THE FIERCE HUA ZHENDAN

Hua Zhendan hurried back to his office with an unsightly expression etched on his face. He had left Xuan Tianyi alone with Tan Yao. He didn't like that one bit.

When he got to the front of the office door, he found Zhang Lin pacing up and down in front of the door to his office. He reckoned that she was anxious. She was almost looking as if this emergency was enough to cost her her job.

Zhang Lin was usually professional around him. Eager to please, but never overdoing the ass-kissing. It was one of the reasons Hua Zhendan liked having her as his secretary. Seeing her in this ruffled state made his mind wander, wondering about every dark thing that could've happened in his short absence. Perhaps, someone had collapsed and had been brought to the hospital.

Once Zhang Lin noticed Hua Zhendan, she stopped pacing and walked up to him. Her steps, indubitably urgent. Her face, wearing a mixture of panic and relief. "Big Brother Hua, something happened."

"What happened?" Hua Zhendan wasn't in the mood for frolicking around. Part of his mind was still on Xuan Tianyi and Tan Yao being left alone. His mind was troubled, and he didn't find Zhang Lin's scruffling very helpful.

"A woman. In your office, there's a woman. She just entered, I couldn't stop her. I tried everything. I even called security. She beat up the two men I sent."

"What are you saying?" Hua Zhendan frowned at the helpless look sitting on Zhang Lin's face. He wasn't sure he had heard right. Did Zhang Lin say a woman entered his office without permission and then beat up the security guards she had sent to stop her?

"There's a woman —"

Hua Zhendan raised a hand to stop her from explaining again. It seemed he had heard right. If it weren't the woman he was expecting, who else would be this rowdy?

"It's okay, I'll take care of it," he said, and Zhang Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

When Hua Zhendan entered his office, indeed, there was a woman inside it. She was sitting on his chair with her legs propped up on his desk, twirling a pen in her hand.

Hua Zhendan, stunned by the black heels on her feet, gave her a scrutinizing look. The heels had petrified him because they looked to be no less than six inches. A size some of his models had a problem wearing.

When Chong Paizi had told him the woman he was sending over might be able to lift a car, he had expected that she'd be a butch. If you ignored the fact that she was scarily clad in black from head to toe, and had a head full of unruly black curls that made it seem like she wouldn't be caught dead in a beauty salon, this boisterous woman sitting on his chair was slender and even looked a bit girly.

As soon as the woman saw him, she stopped twirling the pen, put down her feet, and sat up. She gave him a once-over, then said, "You must be Hua Zhendan."

Hua Zhendan's ears twitched in annoyance. There were three types of people he disliked; that is people who were either manipulative, undisciplined, or rude. While Shen Rui conveniently fell into the first group, he would classify Xuan Tianyi into the second category. This woman was apparently among the third kind of people.

"Hello," he said while raising one of his brows. Hopefully, that should remind this woman of her manners. He continued, "I'm guessing you're Su Yang."

A mischievous smile played along the corner of Su Yang's mouth. She liked how prim and proper Hua Zhendan seemed — demanding politeness by being polite himself. It wasn't as if she would give him what he wanted though. Having found someone whose skin she could seemingly easily get under, she wasn't ready to let go so quickly. She crossed her legs and stared into his face. "I am."

Hua Zhendan cocked his head to the right to signal her that something was amiss. Even if she didn't want to return his greeting, she should know enough to know she shouldn't be sitting on his chair.

In response, Su Yang cocked her head to the left.

Hua Zhendan straightened his neck and glared at her. He couldn't figure out if she were clueless or merely rude. He was irritated enough as things were so he imagined that the former was the case. "You're sitting on my chair," he said.

Su Yang straightened her neck as well. Quite politely, she asked, "You can sit somewhere else, can't you?"

Hua Zhendan buried his hands in his pocket and said nothing.

His lack of reaction finally got Su Yang. Sighing, she said, "Fine, I'll get up."

With a look of triumph on his face, Hua Zhendan walked up to his seat and sat his butt down on it immediately Su Yang got up.

Immediately Su Yang took a seat, Hua Zhendan started talking. He made little attempt to hide his displeasure towards Su Yang when he spoke. "I feel the need to point out that at this moment, the only reason I'm hiring you is that Chong Paizi recommended you and I happen to trust his judgment."

What Hua Zhendan said was true. He hated her attitude for starters. Then, her stature was a lot less manly as he had imagined it would be. It was only fair that he doubted Su Yang's abilities.

Su Yang gave him an indiscernible look that bordered on either disdain or annoyance.

Hua Zhendan ignored the look and continued speaking in a matter-of-fact tone, "The first thing I need you to remember is that I can't tolerate bad-mannered people."

"I'm good at my job," Su Yang gave him a challenging look. "My manners aren't important."

"They are to me," Hua Zhendan stated.

Su Yang smiled, the mischievousness from earlier had returned to her face. "How much have you got then?"

"What?" Hua Zhendan asked, confused. Just what did her politeness or lack of it have to do with how much money he had?

"How. Much. Have. You. Got?" Su Yang emphasized every word. "I'll be a lot more polite around you if the price is right."

Hua Zhendan leaned back in his chair and stared at Su Yang pensively. She reminded him of a spoilt kid that you needed to bribe before you could send them on an errand. Thoughtfully, he asked, "Do you know the details of the job?"

"I do."

"How much are you charging?"

"Five thousand yuan every week."

Hua Zhendan glared at Su Yang. Her quote was almost five times the price an elite bodyguard would cost him. With an inward sigh of resignation, he said, "Five thousand yuan it is then. At the end of every week that you still work on this job, I'll pay you double of that sum — on the condition that you do behave yourself.

"However, every time you upset me, I'm subtracting five hundred yuan from your pay for that week.

"What this means is that at the end of this week, your payment for this week will be four thousand and five hundred yuan."

Su Yang chuckled and stared at him with praise in her eyes. "You're tough. I like you."

"Four thousand yuan," Hua Zhendan said.

Su Yang sat back and shut her mouth. Even praising Hua Zhendan could apparently piss him off. It was starting to seem like she had finally met her match.

Hua Zhendan noticed her calm down, and a slight inconspicuous smile crossed his lips. Handling this Su Yang would be like taking candy from a baby. He sat up, then crossed his legs. "Now," he said. "Let's discuss business."