The Former Assistant Seduced The Current President - Chapter 8

After seeing the “plagues” off, Yan Xi locked the shop door and took a taxi to the art exhibition. The exhibition was held at the Jia City Art Museum, a historic building that had undergone numerous renovations. By a stroke of luck, it was located in the heart of the city’s CBD, offering a unique charm of tranquility amidst the noise.

Yan Xi scanned his ID card and entered the museum easily. To complement the exhibition, the interior was delicately arranged, with paintings, sculptures, and photographs blending together while maintaining their individual styles. Despite its downtown location, few people nowadays had the patience for art, so the atmosphere inside remained quite serene.

Yan Xi strolled leisurely through the museum, appreciating the meticulously crafted works and enjoying the rare quietude. Turning past a folding screen, he was suddenly stopped in his tracks by a painting with immense visual impact. Its bold colors and content were truly shocking, and Yan Xi was caught off guard.

A visitor walking from the opposite direction was startled by his sudden stop, could not dodge in time, and bumped shoulders with him.

“I am sorry.” Yan Xi came to his senses and apologized with a bow.

“It is alright,” the other person said, looking at him with a hint of hesitation. “Are you…”

After a few seconds, the man’s surprised, delighted, and incredulous voice broke the museum’s silence: “Yan Xi, it is you!”

Yan Xi stepped back half a step and looked up, his eyes filled with confusion. The man before him was tall, thin, and possessed a gentle temperament. His handsome face reflected a mix of surprise, joy, and disbelief.

“You do not remember me?” The man looked puzzled, then laughed as if remembering something, and volunteered his name: “I am Li Fengyu.”

Yan Xi paused upon hearing the name. Half a minute later, he finally mapped the youthful face from his memory to the mature man standing before him. Li Fengyu, his college classmate. Although he had changed significantly, his eyes were as striking as ever. Before they could move past the surprise of reuniting, Yan Xi noticed the surrounding gazes and realized this was no place for a trip down memory lane.

Li Fengyu pointed toward the door and whispered, “Let us talk outside.”

Outside the exhibition hall was a rectangular lawn, neatly manicured and surrounded by blue brick pathways and benches, a perfect place to rest and chat. Once outside, Li Fengyu immediately took out his phone and boldly asked for Yan Xi’s number. Yan Xi’s phone vibrated briefly in his pocket, and Li Fengyu nodded, smiling. “That is my number. Save it, old classmate.”

Yan Xi had just entered the last digit and pressed save when his phone began to vibrate violently, as if going crazy. Yan Xi whispered an apology to Li Fengyu and turned away to answer.

“Manager Ma.”

“Yan Xi, according to the latest instructions from President Shi, there will be major adjustments to the conceptual store project.”

Manager Ma delivered the notification solemnly on the other end. “Gather the project materials and inventory counts today. Come to the company at ten o’clock tomorrow morning to handle the paperwork.”

Having spoken less than three sentences to his old friend before having to part ways, Yan Xi felt infinitely depressed. The autumn wind whistled, swirling golden leaves across the ground, dancing in the sunlight. Yan Xi stood at the intersection waiting for a car, his eyes inadvertently scanning across the street.

The glass room on the second floor of the mall opposite was a showroom the YK Company had rented at great expense to demonstrate the advancement and convenience of its smart home equipment. Compared to Yan Xi’s little store, which rarely saw a visitor, this was undoubtedly the golden project YK had promoted in recent years.

Visibility was high today. Through the transparent glass, the interior was fully visible: exquisite product displays, high tech operation demonstrations, and professional staff explanations all attracted the attention of passersby.

And standing quietly in front of the giant floor to ceiling glass was a figure. The man wore a black suit with no tie, the first two buttons of his shirt undone, revealing a casual, untamed temperament. As if by intuition, that condescending gaze looked over from afar, locking eyes with Yan Xi, who was looking up from the street.

A strange feeling suddenly surged in Yan Xi’s heart, and he involuntarily took two steps back, trying to hide behind a lamppost.

Suddenly, the man’s body tensed, and his eyes became unusually fierce, as if he were about to pounce and devour him. Across the street, Yan Xi felt the hair on his back stand up.

A white ride share car sped past, leaving behind a cloud of exhaust. Before the dust had settled, someone ran out of the building across the street. It was lunchtime, and the mall entrance was swarming with people. Shi Ye had to push through layers of crowds with great effort to get out. Standing at the intersection again, his expression was terrible.

What the hell. Was he seeing things twice in one day? He had clearly seen someone downstairs and confirmed they had locked eyes for a moment. If he was not hallucinating, and if it was not an absurd coincidence, then the only explanation was that the little sheep was intentionally avoiding him.

Shi Ye involuntarily clenched his fists, then relaxed them a moment later, feeling both angry and amused. He was angry that the sheep had escaped, and amused by his own state, like a jilted wife chasing a scum boyfriend for an explanation. It was truly ridiculous.

After standing at the intersection for a long time, the haze in Shi Ye’s eyes gradually faded. It was just a consensual game where no one needed to be responsible; why take it so seriously? Since the other party wanted to avoid him, and since he was not someone who could not play the game, he would end this farce here.

Shi Ye was in a bad mood today, or to be precise, it was terrible. Perhaps it was the pressure of work, or perhaps it was the person who kept him in a state of agitation, but he felt as if the entire world was against him. It was already late at night when he finished his work in a cathartic frenzy. He tossed his computer aside, picked up his glass, and pushed open the balcony door.

The cool night breeze was perfect for drinking. The suite’s private terrace offered an excellent view, overlooking the city’s nightscape. Wrapped loosely in a dark gray bathrobe, Shi Ye leaned against the railing, drinking alone while admiring the prosperity in the distance.

Thousands of neon lights flickered before him, but he saw none of them, focusing only on the small bar downstairs. Searching every night had almost become a habit.

The whiskey, which usually tasted mellow, felt exceptionally bitter tonight, sliding past his lips wrapped in cold air. Shi Ye gripped his glass tighter and tighter. The night wind did not soothe his mood; instead, it made him increasingly restless.

With his brain saturated by alcohol, his thoughts wandered easily. For instance, the scarlet neon lights flickering at the bar entrance were reflected in Shi Ye’s eyes, and what emerged in his mind was the face of the little sheep, slightly flushed from alcohol.

What kind of nonsense association is this!

Even more terrifying was that he tried to drive the impure thoughts from his mind, but his body underwent subtle, uncontrollable changes.

“Ding!”

The sound of an email notification late at night interrupted Shi Ye’s absurd thoughts. He walked to the table and scanned the content on his computer screen: it was an in depth analysis report on the future prospects of conceptual stores.

After a few seconds of pause, Shi Ye irritably slammed the computer screen shut with a bang.

At 7:00 a.m., the first thing Yan Xi did when he woke up was check his email. Sure enough, the email he had sent on a whim last night received no response. Perhaps the president had not bothered to look, or perhaps he scoffed at his suggestions and did not bother to reply.

Forget it. I did my best.

Yan Xi washed up, put on his suit shirt, and stood before the mirror, using hair gel to forcefully flatten the disobedient strands on his head. No matter how messy the ending, he wanted to close this chapter with dignity.

He woke up early, so the crab bun shop was not crowded, and there were even extra seats. Yan Xi sat at a small table by the door, stirring the vegetable and meat porridge. The fragrance of the freshly steamed buns was appetizing. Yan Xi polished off half a basket, looked up, and saw the queue had already blocked the shop entrance.

When he first arrived, he felt the Sunshine Block was too remote and inconvenient. After some time, he realized that the foot traffic was quite high. Beyond the permanent residents, the niche commercial district attracted many young people. If planned properly, it had great potential.

Stop! Don’t go there!

Yan Xi snapped back to reality. What did development have to do with him, an employee about to be fired? The only thing he could do now was take one last look at the little store he had built with his own hands and bid it a formal farewell.

After squeezing out of the doorway with some difficulty, Yan Xi straightened his clothes and sauntered toward the store. It was early, and except for a few breakfast shops at the intersection, most of the nearby stores were still closed. As he walked deeper into the block, it became even quieter, leaving the area cold and silent.

From a long distance away, Yan Xi sensed that something was wrong. His loose pace began to quicken, and an inexplicable tension welled up in his heart. As he approached the store, that feeling intensified. Standing less than ten meters away, the sight before him sent a shock through his heart: the door that should have been tightly shut was wide open.

A thought flashed through Yan Xi’s mind: The door has been pried open! What kind of world was this, that a thief would be bold enough to commit burglary in broad daylight?

Yan Xi peered inside and saw a sneaky figure moving around. The audacious thief was still there! Yan Xi gritted his teeth in anger. Was he taking advantage of the fact that business was bad to rob him? He scanned the surroundings, found a wooden stick in a flower bed, and weighed it in his hand; it felt solid enough to handle a thief.

The small thief was disheveled and messy haired, bent over the checkout counter, rummaging through something. Is he stealing money? Yan Xi immediately thought of the cash kept in the register, but breathed a sigh of relief. There was no business revenue to steal anyway. However, the desk drawer contained the project materials and reports he had stayed up all night organizing; to a struggling store, those were worth more than money.

“Put down what you are holding!”

Shi Ye was carefully examining a porcelain hippo when he heard the voice. He turned his head sharply and saw a blur of wood swinging toward him. Fortunately, Shi Ye reacted with incredible speed; he tilted backward just as the stick fell, the wind from the swing brushing past the tip of his nose.

He stabilized himself and roared, “What are you doing!”

Yan Xi had never met a thief so righteous. While he was stunned, the other party launched a side kick, so fast that Yan Xi could not react, and the stick in his hand clattered to the ground with a clang.

Their eyes locked, and the atmosphere became instantly tense. The two strands of hair Yan Xi had worked so hard to flatten stood up stubbornly, swaying in the breeze. He rubbed his numb wrist and gritted his teeth.

“You little thief, you are quite fierce!”

Shi Ye stood rigid, staring straight at Yan Xi. After several seconds, as if waking from a dream, he lunged forward, trying to block Yan Xi’s escape path with his body. The height difference was significant, and the disparity in their physiques was stark. As he got closer, Yan Xi felt the overwhelming pressure.

Frightened, he began to regret acting so rashly; he should have called the police. A wise man does not fight when the odds are against him. Yan Xi made a quick decision, nimbly dodged to the side, and ran toward the door.

Shi Ye, however, was no pushover; he would not let him slip away a second time. He did not hold back, using a grappling move to seize Yan Xi’s arm, pinning the startled sheep against the wall in a few swift motions.

“Stay right there!”