After watching Li Ni leave, Ru Yin Yue returned to her seat. However, Si Zha Nan was far from done with her. He glared at her.
"If you can't even stop people from entering my office without permission, then you might as well resign."
"My deepest apologies, President Si," Ru Yin Yue responded, keeping her voice level. She was sure that he had heard her trying to get Li Na to leave, but wanted to find fault with her. "I assume that in future, I am allowed to use physical force to remove them from your office?"
"If you have the ability to kick them out, then do so." Si Zha Nan snorted. He didn't regard Ru Yin Yue highly, thinking that she was weak and a pushover. He clearly forgot how she twisted his arm back in Sophia Bar that night. She might have learned some strange skills, but he was still physically stronger. And if she turned out to be strong enough to physically push Li Na out of his office, all the better. Si Zha Nan couldn't stand the actress. In a way, she was worse than his wife.
He returned to his desk, only to pause before he sat down. Turning to Ru Yin Yue, he said in a calmer tone.
"I'm having dinner with several bigshots from major companies tonight. I need you to arrange it – book a reservation for ten at Riverview Hotel."
"Okay." Ru Yin Yue nodded, already calling up the window for the website for Riverview Hotel. She submitted an online reservation and immediately received a response on her email. "I've booked the private ballroom at East River Hotel at seven pm. I'll forward the venue and time to the guests."
"Excellent." Even though Si Zha Nan hated to admit it, Ru Yin Yue was very good at her job. He had expected her to falter and fumble about because of her lack of working experience, but she had worked several part-time jobs in cafes and restaurants while attending music school, so she had developed a keen sense of responsibility.
While he returned to his desk, Ru Yin Yue reached for her smartphone and typed a quick text message to auntie Yi, informing her that she would not be returning home for dinner tonight. She had to serve as a hostess, even if she wasn't directly involved in the negotiations. On one hand, she saw this as an opportunity.
She had decided to play along and be Si Zha Nan's secretary in order to establish connections, after all. If she could just get the ear of a CEO from a music company or something…not that there were any here. There was one media company, but it was better than nothing. At the very least, she could get a name card and then work from there. She would send the details to Xia Ning Xue later. She wondered if she should tell Xia Ning Xue to find a job elsewhere.
Right now she couldn't afford to pay Xia Ning Xue.
They continued to work in silence for the rest of the afternoon, but once it was six in the evening, Si Zha Nan got up.
"Follow me," he told her. "We'll be heading to Riverview Hotel together. I need you to greet the guests at the lobby and escort them to the ballroom."
"Understood." Ru Yin Yue shut down her computer, packed her files and rose to follow him. If she was following him in her capacity as his secretary, the other staff would have no reason to gossip or spread rumors. This was strictly work. It made less sense if the president didn't give her a lift.
As the organizer, Si Corporation did the hosting. Sort of, anyway. Si Zha Nan went straight to the ballroom to prepare the meeting – though, since Ru Yin Yue had already arranged everything, from the menu to the ballroom beforehand, all he really needed to do was set up his laptop and wait for the guests. He posted his secretary to the lobby to wait for the guests, as he instructed earlier.
As the hour ticked closer to seven, several of the VIPs arrived, and Ru Yin Yue would greet them and guide them toward the ballroom.
"President Wang, this way please. President Si is waiting for you inside the ballroom."
"Thanks." The chubby, middle-aged man smiled at Ru Yin Yue when she led him down the corridor and politely gestured toward the ballroom. "You're quite the lovely young lady."
"Thank you for your praise." Ru Yin Yue felt uncomfortable, but fortunately, Wang did not spend too much time staring at her. He immediately entered the ballroom, booming into laughter when he saw the people inside.
"Ah, President Si! It has been a while!"
"Not since the Xu Market Deal," Si Zha Nan agreed, rising to greet Wang.
While the two men discussed business, Ru Yin Yue quietly took her leave and returned to the lobby. She had to repeat the same task a few more times, until all the nine guests in the list showed up. Once she was done, she wondered if she should leave. Now that she thought about it, Si Zha Nan hadn't actually told her what to do when she was done greeting and escorting the guests. Was she free now? Could she go home? Or was she supposed to have dinner with them?
No, that wasn't right. She only booked dinner for ten. There was no space at the table for her.
Sighing, Ru Yin Yue decided to go home. She sent Si Zha Nan a text message, politely asking him if she could leave now that her job was done, but he almost immediately replied with a single, blunt message.
"No, stay here. You are not to go home until the meeting is done. Once the dinner is over, you can go wherever you want."
Typical. Ru Yin Yue shook her head. She knew that such dinner meetings would take at least a couple of hours. The businessmen and big shots would drink quite a bit and get drunk. Perhaps Si Zha Nan wanted her to drive him home after he consumed a lot of alcohol.
She didn't know.
Bored, and with nothing to do, she wandered about the hotel, wondering if she should buy dinner from the hotel owned restaurant. She wouldn't go into the ballroom, just a private table at the restaurant itself. She didn't have money for such a lucrative meal, however. She had only just gotten a new job today and she hadn't received her salary. Not to mention, she didn't get any new music jobs for the last month or so.
Poor Ru Yin Yue decided to go hungry for now. She'll buy a cheap meal from a street side stall later. If it was still open after the meeting.
For now, she just wandered around the lobby aimlessly. There was no point standing sentinel at the door of the ballroom – she would just creep the guests out. So she decided to explore the hotel and perhaps take a seat at one of the cushioned benches in the lobby.
While making her way through the corridor where the ballroom was located, she ended up winding in another space where there was another conference. From the banners, it appeared to be an international university conference. Graduate students and professors from various universities had gathered to attend panels and deliver presentations.
"East Asian Art," she muttered, looking at the posters and banners. There were a few pictures of famous scholars and authors. It appeared to cover the fields of literature, linguistics, history, philosophy and culture. A presentation on music caught her eye too and she read through it, intrigued. "An analysis of the impact of early Tang Chinese music on the imperial court."
"A Song of Everlasting Sorrow: Political and Social Allegories subtly woven into Lyrics and Subtext."
"Song and Dance: Early Nationalist Narratives in twentieth century opera."
A smile came to her face. Even though this was music, none of it interested her. For one thing, Ru Yin Yue was not big on theory. She wasn't very interested in history. Furthermore, her specialization lay in Western classical music, not Eastern classical music. She could play the piano, and to a certain extent, the violin – she had learned the former when she was a child and further honed her skills during her years at the Royal Academy of Music, along with learning the latter in Country E. But the guqin? Erhu? Those were totally out of her depth.
Turning away, she then proceeded out of the corridor, passing by a few graduate students who were chatting eagerly to each other and a stern-looking professor.
Then she froze.
A familiar figure was speaking to someone at one of the stations, helping out with registering the guests and handing out brochures for the conference. His back was turned to her for now, but she was sure she recognized that silhouette anywhere.
It was one that used to strike fear in her heart. Well, not so much fear as it was unease.
The person turned around, and her suspicions were confirmed. That pair of black-rimmed glasses. Short, dark hair and a nerdy countenance. An awkward but friendly smile.
"What is he doing here?"
The person caught sight of Ru Yin Yue. A flicker of recognition crossed his eyes and he nodded briefly, but didn't call out to her. He turned away, only to return his attention to her when she inadvertently whispered his name.
"Ai Kan Shu."
"Um…Ru Yin Yue." Ai Kan Shu scratched his head embarrassedly, but didn't meet her gaze. The last time they spoke, it had been on awkward terms. After all, it was Ru Yin Yue herself who told him to stop stalking her online, to stop following her on social media. "Long time no see."
"What are you doing here?" Ru Yin Yue tried not to sound accusatory. She wasn't self-centered enough to suspect him of stalking her. Clearly he had a good reason to be here. And he did.
"The East Asian Liberal Arts Conference," he replied and offered her a brochure. She accepted it without thinking. He cleared his throat. "If you're interested, you can register and listen to a few of the talks."
"That won't be necessary. I'm sure the talks are interesting, but I'm afraid I won't understand any of them. They are far from my area of expertise." Ru Yin Yue smiled politely as she refused. Ai Kan Shu blinked, confused.
"Are you not here for the conference?"
"No. I'm here for a business meeting. I'm…Si Zha Nan's secretary."
"Huh? Si Zha Nan?" Ai Kan Shu tried to remember. Then his eyes glowed in recognition. "Oh, I know! That's right, he's now the CEO of Si Corporation, right?"
"Yes. And I'm his secretary now." Ru Yin Yue wasn't sure why she was repeating herself. This was so awkward. She remembered how creepy Ai Kan Shu was, and she was wary of him. It couldn't help that she would keep her guard up around him, which was why she couldn't think of anything to converse with him. She wanted an excuse to leave.
Fortunately, Ai Kan Shu was able to read her mood, and he quickly backed off, waving at the table with the registration documents and brochures.
"Um, well, I have to return to my duties, and I'm sure you have your own tasks to tend to, so I don't want to keep you for too long. If there's anything you need help with, let me know."
"No problem." Ru Yin Yue nodded, glad for the reason he gave her, and turned to leave.