"You treat me too well. You're spoiling me..."
"Silly girl, if I don't treat you well, who else will I treat well?"
Sweet talking was second nature to him.
It would be a lie if she said she wasn't touched by this unexpected gesture. Getting a bouquet of roses and breakfast first thing in the morning made Yan Yiren's heart melt into a puddle.
"Hanjiang, I'm so glad to have you." She pounced on him, kissing his handsome face.
Ji Hanjiang pinched her chin, his fingertips grazing over her cheek slowly, as his expression darkened. "Are you trying to dismiss me with such a tiny reward?"
Yan Yiren stared at him, at a loss for words. He let out a low growl, locking lips with her moist ones.
...
When Yan Yiren walked into the office carrying a bouquet of roses, everyone looked askance and sidewise at her.
Yan Yiren couldn't care less what they thought. She placed the roses in a vase on her desk; their sweet perfume would surely lift her spirits.
When the meeting began, Mr. Chen explicitly pointed out that Yan Yiren would be in charge of the upcoming advertising campaign that they would be collaborating on with the Ji Group.
This was a huge project. Having this campaign under their belt would be an outstanding achievement for the latter half of the year.
Yan Yiren had only been with the company a year. Considering her inexperience, many thought it was inappropriate for her to be put in charge of such an important account.
Who let the president make such a big decision by himself?
No matter how resentful everyone was, there was nothing they could do but grumble about it in private.
"Yiren, about the Ji Group, I'll need you to make a few trips over," Mr. Chen said. "We'll do everything based on the standards set by the Ji Group. No matter what, we'll have to do it till our clients are satisfied, got it?"
He used to call her "Yan," but now he called her "Yiren." Yan Yiren still hadn't gotten used to it. Still, she nodded her head, albeit reluctantly. "Got it, I'll take full responsibility."
Mr. Chen was pleased. He broke into a big smile as he praised her stellar work ethic before ending the meeting.
Once she had reached her desk, someone approached her.
"Wow, what a gorgeous bouquet. Who gave it to you? Your boyfriend?"
Yan Yiren lowered her head, checking through her materials and muttered, "Mm-hmm."
"Who's your boyfriend? How come he never picks you up from the company?" Her colleague continued with a barrage of questions.
"He's a salaryman."
"A salaryman sending you such a big bouquet of roses first thing in the morning? How's that possible?" the interfering busybody continued, turning toward the other female colleagues and giving them signals.
Pfft.
Closing the folder in her hand, Yan Yiren leaned back in her chair. She raised her chin slightly and asked, "What exactly are you trying to find out?"
Taken aback by her boldness, the colleague became indignant. "Why are you getting so worked up? I'm just asking out of curiosity. It's not something to be ashamed of, so why are you getting all huffy? Or are you saying, this bouquet of roses..."
The pitch of her voice rose as she cut off her words as if implying something.
Her male colleagues were so different from her female colleagues, who had chosen to isolate her. The guys were protective, especially of a colleague like Yan Yiren, a stunning beauty.
"Enough! Get back to work. Is there any meaning behind the nonsense you're spouting? If you're jealous of Yiren, jealous of her receiving flowers from her boyfriend, just admit it. What's the point of beating around the bush." Her male colleague argued, standing up for Yan Yiren.
"You!" The female colleague became upset, "Why are you standing up for her? She already has a boyfriend, and it's none of your business. She doesn't need your protection!"
"What's wrong with me trying to protect my colleagues? Aren't you the one who's being unreasonable? Leave her alone. Why are you being such a b*tch?
The argument steadily heated up and eventually reached Mr. Chen's ears.
While the others didn't know of the relationship between Yan Yiren and Ji Hanjiang, he did!
And at that moment, he assigned a personal office to Yan Yiren to keep the gossip at a distance.
Mr. Chen had done that out of goodwill, in the hope of getting in Ji Hanjiang's good graces; however, that only made things worse. Yan Yiren became a target of malicious office gossip and rumors.
And the person who had given Yan Yiren the bouquet of roses was rumored to be none other than Mr. Chen.