3 Chapter 2

Meng Xin put the document and coffee on the table and squealed. She asked in excitement "Did you guys really see the new chairman director? Is he as handsome and dreamy as the others claim to be?!" . Xiulan chuckled looking at her antics and replied "Yes. He is very good looking." Meng Xin noticed her short reply and asked "Did something happen Xiulan?". Xiulan had very few friends, one of them was Meng Xin. She (Xiulan) looked at her and said in a sombre tone "Granted he had good looks but he didn't give me the best of impressions. His gaze made me feel very uncomfortable... like he was looking at his prey or something. I got goosebumps." This made warning bells ring in Meng Xin's mind because she knew that Xiulan was a very sensitive person to these kind of things and her speculations before were almost always right. Of the 15 years they spent together as friends, she trusted Xiulan's judgement.

After this they just returned to their respective work. Suddenly Meng Xin received notification saying all the people who are incharge of projects which are currently ongoing are to meet the chairman in 10 minutes. She immediately notified Xiulan who was in her cabin. Xiulan nodded and started preparing the necessary documents. She then headed to the top floor to the chairman's office.

Xiulan and 3 other project heads entered the Chairman's office. Lan Jingfeng was seated behind the desk and had a Leisurely air about him. When he noticed his employees enter, he didn't bother changing his posture. He gestured them to have a seat and start reporting progress one by one.

He just sat there and listened to everyone and didn't add or remove anything. When it was Xiulan's turn, he finally straightened his posture and fixed his stare on her. She forced her discomfort down and reported the progress of the assigned project. When she was done, she quickly went back to her seat and avoided his gaze. He finally opened his mouth and said "The progress is good and I don't see any visible errors... Director Zhang please stay back. The rest of you are dismissed."

Xiulan's heart sank as she saw everyone filing out of the room. She stood up and looked at Lan Jingfeng. She asked " Chairman, is there something wrong with the direction in which the project is heading?" to which Lan Jingfeng chuckled lightly. He said "I didn't ask you to stay back to discuss about the project Miss Zhang. I will ask you directly. I want you to he my personal secretary starting from Monday. Mind you Miss Zhang, I don't respond well to rejections. Your current project will be assigned to someone else."

Xiulan's heart thumped. She didn't have any good feelings about this and she felt that this man was dangerous. So to avoid immediate danger, she decided to agree to his request. "I agree sir but I have a condition." He raised an eyebrow and said "speak".

She mustered her courage, looked square into his eyes and said "I want a separate cabin outside your office and since I am new to this kind of job, I need someone to show the ropes." His eyes darkened significantly but agreed nonetheless.

She came out of the office and let out a long sigh. She went back to her cabin in the 40th floor and called for her assistant. Meng Xin came in and noticed that something was off. She immediately started firing questions. When she learnt about the new arrangement, her eyes widened in surprise. She spoke after her surprise (shock) subsided. "Will you be okay?"

Xiulan sighed and gave her a resigned smile.

At 4:45 pm, she stopped working and packed her things. She went out of her cabin and informed Meng Xin that she was leaving. She made haste towards the company's entrance and caught a cab to her apartment.

Once she reached her apartment, she immediately packed a duffle bag with necessities for a weekend and set out to see her parents who lived in T city which was a neighbour to S city (where she is living now).

She rented a car for 3 nights and 2 days and set off. As she reached the familiar alleyways in the neighborhood of her parents' place, she let out a soft smile. She drove into the oh so familiar gates straight down to the garage and parked the car. She got out, took her duffle bag and slammed the car's door. she jogged to the main door and pressed on the bell.

An elderly man in his 60's answered the door and when he saw her, his eyes lit up, gave her a toothy grin and said "Miss Xiulan!"