Wife Takes the Reins: The Calm CEO

Chapter 22: Suspicions of Homosexuality (Thanks to my friends for bookmarking! )

That’s right—since President Yu has two secretaries, surely the “uncivilized” Chairman should have one too. Why haven’t I ever seen one? All I ever see by his side are dashing young men like Ye. Could he be gay? At the very thought, Li Xiaowan’s whole body broke out in goosebumps. “Miss Li… Miss Li, our CEO has finished his meeting. He asked me to come and invite you in,” the beautiful secretary called out twice. No wonder—Li Xiaowan had been waiting with nothing to do, so she’d been daydreaming absentmindedly for nearly three hours. To put it dramatically, her mind had long since drifted off into a world of its own. It wasn’t until the beautiful secretary gently nudged Li Xiaowan that she snapped back to reality, staring at the secretary with a bewildered expression. “Miss Li, our general manager would like to see you. This way, please.” The beautiful secretary showed no sign of annoyance and enthusiastically led Li Xiaowan to the office—perhaps that was simply part of her job! “Thank you!” Li Xiaowan said politely. “Knock, knock, knock...” The beautiful secretary raised her delicate hand and tapped softly on the door to the general manager’s office. “Come in!” a deep male voice called out. The beautiful secretary gently pushed open the office door and took light, delicate steps until she was less than a meter away from the person inside. She said softly, “President Li, the representative from North Gate Branch of Fengyi Group is here to have you sign some documents.” ” After speaking, the beautiful secretary slyly flashed a flirtatious glance at Li Ye, who in turn gazed at her with a lecherous look. Li Xiaowan happened to witness this entire scene; although the secretary had her back turned to her, Li Xiaowan could still discern something from the secretary’s tone and gestures. She’d long heard that secretaries were referred to as “mistresses.” Now that she’d seen it firsthand, it turned out the rumors were true. Tsk, tsk… She’d better sign the documents and leave quickly, so as not to be a third wheel here and disturb others’ intimate moment. These matters had nothing to do with her; even if she saw them, she had to pretend she hadn’t. “Hello, President Li! I’m Li Xiaowan, President Yu’s assistant. President Yu sent me over to have you sign this.” When it came down to business, Li Xiaowan was quite poised and professional—not a single unnecessary word, getting straight to the point. “I know. President Yu briefed me on the phone before you arrived.” Li Ye reluctantly tore his leering gaze away from the beautiful secretary, though judging by his expression, he had no intention of letting her leave. Sure enough, she really was a huge third wheel. So she quickly handed over the documents that needed his signature. After Li Ye had signed them, she was just about to politely say goodbye and leave when she suddenly remembered there was still a task someone had assigned her that she hadn’t completed. If she had to be used as a pawn, so be it—after all, she was just a lowly assistant, while he was the chairman! “Um… Mr. Li, Feng Dong asked me to pass on a message to you: starting today, he’s taking back the two percentage points he previously gave you.” Li Xiaowan blurted it out in one breath, then waited to see how Li Ye would react. “Are you sure Feng Dong said that?” Li Ye asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. Li Xiaowan had expected him to fly into a rage immediately, but she was surprised by his calm demeanor. Could this be the calm before the storm? “Yes, I’m certain,” Li Xiaowan said firmly. “When did Feng Dong return to the country? How come I didn’t know about it? Miss Li, please extend my regards to Feng Dong and tell him that I understand his intentions and gladly accept them. And most importantly, don’t forget to tell him that I’ll personally host a banquet for him in the near future—I hope he’ll be sure to honor us with his presence.” There wasn’t a trace of displeasure on Li Ye’s face; on the contrary, one could see a certain respect for Feng Lingzheng. What! How could this be! Revoking the profit-sharing percentage—wouldn’t that cause losses for the companies affected? And even if Li Ye wasn’t showing any signs of anger or embarrassment, shouldn’t there have been at least a hint of panic or displeasure on his face? Could it be that business owners have mental resilience beyond that of ordinary people? Yes, that must be it, Li Xiaowan thought to herself, answering her own question. “All right, President Li, rest assured. I will personally convey your words exactly as you said them to Feng Dong,” Li Xiaowan said, keeping her composure on the surface. But with her petty scheming, how could she possibly escape the keen eye of a general manager who oversees tens of thousands of employees? “Miss Li, you were silent for over ten seconds just now. Were you wondering why, after hearing Feng Dong’s proposal, I didn’t fly into a rage but instead offered to host a banquet in his honor?” Li Ye cut straight to the heart of Li Xiaowan’s thoughts. “General Manager Li, to be honest, I was indeed thinking exactly as you described,” Li Xiaowan said frankly, making no attempt to hide her thoughts. “How should I put it? Once you’ve spent more time with Feng Dong, you’ll understand—some things can only be sensed, not explained.” Li Ye’s words were tinged with an air of mystery. “Is that so? If that’s the case, then I’d rather not understand.” Li Xiaowan replied to Li Ye’s cryptic remark. Li Xiaowan didn’t realize that it was precisely because of that one remark that Li Ye suddenly developed a keen interest in her. Although the young woman before him seemed inexperienced, she exuded a fatal allure. Of course, she wasn’t his type, and even if she were, judging by what she’d just said, he wouldn’t dare make a move on her—not even if he had ten thousand times the courage. Meanwhile, the beautiful secretary standing across from Li Ye had gone from initial indifference to looking at him with newfound respect. God only knows how badly she wanted to work at Feng Lingzheng’s Company, but whether she tried through the normal hiring process or used every connection she had to get in through the back door, she never succeeded. Sigh! The beautiful secretary couldn’t help but sigh inwardly; it seemed she was destined to spend her life hanging around with a womanizer like Li Ye. Li Xiaowan looked at the two people who had suddenly fallen silent before her and realized she shouldn’t have said those things in front of them just now. So, she respectfully bid Li Ye farewell, and Li Ye then had the beautiful secretary escort her downstairs. It seemed she really did lack experience; she needed to hone her skills more, so she wouldn’t end up realizing her mistakes only after she’d said or done something wrong. In this regard, Xin'er was doing much better than she was. Xin'er had a deep understanding of how to navigate social situations and possessed strong logical thinking skills. As long as she put her heart into her work, she was sure to have a bright future ahead of her. Hmm! When she got back, she’d have to give Xin’er another firm reminder—to stop daydreaming about unrealistic things all the time. With such outstanding qualities, she couldn’t afford to waste them; she had to put them to good use. As Li Xiaowan thought this, she pulled out her phone to check the time. Oh! It was already past 11:00. She had to call Xin'er right away and tell her not to wait for her for lunch—at this hour, there was no way she’d make it back in time. When the call connected, “Hey, Xin'er, just eat lunch on your own, okay? I’m still out and about. By the time I get back to Company, it’ll probably be really late, and the evening rush hour is about to start,” Li Xiaowan said apologetically. “Xiaowan, it’s okay. Why are you out and about?” Qi Xin'er said nonchalantly. “This morning, President Yu asked me to deliver a document for a signature. Unfortunately, the person who needed to sign it was in a meeting, and I ended up waiting for nearly three hours. It’s really frustrating,” Li Xiaowan said. It was only when she was with Qi Xin'er that she dared to vent her frustrations so freely. “That really is frustrating. If it were me, I would’ve stormed right into their meeting room ages ago. It’s just a simple signature, isn’t it? They could’ve just signed it right then and there—it wouldn’t have caused much of a problem,” Qi Xin'er said indignantly, as if speaking up for Li Xiaowan. In truth, Li Xiaowan knew that although Qi Xin'er spoke that way, she wasn’t an impulsive person—especially not one who couldn’t distinguish between what was important and what wasn’t. She was just saying that to comfort herself. “All right, Xin'er, don’t worry. I’m fine. I’ll grab a quick bite to eat and be right back,” Li Xiaowan said reassuringly. “Okay, then, Xiaowan, be careful on your way. Bye!” Qi Xin'er urged. “Got it, bye!” Li Xiaowan hung up the phone. After leaving the lobby, she walked along the sidewalk beside it. Spotting a cake shop by the roadside, she hurried inside to buy a few small cakes. Then, standing by the roadside, she ate while keeping an eye out for any passing taxis. She had to get the documents to President Yu as soon as possible; otherwise, if anything went wrong, she wouldn’t be able to explain herself. She waited for several minutes, but no taxi came. Instead, a Mercedes-Benz pulled up. Li Xiaowan saw the car coming straight toward her from a short distance away. At the sight of it, she quickly stepped aside, afraid that a drunk driver might have been seeing things—if she were accidentally hit, it wouldn’t be worth the risk. But to her surprise, when the Mercedes-Benz stopped, the person who stepped out was someone she’d met just once the day before. It was none other than Feng Yan, the eldest daughter of the Feng Family. She looked at Li Xiaowan and asked warmly, “Sister-in-law, what are you doing here?” “Feng Yan, please just call me by my name. I don’t deserve to be called ‘sister-in-law.’ ” Upon hearing Feng Yan address her as “sister-in-law,” Li Xiaowan felt not the slightest bit happy—in fact, she felt completely uncomfortable. “Then surely I can call you my future sister-in-law? After all, you’ll be marrying my second older brother sooner or later.” There wasn’t a trace of insincerity on Feng Yan’s face. “Haha! Don’t you already know? It’s all just a temporary marriage arrangement. Ordinary people like us can’t possibly hope to be on the same level as The Feng Family’s second young master.” Li Xiaowan didn’t hold back, regardless of Feng Yan’s status. If Feng Yan was willing to go back and tell her second older brother, so much the better—she wanted him to know just how unwilling she was to have anything to do with The Feng Family. “All right, I’ll stop teasing you, Sister Xiaowan. Although The Feng Family is powerful and influential, we’re not a snobbish family. My dad, mom, grandpa, and grandma are all very easygoing. You’ll meet them soon enough, and then you’ll see that I’m not lying.” ” Feng Yan winked playfully, looking utterly charming and endearing, giving off a completely harmless vibe.