“Hello, Mr. Wen.”
After Ye An’s words fell, there was no response from the other side of the screen for a while.
Puzzled, she leaned forward a bit, calling out again, “Mr. Wen?”
There was still no response.
“……”
Ye An was positive of her conjecture, so she slowly got up, intending to move around the screen to get a better look.
Perhaps sensing her movements, there was finally a response from the other side of the screen. “Hello, Miss. Ye.”
… It was a rather youthful voice, but it wasn’t Xie Shuo’s.
Ye An was taken aback: Did I guess wrong?
“Are you Mr. Wen?”
The youthful voice counter asked, “Miss Ye, you’ve already read the contract; are there any concerns you may still have?”
His refusal to answer the question reignited Ye An’s suspicions. After some pondering, she replied, “There are no issues with the contract terms, but I’d like to meet Mr. Wen in person first.”
The young man hesitated for a moment before asking, “Is that very important to you, Miss Ye?”
Looking at the partition, Ye An softened her tone and said, “Naturally. Mr. Wen, if you’d like me to be your personal assistant, it’s only proper that we meet first before I decide whether to accept the job. Otherwise, if we were to sign the contract and then find issues, it wouldn’t do any party good.”
The other side of the partition fell silent once more.
After a moment, the indistinct figure behind the partition moved, and the young man finally emerged from behind, dressed in a well-fitted suit. It was an unfamiliar face to Ye An, as she had never seen him before.
He walked over to Ye An and took a seat across from her, smiling. “Do you have any other requests, Miss Ye?”
Ye An couldn’t help but glance toward the partition, still harboring suspicions that there might be someone else hidden behind it. However, all she saw was a blur.
Looking back at him, she said, “Turns out that Mr. Wen really is this young.”
The young man didn’t confirm or deny but instead placed two copies of the contract on the coffee table, pushing them slightly in her direction. “If Miss Ye has no objections, you can consider signing the contract now.”
At the lower right corner of the contract, the name of Party A had already been signed with sharp strokes.
While Ye An had seen Xie Shuo’s signature before, it looked somewhat similar to this one, but without a direct comparison, she couldn’t be certain.
Seeing her staring at the contract, the young man softly reminded her, “Miss Ye?”
Being in such a hurry and also so secretive about it, there definitely was something fishy going on… Moreover, the young man across from her did not seem to exhibit any particular fondness for her voice; he behaved as if he was just here to do business in exchange for payment.
Ye An looked up and smirked. “If you are indeed Mr. Wen, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t sign this contract.”
The young man looked slightly puzzled. “Why not?”
Feigning regret, Ye An said, “You see, I’m already married, and my husband is quite strict. He doesn’t like me having too much contact with the opposite sex.”
The young man hadn’t expected this and was taken aback for a few seconds before carefully responding, “Rest assured, Miss Ye. During the contract period, you will only be responsible for reading documents, and there will be no need for intimate contact. Your concerns will definitely not happen.”
Ye An smiled. “Mr. Wen, you’re just joking. Since it’s a personal assistant position, some level of contract is unavoidable.”
She paused, picked up her purse from the side, and continued, “My apologies, but I can’t sign this contract. Thank you for the tea.”
Seeing her getting up to leave, the young man’s expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly stopped her. “Miss Ye, please wait a moment.”
Ye An paused and turned around.
The young man hesitated for a while before saying, “Actually, I’m Mr. Wen’s personal lawyer. Mr. Wen is currently unavailable to meet you in person, so he asked me to discuss this with you.”
Ye An smiled. “What if I insist on meeting him?”
The young man showed a troubled expression, still fearing she might leave, said, “Please wait for a moment. I will make a call and ask.”
With that, he got up and walked toward the partition while taking out his phone to make a call.
Ye An sat back down, holding the exquisite white porcelain teacup with her fair as jade fingers.
Suddenly, she had a bright idea. Taking out her phone from her purse, she took advantage of the moment to call Xie Shuo.
Expecting it to be busy, she was surprised when the call actually went through.
Once more, she was taken aback and started to feel a bit unsure. She glanced behind the partition and said, “Hi, where are you right now?”
Xie Shuo answered succinctly, “What’s the matter?”
Ye An hesitated for a moment before asking tentatively, “I don’t have work this afternoon. Can I come see you?”
Just as she finished her sentence, she faintly heard Zhong Fu’s voice from the other end, “President Xie…”
Hearing that, Ye An suddenly realized that Xie Shuo could have instructed Zhong Fu to handle this matter, eliminating the need for him to take care of the matter himself.
“I’m in a meeting right now; it’s not convenient.” Xie Shuo said after a moment of pause.
He answered her call while he was in a meeting?
Ye An propped her chin on the table and said mischievously with a smile, “Is that so? Since you’re so busy, I won’t bother you in the future.”
Just as she was about to hang up, Xie Shuo interjected, “Where are you? I’ll have the chauffeur pick you up.”
Ye An’s smile deepened. “The opportunity has passed; I’m not going anymore.”
Before he could respond, she asked, “By the way, do you still remember that strange person I told you about yesterday? The one who offered a high salary for me to be his personal assistant to read to him. I’m meeting with him to discuss the contract today. Do you think I should sign it?”
Xie Shuo seemed to be contemplating how to respond. After a pause, he said insipidly, “If the conditions are suitable, you can sign it.”
This response deepened Ye An’s suspicions. Knowing his usual temper, he wouldn’t be willing to let her become someone’s personal assistant.
She tapped her finger lightly on the table and said discontentedly, “You’re not even going to ask what kind of person he is?”
Xie Shuo was quick to follow along and asked, “What kind of person is he?”
Ye An said purposely, “I haven’t met him yet, but I guess he’s just an old guy with too much money and nothing better to do. Else, why would he be so bored?”
There was a weird silence from the other end of the line.
Suddenly, Ye An’s tone turned exaggeratedly panicked, “He wouldn’t have any strange fetishes, would he?”
After a couple of seconds of silence, Xie Shuo finally said, “If you’re worried, I can have someone look into him for you.”
Ye An smiled. “No need, go and continue your meeting. I don’t want to disturb you any longer.”
After hanging up the call, she waited for a while before the young man returned from behind the partition.
“Mr. Wen is currently in the UK. If Miss Ye insists on meeting him, I can arrange for you to go there.”
The UK, the same place where Xie Shuo has to go on a business trip.
At this moment, Ye An could almost be certain that this “Mr. Wen” was indeed Xie Shuo.
She couldn’t believe that he would come up with such a childish and boring agenda.
She smiled and casually flipped through the contract, picked up the pen before setting it down again, and said aloofly, “The UK is so far away; I think I’ll pass.”
The young man hadn’t expected her to be this difficult to deal with, so in his desperation, he said, “Actually, Mr. Wen isn’t considered young for the opposite sex, so Miss Ye’s previous concerns are completely unnecessary.”
Not considered young for the opposite sex?
Ye An resisted laughing as she glanced at him and finally relented, “Then, let’s wait to sign the contract when I meet him in person.”
If it really was Xie Shuo, she would reluctantly play along with him. In any case, she had nothing to do.
But, in the worst-case scenario, if she guessed wrong, taking on this job wouldn’t hurt her.
With a daily salary of ten thousand, she had nothing to lose, no matter how you looked at it.
The young man glanced at her as if he wanted to persuade her to sign the contract first, but the words seemed to catch in his throat, and he decided against it.
That night, Xie Shuo didn’t come to pick her up for dinner because he had to leave for his business trip earlier than expected.
Ye An wasn’t upset. She went home, packed her luggage, and went to bed early, getting ready to meet that Mr. Wen the next day.
…….
The next day, “Mr. Wen” had someone specifically sent to pick her up to board a private plane.
…. Whether it was Xie Shuo or not remained uncertain, but one thing was for sure: he had money.
Having worked for such a long time, this was the first time Ye An had experienced such treatment, and couldn’t help but look forward to it.
When they arrived at an island in the UK, it just so happened to be dusk.
The setting sun over the sea melted into gold, with its rosy light following the waves in winding patterns, casting a golden hue over half of the island.
Mr. Wen was staying at the largest hotel on the island. After entering the hotel, his assistant directly escorted Ye An to his room, which was empty, with no one in sight.
“Mr. Wen has some matters to attend to. He will be coming back later. Miss Ye, please wait for a while.”
Ye An wasn’t sure if he truly had business to attend to or if he was intentionally delaying it. She glanced at her luggage and said with a smile, “I’ll go and book a room for myself then.”
The assistant had originally intended for her to stay in this room, but upon hearing what she had said, he quickly went to book the adjacent room for her.
After booking the room, Ye An placed her luggage in her room and returned to Mr. Wen’s room to wait for him.
Sitting alone on the balcony, she gazed at the distant sunset over the sea and took a few pictures before posting them onto her WeChat Moments.
In no time, she received a bunch of comments and likes, with people asking her where she went.
As the setting sun dipped halfway, the sound of the door opening behind her caught Ye An’s attention, and she turned around.
A familiar figure entered her field of vision: broad shoulders, slender waist, long legs—every inch of him was heart-stirring.
…. She had indeed guessed right.
Ye An got up, took a few steps forward, leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, crossed her arms, and looked at him with a smile.
“Hi there, Senior Wen.”
She added emphasis to “Senior.”
Xie Shuo showed no signs of being guilty at all. Glancing at her, he nonchalantly removed his coat and tossed it onto the sofa, revealing well-defined muscle contours beneath his white button-up.
Ye An walked in from the balcony, the remnants of the sunset casting a soft glow on her, and on the coffee table in front of the sofa were two copies of a contract, precisely the one she hadn’t signed yet.
“Since you’re not Senior Wen, there’s no need to sign the contract.”
Seeing him not responding, Ye An bent over to pick up the contract, appearing as if she was about to leave.
Suddenly, Xie Shuo reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her toward him.
Ye An almost ended up sitting on his lap. She squirmed a bit and looked up. “What are you doing?”
Xie Shuo wrapped his arm around her from behind, holding her securely in his embrace as he looked down and said, “Didn’t you say you’d sign the contract when you met the person?”
Their legs were closely pressed together, and the position they were in was somewhat dubious. Ye An could almost feel the texture of his muscles through his shirt. Her ears flushed, and she looked up at him with a glare. “I wanted to meet Senior Wen, not you.”
Xie Shuo didn’t loosen his grip and locked eyes with her in a deep, intense gaze.
Ye An smiled, deliberately teasing him. “What? Are you trying to admit that you’re a man in his fifties or sixties?”
Xie Shuo picked up the pen next to the contract and placed it in her hand, his large palm enveloping hers.
“You…”
As Ye An was about to utter something, her eyes were suddenly covered by his other hand. He held her tightly from behind, and his warm breath brushed her ear. “What?”
Just a simple word, but it held another meaning when spoken by him.
His deep voice reverberated in her eardrums, her vision obstructed. Ye An felt a tingling sensation on her neck, and she involuntarily became seduced.
It was just a moment of distraction, but she had already signed her name on the contract under his guidance.
His hand withdrew, and she could see the light of day again.
Ye An stared at her name on the contract, utterly stunned.
What kind of trick was this?
