Chapter 73: Honorable Guest
Zhao Lifei could feel his occasional glances when she was washing the dishes. She knew what they were suggesting. The chemistry between them was hard to ignore, especially when he always looked at her with the warmest and adoring gaze. She wasn't oblivious to his endless pampering, but she was fearful of the idea of love. The first time she decided to give her heart to a man, he returned it to her broken and stomped into fine dust.
Lost in her daydream, she didn't realize Yang Feng had gotten up from the couch to walk towards her.
She stiffened when she felt his warm hand on her lower back.
He was standing very close to her, to the point where she caught wafts of his intoxicating scent. Surprisingly, the familiar shower gel gave off the comforting scent of freshly peeled tangerine tangled with a refreshing oceanic smell that she had gotten accustomed to.
She gulped, trying her best to focus on the task at hand, despite the fact that her brain was beginning to become muddled by his scent and the warm hand on her back.
"What are you doing afterward?" He asked her, deliberately initiating physical contact and leaning closer to her. He was pleased that she had made no effort to swat his hand away or distance herself from his touch. They had truly progressed more than he thought.
"I'm not sure yet." She answered him as she continued wiping the dishes dry, ignoring his intense stare and the hand on her lower back. She enjoyed his comforting touch.
"Mm, then go somewhere with me." He smiled at her empty schedule.
"Go somewhere? Where?" She curiously asked him, never once lifting her head to make eye contact. For an odd reason, she couldn't bring herself to look at him. She felt like she was back to her adolescence and was too shy to look at her crush.
"Do you have a place in mind?" He asked her, willing to take her as far as the ends of the Earth.
Zhao Lifei tilted her head at his words, thinking to herself for a while. She thought about a place she hadn't visited before.
Was this a date? Is he asking her out? What kind of place should she pick? She didn't want to go somewhere plain and boring like a fancy restaurant. The movies didn't seem like a bad idea, but there wasn't anything available that she was interested in seeing.
"The amusement park…?" She suggested, not sure where her sudden desire came from. Her mind just drifted to that idea because she had never visited one before.
It was a silly idea because many people would go to one when they were kids. But her childhood was marred by the indifference and hatred from her parents. On top of that, the endless training to become the perfect young lady and a future matriarch left her little to no break time. The privilege to enjoy her childhood was not something she had.
"The amusement park?" Yang Feng repeated, surprised at the idea.
Speaking of the amusement park, he had also never been to one. In his childhood, he didn't have time to spend it on something as foolish as riding things that would give him an adrenaline rush.
His schedule was always filled with private tutoring lessons, learning how to handle Yang Enterprise, accompanying his grandfather to the underworld, and honing his "hobbies".
He smiled at the unique idea. "Sure, let's go there." He pulled out his phone to text Chen Gaonan to clear his entire schedule for the rest of the day.
Back in Yang Enterprise, Chen Gaonan was pacing back and forth outside of his boss's office, anxiously biting his nails as he awaited the arrival of his boss.
CEO Yang had been extremely late to the office two days in a row which was very much unlike him! His boss had always been punctual and always came to the office to spend most of his day buried in paperwork like a true workaholic. There were even times where Chen Gaonan had to drag his boss out of the office just so he could stop terrorizing the employees who were too scared to leave before he did!
His phone notified him of an incoming message and when he glanced at the message, his eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened to a big fraction.
Cancel the entire schedule for the day?! Was he crazy?!
Today was a very important day where Zheng Tianyi would come in person to negotiate about a proposal!
Canceling a meeting with Zheng Corporation which was touted as one of the country's "Big Five" companies was hard as it was.
Canceling a direct meeting with the CEO that made headlines for ushering his family's legacy within the past three years was nearly mission impossible!
Chen Gaonan wondered if his boss ate the wrong medicine this morning. CEO Zheng was known for his atrocious temper, and while Yang Feng was one of the few people who can afford to offend him, Chen Gaonan did not want to be the one who tells the man that his meeting is canceled.
Who knows, Zheng Tianyi might just shoot the messenger!
"Boss, what the hell?!" Chen Gaonan frustratedly ranted, contemplating whether he should call Yang Feng's personal driver or someone from his security detail to find out if something had happened to the boss for him to decide to skip work today. He walked towards his desk and picked up the contract and proposal plan.
From digging around Zhao Lifei's past as well as Xia Mengxi's, he knew that while CEO Zheng was pursuing his private secretary, it was the Zhao heiress that had been the brains behind the previous collaboration between Zheng Corporation and Yang Enterprise.
By working for Yang Feng, he was no stranger to business proposals and this one seemed almost ideal. It seems CEO Zheng can still push out business ideas without that woman.
This time around, Zheng Corporation is proposing to open a resort in the undeveloped city of Nanjian in hopes of bringing tourism and revenue to the small, but flourishing city.
Beneficial to both sides, it would bring in billions in revenue if the partnership went as planned. However, he thought it was odd that Zheng Corporation would approach Yang Enterprise instead of Zhao Corporation which was known for its enormous hotel empire.
Just as Chen Gaonan lifted his phone to call his boss for confirmation, the telecom on his desk buzzed. He pressed a button and a voice spoke through.
"Mr. Chen, the honorable guest, CEO Zheng, has been sent into the private elevator. As we speak, he is on his way to our boss's office." The front desk receptionist said, her voice filled with worry. Being the person who first greeted everyone that entered the building, she was aware that her boss hasn't shown up yet!
Chen Gaonan felt panic settle into him at how fast time was running out. But even with the pressure and stress weighing him down, he reminded himself to remain cool and level-headed.
"Alright, I will escort him into the private waiting room and notify the boss." Chen Gaonan responded, quickly firing a text message to his Boss.
[Chen Gaonan: Sir, with all due respect, please take into the account that I would usually never go against your words. But I want to remind you, CEO Zheng has personally come to the office with regards to the proposal.]
Chen Gaonan looked at his message and cringed. He didn't mean to sound so excruciatingly nagging, given the fact that he had known his boss since his high school years. But he was so terrified at the idea of going against Yang Feng's order, his panic had taken over him.
[Yama King: Tell him to see me tomorrow. I'm busy.]
Seeing the text, Chen Gaonan nearly cried tears of blood. Busy? What could make him too busy to brush off another CEO they had a partnership with?!
Zheng Tianyi, like many men of his title, was known to not restrain himself when it comes to reprimanding an employee. It seems Chen Gaonan's luck had been compromised as it just so happens, Chen Gaonan will become the first in line to receive his punishment!