My Boss Always Wants to Join My Family - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Liqueur Filling (1)

Zhou Ran seemed to find it a bit tickling. She tilted her head slightly to avoid her, and as she did, a few strands of ink-black hair scattered down, resting against her brows and cheeks.

The indoor light fell between the gaps in her hair in a narrow, thin beam, reflecting perfectly in her pitch-black pupils like a pool of hidden moonlight.

The two were actually about the same height; Zhou Ran was only about two centimeters taller than her. Looking from a distance, one truly couldn’t see much of a difference.

Even though Lu Yue was leaning on her shoulder, she instinctively held back some of her weight, her toes barely supporting her on the floor.

Under her guilty yet expectant gaze, Zhou Ran lifted the glass cup and took a light sip.

Her frame was on the slender side, and her cuffs were buttoned very tightly, fitting closely against her wrists and making them appear delicate. Her skin and bone were as fine and white as porcelain.

Lu Yue secretly measured her with her eyes, feeling she could encircle that wrist with just one hand.

After taking only a small sip of the coffee, Zhou Ran fell into silence and quietly set the cup down.

The employees had watched Lu Yue frantically dumping sugar cubes; watching Zhou Ran drink it now made them feel as if they were also being forced to swallow a mouth full of sugar water, the sweetness making their hearts tremble.

As the culprit, Lu Yue gave a guilty “cough” and raised her brows to peek at Zhou Ran’s expression, asking: “How is it?”

Zhou Ran didn’t even knit her brows. Her expression was flat and calm, as if she weren’t drinking sugar water but rather tasteless plain water.

She said: “Sorry for the trouble, thank you.”

Lu Yue was dumbfounded. She had thrown in a full seven sugar cubes—the kind of sweetness that could stifle a person in one gulp—yet Zhou Ran didn’t have the reaction she had imagined at all.

“This,” Lu Yue wasn’t ready to give up and followed up with another question, “how does it taste?”

Zhou Ran lifted the cup and took another sip. She was silent for a long while before she finally offered a hesitant evaluation: “Quite sweet.”

Lu Yue: “…………”

Seeing the other woman so unfazed and casual, Lu Yue felt exhausted. It felt like she had thrown a punch into a bale of cotton—she had the strength, but nowhere to apply it.

“I’ll be in the company all day today. If anything comes up, you can have Xiao Mo find me,” Zhou Ran raised her head slightly, her pupils looking like dots of ink. “I won’t disturb you further.”

Her hand holding the coffee was extremely steady, showing hardly any wobble. She turned to the little assistant and instructed: “Remember to print the materials.”

The little assistant nodded hurriedly. Once Zhou Ran had vanished with her coffee, a crowd of people swarmed around Lu Yue with a whoosh.

Caught off guard, Lu Yue didn’t even have time to leave before being tightly surrounded by the employees. Looking at the admiring gazes the young women were casting her way, she only felt a headache coming on.

The little assistant was the most excited, her eyes wide and round as she looked at Lu Yue with a sparkle: “May I ask who you are—”

“Instead of asking me things, why don’t you do your actual job?” Lu Yue said earnestly. “Has the document President Zhou requested been printed yet, or are you just wandering around here?”

She hit the nail on the head. The little assistant slumped instantly and ran toward the printing room with a tearful face.

Lu Yue stayed there, explaining herself for a long time. Finally, at the cost of adding everyone’s contact information, she managed to get the young women to disperse.

The morning shoot went very smoothly. When lunchtime arrived, Lu Yue was able to take a break.

She went out of the building to pick up her delivery, only to find the sky covered in dark clouds, looking as if it were about to rain.

Nancheng was a coastal city with a humid and sweltery climate. Typhoons would occasionally swing by, and heavy rainstorms were a common sight.

Thank goodness I drove today, Lu Yue thought to herself with relief. Otherwise, when the heavy rain hit later, it wouldn’t just be hard to get a car—buses and subways might even be temporarily suspended.

She took her delivery and started walking back when her phone gave a “ding,” popping up a notification.

The little assistant had pulled her into a small group chat.

The group’s name was quite funny: “I Don’t Want to Die from Overwork”. Lu Yue scrolled through the members and guessed they were all employees working at Serein.

So, what did the name mean? Was it a complaint that Serein had too much overtime?

Curious, Lu Yue sent a private message to the little assistant. She didn’t expect the girl to be so free—she replied almost instantly.

“Sister Lu, you don’t know, President Zhou is a total pervert!” The little assistant sent a long voice message, her voice trembling. “She’s so terrifying!”

Lu Yue thought to herself: I know. Zhou Ran is a pervert. On the outside, she’s cold and looks like she doesn’t eat the food of mortals, but in reality, her technique is actually quite seasoned. Who knows where she learned it—

Wait, what am I thinking?!

Lu Yue smacked her own head hard. Her face was flushed deep red, and her earlobes were burning. She quickly suppressed those messy thoughts.

She looked down at her phone and found that in the short moment she had dazed off, the little assistant had sent a dozen voice messages, forming a massive wall of sound on the screen.

“Look at other companies; it’s always the boss living comfortably while the employees work until they drop. Our place? It’s completely reversed.”

The little assistant complained bitterly with tears in her voice: “President Zhou is too scary. When we’re at work, she’s doing overtime. When we leave work, she’s doing overtime. When we come in early the next morning, she’s still doing overtime??”

“She works harder than anyone in the company. She never touches the free snacks provided. Every day, she has two cups of coffee at set times. The board of directors was moved to tears.”

The little assistant wiped her eyes, sobbing: “But I’m still young! I don’t want to die from overwork yet!”

After listening to the messages, Lu Yue let out a long sigh. She thought to herself that Zhou Ran was truly a woman of many sins.

Look at this—look how she’s “ruined” these poor young girls.

As soon as Lu Yue entered the group, she received a warm welcome from the girls. The little assistant, acting as the group owner, jumped out and gave a brief introduction of Lu Yue before shouting:

“The purpose of this group is simple—it’s to find a partner for President Zhou so she’ll leave work on time every day and stop leading the whole company to the brink of death from overwork.”

“Think about it,” the little assistant lamented, “if that happened, how beautiful life would be!”

The girls in the group joked around, messages scrolling past so fast that Lu Yue couldn’t even keep up.

One of the girls seemed to be new as well and asked quite curiously: “President Zhou is so cold. Does she like men or women?”

The little assistant’s typing speed was super fast, and she fired back another long reply: “Who cares if it’s a man, a woman, or an alien? As long as they can keep President Zhou from working overtime, they’re a hero.”

Lu Yue wasn’t very familiar with the others in the group yet, so she mostly stayed silent.

However, just watching the group’s lively chatting made her feel quite happy.

Heavy layers of clouds stacked against each other, gradually collapsing across the horizon. Rain poured down, relentlessly drumming against the glass windows of the high-rise building.

The world was a hazy grey, and nothing could be seen clearly.

The cover shoot proceeded in an orderly fashion. The photographer was professional and responsible, and Lu Yue herself had experience and intuition in this area; every expression and movement was perfectly photogenic.

The photographer was full of praise for her. Even the unedited drafts were impressive and stunning at first glance.

“This set of photos is perfect,” the photographer enlarged the images to show Lu Yue. “Once the colors are adjusted in post-production, they can be used immediately.”

Standing behind him, Lu Yue looked at the exquisite photos and thanked him sincerely: “Your skill is amazing. Your choice of angles and lighting is so professional.”

The photographer smiled and accepted the compliment.

By the time the shoot officially ended, it was already time for Serein to close. Employees were leaving one after another, and Lu Yue also took the elevator down to the parking garage.

Who could have expected that the car that was perfectly fine when she drove it in this morning would suddenly break down for no reason?

Lu Yue tried several times to start the ignition but failed. No matter how much she checked, she couldn’t find the problem. She had no choice but to leave it there for now and walk out alone.

The rain was getting heavier, pouring down like a waterfall. It quickly clogged the drains, forming countless rivers on the ground.

Taxis were impossible to find, and buses and subways had been suspended. Having no other choice, Lu Yue called her mother.

“The rain is too heavy today,” Mother Lu expressed deep sympathy. “Yueyue, go wait at the entrance. Mom will send someone to pick you up.”

At the critical moment, her mother was indeed reliable. Lu Yue packed all her things and waited obediently at the building entrance.

The rain showed no sign of letting up. It grew heavier and heavier, weaving into a dense net that draped along the eaves, masking the scenery outside.

As the mist spread, Lu Yue felt a bit cold and hunched her shoulders slightly. After about five or six minutes, she suddenly heard some hurried footsteps behind her.

She heard a familiar voice—exceptionally cold like jade striking stone, yet losing its stability from running. The person was breathing slightly hard, with a faint, trailing tone.

The person called her: “Lu Yue.”

Lu Yue turned around abruptly to see Zhou Ran holding a long-handled umbrella, standing behind her. Her eyes seemed to be veiled by a bit of mist as she looked at her quietly.

“Why are you still here?” Lu Yue blurted out. “Haven’t you guys finished work?”

Zhou Ran replied: “I was doing overtime.”

Lu Yue belatedly remembered the chat group and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “It’s already seven in the evening. You should go home.”

Zhou Ran took a few steps forward, held out the umbrella, and said seriously: “I’ll take you.”

“There’s no need to trouble President Zhou,” Lu Yue glanced at her and declined lazily. “Someone is coming to pick me up soon.”

Zhou Ran paused. After saying “Wait a moment,” she took out her phone and played a voice message.

The sound of a TV drama saying ‘The Emperor has arrived’ came from the background. Mother Lu was wearing a facial mask, crunching on cucumber slices: “Ranran, it’s Auntie Lu.”

“I heard from Auntie Zhou that you’re working at Serein, right? The rain is especially heavy today, and Yueyue’s car won’t start. See if you can pick her up while you’re at it?”

After this message finished, Zhou Ran silently clicked the next one. Mother Lu’s voice became cheerful, sounding delighted: “It’s great that you agreed.”

“I’ll leave Yueyue to you. That girl has a fiery temper; if you feel mistreated, just tell me, and I’ll have a word with her.”

Mother Lu waved her hand and said grandly: “I’ll take you shopping for clothes later, and I’ll cover all the costs!”

Lu Yue’s expression had already become impossible to maintain.

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