Chapter 58: Charm

Li Yipeng glanced at the documents piled up on her desk, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly. “Who gave you these?”

Although he knew Fang Hong intended to train the girl, he still felt distressed and had specially instructed the department manager not to assign her too many tasks, fearing it would tire her out.

Fang Chuning seemed not to have heard, her eyes not leaving the computer screen, her fingers typing rapidly on the keyboard.

She looked very serious. It was the first time Li Yipeng had seen such an expression on her – youthful, reckless, intelligent. In his eyes, the girl was like a world-famous painting, attracting those obsessed with art.

His gaze lingered on her profile for several seconds before Li Yipeng gently advised, “If you plan to finish all this before leaving work, you might only make it in time for a midnight snack.”

Her typing hands paused. Hearing this, Fang Chuning suddenly realized her stomach was empty, and a wave of hunger surged.

Better leave early.

It took only a second for Li Yipeng to see through her intentions. His eyes softened immensely, “Where do you want to eat? I’ll make a reservation in advance.”

Fang Chuning gave him a strange look, “Why? Are you coming along?”

“I’m not very popular in the company, often can’t find anyone to eat with. If you don’t mind, could you take pity on me?”

When a beautiful man looks at you with such pitiful eyes, you simply can’t refuse.

Fang Chuning felt strange. She couldn’t help but think of the pitiful looks Xu Muzhou occasionally gave her, like a kitten showing its belly, waiting for her to pet it.

Comparing the two, she still found Xu Muzhou more pleasing to the eye.

“I can’t. The place I’m going isn’t suitable for you.”

“How do you know it’s not suitable for me when I haven’t even been there?”

Since someone wanted to suffer, Fang Chuning couldn’t stop him.

It took half an hour to drive from Century Building to West City Street Night Market. Outside, the streets transformed from high-end commercial areas to bustling market districts, as if moving from a rich neighborhood to a slum.

Li Yipeng’s expression remained calm, showing no sign of frowning at the surrounding environment.

The summer night market was more prosperous than usual, with most visitors being students.

The man’s appearance caused quite a stir. With his tall, straight figure, beautiful and charming face, and shiny black long hair, he was as alluring as a rose in the moonlight. Both men and women cast amazed glances at him.

Some people looked as if they wanted to lick him all over with their eyes.

Fang Chuning had to admit that compared to the shy and bashful Xu Muzhou, the mature and charming Secretary Li was more likely to attract women’s attention.

“Don’t go around electrifying people, it’ll be troublesome.”

Li Yipeng looked innocent, “I’m not.”

Sigh, forget it. This person is a natural walking power plant, can’t be helped.

When they passed a spicy hot pot stall, Fang Chuning couldn’t walk any further and decided to eat there.

Watching the stall owner constantly stirring the red oil soup with a large ladle, the smell of low-quality oil wafting over, Li Yipeng finally frowned slightly.

“Choose what you want to eat yourself,” Fang Chuning said, handing her selection to the owner.

The man only chose a few vegetables that looked relatively fresh. When he learned that the dish must be spicy, a trace of worry appeared in his eyes.

Seeing this, Fang Chuning didn’t miss the chance to mock him, “I told you this place wasn’t suitable for you, but you wouldn’t listen.”

Li Yipeng remained unmoved, “It’s not bad to try something new occasionally.”

You’re calm now, let’s see if you can stay calm when you eat.

Since they arrived at the stall, more and more people gathered, mostly women, all casting glances their way intentionally or unintentionally, but none dared to come over and strike up a conversation.

Their hot pots were served. As Fang Chuning ate, she secretly observed the man. She saw that after just two bites, his face was already red from the spiciness. “I suggest you don’t force yourself if you can’t eat it.”

Li Yipeng looked up, “Are you concerned about me?”

The man’s lips were stained with red oil, bright red and glossy. His neck and forehead had started to sweat slightly, and strands of his tied-up hair clung to his skin, swaying in the night breeze.

Perhaps due to the spiciness, his narrow phoenix eyes looked somewhat hazy. His beauty was otherworldly, his gaze affectionate, like a bewitching spirit just emerged from carnal desires.

He had a face that made people want to commit crimes.

“I think you’d better not eat anymore.” It was her first time seeing someone eat spicy food as if they had taken an aphrodisiac!

“But I’ll be hungry later if I don’t eat.”

“Can’t you eat something else?”

“Will you join me then?”

Fang Chuning refused, but he really seemed determined to finish that spicy hot pot, eating while frowning, looking extremely masochistic.

“Fine, I give up. Let’s go eat something else.”

Fang Chuning couldn’t understand why this person insisted on eating with her. Was it because he was older and couldn’t bear the loneliness of eating alone?

Glancing at the charming man beside her, she laughed at her own thoughts.

After returning home, Fang Chuning felt very tired. She had never been this exhausted before, even more than after fighting someone. Most importantly, she was very sleepy, swaying as she walked.

Forcing herself to stay awake through a shower, Fang Chuning collapsed onto the bed.

In her drowsy state, she suddenly remembered that she hadn’t checked her phone due to work. She struggled to reach for her phone on the bedside table, opened the chat app, and saw a row of red dots, with Xu Muzhou’s chat pinned at the top, showing 21 unread messages.

She clicked into it. The first ten messages were photos – some from the airport, some random scenery shots. The later ones asked about her work. The most recent one, sent half an hour ago, was a picture of a small figure with its back turned, sulking.

Fang Chuning squinted and replied: Very busy today, worked until afternoon, went out for dinner and didn’t check my phone.

Almost the second after sending, a voice message popped up from the other side.

“Was your first day at work that busy?”

The youth’s clear voice came from the speaker, like a magical cure, instantly making her feel less tired.

They chatted until about ten o’clock before Fang Chuning finally succumbed to sleep.

The next day at the company, Fang Chuning sensed something was off. Those colleagues who had been eagerly piling work on her yesterday seemed to have changed completely. They had taken back the files that weren’t finished yesterday.

Their attitude had done a complete 180-degree turn. Yesterday they were cold and aloof, seemingly not wanting to bother with her, but today they were enthusiastic, someone even made her coffee.

Fang Chuning shamelessly ate the cookies they offered, not caring about their reasons.

“Um, I heard from colleagues who worked overtime yesterday that Secretary Li from upper management came to find you. Do you know each other?” The young woman at the neighboring desk couldn’t resist asking.

Fang Chuning couldn’t help but marvel at how realistic people were. Yesterday, this woman had given her the most work and the coldest stares, but today her attitude was completely different.

“I don’t know him,” she denied without hesitation.

“Really?” The young woman seemed a bit skeptical. “If you don’t know him, why would he come to find you?”

“He didn’t. Other colleagues must have seen wrong,” Fang Chuning lied blatantly.

She said this simply because she didn’t want to be associated with Li Yipeng.

But in the eyes of some narrow-minded people, the young girl appeared arrogant and self-important. The woman felt very uncomfortable, but fearing that she might really have some connection with Secretary Li, she didn’t dare to show her displeasure openly.

Here, Secretary Li belonged to the top-level employees. The floor one worked on represented one’s status; the higher up, the better the treatment and status. The top floor was even more exclusive, a place only for the Fang family’s boss. Although Secretary Li wasn’t the boss, he was the closest to the boss. Apart from the boss, his position was the highest, so people in the company both feared and wanted to flatter him.

The entire morning passed comfortably for Fang Chuning. She had food and drinks, only needing to handle one or two simple documents.

During the lunch break, because she had eaten too many snacks, she didn’t go for lunch. She lowered her chair back, preparing to take a nap.

In the vast office, she was the only one. Not long after Fang Chuning fell asleep, a figure silently approached her from behind. The figure quietly gazed at the girl’s sleeping face, the corners of their mouth curling upward.

In her dream, Fang Chuning constantly felt something staring at her, clinging to her like a leech, sucking the blood from her body.

Fang Chuning woke up startled, her gaze sweeping around the room. It was empty, with only the sound of her breathing breaking the silence of the office.

It must be because she was used to sleeping at school. Suddenly sleeping in a different place easily leads to nightmares.

Fang Chuning moved her slightly uncomfortable neck and got up to go to the bathroom.

At the sink, she cupped some water to wash her face. After drying her face with a paper towel, Fang Chuning looked in the mirror and noticed a small red mark on her neck.

Huh?

She bent closer, scratching the red mark with her finger, muttering to herself, “How are there mosquitoes in the office…”

Seeing it didn’t itch much, she didn’t pay it any more attention and left the bathroom.

Today wasn’t busy, so she could leave work on time. Fang Chuning didn’t plan to go home for dinner, intending to invite Gao Qiong out to play. But when she called, she found out that this person had gone on a trip without saying a word.

With no one to hang out with, Fang Chuning felt incredibly lonely. Even so, she was unwilling to go home to eat and went to a nearby restaurant instead.

Choosing a window seat, she took out her phone. She had chatted with Xu Muzhou for a while at two in the afternoon, but after that, he hadn’t replied to her messages because his father had asked him to practice the piano.

With the time difference, she was afraid that by the time he was free, she would already be asleep.

“Miss, what would you like to order?”

The familiar voice startled Fang Chuning. She looked up at the waitress.

Lin Yuechan looked at her indifferently and repeated her question.

Suddenly seeing a familiar face, Fang Chuning perked up, “Are you working a summer job here?”

“What else do you think I’m doing?” Lin Yuechan looked her up and down. “Not everyone can afford to be idle all day like some people.”

This was a jab at her being idle.

Gao Qiong was right, some people really do become more and more annoying the more you look at them.

After ordering a few dishes from the menu, Fang Chuning ignored her.

Just as she finished eating and was about to pay, she suddenly discovered that her bank card had been frozen! Even the long string of numbers showing her online balance had turned gray and couldn’t be used for payment.

Fang Chuning was stunned. Her first reaction was to call Fang Hong, but the call was hung up.

Lin Yuechan stood nearby, looking down at her suspiciously, “You don’t have money?”

Embarrassed about money for the first time, Fang Chuning asked her to wait a moment and called Gao Qiong to transfer money to her, but that also failed.

She looked awkwardly at Lin Yuechan, “Can I pay later?”

“No.” The girl’s embarrassment improved Lin Yuechan’s mood.

Fang Chuning dialed Fang Hong’s number again. She was a bit annoyed, her subconscious telling her this must be Fang Hong’s doing, though she wasn’t quite sure of the reason.

This time the call went through, but a gentle male voice came over the line: “Director Fang is in a meeting. Do you want to come up?”

“I’m outside the company. Come help me!”