Li Shaoze woke up feeling listless. He saw that it was six in the morning. As he took the sleeping pills everytime he had to sleep, the efficiency of the pills had gone down and he slowly became immune.
In the beginning, he could sleep for eight hours a day and over the years the duration fell down to six hours a day which was actually good in his opinion. But recently he woke up in less than six hours just like today.
He thought for a while and made a plan to consult his personal doctor for advice. He was afraid that his lack of sleep would hinder his work in the long term.
Li Junfeng flew over (literally flying) to the bed and saw that his brother was sitting there in a daze. The door was knocked suddenly and Li Junfeng thought it was a bandit early in the morning.
Li Shaoze recalled his instructions to Zhu Zijin last night and he said, "Come in,"
"Good morning, sir. I'm Mu Ziyi and I will be your assistant starting by today until you fly back to Country E," a woman in a formal suit said as she took a formal bow.
Li Shaoze just nodded as he told her to prepare breakfast and then check out from the hotel. She was competent as she already had a permanent residence ready for him to move in by the afternoon. Li Junfeng stared at the back of the unsuspecting woman who he had never seen before.
Li Shaoze went to clean himself and left the perplexed Li Junfeng alone. The ghost was feeling a bit unreconciled as he bypassed the bathroom door with ease and appeared right behind Li Shaoze who was brushing his teeth.
Li Shaoze being able to see ghosts for as long as he remembered, no longer got scared easily as he glanced over the pervert(?) who suddenly barged in.
"Brother, I don't agree with that assistant you hired!" Li Junfeng said immediately.
Li Shaoze raised his brows, dumbfounded for the reason why. Li Junfeng gritted his teeth and ended up complaining that the assistant should be male!
Li Shaoze was even more dumbfounded when he heard his brother said this. Why couldn't his assistant be female? As long as Mu Ziyi was good at her job, he was okay with that. And what was he worried about?
Unbeknownst to Li Shaoze, Li Junfeng wanted to create a perfect environment for him and Pei Qian in order to cultivate feelings. He had heard of many stories from his rich friends that many influential people fell out of love because of a third party who was either their secretary or assistant.
Female secretary and assistant should not be allowed to work close with Li Shaoze. They were villains in every romance story and a possible homewrecker! And what about his matchmaking plan??
"Brother... listen to me, female assistants are slow at their job, they like to gossip and can't keep secrets. It's better for you to change her or you should just make Zhu Zijin come back instead!" Li Junfeng tried to reason. He knew he was being biased but he just didn't want any chances. Moreover, Mu Ziyi was a very beautiful career woman. She could be a potential rival!
In Li Junfeng's heart, nobody could be more beautiful and career-driven than Pei Qian but he wasn't sure of his brother's aesthetic. Before they officially got together, he must eliminate any variables.
Li Shaoze thought that there was truth to Li Junfeng's words. But he had already given the right to decide to Zhu Zijin early on because it was troublesome. He should have made sure to ask for male assistants next time he would be doing so. But now...
"I can't fire her. She was chosen by Zijin himself. She must be very good at what she's doing," Li Shaoze said as he proceeded to shave, ignoring the frustrated soul behind him.
Li Junfeng was then unable to persuade him so he thought of something else.
A lightbulb appeared as he suggested merrily, "Then later you should ask her if she's in any relationship. You see... if your assistant is currently in love, then it would be good for her to work for you,"
Li Shaoze: ??
What logic was that?
Shouldn't it be the other way around? Mu Ziyi should be single and free of personal entanglement so that it could make her work better with proficience.
Li Junfeng cleared his throat awkwardly because he didn't want to say that it was just an excuse so that he could determine the possibility of whether Mu Ziyi would be eyeing his brother or not in the future.
If she was already in a relationship, then she wouldn't want to cheat with her boss, right? The probability of it happening wasn't high.
Looking at Li Junfeng's pitiful eyes and pouting lips, Li Shaoze had to agree. He still didn't get the logic but he would ask nonetheless.
***
"Pardon?" Mu Ziyi just finished setting up the breakfast on the table and now she was asked such a question.
Her face burned red as she immediately nodded her head very much to Li Junfeng's delight. She then realized her mistake and immediately explained in a stutter.
"I didn't become your assistant through personal means, I swear! I applied through the formal system but Zijin was the one who referred me here. I never asked him in private, really!"
Li Shaoze and Li Junfeng became confused. Ten seconds passed by before they filled the dots by themselves...
"... You're in a relationship with my special assistant?" crossing his arms, Li Shaoze asked slowly. He didn't know a single question from Li Junfeng could uncover a hidden secret like this. The unsuspecting soul floating by his side also couldn't help but perk his ear in interest.
"... I thought you know, sir," Mu Ziyi bit her lip as she realized her blunder. When her boss asked her if she was single just now, she thought he was sounding her out to tell the truth.
She never thought he didn't have any idea at all!
Now that the cat was out of the bag, Li Shaoze sat down slowly on the sofa and interrogated her, "I didn't know he's taken. He's always by my side in Country E and he never asked for leave to come back here. He appeared uncommitted to any relationships so far,"
"It's a long-distance relationship..." Mu Ziyi admitted, feeling quite shy and disconnected. She pinched on her thigh to make sure she was less nervous.
"You two are separated far away because I didn't know about it. Why didn't he ask for me to just hire you earlier?" Li Shaoze tilted his head in confusion. If it was a simple thing such as doing his special assistant this favor, then he could have done it without lifting a finger.
"Well... I was stubborn and wanted to find a job by myself. He and I were from the same department in university but when we graduated, he immediately found a job as your special assistant and had to relocate to Country E. I encountered some personal problems at the time and had to go back to my hometown. We lost contact ever since and maybe that's why he refused to do so," Mu Ziyi didn't know why she had to explain this but she did regardless.
"Wow... they separated but came back together again? Such a fairy tale love story..." Li Junfeng commented.
Li Shaoze's mouth twitched when he heard that. The thing he found peculiar about Li Junfeng was that he liked to listen to other people's irrelevant gossip and stories and later based the reality on that.