"Miss, are you okay?" the well-dressed man asked, his voice filled with concern.
This man is Assistant Li Cheng, currently caught in a dilemma because the young lady sitting before him—Yan Rumei—has suddenly burst into tears after hearing the news he delivered.
His task was simple: inform her about her mother's secret wedding to his boss and then escort her to meet them for dinner. But clearly, Yan Rumei has taken the news much harder than expected.
Yan Rumei is the only child of Lu Anqing, their new Madam.
On his way here, Li Cheng anticipated some reaction—perhaps happiness that her mother had finally found love again at her age. After all, Madam Lu had lost her husband in a tragic car accident when Yan Rumei was only five years old. Since then, Madam Lu, a dedicated single mother, worked tirelessly to raise Yan Rumei and see her through university.
Maybe she will also feel a little sadness—the feeling that someone was taking her mother away, sharing the love and attention she once had all to herself.
Li Cheng had expected the usual emotions people have when a family member is about to marry or remarry. He thought the Miss would feel a mix of anticipation and excitement about meeting his boss.
His boss, Master Gu Feng, is the CEO who controls 95% of Gu Corporation and is one of the biggest business moguls in Country M. He owns thousands of stores both domestically and overseas, with ventures spanning pharmaceuticals, automotive, telecommunications, food, retail, and even entertainment.
Simply put, he's a big shot among big shots.
So why does Yan Rumei look like she's being bullied right now? Why is she crying so hard that tears and snot are all over her face and her office desk?
Yes, they are currently at Yan Rumei's workplace, where she serves as an Accounting Manager at a small bookkeeping company. Luckily, she has her own office—otherwise, everyone in the office would be witnessing her emotional meltdown firsthand.
-Knock knock knock-
"Miss Yan, is everything alright in there?" a female employee asked, her voice worried and muffled from outside the door.
Li Cheng anxiously turned his head toward the sound, then quickly looked back at Yan Rumei, trying to calm her. "Mi-miss, you have to calm down. People will think I did something to you!"
Yan Rumei pressed her lips together tightly, refusing to let a sound escape. Her face was full of anguish as she tried to hold back her sniffles. Once… twice…
"Ah, ah, ah…" Li Cheng couldn't bear to watch anymore. He quickly pulled a few tissues from Yan Rumei's side table and held them out to her. But she didn't reach for them—instead, her hands clutched tightly at her blouse.
At a loss, Li Cheng hesitated, then gently pressed the tissues to Yan Rumei's nose and softly urged, "Mi-miss, please blow your nose…"
-Hrrrooongk-
As soon as Yan Rumei blew her nose, the door to her office suddenly swung open. The female co-worker who had called out earlier peeked inside and caught sight of the man in the neat business suit helping Yan Rumei.
Yan Rumei and Li Cheng both froze, locking eyes with the co-worker. She stared back at them, and for a long moment, silence hung heavy in the air.
"I-I'm a-alright... S-sorry... I'll come out in h-h-half an hour to talk to President Si," Yan Rumei finally managed to say, her voice still shaky from the earlier tears.
The female employee gave Li Cheng a suspicious look before quietly turning away and closing the door behind her.
*Sigh... I did not sign up for this*, Li Cheng thought to himself.
Yan Rumei finally made a move. She took the tissues Li Cheng was holding and blew her nose again. Then she pulled out more tissues to clean the tears and snot off her face.
"Sit down and wait for me," she instructed, pointing to a chair by the door. She wiped the mess from her desk, then pulled a small bottle of disinfectant from her drawer. Spraying and wiping her table with a clean tissue, her face remained scrunched up—still clearly trying to calm herself.
But why? Was she really that upset about her mother's late remarriage to his boss?
Seeing that she was still trying to steady her emotions, Li Cheng didn't dare to ask or say anything more, so he just sat quietly.
After Yan Rumei finished cleaning up, Li Cheng thought they were ready to leave. He stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles on his suit, but then noticed she brought out a foot-high stack of papers.
Wait… aren't we going? he wondered silently, still too timid to speak.
As if reading his thoughts, Yan Rumei said, "I have to finish this today. Be good. Sit down and wait."
Her face turned serious as she started sorting through the papers. Li Cheng could only cry on the inside. Why did he feel like a kid bothering his hardworking mother? Just moments ago, their Miss was crying her eyes out, and now she was all business, even scolding him silently.
About ten minutes later, Yan Rumei finished sorting the stack. Li Cheng sighed with relief and stood up again, straightening his suit. He was about to step forward when she took a few sheets she had set aside earlier and placed them on a makeshift music stand beside her old computer monitor. Then she began typing, apparently unlocking her computer.
No… you're kidding me. She's still not done?! he thought, stunned.
"M-miss…" Li Cheng barely got the word out before Yan Rumei shushed him sharply. "Shhhhh!"
He opened and closed his mouth helplessly, unable to speak. Finally, he gave up and sat back down.
Then—
Takatakatakatakatak
Takatakatakatakatak
Takatakatakatakatak
Li Cheng's eyes widened, his jaw dropping again.
All he could hear was the relentless tapping of keys.
In front of him, Yan Rumei sat straight as a board. The only parts of her moving were her hands, flying over the keyboard, and her eyes shifting back and forth between the monitor and the sheets on the stand.
This went on for about a minute.
Then she took one sheet from the stand, stamped it, set it down, and went back to the keyboard, eyes focused on the monitor and papers.
Li Cheng had never seen anyone work like this—not even in any of the finance departments in his boss's companies.
Their Miss was like a… robot when she worked.