Luo Qi brought her laptop and a stack of documents from her office. She couldn’t spare a hand to knock on the door. The door was open anyway, so she called out at the door, “Chief Jiang.”

Jiang Shenghe ignored her and didn’t even raise his eyelids.

Luo Qi was used to it. Every time she came in, whether she knocked on the door or called out to him—he ignored her. Sometimes he would even ask them, ‘Are you all so forgetful?’

Because he said more than once, no need to knock when the door is open, just come in.Luo

But neither she nor Xiao Jiang could do it. This was a matter of politeness.

Jiang Shenghe watched Luo Qi approach out of the corner of his eye. He tapped the side of his desk a few times, “Sit here.”

Luo Qi walked around the big desk, put down the laptop, and moved a chair over from the other side.

This was not the first time that they have worked overtime like this, side by side with the boss. She got used to it over the past few months, but for some reason—she didn’t quite understand why—today, Luo Qi was suddenly feeling unaccustomed to it.

Luo Qi sat down and felt the boss’ scent invading her surroundings. The air she breathed in seemed to have a special, crisp smell.

She knew this was the fault of her own mental weakness.

She pulled up the information on her screen and scanned through it. But it really took her a few minutes to concentrate. She had already reached the second page before she fully entered working mode.

Jiang Shenghe stretched out his hand and said, “Plug.”

Luo Qi handed him the laptop’s power cord plug, “Thank you, Chief Jiang.”

Jiang Shenghe plugged it into the electrical socket. 

Li Rui had followed up on decisions to be made regarding the merger and acquisition of Ruipu Medical. As head of Yuanwei Medical, she was also currently responsible for this matter. Jiang Shenghe himself didn’t know the specific situation. He only learned about medical technology in detail because Luo Qi was interested in 3D printing.

The mobile phone on the table vibrated, and the caller ID said: Painter Teacher Yu

He stood up, picked up the phone, and walked over to the window before answering.

“President Jiang, please excuse my call. The painting is finished. But it will still take some time to dry. Can I show you a picture of it first?”

“Teacher Yu, thank you.”

After hanging up the phone, Teacher Yu immediately sent him a picture of the oil painting.

That rainy night in Suzhou, Xiao Jiang captured the scene of him holding Luo Qi in his arms and walking under an umbrella.

Perhaps because he was too excited, Xiao Jiang’s photo was just so-so and utterly failed to capture the romance of a man holding a woman under an umbrella in the rain. Jiang Shenghe contacted the famous oil painter, Teacher Yu, and asked him to paint the scene based on the photo.

The oil painting beautifully showed the artistic conception he wanted: the backs of two people, walking close together, him holding her under an umbrella amidst the misty rain.

Jiang Shenghe saved the picture of the painting and thanked Teacher Yu again.

He put down his phone and went to make coffee.

… …

Luo Qi concentrated on sorting out the information. She wasn’t aware of what her boss was doing after he answered the phone until there was an extra cup of coffee placed next to her laptop.

She raised her head and said, “Thank you, Chief Jiang.”

By now, she was used to her boss making and serving coffee for them, and sometimes he would even give the bodyguard a cup.

Perhaps making coffee was addictive? Luo Qi could only speculate.

As for Jiang Shenghe, he immediately noticed something wrong with their seats. Before he answered the phone, Luo Qi’s chair was not that far away from his. Just by looking at the current distance, she had moved at least twenty centimeters away since he stepped out.

He glanced at her, then looked at the information being organized on the screen of her laptop. “There’s a reflection on the screen, so I can’t see clearly from here.”

Luo Qi angled the laptop towards him and asked, “Chief Jiang, can you see it clearly like this?”

He could actually see clearly, but Jiang Shenghe said nothing.

Ah, it seemed that he still couldn’t see clearly, Luo Qi thought. 

The two of them were sitting so far apart and looking at the same laptop—the screen would indeed be prone to reflections. Work cooperation was important, so Luo Qi had to stand up and move her chair closer to him.

Alas, her earlier attempt to put distance between them was in vain.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

Between them, they sorted and analyzed all the information the boss needed, and discussed the problems existing in Ruipu Medical’s current management team. It was past 7:30 by the time they finished.

“Let’s have dinner first. We can take my car.”

“Okay,” Luo Qi responded.

If it wasn’t because of her mess, the boss wouldn’t have to work overtime tonight.

… …

After getting into the car, Jiang Shenghe asked the driver to head to the restaurant they often went to.

They always ate there every time they had a meal. The food was good and not expensive. Luo Qi always ordered the third soup because she thought the boss liked tomato and egg soup.

They arrived late, so there was no queue at the restaurant, and a table for them was available as soon as they came in.

“Ruipu Medical’s current management team is not bad. Tell Li Rui to preserve the team as much as possible.”

“Okay.” Luo Qi expressed a concern, “Who is the company planning to send over to take over Ruipu?”

Jiang Shenghe was sipping tea and looked up at her. He was, in fact, preparing to send her there—her interest had always been in 3D printing. 

After he confessed his love to her, he needed to let her go. He, of course, thought about keeping her by his side—but that would be too selfish of him.

When word that the boss and his assistant were together, people’s thoughts would inevitably go in one direction. Others would not talk about him; they would only criticize her.

Ruipu Medical’s headquarters was in Beijing, but it has a R&D lab in Suzhou, which would require traveling to both places.

He didn’t intend on telling her this now and planned on giving her a surprise later.

“It’s not decided yet, let’s talk about it later,” he said instead.

… …

Luo Qi nodded. Since it was still undecided, then maybe she would have a chance to fight for the position.

If she gets it, then her salary would double, and it would be easier to pay off the debt. But it also meant that she would have to leave the President’s office.

There was an unmistakable trace of reluctance in heart at the thought.

She picked up the teacup and took a sip absentmindedly.

While she was distracted, a high school classmate called her. 

Luo Qi hadn’t spoken much with her high school friends these past years. But because she disclosed the reason for her breakup with Pei Shixiao in her circle of friends, a lot of people have been contacting her recently. Some wanted to pursue her, and still others wanted to introduce suitable men to her. 

This friend who was now calling—Luo Qi didn’t know whether this former classmate belonged to the former or the latter.

Luo Qi answered the call and exchanged some pleasantries.

“Are you free this weekend? I want to make an appointment with you ahead of time.”

Luo Qi half-joked, “We can talk about business cooperation, but I refuse to go on a blind date.”

Her classmate did not beat around the bush, “I can’t help it. There’s a guy from our class in first year who has been thinking about you all these years. He knows you are single and wants to give it a try. We are both in Beijing, like you. Let’s go out to have a meal together. Just two or three friends meeting up. Anyway, we haven’t seen each other for years.”

Luo Qi said, “I’ll invite you another day when I’m free.”

The classmate could tell that Luo Qi was really declining and didn’t press anymore.

Seventh Year of My Secret Love for You translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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