210 Yueying Stakeholders Meeting 2

After returning to Maple Residence, he went upstairs after dinner as usual. Xi Xiaye only went up after she was done with the dishes.

It was pretty late at night when she came out of the bathroom with her half-dried hair. She noticed that the bedroom and the living room were dark. She could see the faint light from the study room. After giving it some thought, she grabbed a glass of water and walked towards the study room.

As she arrived at the door of the study room, she looked inside and he was nowhere to be found. Nevertheless, she could smell the scent of a cigarette in the wind as question marks filled her head.

She looked over at the windows and saw the man smoking right beside the tall bookshelf.

"Don't always smoke. It's bad for your health." She went over and grabbed his half-burnt cigarette before handing him the glass of water.

Mu Yuchen looked at the frowning little woman before him. He smiled when she took his cigarette away. "I'm just a little bored... Pack up your things for tomorrow and go to bed soon."

"Is something troubling you?" She could not help but ask as she extinguished the cigarette in her hand.

"What can trouble me?" He took a sip from the glass of water. "Don't overthink. I'm just a little tired."

"The year has just started and you're already tired. There's still a long way to go." Xi Xiaye laughed, sweeping the cigarette ash on his collar off. "I used to think that people at the top only know how to order their subordinates around and ignore everyone's feelings, but now that I'm at a higher position, I realize that the higher-ups sometimes might have much more pressure like when I just entered the company…"

"So, people like me are like the devil in your eyes?" He grinned and gave her an odd smile.

Xi Xiaye shrugged. "I was in the Sales Department when I just entered the company. My manager was a very old-fashioned person. She was strict towards all her subordinates and wanted us to be independent. Every time something happened, she would ask us to solve it ourselves while she just watched. All of us were very unhappy with her. We secretly gave her a nickname, 'The Stern Lady'.

"Afterward, we got used to it. I was transferred to become under Vice President Liu as my performance was pretty good. I faced more and more challenges but overcame each and every one of them, so I'm actually pretty grateful to her. She was my first supervisor since I started working and she had a great influence over me... She's actually very nice…"

She suddenly took a pause and looked up at him with her pair of serious eyes. "You too, be yourself and you'll be able to influence us, your subordinates, no matter work or life."

"Are you lecturing me, Director Xi?" His eyes were getting cheeky as he patted her head with his large hands again as if he were comforting a little child. Xi Xiaye sulkily pushed his hand away.

"I'm being serious right now!"

"I'm taking you seriously right now too!"

"Don't ever pat my head again!"

"I'm just measuring the EQ in your brain... Mmm!"

"Mu Yuchen! Stay there! You watch out! Damn it!"

Two little shadows chased each other late at night as peals of laughter burst out from time to time and vanished along with the wind.

After a while, Xi Xiaye was out of breath and she lay down on the bed. The man put on a big smile. "I'm not my usual self today. I haven't been training lately. I used to actually be pretty good at running and represented our school... I'm serious! Don't look at me like that! I'll prove it to you one day!"

Mu Yuchen laughed and handed a towel to her. "That's enough. Wipe your sweat and take a shower."

Xi Xiaye grabbed the towel and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She then handed the towel back to him. "I'm not going to shower. I just took one. I'll go to sleep."

"Go and shower. Don't be lazy…"

Before he could finish, Xi Xiaye already hid beneath the blanket. He put a finger onto his temple and just let her be. Soon, he started picking up the bolster and towel from the floor.

After he was done, she was already fast asleep. She just lay down quietly and he could hear the faint sound of her breathing. He pulled her into his arms to escape from the loneliness.

Suddenly, hugging her felt real and solid to him, unlike the vagueness he felt before…

…

The next day, when she arrived at Vice President Liu's office, Liu Lingyu and his secretary were already waiting for her.

"Vice President Liu!"

Xi Xiaye bowed down apologetically and smiled. "Have you waited for long?"

Liu Lingyu took a glance at his watch on the wrist and smiled. "It's alright. The time is right. The stakeholders' meeting is at 9.30, so there's another hour to go. We can go over now."

He then stood up. "Let's go!"

Xi Xiaye nodded and handed her document to Xiao Mei behind her before catching up with Liu Lingyu.

"I might need you to help out on this for a while. Chairman Mu told me about you. I never expected you have such relationships with Yueying, and you've already married to…"

Liu Lingyu suddenly turned his head back and looked at Xi Xiaye.

Startled, Xi Xiaye closed her eyes and said, "Mmm, thank you for your concern, Vice President Liu. I'm just the owner of the shares. Most of the operational matter still rely on you. I'm not really sure how things work here. Don't mind me. Just do whatever you need to do and prioritize the company's benefits."

"Mmm, it must be tough for you, Director Xi. You might need to take care of both sides. I hope the South River project is going well. Please take care of yourself." Liu Lingyu was evidently concerned.

"Thank you, it's fine. Don't worry, Vice President Liu, Chairman Mu has arranged several capable assistants for me. I'm just analyzing the data, so there isn't much pressure. I'll be in your care on matters regarding Yueying. I'm afraid I won't be able to do much in the future," Xi Xiaye replied genuinely. She had always been respectful and grateful towards a mentor such as Liu Lingyu.