Imperial Concubine Yang Yuhuai only loved peonies so the Tang emperor gave her a peony mirror. The flowers on the mirror bloomed when Yang showcased her beauty to it.
— Jiaogu Peony Mirror
A gentleman’s revenge ten years later was never too late. A woman’s revenge began from the morning to late night.
Bai Mian was, without any denial, a classic example of such.
The Bai family’s drama eventually concluded with Bai Qi announcing the cutting of ties with Bai Le and Bai Le being sent overseas.
The incident of Bai Le hiring a killer to assassinate his father and sister spread like wildfire on the Internet, with a few people adding fuel to the fire.
With Bai Le losing a strong backing from Bai Qi, he had no qualifications to go against Bai Mian and was helpless against these allegations. He could only silently accept this ending and travel far away from his home.
It was already nearing the New Year when this big drama in the Bai family came to an end.
Tang Susu didn’t like the New Year because she had no choice but to visit the Tang family in the past and be together with a bunch of people who hated her as she listened to their ridicule.
Today, as the two elders in the Tang family had brought themselves close to death, no one brought up the matter of asking her to return to the old mansion for the New Year.
As for Tang Qiming, he had a virtuous wife and obedient daughter to accompany him. He wouldn’t think about an extra person like her.
There were still ten days left until the New Year holiday. The office was as busy as usual but the atmosphere was very relaxed.
When Tang Susu was sending documents to the Secretarial Department, she heard her colleagues discussing something. Before she could listen and understand the details, she was mysteriously called out to by someone. “Hey, Xiaotang, have you heard?”
The person who called her was an old staff member from the Secretarial Department, Sister Xu. She was very experienced but had the bad trait of being too curious.
Luckily, she knew her limits and didn’t go around asking for things that she shouldn’t be curious about.
Looking at Sister Xu’s excited yet secretive look, Tang Susu was also curious. “Hear about what?”
“The boss’s special person came.” Sister Xu pointed outside.
Tang Susu was stunned for a while before she reacted. She was referring to Shi Chengxuan’s girlfriend.
But did he have a girlfriend?
“Is this true? I’ve never heard about her in the past.” Although she didn’t quite believe this, this appeared to be quite true seeing everyone’s excitement.
A suspicion entered the bottom of her heart.
“It’s probably true. Secretary Wu personally escorted her from downstairs. I took a peek just now, and she’s not an ordinary lady,” she said while looking at Tang Susu.
Tang Susu was different from the others in the Secretarial Department and this was something that everyone knew. Initially they thought that she had some relations with Secretary Wu, but they turned out to be wrong as she instead had an unclear relationship with the boss.
Although no one dared to say anything, who knew what they were thinking deep within their hearts.
Feeling Sister Xu’s gaze that was trying to search for something, Tang Susu’s smile was little faint as she said, “This has nothing to do with our relationship.”
Seeing Tang Susu’s lips tightly sealed, Sister Xu was a little disappointed and casually remarked, “That’s true. Given the boss's family background, an ordinary person does not match him. Sigh, I wonder how many young ladies will be heartbroken.”
She shook her head and spoke as she sighed.
Tang Susu only pretended that she didn’t understand what she was saying; she neither continued nor got angry.
After she left, a few curious people surrounded Sister Xu and asked, “Sister Xu, what’s her attitude?”
Since the time a few people had seen the boss and Tang Susu go for a meal privately, they had fixed their eyes on the both of them. With the “official girlfriend” visiting today, it was natural that everyone was curious about Tang Susu’s reaction.
Sister Xu swung her hand. “There was none.”
She wasn’t stupid. Even if she had gotten anything out of Tang Susu, she wouldn’t say it in front of so many people. That was basically asking for trouble.
Even if the boss did have an official girlfriend, no one dictated that he couldn’t hook up with other girls.
As long as Tang Susu remained in the Dijiang Group, offending her was a stupid move.
By gossiping behind her back, who knew if someone might leak the conversation to Tang Susu? By tracing it, she would be the one in trouble instead. She definitely didn’t want to lose this job.
Seeing Sister Xu tightly sealing her lips, everyone was a little disappointed. They looked at the CEO’s office pitifully, hoping that the people inside would come out and bump into Tang Susu later.
The atmosphere in the president’s office wasn’t as ambiguous as what everyone was thinking.
Wearing formal business attire, with her hair tucked behind her head, Huang Xiaoxiao sat upright on the sofa and looked at the man opposite her.
He didn’t seem to have changed, but at the same time seemed to have gotten a lot more mature. When he looked over, his pair of eyes seemed to have sealed all the space around them — it made one feel nervous, agitated, and boiled their blood.
They had all changed. She thought she had changed to become better but she hadn’t expected Shi Chengxuan’s change to be beyond her expectations.
“Director Shi, Lijia will be having a charity auction two days from now. Please come.” Huang Xiaoxiao smiled gently as she pushed the invitation card towards Shi Chengxuan.
A smart woman wouldn’t use the past to hold onto a man. Even if she missed him, it would also not be right at this moment.
Shi Chengxuan didn’t reject it. He picked up the invitation card and opened it. After scanning the card to the bottom, his brows frowned slightly — he had to bring a partner along.
Huang Xiaoxiao pursed her lips. Knowing that he had read the words below, her heart faintly felt some anticipation.
“I got it. I will be there on time.”
Shi Chengxuan didn’t say anything else except to acknowledge this.
Huang Xiaoxiao was a little disappointed. Although her mission had been completed, she wasn’t very happy. She couldn’t help but look at Shi Chengxuan, who closed the invitation card and didn’t give any more care. Feeling a little frustrated, she lowered her eyes.
Despite this, she wasn’t someone who would give up easily. She raised her hand to look at the watch and said to the man opposite, “It’s almost noon. I wonder if I have the honour of inviting President Shi for lunch?”
“Secretary Wu.” Shi Chengxuan looked at Secretary Wu who had remained so low-profile that it was almost like he didn’t exist since he had entered the room.
The secretary smiled gently and spoke. “You have plans in the afternoon. Your schedule has been arranged three days ago. There are also activities at night.”
Secretary Wu finished his words. Huang Xiaoxiao pursed her lips as her face didn’t look well. Even though she was still smiling, her smile was dry. “Since that’s the case, I shan't disturb you.”
“Secretary Wu, send off Miss Huang.”
“Yes, President.” Secretary Wu wore a smile as he escorted Huang Xiaoxiao out. His professionalism was flawless from the beginning till the end.
It was precisely because of his extraordinarily diligent attitude towards Huang Xiaoxiao that people misunderstood her identity from the beginning.
Huang Xiaoxiao went down the building. Before she stepped out of the lobby, she stopped her footsteps and turned her head to look at the subordinate who was said to be Shi Chengxuan’s most trusted person. “How long has Secretary Wu known Shi Chengxuan?”
“Eight years.”
“Oh. No wonder. Too bad I was already overseas back then, otherwise I would have befriended a genius like you.”
Hearing the hint in her words that she had been close to his boss, Secretary Wu just smiled. "Miss Huang is such an outstanding lady. It is my honor to know you regardless of the time."
Huang Xiaoxiao pursed her mouth and smiled, then asked hesitantly, "How has… Chengxuan been these years? He is cold, and likes to hold everything in his heart. It’s a pity that I was too young back then and could not help.”
“Boss is very well.”