Pei Shaoze let out a cold laugh. "Now you're shy?"
Su Banxia felt a bit speechless.
She wanted to argue with him, but fearing he wasn't dressed, she simply lowered her head and said, "President Pei, I don't remember anything from last night!"
It was true—she didn't remember. She had been caught in the rain for so long, and by the time she got back, she was already dizzy and out of sorts. Everything after that was a blur.
Pei Shaoze finished putting on his clothes, walked behind her, crossed his arms, and looked at her. "How about I recount it for you, piece by piece? Let you hear exactly how you pounced on me in bed and then..."
"Impossible, I had a fever, it couldn't have happened!"
Su Banxia retorted, turning to face him.
Pei Shaoze raised an eyebrow. "You had a fever... right!"
The emphasis was clearly off.
Su Banxia's face flushed red instantly.
Seeing her like this, Pei Shaoze didn't press her further. He was in a fairly good mood, so he looked at her and asked, "Hungry?"
"Huh?"
Su Banxia found his train of thought too fast to follow.
She paused for a moment before shaking her head, but her stomach betrayed her. As she shook her head, it let out an embarrassing growl.
It made sense—she hadn't eaten last night and had been sick all night, so...
She glanced awkwardly at Pei Shaoze.
Pei Shaoze just chuckled softly and said, "Come on, let's get something to eat."
Maybe because he was in a good mood this morning, Pei Shaoze had someone send over a generous breakfast spread.
Seeing the food on the table, Su Banxia felt ravenous.
They sat down, and Su Banxia didn't stand on ceremony. She said, "Thanks," and was about to dig in.
Pei Shaoze stopped her, his eyes dark as he handed her a bowl of congee. "Drink this first."
Compared to the other delicacies on the table, Su Banxia didn't like congee.
She frowned at him and shook her head. "I don't like it."
"I don't either, but it'd be a waste if you don't drink it."
With that, Pei Shaoze placed the congee directly in front of her, adding, "No congee, no other food."
Su Banxia: "..."
Damn it, she must have wronged him in a past life. Annoying.
To get to the other food, Su Banxia had no choice but to drink the congee.
After breakfast, Su Banxia and Pei Shaoze headed to the company together.
Since her phone was at the office, Su Banxia rushed to call her two kids as soon as she arrived, but she was stopped halfway.
It was Yan Xin.
Seeing him smiling at her, Su Banxia asked, "What's up?"
"Did you have congee this morning?"
Su Banxia was taken aback, then nodded. "Yeah."
She was a bit confused.
Yan Xin nodded and smiled. "Dr. Liu said your fever just broke, so you shouldn't eat anything too greasy yet. Congee is good for your body and your stomach."
Su Banxia: "???"
Her mind flashed back to the awkward scene of Pei Shaoze forcing her to drink congee, and a strange feeling stirred in her heart.
So...
Pei Shaoze had threatened her into drinking congee this morning because she needed it, not because...
Thinking about it, she felt an indescribable emotion.
She lowered her head with a faint smile and looked at Yan Xin. "I had it this morning, and it was delicious."
With that, she walked straight into her office.
Yan Xin found her smile a bit puzzling, but honestly, her smile was really beautiful.
After calling her two kids, Su Banxia felt relieved and started working properly.
"Secretary Su, President Pei has a meeting with President Liu from Southern Airlines this afternoon. You'll need to prepare a PPT on Ding Sheng's profit trends over the past few years."
Someone stood at the office door speaking—a girl who looked to be in her twenties.
Su Banxia didn't recognize her; she was probably new.
But that didn't matter.
Su Banxia nodded. "Got it. Is it needed this afternoon?"
"Yes, Secretary Su."
After delivering the message, the girl left.
The company's profit trends over the past few years...
Su Banxia's head ached. She'd have to make a trip to the finance department.
When Pei Shaoze returned, he happened to see Su Banxia frowning. He instinctively thought her fever hadn't subsided and looked at her. "Are you okay?"
His sudden voice startled her. Seeing it was him, she paused, straightened up, and said, "I'm fine."
She suddenly didn't know how to interact with this man.
After a moment of silence, she spoke. "President Pei, thank you for last night."
Her unexpected thanks made Pei Shaoze frown slightly, but he sat down in his chair and said, "No need."
Su Banxia sometimes couldn't understand Pei Shaoze. He wasn't really that detestable, but he always seemed to use a cold, seemingly harsh approach with others.
It made people dislike him, fear him.
That was probably a protective color he created for himself.
She couldn't quite figure it out—with Pei Shaoze's family background, there shouldn't be anything too dark.
Thinking about it, Su Banxia grew curious about Pei Shaoze's parents and the entire Pei family. A family like that should raise gentle children.
Shaking off the thoughts, she looked at Pei Shaoze with a slight smile. "President Pei, I'm heading to the finance department. If you need anything, just call me directly."
Pei Shaoze didn't ask further and nodded in agreement.
The finance department was a peculiar place.
A company's finance department was like the heart of a person—crucial. If finances went wrong, the whole company could collapse.
After a quick tour of the finance department, Su Banxia found the manager and politely requested a copy of the profit trend data from recent years.
With the data in hand, Su Banxia was about to leave, but the finance manager stopped her.
The finance manager was a beautiful woman—tall, with delicate features, clearly a successful career woman.
Her surname was Bai.
"Secretary Su?"
Manager Bai looked at Su Banxia as she spoke.
The question made Su Banxia frown. She looked at her and nodded. "Yes."
She had introduced herself when she first asked for the documents.
Now being asked again was a bit off-putting.
"May I ask what you need these financial reports for?"
"President Pei has a meeting this afternoon and needs them."
Su Banxia didn't like wasting time on such conversations, so she picked up the documents to leave, but Manager Bai blocked her.
The tall woman stood in front of Su Banxia, looking at her. "Secretary Su, these documents aren't trivial, but I should remind you—they can't be shown to just anyone."
That was professional ethics, and Su Banxia knew it well.
So she just nodded. "Thanks, Manager Bai."
She really couldn't understand this woman—why drag her into pointless chatter?
Back in the office, Su Banxia organized the data.
At lunchtime, Pei Shaoze saw she had been busy all morning and didn't say much.
He knew the company had a lot going on. As busy as he was, Su Banxia was just as busy, and he appreciated her work ethic.
During the lunch break, Su Banxia was still bent over crunching numbers. Pei Shaoze noticed she didn't seem inclined to go out for food.
He put down his files and walked over to her. "What do you want for lunch?"
His initiative to ask about food caught her off guard. She paused and looked at him. "I'm fine, not hungry yet."
"Ding Sheng wants efficient employees, not workaholics. We don't have a habit of overworking our staff. What do you want to eat?"
Pei Shaoze always seemed to speak with a commanding tone.