The pushover offended a top-tier boss

The car first arrived at her residential complex. She got out of the car.

I'm in a good mood today. Although I got scolded, my boss still let me have afternoon tea afterwards, my report was approved, the reply was given, and I even got a ride in the boss's car.

Come to think of it, Zhou Huaijin wasn't actually that bad.

She happily planned to buy potatoes and beef to make braised beef rice. She also wanted to buy black carp fillets to make sauerkraut fish. She'd also make a spinach and nut salad. She'd open a cocktail, add an ice ball, and watch TV while eating and drinking.

It's cool to think about.

The vendors in the market all knew her well. The older woman selling vegetables would call out from afar, "Little Ye, what are you making today?"

"Braised beef!" she said, her eyes crinkling with laughter.

Here, take two scallions!

"Thank you, sis!"

She carried the groceries, humming a song, and was in an exceptionally good mood the whole way.

In the kitchen, she tied on an apron and began to work.

Washing vegetables, chopping vegetables, marinating fish, stewing meat. The spatula flew across the wok, and the aroma wafted out little by little. She hummed a song as she cooked, feeling like she was a master chef.

After working for an hour, finally...

Braised beef with rice, pickled fish, spinach and nuts.

They were neatly arranged on the table.

She opened the cocktail, poured it into a glass, and added two ice balls.

perfect!

She took a picture and posted it on her WeChat Moments. The caption was just two words: "Dinner's ready."

The TV was showing "Empresses in the Palace".

She mixed the rice and ate it bite by bite.

I'm full and relaxing on the sofa scrolling through my phone.

There's been some activity on WeChat Moments.

Chen Zheng's comment was the first to pop up: 【Ahhh, give me a bite!】accompanied by an emoji of a spoon the size of a shovel.

She smiled and scrolled down.

My best friend Lin Zhiye chimed in: [This is food poisoning! Who understands the suffering of working 996!]

Lin Zhi works at a large factory in Beijing, earning an annual salary of 60 yuan, making her one of the wealthiest women among her classmates. However, she's incredibly busy, working overtime until late at night every day.

Ye Zhenzhen replied below: 【I'll cook for you when you get back.】

I scrolled down a few more times, and they were all likes and comments like "smells good".

She was about to log out when she suddenly saw a new comment.

The profile picture is a landscape photo with mountains and sea, and the name is "zhj".

Only two words.

【good.】

Ye Zhenzhen stared at those two words for several seconds, blinked, and looked at the profile picture again to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

Zhou Huaijin?

How could he have seen her WeChat Moments? They had only been friends on WeChat for a few days, and she assumed that a high-ranking official like him would have hundreds or thousands of WeChat friends and wouldn't even be browsing Moments.

And... he even commented?

Holding her phone, she was momentarily at a loss for words. Should she reply with "Thank you, boss"? That seemed too formal.

After hesitating for a while, she replied with a "happy" emoji.

Meanwhile, at Yu Garden.

The dishes were already laid out on the table. Following the pictures he gave her, the auntie made braised beef with potatoes, sauerkraut fish, and spinach with nuts. They looked even better than in the photos.

He put down his chopsticks, picked up his phone, and glanced at the post on his WeChat Moments again.

He went back out and put his phone down.

Snow began to fall outside the window. Fine snowflakes twirled and fell silently under the streetlights, covering the yard.

Gradually, it turned into a blanket of white.

Snow white.

He inexplicably recalled a patch of snow-white.

And those eyes that could turn red so easily.

Stupid, dumb.

Nothing special.

He frowned, turned around, and went back to his study.

Chen Zheng was late again the next morning.

Ye Zhenzhen received his WeChat message more than ten minutes after finishing breakfast.

"Sis, I overslept, I'm coming right away—"

Ye Zhenzhen angrily stuffed her phone back into her pocket.

She ate one sandwich herself, and then made several more, wrapping each one in plastic wrap and neatly arranging them in an insulated bag. The bacon was fried until crispy and fragrant, the eggs were tender, and they were sandwiched between slices of toast, served with lettuce and ketchup—it looked very appetizing.

The car finally arrived.

The black Hongqi car stopped at the entrance of the residential area. The window rolled down, and Chen Zheng waved to her guiltily, "Get in, get in."

Ye Zhenzhen opened the passenger door and froze.

Secretary Lin sat in the passenger seat, holding a folder in her hand.

"Secretary Lin? What brings you here—"

"The weather forecast says it will snow," Lin Rui turned around and smiled. "I'll keep an eye on the road for Chen Zheng ahead. Safety first."

"Okay, okay." Ye Zhenzhen nodded and sat in the back seat.

The car door closed, and the car was warm inside with the air conditioning on full blast.

She took off her down jacket and placed it on the empty seat.

He then took out sandwiches from the insulated bag and handed them to the people in the front row: "I made sandwiches, you guys eat."

Lin Rui waved his hand: "Thank you, I've already eaten at home."

Chen Zheng didn't stand on ceremony; he held the steering wheel with one hand and reached out with the other to grab three.

"Mmm! Delicious!" he mumbled incoherently. "Much better than what you get outside."

Ye Zhenzhen smiled and reassembled the remaining two.

The three people chatted casually on the way.

"Secretary Lin, are you going on vacation next month?" Ye Zhenzhen asked.

"Yes, I'll take fifteen days of paternity leave." Lin Rui's voice carried a hint of undisguised joy. "So, I'll have to trouble Teacher Ye to work even harder."

"Wow, you're going to be a dad?" Ye Zhenzhen exclaimed in surprise. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks."

Ye Zhenzhen thought to herself, "Secretary Lin is such a thoughtful and considerate person, he must be a good father."

The car turned onto Haitang Road and stopped at the entrance of Yuyuan Garden.

Lin Rui glanced at his watch, then at the door, and picked up his phone to send a message.

A short while later, a figure walked out of the courtyard.

Zhou Huaijin wore a dark gray executive jacket and dark trousers today, with his leather shoes polished to a shine. He was also carrying a black, matte-finish thermos.

The hall still exudes a grand and airy atmosphere.

Ye Zhenzhen glanced at him through the car window and thought to herself: Isn't he cold dressed so lightly? He's quite old, yet he's so resistant to the cold.

He opened the car door and got in.

A gust of cold wind swept in, carrying the crisp chill of the snow outside.

"Good morning, boss." Ye Zhenzhen shrank to the side to make room for him.

"Um."

The car's air conditioning was on full blast, and after sitting for a while, he took off his coat. Ye Zhenzhen, ever observant, reached out and took it from him.

When you touch the inside, you feel a layer of soft and delicate fur.

Wow. The inside is made of mink fur, no wonder it's resistant to the cold.

Being made of polyester, I naturally can't understand other people's world.

She placed Zhou Huaijin's jacket on the empty seat and then placed it on top of her own 99-yuan cotton-padded coat (shipping included).

I had this inexplicable feeling that I had soiled someone else's clothes.

Perhaps because he was visiting the countryside today, Zhou Huaijin wasn't dressed too formally. After taking off his coat, he was wearing a camel-colored wool sweater and a gray shirt underneath, which made him look even younger.

At her age, she still knows how to layer clothes.

The car slowly drove out of Haitang Road.

After a moment of silence in the car, Ye Zhenzhen mustered her courage and spoke, "Boss, I made sandwiches. Have you had breakfast? Would you like—"

He didn't respond.

Chen Zheng, sitting in the front row, quickly chimed in, "Big brother, you eat! I just ate three, they were so delicious!"

Zhou Huaijin turned his gaze to Ye Zhenzhen.

She quickly took a sandwich out of the insulated bag, tore off the plastic wrap, and handed it over with both hands.

He took it and took a bite.

The chewing motion was neither too fast nor too slow, and his Adam's apple bobbed slightly.

"Is it good?" Ye Zhenzhen asked cautiously, looking at him expectantly.

"good."

"It's alright" means "good." Ye Zhenzhen gave herself a thumbs up in her mind.

Successfully flattering someone is the first step towards achieving high emotional intelligence.

She struck while the iron was hot, quickly unscrewing his thermos and handing it to him with both hands: "Boss, please have some water."

As the lid was unscrewed, a wisp of steam rose out, carrying a faint fragrance.

I don't know what I'm brewing, but it smells a little sweet and has a slightly bitter, herbal scent.

There should be goji berries, right? They say that people have no choice but to soak goji berries in their thermos when they reach middle age. Although Meng Chen is only twenty-seven or twenty-eight, his physical strength has obviously declined in the past two years. He is losing hair from working on his thesis every day, so he has also started soaking goji berries.

She couldn't help but look down.

"What are you looking at?" His voice came from above.

"Is it soaked with goji berries?" she blurted out, then immediately regretted it.

Zhou Huaijin glanced down at her, his gaze carrying a hint of a half-smile.

"Do you think I need it?"

Ye Zhenzhen choked.

Chen Zheng, sitting in the front row, blurted out, "Goji berries aren't enough, bro. Why don't you get some maca, ginseng? At your age, you really need to—"

"Drive your car."

Chen Zheng shut his mouth and obediently held the steering wheel.

Ye Zhenzhen also shut her mouth, leaned closer to the car window, and tried to minimize her presence.

The path to high emotional intelligence is long and arduous.

Before long, snowflakes began to fall.

At first, the snowflakes were fine and scattered, but then they gradually became denser, with large flakes swirling down, turning the world into a vast expanse of white.

"It's starting to snow," Lin Rui said from the front seat. "Chen Zheng, drive slowly."

"Okay." Chen Zheng slowed down the car and gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands.

The person next to me leaned back in their chair, closed their eyes, and rested, breathing evenly.

His profile was sharply defined, with deep-set eyes and a high nose bridge, and his shirt collar rested on his Adam's apple.

She glanced at him furtively, then quickly looked away.

They went to Quanshan Village, a poor village under the jurisdiction of Binzhou City.

The car wound its way along the mountain road for over an hour before finally arriving. Chen Zheng was a skilled driver, and the ride was smooth and steady; Ye Zhenzhen, sitting in the back seat, didn't even feel dizzy.

When we arrived, the snow had stopped.

Just as she was about to step out of the car, Lin Rui quickly walked around to the other side and opened the car door for Zhou Huaijin.

Sigh. I should have been quicker and opened the door for the boss.

That's why she's a secretary.