Su Xiaolan sat on the exorbitantly priced velvet chair in Morton's Steakhouse VIP booth, feeling like she'd grown thorns on her bottom. Her fingers unconsciously picked at the gold-embroidered tablecloth—real gold leaf, so blindingly shiny it could probably cause permanent retinal damage—while mentally calculating how many months' salary she'd owe if she ruined it. Sneaking a glance upward, she saw Li Chenyuan across the table gracefully perusing the menu. The warm lighting sculpted his profile like a Greek statue, even his eyelashes casting shadows so precise they seemed measured with calipers.
All would've been bearable if not for his earlier earth-shattering declaration delivered with the casualness of commenting on the weather: "You're more effective than sleeping pills."
"President Li, about what you said earlier—" Xiaolan mustered a lifetime's worth of courage, only to choke on her words when a waiter wheeled in what looked like a mobile jewelry display case.
But atop the gilded cart sat neither steak nor lobster. Instead, a waist-height chocolate fountain bubbled obscenely, flanked by a pyramid of fresh strawberries and a cotton candy cloud so fluffy it might float away with the AC breeze.
"This is our 'Love Conquers All' limited edition couple's set bonus—the 'Heart-Throbbing, Cavity-Inducing' surprise!" The waiter winked conspiratorially at Xiaolan. "Enjoy your meal and...升温感情!" (literally: "temperature-raising romance!")
C-c-couple's set?!
Xiaolan's face went from "rosé flush" to "volcanic eruption red." She was about to slam the table and declare "This is workplace harassment!" when Li Chenyuan—without even looking up—plucked a glistening strawberry with a silver-plated fork that could double as a murder weapon and held it to her lips. "Open. Efficiency."
"I-I have hands!" She recoiled like a startled rabbit.
His fork hand remained steady as welded rebar. "Assistant Su," his gaze sharpened on her trembling lips, "Would you like the entire restaurant—including potential clients—to witness you 'defying executive orders and damaging corporate efficiency standards'?"
Despicable! Nuclear-level blackmail! Internally screaming (with a stampede of alpacas), Xiaolan swallowed her dignity and bit into the strawberry—just as a deafening shutter sound erupted.
Click! Clickclickclick!
A photographer materialized in the corner like a ninja, three cameras swinging from his neck, capturing the moment at machine-gun speed. "Perfection! Such chemistry! Complimentary 'Eternal Love Moments' photoshoot for our VIP couples—ten retouched prints guaranteed to dazzle!"
The preview screen showed Xiaolan with chipmunk cheeks and saucer-wide eyes, resembling a flashlight-dazed groundhog, while beside her... Was that a smirk? On Li Chenyuan's face?! His fork hand frozen in "lab rat feeding position."
"Delete them! Now!" She lunged for the camera, only for Li to seize her wrist with vise-like grip.
"Email me. RAW files." To the photographer. Then, deadpan to Xiaolan: "Essential visual data for the 'Stress-Relief Efficacy' project analysis."
"This isn't research—it's portrait rights violation!"
"Scientific rigor requires documentation." He dissected his tomahawk steak with surgical precision, placing the most succulent cut onto her plate while clinically observing her ears. "Data shows your auricular erythema has exceeded R23 thresholds. Hypothesis confirmed: 'Embarrassment stimulation' significantly boosts target subject's dopamine secretion."
Xiaolan: "..." Was this man treating flirting like a national research grant project?! She stabbed her steak as if it were his face.
Then—voices outside the door:
"Confirm it's really the Ice Demon with a woman?"
"Front desk saw them enter together! Super intimate!"
"Ohmygod—the legendary secret wife?!"
The company's gossip elite: Marketing Director and Rumor Queen Lin Xiaomei!
Xiaolan turned to stone. Her fork clattered against the plate as Li Chenyuan wiped his mouth... and yanked the door open.
Thud! The eavesdroppers tumbled in like startled pigeons, limbs entangled.
"P-President Li! What a coincidence—" Lin Xiaomei's eyes screamed at Xiaolan: Why wasn't the door locked?!
In one fluid motion, Li pulled Xiaolan into a possessive embrace. "Yes?" His voice could frost whiskey.
"N-nothing! Wrong room!" They scrambled away like cockroaches under light.
Before Xiaolan could protest being used as a human prop, Li was on the phone: "Secretary Wang."
"Y-yes, sir?"
"Marketing Department. Mandatory overtime tomorrow."
"Urgent project?"
"Interference with executive-led 'Employee Wellness Productivity Correlation' field research. Data contamination. Severe misconduct."
A distant crash—likely Wang falling off his chair and spilling his stress-relief tea.
Later, in the Bentley, Xiaolan pretended to sleep, praying for invisibility—until a weight settled on her shoulder. Li Chenyuan's head, with its absurdly expensive haircut, was using her as a pillow! His usually sharp features softened in sleep, eyelashes casting delicate shadows. Even the faint dark circles looked... vulnerable?
"P-President Li?" she whispered, noticing his exhaustion. Did he really struggle with insomnia this badly? Was her "human sleeping pill" title... not entirely absurd?
Against her better judgment, she shifted slightly to accommodate him—missing the fleeting, triumphant quirk of his lips.
That night, the company's underground forum exploded:
[CODE RED! MARKETING TEAM OBLITERATED BY PILLOW TALK! PHOTO EVIDENCE!]
The viral image showed Li Chenyuan's unmistakable "Mine" glare while clutching a flustered Xiaolan, captioned: This is what happens when you interrupt 'research.'
Secretary Wang stared at his screen, swallowing two antacids with the grim certainty that his stomach would need ICU care before this "scientific romance" concluded. The company was doomed. Or at least his digestive system was.