The CEO had asked to walk home together after work, and that thought kept Tao Xinrou unsettled all day.
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, she slapped her cheeks hard.
"Tao Xinrou, get a grip. Right now he's Fang Rong, your ordinary colleague, not President Ying."
But the more she thought this way, the more uneasy she felt.
The CEO! That was the lofty, untouchable CEO!
Just as she was thinking, her phone buzzed. Someone had sent a message in the group chat.
【Colleagues, are you free tonight? Want to grab a drink? To celebrate our second day working together!】
The message was from Wei Jiaxin.
It had only been two days since they met, and he had been buttering up Li Meili and the other colleagues. Now he was organizing a dinner—his intentions were obvious.
Soon, replies came in. Wei Jiaxin followed up with a message volunteering to book a venue. Not long after, Tao Xinrou received a private message from Zheng Shuhui: "Xinrou, are you going? I don't really want to, but I'm afraid of ruining everyone's fun."
Tao Xinrou stared at her phone, hesitating herself.
She had wanted to go home early to be with her mother, but refusing a colleague's dinner invitation right after joining would make her seem unsociable, and it would be awkward at work later.
While she was still debating, Fang Rong sent a message in the group chat: 【Sure. Where are we eating?】
!!!
If the CEO said he was going, then she...
Tao Xinrou immediately replied: "I'm in, I'm in! Definitely going!"
*
At seven in the evening, everyone settled into a private room at a local home-style restaurant. The main hall was packed, and the floor-to-ceiling windows in the room offered a view of the neon-lit streets.
The atmosphere wasn't exactly warm; it relied entirely on Wei Jiaxin's enthusiastic hosting. He even poured tea for everyone.
Tao Xinrou and Zheng Shuhui sat together in a corner, while Fang Rong sat across from them. Occasionally Wei Jiaxin tried to strike up a conversation with him, but he only responded with a few words.
Just as they finished ordering, the door to the private room was pushed open.
"Oh, you found a good spot. Having dinner without inviting me?"
Everyone looked up—it was Li Meili.
Without her hotel uniform, Li Meili's long wavy hair shone glossy. She crossed her arms and scanned the room, wearing her usual arrogant expression. "You're not secretly badmouthing me, are you?"
Wei Jiaxin immediately stood up, plastering a smile on his face. "Of course not, Supervisor. How could we forget about you? We just found the place and were about to message you to come over. Please, have a seat!"
With that, he quickly pulled out the seat at the head of the table and attentively helped Li Meili sit down.
Li Meili didn't refuse; she gracefully took the main seat. "You're the one who knows how to handle things. I happened to pass by after work and saw you all gathered here, so I thought I'd drop in."
Wei Jiaxin promptly sat down next to her and personally poured her a drink. "It's our honor to have you join us. Come, let's all toast to the Supervisor."
Everyone reluctantly raised their glasses. The already subdued atmosphere grew even colder.
Li Meili clinked glasses with him, and they went back and forth for several rounds, leaving the others out.
Tao Xinrou felt uncomfortable watching this. She exchanged a glance with Zheng Shuhui, seeing the same helplessness in each other's eyes.
Fang Rong remained silent across the table, lowering his head and eating slowly, as if none of this concerned him.
After a few rounds of drinks, Li Meili's cheeks flushed and she became talkative. She grilled the new recruits about their backgrounds.
"You're Fang Rong, right? I saw you were quite sharp during training. Which school did you graduate from? What does your family do? Have you had any hotel-related work experience before?"
A barrage of questions made the room fall silent. Wei Jiaxin also stopped talking and curiously looked at Fang Rong.
Fang Rong wore a simple smile and said modestly, "You flatter me, Supervisor. I just have an ordinary degree from abroad, not in hospitality. My family is middle-class. I've worked in restaurants before, and I'm here to learn something new."
Li Meili raised an eyebrow, clearly unsatisfied with the answer, but didn't press further.
Then she turned her gaze to Zheng Shuhui, who was sitting in the corner. "Xiao Zheng, why aren't you drinking? When you go out for a gathering, you need to be lively. Have a drink with me, and I'll look out for you at work."
Zheng Shuhui was so startled she stood up, waving her hands repeatedly. "Supervisor Li, I'm sorry, I can't drink..."
"You can learn. A little won't hurt." Li Meili persisted.
"I... I..." Zheng Shuhui looked like she was about to cry.
"Supervisor Li, Shuhui really can't drink. Let me drink for her." Tao Xinrou stood up, blocking Zheng Shuhui, and downed a glass of wine.
Seeing her boldness, Li Meili didn't praise her. Instead, her face darkened, and a hint of dissatisfaction flickered in her eyes.
"Heh, I didn't know you were so loyal."
"You flatter me. I just didn't want to spoil the fun." Tao Xinrou put down the glass.
"So you're saying I'm spoiling the fun?" Li Meili raised her voice.
The atmosphere grew awkward. Wei Jiaxin quickly intervened. "Supervisor, that's definitely not what Xiao Tao meant. She just wanted to toast you. Come, let me toast you again."
Li Meili took the out and clinked glasses with Wei Jiaxin, but after that, she barely spoke, and her expression remained sour.
*
After the dinner, everyone scattered.