The pushover offended a top-tier boss

As Ye Zhenzhen walked back, she belatedly realized that she seemed to have sold herself out again.

Just as she sat down, she suddenly remembered something important.

Quickly open the food delivery app and order a box of small umbrellas.

After placing the order, she started keeping a close eye on the distance to the rider.

As soon as the phone rang, Ye Zhenzhen quickly ran to the corridor, pressed the answer button, and lowered her voice:

"You've arrived? Okay, I'll go down and get it."

Ye Zhenzhen looked around to make sure no one was there.

They quickly removed the packaging bags and boxes and threw them into the trash can.

Then he stuffed the things into his coat pocket.

Chen Zheng saw her come out of the elevator with a guilty look on her face.

"Sister Ye, did you secretly eat something delicious again?"

"No...no, I didn't!" Ye Zhenzhen clutched her pocket tightly and hurried back to her workstation.

Just as I sat down, a deep voice came from the doorway.

"Ye Zhenzhen".

Ye Zhenzhen looked in the direction of the sound and saw Zhou Huaijin appear at the office door at some point, already wearing his coat and looking like he was about to go out.

"I'm gone."

"Yes," she replied, quickly grabbed her bag, and followed.

Chen Zheng called out from behind, "Then I—"

"Go on your own." Zhou Huaijin said without turning his head.

"...Alright then."

Chen Zheng felt that he was a little bright right now.

That damn couple.

Ye Zhenzhen followed behind Zhou Huaijin, head down, walking quickly, her eyes secretly glancing around, afraid that someone would see them.

Thankfully, there are still ten minutes until I get off work, and the garage is empty.

Zhou Huaijin walked up to the black Audi, pressed the key, and the headlights flashed twice.

Ye Zhenzhen opened the passenger door and got in.

Zhou Huaijin started the car and drove smoothly out of the garage.

In winter, it gets dark early; by 5 p.m., it was already dark.

Ye Zhenzhen leaned back in her seat, watching the street scene rushing past the window, when she suddenly heard the person next to her speak.

"Are you going to cook today?"

Ye Zhenzhen refused almost reflexively: "No!"

She's already exhausted from a day's work, why should she cook for him? She can't be as foolish as last time, buying groceries, cooking, washing dishes, and then being taken advantage of.

Zhou Huaijin didn't say anything.

Ye Zhenzhen got out of the car and followed him, walking along the stone path to the door.

The door opened.

The motion-sensor light in the entryway turned on, illuminating a small area with a warm yellow glow. The aroma of food filled the air.

A gentle female voice came from inside: "Sir, you're back? Dinner will be ready soon."

The aunt peeked out from the kitchen.

"Miss Ye is here too." She took a pair of cotton slippers from the shoe cabinet and placed them next to Ye Zhenzhen's feet.

Ye Zhenzhen stared at the slippers for a moment, then paused.

The first two times she came, she wore disposable clothes. This time, the aunt specially prepared new ones for her, in her favorite color.

"Thank you, Auntie," she said awkwardly.

Thinking back to how I confidently declared last time, "I'm just the boss's employee," now look what's happened—the employee has become "Ms. Ye." My face has been slapped hard.

The auntie was still smiling kindly, a smile without any gossip or anything that would make anyone uncomfortable, as gentle as if she were looking at a younger member of her own family.

"Miss Ye, someone delivered some clothes this afternoon. I washed and dried them, so I can wear them right away. I've put them in the master's bedroom."

After saying that, the aunt went back into the kitchen.

Ye Zhenzhen glanced at Zhou Huaijin. He had already changed into slippers and taken off his coat, hanging it on a hanger. She followed him into the bedroom.

Several pieces of clothing were laid out on the bed. Two sets of pajamas, one light pink and one off-white, both soft to the touch. There were also underwear and socks, each piece neatly folded.

"Auntie is still cooking," Zhou Huaijin's voice came from behind, "It won't be ready for a while."

Ye Zhenzhen nodded.

"Sir, may I have a look around this place?"

She had been curious for a long time. Having lived in Bin City for so many years, she had passed by this villa countless times. Whenever she saw the red brick villa and the vine-covered walls, she couldn't help but wonder: Who lived here? What was the inside of the house like? These houses were over a hundred years old, witnessing the glorious years of this city.

"Take your time looking around," Zhou Huaijin said.

The villa has three floors, but Zhou Huaijin usually spends most of his time on the first floor.

She first pushed open the door to the study.

The study was larger than she had imagined. One entire wall was lined with bookshelves, stretching from floor to ceiling, each shelf crammed full. The books were of many kinds: economics, party history, philosophy, military strategy, and some foreign language books that she couldn't understand.

She couldn't help but exclaim, "Boss, you are truly well-read!"

Which school did you graduate from?

She asked casually, her fingers tracing the spines of the books, feeling the texture of the paper and cloth.

"Both my undergraduate and master's degrees are from Peking University."

Ye Zhenzhen: !!

Kyoto University. The Kyoto University that countless liberal arts students dream of getting into.

Although her relatives always praised her as a "high achiever" whenever she went back to her hometown, she felt that her master's degree from a second-rate 211 university was really not up to par with the bachelor's and master's degrees from Peking University.

She walked to the other side of the bookshelf and saw several old photographs. An elderly woman in a cheongsam sat in a wicker chair, holding a child in her arms, her eyes gentle and her lips curved into a faint smile. The colors in the photographs had faded somewhat, but the aura they exuded, even across decades, was still breathtaking.

"Is this you when you were little?" she asked, pointing to the photo and turning her head.

Zhou Huaijin glanced down at the photo and hummed in agreement.

“This is my maternal grandmother,” he said, pointing to another black-and-white photo of a young girl in a dress. “This is a photo of my great-grandmother when she was young, but she passed away when I was very young. She was from Bin City, and this house is what she left behind.”

Ye Zhenzhen said "Oh" and silently sighed in her heart: This family is really big and powerful.

Stepping out of the study, she discovered a spacious gym on the first floor. Treadmills, dumbbell racks, resistance bands, and several other pieces of equipment she couldn't name were neatly arranged in the room.

No wonder he's muscular. This older man actually pays attention to his physique, Ye Zhenzhen thought.

"You're so busy, when do you go to the gym?" She touched the dumbbells on the dumbbell rack, picked them up and tried them out.

It's so heavy, I can't lift it with either hand.

"Get up early." Zhou Huaijin leaned against the door frame of the gym, watching her comically lift the dumbbell.

Ye Zhenzhen put the dumbbells back and rubbed her sore arms.

"Huh? But I didn't see you getting up early to work out last time either?"

Zhou Huaijin glanced at her, a half-smile on his face, and said:

"Because I exercised enough the night before."

Ye Zhenzhen's face flushed red instantly.

That's such an unnecessary question...

Her face flushed, she squeezed past him, her voice muffled: "I...I'll go check upstairs."

There is also a living room on the second floor, which is smaller than the one on the first floor, but the decoration style is the same. The rest are three large bedrooms.

There is a large sunroom on the third floor. Inside the sunroom are several rattan chairs and a small round table. In the corner is a large Monstera deliciosa plant with lush green leaves, which looks particularly vibrant in this winter.

Ye Zhenzhen stood in the sunroom, looking at the moat in the distance through the glass, feeling a complex mix of emotions.

What worries could someone who lives in a house like this possibly have?

"Dinner's ready!" Auntie's voice came from downstairs.

Ye Zhenzhen went downstairs, and her aunt was bringing the last dish to the table. Today's dishes were more plentiful than last time: spicy blood curd, boiled fish, mapo tofu, black pepper beef tenderloin, garlic water spinach, and a bowl of steaming chicken soup.

"The gentleman said you like spicy food, so he specially asked me to make a few spicy dishes," the aunt said with a smile, placing a bowl of rice in front of Ye Zhenzhen.

Ye Zhenzhen quickly accepted it, saying, "Thank you, Auntie."

The aunt was very perceptive; after cooking and setting the table, she left the house.

The door closed.

Only two people remained in the house.

Ye Zhenzhen picked up a piece of boiled fish and put it in her mouth. The fish was tender and smooth, spicy and fragrant: "Auntie's cooking is so delicious."

"Your cooking is delicious too." Zhou Huaijin sat across from him, picked up a piece of tofu, and ate it slowly.

Ye Zhenzhen paused for a moment.

If this "very good" were used on her report, she would be overjoyed. But when it was used on her meals, she always felt that he was deliberately reminding her to cook more in the future.

No way. She's very smart.

She's a mistress, not a nanny.

"Heh, Auntie's cooking is still the best." She chuckled dryly and lowered her head to eat her rice.

After finishing her meal, Ye Zhenzhen didn't offer to wash the dishes.

To reiterate—she's a mistress, not a nanny.

She's learned her lesson this time.

Being a secretary during the day was bad enough; she was determined not to let him take advantage of any of her labor.

"Oh, why don't we leave it for Auntie?" She put down her chopsticks and gave a dry laugh.

Zhou Huaijin glanced at her but said nothing. He stood up and began clearing away the dishes.

Ye Zhenzhen followed behind him, silently watching the show. The man, whom everyone had to watch his expression, was now wearing a dark gray loungewear shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, standing in front of the sink, starting to wash the dishes.

She smiled and flattered him, "Boss, you're amazing! You even wash the dishes yourself."

Zhou Huaijin glanced at her sideways and snorted.

They have absolutely no tact.

"Oh, you're so domestic..." Ye Zhenzhen continued to talk but not act.

She secretly thought that she should make him do more work. By wearing him down, she could... suffer less.

This logic is perfect.

Zhou Huaijin came out of the kitchen, his gaze falling on the person who had completely given up, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Do you still watch the news channel?"

Ye Zhenzhen's face flushed instantly: "I don't want to look, I don't want to look."

She remembered her previous "self-inflicted suffering" and that shameful performance in front of the TV, and her face burned even hotter.

"I'm going to take a shower." Zhou Huaijin hummed in agreement and turned to walk towards the bedroom.

Ye Zhenzhen: "Boss, you're amazing! You actually took a bath yourself."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Huaijin turned around and scooped up the person who had been chattering away for so long in his arms.

"The leader doesn't really want to take a shower himself."