"There's really something broken in that head of yours." Lai Mingjie gave up for today and walked out of the elevator as soon as it opened at their floor. This general just crashed his day without warnings, and now, his head ached so bad he needed to retreat to something less head-achy. Xu Rouguang only hung his head as he knew he made a huge mistake. Hahah, was he going to lose his job now?
Lai Mingjie didn't make another sound until he entered his office. He remembered the blue scarf and was about to give it back before spotting his secretary on her seat. His secretary was a middle-aged lady who had been his auntie ever since he started in JT. However, there were things about her that he couldn't fully understand from time to time.
He held back the thought of giving it back. "Auntie Qiu, postpone my eight-o'clock meetings thirty minutes later. I just have to deal with something else." He continued to go to the inner office where he really sits. Xu Rouguang only bowed at the auntie before entering the inner office. The woman outside flickered her eyes for a few seconds before doing what she was asked to do.
Upon entering, Lai Mingjie made a beeline to his chair. He sat down and started checking his emails and all the reports on his desk. He left the scarf on his lap as he worked across his desk. Xu Rouguang walked in and looked around the office. It was too dazzling to be here; truly befitting of a prince. There was a couch set before the desk and some shelves along the walls. He placed the coffee at the desk and left it after the acknowledgment from the director.
He walked to the shelves and admired all the trophies and books he saw. There were also some plaques for awards of the office and Lai Mingjie's personal recognition. The shelves were dark, and Xu Rouguang could even see his reflection. He stared at the image in front of him before eyeing at the reflection of his probable boss at the side. He was watching Lai Mingjie work and ignore him for almost ten minutes.
"General Xu—I mean, Xu Rouguang, please sit down." Lai Mingjie spoke, but his eyes were on the computer. The man called walked to the couch and sat, pondering about the previous address given to him. However, Lai Mingjie spoke to him again, "Mr. Xu, let's just pretend you got here on your own and handed me this letter here." He finally looked at Xu Rouguang's direction. "Mr. Xu, you seemed to have a good character... to be referred to my office by Director Duan... but you just can't crash my office. I'll ask Secretary Liu to schedule interviews for you. If you pass, you would have to meet the HR for your assignment.
"I can honor Director Duan's request, but I can't just put you here." He sighed, his eyes twitching out of discomfort. He was sounding too civil towards Xu Rouguang who was supposed to be close to him, right? "Until then, we can't be talking about work-related matters."
"...I see. Thank you so much, Director Lai." Xu Rouguang decided to play along and bowed down to show gratitude. He kept his head low, soon being aware of Lai Mingjie's gaze. He felt like he was being melted by his fiery gaze. There was anger hidden in the director's eyes, but he had no idea why Lai Mingjie would be angry with him. "Director Lai...?" He raised his head and spoke again after getting acknowledged with a hum. "Am I welcome to work here? I have a feeling that I had done you some disservice already... one that I had forgotten..."
"Don't think about that too much." Lai Mingjie decided to keep his eyes on the reports on his table. It was a Monday, and he was going to have meetings for the whole morning. "I'm not that petty to kick you away for something you don't even remember anymore." However, his eyes grew narrower.
Not petty? Who said Emodao couldn't get real petty? He's only letting him off because he was busy... and that he didn't know if Xu Rouguang was just playing with him. If he ended up getting openly frustrated, he wouldn't know how ridiculing Xu Rouguang's laughter could get after everything got revealed. Emodao might probably be an idiot before, but he had learned the way of the new world now.
Strength wasn't going to propel one to the top; intelligence—with a dash of ruthlessness—would.
However, Xu Rouguang was truly happy as he was allowed to stay to work in this place. In his excitement, he forgot to remember that he was his big boss. Words ran out of his mouth; words like how much he was grateful for Lai Mingjie. Director Duan was already too old to provide for him, the picked-up puppy, so he had to look for a job himself. As if the words were moving, Lai Mingjie had forgotten that he was working. There was something about his voice that drew the demon king to him.
Before, Emodao couldn't even withstand Xu Rouguang's voice. There was too many maniacal screaming and yelling—swearing and un-cool noises. The general used to be a chatterbox of how much he wanted to dice Emodao into pieces, and his maniacal speech pattern was a complete turn-off against his appearance. General Xu was an impeccably dashing man with a reputation that preceded him. The only thing they forgot to mention was his noisy behavior. He didn't shut up for goodness' sake—even if he had to be quiet. Then again, he was the greatest warrior of heaven during his time. He didn't have to listen in to find his enemies; he just knew where they were like he had eyes all over his body and on the ground.
Right now, the Xu Rouguang he hears had a rather melodic voice. For some reason, he was like singing even though he was clearly just expressing his thoughts. There were no notes in his intonation, and yet Lai Mingjie couldn't help but fix his full attention at him.
"Jie, Director Cheng has time to see him now." Liu Qiu knocked on the door first before entering. She walked in on them locked in a one-sided conversation—with Xu Rouguang speaking animatedly and Lai Mingjie was listening intently. Wait, the director was listening intently? He didn't even listen all that much to meetings; he only reviewed everything through a recorded session if he needed to recall something.
Her eyes flickered at the scene before her. For some reason, it resembled too much of a scene in a women's book where the Male Lead would acknowledge his attraction to his Female Lead... or a very desirable first meeting of the two leads. Then again, she had to deliver the news. She covered her lower face with a hand before clearing her throat. She felt too guilty to be that character to break the magic. "Jie, Director Cheng could meet him now."
Lai Mingjie's eyes flew to Liu Qiu's image by the door and at that reddened cheeks of hers. Ah, this Auntie kept on behaving like she was twenty years younger. He only leaned back at his chair. "Mr. Xu, you should go and start."
"Ah, I shall." Xu Rouguang got up and bowed at him. "I'll see you again... ah, Director Lai."
The two exited the inner office before Liu Qiu grabbed Xu Rouguang's arm. She then made an 'OK' gesture with a strange smile. "Jie doesn't look at girls even though he's officially engaged to someone. I really think you're really perfect together."
Xu Rouguang flushed a little. "I think you're misunderstanding things, Ms. Liu."