Chapter 243 – Report to the CEO: Madam Has Run Away Again – The New Team Leader (07)
Bai Tang clutched Gu Yan’s shirt and sobbed uncontrollably. The pent-up emotions in his heart had mostly been released, and he was just about to nod and accept Gu Yan when Xiao A suddenly spoke up, holding the notebook left behind by Qiu’er.
“Host, according to Qiu’er’s notes, things that are too easily obtained won’t be cherished. It’s recommended that you observe the male lead further to confirm he isn’t acting on a whim.”
Qiu’er’s love notebook even meticulously annotated which advice applied to which world’s male lead. It had practically become Bai Tang’s rulebook for romance with male leads.
Gu Yan waited for the tearful young man’s answer, but just then, the lounge door was banged on frantically. Sha Yao’s voice came from outside.
“Is Tang Tang done changing? Open the door! Gu Yan, open the door for me!”
Bai Tang quickly wiped away his tears, his face scrunching up slightly from the lingering pain.
“I’ll do it,” Gu Yan said, moving to help Bai Tang change his clothes.
When Bai Tang was stripped bare, his cheeks turned slightly red. He awkwardly pulled the thin blanket on the bed over himself.
Well, getting changed—skin contact was bound to happen.
Gu Yan’s fingers seemed to carry a kind of magic. Whenever he accidentally touched Bai Tang, the skin he brushed against felt like hugging a hot water bottle on a cold day—warm, and gradually tingling as his body temperature rose.
The upper body was easier, but the lower half was more troublesome.
Bai Tang tugged at his own pants and mumbled shyly, “I-I can do it myself.”
Gu Yan moved Bai Tang’s hand aside. “Let me. I’ll help you.”
Seeing the serious expression on Gu Yan’s face, Bai Tang felt a bit ashamed of where his own thoughts had wandered.
Though Gu Yan looked serious while helping him change, his eyes still couldn’t help but glance at other parts.
Tang Tang’s legs were slender, his feet small, and his skin so smooth. Gu Yan subtly pinched the soft flesh on Bai Tang’s calf—it was just too skinny, and that wasn’t good.
As a CEO, Gu Yan had never served anyone like this before. Coupled with Bai Tang’s awkwardness, the process of putting on pants was clumsy and full of stumbles—more physical contact than when changing the top half.
Bai Tang had never realized that his legs were also a sensitive spot. Otherwise, why would just a touch from Gu Yan make his body go weak involuntarily?
After several minutes of fussing, they finally finished changing clothes.
The knocking on the lounge door grew thunderous. Bai Tang said, “It’s Ling Xue knocking.”
Gu Yan turned around to open the door. Sha Yao stumbled in, nearly falling.
Sha Yao shot Gu Yan a glare, then looked at the shredded paper scattered all over the floor. Her gaze shifted to Bai Tang, who lay on the bed with a face full of post-romantic bliss, and an ominous feeling rose in her heart.
Could it be… he got coaxed back by a few sweet words from that scumbag?
She hurried over to Bai Tang and began inspecting him for anything out of place.
Good. Aside from the injuries she had just treated, there were no new wounds on the visible parts of his skin. His neck was free of kiss marks, and his lips were intact. It seemed the scumbag hadn’t yet had the chance to use his full arsenal—just sweet talk and some flirting. At most, they’d only reached step one.
Gu Yan squatted down in front of Bai Tang and asked gently, “Where are you staying now?”
Ever since the Bai family had sold him to Gu Yan, the young man had been living at the villa. But after being kicked out a few days ago, he must have suffered a lot, wandering without a place to go.
“No need to trouble yourself, President Gu. Tang Tang is living with me now. He’s well-fed and well-dressed,” Sha Yao replied suddenly with exaggerated politeness.
Gu Yan finally gave Sha Yao a proper look. His eyes narrowed slightly. Something in his gut told him this woman was dangerous.
Sha Yao felt a great pressure from Gu Yan’s sharp gaze—but remembering he was a morally corrupt scumbag, she held her ground.
No matter how capable he was, a man with no character didn’t deserve admiration.
“Sha Yao is a girl. It’s not ideal for you to live at her place. Why not move in with me? I’ll take care of you, all right?” Gu Yan said, completely ignoring Sha Yao and speaking directly to Bai Tang.
Sha Yao’s eyes widened. Flirting with Tang Tang right in front of her—who knows how badly he was bullying him when she wasn’t around?
Bai Tang began to waver. He looked at Gu Yan’s hopeful expression, then glanced at Sha Yao’s fierce, protective one. In the end, he couldn’t bear to betray Sha Yao, who always had his best interests at heart. Even if Xiao A had said it would be good to let Gu Yan pursue him a little—as punishment—he still couldn’t do it.
“It’s late. I want to go home,” Bai Tang said in a soft, sticky voice. But his words pierced Gu Yan like a knife.
Sha Yao shoved past Gu Yan and helped Bai Tang up. “Come on, let’s go home.”
She shot Gu Yan a sideways glare. As they walked outside and passed by Meili, she said, “Meili, could you call us a car? I’ll transfer the fare to you later.”
“Sure,” Meili said, pulling out her phone to order the ride.
The four members of the “gossip crew” had just witnessed a full-blown drama, but they were still completely confused about what had really happened.
As Bai Tang passed Assistant Jin, he gave him a polite smile.
“Mr. Bai, we meet again. How have you been lately?” Assistant Jin asked, his voice tinged with guilt. He had been the one to call a taxi for Bai Tang last time, which had ended up being a shady ride. Remembering what the driver had confessed and thinking about Bai Tang’s ordeal, Assistant Jin felt deeply remorseful.
“I’m fine. Thank you, Assistant Jin,” Bai Tang replied with a smile. He had a good impression of Assistant Jin—he saw him as a loyal and responsible employee. Although some unpleasant things had happened because of him, it also led to his reunion with Ling Xue.
“I’m glad to hear that. I’m very sorry about what happened with that taxi. That driver has already been dealt with,” Assistant Jin said.
Bai Tang nodded. “Thank you for taking care of it.”
As Sha Yao supported Bai Tang and they walked toward the door, Bai Tang suddenly turned back and said, “By the way, I left in a hurry last time. Could you help me take care of the things I left at the villa?”
In his memory, the original Bai Tang had lived quite frugally. The clothes at the villa had been brought over from the Bai family—hand-me-downs from a chubby, big-headed cousin that he no longer had any intention of wearing.
“Of course,” Assistant Jin replied.
After Sha Yao and Bai Tang left, the “gossip squad” pulled Assistant Jin out of the CEO’s office.
Wu Yi grinned seductively. “Assistant Jin, you must know something, right? What exactly is the relationship between Bai Tang and President Gu?”
The other three surrounded him with eyes shining with gossip-fueled curiosity.
“Well…” Assistant Jin glanced at the door of the CEO’s office, which hadn’t been fully closed. Gu Yan was sitting on the sofa—right where Bai Tang had been sitting moments ago.
“Let’s talk somewhere else,” Assistant Jin said quietly, subtly hinting that it wasn’t appropriate to gossip outside the CEO’s office.
Everyone immediately caught on. Using the excuse of packing up for the day, they quickly shut down their computers, clocked out, and pulled Assistant Jin toward the elevator.
“Hurry up, spill it!” Zhao Lou urged. “Judging by how President Gu acts… is Bai Tang his secret lover?”
Bai Tang was undeniably good-looking and, among men, had a more delicate, petite frame—he fit the profile of someone being “kept.”
As the elevator doors slowly closed, Assistant Jin looked at the four pairs of gossip-hungry eyes and carefully chose his words. “Mr. Bai is President Gu’s fiancé—or rather, his male fiancé.”
Since President Gu hadn’t signed the official termination paperwork, their engagement wasn’t officially broken. As of now, they were still technically engaged.
The four of them widened their eyes in unison. “And then?”
“A week ago, President Gu tried to end their engagement and kicked Mr. Bai out of the villa. But the very next day, he regretted it. Today was the first time he saw Mr. Bai again since then.”
“Tsk tsk tsk~”
President Gu’s behavior… was kind of scummy.
“Just now, I heard you all mention something about a taxi driver—what happened?” Si Yuan asked.
Assistant Jin adjusted his glasses. “The day Mr. Bai left the villa, I called a taxi for him. The driver noticed he was alone and got some bad ideas. He took Mr. Bai to a remote area and tried to rob him. After the driver fled the scene, one of his coworkers discovered what had happened and reported it to the police.”
“Poor Bai Tang, his luck is just awful.”
“Robbery? Taxis are getting so dangerous these days.”
—That was the reaction from the two women.
Si Yuan, however, had a different thought. “Was it just robbery, or did he have other intentions? Did the driver succeed?”
Assistant Jin gave him a long, meaningful look. “No. Mr. Bai only suffered some minor injuries. Nothing else happened.”
That look made Si Yuan feel a little guilty. He averted his gaze just as the elevator arrived on the first floor.
“Alright, time to head home. See you.”
“Bye!”
The two women walked off together toward the right.
The three men were headed in different directions, so they went their separate ways once they exited the building.
Meanwhile, Gu Yan sat silently in the same seat where Bai Tang had just been. After a long moment of contemplation, he finally moved. He pulled out his phone and made an overseas call.
Because of Bai Tang’s injuries, Sha Yao had strictly forbidden him from entering the kitchen. If she had to work overtime, she would always order delivery for him.
Bai Tang was now fully enjoying the life of a pampered little “rice bug.”
Despite everything involving Bai Tang, Gu Yan never took it out on Sha Yao at work. This earned him a slight increase in her regard for him—but only slightly.
A few days later, their team suddenly welcomed a new team leader who had parachuted into the role—Jiang Hongzhe, a friend Gu Yan had met while studying abroad. He had just returned from overseas.
“Starting today, Jiang Hongzhe is your new team leader. When I’m not around, his decisions represent mine,” Gu Yan announced during the meeting. Jiang Hongzhe flashed a bright smile. “Hello everyone, I’m Jiang Hongzhe. From now on, we’re a team. If any issues come up, make sure to communicate with me in a timely manner.”
He and Gu Yan had studied the same major in university. After graduation, instead of returning to China, Jiang chose to pursue his career abroad. He had a silver tongue and handled matters with precision, making a name for himself in the business world.
As the saying goes, “A new official burns three fires.” Zhao Lou and the others were fooled by Jiang’s friendly first impression. But when they submitted their proposal to him, Jiang rejected it all with a cold face.
“No. Especially this third section—market insights. This is what you call insights? These stats are from last year. The data for the first half of this year has already been released—why didn’t you include it? And here… rewrite it.”
Everyone’s contributions to the proposal were harshly criticized. But the market insights section got the worst of it—and that just happened to be written by Sha Yao.
It was the first time she’d ever been shot down so thoroughly. Still, she was new to the workforce and knew she had a lot to learn. Though frustrated, she accepted the criticism and humbly sought guidance from Zhao Lou and the others, preparing to rewrite the proposal.
Meanwhile, now freed up from work matters, Gu Yan had finally found out Bai Tang’s address. Fully prepared, he was ready to chase after his wife.
Author’s Note:
Here it is, here it is—today’s update is here! Since I moved and started working farther away, plus with the ongoing pandemic, I get home much later than before. I also have to cook for myself now, so the updates have been coming a bit later.
Take a guess—who do you think Jiang Hongzhe really is? No prizes even if you guess right!