Chapter 91.2: Wet Body and Nosebleed
Next to the shop where he had just
eaten noodles was a flower garden, and there was a water pipe on the ground.
He gestured to the girl behind him
to pick up the pipe, open the floodgates as high as possible, and flush out the
people on the other side.
The girl immediately ran over on
her long, white legs. He shielded the other four girls from the incoming
attackers. The enemy outnumbered him, and he was outnumbered, looking a bit
overwhelmed. Then he heard her crisp cry from behind, "I'm coming!"
He assumed she'd picked up the
hose, turned on the sluice, and rushed over.
But he overestimated her strength
and underestimated the water pressure.
The pressure of the water knocked
her off target. She'd intended to hit the people on the middle-aged woman's
side, but the hose veered off, and most of the water ended up hitting him.
He was practically blinded by the
onslaught.
Luckily, the boys from the four
girls' class arrived and engaged the middle-aged woman.
He stepped aside, wiped the water
from his eyes and face, and turned to look at her. She had already turned off
the faucet, and like an innocent child confessing a wrongdoing, she looked a
little bewildered as she said to him, "Yes, yes, I'm sorry, senior. I
didn't mean to do that."
He turned towards her as well.
He didn't know who had taken the
photo of him soaking wet that day and posted it online.
But then he saw what he looked
like.
He was wearing a white T-shirt and
sweatpants. The white T-shirt was so thin that it became transparent even
without water. The girl had hosed him down, completely drenched. His hair,
face, and eyelashes dripped. The soaked white T-shirt clung to him like
transparent paper, his abs clearly visible beneath the sheer fabric.
So, when he turned again and again
toward her that day, he saw her eyes widen. From his dripping hair to his
dripping face to his dripping eyelashes, her gaze then darted down to his
defined abs, shrouded in the thin fabric of his wet clothes.
Then two streams of blood flowed
from her nose.
She screamed, "Oh my
god!" with a look of embarrassment on her face. She raised her head,
pinched her nose, and turned and ran away. Those two beautiful white legs
disappeared from his sight in a flash.
He stood there, stunned for a
moment.
Then he couldn't help but laugh.
From that incident, he knew that
she seemed less resistant to his abdominal muscles. So that day on the court,
he suddenly felt like lifting the hem of his clothes to fan himself, revealing
a hint of his abs.
Unfortunately, he was too far away
to see her expression clearly. But it didn't matter; he would always have
another chance to see it clearly.
Now, looking at her now. She stood
in the bright May summer sun, looking at him with a little eagerness, nervously
asking him if he was going to criticize her again.
Ren Yan looked at Chu Qianmiao and
suddenly shook his head, a smile that was a bit helpless, but also a bit
indulgent.
Chu Qianmiao almost thought she'd
misread his expression.
"Do you think I'd criticize
you?" he asked.
Chu Qianmiao licked her lips, her
voice a bit weak, "I guess so."
Ren Yan narrowed his eyes slightly
as he watched her lick her lips.
He took a sip from his water cup,
then set it down and looked at her. "Never mind. Your idea isn't bad this
time. I've looked at it from an outsider's perspective, and I can't think of a
better one."
After a pause, he raised his chin
slightly and said, "Tang Jie's a decent guy. He probably won't tell his
boss. You helped come up with this idea, unless he's stupid."
Chu Qianmiao breathed a sigh of
relief, and the lingering worry about being criticized faded with a deep
breath.
"But," Ren Yan suddenly
spoke again.
The uneasiness Chu Qianmiao had
just let out was drawn back in. She held her breath, waiting for the next
words.
"What if Tang Jie really gets
mad and his boss finds out it was you who came up with the idea? You can just
put the blame on me and say I told you to do it. His boss won't be able to do
anything to me."
Chu Qianmiao was stunned.
What kind of a boss is he?
"Mr. Ren, this isn't a good
thing," she glared at him. "You, you're a little too cool, aren't
you?"
Ren Yan's face remained
expressionless.
Before leaving, he glanced at her
and asked a coldly, "If you have time to be silly, read more. You have
exams coming up soon." With that, he turned and left the tea room.
As he turned, the corners of his
mouth curled up.
After Ren Yan left, Chu Qianmiao
leaned against the windowsill, exhausted, and let out a long sigh.
She had exerted so much effort to
look silly just now.
She raised her hand and pounded her
chest. She warned herself to be more assertive and not flip back through the
menu. He's just your boss now.
After calming down with a glass of
cold water, Chu Qianmiao returned to the due diligence office with her gift bag
of snacks.
Qin Qianyu was taking advantage of
his daily fifteen-minute afternoon coffee break to gossip. Liu Lifeng and Yan
Yunqiang listened intently, while Ren Yan stared intently at his computer at
his desk, unperturbed by the gossip.
Chu Qianmiao quickly unpacked the
snacks and distributed them to the gossip squad to fuel their gossip.
Qin Qianyu was recounting a climax.
"By the way, I was chatting with someone in Mr. Li Si's department, and he
told me that their business director had been dating a female graduate student
who had joined the department last September. The relationship was discovered,
and yesterday, the female graduate student resigned on her own initiative to
keep his position as business director." Managing Director, Business
Director, Senior Manager, Project Manager
Chu Qianmiao was stunned.
She asked Qin Qianyu,
"Honestly, I don't quite understand why Litong doesn't allow office
romances. Take the two people you just mentioned, Qin Ge. They're not having an
improper relationship, so why can't they date?"
Qin Qianyu replied, "Because
they're in a superior-subordinate relationship."
Chu Qianmiao continued, "Then
why is the company so against romances between superiors and
subordinates?"
None of them noticed, but Ren Yan's
eyelashes twitched.
Qin Qianyu said, "I can tell
you've never seen a superior and a subordinate in a relationship. So, you don't
know what happens when a relationship develops between superiors and
subordinates at the same company. The superior, out of emotional affection for
the subordinate, will unconsciously favor the subordinate and allocate better
resources to them. This would be unfair to other employees. Even if the
superior is selfless and wouldn't favor his or her lover, that's not the case
to outsiders. No matter how fair and selfless the two are, outsiders will
perceive the superior as giving special favors to the subordinate. If the
superior is male and the subordinate is female, the gossip will be even more
intense. People will say, 'Look, the woman gets projects, earns bonuses, and
even becomes the project leader because she's the boss's bedmate. It's a shame
for us male employees because we can't sleep with the boss.' That's not what I
said; I heard a male employee complain a while ago."
After a pause, Qin Qianyu
continued, "So, when it comes to office romances, either keep it a secret
or, if it becomes known, one of you will have to leave."
Chu Qianmiao smacked her lips and
said, "That makes perfect sense to ban romances between superiors and
subordinates. It's hard to say there are truly selfless people in this world
who wouldn't be partial to their romantic partners." She nodded heavily.
"Well, I didn't quite understand this rule before, but now I think it's a
good one, and necessary, because it's fair."
Ren Yan's eyelids twitched again.
Chu Qianmiao asked Qin Qianyu a
second question. "It's fine if superiors and subordinates can't date, but
why can't peers date? LiTong is really strict about this."
Qin Qianyu said, "Brother,
that's wrong. It's not that LiTong is strict. In fact, many investment banks
don't allow office romances. For example, if two people work in two departments
that have a strong relationship—one is an analyst, the other is in the
brokerage business—they absolutely cannot be allowed to date because they could
very well be involved in insider information and insider trading."
"Besides," Qin Qianyu
said righteously, "superiors and subordinates are not allowed to date.
Peers should keep their conversations to themselves, and peers are not allowed
to date casually. The original intention was to prevent problems caused by
long-term business trips for project team members, especially those who are
married. Having such a rule is at least a constraint. It makes people think
before they act rashly: is work more important than impulse?"
Chu Qianmiao clapped her hands and
said, "I really didn't understand the rule prohibiting office romances
before. I thought it was quite inhumane. But after listening to your
explanation today, Brother Qin, I realize that this rule quietly upholds
fairness, justice, and protects the family order of married people. I think
this rule is well-made and makes perfect sense. I applaud it."
Ren Yan narrowed his eyes and
silently glanced at Chu Qianmiao.
Does she really think it's a good
idea?
Or is she just putting it on for
show?
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