Chapter 092　 Um... did you and the Boss do... that in the meeting room?

  *

  The documents further elaborated on the project and set new requirements. Based on these, they needed to present a relatively complete design proposal by the end of the month.

  "Su Xian, we discussed this project from the very beginning and derived three sets of design concepts. Which one do you think is most suitable?"

  "The third set." Based on the new information provided today, it wasn't a hard judgment to make.

  "I thought the same. This concept was proposed by you, so this time, you will lead the overall design. After you finish, I’ll come in to 'deconstruct' it."

  "You’re letting me lead?" This was a genuine surprise.

  "Dream on. When we submit it, my name will definitely still come first."

  "No problem at all!" She couldn't help but burst into laughter, clutching her chest with excitement.

  Zhao Nanfeng stood up to leave. "Then stay here and cool your head. I’ll go get back to work."

  "Hey!" Su Xian called out to him. "Zhao Nanfeng, thank you."

  Closing the door, he heard her shouting an excited "Oh yeah!" inside. A triumphant smile of certain victory crept onto the corners of his mouth.

  *

  Su Xian understood why Zhao Nanfeng let her lead. This was a municipal library; it didn't need avant-garde or bizarre designs, but rather a clear, function-driven approach, which happened to be her forte. Moreover, even though she was leading, she wasn't arrogant enough to act entirely on her own. she communicated every bit of progress with him in a timely manner, making more reasonable adjustments while ensuring the integrity of the concept.

  Two weeks later, the preliminary design was finalized. Zhao Nanfeng quickly performed his "destructive revisions," adding the final polish to the overall plan.

  "Zhao Nanfeng, you really..." Su Xian looked at the drawings he had revised, sighing at her own perceived inadequacy.

  "Admiring me again?"

  "Always have." Su Xian glanced at Matsubara, the drafting assistant. If he hadn't been at his desk, she would have expressed it more exaggeratedly.

  But she didn't even need to say it; Zhao Nanfeng knew exactly what she was thinking.

  "Go on. Have Shirakawa organize the final prints."

  "Ok!"

  "By the way, we’re going to Sendai at the end of the month. We’ll stay at the same hotel as last time."

  "Sounds good."

  Su Xian turned to leave.

  There was one thing Zhao Nanfeng didn't tell her: after the work was done, he would take her to the Kuromatsuso guesthouse they had stayed at before. He said he could wait forever, but that didn't mean he would just wait around doing nothing.

  **

  Lately, Li Chengshi often had lunch with Honda. Honda felt very sympathetic toward him regarding his breakup with Su Xian. Furthermore, everyone in the company could see that the Boss was pursuing Su Xian. She didn't quite understand it—he had done such terrible things to her in the past. Even she, upon hearing about it, didn't like Zhao Nanfeng as much anymore. How could Su Xian be so muddled as to abandon someone as devoted as Li to choose a playboy?

  She quietly slipped a form to Li Chengshi. "李さん、これは社長と蘇さんのスケジュールです。見て、来週、仙台に出張する時、泊まるところは変です。この黒松荘という民宿は、会場より結構遠いです。(Li-san, this is the schedule for the Boss and Su-san. Look, the place they are staying during next week's business trip to Sendai is strange. This guesthouse called Kuromatsuso is quite far from the venue.)"

  Li Chengshi immediately searched for Kuromatsuso. Case closed. Wasn't this the place where Zhao Nanfeng had posted photos of him and Su Xian playing with sparklers? He trembled with rage. That scoundrel pair is going to tryst again!

  "李さん、大丈夫ですか？(Li-san, are you okay?)"

  "あっ、大丈夫。(Ah, I'm fine.)" He snapped back to his senses. "本田さん、教えて、ありがとう。(Honda-san, thank you for telling me.)"

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  "二人が仲直りできたらいいのにな。社長はとてもいい人なんだけど、女癖が悪すぎて、蘇さんは彼と一緒にいるとまたいつかひどい目に合うかもしれない。(I wish you two could make up. The Boss is a very nice person, but he’s terrible when it comes to women. If Su-san stays with him, she might suffer terribly again someday.)"

  Li Chengshi sighed.

  Make up? It was likely impossible.

  Besides, if Su Xian chose to suffer, could he even stop her?

  **

  On the way home, Su Xian was driving and humming along to the music on the radio, looking like she was in a great mood.

  Li Chengshi was incredibly annoyed but pretended to be ignorant. "So confident about winning the project?"

  "Yes, I’ll have that confidence until the results are out. If we lose, I’ll be unhappy either way, so I might as well be happy now."

  "You’re quite clever, aren't you?"

  "Haha, it’s mainly because we did a great job this time. We made ourselves satisfied first."

  He cursed silently in his heart: 'We, we, we.' So annoying!

  *

  "Team Leader, don't be mad if I ask you something."

  "What could you ask that would make me mad? Haha, let's hear it."

  "Um... did you and the Boss do... that in the meeting room?"

  "Which that?" A second of confusion passed before Su Xian realized. She roared: "Li Chengshi!" Even the car swerved slightly with her indignation.

  "Don't get excited! Watch the safety!"

  "I’m going to beat you up when we get home!"

  "Is that necessary?" he muttered under his breath. "You can kiss at your desks, so it's only logical that you’d get intimate in the meeting room, right?" Su Xian hadn't stayed out overnight lately; this was his logical deduction.

  Su Xian gritted her teeth in rage. Spotting a 7-11 convenience store parking lot ahead, she jerked the steering wheel and pulled in. Before Li Chengshi could react, she hopped out, stormed to the other side, yanked the door open, and pinned him down for a beating.

  He raised his hands to block while wailing for mercy, but Su Xian had some training; how could he possibly block her? He took dozens of punches all over. Even though she didn't use lethal force, he still howled in pain.

  Su Xian was still fuming and grabbed his arm, trying to drag him out of the car to make him walk home. He grabbed the steering wheel and refused to let go. As the two were at a stalemate, a whistle suddenly sounded, followed by a loud shout: "何をやっていますか！(What are you doing!)"

  Su Xian was startled and let go of him. Turning around, she saw a patrol officer drop his bicycle and run toward them with a baton. She panicked—if this was treated as a public brawl, her visa would be in trouble. She immediately and sensibly raised both hands to show she wasn't a threat.

  The officer pulled her away and asked Li Chengshi with concern: "大丈夫ですか？(Are you okay?)"

  Li Chengshi immediately jumped out of the car and said with a smile: "大丈夫です、刑事さん。(I'm fine, Officer.)"

  When the officer asked for the reason, he quickly said: "私のせいです。浮気しているところを彼女に見つかっちゃった。へへ。(It’s my fault. She caught me cheating. Hehe.) "

  The officer’s face immediately darkened as he scolded: "浮気は最低です！今の若者ったら、本当にね…(Cheating is the lowest! You young people these days, honestly...)"

  Li Chengshi rubbed his hair and gave a few awkward laughs.

  Seeing that he wasn't injured, the officer didn't want to pursue the matter further. He checked their residence cards and confirmed they lived together. Li Chengshi even proactively showed him several photos of the two of them to prove they were indeed a couple. The officer lectured him a bit more, telling him to apologize to Su Xian. As he left, he only said one thing to Su Xian, who had been standing aside with a stern face the whole time: "暴力はだめだよ。(No violence.)"

  **