Chapter 89: A Slap in the Face

"Have you eaten yet?" Song Wan suddenly asked.

Caught off guard, Jin Youqian answered at once, "Not yet. I've been working this whole time..." He paused, then gave a low, alluring chuckle. "Are you bringing me dinner?"

"I can," Song Wan said without hesitation, though her heart tingled faintly. "But you may have to wait a while. I just left the set, and by the time I get to your company, it'll probably be another hour."

After thinking it over, she still reminded him, "Why don't you have Assistant Wu buy you some biscuits or something first, just to tide you over?"

As for not bringing the meal after all?

She wasn't foolish. She could naturally hear that tiny trace of anticipation in Jin Youqian's voice.

Jin Youqian agreed with a simple yes, his tone calm and revealing nothing extra.

But once the call ended, when he told Wu Yi to go buy some snacks, his manner was so unusual that Wu Yi could not help wondering whether President Jin had somehow been possessed.

"Wu Yi, Song Wan will be bringing me dinner later. Go buy me something first to fill my stomach."

Wu Yi nodded. A special assistant, after all, was a high-level personal assistant as well as a work assistant; running errands was perfectly normal.

But when he opened the chairman's office door, a different flavor suddenly dawned on him—

Was President Jin showing off his romance? Otherwise, why had he deliberately added that line, "Song Wan will be bringing me dinner"?

Unable to resist, he glanced back at Jin Youqian.

His left hand rested on the desk, his right held a pen; he looked exactly as serious and focused on work as ever.

And yet Wu Yi was certain his guess was right. Feigning surprise, he turned back. "President Jin, I didn't hear clearly just now. Did you say... Miss Song is bringing you dinner?"

Jin Youqian lifted his head with a stern expression. "Do your job. Ask less about your superior's private life."

Wu Yi's face immediately sobered. Just as he was about to admit his mistake, he heard Jin Youqian's utterly flat voice again beside him.

"She won't be here for about an hour. Go downstairs and buy me something to eat."

Wu Yi: "..."

I need to stay calm.

I may be single, but I can kick over this bowl of dog food and refuse to eat it.

But in the next instant, Wu Yi's face bloomed like a chrysanthemum, and the envy in his eyes was so naked it could not be ignored. "I didn't expect Miss Song to be so virtuous. President Jin, you'll be a blessed man in the future."

Keeping his face composed, Jin Youqian nodded. "You may go."

After Wu Yi turned away, a smile gradually surfaced on Jin Youqian's face. Mm. This special assistant really was agreeable to use. Come to think of it, he had been with him for four or five years now, and it had been more than half a year since his last raise. It was about time for another one.

Wu Yi had no idea that one sentence had outweighed more than half a year's worth of meticulous, flawless work.

Of course, even if he had known, he would only have sighed: sure enough, in the future he needed to seize more chances to offer the kind of flattering words that improved the boss's mood. That was the quickest path to promotion and a raise.

By the time Song Wan finally arrived at the company building carrying freshly made, fragrant food, the receptionist stopped her at once because of her exceedingly strange attire—

In order to keep from being recognized and causing a commotion, Song Wan had practically wrapped herself from head to toe.

Thankfully, at least, it was not the height of summer; the weather was still cool.

"Miss..." The receptionist was a sweet-looking young woman, and her expression as she looked at Song Wan was distinctly strange. "Whom are you here to see?"

Song Wan tugged at the scarf covering half her face and deliberately lowered her voice. "I'm here to see President Jin Youqian."

The receptionist's expression changed instantly, and her gaze turned unfriendly. Evidently she was one of Jin Youqian's little admirers; seeing a woman come to the door with what she perceived as ill intent, her face immediately hardened.

Still, the staff quality at Peak International was indeed excellent. Though the way she looked at Song Wan suggested she wanted to swallow her whole, she patiently continued asking questions.

"May I have your name?"

After a moment's hesitation, Song Wan gave her real name. "My name is Song Wan."

The receptionist's look grew even stranger. If Song Wan had to describe it, it was like the look one gave a female swindler pretending to be someone glamorous in order to achieve her ends...

Only the person being impersonated was Song Wan herself.

"And do you have an appointment with President Jin?" Even with displeasure in her heart, the receptionist maintained a perfect professional smile.

Song Wan thought about it. Since she and Jin Youqian had agreed on this beforehand... that should count as an appointment, shouldn't it? She nodded without hesitation.

The receptionist narrowed her eyes, now uncertain. Could this woman really be someone President Jin knew?

"Please wait a moment, miss. I'll call the president's secretarial office to confirm." As soon as she finished speaking, she picked up the phone and dialed the top floor.

"Hello? Sister Zhou? This is Xiao Du from reception." The young receptionist darted a careful glance at Song Wan. "There's a strangely dressed woman in the lobby saying she had an appointment with the president, so I'm calling to confirm."

The other side seemed to say something. The receptionist's face grew uglier and uglier, and the way she looked at Song Wan was as if she wanted to tear her apart.

Just as Song Wan was wondering what was going on, she heard the receptionist say, "Oh, I see. You're sure there's no appointment on record? All right, then. I'll have her removed immediately."

Song Wan froze. No appointment?

Suppressing her displeasure, the receptionist tried to persuade her kindly. "Miss, the president may be rich and handsome, but he really isn't someone an ordinary person can latch onto. Take that great celebrity Song Wan everyone online was making such a huge fuss about before—even she hasn't once come to the company to make a scene. So why put yourself through this?"

Song Wan: "..."

What exactly had she done, to be held up by this young lady as... a positive example?

Did this mean that in the future she really ought to come cause a scene at the company a few times, just so they would remember her?

For a moment, Song Wan did not know whether to laugh or cry. She understood that Jin Youqian had probably forgotten to notify reception in advance, so she did not argue and simply walked aside to call him.

"Hello, Jin Youqian? Did you forget to tell reception I was coming?" Song Wan sighed. "And you still have the nerve to ask what happened? Of course I was stopped and not allowed in."

She turned back and happened to meet the receptionist's look of resentful disappointment.

Song Wan could not help rolling her eyes skyward. It seemed the image of her as someone currying favor with wealth and power was never going to be washed clean...

"You're sending someone down to get me? All right, I'll wait in the lobby."

After hanging up, Song Wan casually found an inconspicuous seat and sat down. Everything else was fine, but the receptionist's gaze was truly impossible to ignore. It had all her hairs standing on end, and she was beginning to think it might be better to leave.

Fortunately, before long, the person coming to fetch her arrived.

The newcomer first went to the reception desk and asked a few questions, then turned toward Song Wan and walked straight over to her.

"Jin Youqian?" Song Wan stared in surprise at the hand he extended before her. "Why did you come down yourself?"

Jin Youqian looked faintly impatient. "Wu Yi has other work on hand and can't get away at the moment."

Song Wan hesitated. If Wu Yi was too busy to free himself, then how did he, the chief of chiefs, the boss himself, have time to come downstairs to fetch her in person?

But the question only circled in her mind. Wisely, she did not voice it.

"Let's go up." Jin Youqian took her hand and led her toward his private elevator.

Behind them, the receptionist who had looked so disappointed a moment ago now had her eyes stretched wide, while her cherry mouth hung open enough to swallow an apple.

Someone beside her, curious, poked her. "What are you doing? Practicing how to hold the same expression longer? Is this some new game? Or is there going to be a contest like this at this year's annual party?"

He had only said it in passing. Afterward, the receptionist gave no response, but he started laughing by himself.

"So she wasn't pretending to be someone else. She really was that someone else..."

The colleague beside her had not heard clearly and turned to ask, "What are you talking about?"

The receptionist had already come back to herself and realized she had probably stumbled upon a shocking secret. She promptly shut her mouth tight, not daring to let a single word slip.

In less than a minute, the elevator doors opened, and the two of them arrived directly at Jin Youqian's office.

It was exactly the style of office Song Wan had imagined for him. Though the room looked spacious, there were very few furnishings in it; aside from the necessary office equipment and a sofa for receiving guests, there was almost nothing else.

Empty, and coldly quiet.

It suited Jin Youqian's character perfectly: clear in purpose, never dragging anything out.

Song Wan walked to the sofa and set down the food carrier. "Did you have someone buy snacks to tide you over?"

Jin Youqian nodded and sat on the sofa. When he saw Song Wan crouch to open the carrier, he could not help frowning. He patted the space beside him. "It's more comfortable to sit."

Song Wan smiled at him, and the peach-colored beauty mark beneath her eye seemed dusted with scattered starlight. In Jin Youqian's eyes, it dazzled so brightly that his throat went a little dry.

As Song Wan arranged all the dishes on the table, she seemed to sense something and looked up in confusion. "What is it?"

She raised a hand to touch her face. "Is there something dirty on my face?"

For some reason, Jin Youqian did not deny it. Instead, he leaned closer and reached out to touch the beauty mark beneath her eye.

The sensation of the pad of his index finger rubbing lightly against her skin was startlingly clear, and rather strange.

Song Wan's eyes followed his movement involuntarily. Seeing him linger over the same spot, she frowned. "Is it hard to wipe off?"

Jin Youqian's movement paused. Then he rubbed at it a few more times and said, without changing expression, "Done."

Even after he withdrew his hand to his side, the lingering sensation on his fingertips still made him reluctant to let go. The feeling was too strange. After only a brief thought, Jin Youqian cast it aside and did not let it leave too deep an impression on his mind.

Song Wan, too, did not think much of it. After arranging the meal, she handed him the bowl and chopsticks. "I didn't know how much you eat, so I specifically asked Uncle Feng and packed the amount he suggested. Four dishes and a soup. It should be just right for the two of us."

Jin Youqian paused, then nodded.