Chapter 26: Do I Need a Reason to Come See You?

Chapter 26: Can't I Come Find You If I Have Nothing To Do?

The three of them hadn't finished chatting yet.

Song Jiang had planned to continue over lunch.

But then the CEO suddenly called him to the office.

He couldn't help muttering, "What kind of trouble is he going to stir up in the middle of the day?"

Song Jiang knocked and walked in, asking respectfully, "President Fu, is there something you need from me?"

Fu Zhichen raised his eyes to look at him: "Butler Song, can't I come find you if I have nothing to do?"

"..."

No, you can't.

"Have you eaten yet, Butler Song?"

Huh? Since when did the CEO care so much?

Could it be that the CEO won't even let him eat lunch?

Song Jiang said nervously, "Not yet, President Fu. I was just about to go."

Fu Zhichen gestured with his chin, "Sit down and eat with me."

Song Jiang followed Fu Zhichen's gaze.

In the spacious office, on the coffee table by the sofa, sat several neatly packed lunch boxes.

Song Jiang recognized the logo on the boxes.

It was from a five-star hotel under the Fu Group.

He had heard that a few chefs there cooked exclusively for the CEO.

And the CEO didn't order them to cook every day; most of the time, he went home to eat what Mrs. Wang made.

So... those chefs were usually pretty idle.

They did the least work but got a high salary.

If he thought about it carefully, those chefs were making a killing.

Alright, alright, a new career guide.

And now the CEO was actually asking him to eat together?

Aha? Did the sun rise from the west today?

The CEO being this nice to him... something that good out of the ordinary usually spells trouble.

But this was a free meal from the chefs at a five-star hotel.

He figured he might as well take the free meal since it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and after the little devil and angel on his shoulders had a fight,

He convinced himself.

Well, as the saying goes, "Cross that bridge when you come to it."

Eat first and figure things out later.

"Alright, President Fu."

Song Jiang ate very casually at home.

As his grandmother put it, he lacked proper posture when sitting or standing.

But now, in front of the CEO, he had to rein in all those bad habits like eating while watching shows.

Song Jiang sat up straight.

Only after Fu Zhichen came to the table did Song Jiang open the lunch boxes in front of them.

Fu Zhichen frowned slightly when he saw the food in the box and said, "Butler Song, I don't eat cilantro."

Why tell him? It wasn't his cooking anyway, so he wouldn't get blamed for it.

"Got it, President Fu."

Song Jiang turned into a cilantro picker.

At times like this, he would scream internally.

Damn it, picking out cilantro isn't part of his job!!!

Pay me, pay me now!

This chef really loved putting cilantro in everything. Out of three dishes and a soup, only the soup was free of it.

He didn't even know the CEO's preferences. Song Jiang wondered why the CEO kept such a chef.

But since he liked cilantro, he'd reluctantly hold back from badmouthing the chef.

There were two lunch boxes. Song Jiang placed all the picked cilantro into his own portion.

After Song Jiang diligently and meticulously picked out all the cilantro without complaint,

Fu Zhichen remained seated without moving.

That dead hand of the CEO's wouldn't even pick up his own food! Did he need permission?

Since the CEO didn't move, Song Jiang dared not move either.

Fu Zhichen crossed his arms and said calmly, "Butler Song, you eat first."

As an employee, eating before his own boss?

Was that something he could do?

Song Jiang hesitated.

"President Fu, this... this doesn't seem right."

These were dishes made by the CEO's personal chef, and he was just a lowly steward mooching a meal.

"Butler Song, there's nothing wrong with it," Fu Zhichen said. "I don't want a repeat of last time when I was dosed with an aphrodisiac."

"You get what I'm saying?"

Shit.

He understood. So he was being used as a guinea pig.

If someone tried to poison or mess with the CEO through the food or something, he'd be the first to get poisoned.

No wonder the CEO was so nice today, letting him sit down and eat together.

Ha... Song Jiang couldn't even fake a smile anymore.

So damn pathetic. In this day and age... money is hard to earn, and life's a bitch.

"Mr. Fu, if... what if... um..."

Song Jiang felt super wronged. What if something truly toxic was in the food? What would happen then? Damn it, would the CEO even send him to the hospital?

A cold, ruthless CEO like that—does he even have human decency?

Mama, I'm scared. I wanna go home.

Fu Zhichen was watching Song Jiang the whole time and could naturally sense what he was trying to say.

"Steward Song, I've been eating the chef's cooking since I was a kid. You can rest assured and eat."

"If he really dared to put anything in..." Fu Zhichen paused. "I'll make him pay."

Song Jiang remembered scenes from ancient costume dramas where silver needles were used to test for poison.

Maybe... he could find a silver needle.

Song Jiang was about to say it out loud, but Fu Zhichen interrupted, not giving him a chance.

"I'll save you right away and take you to the hospital. You are my steward. Steward Song, you're one of mine."

"Don't be afraid."

If the CEO had said something so dominant yet touching under different circumstances, he would have been deeply moved to the point of tears.

But now... when his life might be on the line...

Song Jiang closed his eyes, bracing himself.

Screw it. Just get it over with.

This crappy novel world... ugh.

Resigned to his fate, Song Jiang tasted each dish one by one.

Alright, now the CEO was eating his leftovers, and the CEO was totally fine with it.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes...

After swallowing the food, Song Jiang didn't dare move a muscle.

But in his mind, he thought: Damn, the food is actually delicious.

Fu Zhichen watched Song Jiang's expressions closely. After waiting a few minutes, he finally started to eat.

"Steward Song, name your number."

"As a guarantee. You looked extremely reluctant earlier, like you were heading to the gallows, and you seemed very distressed."

"If I throw some cash at you, you'll feel better, right? What do you think?"

"How much do you want?"

His chef had indeed been cooking for him since childhood. If there were any safety issues, they would have come to light by now.

So... he was basically fooling his young steward.

Around noon, he had finally finished handling the company contracts and looked out through the glass at his employees.

His steward was chatting cheerfully with his secretary and a girl from the office. The steward's eyes crinkled up from laughing, and his mouth never stopped moving.

What were they talking about so cheerfully?

Meanwhile, his office was cold and lonely... He couldn't quite explain why.

He'd been alone for years and was used to it, but after seeing the steward like that, he realized that his steward had never smiled at him like that.

"Mr. Fu..." Song Jiang waved his hand in front of Fu Zhichen's face for a long time.

Wait, he hadn't been poisoned yet. Could the poison be airborne and have poisoned the CEO first?

Fu Zhichen snapped back to reality.

"Two hundred thousand. Can I get two hundred thousand per taste test?"

Song Jiang had already calculated it in his head. Worst case scenario, if he got poisoned, he could just go to the hospital. Medical tech is advanced enough now. There's no way some villain would use a poison that'd kill me outright.

Honestly, he was like a cockroach you can't kill. Back in his hometown, he got bit by a five-pace viper and survived on just some herbs.

No biggie, no biggie.

Two hundred thousand per taste test—that was no small amount.

Woo hoo, he was one step closer to going home.

Song Jiang's eyes always lit up at the thought of money.

Fu Zhichen wasn't annoyed by the interruption of his thoughts. "Mhm."

Once Fu Zhichen started eating, Song Jiang wolfed down the food like it was his last meal.

As the saying goes, if you ain't hype about food, your brain's broken.

He was going to finish all the food made by this five-star chef to comfort his traumatized little heart.

Fu Zhichen raised a slightly surprised eyebrow at Song Jiang's revenge eating. "You like cilantro?"

Song Jiang's mouth was full; at this moment, he was like a survivor who had escaped a disaster. All thoughts of proper table manners and any damn image had been completely thrown out of his mind.

He would rather choke to death than be poisoned.

Song Jiang nodded like crazy.

These cilantro buns are so delicious! If he could, he would plant cilantro all over the world.

Song Jiang wolfed down the food like a wolf that hadn't eaten in centuries.

Fu Zhichen frowned slightly and couldn't help reminding him, "Steward Song, no one's taking it from you. You can eat slowly."

Song Jiang just kept nodding, his almond-shaped eyes narrowing with a look of pure bliss.

Damn, he was such a country bumpkin—this was so delicious, words can't describe it.

You'll have to imagine it for yourselves.

If he could eat this every day, he'd be over the moon!

Fu Zhichen's office was on the top floor.

At noon, looking down from this position, the bustling city with its heavy traffic was spread out before him.

On the top floor of the building, the two of them were sitting peacefully together at the table, and occasionally, one of them would let out contented sighs.

Even Fu Zhichen himself did not notice that the corners of his mouth had curved into a faint smile without him even noticing.

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