"Once you're married, Seven will be a great asset for you..."
Monday morning, just before nine, Jiang Ruoqi was unlucky enough to run into the Second Young Master again in the empty elevator after entering the office building.
Still booting up, Jiang Ruoqi was slow to react, only wishing she could immediately back out and wait for the next one.
"Tsk tsk tsk, vacant eyes, dark circles. President Jiang, you had two days off, but Monday is a workday. Shouldn't you practice some restraint and not let it affect your work?"
Jiang Ruoqi raised an eyebrow, thinking this was really unfair—she was purely sleepy. But she didn't need to explain; Duan Jinchen's words were clearly sarcastic.
Given that she was still his superior for now, Jiang Ruoqi felt it necessary to tell the Second Young Master where a qualified manager should draw the line to avoid annoying employees.
"First, I'm not late. My relationship with the company is an equal employment relationship; the salary only buys my labor during the eight-hour workday. As for private time, I do whatever I want. Please don't lecture me like a feudal patriarch, Assistant Duan. Even if you are the group's Second Young Master, I won't accept any PUA."
Duan Jinchen choked, realizing he was in a bad mood and had taken it out on her. After a long silence, he awkwardly said, "I was being emotional. Sorry."
Okay, at least he knew to apologize—there was hope.
Jiang Ruoqi didn't intend to dwell on it. She took the initiative to make peace, hoping at least for a truce until the boss returned to Gangcheng. "Young Master, seriously. We've been working together for a month or two now. Can't we get along? Every sentence out of your mouth is a rhetorical question or a challenge, like I'm a toll booth on a highway."
"No, stay away from me."
Hearing this, Duan Jinchen instinctively stepped back a few paces. It was hard to imagine how a man over six feet could shrink into a corner of the elevator, looking weak and helpless.
"I mean, as superior and subordinate, it's better to keep our distance. You give orders, I carry them out. No need to be too friendly."
At first glance, that sounded rather suggestive.
Jiang Ruoqi had nothing to say, but she suspected that the Second Young Master had someone close to him who kept reminding him to maintain distance with the opposite sex—he had clearly taken it to heart.
Of course, it might not be that.
It was just that, based on the CEO romance novels she'd read, there was always an easily swayed, not-too-bright CEO.
And Duan Jinchen fit the role perfectly, including that not-so-bright look...
Forget it, Jiang Ruoqi let out a breath.
A rich second-generation in his early twenties, it was normal to be a little abnormal.
The elevator reached the 19th floor. Jiang Ruoqi and Duan Jinchen stepped out one after another, keeping about a meter apart.
"When will the boss arrive..." Jiang Ruoqi wanted to ask an insider where the boss was, but when she turned around, Duan Jinchen was far behind her.
She sighed. When most men were overly confident, they truly didn't realize they were overthinking things.
But at least Duan Jinchen heard her question. He snorted coldly, not making her repeat herself: "He arrived in Xinhai on Saturday. Who knows when he'll come to the office."
This reaction clearly meant the family talk had already happened.
And it hadn't gone well.
Jiang Ruoqi lowered her eyelashes, but the corners of her mouth lifted—not a smile, but more like she was figuring something out, at least sensing the reason for Duan Jinchen's morning outburst.
"True, the group has more than one company in Xinhai. Now that the boss is here, he'll probably want to check them all out."
"He's just looking for trouble out of boredom."
Jiang Ruoqi didn't respond. As they approached the marketing department's office area, she knew she had to be cautious and not chime in—after all, this was the boss's son talking.
"One more thing..." Just before stepping into her office, Jiang Ruoqi suddenly stopped and turned to address Duan Jinchen, who had already sat down.
Duan Jinchen didn't even look up. He pulled out his laptop from his bag and said flatly, "Iced Americano, extra shot, right? Got it. You never get tired of repeating it every day."
"That's not it." She had already achieved home coffee freedom.
This morning, she had tried using the coffee machine Dr. Meng had bought—weighing, grinding, dosing, tamping. The functions were different from her old one, and figuring out the new machine almost made her late again.
"I was going to say, have Cathy copy all the quarterly marketing plans from the previous reports onto your computer as a backup." Jiang Ruoqi hooked her bag over her elbow and leaned against the door, thinking for a moment. "Also, all documents related to the New Year's Day live-stream event—put them in a folder... Actually, print three copies. The boss doesn't like reading on screens. If he wants to see them, fine; if he doesn't mention this case, having it prepared in advance won't hurt."
Duan Jinchen turned his head and stared at Jiang Ruoqi without speaking.
Jiang Ruoqi thought the young master was about to cause trouble again. For the sake of temporary harmony, she reluctantly soothed him: "Staring at me won't help. Whether he needs it depends on his mood. I'm not trying to give you extra work. If you have other urgent tasks, get Cathy to help, but try to have all materials ready by noon."
"Jiang Ruoqi, you know what?"
Duan Jinchen pushed off with his long legs, rolling his swivel chair over to her.
She stood with her arms crossed, neither moving nor backing away, tilting her head to watch his approach, as if sure he wouldn't crash into her.
The chair stopped just in front of Jiang Ruoqi. Duan Jinchen only had to look up to see her meticulously made-up face.
Jiang Ruoqi suppressed her impatience: "What do I know?"
"Sometimes, making a small mistake is actually a good thing." Duan Jinchen knew she didn't understand, but he didn't explain. He suddenly stood up and kicked the chair back to its original spot.
Under the force, the chair back predictably hit the edge of the desk. Duan Jinchen's voice was low, as if he were bearing everything on his twenty-something shoulders.
"Forget it. Just be careful and take care of yourself."
Jiang Ruoqi: ???
She didn't understand—what was Duan Jinchen going on about now?
Jiang Ruoqi felt this might be where the age gap showed. Three years make a generation gap. She and the young master were six years apart—two generations side by side. A guy with long legs might manage to step across, but she certainly couldn't.
That's why their communication often went off track.
"Alright. Take care of yourself, and you too—get going."