Birthday Party Invitation

With a slight nod, Tang Shi headed straight for his office.

Just as Tang Shi was about to enter his office, the senior secretary seemed to have suddenly remembered something and said in a formal tone, "CEO Tang, because you've been away on business for the past few days, I haven't informed you that the new employee approved by the HR department has started working here."

The senior secretary then gave Gu Qingcheng a look that made her stand up immediately from her desk. Although she'd known Tang Shi for many years, Gu Qingcheng introduced herself formally but simply, "CEO Tang, how do you do? I'm Gu Qingcheng."

Tang Shi paused ever so slightly, and he stopped in his tracks. The next instant, he looked sideways in the direction of the senior secretary and acknowledged her message with a nod. Without even a glance at Gu Qingcheng, he walked into his office.

Although Tang Shi had come from a privileged background, had a strong presence, and usually exuded an air of being above everyone else, he would always acknowledge an employee's formal greeting, even though he would still maintain a cold and distant air. But just now, with Gu Qingcheng, a new employee at that, he had blatantly ignored her.

Everyone in the secretarial department turned to look at Gu Qingcheng. The looks in their eyes expressed a wide range of emotions, ranging from helplessness and sympathy to incomprehension. And then there was that smug look in Feng Yiyi's eyes.

This was her first encounter with him since she'd joined Sheng Tang as an employee, and he had publicly humiliated her in the presence of many others.

Forcing herself not to be affected by everyone's looks, Gu Qingcheng did her utmost to maintain her calm and elegant demeanor, walking serenely back to her desk and sitting down.

For many hours after that, Gu Qingcheng kept her head down, focusing on her computer screen, not daring to look into the eyes of anyone around her.

Tang Shi seemed to be very busy with work, staying put in his office from two-thirty to four-thirty, not venturing out at all. During that time, he'd made three calls to the secretarial department: once was to confirm his schedule for the following day, and twice was to get someone to bring him some documents.

When it was almost five o'clock, the phone on Gu Qingcheng's desk rang. It was an internal line and the caller ID on the display was 8888. Knowing that it was from Tang Shi's office, Gu Qingcheng's fingers trembled as she picked up the phone immediately and answered respectfully, "CEO Tang."

From the other end of the line, Tang Shi's voice was icy without a trace of emotion as he said curtly, "Make me a cup of coffee."

Gu Qingcheng had not even been able to answer before the line was cut off.

Replacing the phone in its cradle quickly, Gu Qingcheng went to the pantry and brewed coffee. Recalling the notes that she'd made about how he liked his coffee, she added two sachets of creamer and one sachet of sugar to the coffee and then took it to Tang Shi's office.

Gu Qingcheng raised her hand and knocked on the door. When she heard the words "come in" from inside the office, she reached out to push the door open.