Chapter Four (Part 1)

Lately Qin Song was a frequent visitor to his third brother’s IT company.

‘CEO Chen,’ An Xiao Li greeted the ice glacier. Then she gave the gla.s.s of c.o.ke and bun to Qin Song who sat on the sofa next to the ice glacier. ‘Hi, is it Mr Bun or Mr c.o.ke?’

Qin Song gave An Xiao Li a cheeky smile. ‘I’m Qin Song, not Bun or c.o.ke.’

An Xiao Li didn’t bother calling Qin Song’s name, of course she knew who he was – Mr Wild!

‘Hey, let me hear you call my name once,’ Qin Song teased.

An Xiao Li silently scolded Mr Wild – ‘what did he take me for? A lap dog? As if I want to call his name even once.’

‘Qin Song,’ An Xiao Li called sweetly.

An Xiao Li sighed on the inside, if Mr Wild wasn’t her boss’ sixth brother she’d choke him with the bun.

‘That’s more like it, we’re all friends here,’ Qin Song said. He stood up and gallantly gestured for An Xiao Li to sit on the sofa next to his third brother and he moved to sit on the other side of his third brother. ‘Xiao Li, take a seat. Let’s have a friendly chat together. Are you going anywhere this weekend?’

‘Um… I have plans with a friend,’ An Xiao Li said.

‘Oh? What are you doing with your friend?’ Qin Song asked.

‘Going to the cinemas,’ An Xiao Li said.

‘Where?’ Qin Song asked.

‘Why? Do you want to tag along?’ An Xiao Li asked.

‘Of course I’ll come too, thanks for the invite,’ Qin Song said.

An Xiao Li couldn’t believe Mr Wild took her question as an invite. Mr Wild smiled too brightly that she was suspicious about his intentions toward Qin Sang. She noticed Mr Wild’s teeth were straight and pearly white like the ice glacier and wondered if all the Liang’s sworn brothers’ teeth were straight and pearly too.

‘But it’s just me and my friend. If you join us it’ll be three people and wouldn’t be convenient to find seats to sit together,’ An Xiao Li reasoned.

‘Ok, let’s forget about the movie,’ Qin Song said. He didn’t want to go to the movies because Qin Sang could easily hide from him. He thought about a tropical beach destination and pictured himself rescuing Qin Sang from drowning in the ocean and silently applauded himself for his ingenious idea. ‘Let’s all go on a road trip to a beach.’

‘She’s busy working overtime this weekend,’ Chen Yu Bai said.

An Xiao Li jumped up from the sofa. ‘Why?’

Chen Yu Bai pulled An Xiao Li back down on the sofa next to him.

Qin Song was surprised and looked at his third brother. ‘Before I came into your office, I heard Lisa and the others were making shopping plans this weekend.’

‘Apart from An Xiao Li the others don’t need to work overtime. It’s up to me to direct An Xiao Li’s work schedule to meet my needs,’ Chen Yu Bai explained.

An Xiao Li turned away from the ice glacier and fisted her hands. That ice glacier! Didn’t he know about the office rumour circulated about her? She was sick of the whispers behind her back saying that she slept with their boss to land her job. Didn’t the ice glacier care about the fragile reputation of his little innocent secretary?

After An Xiao Li calmed down she turned back to confront the ice glacier but noticed Mr Wild’s eyes looked back and forth between her and the ice glacier…

The moment Mr Wild stepped out of the ice glacier’s office, An Xiao Li saw Mr Wild was surrounded by her female co-workers and he used his dirty mouth to spill nonsense about her and the ice glacier’s kinky master and maid role play at the ice glacier’s house.

‘It’s not like that!’ An Xiao Li denied.

‘I owe CEO Chen a lot of money. That’s why I go to his house to cook and clean to pay off my debt…’ An Xiao Li explained hurriedly.

Qin Song silently applauded himself that An Xiao Li took his bait. ‘Xiao Li, how much do you owe third brother? I can repay third brother for you, after all we’re friends.’

An Xiao Li was deeply moved, her eyes were teary and her throat was choked with grat.i.tude. Who knew Mr Wild was someone who valued friendship over money? ‘Qin Song…’

An Xiao Li was overwhelmed that she found a kindred spirit who understood she was framed that she didn’t notice the cold aura behind her.

‘Sixth brother, lately you have a lot of free time on your hand, right?’ Chen Yu Bai asked coldly.

Chen Yu Bai dragged An Xiao Li back to his office to keep her from escaping.

Qin Song was in a happy daze that he found a way to bribe An Xiao Li to gift wrap and deliver her best friend Qin Sang to him. But his third brother’s scary tone made him tremble awake. He obediently made his way back to his third brother’s office sofa to lessen his punishment. ‘Hehe… third brother… I’m not that free, I’ve been busy lately.’

Qin Song sat on the sofa and realised he was doomed. He foolishly unleashed his third brother’s jealous wrath.

‘Is that so?’ Chen Yu Bai asked. He adjusted his gla.s.ses and glanced at An Xiao Li who was ready to escape after securing a benefactor. He turned to face little Qin Song and laughed coldly. It was his way to show little Qin Song there was a ticking time bomb thrown into little Qin Song’s big mouth. ‘The way I see it, you’re about to be busier.’

Qin Song shivered and immediately stood to temporarily escape his third brother’s jealous wrath. ‘Third brother, I need to go back to Liang’s company. I don’t want to disturb your busy schedule.’

‘Do you feel uncomfortable owing me money?’ Chen Yu Bai asked.

Chen Yu Bai watched An Xiao Li who sat opposite him at his dining table chewing grilled chicken and he noticed her lips were shiny and stained with oil.

An Xiao Li chomped onto a chicken leg and pictured it was the ice glacier’s leg. What a useless question! As if the ice glacier would feel comfortable owing someone money!

‘It’s not like that… not like that at all… I just feel guilty each time I think about my unsteady hands on the steering wheel crashing into your loveable sports car,’ An Xiao Li lied.

‘Answer me, yes or no?’ Chen Yu Bai asked.

An Xiao Li was dead meat no matter what she answered. ‘Yes…’

‘Then if you owed Qin Song money you won’t feel uncomfortable?’ Chen Yu Bai asked.

‘No, but I’ll feel less uncomfortable than owing you money,’ An Xiao Li said.

Chen Yu Bai was momentarily relaxed before he felt angry hearing An Xiao Li’s careless answer.

‘Qin Song likes Sang Sang so he won’t need me to pay him back with money,’ An Xiao Li explained but left out the part about Mr Wild wasn’t going force her to do house ch.o.r.es for him either.

‘You’re not a complete dummy, you can see through him,’ Chen Yu Bai teased.

Chen Yu Bai laughed at himself for liking a dummy who saw through others clearly but was clueless about how their relationship was in limbo.

‘The way he looks at Sang Sang is like a starved wolf, if I didn’t see through him that will be strange,’ An Xiao Li said.

‘Oh? What about me?’ Chen Yu Bai asked.

Chen Yu Bai took off his gla.s.ses, leaned his face close to An Xiao Li and stared into her eyes.

An Xiao Li looked carefully at the ice glacier’s brown eyes, long eyelashes and saw that he blinked once in a while. It was like his eyes could see through a person’s soul… she was startled, OMG, the ice glacier was also a hypnotherapist!

An Xiao Li quickly grabbed a chicken wing and bit hard.

‘Mmm?’ Chen Yu Bai asked.

An Xiao Li silently asked herself if the ice glacier was going to make a love declaration. Her heart thumped in antic.i.p.ation.

‘I said…’ Chen Yu Bai said gently as calm water.

Chen Yu Bai lifted An Xiao Li’s chin, his lips glistened and she felt he was ready to confess.

An Xiao Li couldn’t care less if the chicken legs and chicken wings on the dining table flew to a distant realm… in the world she only noticed the ice glacier’s lips that was about to confess.

‘I said… An Xiao Li the way you eat is too ugly,’ Chen Yu Bai said.

An Xiao Li fumed. Her left hand gripped her right hand. How many times did she tell herself not to be played by the ice glacier? She hated herself that she didn’t dare to stuff the chicken bones into his wicked mouth.

Chen Yu Bai was amused by An Xiao Li gritting her teeth. He put on his gla.s.ses and continued to eat dinner.

Chen Yu Bai ate happily whilst watching the way An Xiao Li was still quietly waiting for him to say something to her that she wanted to hear.

‘Hold the door,’ An Xiao Li shouted.

An Xiao Li wanted someone in the elevator to keep the door open for her.

Unfortunately for An Xiao Li one of the people in the elevator was Lisa. Lisa’ manicured finger nail must have pressed the close b.u.t.ton, because the elevator doors were slowly closing. She ran to the elevator and silently cursed Lisa at the same time – ‘Lisa that b.i.t.c.h! Lisa that evil witch! You better pray to the heavens that you’ll never fall into my hands!’

An Xiao Li reached the elevator within a hand’s distance and prepared her body to be slammed into the closed elevator doors, but the elevator doors suddenly opened and her body slammed into someone’s chest.

That someone groaned in pain from the collision but didn’t push An Xiao Li away. She smelt the familiar cool mint scent and realised that someone was the ice glacier. She knew he wanted to rub his sore chest but held back because there were other people in the elevator with them.

Chen Yu Bai scolded softly in An Xiao Li’s ear. ‘What are you running for?’

An Xiao Li gave Lisa a dagger. ‘I didn’t want to be late.’

‘Can’t you wake up earlier for work? You already eat a lot and now you’re lazy too,’ Chen Yu Bai teased.

The elevator was eerily quiet apart from Chen Yu Bai and An Xiao Li’s whispers. The others in the elevator were shocked to see their CEO who was usually cold was whispering sweet nothings to his secretary An Xiao Li. It confirmed their suspicions, An Xiao Li was having an illicit affair with their CEO!

An Xiao Li felt her hands were tied… that ice glacier! Why was he acting shady in front of her co-workers? She thought he did it deliberately to make sure she was ostracized at work indefinitely.

An Xiao Li’s fears came true when she sat on the toilet seat ready to pop out all the chicken she ate from last night’s dinner out of frustration, she heard her co-workers gossiped about her and the ice glacier.

‘It’s true! I was in the lift with them this morning and heard their conversation clearly,’ the first female said.

‘OMG! What’s so great about An Xiao Li? Her looks are ordinary and her dress sense is ordinary too,’ the second female said.

‘That’s right! Why did CEO Chen take notice of her? I’m prettier than she’ll ever be even with plastic surgery,’ the first female said.

An Xiao Li’s two female co-workers giggled like school girls and left the bathroom… she was constipated from their mocking.

An Xiao Li took her constipated body back to her work desk and used A4 doc.u.ments as a shield for her ordinary looks not to be further mocked.

‘Xiao Li, come into my office,’ Chen Yu Bai said through the intercom.

An Xiao Li was dead in her work chair.

Chen Yu Bai called An Xiao Li’s name again three seconds later. ‘Xiao Li?’

An Xiao Li wondered who in her life truly cared about her to burn incense sticks to mourn her.

‘An-Xiao-Li!’ Chen Yu Bai boomed.

An Xiao Li’s eyes were teary and she realised she was still alive… she took her half dead body to the ice glacier’s office. ‘What do you want?’

Chen Yu Bai was surprised by An Xiao Li’s angry tone. ‘What’s wrong with you?’

‘Nothing’s wrong,’ An Xiao Li said.

‘If you don’t tell me, I’ll deduct your salary,’ Chen Yu Bai threatened.

An Xiao Li silently fumed – ‘that ice glacier! Didn’t he have any other dirty tricks to threaten her with?’

‘Speak,’ Chen Yu Bai warned.

An Xiao Li gritted her teeth. ‘This morning… in the elevator what you said to me in front of everyone, it made them misunderstand.’

‘Oh? Misunderstand what?’ Chen Yu Bai asked.

‘I don’t know what you’re thinking, you never told me clearly what you’re thinking. But, I don’t a.s.sume that we’re… I think things are… good the way they are now,’ An Xiao Li confessed what she felt in the last few days.

‘What’s not good about the way things are now?’ Chen Yu Bai asked gently.

‘The two of us… I feel like, um, the way we are together is… abnormal? You’re capable of finding someone who knows how to cook, and you’re not poor…’ An Xiao Li rambled.

‘But you owe me money, apart from you doing house ch.o.r.es, I don’t how else you can repay me for my loss,’ Chen Yu Bai said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

An Xiao Li thought what Chen Yu Bai said was logical but she felt… he treated her differently than how he treated others. ‘But…’

‘Mmm?’ Chen Yu Bai asked.

An Xiao Li blushed and gathered her courage. ‘But… you kissed me.’

Each time An Xiao Li remembered how Chen Yu Bai kissed her in the spur of the moment, she knew he wasn’t serious but it was hard for her to forget his cool mint breath, his strong jaw and the tingling sensation of having his tongue in her mouth.

Chen Yu Bai smiled happily and An Xiao Li became acquainted with his office floor.

‘Xiao Li, why do you think I kissed you?’ Chen Yu Bai asked.

An Xiao Li didn’t dare to look at Chen Yu Bai. She stood frozen for a while then ran outside his office.

That work day, everyone except An Xiao Li felt that their CEO was in an unusual good mood.

End of Chapter Four (Part 1)