Why?
At that thought, Pei Shaoze's dark eyes grew even deeper.
When Su Banxia returned, she was carrying some fruit and vegetables. Seeing Pei Shaoze watching her, she smiled and said, "Shiqing doesn't like going to the market to buy these—too heavy—so she had them delivered."
Pei Shaoze raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
After putting the items away, Su Banxia sat down on the sofa, relieved, and began organizing the documents.
Sensing the strange atmosphere from Pei Shaoze, she smiled and said, "President Pei is quite dedicated."
The remark was clearly sarcastic.
Pei Shaoze caught it but shamelessly replied, "Yeah."
Once the documents were finally sorted, Su Banxia breathed a sigh of relief and handed them to him. "President, all done."
Pei Shaoze didn't take the file. Instead, he looked at her. "Don't you want to talk about last night?"
Su Banxia froze. The matter she had pushed to the back of her mind was suddenly dragged up again. She smiled awkwardly. "President Pei was drunk last night..."
"I remember it very clearly, Su Banxia."
He spoke, his gaze fixed on her, cold and aloof.
Su Banxia paused. "President Pei, I'm married. That was an accident. From now on, I just want to focus on my work."
She admitted she was partly at fault for last night. Otherwise, she wouldn't have half-heartedly gone along with sleeping with him, which was why she hadn't said anything when she woke up.
"Ha..."
Pei Shaoze let out a cold laugh. "Married... The man who married a woman like you must be lucky."
The words were dripping with sarcasm.
Su Banxia looked down and said nothing.
After a moment, Pei Shaoze picked up the file, ready to leave. Since she didn't want to discuss it, he had no room to speak.
At the door, he turned back to look at Su Banxia on the sofa. "The industry exchange conference is coming up. Have you prepared what I asked for?"
Su Banxia straightened up. "I've been working on it."
Pei Shaoze watched her tense posture, his brow furrowing deeply. Was she afraid of him?
Catching that signal, his eyes turned colder. He snorted and slammed the door as he left.
"Bang!"
The door crashed loudly, startling Su Banxia.
She felt a bit sorry for the door. Even though this apartment wasn't soundproof, it was still Fang Shiqing's home. This man really didn't care about things that weren't his.