Extra Chapter 19
Seeing the devastatingly handsome boss in front of her suddenly spitting out tea and coughing uncontrollably.
Li Shu was startled and quickly handed him a tissue, asking with concern, "Chairman Zhou, are you alright?"
Zhou Lan took the tissue to clean himself up, trying hard to compose himself before finally managing to say, "I'm fine."
However, internally he was furious, almost wanting to prove to her right then and there whether he had "problems" or not.
This girl, what on earth was she thinking?
And who on earth told her that he used to weigh over 400 pounds?!
But he couldn't express any of these emotions. He could only wait until he fully recovered before saying "excuse me" and then asking her, "What do you usually do at school?"
Li Shu answered, "I spend most of my time in the dorm or library."
Zhou Lan tried asking, "Don't you go out to have fun?"
Li Shu shook her head, "I rarely go out, there's quite a lot of schoolwork."
In her heart though, she sighed. How could she have time? As they say, writing web novels is as deep as the sea - she had already given all her time to her readers, she didn't even have time for dating.
Wait, come to think of it, now that she's working, maybe after finishing this book, she could take a break and try dating or something. From her observations these past two days, there were quite a few young handsome guys in the company.
Zhou Lan, who was quietly listening, raised an eyebrow - just the other day she was saying he was handsome, and now she's interested in others?
Before he could say anything else, he saw her sneaking a glance at him while getting food, secretly thinking to herself, [Come to think of it, this guy seems to be single... How is someone so handsome and rich still without a girlfriend?]
[Tsk, could it be that weighing over 400 pounds back then really affected that aspect?]
Zhou Lan's eyebrow twitched, and he quickly interrupted, "By the way, many colleagues at the company have been reading a novel lately, I think it's called 'Let Me Tell You About My Years of Entertainment Industry Gossip,' have you read it?"
As he spoke, he pretended to casually look at her, waiting for her reaction.
Li Shu indeed froze for a moment, surprised in her heart, "What? He reads my novel too?"
On the surface, she could only nod and say, "Oh, I've heard of that book, seems like many people are reading it."
Zhou Lan continued asking, "Everyone's trying to guess the author's identity now. I'm quite curious too - how does she know so many inside stories, and they're all accurate?"
As he watched her, he heard her secretly feeling proud in her mind, [Of course! With my Statistics, how could I worry about material? As they say, if you don't want others to know, don't do it in the first place. As long as someone does something, I'll definitely know about it.]
Zhou Lan quietly frowned -
"Statistics"?
What kind of thing was that?
Could it be some kind of special ability like his mind-reading?
Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly paused.
Hmm? Why does this scene feel familiar - him repeatedly testing a girl, and coming to the same conclusion?
But there were no such scenes in his memory, it just felt familiar somehow...
Perhaps he had dreamed it before?
While he was lost in thought, he suddenly heard the girl ask, "By the way, Chairman Zhou, I've been wanting to ask you something."
Zhou Lan came back to his senses and made an acknowledging sound, "Go ahead."
"How do you maintain your figure? Do you have any good methods? Could you share them?"
Zhou Lan answered, "There's nothing special, just try to do some cardio every week, do some moderate muscle exercises before bed, and eat less high-calorie, high-fat, high-sugar foods. That's basically enough to avoid gaining weight."
Then he emphasized one more point, "Also, don't stay up late."
As soon as he said this, Li Shu suddenly remembered something important -
Oh right, she hadn't finished writing tomorrow morning's update yet, she needed to hurry back and continue grinding!
She quickly wiped her mouth and said, "I'm about done eating."
Zhou Lan nodded, "Then let's go, I'll drive you. Are you still living in the S University dorm?"
Li Shu quickly shook her head, "I found a small apartment near the company the day before yesterday. I've already moved out of school, mainly because the school is quite far from here, to save some time."
Zhou Lan didn't say much, just nodded, "That's good. I'm driving anyway, I'll give you a lift."
Li Shu politely declined, "It's not far, I can walk."
Zhou Lan's expression turned serious, "It's late, young women should be careful about safety. Besides, you're technically working overtime tonight, so I'm responsible for your safety."
With that, he took her to the underground parking lot and drove off.
Li Shu's new home really wasn't far, less than two miles by car.
However, the apartment was converted from an old factory, and the surrounding environment wasn't very good. When they were about 200 meters away, the car couldn't go any further.
Li Shu quickly said to Zhou Lan, "I can get off here, the road ahead is too narrow for cars."
Zhou Lan peered ahead and saw that the alley was deep and the street lights seemed dim.
He frowned slightly, "Which building do you live in?"
"Building 3, Room 505," she smiled, unbuckling her seatbelt, "Goodbye, Chairman Zhou."
She opened the car door and got out, walking towards the small path.
Zhou Lan didn't leave immediately, watching the direction the girl had gone, wondering how far Building 3 was and if it would be safe for her to go in alone.
Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a phone vibrate.
It wasn't his phone, as his was on him.
Following the vibration sound, he found a phone under the passenger seat, with a white case with gold edges, decorated with a cartoon lucky cat and four large characters saying "Get Rich and Prosper"
Zhou Lan, "..."
There was no need to say whose phone this was.
This girl...
He simply turned off the engine, opened the door, and went after her.
Actually, Li Shu was feeling a bit nervous too.
Because she was in a hurry to find housing, she had quickly decided on this single apartment after just looking online, only to find it less than ideal after living there for two days.
It was noisy, the external facilities often broke down, and the surrounding environment was basically like an urban village.
Fortunately, she had only paid three months' rent, so she could manage for three months and move when the lease was up.
As luck would have it, the street lights were broken tonight, and after passing Building 1, the path ahead was pitch black.
She was about to take out her phone for light when she realized after searching her bag that her phone was missing.
Oh no! Where did she lose it?
She quickly tried to remember, she seemed to have checked the time in Zhou's car earlier, could she have forgotten to put it back in her bag?
She thought about going back to get it, but then realized he must have left already.
So now she could only go home first and use her computer to send him a message through the office software, asking him to bring it to the company tomorrow.
Li Shu had no choice but to continue walking in the dark, but after a while, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her.
Somehow, she felt those footsteps were coming for her. She was startled and quickly sped up, entering Building 3's entrance and rushing up to the fifth floor.
Unexpectedly, the footsteps followed her up.
And they sounded like they belonged to a man.
She was certain there were no male tenants on this floor, so whoever was coming definitely didn't live on the fifth floor.
She became scared and quickly fumbled for her keys to open the door, but perhaps due to nervousness, she couldn't find them.
Meanwhile, the footsteps were getting closer.
In an instant, all sorts of scenes of stalking and home invasion crimes she had seen before flooded her mind.
Li Shu panicked and grabbed the cleaning lady's broom handle by the door for self-defense.
However, at the same time, she heard a familiar voice, "Li Shu?"
She froze - this voice... hadn't she just heard it?
In the corridor light's illumination, the visitor's silhouette gradually became clear, that impeccably handsome face and that perfect model-like figure...
She finally recognized him as her boss, Zhou Lan.
She was extremely embarrassed and quickly tried to put down the broom.
However, she accidentally hit the electrical wire on the wall, and the shoddy wire seemed to come loose from the wall to the ceiling, bringing down the light bulb with it, which fell straight onto his head.
"Fatty! I mean, Chairman Zhou!!!"
Zhou Lan lay on Li Shu's sofa, unconscious for a full ten minutes.
The pain was secondary; mainly, his mind was suddenly filled with flashing images -
He was an emperor, and she was his concubine...
At that New Year's Eve banquet, their first encounter...
She bit him...
Then forcefully kissed him...
She even took an assassin's dagger for him, getting wounded in the process...
She was hemophobic, yet always loved to watch excitement...
She helped him manage various state affairs...
She cured his illness...
They covered each other's eyes...
Their children, Heng'er and Xuan'er...
They supported each other sweetly throughout life, until they passed away peacefully of old age...
Yes, Zhou Lan finally remembered everything - he was once an emperor...
And she was his one and only empress.
...
However, beside the sofa, that girl was still asking him with a panicked face, "President Zhou, are you alright?"
Zhou Lan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. After a while, he could only sigh and say, "Does this have to happen every time?"
Indeed, as his memories returned, he also remembered how she bit him in their previous life.
It really hurt.
However, Li Shu, who didn't understand the situation, looked increasingly confused and scratched her head, saying, "What do you mean... has to happen every time?"
She was startled internally, [Oh no, did the bump make him stupid? Or did he get electrocuted by the light bulb?]
[Damn, what should I do? Should I take him to the hospital?]
[Oh no, if he really became stupid, would I have to take responsibility?]
[Well, considering how good-looking he is, I wouldn't mind taking responsibility, hehe.]
Zhou Lan: "..."
Well, it seemed that up until now, only he had remembered.
But...
Thank goodness he remembered!
Earlier during dinner, she was actually thinking about dating someone else???
While he was lost in complicated thoughts, the girl asked again, "President Zhou, are you really okay?"
Zhou Lan finally spoke, "I'm not feeling well."
Li Shu was startled, "If it's that bad, let me take you to the hospital?"
Zhou Lan looked at her weakly, "That won't be necessary, but I'm afraid I'll need to spend the night here."
Li Shu: "???"
