52

At seven in the morning, Shi Yue was still in a half-asleep daze.

Leng Yanmi, who had to rush to work, inadvertently disturbed her while getting up. Shi Yue groggily half-opened her eyes and reached out to wrap her arms around the waist of the person about to leave, murmuring in a coquettish tone, "Auntie?"

Leng Yanmi paused her movements and turned back to comfort her, planting a kiss on her forehead.

Lowering her voice, she spoke in the gentlest tone possible, "I'm going to the office. You sleep a bit longer."

Last night, the emotional rollercoaster caused by the examination report had left both of them with bouts of insomnia. They had lain in bed wide awake, staring at the ceiling, until exhaustion finally overcame them in the early hours of the morning.

Now, as she woke and saw the faint dark circles under Shi Yue's eyes, Leng Yanmi felt both heartache and helplessness. She leaned down to kiss the area under Shi Yue's eyes as well, as if trying to soothe her exhaustion.

After carefully reheating the breakfast she had prepared for Shi Yue, Leng Yanmi drove to her company.

By nine o'clock, the towering Leng Corporation building had fully come to life, operating in an orderly fashion. The secretaries and assistants delivered reports to the CEO's office and delegated tasks to the various project teams as planned.

When Zhang Zhuo arrived with a financial budget for approval, Leng Yanmi had already been working tirelessly for almost two hours. Seeing him enter, she nodded slightly. "I've seen the budget proposal in the email. Does it need my signature?"

Zhang Zhuo quickly nodded and handed over the document. "Yes, please, President Leng."

"Let me take a look." Leng Yanmi accepted the document and began to skim through it.

Having reviewed it beforehand, she read swiftly, her eyes scanning the text in no time, just to ensure everything was in order.

Standing before her, Zhang Zhuo instinctively held his breath, worried about disturbing his meticulous boss.

Suddenly, the sharp ringing of a phone broke the silence.

It was the factory-default ringtone of a well-known smartphone brand. For a moment, Zhang Zhuo thought he had forgotten to silence his own phone. He turned pale in shock but quickly realized the sound was coming from the phone on Leng Yanmi's desk—her personal phone.

The noise had evidently disrupted Leng Yanmi, as her brows furrowed immediately. She was a person who always maintained order and efficiency. Personalized ringtones were assigned to Shi Yue and a few key elders, so this generic ringtone could only belong to someone insignificant.

However, when she glanced at the screen, her previously displeased expression underwent a 180-degree transformation.

"Hello." Setting down the document, she answered the call immediately.

On the other end of the line, the operator spoke politely, "Hello, is this Miss Leng Yanmi?"

Leng Yanmi took a deep breath. "Yes, that's me."

The operator continued, "This is the Institute of Pheromone Research. We received your voicemail last night and are now returning your call."

"Our records show that you recently purchased a testing service from our institute. Is there an issue you'd like to report?"

Zhang Zhuo couldn't hear the voice on the other end, but he could see the growing seriousness in Leng Yanmi's expression.

"Yes," Leng Yanmi replied. "There's something I don't quite understand about the test report."

"Please feel free to explain," the operator said warmly.

Clearing her throat, Leng Yanmi's face turned faintly red. "Well, last night, while my partner and I were reviewing the report, the second-to-last page stated that our pheromone compatibility is 96%."

"My question is… is this figure really referring to compatibility, or did we misinterpret it? Could the data be incorrect, or… is there some other explanation?"

If Leng Yanmi had been just a little calmer, she would've realized how incoherent her words were. But when it came to matters involving Shi Yue, even someone as rational as her could find herself momentarily disoriented.

"Ah, I see," The sound of typing coming through the line. "Please hold on. I'll verify this data for you right away."

"Okay," Leng Yanmi responded. Then, realizing how anxious she sounded, she corrected herself, "Take your time—uh, I mean, please confirm it carefully."

About ten seconds later, the operator spoke again, her voice tinged with a hint of amusement. "Miss Leng, I've verified the data. You and your partner are correct. Your pheromone compatibility is indeed 96%"

"In fact, this is the highest compatibility rate we've ever recorded for this type of test since our institute was established.

"Congratulations to the both of you."

Leng Yanmi covered her mouth with her free hand, her speech momentarily disorganized. "Ah, um, yeah, okay… thank you…"

"Is there anything else I can assist you with?" the operator asked.

"No," Leng Yanmi stammered. "I mean, no need, thank you."

"Very well. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to call us again."

"Thank you for your support, and I wish you a wonderful day."

After the call ended, it took several tries for Leng Yanmi's trembling fingers to exit the call screen.

Her composure was entirely shattered. Supporting herself on the desk, she stood up and began pacing aimlessly around the office.

Zhang Zhuo, who had caught bits and pieces of the conversation, had already pieced together most of what had happened.

Even so, he couldn't quite believe it. Looking at Leng Yanmi, he cautiously asked, "President Leng… did you just say that your pheromone compatibility with Miss Shi Yue is…"

"96%." Striding over to him, Leng Yanmi cut him off before he could finish, repeating the number emphatically, "Ninety six percent!"

"'The institute has confirmed it. The data is accurate!"

Zhang Zhuo, stunned at first, quickly plastered on a congratulatory smile. "Congratulations, President Leng. Congratulations to Miss Shi Yue as well. You two are truly a match made in heaven!"

Leng Yanmi's eyes burned with intensity as she looked at him.

Feeling the pressure, Zhang Zhuo's smile faltered slightly, but he forced himself to continue. "I've never seen a pair as well suited as the two of you. I remember the first time I saw you and Miss Shi Yue together at the design Competition. Even then, I could sense there was a story between you two."

Leaning back against her desk, Leng Yanmi nodded in approval, acknowledging his words with a "Mm."

Zhang Zhuo began to sweat profusely.

Having worked under Leng Yanmi for so long, Zhang Zhuo had naturally picked up on some of her personality traits and preferences. One thing he knew for sure was that Leng Yanmi hated flattery. Her approach to managing subordinates was simple: if you have the time to butter me up, you'd better be producing real results, or pack your bags and get out.

However, Zhang Zhuo had also managed to rise to his current position by mastering the art of reading people. Right now, he could tell from Leng Yanmi's expression that a different message was being conveyed.

Praise! Keep praising! Don't stop, I love it!!!

In his mind, a battle began between two sides. One side urged him to stop with the compliments, as Leng Yanmi would soon lose patience. The other side, however, was more insistent, choking him metaphorically: Speak! Say something! Can't you see the boss is waiting, practically straining her neck for you to praise her? Open your mouth and praise her!

In the end, it was the latter that won out. Zhang Zhuo swallowed and continued, "You and Miss Shi Yue together—well, that's a perfect match! Um, no, I mean, it's the ideal pair!"

"When you were down before, I really couldn't understand it. You and Miss Shi Yue are such a perfect match, how could your pheromone compatibility be anything less than high? I've been baffled by it all along!"

"Now that I hear this good news, it makes perfect sense! There's nothing wrong between the two of you!"

"You noticed it too?" Leng Yanmi's eyes lit up even more.

She recalled last night's conversation, "You know, I'd suspected it before. After Shi Yue and I got together, she's never needed any pheromone soothing agents."

"I used to think it was just because of her strong constitution, but I never imagined it was because our compatibility is 96%!"

She looked directly at Zhang Zhuo. "Do you know what 96% means?"

"I do, I do," Zhang Zhuo answered, now speaking even more smoothly as he recognized he had picked up on the right tone. "There's no one in this world more suited to each other than the two of you. Some relationships and fates are meant to be from the very start! You and Miss Shi Yue will definitely have a long and happy future together!"

Leng Yanmi pressed her hand to her chest. "I was attracted to her the first time I saw her, but back then, she was still with Ming-... Anyway, that's not important. What matters is, she's really something special."

"Really?" Zhang Zhuo immediately agreed, "So you fell for her at first sight? Miss Shi Yue must have felt the same way about you from the start, right?"

"She did!" Leng Yanmi affirmed with a confident nod, "After the banquet ended, she came right up to me and said…"

The two of them, in the middle of working hours, in the midst of a professional setting, started an impromptu session of Leng Yanmi's personal love memoir.

Zhang Zhuo felt that something was off, but he didn't know how to stop it. He tried several times to steer the conversation back to work, only to be ignored by Leng Yanmi, who continued talking passionately about her memories.

This continued for nearly twenty minutes until the secretary knocked on the office door.

"President Leng, are you in?"

Interrupting Leng Yanmi's storytelling, she distractedly responded, "Come in."

The secretary entered and greeted her, then nodded when he saw Zhang Zhuo.

"President Leng, here's the performance report faxed over from our South China subsidiary. It covers about ninety percent of our operations in the region…"

Before the secretary could finish his sentence, Leng Yanmi placed a hand on his shoulder, her voice stern. "How did you know?"

Zhang Zhuo's heart sank. We're done for.

The secretary froze, his face full of confusion. "Uh, know what?"

Leng Yanmi raised an eyebrow. "How did you know that my partner and I have 96% pheromone compatibility?"

The secretary snapped back to attention, and like Zhang Zhuo before him, began congratulating her. "Is that true? 96%? Oh my god, is that data real?"

"Congratulations, President Leng! This is definitely big news!"

Leng Yanmi smiled and nodded, "Thank you."

The secretary continued, "When Miss Shi Yue came by last time, I noticed how well you two looked together. You were such a perfect match. Even when a big star is standing in front of me, I can't feel such a powerful presence."

"Thinking that our company might get a boss lady like that—well, it really motivates me to work harder!"

Leng Yanmi leaned against her desk, nodding approvingly.

For some reason, the secretary started feeling a cold sweat running down his back.

He glanced at Zhang Zhuo, noticing his colleague was staring blankly at the floor, a look of utter hopelessness written all over his face.

"This is really such a huge piece of good news," the secretary said, nervously rambling, "I feel like I need to share it with everyone!"

Zhang Zhuo, still out of sorts, blurted out, "How about putting up a banner at the front desk, announcing it?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately shuddered, realizing the mistake he had made.

Oh no, no way—President Leng surely caught the sarcasm in my words, didn't she? Wait a minute! President Leng is so sharp and rational—there's no way she wouldn't have noticed!

Zhang Zhuo stiffly turned his neck and looked at Leng Yanmi. Sure enough, he saw her furrowed brow as she stared at him.

This wasn't a joke. In that moment, he was already mentally preparing himself for the moment he'd have to hand in his resignation—whether he should step forward with his left foot or right.

Leng Yanmi stood up, walked toward him, and coldly uttered a single line.

"Just hang it up at the front desk?"

Zhang Zhuo's pupils couldn't even focus. "H-huh...?"

Leng Yanmi continued, "Some people don't even need to go through the front desk to enter the company. What about those who come straight up from the underground parking garage?"

She turned to look at the other secretary. "Don't they need to know?"

Since Zhang Zhuo was practically frozen in place, the other secretary could only awkwardly let out a polite laugh, "Heh heh…"

He scrambled to gather his thoughts. "Uh, well, I... I mean, Zhang Zhuo and I can go research it and come up with a plan?"

Leng Yanmi clapped her hands together. "Perfect." Then, she waved her hand, "You two go ahead. Can you have it ready for me this afternoon?"

The secretary wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead. "Uh… possibly, I mean, we'll try our best."

With a sense of loyalty, he grabbed Zhang Zhuo by the arm and started pulling him toward the door. "Alright, alright, President Leng, we'll head out and get to work now."

Just as they were about to grab the door handle, Leng Yanmi's voice came from behind them.

"Zhang Zhuo."

Thinking he was about to escape unscathed, Zhang Zhuo turned back with a dazed expression. "President Leng? I-I'm sorry, was there something else?"

"You didn't take the financial report." Leng Yanmi moved forward, handed him the already signed document, and even reminded him, "Don't forget, keep pushing the project forward while you're making the plan."

Zhang Zhuo didn't know whether to cry or to praise Leng Yanmi for her seamless transition between moods.

But in the face of this reality, he didn't dare choose either. With a stiff smile, he accepted the file and respectfully replied, "Thank you for the reminder, President Leng."

"Mm," she responded, her tone now cool and composed.

At last, the two of them managed to escape the office without further incident.

As they walked out, some colleagues who had finished their tasks and were now relatively free noticed their pale faces and the lingering fear in their expressions. One of them gasped.

"You just came out of President Leng's office, right? Why do you two look like you've seen a ghost?"

Another colleague sucked in a breath. "Is President Leng's condition even worse than yesterday?"

This seemed to be a topic that had the attention of everyone in the secretarial department. At the sound of these remarks, most of them stopped their work and turned to look at Zhang Zhuo and the other secretary, waiting for an answer.

Zhang Zhuo's face was stiff as he lifted his head. Surrounded by his curious colleagues, he opened his mouth to respond.

"Do you guys know that President Leng and her partner's pheromone compatibility is 96%?"