"Alright, then take your hand away for a bit, I want to see you."
Song Luokui said, "There's nothing to see, it's too cold outside, I'm going back." With that, Song Luokui stood up.
Chi Yu knew she must have been embarrassed, so he didn't insist. "Okay, good night."
"Good night."
After hanging up the phone, Song Luokui immediately ran back to her dorm room. She wasn't lying, it was indeed quite cold outside, and she certainly couldn't video call him from her dorm.
The next day, she was supposed to go home in the afternoon since she had no classes, but today she had to meet Chi Yu. So after lunch, she sent him a message, "Where are you?"
Chi Yu was having lunch with a foreign businessman at a restaurant. Upon seeing her message, he replied immediately, "Why don't you go to my company first? I'm out right now, but I'll be there soon."
Song Luokui: "Then I'll go drink tea at the place downstairs from your company."
"Okay."
Song Luokui quickly made her way to a hutong near the Shanyu Building, where there was a tea house.
She went straight into a private room, sprawling on the sofa as the tea master prepared tea for her. There was someone playing the guqin and singing in the background.
At Tian Yu, the head of the finance department came to the CEO's office. "Manager Yu, here's a payroll that needs the boss's signature. Since the company had delayed everyone's salaries before, we've just finished verifying all the payrolls from before and last month. According to our company's policy of paying salaries at the end of the month, it would be best if we could issue them tomorrow. Otherwise, we'll have to postpone it until next month."
The coming weekend was the end of the month.
Yu Hui said, "Wait a moment, let me make a call."
On the other end, Song Luokui, who was being attended to by a beautiful woman, received the call. "Hello?"
Qin Keling from the finance department had sharp ears. She seemed to have heard a gentle and slightly languid female voice on the other end. So their boss was a woman? Come to think of it, none of them had actually seen the new boss yet.
After the company was acquired, sweeping reforms were made. Not only were all new employees women, but the benefits had also improved greatly. All the employees who stayed were extremely grateful, and Qin Keling herself was just an employee in the finance department before. But since the previous head of finance had left, she got promoted.
Everyone was truly grateful to the boss. Some even wanted to make a statue of the boss and worship it every day.
Song Luokui heard what Yu Hui said and checked the time. "Signature? Okay, I'm at the Bamboo Creek Tea House on Hua'an Lane, on Menwai Dajie. You can have her come over now. If there are any other documents that need signing, she can bring them over too."
"Alright, I'll have someone go over now."
"Mm."
After hanging up, Song Luokui continued sipping her tea and listening to the music.
It didn't take long for Qin Keling and Yu Hui's secretary Huang Xinqiao to arrive at the tea house, as Tian Yu wasn't far from there. As they approached the magnificent tea house, their hearts started pounding.
They entered, and a staff member immediately greeted them, "Welcome, do you have a reservation?"
Qin Keling said, "Hello, we're here to see someone named Ms. Song."
Upon hearing that, the staff member led them inside. "Ms. Song's private room is upstairs, please follow me."
They followed the staff upstairs. The entire tea house was built like an ancient structure, with pavilions, towers, carved beams and painted pillars - exquisite and beautiful in every detail.
The staff member knocked on the door upstairs. "Ms. Song, your guests have arrived."
A female voice came from inside, "Let them in."
"Yes." The staff member opened the door, and Qin Keling and Huang Xinqiao entered. They immediately saw a beautiful woman resembling an ancient palace maid playing the guqin on the left. There was a censer emitting fragrant smoke on a small table, and on the spacious sofa to the right reclined a woman. She wore a snow-white sweater, with a red gemstone pendant hanging on her chest. Her long, jet-black hair cascaded behind her, making her look like a languid fairy.
They saw her raise her hand, revealing a jade green bracelet adorning her wrist and a glimpse of her porcelain-like skin. Her slender, jade-like hand held a teacup as she took a sip, then looked up at them.
The two women held their breath, stunned. Was this their new boss?
"Why are you just standing there? Come have some tea."
Song Luokui gestured towards the chairs beside her. "Did you bring the documents that need signing?"
Qin Keling stammered, "Brought... brought them."
Qin Keling and Huang Xinqiao approached immediately. "Hello, Boss."
The tea master considerately placed two cups of tea in front of the women.
Song Luokui extended her hand. "Give me the documents, and you two have some tea."
Qin Keling handed over the documents and a pen, with signature tabs marking where signatures were needed. "This is the payroll..."
Song Luokui flipped through it quickly and signed her name. Then she started reviewing the other documents that needed signing. For any parts she didn't quite understand, she asked the two women, who provided detailed explanations with their professional knowledge.
Song Luokui swiftly signed each document and handed them back. Qin Keling and Huang Xinqiao carefully collected the documents, preparing to take their leave.
But then Song Luokui asked, "How many people are in our company now?"
Huang Xinqiao replied, "Reporting to the boss, we currently have over thirty employees." Originally over a hundred, the company was down to just around ten before recently hiring more people to reach over thirty.
Song Luokui nodded, then turned to the tea master and said, "Please pack some assorted snacks and sesame seed cakes for them to take back, along with two cans of Biluochun tea."
The tea master immediately went to prepare the items. "Yes, I'll have them packaged right away."
Song Luokui told Qin Keling and the others, "Wait a moment, the snacks are my treat for your afternoon tea. The tea can be placed in the tea room for anyone who wants to drink it."
Qin Keling replied, "Understood, we'll let everyone know."
The two sat stiffly, sipping their tea without daring to look around.
At that moment, Chi Yu finished his meeting and called Song Luokui. "Where are you? Should I come pick you up?"
Qin Keling and Huang Xinqiao faintly heard a man's voice coming from the phone, with a distinct Beijing accent that was pleasant to the ear and almost coaxing in tone.
But to their surprise, their boss showed no reaction at all. "I'm at the Bamboo Creek Tea House. Are you done?"
"Yeah, I'm coming over now."
"Okay."
She hung up and continued calmly drinking her tea, even offering some snacks to the other two women.
Soon, the service staff brought over the packaged items.
Qin Keling and Huang Xinqiao took the items and bid farewell. "Then we'll head back first."
"Mm."
As they were being escorted out and the staff considerately called them a car, a sleek black luxury car pulled up in front of the tea house. Intimidating bodyguards and a driver opened the door, and Chi Yu stepped out, entering the tea house.
In the car, Qin Keling and Huang Xinqiao held each other's hands excitedly. "We actually got to see our beautiful and kindhearted boss!!!"
