Chapter 37

Chapter 37

"Actually, it's not entirely unrelated to Assistant Li, but it's not directly about him either."

Sis, cut the vague talk and get to the point already.

"Those calls Assistant Li just took weren’t for him—they were for his boss. Assistant Li is just the middleman, not only not getting a cut but also stressing over how to schedule time for eight different people."

"Take the first call as an example. Originally, Assistant Li’s boss had promised to take her to her favorite restaurant for breakfast, and Assistant Li had already arranged it. But then the boss suddenly decided to accompany a newly acquainted lady to an exhibition. Assistant Li had to break out in a cold sweat while telling her that the boss had an unexpected morning meeting."

"Then there’s that rich kid, throwing a fit about going to the boss’s house. But the boss’s actual wife still lives there—how could Assistant Li possibly let him go? He was freaking out and had to coax the entitled kid into forgetting about storming into the boss’s house."

"Eight different schedules running simultaneously in a single day—even if you split the 24 hours into pieces, it’s impossible to manage. Assistant Li, you’re not a scumbag, you’re a true time management wizard."

"Honestly, if it were me, I couldn’t do it. I’d probably mess everything up."

The eager listeners agreed—they couldn’t do it either. Just keeping a few people from clashing would be an achievement.

So, along with Lin Tingyue, everyone looked at Assistant Li with new respect.

Li Pengtao: "?"

Was it his imagination, or did this young lady suddenly regard him with reverence?

Lin Tingyue asked with concern, "Assistant Li, have you had lunch yet?"

Li Pengtao was caught off guard. "Not yet."

"Didn’t you come here to eat?"

Li Pengtao said glumly, "I came to make a reservation."

Lin Tingyue gave a knowing look.

"I wonder which girlfriend Assistant Li’s boss is having lunch with today."

"But your boss is really playing with fire, isn’t he? Isn’t he afraid of getting caught? If just two of them run into each other, he’s toast."

"Oh, so he’s having lunch with that young master? But Jiang Peipei, the first caller, is already headed this way."

"Too bad the boss won’t arrive until noon. What a shame—we won’t get to see that scene."

Not wanting Lin Tingyue to miss out on the drama, Ying An got an idea.

"Assistant Li, since we're all here, why don’t you join us for lunch?"

"Ah?"

Li Pengtao was completely thrown. First, Ying An’s attitude toward him had done a total 180, and now he was being invited to eat with them?

"Assistant Li, you didn’t just come over to say hello, did you? There must be something else, right?"

"President Ying, you got me. Well, I just hope this young lady doesn’t mind?"

From Li Pengtao’s perspective, Ying An was here on a date with this lady, and now their date was being interrupted by him…

Lin Tingyue was thrilled for him to stay. She quickly said, "I don’t mind at all! What would you like to eat? Let me grab that for you."

She started to get up, but Ying An stopped her. "I’ve got it," he said.

"Fine."

Lin Tingyue sat down and rested her chin on her hand, watching Li Pengtao.

Ugh, that's brutal—pulling a twenty-four-hour shift and still not having eaten a proper meal. No wonder you look half-dead.

When Lin Tingyue saw Li Pengtao, she almost thought she was looking in a mirror. *How could he resemble her former overworked self so much?!*

Indeed, corporate drones are all the same everywhere.

Now that she knew Li Pengtao wasn’t some jerk, she felt even more sympathy for him.

Pushing the plate Ying An had brought toward Li Pengtao, Lin Tingyue said, "Get some food in you."

"Work’s important, but you can’t just keel over—especially from starvation."

Ah, Lin Tingyue suddenly remembered—she’d worked herself to death. Well, that wasn’t much better, was it?

Just as Li Pengtao finished his meal and was about to talk with Ying An, a furious figure blew into the restaurant and stopped abruptly by Li Pengtao’s table.

Li Pengtao looked up. Upon seeing the person’s face, a dozen contingency plans flashed through his mind.

Come on, brain, work!

Li Pengtao stood up and pasted on a smile. "Miss Jiang."

Jiang Peipei crossed her arms and demanded, "Didn’t you tell me Chen was in a meeting? If he’s in a meeting, why are you here eating?"

"I’m only human—gotta eat sometime," Li Pengtao replied with a strained laugh.

Jiang Peipei froze, then slammed her hand on the table. "Cut the crap. Tell me—are you lying to me?"

"Miss Jiang, I swear on my life, I absolutely, absolutely didn’t lie to you."

Because if anyone’s lying, it’s my boss. If lightning strikes for lying, let it hit Si Tuchen instead.

"What is this, the Middle Ages?" Jiang Peipei scoffed.

"Then what would Miss Jiang have me do?"

"Not bad. Not even rattled by this—must be nice being a professional assistant!"

"You must prove you weren’t with Chen this morning," Jiang Peipei declared.

Li Pengtao blinked. "Wait, what?"

This took an unexpected turn—not just for him, but for the other diners too.

"Why would Jiang Peipei ask that? Did she misunderstand something?"

Jiang Peipei stepped closer to Li Pengtao. "Otherwise, how would I know you’re not trying to move in on him?"

Li Pengtao: "?!"

He blanked, nearly breaking character as a composed assistant.

If he’d known becoming a special assistant meant going through this kind of hell, he’d rather die.

Li Pengtao said, “Ms. Jiang, I’m a man.”

Jiang Peipei shot him a look and scoffed, “Wow, groundbreaking.”

Li Pengtao: “…”

He replied seriously, “Even if the sky fell, the boss wouldn’t like a guy.”

Because the boss was already standing on a pile of ruins!

The young master, who had just been clinging to Si Tuchen’s arm as he walked in happily: “?”

He couldn’t hold back. “Assistant Li, what exactly are you implying?”

Assistant Li and Jiang Peipei turned around at the same time—Assistant Li saw Si Tuchen, and Jiang Peipei saw him too.

Jiang Peipei stared at the young master’s hand gripping Si Tuchen’s arm. If she still didn’t get it now, she’d be the biggest dumbass alive!

“Well, well. Wrong suspect, huh?”

Si Tuchen hadn’t expected to run into Jiang Peipei here either. He said, “Peipei, let me explain.”

“Explain?” Jiang Peipei snapped back. “What’s there to explain when he’s holding your arm?”

The young master yanked Si Tuchen behind him. “Obviously because Ah Chen is with *me*. And he even got me a gift.”

He waved around a painting he’d been clutching like treasure.

Lin Tingyue, spectating the mess, was floored.

“What’s this shady shit? Taking a gift bought for the girl you went to the exhibition with and turning around to give it to someone else? You’re supposed to be an alpha CEO—how cheap can you be?”

If it weren’t so awkward, Lin Tingyue would’ve given Si Tuchen a slow clap.

“You two-timing jerks! I’ll take you both down!”

Jiang Peipei, seeing red, slapped both Si Tuchen and the young master across the face.

When she raised her hand again, Si Tuchen caught her wrist, his brow furrowed. “Jiang Peipei, what the hell do you think you’re doing? I’m *this close* to losing it!”

“What am I doing? You lied about having a morning meeting when you were really with him!”

“A morning meeting?”

The young master turned to Si Tuchen. “Ah Chen, didn’t you say your dad needed to see you urgently?”

“Yikes. Game over.”

“I rushed from the family estate straight to the meeting.”

“But you came from the art gallery. You even said your dad’s been down lately, so you bought him a gift to cheer him up—and since you were seeing me later, you grabbed one for me too.”

Both Jiang Peipei and the young master finally put two and two together. “You lying snake—you played us both!!!”

Two against one, Si Tuchen was getting his ass kicked. As he caught his breath, the restaurant manager cut in. “Folks, any damages will need to be covered.”

Si Tuchen saw red. Him? The heir of the Si family? Short a few bucks? As if!

Si Tuchen's eyes were bloodred as he growled, "Charge everything to me!"

Jiang Peipei and the young master started throwing things at him without restraint—after all, hadn't he said it himself? He'd pay for it.

"Yikes, looks like even a hotshot CEO should bring bodyguards when stepping out."

"Not just to watch out for rivals, but danger from your own circle too."

" Babe, this is that shop I told you about. You shouldn't stay cooped up at home—you need to get out more."

A businesslike woman pushed open the glass door and stopped dead in her tracks at the scene.

She quickly turned to the woman behind her and said, "Babe, there's some crazy drama going on here. Let's try another place."

But the woman behind her was already stunned, gasping in shock, "Ah Chen?"

Si Tuchen looked up, saying in panic, "Ah Wen, what are you doing here?"

Jiang Peipei immediately grabbed Luo Wen's hand. "Sis, let me tell you, this guy is two-timing! Look, just look—at there's a guy in the picture too!!!"

Luo Wen said faintly, "But... he's my husband."

Jiang Peipei: "OMG, your husband?"

Luo Wen white-knuckled her purse, her face pale as she nodded.

"This is the craziest thing I've ever seen."

"Truly, when one thread snaps, everything goes to hell."

Later, the police arrived. They took everyone involved in the fight to the station. Li Pengtao initially prepared to follow Si Tuchen but suddenly changed his mind.

Lin Tingyue asked, "Why did you come back?"

Li Pengtao replied, "Wanna hear the good or bad news first, Miss?"

"Why does Li Pengtao seem like a moldy mushroom in the corner, alternating between sunshine and gloom?"

Ying An: "..."

Probably because he was originally dead and now barely alive.

Lin Tingyue asked cautiously, "The bad news?"

Li Pengtao said cheerfully, "I got fired."

Lin Tingyue gasped. "And the good news?"

Li Pengtao said with equal cheer, "I got fired."

Lin Tingyue: "..."

How is it that the mental state of fictional office workers mirrors real life so perfectly?!

...

When Lin Tingyue returned home, she noticed everyone had changed clothes. "Are we going out?" she asked.

Bai Yaxin nodded. "Your aunt wants us over for dinner. I was about to call you—good timing. Go change."

"Aunt? The one whose husband tried to elope with his daughter-in-law?"

The entire Lin family: *collective gasp*