When Su Banxia arrived at the HR department and saw Fang Shiqing, the latter was taken aback.
"Oh my god, what happened to your face?"
Spotting the slap mark on her cheek, Fang Shiqing's eyes widened in shock.
"I bumped into something."
Su Banxia replied briefly, "I'm here to pick up the documents."
Fang Shiqing organized the files and handed them over, still staring at her face with a frown. "Miss Su, next time you lie, could you at least be more convincing? Don't be so insincere, okay?"
Did she think she was blind?
Couldn't she tell the difference between a bump and a slap?
Su Banxia didn't want to explain further. Taking the documents, she said, "I have something to do, I'll go now."
But she was stopped.
Fang Shiqing looked at her. "Who hit you?"
Su Banxia rubbed her forehead and said flatly, "Someone irrelevant."
"Heh..."
Fang Shiqing let out a laugh. "Su Banxia, are we friends?"
"Yes."
"Who hit you?"
Caught under Fang Shiqing's direct gaze, Su Banxia paused before saying, "It's from that incident last night. It made the headlines this morning."
Fang Shiqing caught on almost instantly. "An admirer of Pei Shaoze?"
Su Banxia gave a faint smile. "Don't worry. The Su Banxia you know isn't a pushover. What others give her, she'll give back."
Fang Shiqing hesitated for a moment, then looked at her. "The third Miss Ye?"
Su Banxia didn't say more. Brushing past her, she said, "Relax, I returned the slap. We're even."
Su Banxia returned to Pei Shaoze's office.
Yan Xin was already gone. When she came back, Pei Shaoze heard the movement and the Parker pen in his hand shifted slightly.
Without looking up, he said coldly, "Secretary Su's work attitude seems to be getting more and more lax. Does it take over twenty minutes to fetch a document?"
He kept his eyes on the papers on his desk, so Su Banxia couldn't read his expression.
She simply said, "Sorry, President Pei. I got delayed by some matters."
Pei Shaoze's tone grew worse. "Secretary Su seems very busy these days?"
Su Banxia didn't respond.
She knew well that when Pei Shaoze was angry, nothing she said would help, so she stayed silent.
After a long pause with no reply.
"Slap!"
Pei Shaoze's pen hit the desk. He looked up, his dark eyes fixed on Su Banxia.
When his gaze landed on the slap mark on her cheek, his handsome brow furrowed deeply.
He didn't ask about it. Instead, he said, "Secretary Su, don't you want to explain why it took you over twenty minutes to get the documents?"
Su Banxia lowered her head. "Sorry, President. For personal reasons, I stayed a bit longer in the HR department."
It seemed Su Banxia had no intention of mentioning the slap mark on her face.
Pei Shaoze frowned slightly, staring at her for a while.
Finally, after a long moment, he said slowly, "I don't want this to happen again."
Twenty-odd minutes wasn't a big deal.
Su Banxia knew in her heart that he was deliberately making things difficult for her, picking at flaws.
As for why he didn't ask anything in the end, she figured someone with Pei Shaoze's personality would investigate on his own.
The company was full of gossip. Finding out something was a matter of minutes.
The headline issue was easy to handle, so Pei Shaoze left it to Yan Xin.
But his suspicion of Su Banxia seemed to be spreading. If his initial doubt was instinct,
now it had a basis.
Lin Tongze's company was in France, and Su Banxia had been there for the past six years.
But when did the two of them meet?
What was Su Banxia's purpose in joining Dingsheng?
What was Lin Tongze's goal?
These questions couldn't be answered right away.
So, he had to take it slow.
...
After work, Su Banxia packed up to leave.
Seeing Pei Shaoze still reviewing documents, her work was done, but if the boss wasn't leaving, it seemed wrong for her to go.
So she sat at her desk and texted Lin Tongze.
She told him she might be late and he might have to wait a bit longer.
"Su Banxia!"
Pei Shaoze's voice suddenly came from above her. Startled, she jumped up.
She nearly bumped into him.
"President Pei, is there something else?"
"Come to Yicheng Shangshui tonight."
With that, Pei Shaoze turned to leave.
Su Banxia was confused. "President Pei, is there something specific?"
"The housekeeper's been on leave lately. No one's cleaned that place, it's a mess. Go tidy it up for me."
Pei Shaoze finished speaking and walked straight out.
Leaving Su Banxia completely baffled.
The housekeeper's on leave—what did that have to do with her?
She wasn't a maid.
She wanted to say something more, but Pei Shaoze was already gone.
She packed up, went downstairs, and hailed a taxi.
But at the company entrance,
just as she arrived and was about to call a cab, Pei Shaoze's black Bentley pulled up beside her.
Rolling down the window, Pei Shaoze said, "You can come with me. It's on the way."
Su Banxia: "..."
She had things to do!
There was no way she was going with him now. She forced a smile. "President Pei, I'll come later. I have something to do right now, I can't make it."
"What is it?"
"Personal matters."
Su Banxia really found this man hard to deal with.
"More important than your job?"
Su Banxia: "..."
She was fuming inside, truly.
Not only did she have to deal with his admirers, but she also had to handle his three meals a day and his unpredictable moods.
There probably wasn't a more miserable secretary in the world.
Given the situation, Su Banxia knew it all too well.
If she kept dragging this out with him, she'd never get to see Lin Tongze.
Spotting a taxi not far away, Su Banxia turned to Pei Shaoze. "President Pei, I really have something urgent. I'll come clean up later. I'm leaving now."
Without giving Pei Shaoze a chance to respond, she dashed toward the taxi.
Opened the door, got in.
All in one smooth motion.
Once inside, she gave the driver the address of the café she'd arranged with Lin Tongze, and the car pulled away.
Pei Shaoze watched the departing vehicle, his dark eyes growing deeper.
Just then, Yan Xin called.
Pei Shaoze answered. Before he could speak, the other end said, "I just checked today's situation at the company. If I'm right, it's probably the third Miss Ye."
"Mm."
With that single word, Pei Shaoze was about to hang up.
Yan Xin gossiped, "If you don't have feelings for Su Banxia, don't use her as a shield for no reason. With your popularity, if one of your admirers really targets her, she'll be torn to pieces."
Pei Shaoze didn't listen to his nonsense. He said directly, "The Ye family's been too quiet lately. Give them something to deal with."
"What the hell!"
Yan Xin cursed. "What are you doing? The Ye family might be your future in-laws. You dare—"
"I'm not interested in the Ye family. Just do as I say. Less talk."
With that, he hung up.
After the call ended, Yan Xin sent a text.
It read, "A boiled egg can help with swelling."
Out of nowhere, Pei Shaoze glanced at it and ignored it.
But thinking of the slap mark on Su Banxia's face, he took note.