The pushover offended a top-tier boss

In the afternoon, Ye Zhenzhen played with the two little ones for a while.

She had to thank the two kids; without them, she wouldn't know what to do.

"I have a dinner party tonight," Zhou Huaijin said to her as he came out of the main hall after finishing his work.

Ye Zhenzhen assumed it was another one of those bureaucratic social interactions she couldn't understand or participate in, so she quickly said:

"Then I'll wait for you at the hotel."

"It's just a private dinner, with some friends." Zhou Huaijin glanced at her. "You can come along."

Ye Zhenzhen hesitated for a moment: "Actually, I don't drink much, and I'm not very good at socializing..."

"You can always eat, right?" he interrupted her, a slight smile playing on his lips. "That's what you're best at."

Ye Zhenzhen: "..."

There's no need to be so blunt.

"Uncle, uncle! Is my sister leaving? When will she come back?"

The two children hugged Zhou Huaijin and spun around in her arms.

Zhou Huaijin frowned and corrected them:

"You should call her Auntie."

Ye Zhenzhen couldn't help but smile slightly. It seemed that the older man was quite concerned about his age.

"Auntie will come and play with you whenever she has time."

He patted the two little ones on the head, revealing a rare tenderness.

"When the holidays come, I can go to Binzhou to visit my uncle. My aunt lives there too."

-

At six o'clock in the evening, a black Maybach stopped at the entrance of the alley.

The driver was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a dark uniform and white gloves. When he saw Zhou Huaijin come out, he respectfully opened the car door.

Ye Zhenzhen followed behind, looking at the Maybach, and silently calculated in her mind how many years' salary that car would be enough for her.

I didn't dare to continue after calculating half of it.

Sure enough, he really is a prince in private.

The car drove for about fifteen minutes and stopped in front of a rather unassuming building near the Third Ring Road. There was no sign, no neon lights, only two doormen in black suits standing at the entrance, who came to greet the car.

Ye Zhenzhen followed Zhou Huaijin inside and discovered that it was a hidden world.

The decor is in a modern Chinese style, with dark solid wood, warm yellow lighting, and several calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall, each of which looks like an original.

After walking through a long corridor, we arrived at a private room.

When the door was pushed open, there were already several people sitting inside, all young men who looked to be around the same age as Zhou Huaijin, and dressed very casually.

"It's so difficult to see Zhou'er these days. Do we have to submit an application again, Secretary Zhou?"

A man wearing a black hoodie joked.

The other one echoed:

"Hey, Zhou'er brought a beauty with him, that's rare."

"Secretary," Zhou Huaijin explained.

"She's a beauty too," another laughed.

Zhou Huaijin ignored them and turned to Ye Zhenzhen to introduce them: "This is Li Zheng, and this is Zhao Yifeng."

Another handsome man sitting in the corner looking at his phone looked up and smiled at Ye Zhenzhen.

"This is Chen Yu," Zhou Huaijin added, "Chen Zheng's older brother."

Ye Zhenzhen's eyes widened suddenly.

Chen Zheng's older brother?

Chen Yu? The heir to Juli Technology? She said he looked so familiar. He's even more handsome than in the news.

Oh my god, should we go get an autograph and take a picture together?

She recalled Lin Zhi's words, "I'll make you submit the proposal at three in the morning" and "I've been on business trips for a month straight and I'm tanned to a crisp," and then looked at the gentle-smiling, refined man in front of her. She simply couldn't reconcile these two images.

Then think about Chen Zheng, that idiot. How can these two brothers have such different temperaments?

"Hello, Brother Chen!" she exclaimed excitedly.

She then quietly concealed her infatuated gaze.

Chen Yuchong nodded to her, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment before turning to Zhou Huaijin, a meaningful smile curving his lips.

Zhou Huaijin pulled out a chair and sat down, casually draping his coat over the back of the chair.

Ye Zhenzhen sat next to him.

A few more people arrived, and the private room gradually became lively.

The dinner was very high-class; each dish was exquisitely crafted, like a work of art. The king crab was steamed whole, with the meat removed and arranged on the shell, served with a ginger and vinegar sauce. The lobster was prepared two ways: sashimi and steamed with garlic. There was also a bowl of stew, its broth clear and its flavor delicious. Ye Zhenzhen took a sip and almost swallowed her tongue.

The people at the table were chatting about a topic she didn't quite understand.

"How many years are left in your term?"

"When are you coming back?"

Ye Zhenzhen suddenly realized that Zhou Huaijin might be returning to Beijing in a few years.

She suddenly had a feeling that she couldn't quite explain.

Then he comforted himself.

That's good. Once he leaves, I won't be scolded every day anymore.

Zhou Huaijin chatted with the others, exchanging a few words here and there.

Several people tried to get him drunk, and he impulsively drank a few cups.

She didn't understand most of the topics being discussed at the table.

Ye Zhenzhen didn't care about anything else; her only task was to eat.

The king crab meat is sweet and firm; dipped in a little ginger and vinegar sauce, it's absolutely delicious. The lobster sashimi melts in your mouth, with a hint of salty freshness from the sea.

Just keep your head down and cook.

"Wow, this beauty has quite the appetite," the man named Li Zheng across from her teased. "The ones we've met all have tiny appetites; they say they're full after just a couple of bites. This is the first time I've seen someone who can eat so much."

Ye Zhenzhen, who was still chewing on a piece of crab meat, blushed instantly upon hearing this.

Did she embarrass her boss?

She secretly glanced at Zhou Huaijin, trying to judge from his expression whether she should continue eating.

Zhou Huaijin was talking to the person next to him and seemed not to notice Li Zheng's words. But the next second, he picked up the serving chopsticks, took a large piece of king crab meat, and put it in her bowl.

"Eat yours," he said, without even looking at her.

His other hand casually rested on the back of her chair, a gesture that slightly exceeded the boundaries of superior-subordinate relations, which suddenly made her heart race.

At this moment, Zhou Huaijin was relaxed and natural, but sitting with this group of young masters, he exuded a sense of nonchalance and languor, revealing a true side of himself that belonged to his age.

Perhaps, this is what he's like in private?

The Crown Prince, residing near the capital, naturally had a large retinue and wielded considerable influence.

Ye Zhenzhen lowered her head, looking at the piece of crab meat in the bowl, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Oh, you're protecting her now?" Zhao Yifeng joked.

"If I don't protect my people, who will?" Zhou Huaijin picked up his wine glass and clinked it with Chen Yu's.

Ye Zhenzhen paused for a moment while holding the chopsticks.

我的人。

Whether he had been drinking or not, his distance and words today were somewhat inappropriate.

"What, shouldn't you call me 'little sister-in-law' now?" Li Zheng stood up, raising his wine glass, and looked at Ye Zhenzhen with a grin. "Little sister-in-law, let me toast you."

"Stop messing around." Zhou Huaijin gave him a cold look.

Ye Zhenzhen quickly waved her hand: "I... I don't drink alcohol—"

"Then let's have a fruit drink," Zhao Yizhou said, taking a small bottle from the side and handing it to her. "This one has a low alcohol content, is sweet, and is similar to a beverage."

Ye Zhenzhen looked at the glass of fruit wine, which smelled faintly of peach.

She took a small, cautious bite.

It's sweet, just like a beverage, and you can hardly taste any alcohol.

She took another sip.

After finishing their meal, the group moved to the adjacent card and chess room.

"Come on, let's play a few rounds." Li Zheng was the first to sit down at the mahjong table, patting the table. "It's been a long time since I played with Zhou'er, I have to beat him today."

Zhou Huaijin had just sat down when his phone vibrated. He glanced at the screen and stood up.

"Come and play," he said to Ye Zhenzhen, "I'm going to take this call."

Ye Zhenzhen reluctantly sat down in the chair.

She knows how to play mahjong, and during Chinese New Year, when relatives gather at a table, she will join in and play a few rounds.

But these people are clearly experts.

Chen Yu, in particular, was the quietest, yet he quietly won money.

She played her cards quickly and calculated the cards accurately. While she was still thinking about which card to play, her opponent had already won.

Moreover, she had just drunk that glass of fruit wine. Although it had a low alcohol content, she wasn't a big drinker to begin with, and she was already feeling a little dizzy.

They kept firing shots.

Ordering one dish after another.

Her chips are dwindling.

"It's okay, if you win, it's yours; if you lose, it's his." Chen Yu kindly comforted her.

Ye Zhenzhen looked at the terrible hand she had.

She picked up the cards, looked at the few cards in her hand, and her mind went completely blank.

She was about to randomly play a card when her hand was suddenly grabbed.

His palm covered the back of her hand, dry, warm, and with a slightly rough, calloused texture. The sensation spread from the back of her hand to her wrist, from her wrist to her entire arm, and finally surged through her body like an electric current.

"I won't play this."

Immediately, he played a 20,000 card.

Ye Zhenzhen froze.

Her face flushed bright red.

"Zhou'er, if you don't come soon, your little secretary will squander all our wealth." Li Zheng shook his head with a smile.

Zhou Huaijin withdrew his hand from the back of her hand, pulled over a chair next to her, and sat down beside her.

Very close.

She could smell his familiar woody scent, and she was so close that she could feel the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, and so close that her shoulder could touch his arm with the slightest movement.

"You bullied my people while I was away?" Zhou Huaijin glanced at the three men. His tone was nonchalant, completely different from his usual serious and cold demeanor in the office.

"No way, it's just that your wife saw how badly you've beaten us all these years and came to offer her some love." Someone laughed.

"Come on, I'll teach you how to play."

Zhou Huaijin sat beside her, and as he reached out to play a card, his arm almost encircled her. His breath brushed against her earlobe, carrying a hint of alcohol and a warm scent.

He reached out to help her get the cards and play them. Their hands touched on the card table several times, each time making her feel flustered and confused.

The people at the table didn't shy away from it, chatting and laughing as if they were used to such things.

She wasn't unaware. She was just slow to notice, not stupid.

This behavior has completely crossed the line.

She told herself that he had just drunk too much.

She couldn't think too much, nor dared to think too much.

Ye Zhenzhen blushed, her mind racing.

Zhou Huaijin, however, led her to win several games in a row.

"Alright, alright, that's enough," Li Zheng finally couldn't stand it anymore. "Are you really going to stand up for your little secretary? Winning a little money from you is like taking your life."

Ye Zhenzhen felt her face was about to explode from redness any longer, and whispered, "Boss, I don't want to play anymore..."

Zhou Huaijin glanced at her and said to the people at the table, "Let's call it a day, we're done playing."

He cleared out his chips.

"Brother, we didn't win it all back, we still lost twenty." Zhao Yifeng glanced at the chips on the table and said with a grin.

Zhou Huaijin took out his phone, pressed a few buttons, and without even looking up, said, "Okay, it's turned around."

Two hundred thousand.

Ye Zhenzhen sat next to her, feeling completely numb.

She lost 200,000?

She looked down at her empty hands and felt they should be chopped off.

If she had known it would be this big, she would never have sat on it.

But—what to do? Her monthly salary is seven thousand yuan; even if she didn't eat or drink, it would take her more than two years to pay it off. Should she sell that bag?

As she was making plans in her mind, Zhou Huaijin stood up and picked up his coat.

"I'm gone."

"There are guest rooms upstairs," Li Zheng said with a wicked grin, his gaze sweeping between Zhou Huaijin and Ye Zhenzhen. "The beds are sturdy and large."

Zhou Huaijin ignored him and turned to leave.

Ye Zhenzhen followed behind him, her head down.