At 11:40, Jiang Shenghe, carrying two cucumbers, came to Luo Qi and said, “We’ll be busy later, come, let’s eat first.”

“Chief Jiang, please wait a moment.” Luo Qi hurriedly tidied up the important documents on her desk and put them away in the safe. When the boss had something to explain to them, he would sometimes go over it over lunch.

When she stood up, she noticed the cucumbers in the boss’s hand; but somehow there were only two cucumbers, not four.

“Chief Jiang, let me carry it for you.”

“No need.” Jiang Shenghe walked away with his long steps, deliberately not waiting for her.

Luo Qi could only hurry along. The boss had long legs, so she had to trot every time she walked behind him. In Xiao Jiang’s words, after a day of running after the boss, he didn’t have to exercise after work anymore.

She didn’t know why the boss brought two cucumbers.

Could it be as an after-meal fruit?

The boss and other directors had an executive dining area for their use, but these bosses were either on business trips or have other entertainment to attend, so very few of them actually eat in the company’s cafeteria.

The executive dining hall was empty today, only the boss and her were using it.

When they arrived at the dining hall, Jiang Shenghe handed the cucumbers to the chef.

Luo Qi sat down and waited for the boss to explain about work.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Shenghe said, “Take your eldest aunt’s phone number off the blacklist first. She will call you at 12 o’clock and apologize to you.”

Luo Qi was stunned for a moment. “Did you go look for her?”

“Well, I’ve solved it completely. I don’t want to work overtime anymore because of your aunt’s meddling.”

“…”

Luo Qi took out her phone and temporarily unblocked her aunt’s number.

When the dishes arrived, there was an extra cucumber dish.

It turned out that the boss had asked the chef to turn the two cucumbers into a cold salad.

Before they started eating, her eldest aunt’s call came in, exactly on time, right on the dot.

Luo Qi answered it with some surprise and Jiang Shenghe said, “Put it on speaker. I want to hear if her tone is up to standard.”

When the eldest aunt heard Mr. Bai’s voice, she was glad that she didn’t go against his instructions as she had been tempted to do and actually called on time, “Mr. Bai, sorry to bother you.”

“Un.”

Luo Qi was confused. But before she had time to think about it, her eldest aunt was already speaking to her. 

“Luo Qi, eldest aunt may be going through menopause recently. I have a bad temper and sometimes I speak erratically. Don’t take it to heart.”

“Forget about apologizing, it’s all hypocrisy anyway,” Luo Qi said.

The eldest aunt’s face was hot, but she held herself back from roaring. She was humiliated by a junior, and worse, she couldn’t even refute. Her whole body was about to explode with anger. She had never been so aggrieved.

Luo Qi took advantage of her boss’s influence and warned her aunt, “My parents are not as rich as you, they’re in a sorry state but it’s not something we can control. If you dare to look down on them again, if you show your contempt in front of our relatives next time and embarrass them again in person, I won’t let you off lightly.”

After saying that, she ended the call.

Luo Qi felt bad, and her eyes reddened when she thought how her mother had not been respected by their relatives in recent years, all because of her eldest aunt’s instigations.

Jiang Shenghe comforted her, “They won’t dare anymore.”

Luo Qi calmed down, then remembered something and asked, “Who is Mr. Bai?”

“The biggest client of your uncle’s company. He’s the one who came to my office this morning.”

When Luo Qi heard that he was a customer, she couldn’t help but worry, “What about Mr. Bai’s cooperation with Eldest Uncle’s company?”

Jiang Shenghe said, “It’s not affected. I just used Mr. Bai to threaten your aunt. Luo Yuli treats you very well, how can I embarrass him?”

He nodded his chin slightly, “Eat.”

Then he asked her in a gentle voice, “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah.” Luo Qi smiled; she hadn’t been so happy in a long time.

There was silence for a moment.

It seemed that this was not the atmosphere for a conversation between a boss and his subordinate.

Some of the things that happened these past few days were still messy even after she thought about it.

He held an umbrella for her that night.

That oil painting of a rainy night posted in her circle of friends.

And let her vent her anger today.

The reason why he helped her each time must be for his sense of justice and—as he himself told her—so as to not to affect his work. If it were Xiao Jiang who encountered such a troublesome situation, the boss would probably also help him.

Thinking about it this way, Luo Qi felt that she was in danger of misinterpreting the boss’ actions.

But she had to admit that she was greedy for this kind of blatant protection. 

Unfortunately, this kind of thing was not good. She couldn’t let herself lose her sense of proportion with the boss. In the end, she will be the one to suffer.

The Yuanwei group will arrange for someone to take over Ruipu Medical by the fourth quarter at the latest, and these arrangements would be finalized by the end of September. For the sake of a higher salary and to prevent her unruly emotions from further straying, she had to leave the President’s office—even if she was reluctant to do so.

She looked up at him and said, “Thank you, Chief Jiang.”

They had never looked at each other so closely before. Jiang Shenghe said, “Don’t thank me first, I also have a favor to ask from you.”

Luo Qi looked away from his gaze, “Chief Jiang, just give me your orders.”

“You know that Qin Moling already received their marriage certificate, right?”

“Yes.” Luo Qi heard her boss mention that Qin Moling was with the daughter of their primary school teacher. The two knew each other before but had no feelings for each other.

“Qin Moling and Jian Hang have no relationship. He was the most troublesome student for our class teacher in elementary school. Now that he is married, he has to go to Jian Hang’s house to visit his mother-in-law. He is afraid of being embarrassed alone, so he’s making me… Well, it’s good to visit Teacher Chen. But how can I ease the atmosphere? You and I will be responsible for easing the visit.”

Luo Qi almost gaped at him,  “… I’m an assistant. Isn’t it inappropriate for me to go where they live?”

“There’s nothing inappropriate. My aunt often takes you to her friends’ houses for dinner. Besides, you and Jian Hang were schoolmates.” Jiang Shenghe added, “Leave an evening next week open.”

He wanted to take her to experience a normal family atmosphere, without things around them being so rigid, and without him being the boss all the time.

She should be able to chat with Jian Hang. This will also allow her to enter his circle slowly and without any burden.

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

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T/N: Well, well, well. So Luo Qi’s not entirely immune to Jiang Shenghe’s charms.

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