When Jiang Xiaoyi returned to the office, she was, unsurprisingly, treated like the center of attention —

“So how was it, how was it? Did Xu Mengting look for you because you used to be Ye Zhen’s assistant?”

“Did she say anything?”

“Did you take a photo with her?”

“I just saw her rumor-clearing post — she says she and our President Ye are siblings! But then afterward it says ‘future sister-in-law,’ which means our President Ye really is dating someone, just not Xu Mengting?”

Everyone chimed in, and finally, all eyes turned to Jiang Xiaoyi —

“So who exactly is President Ye’s girlfriend? Jiang Xiaoyi, you used to be his assistant — was there any sign back then?”

Under everyone’s gaze, Jiang Xiaoyi had no choice but to lie, though her conscience nagged at her, and she mumbled vaguely: “Maybe he’s dating someone secretly, I really don’t know.”

“But does President Ye even have time to date secretly? With all these reforms he’s pushing and handling everything himself personally, he’s really a master of time management…”

……

Fortunately, no one pressed the topic further, except for Li You’ai, who stared at Jiang Xiaoyi with a thoughtful look, as if he’d suddenly figured something out.

**

“Little Jiang, are you hot? Want me to buy you an iced coffee? Starbucks!”

“Little Jiang, the wrap-up work for that last project wasn’t technical at all — someone with your talent doing this kind of mechanical labor is such a waste. Come on, hand over whatever’s left, I’ll do it for you!”

“Little Jiang, here’s an annual card for a massage spa, want to try it?”

……

The whole afternoon, Jiang Xiaoyi endured Eunuch Li’s relentless fawning —

“Little Jiang, are you free tonight? Can I treat you to dinner?”

Though she understood Li You’ai’s desperate desire for a good year-end review score, Jiang Xiaoyi felt she really couldn’t take it anymore: “Sorry, Director Li, I’m not free tonight.”

She glanced at her computer screen, hinting: “I’ve got a lot of work today — maybe I should just focus on that?”

But Li You’ai wasn’t giving up at all: “Then tomorrow night? If not tomorrow, the day after? Whichever day works for you, I’m free!”

Seeing Eunuch Li like this, Jiang Xiaoyi felt she’d figured out his intentions and thought it necessary to firmly refuse once: “Director Li, regarding your nephew…”

Before Jiang Xiaoyi could even finish, Li You’ai started nodding along obsequiously: “I know, I know — before, it was our Yongjian being a toad wanting to eat swan meat! Ugh, I don’t even know what that kid was dreaming of — who does he think he is?! Just look at how much older he is than you, wrinkles that deep already, not even handsome or tall — where does he get the confidence! I’m embarrassed for him! If he weren’t my own nephew, I’d have scolded him ages ago! Really, too full and idle, doesn’t even know to look in a mirror!”???

Jiang Xiaoyi was a bit confused: “But didn’t you keep trying to set us up before…?”

Li You’ai practically denied it in a fit of agitation: “No, no, no, Little Jiang, don’t get me wrong, I never did, I never once did — from the moment I let you be President Ye’s temporary assistant, I’ve actually admired you a great deal, that’s why I was willing to let you go take that chance — because I saw potential in you!”

“As for why I set up the dinners with Yongjian, it was mainly to help him give up more thoroughly. This kid, he’s stubborn, won’t give up till he hits rock bottom — he had to be firmly rejected by you several times, get slapped in the face hard, before this kid could truly let it go.”

Eunuch Li said obsequiously: “So the reason I invited you out to eat with him a few times before was mainly to give Yongjian a chance to feel ashamed of himself in front of you, to recognize his own place, to stop daydreaming about someone he’s not worthy of…”

Jiang Xiaoyi was genuinely at a loss now.

Li You’ai usually loved to criticize and pressure her from every angle — why was he suddenly like this today…

Yet Li You’ai seemed to feel his flattery wasn’t enough, and doubled down further: “Little Jiang, actually I’ve always thought highly of you…”

“But you’re usually the one who scolds me the most in the whole department…”

“That’s exactly because you’re the most promising talent in the whole department!” Li You’ai said enthusiastically. “You know the saying — ‘hitting is affection, scolding is love.’ I’ve been grooming you as my most prized protégé all along; scolding you was for your own good! Wasn’t it all to help train you so you could go be President Ye’s assistant sooner?”

“And besides, if I hadn’t let you go, giving you the chance to get close to President Ye, you wouldn’t be where you are today, right? You’ve been in the project incubation department a long time too, so it’s kind of your home base at Ruiyi in a way — now that things are like this between you and President Ye, once you rise up in the world, you’ll need to look out for your home base, right?”

Jiang Xiaoyi had indeed been praised a lot by Ye Zhen lately, plus she’d once been Ye Zhen’s assistant, giving her more opportunities to interact with him — perhaps that had given Eunuch Li the illusion that she was about to be promoted?

But…

“I probably shouldn’t get involved in whether President Ye lays people off.”

“What’s there not to get involved in?!” Li You’ai perked right up, lowering his voice and wiggling his eyebrows meaningfully. “Just, you know, whisper a little pillow talk…”!!!

Jiang Xiaoyi looked at Eunuch Li with suspicion and uncertainty.

“Hey, why are you looking at me like that? No need to hide it from me — the way you and President Ye are, don’t tell me there’s nothing going on between you?” Eunuch Li said smugly. “Now it makes sense — no wonder President Ye praises you so much, isn’t it because you successfully won him over?”

“But how did you manage to catch President Ye’s attention? Clearly when you were his temporary assistant, he scolded you with a cold face every single day!” Li You’ai muttered. “If I think about when President Ye’s attitude toward you started changing, it was right after falling off the cruise ship — could it really be because you kicked him in the butt?”

The more Li You’ai thought about it, the more he felt this must be the only clue — could it really be just like those trashy romance novels, where a boss like Ye Zhen, who’d never been treated unreasonably by anyone, ended up captivated by the first woman who dared to treat him unreasonably?

But that kind of novel-style attention-grabbing tends to come on fast and fade just as fast, so Li You’ai felt it necessary to give Jiang Xiaoyi some pointers. He pulled a few treasured books out of his bag —

“Here, take these, study them well. These next couple of days at work, there’s nothing much else going on anyway, so don’t bother organizing the project files — that kind of thing is pure mechanical labor with zero technical content, a waste of time and nothing else. Leave that grunt work to me. You should focus on improving your professional skills — go through these books I bought.”

Even though Li You’ai had figured out her relationship with Ye Zhen, he clearly didn’t want anyone else swooping in to take advantage of it, so he had no intention of making it public. Yet even so, the man managed to say it with a completely straight face: “I don’t think it’s suitable to make your relationship with President Ye public for now — after all, it’s not good for your work, people will look at you with prejudice. Besides, if you and President Ye were to break up later, that would be awkward too. If you really want to announce it, you should wait until you’ve secured your position as the boss’s wife, don’t you think?”

Yes, yes, yes — Li You’ai’s twisted logic just kept flowing endlessly.

Despite Li You’ai’s sycophancy, though it stemmed from selfish motives and he had no intention of revealing his big discovery, he was now even more warmly attentive and doting toward Jiang Xiaoyi than ever.

Jiang Xiaoyi had never liked doing the mechanical labor of organizing files anyway, and had wanted to use her free time to research the industry’s future development. Now that Li You’ai had volunteered for it himself, she was naturally more than happy to accept — especially since he’d even brought her professional books to help her improve, which she genuinely appreciated.

Whatever Li You’ai’s motives were, at least in practice, it gave Jiang Xiaoyi more time to grow and improve.

With this mindset, Jiang Xiaoyi solemnly accepted the few treasured books from Li You’ai — she could tell these books were all newly bought, still wrapped in their courier packaging.

“I bought these especially for you, the newest editions, hardcover — you must read them thoroughly and absorb the knowledge inside. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me anytime, got it?”

Jiang Xiaoyi nodded firmly.

Once Li You’ai left, Jiang Xiaoyi opened the courier box with anticipation.

So what books had Li You’ai given her? She’d recently heard there was a new hardcover book about the overseas expansion of the cultural and entertainment industry — could that be it? Or maybe an analysis of domestic comics?

Humming a little tune, Jiang Xiaoyi finally tore open the courier box, and the titles of the “treasured books” Li You’ai had so earnestly told her to study finally came into view —

《How to Capture a Man’s Heart》

《Inner Monologue of a Domineering CEO’s Wife》

《From Trouble to Phoenix — A Quick Guide to Rising in Status》

《How to Become a Man-Catching Beauty: Capturing His Heart》

……

So this was the “professional development” Li You’ai wanted her to work on?

Jiang Xiaoyi looked at Li You’ai’s retreating back with mixed feelings she couldn’t quite put into words. As if sensing something, Li You’ai turned back and smiled at her, even making a “fighting” gesture, then mouthed silently —

“Go for it! Jiang Xiaoyi, you must seize President Ye’s heart! Remember, when you become the boss’s wife, don’t forget to promote me — after all, I’m your biggest supporter, and I’m happy to be your strategist and give you advice going forward…”

Watching Li You’ai’s coquettish, affected posturing, Jiang Xiaoyi was simply stunned — it really did live up to the nickname “Eunuch Li,” a spitting image of a court eunuch scheming to help a commoner concubine rise to power…

“Oh right, Little Jiang, let’s have dinner together tonight! I’m a man too, and a successful one at that — let me give you some pointers from a successful man’s perspective on what kind of partner successful men like…”

……

Fortunately, in the end, thanks to a phone call from Ye Zhen, Jiang Xiaoyi managed to escape the torment of dinner with Li You’ai.

**

That evening, Jiang Xiaoyi ended up having dinner with Ye Zhen at a restaurant.

“Didn’t you not get to finish the roast duck at the Hyatt last time?” Ye Zhen held Jiang Xiaoyi’s hand, looking rather pleased with himself. “Now who isn’t a distinguished member, hm?”

This time, he openly walked into the restaurant with Jiang Xiaoyi. The host at the restaurant’s entrance seemed quite familiar with Ye Zhen, greeting him politely with a smile: “Mr. Ye.”

Girls who work as restaurant hosts are never plain-looking, and this one, dressed in a qipao-style work uniform, with exquisite makeup and a graceful smile, was striking enough that even Jiang Xiaoyi, as a fellow woman, found her beautiful.

But this wasn’t the moment to admire beauty — Jiang Xiaoyi felt a twinge of jealousy inside. Was Ye Zhen using his face and status to flirt around everywhere? Look at that, even the hostess was so warm toward him — was this really what a man upholding male virtue should be doing?

What made Jiang Xiaoyi especially sour inside was that Ye Zhen clearly knew this girl too — though he didn’t return her smile, he did nod at her.

Just as Jiang Xiaoyi was about to act on impulse and secretly pinch Ye Zhen, she felt him pull her forward, and the man took the initiative to wrap his arm around Jiang Xiaoyi’s waist, kissing her forehead without a care for who was watching, introducing her intimately: “This is my girlfriend.”

The hostess smiled: “Understood, don’t worry.”?

Though Ye Zhen openly declaring he was taken comforted Jiang Xiaoyi somewhat, the way he and the hostess seemed to be speaking in code left her puzzled…

But once the roast duck was brought to the table, Jiang Xiaoyi finally realized what Ye Zhen had secretly been arranging —

On the duck’s skin, four characters had been carved with a knife —

“I Love You Duck”

Ye Zhen looked quite serious about it: “This duck has a name. I specially ordered it in advance — it’s called, I Love You Duck.”

Jiang Xiaoyi looked at the crooked characters carved into the plump, glistening duck skin, listening to Ye Zhen’s calm, composed explanation, and suddenly couldn’t hold it in anymore — she burst out laughing.

How could it be this cheesy, this silly!

Ye Zhen had managed to keep a straight face at first, but seeing Jiang Xiaoyi laughing so hard she was doubled over, the man couldn’t maintain his composure either, and after holding it in for a moment, he burst out laughing too.

In the end, the man admitted the truth: “I guess it is a bit cheesy.”

Ye Zhen looked a little embarrassed too: “I’d heard they could carve characters into it, and I’d never tried it before — this was my first time. The Hyatt’s Chinese restaurant doesn’t even normally offer this service; I had to practically beg them with my face recognition before they’d try it for me. I didn’t expect the result to come out this cheesy — it’s actually kind of dumb…”

It was a bit dumb, but genuinely adorable.

Jiang Xiaoyi smiled, blinking at Ye Zhen: “Haven’t you heard? Even the cheesiest things have people who love them. I really like this duck. Next time I’ll treat you to a duck too — tit for tat, I’ll carve you an extra character.”

Ye Zhen’s face was still a bit red with embarrassment, but his tone had returned to composed: “So what characters are you going to carve?”

Jiang Xiaoyi looked into the man’s eyes, and said seriously, word by word: “I Love You Too Duck.”