34 gentle

Shen Yue drew in a sharp breath and his eyes darkened. Feeling the large bulge under her hand, Xu Wenqi felt as if her entire body had been dumped in an ice cellar. She was frozen and couldn't seem to process what she had just touched.

"Get out."

Xu Wenqi looked up blankly from his chest.

"What?"

"I said get out," rumbled Shen Yue.

With a still expression, Xu Wenqi moved robotically off of Shen Yue's chest and out the door. Recalling what had happened, her face gradually became pink.

'AAAAAHHH!' cried Xu Wenqi. 'I haven't even held a guy's hand...let alone touch…'

She buried her face into her hands and repeatedly slammed her head into the wall. That was the most humiliating experience she had ever experienced in her lifetime. About to run away, Xu Wenqi's gaze fell onto a group of black leather shoes standing near her. Slowly lifting her head up, her facial expression became extremely awkward.

The group of employees coming back from their lunch break: "..."

In the distance, a series of raven calls could be heard.

Xu Wenqi slowly straightened up, bowed politely, and then hurriedly sprinted down the hall in the opposite direction with her face covered.

No one spoke for a while and the atmosphere soon turned strange. After a long period of silence, Vice President Gu asked with a ghostly expression, "You saw that, right? A w-wo-wo-"

Director Jun and the others nodded fiercely like a chicken pecking at rice.

"A woman."

Vice President Gu stumbled back and fell down in shock. The pain in his buttocks couldn't be compared to the surprise he felt at the moment.

"Vice President!"

On the other side of the door, Shen Yue was no better. The crease in his brows became increasingly prominent by the minute and the surrounding air dropped a degree. Although it was an accident, he couldn't help but feel as though he was violated. Who knew such a big man like him would face such a crisis at the workplace?

---

During the meeting, Vice President Gu couldn't help but glance at Shen Yue every five seconds.

'A woman coming from the president's lounge!' Vice President Gu exclaimed.

His mind turned rapidly and in a short period of time, Vice President Gu came up with dozens of cliche Mary Sue plotlines.

'The Domineering President and I, Late Nights at the Office, The CEO is Being Naughty…' Vice President Gu suddenly coughed violently, drawing all eyes onto him.

Coming back to reality, Vice President Gu smiled weakly and gestured for the presentation to continue. Internally, however, he cried. He blamed his daughter for being a fan of these types of novels. Strewn all over the house, he couldn't help but check out some of them. Now, the thought of his boss doing things in the office with a woman wouldn't stop replaying in his mind.

'I'm never buying those novels for her again!' scolded Vice President Gu. 'What nonsense things is she reading all day?'

Promising to re-educate his daughter later, Vice President Gu turned to think on a more serious note. Who was that woman? Of course, asking his boss about his private affairs was out of the question. But there was someone who might know the answer…

Vice President Gu shifted his hawk-like gaze to Secretary Chen who was currently diligently recording meeting notes. While writing, Secretary Chen felt an abnormal chill down his back. Looking around, he met Vice President Gu's suspicious eyes. A big question mark formed on Secretary Chen's face.

Missing the strange interaction between the two, Shen Yue was completely distracted. Instead of paying attention to the marketing department's presentation, he solemnly considered whether the company should have workshops on self-protection.

Thinking back on what happened earlier, Shen Yue's eyes narrowed dangerously. If he knew Xu Wenqi was a pervert, he definitely would not take her back into his house. To think that he let a pervert eat his house's food for free. Shen Yue gripped his chair tightly and accidentally released his killing intent, making the surrounding atmosphere extremely suffocating.

The meeting soon ended with various people having various thoughts.

After leaving the meeting room, Vice President Gu gathered a few trusted employees and huddled around to talk quietly in the hall. Secretary Chen glanced at the group for a spare moment before shrugging his shoulders and walking back to his office. In his mind, Vice President Gu has always been a weird character.

Working for a while, Secretary Chen took a break and went to the bathroom. The employee walking past his door every so often in a seemingly casual manner immediately took out his phone to text the executive group chat the second Secretary Chen left the room.

Secretary Chen walked to the bathroom unaware that a group of men followed behind on his heels a moment later.

Zipping up his pants, he turned around only to find a gaggle of executives with a strange glint in their eyes in a circle around him. Others had blocked the door, refusing to let anyone enter or leave.

Vice President Gu was at the center, posing as a tough mafia leader.

Secretary Chen's face was expressionless.

"Is there something you need?"

Suddenly, a large scroll painting covered his vision. Before Secretary Chen could see clearly what the painting is, Vice President Gu brought it back to his side.

A large question mark was written on Secretary Chen's face. What weird things was Vice President Gu up to at the men's bathroom no less?

Director Jun took the initiative to speak up.

"We all chipped in to buy this for your birthday coming up next week."

Vice President Gu nodded righteously and said gently, "This is an ancient Tang dynasty landscape painting created by the one and only Scholar Bai…"

He stroked the edges of the painting softly.

"...in other words, your favorite painter. You didn't collect this one yet, right?"

No matter how excited Secretary Chen was, he didn't show it on his face. As a business employee, he would be an idiot to believe that there wasn't going to be a catch.

Sure enough, Vice President Gu continued, "We were originally going to give this to you next week but…"

His voice turned bitingly sharp.

"Don't blame us for being cruel. We just want to know one single thing. Who was that woman?"

Before Secretary Chen could even snort in exasperation, Vice President Gu elegantly lifted his right hand. Director Jun bowed his head low while passing a shiny, metallic...knife?

No, scissors. This time Secretary Chen couldn't maintain a straight face. This was one business negotiation he couldn't pass up. No one besides his close colleagues knew that Secretary Chen looked like a mature and smart man on weekdays but was actually a scum for art, especially rare and priceless ones.

Secretary Chen wanted to collapse seeing the blade move closer to the edge of the scroll. His face looked particularly vicious weighing his options. On one hand, he couldn't betray his boss unless he wanted to personally meet King Yama in the Underworld. On the other hand, he couldn't give up the final painting he's been looking for everywhere to finish his collection.

'Forget it, life was more important than a painting' is what Secretary Chen tried to think.

But the reality soon hit him hard as the inches between the scissor and the painting were shortening.

"YOU SCUM- AH-!"

The closer that it got, the more Secretary Chen sweated tiny beads on his forehead.

A millimeter before the scissor blade touched the edge, Secretary Chen cried hurriedly, "STOP! Alright, alright I'll say, just be gentle! BE GENTLE I SAID!"

He pushed his golden rim glasses up and tried to reach for the painting.

Vice President Gu was faster and took it away. Secretary Chen missed and banged the top of his head on the toilet stall. He looked at Secretary Chen pointedly.

"You say it first and then we'll give it."

Rubbing his head, Secretary Chen gritted his teeth and spoke half-truths while the group listened intently.

Meanwhile, the male employees outside wondering why the bathroom wouldn't open had heard an "AH" sound coming from a voice that sounded suspiciously like Secretary Chen.

Before they could brush it off as hearing things, they heard him yelp, "BE GENTLE!"

Soon, they heard a loud banging sound.

The male employees outside the door: You look at me, I look at you.

Someone piped up, "Isn't this the upper management floor too…?"

Everyone was silent thinking about the rumors about Secretary Chen and President Shen. Some fangirls even took it to the next level, dubbing the ship 'ShenChen.'

Someone coughed awkwardly. They were all thinking the same thing. They just needed to urinate after a meeting with their team leader. Who knew they would hear some noises coming from the bathroom? Moreover, they were healthy adult men…Not only that but the people in the bathroom were their bosses…

"I suddenly don't need to pee," someone said suddenly.

Everyone agreed unanimously that it was not urgent even though most of them had drunk too much water at the meeting out of nervousness.

Shuffling their feet, walking away, someone asked quietly, "Who do you think is top?"

"20 bucks on President Shen."

"Oh, count me in too..."

"Wait, me too…"

"Wait, remember the banging sound, though? If he is top, he must have damn good skills…"

Their voices trailed away just as the bathroom door opened.

unimportant notes:

if you didn't see my note from male lead, im not the female lead, i pasted it to here:

wow haha sorry i havent been updated for so long.

this year was really hectic for me. im still a student & probably a lot younger than what you're thinking so im really thankful that all of you have stuck by for so long but i still dont think i will be able to update regularly with all the things going on with my life. regardless, thank you for supporting me & my writing. you guys are so so dedicated & i really love & treasure you all. if i don't update for a long time, it's because i'm extremely extremely busy with school but im trying my best to write whenever i am free.

p.s. if i started a new novel...

im sure all of you will come to kill me right, haha

sorry, i just have so many story ideas altho i never finished etvt & mlintfl _:(´□`」 ∠):_

well if i really do start a new one, uhm please dont kill me because i love you (シ_ _)シ

i have lots of story ideas that i do want to try out so please don't be mad if i'm updating one but not another. sadly, there is only one of me. i wish there was multiple me's so i can finish writing as many novels as i want but since there is only one me...

i'm sorry you have to wait :(( i also hate waiting for new chaps but i don't have much free time as it is & sometimes i have the occasional urge to start new novels because i like making new stories so i understand if u'll want to drop my novels but thank you for staying & waiting for so long <33

me to u: (˶◡‿◡)(˃͈ દ ˂͈ ))っ*˖⁺*˖⁺♡

thank you