14 A Warm Winter Nigh (1/2)

Had you ever won a jackpot before?

That was what the inexplicable excitement that Lin Qian was experiencing right now felt like.

Kang Mingcong still ended up attending the dinner appointment. He did not invite Li Zhicheng and the rest for dinner. But, their conversation had been very long—over two hours—so that was good enough.

The car moved steadily as night descended; the passengers' faces were lit by the glittering lights from the street. The smile on Gu Yanzhi's face was as mellow as wine. He leaned against his seat in a good mood, and after taking a sip of mineral water, he finally revealed to Lin Qian and Xue Mingtao the truth behind this ”mission impossible.”

”They played two rounds of GO. Despite being the CEO of a company on the Fortune 500 list, Kang Mingcong was no match for Li Zhicheng! Not satisfied with his loss, Mr. Kang invited Li Zhicheng to meet again this weekend.”

”Wow!” both Lin Qian and Xue Mingtao exclaimed in amazement. They glanced at Li Zhicheng, who was sitting in the back. He was sitting straight, his legs crossed, gazing at the night view outside the window. He looked composed, as usual, showing no sign of joy or contentment. The only difference was his slightly rosy cheeks, perhaps due to their long stay in a warm room just now.

Xue Mingtao, a veteran in business like Gu Yanzhi, immediately took the chance to express his deepest admiration for Li Zhicheng. Lin Qian was in no rush to butter Li Zhicheng up though; as his assistant, she would have plenty of chances to do so in the future. Therefore, she just smiled and nodded in agreement.

But… thinking back to the information provided by her brother, she did not recall any mention of her boss being good at GO. Of course, her brother's information was not necessarily complete.

So, was today's incident purely because of luck?

As she was thinking, she unconsciously peeked at Li Zhicheng through the rear-view mirror. Boss, you can continue to remain silent as long as you're always useful and practical. Ha!

At the same time, Li Zhicheng, who was staring outside of the window, suddenly shifted his gaze; his eyes met hers.

Lin Qian gave him a big smile.

His appearance was impeccable, his eyes were bright.

Just when Lin Qian was about to look away, his lips lifted a little; he gave her a soft smile.

Lin Qian's heart skipped a beat. She blushed.

Gosh… This handsome boss, who is slow to speak, after accomplishing something big, chose only to beam at me. This is quite flattering.

Lin Qian smiled back at him, then she looked away.

Gu Yanzhi spoke again: ”I reckon we will receive Ming Sheng Group's invitation to bid next week. However… SMQ seems to have a very deep connection with Ming Sheng Group,” he said flatly.

Lin Qian and Xue Mingtao stared ahead in silence.

Indeed, right after they had set up the meeting time, Chen Zheng had swooped in with an earlier appointment. Someone from Ming Sheng Group must have tipped him off; said person was capable of arranging SMQ's appointment before Aida's. The connection must run deeper than they had expected.

The four of them had dinner in a hurry, then rushed back to Aida.

While getting out of the car, Gu Yanzhi shook Li Zhicheng's hand, saying, ”Leader, now you will focus on playing GO with the higher-ups. Leave the rest to us.”

Li Zhicheng smiled. ”Mmm.”

After that, Gu Yanzhi went to the marketing department with Xue Mingtao. Lin Qian followed Li Zhicheng to the top floor. She understood what Gu Yanzhi had meant just now: the two presidents had bonded well. During this period of time, they needed to employ all possible means to build connections with the other departments of Ming Sheng Group in order to compete against SMQ.

This was the murky, intense, intriguing battlefield of the salesmen.

The night went on.

Lin Qian returned to her seat, tidied the documents, and checked the time. It was past eight o'clock.

Li Zhicheng shut himself in the office when they had come back. The room was quiet.

She knocked and entered.

As expected, he was sitting behind his desk, which was littered with a pile of Aida's products, department reports, and market data. Having been working with him for a bit of time now, Lin Qian sincerely felt that he was determined and passionate about this business. She was moved by the shape of his handsome profile and his dark eyebrows under the light. She had initially wanted to ask him when he planned to leave, but she decided not to; instead, she quietly filled his green military thermos with water and left the room.

Lin Qian strived to be ”the perfect assistant.” Considering the boss was still at work, she would stay as well. In case he needed anything or had any orders, she would be at his service. However, since she had been tense the whole day, she was not in the mood to continue working; she turned on her computer and went online to game.

Time flew by. It was soon 9:00 pm.

She pushed away the keyboard. Erm… bathroom break.

At this time of night the top floor was vacant. Even the front desk receptionist had left. Most of the lights were off; the only lights left on were the few from the CEO's office. The vast space seemed deserted; the path to the bathroom was dark and eerily silent.

Lin Qian contemplated for a while, and at last she mustered her courage; the sound of leather boots galloping towards the toilet filled the hall.

It was not until she finally returned to her seat that her pulse returned to normal again. At the same time she checked the CEO's office.

Huh?

The lights were… off? The door was… shut?

Lin Qian jumped to her feet and gave the door a slight push. It was locked.

Lin Qian was speechless.

Damn it… she had been faithfully accompanying him despite her fear of ghosts and monsters.

The moment she went away for a little while to use the bathroom, the boss left without a word; he even went the extra mile to lock the door.

Did he seriously think that she was devoted to working overtime?

She looked around. The office was cold and quiet. Shuddering, she packed up her stuff right away.

Click! The sound of the door opening sounded exceptionally sharp in the night. Lin Qian felt her pulse racing. She looked up; Li Zhicheng had both his hands in his pants' pockets, with a cold look on his face, and was coming out of the bathroom.

Lin Qian was dazed.

He glanced at her, expressionless; then strode past her to the elevator.

Walk slower! Wait for me! Lin Qian cried internally. Immediately she shut her computer, packed her things, grabbed her bag, and dashed out.

He was still standing in the lobby; under the light, his silhouette was slender and well-proportioned. Lin Qian caught her breath. Yay! The elevator was not here yet. Lucky thing she had acted quickly. She then strutted towards him gracefully.

”Mr. Li, please have a good rest,” she said politely, still a little out of breath.

He didn't reply, obviously thinking there was no need to respond to her conventional greeting. Meanwhile, he raised his finger and pressed the ”going down” button of the elevator.

Lin Qian was stunned.

So it was not that she had walked fast. He had been standing here for a while but hadn't yet pressed the button.

…Was he waiting for her?

She felt a tug at her heart.

Throughout their interactions the past few days, it seemed more and more that she was being touched by his gentle gestures.

He is a great leader, just a little rough around the edges. She was lost in thought while gazing at his well-defined profile.

The elevator door opened; both of them stepped in.

”Thank you, boss,” Lin Qian said.

”Mmm,” he murmured.

They remained silent all the way down.

The night was dark and quiet when they stepped out of the building. The air was chilly.

Lin Qian knew that he stayed in the complex. She straightened her collar and was about to say goodbye when she noticed him staring ahead, his eyes lighting up. Following his gaze, she saw at the end of the pavement a few familiar figures walking towards them and waving.

”Mr. Li!”

”It's off hours now. Call him 'Commander!'”

”Assistant Lin is here too!”

It was Gao Lang and the group of security guards.

Lin Qian grinned.

They surrounded Li Zhicheng and her. After exchanging a few words, Gao Lang said, ”Lin Qian, we're going to have dinner with the commander. Want to join us?”

Li Zhicheng stood quietly, his expression hard to read. Of course Lin Qian declined politely. ”It's okay. You guys go ahead.” Gao Lang was also just being polite; to be honest, it would be awkward if a girl tagged along with a bunch of dudes who were going out for drinks and a bite to eat. Just when he was about to reply, ”Okay,” the CEO-commander spoke.

”If you are free, you should join us.”

Though confused for a moment, Lin Qian soon beamed. ”Sure! I suppose obedience to my boss is better than politeness. Sorry to intrude.”