The pushover offended a top-tier boss

Ye Zhenzhen went through Zhou Huaijin's recent schedule from beginning to end, and then sorted out the materials handed over by Lin Rui. By the time she looked up, it was almost eleven o'clock.

She held the confirmation form for her trip to the countryside in her hand, hesitated for a moment, and then got up to knock on Zhou Huaijin's door.

"Enter."

When she pushed the door open, Zhou Huaijin was writing something with his head down.

A cup of coffee sat beside me; the glass was clear, revealing large ice cubes and dark brown coffee liquid inside. It must have been just delivered by Chen Xuefei.

Ye Zhenzhen glanced at it and muttered to herself: "She's quite old, and she's still drinking iced drinks."

He was writing a reply, his handwriting strong and vigorous, his strokes sharp and forceful. The letterhead read "Urban Construction Bureau," and below it was a long paragraph of handwritten comments.

Ye Zhenzhen stood quietly to the side, not daring to make a sound.

The office was quiet, with only the scratching sound of pens slicing across paper.

Zhou Huaijin put down his pen, his gaze lingered on her for a moment, then picked up the coffee cup beside him and handed it to her.

"Give."

Ye Zhenzhen quickly caught it: "Hmm?"

"Drink up." He lowered his head, picked up his pen, and continued writing. "Wait here while I finish approving this."

"Thank you, leader..." Ye Zhenzhen took the cup, and when her fingers touched the cup, the coldness made her flinch.

"Sit down and drink." He didn't look up.

"Ouch..." She obediently sat down on the chair next to her, held the iced coffee in both hands, and carefully took a sip.

Really bitter.

Life is more bitter than coffee.

She took another sip, and the bitterness melted on her tongue, slowly giving way to a hint of sourness and sweetness.

After writing for a while, Zhou Huaijin suddenly said, "Go check the storage cabinet on the bottom shelf of the filing cabinet; there are some snacks inside."

Ye Zhenzhen looked up and blinked blankly.

"What are you standing there for? Go get it." His tone carried a hint of impatience, but it wasn't real impatience; it was more like he thought she was too slow to react.

Ye Zhenzhen stood up in a daze, walked to the filing cabinet, and opened the lower door.

There were indeed quite a few things inside—tea, coffee beans, and several unopened boxes of cookies. On the top shelf were several beautifully packaged cardboard boxes, which, when opened, contained all sorts of Chinese pastries.

Jujube paste and walnut pastries, peach blossom pastries, osmanthus cakes, and mung bean cakes are neatly arranged in the compartments.

"Boss, would you like some food?" she asked, turning around.

Without even looking up, he said, "You eat."

what?

Ye Zhenzhen was truly flattered. Was the boss in such a good mood today?

She shrank back into her chair, picked up a jujube and walnut pastry, and took a small bite.

The flaky pastry crumbles between your teeth, and the sweet aroma of jujube paste and the slight bitterness of walnuts melt on your tongue, filling your mouth with a rich, creamy sweetness.

too delicious.

Paired with a sip of iced Americano, the sweetness of the dessert is perfectly balanced.

She picked up another peach blossom pastry; the pink pastry was shaped like flower petals, filled with red bean paste, sweet but not cloying. She ate it in small bites, trying not to make a sound.

Zhou Huaijin was writing his reply with his head down, his ears filled with her noises.

The crunching sounds were like a little hamster stealing food. Although the volume was deliberately kept low, it was still exceptionally clear in the quiet office. Occasionally, there were small swallowing sounds, gurgling sounds, and a soft "huff" when drinking coffee, probably because it was too cold.

He paused for a moment, without looking up.

Ye Zhenzhen enjoyed the meal.

After eating three pastries, she suddenly felt a little guilty.

Is this going to be my last meal before I'm executed?

She glanced at Zhou Huaijin furtively; he was still writing with his head down, and she couldn't tell what his emotions were.

After a while, he put down his pen and pushed the completed reply over: "Write a formal reply back to the Urban Construction Bureau in a bit, according to what I wrote."

"Yes, leader." Ye Zhenzhen quickly sat up straight.

"Secretary Lin asked me to confirm the time for your trip to the countryside."

She opened her notebook. "When would you like to leave tomorrow?"

Zhou Huaijin pondered for a moment, "You'll come along at eight in the morning."

Ye Zhenzhen was taken aback: "Me too?"

"You're here to learn, so what can you learn sitting in the office if you don't go down and see for yourself?"

"Okay, okay." She nodded quickly and wrote it down in her notebook.

"If there's nothing else to tell me, then..." She stood up, casually tossed the coffee cup into the trash can, and her gaze fell on the half-eaten box of pastries.

There was still more than half a box of pastries left, neatly stacked in the cardboard box.

"Where should I put this for you?" she asked, holding the cardboard box.

"Take it."

"Okay, thank you, boss."

Holding the cardboard box, a smile unconsciously appeared on her face. "I'll go give it to Chen Zheng to try."

This guy helped him a lot today.

Zhou Huaijin looked up from the document and gave a soft snort:

"You're thinking about him, aren't you?"

"Hehe, and Secretary Lin too..."

She quickly tried to fix it.

Secretary Lin just gave her coffee; how could she forget her?

Ye Zhenzhen made a decision: she would strive to become a person with high emotional intelligence from now on.

-

In the afternoon, Ye Zhenzhen sat at her workstation on the eighth floor and carefully finished writing the approval document.

She pulled out the sample template that Secretary Lin had given her and meticulously followed the format, word by word. After finishing, she read it through many times to ensure that the wording was precise, the logic was sound, and there were no flaws. Only after Secretary Lin had reviewed it did she dare to submit it.

Fortunately, it passed this time.

Actually, my major is quite relevant. I studied Chinese Language and Literature in school, and official document writing and public administration were required courses, with decent grades. However, after graduation, I worked as a student counselor for three years, dealing with student affairs every day, and my official document writing skills had long since deteriorated. In addition, when I joined a prestigious place like the secretariat, the contrast made me feel particularly inadequate.

Fortunately, the day passed safely.

When he got off work, Chen Zheng gave her a ride, as usual.

She didn't actually want to hitch a ride, but it was so cold that day, and even if she waited for the bus, she might not be able to squeeze on. After getting off the bus, she would still have to walk 500 meters to get home.

Fortunately, with Chen Zheng, who's always talking, sitting in the passenger seat wasn't too awkward.

"Ye Zhenzhen, we're leaving at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. Buy me three roujiamo (Chinese hamburgers) beforehand."

Ye Zhenzhen recalled that this morning, her boss had reminded her not to eat food with a strong odor.

She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Hmm... how about I make a few sandwiches? Would you like some?"

"Sure, I'm not picky about food," Chen Zheng replied readily.

She hesitated for a second, then turned to look at the back seat.

Zhou Huaijin was leaning back in his chair, resting with his eyes closed. The streetlights outside the car window slid past one after another, casting shadows on his face.

"Boss, do you want some?" she asked cautiously.

"don't want."

It was concise and to the point, without a single extra word.

"Oh..." Ye Zhenzhen turned her head back and muttered to herself.

It's normal that people don't like it. The Party Secretary has eaten all sorts of good food, why would he care about her sandwiches?