A CEO Can't Eat Jianbing?

"Hello, Ruanxing, where are you?" The voice on the other end of the call was warm and full of concern. "I stepped out to take a call during the party last night, and when I came back, I couldn't find you. Did you go home?"

Song Jinxing had a sharp memory and instantly recognized the voice — it was the same one he'd overheard on the balcony last night.

"Wasn't feeling well, so I went home early," he replied flatly. "What's wrong?"

The sudden cold tone made Duan Tanyun panic a little. Zhong Ruanxing had always been energetic and warm — why was she suddenly acting so distant? Could it be… she suspected last night's incident had something to do with her?

She let out an awkward laugh. "Oh, nothing, really. I was just a bit worried about you."

Song Jinxing replied, "If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up." And he did, without hesitation.

Listening to the dial tone, Duan Tanyun was left stunned, frozen for several seconds.

Putting down the phone, Song Jinxing said coolly, "It's her."

Zhong Ruanxing showed a disheartened and sorrowful expression. Before Song Jinxing could offer any comfort, she quickly pulled herself together and gave herself a pep talk: "Forget it, it's my fault for being blind and trusting the wrong people. I'll just have to keep my eyes open next time!"

After speaking, she noticed that Song Jinxing was staring at her absentmindedly, so she waved her hand in front of his face. "What's wrong?"

Song Jinxing quickly returned to normal and shook his head. "Nothing. You should head to the company—you have a meeting at eight. The voice recorder is in the office drawer. Make sure to record the entire meeting."

Zhong Ruanxing stood up while complaining, "What kind of devil company has an 8 a.m. meeting on a Saturday?" and rubbed her sore shoulders.

Although the villa wasn't regularly inhabited, it had all the necessary daily supplies. The two of them washed up in the bathroom and then headed out separately.

Outside the door, Fu Ling had been waiting eagerly, hoping they would at least share a goodbye hug. His inner thoughts: ...That's it?

The driver had already opened the car door. Zhong Ruanxing got in. Fu Ling glanced back at the tall beauty standing coldly at the front gate, then followed her into the car. He heard his boss instruct, "To the company."

Fu Ling couldn't hold back and asked, "What about that young lady?"

They had already discussed things. Zhong Ruanxing didn't have much work over the next few days—she just had to wait for Director Zeng's audition notice—so Song Jinxing only needed to return to the Zhong family to familiarize himself with her life.

While flipping through the memo to confirm today's CEO schedule, she casually replied, "Don't worry about her."

Why is the boss so cold even to such a stunning woman?!

Knowing his boss's personality well, Fu Ling didn't dare say anything more and fell silent.

As the car drove down the mountain and passed through a busy downtown area, Zhong Ruanxing asked the driver, "Can we stop up ahead?"

The driver glanced at the road sign. "President Song, we can stop here for three minutes."

"Alright, stop up ahead," Zhong Ruanxing replied. Then she turned to Fu Ling and said, "Run over there and get me a jianbing." (*)

She pointed to a street vendor cart near the subway entrance selling Chinese pancakes.

Fu Ling thought he had misheard her.

Zhong Ruanxing urged him, "Hurry up, we only have three minutes."

Fu Ling shot out of the car like an arrow. Dressed in a sharp suit, his hair slicked back meticulously like a top-tier white-collar professional, he now found himself pushing through the crowded subway entrance, yelling at the pancake vendor, "Add another egg! Hurry, thanks!"

When he finally returned to the car with the steaming hot jianbing in hand, he was still in a daze—meanwhile, his boss beside him had already started chomping down without hesitation.

Song Jinxing had a chronic stomach problem—which seemed to be a mandatory illness for every domineering CEO. The moment she got in the car, Zhong Ruanxing felt a gnawing discomfort in her stomach, a hollow contraction as if it were trying to digest something, but there was nothing inside.

She normally ate three regular meals a day and couldn't stand this sensation. She immediately craved food.

The warmth of the fresh jianbing filled her stomach and brought her back to life. There was bottled water stocked in the car, but Zhong Ruanxing disliked drinking cold water. After a couple of sips, she instructed Fu Ling, "From now on, keep a thermos in the car with hot water ready."

Fu Ling replied, "Yes, Boss."

He handed over the laptop. "Boss, here's the agenda for today's meeting. It's all organized."

Zhong Ruanxing was stunned by the dozens of slides in the PowerPoint presentation. Although she couldn't understand much of it, she still pretended to study it seriously. Even if the content went over her head, she could at least appreciate the design and layout—way more professional and polished than the career presentation the company had made for her. After flipping through it, she made sure to praise her assistant: "Nice work. Good job."

Fu Ling was caught off guard by the compliment.

Since joining the company, this was the first time the boss had ever praised him!

The young assistant fought to keep his eyebrows from flying off in excitement. "Just doing my job."

Meanwhile, the car Song Jinxing had arranged for himself had arrived.

He got in, reported the Zhong family's address, and leaned back to rest with his eyes closed.

The driver couldn't help but glance at the stunning woman in the rearview mirror.

He knew this villa well—it had belonged to President Song's parents. After their passing, the old master of the Song family had locked the place up. No one had come or gone since, except for cleaning staff.

That was until President Song returned to the country six months ago, reopening the villa—but still, only he ever came and went.

Who was this woman, that she could spend the night there?

The driver was deep in his gossip-fueled thoughts when the woman in the back seat suddenly spoke, her tone icy:

"Is this how the Song family teaches you to treat a guest in the car?"

She still had her eyes closed, but the sharp, icy aura radiating from her was like an ice pick, pressing down on the cramped space inside the car, leaving no room to breathe. The driver immediately looked away in a panic. "I'm sorry, Miss. I was being presumptuous."

With no further sound from the back seat, the driver didn't dare sneak another glance.

Over an hour later, daylight had fully broken, and the whole city had come to life. The unremarkable car pulled up in front of a somewhat run-down residential building.

Song Jinxing opened his eyes. Once the driver got out and opened the door, he stepped down wearing a face mask. He had already changed into the flat shoes Fu Ling had delivered the night before and thrown on a coat that had been left at the villa, concealing the alluring figure underneath.

The red dress, fair skin, ample chest, and slim waist made her far too eye-catching.

The apartment complex was built more than a decade ago, but the greenery was lush—every household seemed to be growing flowers. Bougainvillea in brilliant shades of purple and red draped down from rusty security window bars. The narrow one-way path, just wide enough for a single car, was scattered with early summer petals. Bicycles and electric scooters occasionally zipped by on the greenways—people commuting to work or grocery shopping. On the public lawn areas, residents were practicing tai chi or taking their children outside to play. The whole neighborhood buzzed with warmth and liveliness.

But Song Jinxing neither liked nor was used to such liveliness.

He pulled his coat tighter and unconsciously quickened his pace, soon finding Building 3, Unit 1 of the Zhong family residence.

As the elevator doors were about to close, someone called out, "Hold the door!" and rushed over. He reached out to stop the doors, and they reopened to reveal a curly-haired auntie carrying groceries. She thanked him profusely and stepped inside. After pressing the button for the 6th floor, she noticed the lit button for the 9th floor and suddenly turned around to call out:

"Xingxing, is that you?"

Song Jinxing froze.

The auntie cheerfully leaned closer. "You're wrapped up so tightly, I didn't recognize you at first! You haven't been home these past few days, and I haven't seen your mom downstairs for her walks. But Youyou has been out playing every day—just yesterday, she got into a fight over a toy with that chubby kid from the first floor!"

After finishing, she looked at him expectantly.

Being stared at so intently, Song Jinxing felt like the elevator had never moved more slowly in his life. After a long pause, and under the increasingly puzzled gaze of the auntie, he finally let out a slow "Mm." He lowered his voice and said, "I'm a little tired."

The auntie's eyes lit up with understanding. "Ah, right, you must've come straight back from filming overnight! You must be exhausted!"

She rummaged around in her cloth shopping bag and pulled out a wrapped sandwich. "This was for Miaomiao, but you take it! You haven't had breakfast yet, right?"

Song Jinxing said, "It's okay, thank you."

But the auntie shoved the sandwich into his hands without hesitation. "No need to be polite with Auntie! Take your mom out for a walk later this afternoon, okay? I miss seeing her around."

The elevator arrived at the 6th floor, and she finally stepped out.

Song Jinxing let out a sigh of relief and looked down at the sandwich in his hand. He didn't move until the elevator doors opened again—only then did he take a deep breath and step out.

(*) Jianbing guozi is a popular Chinese street food — a type of savory pancake often filled with egg, crispy fritter, sauces, and sometimes vegetables or meat.