Chapter 11: An Unexpected Encounter with He Cong

"First, figure out what kind of women Sang Qi likes, and then become the type of woman he wants."

She blinked, not quite understanding.

"Alternatively, you could try to find out what Sang Qi's mother is like. Generally speaking, sons like their future wives to be similar to their own mothers."

Her eyes lit up, "Playing the mother-in-law card?"

I don't care what card she plays, I watched her smile and let her figure it out on her own.

She also realized that even if she wanted to see Sang Qi now, she couldn't, so she really left.

Once I was sure she had driven away, I went back to report.

Sang Qi was holding an office meeting with a room full of executives. The secretaries were sitting below, nervously taking notes, and there was a recording pen on the table.

I sat down in a corner, listening. Taking down what others said was something I excelled at, a basic skill for us journalists.

After listening to the general discussion, I started drafting an outline. I would expand on it after the meeting using the recording.

Actually, it was quite simple. There was no need for them to be so scared.

After the meeting dispersed, those secretaries huddled together to listen to Sang Qi's recording.

I knew that Sang Qi must be very strict at work, otherwise these secretaries wouldn't be so nervous.

Their leader had resigned, and they were headless dragons, flitting around aimlessly.

I sat down with them, unnoticed.

Using an idle computer, I started to expand on the outline I had drafted, combining it with Sang Qi's recording. I quickly finished writing the meeting minutes.

Then I printed them out and handed them to one of the secretaries, "Give this to President Sang!"

Only then did she realize that a stranger had come into the Secretary's Office. She looked at me, "Who are you?"

"I'm your new director, my surname is Xia."

They believed me without question and eagerly reached out their hands, "Minister Xia, my name is Xu Wan."

"Minister Xia, my name is Yan Qiu."

I smiled and shook hands with each of them, making a note of their names.

Xu Wan took the meeting minutes and later came back to tell me, "Minister Xia, President Sang invites you in."

I straightened my clothes and walked into Sang Qi's office. He had changed his shirt, a white silk shirt for a deep blue one with dark gold stripes. I particularly looked at his cuffs, which still had the exquisite cufflinks.

"What are you looking at?" A chilling voice interrupted my scrutiny.

"Looking at a handsome guy." I said playfully.

He looked up, and I could see intense dislike in his eyes.

He really disliked me, I knew it.

But if he disliked me so much, why did he sleep with me? He messed up my life, leaving me unsure about how to move forward.

"You told my secretaries that you are the director of the Secretary's Office?" he interrogated me.

"It was you who said that as long as I could get rid of Yao Keyi, I could pick any position in the Secretary's Office. After looking around, only the director's position caught my eye for the time being."

I knew I was bold and impolite when speaking to him.

But Sang Qi was not an ordinary person. The more I acted submissive, the less likely he would pay attention to me, but the more I disregarded him, the more he would notice me.

"Did you drive Yao Keyi away? Isn't she still going to show up?"

"You asked me to drive her away, not to kill her. As long as she's alive, she'll definitely show up, but I completed the task you gave me. President Sang won't go back on his word, will he?"

He looked down and smiled. When he smiled, the curve of his lips was very attractive.

He was a pleasing man to look at. With such looks, the child in my belly would be beautiful, whether it's a boy or a girl.

"Xia Zhi." He was calling me, and I had been distracted.

"Yes?" I quickly responded.

"There's a lunch meeting at noon and a cocktail party in the evening. You have to attend both. If you perform well, I'll use you."

"That's not what you said just now." I scoffed.

"The decision is mine to make. You have no room to bargain." He lowered his head to continue working, "Get out, and wait for me at the office door at twelve o'clock."

I watched him for two seconds, then turned and left.

I spent a morning in the Secretary's Office and basically got the hang of the workflow for being a secretary.

Especially the minister's part, which required collating and filtering other secretaries' materials, primarily for direct reports to President Sang.

But there was no work related to accompanying schmoozing.

I went to ask that Xu Wan, and she told me, "It's always President Sang's special assistant who accompanies."

"What's the surname of the special assistant?"

"He."

He my ass, why are there so many people with the surname He.

Just hearing the surname He made me feel blocked up inside.

At noon, I was right on time waiting outside President Sang's office door for him, but he walked straight past me as he came out of his office.

I followed him, and suddenly he stopped and turned back to give me a look.

Up and down.

"Do you only have this one outfit?"

I looked down at myself.

It was the commuter outfit from a few years back, a silk blouse with a pencil skirt, and high heels.

I was a news reporter; I usually wore sneakers and jeans to get around, not dressed like this.

This set I last wore when I interviewed President Sang, this was the only formal outfit I had.

"I have a pile of T-shirts and jeans. If you like, I can go back and change right now."

He looked at me with patience, "Let's just leave it for lunch, but you need to wear something nicer for the dinner party tonight. After we eat, I'll take you to buy some clothes."

"You really are a good boss," I complimented him sincerely.

He didn't respond to me and headed straight into the elevator.

On the drive to the restaurant, he was in the back seat and I was in the passenger seat.

He suddenly asked me, "Do you know who we are having lunch with?"

I never fight a battle I'm not sure of winning.

"With the executives from Datong Electronics."

He couldn't stump me with his question, and he didn't speak to me anymore after that.

I stealthily glanced at him through the rearview mirror; he was resting with his eyes closed, his eyelashes resting on his lower eyelids, casting a beautiful curve.

A good-looking man with plentiful family background and an exalted position seemed to have everything.

That also meant there must be a long line of women wanting to have his babies. Why on earth would he choose me?

And why in that manner?

I really wanted to get him drunk and interrogate him properly.

Isn't there a cocktail party tonight? My chance is coming.

The restaurant at noon was very upscale, which secretly delighted me.

Because I had spent years chasing news stories, it was usually boxed meals or burgers for me, always paying out of pocket first and then getting reimbursed. Our magazine's financial department was practically hibernating; if we got our meal allowance from the first half of the year by the latter half, we'd consider it a miracle.

I nervously passed a little note to President Sang as we entered the restaurant.

He glanced at it and said, "What is this?"

"It's the breakfast invoice from this morning when I treated Yao Keyi; you have to reimburse me."

He glanced at me and then threw it on the ground.

I hurriedly picked it up and followed him, astonished that he would try to dodge the bill. The Deputy CEO of Dayu acting like this was a bit ungenerous, wasn't it?

As I steadied myself, the executives from the other party had already arrived. I was just bending my head to put the invoice back in my bag when I suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Hello, President Sang, I am the manager of the marketing department at Datong, my name is He Cong."

He Cong?

Enemies on a narrow road.

I lifted my head, and just then, he looked towards me.