After breakfast, Song Yaoyao followed Xie Ningwan to the company again. He wandered around the office to pass the time, waiting for snacks.
The secretary knocked on the door as usual and brought coffee for Xie Ningwan. Song Yaoyao had no interest in coffee. After sneaking a taste once last time, he never touched it again and stayed idly to one side.
It was not until noon that the secretary delivered lunch.
The exquisite and elegant packaging boxes were taken out one by one and neatly arranged on the low table in front of the office sofa.
Song Yaoyao had long been drawn by the aroma and floated to the table. He placed both hands on the tabletop and looked expectantly at Xie Ningwan’s lunch.
He had been sneaking cake and ice cream every day lately, eating too many sweets, so he really craved something savory.
But Xie Ningwan was still working and showed no intention of coming over to eat. He only said to the secretary, “Just leave it there.”
“Yes, President Xie.” The secretary said no more, arranged the lunch boxes and utensils, and quietly retreated.
Song Yaoyao held his breath, sat on the sofa, glanced at the lunch box, then at Xie Ningwan.
“If you don’t want to eat it, I’ll help you.” He muttered softly.
But the packaging box was not open yet. If he opened it now, he would be discovered. He still had to wait until Xie Ningwan opened it before he could sneak a bite.
After a good while, Xie Ningwan still sat at his desk without moving. Song Yaoyao could not help floating to his side to see how much longer his work would take. He complained, “No wonder presidents in novels like yours all have stomach problems.”
He stood by Xie Ningwan for a while longer. Only after Xie Ningwan finished reading a document, signed it, and had the assistant come take it did he finally sit down at the table to eat lunch.
Song Yaoyao felt exhausted, as if he had worked half the day himself. He let out a breath and sat down next to Xie Ningwan.
Only now did Xie Ningwan have a moment to spare. He thought of teasing the little ghost following him around.
He opened the lunch box and took out the dishes inside.
The meals the secretary ordered for Xie Ningwan came daily from the city’s top restaurants—lavish, exquisite, and perfect in color, aroma, and taste.
As soon as Xie Ningwan picked up his chopsticks, he seemed to suddenly remember some unfinished work. He put them down, stood up, walked to the window behind the desk, turned his back to the room, and looked down at his phone.
Song Yaoyao saw his chance and eagerly shoved a big mouthful of meat into his mouth.
He chewed with his mouth closed, warily watching Xie Ningwan’s back, guarding against him suddenly turning around.
Two minutes later, Xie Ningwan returned to the table.
Song Yaoyao had already swallowed several pieces of meat. He helped Xie Ningwan rearrange the plate to make sure nothing looked amiss, then slipped casually to the side.
Xie Ningwan sat down again and glanced at the food in front of him, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
Song Yaoyao was fully satisfied. He climbed onto Xie Ningwan, lay on his head, and took a nap.
When a knock sounded at the office door, Song Yaoyao groggily lifted his head along with Xie Ningwan.
“Come in.” Xie Ningwan said.
“President Xie,” Assistant Lei pushed the door open and came in, handing a file to Xie Ningwan, “The new assistant from the recent hiring has basically been selected. This is his personal information. Please review it. If there are no issues, I’ll have him report tomorrow.”
Xie Ningwan looked at the information in front of him, and Song Yaoyao leaned down to look at it with him.
The person on the resume was named Lin Guan. From the attached photo, he was a decent-looking, sunny young man.
He’s a spy! Song Yaoyao immediately went on alert. He hugged Xie Ningwan’s neck, poked his head out, and carefully examined the file.
This plot point was mentioned in the original book. Xie Ningwan’s uncles and elders tried to steal confidential files from his office to bring him down, so they planted someone by his side to act at an opportunity.
This person was the one who appeared as Xie Ningwan’s new assistant.
They had been secretly causing trouble for Xie Ningwan lately, making him work very late every day. Now that Xie Ningwan had slightly gained control of the situation, the villains were indeed starting new moves.
Song Yaoyao had been waiting for this plot point. Now it had finally come. He had something new to do. He rubbed his hands in anticipation, ready to take down the villain.
“No problem.” Xie Ningwan closed the file and handed it back to the assistant.
“Got it, President Xie. I’ll go make the arrangements.” The assistant said.
The next day was when Lin Guan came to report at the company.
After taking over Xie Corporation, Xie Ningwan was leading it into a growth period. It was a time when they needed talent. To fill the gap, the company had issued a hiring notice recently. Lin Guan’s main job was to assist Assistant Lei in working for Xie Ningwan.
Outside the president’s office, Lin Guan raised his hand. He paused before knocking, thinking of the phone call he received before coming:
“No matter what, find every way to get close to Xie Ningwan and get dirt on him! Once you succeed, all the benefits promised will be yours.”
He took a deep breath, put on a proper professional smile, and knocked on the office door.
“Come in.” A steady male voice came from inside.
“Hello, President Xie. I’m Lin Guan, the new one starting today.” Lin Guan entered and stood in front of Xie Ningwan’s desk. “You can just call me Little Lin. Feel free to give me any instructions.”
When he came in, Song Yaoyao was sitting on the chair opposite Xie Ningwan’s desk. His standing position was very close to Song Yaoyao’s chair.
Song Yaoyao curiously looked up at him.
He did not look much different from the photo on the resume yesterday—decent features, sincere eyes. From the outside, he really did not seem like an undercover agent.
Xie Ningwan was browsing data on the screen and only glanced up briefly. He said indifferently, “Just follow Assistant Lei.” Then he paid him no more attention.
Lin Guan felt a bit unwilling. His lips moved as he prepared to say more, but he worried that talking too much now might arouse Xie Ningwan’s dislike or suspicion.
Don’t rush it. There would be plenty of chances later.
“Got it, President Xie,” he replied with a smile. “I’ll head out then. Call me if you need anything.”
Then he politely exited the office.
Song Yaoyao watched Lin Guan leave, planning what he could do.
Outside the office, Lin Guan ran into Assistant Lei, who was in charge of showing him around, right after stepping out.
“Assistant Lei.” He acted just like a new employee joining the company and greeted him proactively.
Assistant Lei nodded to him, holding a coffee in hand. He asked, “You’ve met President Xie? Adjusting okay?”
“Pretty good,” Lin Guan smiled. His gaze fell on the coffee in his hand, and he naturally asked without showing anything, “Is that for President Xie?”
“Yes.”
Lin Guan: “Let me take it for you.”
Lin Guan carried the coffee and knocked on the president’s office door again. After hearing “come in,” he pushed the door open and said politely, “President Xie, I’ll bring your coffee.”
Xie Ningwan gave a simple nod. Song Yaoyao had long guessed he would come back and was fully prepared. He floated in front of Lin Guan.
Lin Guan was completely unaware of the transparent little ghost floating in front of him. He kept his expression in check and walked step by step to the side of Xie Ningwan’s desk.
Just as he was one meter away from Xie Ningwan, his foot seemed to hit something. He tripped suddenly and unexpectedly!
He hurriedly grabbed the desk and barely steadied himself, but the coffee in his hand spilled out from the momentum, splashing right onto Xie Ningwan.
Xie Ningwan instantly frowned and looked up at him, his face turning cold.
“Sorry, President Xie.” Lin Guan reacted and looked up, hurriedly explaining in panic, “I just got tripped by…”
As he spoke, he looked down at the spotless floor, somewhat shocked.
He had definitely tripped just now, but now there was nothing there.
“Sorry, President Xie. It wasn’t on purpose. I’ll clean it up right away.” Lin Guan’s face looked bad, mixed with a trace of bewilderment.
The culprit, Song Yaoyao, who had deliberately tripped Lin Guan, had long fled like the wind. He hid behind Xie Ningwan’s chair and watched the scene, which felt just like an old-school romance plot.
He had originally only wanted to trip Lin Guan, but he had not expected the coffee to splash right onto Xie Ningwan. Feeling a little guilty, he hid his hands behind his back and pretended nothing had happened.
Xie Ningwan’s arm was soaked on one side. Displeasure showed on his face. He raised his hand to silence the still-apologizing Lin Guan, called Assistant Lei in to handle it, and went into the lounge to change clothes.
Song Yaoyao followed him in.
