"Get in," Lu Yanming said again. Seeing that Li Zhen seemed to be in a daze, he strode out of the car, picked her up, and put her in the back seat before getting in himself from the other side.
Fei Zhao, the driver, gaped in astonishment. His young master would carry a woman! He stuck his head out the window to check if the sun had risen from the west!
It was only after getting in the car that Li Zhen reacted. "Stop the car. Let me get off. I still have to go to work."
Lu Yanming: "It's on the way. I'll give you a ride."
Seeing that they were indeed heading towards her company, Li Zhen stayed put. Curious, she asked, "Young Master Lu, how do you earn so much money in your line of work? Enough to afford a Maybach? Your annual income must be over a million, right?"
Fei Zhao, the driver, couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Joke of the year: The Lu family's prince earning millions annually.
Hearing the laughter, Li Zhen realized belatedly, "You even have a chauffeur?"
"Well, the income is decent. Having a car and driver makes sense since there are many generous yet lonely rich ladies like you." Lu Yanming smiled.
"Young Master Lu, I paid for it fair and square today. I'm the client, you're the service provider. Mind your manners and don't talk to me sarcastically," Li Zhen retorted, detecting the mocking in his words about her haggling with him that morning.
When the car was about a kilometer from her company, she asked Fei Zhao to stop.
She didn't want to arrive in ostentatious style. With all the gossip in the office, she'd never hear the end of it if someone saw her getting out of this car.
As she got off, her slender wrist was suddenly grabbed and something placed in her palm―a tube of ointment for torn tissues! Her face flushed crimson. "Why...why are you giving me this?"
"You paid for it. You're my client," said Lu Yanming from inside the car, his exquisite side profile radiant and handsome. "A premium service deserves premium care. I provide after-sales service."
Fei Zhao craned his neck desperately to look in the rearview mirror, dying of curiosity about what medicine the young master bought from the pharmacy.
"That little toothpick of yours can barely fill my teeth gaps. I'm perfectly fine. I don't need it." Li Zhen quickly tossed the scalding hot potato back in.
"Young Master Lu's toothpick may be small, but it's polite. This is its courtesy call to fill your teeth gaps." Lu Yanming laughed softly and put the ointment back in her hand.
The car window closed.
The car sped off.
Li Zhen fumed, her head boiling over. Her flushed face was downright embarrassing. His normal words somehow sounded inappropriate coming from him!
Fei Zhao's ears practically perked up as he desperately tried to decipher their cryptic banter.
From the receding rearview mirror, Lu Yanming watched Li Zhen.
Two mornings ago at 9:30 am, he had received the news of their divorce. Ten minutes later, he assigned a major project to Samuel, hastily handed over his work in the next few hours, and flew here to take over the southwest China branch after Samuel left for abroad. Until now, he had been running on nerves without sleep for almost 50 hours straight.
Lu Yanming's eyes fluttered lightly beneath his noble features, concealing traces of fatigue not easily detected.
-
Honghai Plaza was located on Tianfu Second Street in Jin Cheng High-Tech Zone. Every inch of land here was worth its weight in gold, housing southwest headquarters of many Fortune 500 companies. Honghai was one of them.
Li Zhen entered the advertising department and found everyone chatting excitedly about something.
In a corner, her three best friends in the company were huddled together.
Li Zhen stretched her ears over. "What are you guys talking about?"
The three turned and grew even more excited seeing her.
Zhang Xiya pulled Li Zhen over to sit with them. Her gossipy gaze was practically glowing. "Little Zhen Zhen, our new deputy general manager arrived last night!"
"I know," Li Zhen said calmly.
Wasn't Yu Sheng out last night welcoming the new deputy GM?
"No, Li Zhen. You don't know," Meng Yuanjie said mysteriously. "Last night, Ke Mei, the great beauty from Public Relations, went with the leaders to welcome him. She secretly took a photo of the new deputy GM and shared it in their department group chat. The entire PR department exploded! Rumor has it the new deputy GM is very young and so handsome that he makes women's legs go soft!"
Li Zhen clicked her tongue derisively. "You're a man. Why are you more gossipy than women! The deputy GM is a man. What's it to you?"
Meng Yuanjie rubbed his head and laughed. "I'm speaking out for the women of other departments. PR is hogging the photo instead of sharing it, keeping everyone in suspense. How mean!"
"Little Zhen Zhen, why don't you ask Manager Yu to get it? PR will surely give it to him." Zhang Xiya grinned.
Everyone in the company knew Yu Sheng and Li Zhen were alumni from the same university. Yu Sheng was icy to everyone except his alumna Li Zhen, whom he treated slightly better.
Even as a manager, Yu Sheng commanded great prestige in Honghai with his ruthless tactics and rapid promotions. Everyone feared him somewhat.
Now promoted to marketing director, he wielded more influence than even Wang Peng at times.
The silent Qiao Yi finally spoke up, "It's just a trivial thing. Why trouble Director Yu for it? You can't take advantage of relationships like that. Do you think Director Yu is easygoing?"
Qiao Yi was a veteran colleague of many years. She had the most level-headed personality.
After speaking, she checked the company group chat. "A notice just went out for everyone to go downstairs immediately. The new deputy GM will be here in a few minutes."
Zhang Xiya jumped up excitedly. "We get to see him in person! Let's go, hurry!"
