Chapter 116 - Hey, how's work?

Back in Imperial City,

At about 4.45 pm, Lu Ziyan who had been updating the company's system in the IT room wheeled himself to Xiao Lei's desk. 

"Hey, how's work?" he asked as he looked at the woman who had her head buried in a thick business book.

"Quite interesting... I didn't know that secretary has to read so many books," Xiao Lei said as she glanced at the stack of books that Han Ye placed on her desk before he left for the meeting with DX. 

"Erm..." Lu Ziyan wanted to tell her that a secretary did not have to read them and that Han Ye told her to read to pass the time so that she wouldn't be too bored. Instead, he said, "It's always good to read more." 

"Yeah... I'm supposed to clock out at 5 pm, but Han Ye..." She chuckled and changed her tone to be more serious as she said, "I mean, Mr. Han is not back yet." 

Lu Ziyan smirked. "He made you call him that?"

"Yeah, at least when we are in the office."

Lu Ziyan smiled. "Well, it's good for you. Otherwise, people will say that you come in through connection."

"But I did." 

"Well, yeah, but you shouldn't flaunt it."

"I know..." she sighed. She tried to make friends earlier but most of them gave her a cold shoulder. They saw how close she was to Han Ye earlier. Han Ye might be friendlier than DX, but he wasn't someone who would welcome a new staff by himself... even if the said staff was his secretary.

In fact, all of his previous secretaries would be welcomed by the HR manager, and some of them didn't even get to see Han Ye until days later. 

But Xiao Lei? Not only did Han Ye welcome her personally, he even joked around with her.

In addition to that, Xiao Lei's elegant features made some of the female workers felt inferior to her. 

All of those combined made Xiao Lei a gossip material.

Lu Ziyan was about to say something else when he noticed that An Xin was standing nearby while holding a mug and looking at him. When he was about to raise his hand to say hi, she turned away and went back into her own office. 

He frowned; he thought he saw a hint of sadness in her eyes when their eyes met for a few seconds earlier. "Is she alright?" he thought. He hadn't talked to her since he left the hotel the other day. 

"Do you know Manager Zhen?" Xiao Lei asked while she took out her phone to text Han Ye. She typed: [Mr. Han, should I wait until you return from the meeting?]

Lu Ziyan scratched his chin as he replied, "Yeah... She's the younger sister of my close friend." 

"She seems cold," Xiao Lei said as a matter of fact.  

"Is she?"

"I overheard someone in the pantry earlier. They were calling her names. Like highschool kids." She frowned. She did not like people who talked badly about others behind their back.

Lu Ziyan growled slightly, which he did not notice himself. However, Xiao Lei noticed it. 

"Do you like her?" she asked with a grin. 

He thought for a moment before he shrugged. "It doesn't matter. She's married." 

"She is?" Xiao Lei was confused by the news. At that moment, she received a reply from Han Ye. Once she read the message, she put the phone back into her bag and shut down the computer.

"Han Ye said he will be going for dinner with Angela Zhang today. I'm pretty sure that's not in his calendar since I didn't see it. You know, this secretary thing is not going to work if my boss is such a mess..." she complained to Lu Ziyan as she packed her stuff. 

"He didn't say anything to me earlier. Guess it's a last-minute thing. Anyway, join me for dinner?"

"Alright."

Lu Ziyan glanced at An Xin's office room, and Xiao Lei could tell what he wanted. She giggled and walked past him without saying anything. 

Just as he was wondering what she was doing, she went into An Xin's office and two minutes later, she came out with a smile on her face. 

"What happened?" he asked curiously as he watched her walking toward him.  

With a mischievous smile, she shrugged and replied, "Nothing. I asked Manager Zhen to join us. I told her that as a new member of this company, there's a lot of things I don't know yet and that I hope to talk to someone more senior so that I can do a better job. Oh, I added that because my boss is absent mostly, I really need someone to talk to, and hopefully, I can talk to a female senior."

"You..." 

She smirked. "It's only a dinner between colleagues. So, you don't have to worry about her being married. Besides, I'll be there as well. You'll just be there to accompany me, not her."

Lu Ziyan said that An Xin was married, but Xiao Lei did not see her wearing her wedding ring. 

In addition, when she was in the pantry getting some snacks to eat earlier, she overhead three female colleagues of her talking. An Xin's lack of wedding ring was one of the topics of their tea-time conversation.

Xiao Lei did not like people who badmouthed others, but she liked to listen to gossips. Before she left, she overheard one of saying in a hushed tone, "She hasn't worn her ring for the past few days. That crazy b*tch is pretty old school, right? Do you think that something has happened to her?" 

Xiao Lei left the place after that, so she did not think much. 

When Xiao Lei picked up her handbag, Lu Ziyan glanced at her and asked shyly, "What did she say?" 

Xiao Lei wriggled her eyebrows as she said in a teasing manner, "She said fine and told me to meet her at the lift at 5.05 pm. Why, Mr. Lu? Do you not want her there?"

Lu Ziyan shook his head. After a while, he nodded. Then, he shook his head again. 

"Make up your mind, Mr. Lu." Xiao Lei laughed softly. 

"Of course I want... I mean... The more the merrier," Lu Ziyan said with a blush.