53 Claim Him Before It's Too Late

Friday had come, and the employees of JT were so ready for the weekend. Even though some of them still had work the following day, they still all wanted to get into the mood of light celebration. Moreover, it was the birthday of their chef auntie who made the food served in their cafeteria. Rather than eating out, most employees decided to eat in the cafeteria to show gratefulness in her amazing meals.

Another reason was that she was giving out free vanilla pudding to everyone who buys in the cafeteria today. Knowing how good of a chef she was, not even Lai Mingjie would let this free dessert slide. He asked Xu Rouguang not to make anything for that day, and so their boss took them to the cafeteria to eat.

The employees rarely see the top dogs in the cafeteria. It was the most public place next to the main lobby, and so they wished to avoid all the heat, noise, and odor. However, those who had been working there for so long knew that Lai Mingjie was immune to these as he sometimes came down here to eat. With vanilla pudding as bait, everyone knew their future boss was coming.

The smile on the cafeteria clerks' faces glowed and almost ripped their faces apart as soon as they saw Lai Mingjie walking down the hall. Even the employees were all giggling as they knew their future boss liked sweets and would throw his air of superiority into the wind for a cup of pudding. Xu Rouguang was aware of this sweet tooth, and so he only smiled as the clerks smiled at them as well.

Since it was their future boss at the counter, the chef auntie served them personally. However, she wasn't expecting Lai Mingjie to hand her a little gift that wasn't too much for a wastrel young master of the Lai family. It was just a voucher for a top-class trip for two days and one night—enough for a birthday weekend. This got to show that his favorite desserts were made by her hands... ones next to those laced with celestial fruits.

With Xu Rouguang carrying two trays with one hand each, Lai Mingjie looked around for any vacancies. A lot of people were in the cafeteria today, but to stay true to the spirit of the birthday, he should eat there at least. Upon walking around blindly, he got a whiff of an interesting conversation.

"...yeah, they all said she was yelling 'demon' all the while. The police came, but the husband was already gone."

"Oh, no. That's... awful. To think that she just got promoted."

"I wonder if her husband is really a monster though. I heard the body was torn apart, and the head was missing."

The faces of the women in the table scrunched up in disgust. They were eating, and their friend was talking about a rather gory incident. Then again, it wasn't just a random accident—it involved someone from their office.

Lai Mingjie suddenly popped out of nowhere and hummed. "That's interesting. Is that why police were here earlier?"

Only the friends bothered to look. The woman who started the talk sighed as she continued shredding her chicken. "Yeah, they rounded everyone in the office and ask about what we know about her. Well, she worked with us for three years; it's normal for us to know her." She paused and lifted her head, her eyes unclear as if not directly looking at her friends' horrified faces. "We never knew her husband, though. For him to be a brute and do that..."

"You guys are from the Sales department, right? Which office in Sales?"

"Huh? Why do you want to know?" It was only when the woman felt it odd for the person to ask. She turned to Lai Mingjie's direction and was shocked silent upon seeing his face. She was talking to their boss casually? Oh, no! "My God, Director Lai! I'm so sorry! Please don't fire me!"

"Who said something about getting fired?" Lai Mingjie raised a brow. He then turned to the other employees on the table. "Which office?"

While Lai Mingjie was unknowingly terrorizing them, Xu Rouguang and Liu Qiu had found a vacant spot. Since Xu Rouguang could listen in from that distance, he didn't have to walk over to him to know that the matter wasn't anything serious to them.

His smile was plastered on his face like he was so satisfied today. Of course, he was. He just decided how to deal with the trouble of getting the Council of Heaven involved. No matter what, he would never let anyone take Lai Mingjie away from him.

Liu Qiu could feel the elation in his mood. She then giggled and sat next to him, whispering, "Rouguang, are things going smooth between you and Jie? Are we expecting a happy announcement at the end of the month?"

"Happy announcement?" Xu Rouguang stared at Liu Qiu and was confused by the excitement in her eyes. Did they appear to be so loving that Liu Qiu was hoping to hear a happy announcement? Well, he didn't have any official label from Lai Mingjie, but Yu Shenqi wasn't bothering him anymore. Maybe, there was indeed a happy announcement after all.

"Ah, I don't think it'll come that early." Xu Rouguang waved a hand to calm Liu Qiu, but they were both aware that he was excited as well. How nice would it be to be able to call Lai Mingjie his own in front of others? Then again, Lai Mingjie had a fiancee; it might be next to impossible for him to claim him.

That was when it hit him. His eyes flickered and turned to Liu Qiu again. "Auntie, why are you rooting for me? Don't you like Jie's fiancee?"

Liu Qiu twisted her lips. "Jie never liked meeting her, and he would always escape when he knew she was coming. He doesn't like her for him so why should I?" She harrumphed like an offended old lady. She continued with a pout, "At least with you, he's more than civil." The auntie then turned to the general and giggled, holding and patting his arm like a charming granny. "Rouguang, I know you two are closer than friends. There are a lot of women who want Jie. You should claim him for yourself before it gets too late."

"C-Claim?"

The auntie nodded her head, with her eyes glimmering in anticipation. Xu Rouguang only blushed faintly as he had no idea how to cut their conversation. He already tried asking last night and got turned down. Was he supposed to pursue it? Well, it wasn't like he didn't do so to make Lai Mingjie accept his romantic feelings, right?

As if his senses were locked on Lai Mingjie all the time, he jumped when Lai Mingjie was headed towards them. He stiffened and flushed so bad Liu Qiu was sent to a laughing fit. The demon king raised a brow and sent a karate chop to his secretary's forehead.

"I don't need to ask to know you're having lewd thoughts." Lai Mingjie growled lowly just so he wouldn't be heard by others aside from them. He then sat down and started with his lunch. "Auntie, did you hear about that murder involving someone from the Sales department?"

"Ah, I'd rather finish my lunch first before talking about that, Jie." Liu Qiu released Xu Rouguang before hopping to the seat next to Lai Mingjie. She started whispering about how bad it was and how awful of an event it was.

Only Xu Rouguang noticed how dark Lai Mingjie's expression was upon listening to her. It was as if something was happening again.