My Boss Always Wants to Join My Family - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Mint Leaves (4)

The corridor was exceptionally quiet. She could hear her own breathing, the rustle of clothing, and Lu Yue’s laughter.

The laughter was light and delicate, like a bell on a thin string, jingling in the distance whenever the wind passed.

The two were standing extremely close. Lu Yue was practically pressing her entire body against her, one hand loosely encircling Zhou Ran’s wrist, while the other climbed up restlessly.

Lu Yue stroked her cheek, her eyelashes drooping softly. Her voice held the weariness of someone who hadn’t quite woken up, half-smiling and half-reproachful: “Zhou Ran, do you know?”

Her fingertips were chilly as they lightly covered Zhou Ran’s cheek, sliding downward bit by bit to caress that slender, jade-white neck.

Zhou Ran didn’t move, watching her quietly.

The light in the corridor was dim. Her body leaned against the dark concrete wall, her waist curving inward—a sight that made one’s fingers tighten and one’s heart itch.

Lu Yue blinked. She leaned against Zhou Ran’s cheek, her nose pressing against hers, her breath falling on the skin in a rhythmic, heavy grind.

“A long, long time ago,” Lu Yue chuckled, “I wanted to do this.”

Her fingers slid down, and down further, reaching the neat collar. With a gentle tug of her fingertips, she pulled a button open.

Zhou Ran knit her brows but still didn’t speak.

Her long black hair fell by her sides, partially veiling the skin of her neck. Just slightly above the collarbone, a faint red hickey that hadn’t yet faded was branded there.

It looked like a newly blossomed petal that had been plucked—soft, fragile, resting upon the pale skin and bone.

“…How has it not faded yet?”

Lu Yue leaned against her earlobe, her fingertips stroking the red mark, her voice syrupy: “Sorry, did I bite too hard?”

Her fingers tangled with the white collar as she tugged open another button, touching the slender collarbone.

“Tell you what, to compensate you, shall we go another round?”

Lu Yue pressed against her ear, her breath hot: “This time, I’ll let you bite wherever you want.”

Zhou Ran hadn’t expected this sentence. Her pupils widened slightly, and she parted her lips as if to say something, but she seemed to have been struck dumb.

The next second, Lu Yue let go of her.

She retreated a few steps, her arms folded loosely across her chest, her expression half-smiling: “A casual joke, and you actually took it seriously?”

“Who told you to dump me in front of so many people without warning—and using such a trashy, cliché reason you could find dozens of times on the internet.”

Lu Yue raised an eyebrow and smiled: “I have a very good memory. I’m telling you, I’ll remember this grudge for a lifetime.”

With that, she raised a hand to brush back her voluminous curls and, stepping on her thin stilettos, left Zhou Ran standing there, walking away with nonchalant grace.

…She didn’t even look back once.

The sound of footsteps grew distant. Lu Yue pulled open the door at the end of the corridor, rushed out, and then slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

Whether out of venting anger or sheer spite, it was unclear if she did it to be heard by others or to make herself feel better.

As the echoes gradually settled into silence, only Zhou Ran remained in the long, dim corridor.

She was still leaning against the wall, but her tense back suddenly went limp. Her body slid down the wall slightly, almost unable to stand steady.

Lu Yue’s fingers were very soft. When their fingers were interlaced, it felt like holding a soft cloud—a pair of slender, well-cared-for hands.

She was different. Her knuckles were too distinct, her finger pads too calloused, her palm lines faint and blurry. A thin layer of skin wrapped around her skeletal frame, pale and bloodless.

She lowered her head and unclenched her fist. Lying in her palm was a tiny, crumpled ball of paper.

The paper ball was soaked through with thin sweat; the ink had bled and become a blurry mess, unreadable.

Zhou Ran dazed for a moment, and the small paper ball slid from her palm, falling light as a feather. Her palm was empty; nothing remained.

“…Actually, I…”

She spoke in a low voice, her tone growing lighter.

Lu Yue drove back to her small base, but before she even opened the door, she heard a “pitter-patter” sound of fighting.

The vein in her temple throbbed. She gritted her teeth, let out a cold sneer, and kicked the door open.

She saw a man and a woman sitting cross-legged on the floor, occupying the TV screen in the reception room, playing a video game.

The two were staring intently at the screen, their fingers moving like lightning, the controller buttons clacking loudly. They didn’t even spare a glance at Lu Yue.

Lu Yue took a deep breath and roared at the top of her lungs: “Lu Qian!!”

Lu Qian’s hand jerked in fright, and the controller hit the floor with a clank. The character on the screen was bitten to death by an enemy, and a large “Mission Failed” popped up.

“B-big Sis, you’re back,” he turned around with a stiff smile, feeling incredibly guilty. “This…”

Xiao Hong, who had been neglecting her duties to play games, also silently put down her controller, lowering her head and preparing to be scolded.

“Why are you here, kid? Don’t you have an internship today?” Lu Yue grabbed his collar and questioned, “Is your boss not back yet?”

Lu Qian shook his head repeatedly, his gaze sincere: “The boss just got back from her honeymoon today. I don’t start work until tomorrow.”

Lu Yue glared at him twice but couldn’t find a reason to argue. She let go of Lu Qian’s collar and turned to Xiao Hong: “And you?”

“It’s one thing for Lu Qian to be playful,” Lu Yue said helplessly, “but Ciyu, how old are you? Still fooling around with a college intern?”

Xiao Hong blinked and explained with a straight face: “Sister Yue, everything is done. It just so happened that Brother Lu Qian was bored, so I played with him for a bit.”

Lu Yue truly didn’t know what to do with them. She raised a hand to rub her forehead and sighed: “One after another, not a single one makes things easy for me.”

Seeing that Lu Yue was no longer angry, Lu Qian gave Xiao Hong a look and then leaned in with a cheeky grin, asking: “Sis, what’s wrong?”

Lu Yue rolled her eyes at him.

“It’s that promotion,” Lu Yue crossed her arms and sighed again. “Why does it have to be Serein’s promotion.”

Lu Qian didn’t understand at all, looking bewildered: “Serein? What’s that?”

“Serein is known in the industry as a ‘socialite’ brand. It’s one of the oldest high-end beauty brands, famous both domestically and abroad. The prices are terrifyingly expensive.”

Xiao Hong chimed in to explain: “A few years ago, it couldn’t quite compete with newer brands. But then the board of directors hit the jackpot and brought in a savior.”

Once she said this, Lu Qian had an epiphany.

Though he didn’t understand beauty products, he knew a bit about business fluctuations.

As an old-school brand, Serein had failed to pivot in time, losing its edge on new media platforms. Sales had been sluggish, and dividends were getting worse every quarter.

Just when everyone thought the old brand was heading for its end, the Serein board took a desperate risk. They fired the current CEO and promoted a young woman no one had heard of, whose resume was a complete blank.

This move caused a stir in the business world, and the stock dropped ten points that day. Just as everyone was lamenting that Serein had gone mad, the new CEO took office without a word.

In just two short years, Serein was brought back to life. Every new product became a viral hit, selling out globally. Marketing revenue soared accordingly, and the stock price rose 50% in two years, far outstripping other beauty brands.

“Ignoring everything else, that new CEO is truly amazing,” Lu Qian remarked. “Dad used to smack my head while telling me to learn from her.”

Before he could finish, his arm was suddenly grabbed.

Lu Yue’s anger flared. The corners of her eyes were red, her voice trembled, and she spoke through gritted teeth: “You are not allowed to learn from that scoundrel! Not at all, do you hear me?!”

Xiao Hong was stunned, and Lu Qian was also stunned, completely not expecting Lu Yue to have such a huge reaction.

Unlike the confused Xiao Hong, Lu Qian knew a bit more. His mind raced, and he suddenly thought of someone.

His sister had been an honor student since childhood, handling matters with balance and grace. Although she had a bit of a temper, she was actually a very easy person to talk to.

And the only person in the world who could make her lose her composure and get this angry… was only one person.

Lu Qian’s eyes widened: “No way… that person isn’t Zhou Ran, is it?!”

“Congratulations, you guessed right.”

Lu Yue let go of his collar and nodded listlessly: “Who else could it be besides her?”

Xiao Hong didn’t know about the love-hate relationship between the two, but Lu Qian knew everything. After all, being first loves and then getting dumped was indeed hard to forget.

However, romance is one thing, and making money is another. Lu Yue wasn’t about to pass up such a great opportunity as a Serein promotion.

After much hesitation and long discussions with Xiao Hong, she finally signed the contract Serein had sent over, kicking off a month-long collaborative promotion project between the two parties.

In addition to recording videos and posting blog posts to test and promote products, Lu Yue also had to go to Serein to shoot a series of promotional images.

After the two parties agreed on a time, Lu Yue arrived at Serein several hours early on the day of the shoot.

She had come a bit too early. The Serein staff hadn’t all arrived yet. The receptionist girl yawned and said tiredly for Lu Yue to wait a while.

There were only a few scattered people in the company, all of them women, gathered together chatting excitedly.

Surrounded in the center was a young girl with a straight-fringe mushroom haircut, holding a hot coffee. She looked well-behaved and quite cute.

Mushroom-head was in high spirits, her voice so excited she didn’t even lower it. Lu Yue was sitting quite far away but could still hear her crystal clear.

“I’ve been President Zhou’s assistant for two years. Do you guys know just how terrifying she is?”

Mushroom-head spoke with great emotion, lamenting: “She doesn’t even know how to smile. She doesn’t eat, drink, or sleep. Her itinerary is so densely packed I have to use a magnifying glass to read it.”

“Two years, for two whole years, President Zhou has kept better track of things than I have. She’s never once been late or made a mistake. Is she human? Is she?!”

The surrounding sisters shook their heads one after another, looking at Mushroom-head with admiration and lamenting that being President Zhou’s assistant was truly one of the high-risk, sudden-death occupations in the world.

“But just yesterday, she actually skipped a meeting! She vanished without a trace, missing for a whole half-day. When she came back, her clothes were disheveled, and her collar wasn’t even buttoned—”

Mushroom-head got more excited as she spoke, suddenly slapping the table: “Sisters, do you know what this means?!”

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