Secretary Cai followed closely behind Gao Ze as they headed toward Meeting Room No. 2.
The door to the meeting room was open; standing in the doorway, they could see President Gu's niece idly examining a large, floor-standing blue-and-white porcelain vase in the corner. Her back was turned to the two men, and her slender fingers were tracing the intricate patterns on the vase.
Gao Ze felt his temples throb twice in rapid succession; he cast a sidelong glance at Secretary Cai. "Didn't I tell you to notify me immediately the moment the Madam arrived?" "The Madam?" Secretary Cai blinked in confusion, following Gao Ze's gaze.
"But the Madam hasn't arrived yet—isn't that President Gu's niece?" Gao Ze ground his teeth together, the sound audible. "Who told you she was President Gu's niece?" "Manager Qin did; he brought her up personally. Oh, and right—everyone else in the company knows she's President Gu's niece, too."
As he spoke, Secretary Cai pulled up the internal company chat group to show Gao Ze.
By now, the thread discussing the appearance of "President Gu's niece" had already racked up over 99 new messages. The further Gao Ze scrolled down, the more his heart sank; buried among the comments were a few—utterly oblivious to the danger they were courting—who were actually suggesting they play matchmaker and set her up with a relative's son.
Gao Ze took a deep breath, turned off his phone screen, and shoved the device roughly back into Secretary Cai's hands. "Just you wait." Secretary Cai looked utterly bewildered. "Wait for what?" "Wait to pack your bags and get fired right alongside me!" Having delivered this parting shot, Gao Ze strode purposefully toward the meeting room.
Secretary Cai was still racking her brain, trying to figure out exactly what she had done wrong, when she saw Gao Ze approach President Gu's niece and address her with a respectful, "Madam." *Ma... Madam?* Had her ears deceived her? This young girl—who looked no older than a high school student—was President Gu's wife?
Secretary Cai was utterly dumbfounded; her knees went weak—indeed, her whole body felt like jelly—and she had to clutch the doorframe just to keep herself from collapsing. Then she heard Gao Ze continue: "President Gu is still in a meeting; it should take about another half hour. Why don't you come with me to President Gu's office and wait for him there, Madam?"
When Gao Ze emerged from the President's office after escorting Su Mianmian inside, Secretary Cai was still frozen in a state of shock, unable to snap out of her stupor for a long moment. Gao Ze walked past her, then doubled back and rapped on Secretary Cai's desk. "What's this? Already thinking about where to find your next job?"
Secretary Cai looked on the verge of tears. "Assistant Gao, I honestly had no idea that 'little niece' was actually President Gu's wife!" "What 'little niece'!" Gao Ze was practically fuming at the lot of them. "If President Gu hears you say that, you really *will* be out of a job!"
In her desperation, Secretary Cai grabbed Gao Ze by the arm. "Assistant Gao, is there any way to salvage this?" Gao Ze frowned. "For now, don't breathe a word of this to anyone else."
"Also, round up plenty of those snacks and milk tea you guys usually love—get them over to the President's office, and make it snappy." Assistant Gao looked puzzled. "Why send *those*?" Gao Ze replied, "Which do you think is easier: appeasing President Gu, or appeasing Mrs. Gu?"
Secretary Cai nodded vigorously, bobbing her head like a pecking chicken. "Right, right, right! I got it! I'm going now—immediately, right this very second!" ...It was half an hour later when Gu Yizhou finally emerged from the conference room. As he walked out, he unbuttoned the collar of his shirt.
Gao Ze was waiting for him at the conference room door; with his lips pursed, he quietly fell into step behind Gu Yizhou. "Has my wife arrived yet?" Gao Ze nodded. "Mrs. Gu is waiting for you in your office." Gu Yizhou quickened his pace, but just as he reached the door to his office, Gao Ze called out to him.
"President Gu, there's something I need to mention to you beforehand." Gu Yizhou was eager to see Su Mianmian. "If it's not urgent, it can wait until tomorrow." Gao Ze pursed his lips again and again. "It actually *is* quite urgent."
Gu Yizhou frowned, taking his hand off the office doorknob. "Then spit it out." Gao Ze silently held his phone out to Gu Yizhou, looking as if he were walking to the guillotine.
"President Gu—due to a certain series of unfortunate misunderstandings, everyone in the company currently believes that Mrs. Gu... is your niece." Upon hearing this, Gu Yizhou's gaze darkened instantly. He scanned the messages on the phone screen for a moment, his expression growing increasingly grim. When he finally spoke again, his tone had taken on a dangerous edge. "A mix-up? You certainly know how to find excuses for your professional blunders."
Cold sweat broke out on Gao Ze's brow. "It was mainly Manager Qin—I don't know what got into him—but the moment he saw your wife, he presumptuously assumed she was your niece. And the kicker is, your wife didn't even correct him..." Having finished his explanation, Gao Ze glanced at Gu Yizhou's face—dark and inscrutable as ink—and lowered his head even further.
"Mr. Gu, it is my fault. I will join the company group chat right now to issue a clarification. Afterward, whatever punishment you deem fit to impose upon me, I will accept." Gu Yizhou's intense gaze, framed by sharp, deep-set features, bore down hard on Gao Ze. "Clarification? How exactly do you intend to clarify it?
Send a message saying, 'That was just a misunderstanding earlier; Mr. Gu's niece is actually his wife'?" Gao Ze felt that didn't sound quite right either, yet for the moment, he couldn't think of a better solution.
"But Mr. Gu, wouldn't it be equally awkward *not* to clarify? Your wife is bound to visit the company again sometime in the future; if everyone sees you behaving intimately with her then, wouldn't that just lead to an even bigger misunderstanding?"
Gu Yizhou rubbed his temples. "Isn't there a company team-building event coming up in a little while? I'll bring my wife along to attend it then."
...Su Mianmian was sipping her milk tea when she heard the office door open. Her mouth was still stuffed full of toppings—cheeks bulging—making her look just like a little hamster hoarding its food. The fatigue that had weighed down Gu Yizhou's body after a long, grueling day of work vanished instantly the moment his eyes landed on her.
He walked over to Su Mianmian, sat down, and gave her cheek a gentle pinch. "Have you been waiting long?" Su Mianmian shook her head, swallowing the food in her mouth. "Sister Cai brought in heaps of snacks for me. With all this eating to do, the time didn't seem to drag at all." *Sister Cai? You mean Secretary Cai?*
Gu Yizhou gave a soft chuckle; they certainly knew how to engage in some damage control after the fact. Glancing at the massive pile of assorted snacks and treats covering the coffee table, Gu Yizhou felt a sudden pang of dread. "Mrs. Gu, after polishing all this off, will you have any room left in your stomach to join me for dinner?" Su Mianmian nodded, her eyes sparkling brightly.
"Of course! I never said I had to eat *all* of this right now. I can just save the rest for the next time I come to visit." *She's planning to visit again?* Gu Yizhou's expression softened; he walked over to stand directly in front of her, bent slightly at the waist, and met her gaze at eye level. "Then let me have a sip of your milk tea."
Su Mianmian hadn't expected that the illustrious CEO Gu would actually ask her for a sip of her milk tea. As she gazed at his face—now mere inches away, with its deep-set, striking features—her heart suddenly began to pound like a drum against her ribs. She generously held the milk tea up to Gu Yizhou's lips. "You fell in love with it after tasting it at the movie theater last time, didn't you?"
She was secretly doing the math in her head: it was actually a good thing that Gu Yizhou liked milk tea. That meant he probably wouldn't ration her intake in the future, and occasionally, they could even share a drink together. Gu Yizhou gently pushed aside the cup Su Mianmian was holding, his gaze deepening. "You drink it. I'll drink it from your mouth."
At his words, Su Mianmian's face flushed crimson. "Gu Yizhou, this is your office! Can't you just—" "—Just what?"
Su Mianmian simply couldn't bring herself to say it. The milk tea in her hands suddenly felt like a live bomb; she hurriedly set it down on the coffee table, then, after a moment's thought, pushed it even further away. "—Just stop talking to me." She thought that would keep her safe.
But Gu Yizhou merely let his lips curl into a smirk. With a long reach of his arm, he snatched back the very cup she had just pushed away and took a sip through her straw. Then, before Su Mianmian could even react, he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers, slowly transferring the milk tea from his mouth into hers, drop by drop.
"Mmph..." Su Mianmian struggled to push him away, but to no avail. His large hand cupped the back of her neck, forcing her to tilt her head back and accept the milk tea he was forcibly feeding her; a soft gurgling sound escaped her slender throat as she swallowed.
Hearing that sound—right there in his ear—only heightened Gu Yizhou's sensory stimulation. Cupping her cheeks in his hands, he deepened the kiss with fierce intensity. Just as their kiss reached a fever pitch—passionate and inseparable—a gentle knock sounded at the office door.
Startled like a frightened fawn, Su Mianmian shoved Gu Yizhou away. She frantically tried to smooth down her hair, which he had thoroughly tousled. "You're so annoying! I told you already—this is your office!"
The young woman was blushing with embarrassment, but Gu Yizhou was far from satisfied. Suppressing the wild, burning desire surging through his body, he focused on soothing her ruffled nerves. "Now, now—don't be scared. If I don't answer, they won't dare come in." Su Mianmian's face flushed even deeper.
"A man and a woman alone in an office for half the day—and then refusing to answer when someone knocks? That'll only make people *more* convinced that we're up to something inside!" "And what exactly *are* we doing?"
Gu Yizhou watched the young woman's indignant expression, feeling a sudden urge to smile. "We are husband and wife—legitimately so. Even if we *were* doing something, surely there's nothing objectionable about that, is there?" Su Mianmian had never once managed to win an argument against Gu Yizhou on such matters; she simply gave his arm a shove.
"Hurry up! Move over there a bit, and *then* let whoever's knocking come in." Gu Yizhou gazed at the young woman—who was trying so hard to feign an air of propriety—and felt his heart swell with sweetness. Clearing his throat, he called out, "Come in."
He was determined to see just who, in their utter lack of self-preservation, dared to interrupt his private moment at a time like this.