4 Chapter 3

Xiulan chuckled happily and said "uncle Wen!". Wen Liang was the old help who stayed in the house for as long as she could remember. He didn't have a family of his own and stayed with them in the house. The old man opened the door wider to let her through. She immediately threw her bag onto the sofa in the living room and entered the kitchen. Her mother, Lu Xiaomei, who was now retired from her job as a university lecturer in the most prestigious university in the city, noticed her and said "You young lady, stop right there. You will go, put your bag in your room, freshen up and then set foot into the kitchen or else no food for you!" Xiulan playfully pouted and said "Mom, how can you be so cruel to your daughter who just drove for about 5 hours and has no energy to walk all the way to her room let alone freshen up?" to which her mother smirked and replied " A person who drove for approximately 5 hours and who claims to have no energy was spied running into the kitchen " Xiulan lifted her arms in surrender and trotted to her room with her bag. She freshened up and went back to the kitchen.

She saw her father, Zhang Long, who was also retired as a lecturer in the same university as her mother, (now he runs a nursery) was sitting at the dining table and was talking to her mother. She ran, gave him a hug and immediately launched into a rant about her exhausting week, trying to gain sympathy. She succeeded when her father told her that she was pardoned off house work. She mentally screamed hallelujah and gave her mother the victory smile. Her mother just looked at her father with an expression which said ' you are so so gullible' To which her father just smiled dotingly at Xiulan. her mother just sighed at her antics and started setting up the dining table. The dinner was harmonious and everyone retired to their respective rooms for the night. Xiulan who was tired drifted off to sleep almost immediately after lying down oblivious to someone harbouring inappropriate intentions towards her.

She enjoyed the weekend at her parents' place and came back to S city on Sunday night.

She reached Lan Corps. at 9 am sharp. The reciptionist told her to report to the top floor directly. She braced herself and went straight to the top floor. She was led into the Chairman's office by a secretary. She knocked and stepped in.

She was greeted to the sight of Lan Jingfeng signing a few documents. He gestured her to sit and continued what he was doing. After 5 minutes he looked up and said "I have arranged a separate cabin for you on the same floor as you requested and..." He picked up the reciever and dialed 3 digits paused and said "send her in". He put it down and continued "...Miss Lin, one of the secretaries will show you the ropes but that's only for today. From tomorrow I expect you to be able to do the things on your own. It will not be that difficult given your abilities I suppose....."

Xiulan grit her teeth in annoyance but agreed to this unreasonable demand nonetheless.