A Feast

Seeing her dawdling, Lu Mingyu spoke directly. "If you haven't left my house within ten seconds, I'll call the police."

Tang Ruan's eye twitched. So frightened that she did not dare linger any longer, she strode away.

Song Shi'an could not stop shaking his head. What a hopelessly straight man of steel. He can't even see the affection in the girl's eyes.

"Assistant Song!" Lu Mingyu suddenly called out, making Song Shi'an jolt.

He hurriedly put on a respectful expression. "I'm here, President Lu. What are your instructions?"

"Help me back," Lu Mingyu said, raising a hand.

Song Shi'an felt as though Lu Mingyu was treating him like a eunuch...

Still, he eagerly stepped forward, supported Lu Mingyu by the arm, and helped him back to the sofa.

Once seated on the sofa again, Lu Mingyu felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Tang Ruan had startled him so badly earlier that he had sprung away with too much force, leaving his waist aching.

He twisted from side to side, but the discomfort remained, so he could only reach out and rub his waist.

Song Shi'an noticed that small gesture.

When ordering dinner, he deliberately kept it in mind.

At dinnertime.

Lu Mingyu stared at the "feast" on the table and fell silent.

Seeing that Lu Mingyu was not picking up his chopsticks, Song Shi'an asked curiously, "President Lu, what's wrong? Don't you like these dishes?"

Lu Mingyu clenched the chopsticks in his hand so tightly that he nearly snapped them.

On the table were scrambled eggs with chives, grilled oysters, stir-fried pork kidneys, braised venison, and Ten-Tonic Soup sprinkled with dense layers of goji berries.

The veins on Lu Mingyu's forehead throbbed twice. He looked at Song Shi'an with a dark expression. "In your eyes, am I so badly in need of tonics?"

Song Shi'an pretended not to understand, his expression utterly sincere. "President Lu, you're injured and not in good health right now. These foods can help your wounds recover."

He can barely get up without his waist giving out. How is he supposed to have triplets in one pregnancy with the female lead in the future? He should replenish himself. As expected of him—even the domineering CEO's happiness for the rest of his life has been taken into account.

"I don't like them," Lu Mingyu said, setting down his chopsticks.

Song Shi'an began persuading him earnestly. "President Lu, this is all for the sake of your recovery. You need to eat so your wounds can heal properly."

Damn it, what a pain in the ass. I have to coax him just to get him to eat something!

A cold smile tugged at Lu Mingyu's lips as he picked up his chopsticks again. "Fine. Then I'll eat."

Just as his chopsticks stretched out, Lu Mingyu continued, "I'm injured now, and it's inconvenient for me to be alone at night. Assistant Song, you can stay here for the time being. Don't worry, you'll get double overtime pay."

Song Shi'an: "?"

He had fed Lu Mingyu so many tonics, and now he was supposed to stay the night? Wasn't that like delivering a lamb into a tiger's den?

What if Lu Mingyu got overly replenished and climbed into his bed in the middle of the night?

For some reason, his ass clenched.

Seeing Lu Mingyu's chopsticks about to reach for the oysters, Song Shi'an hurried forward to stop him.

"P-President Lu, these dishes seem a little stale. I'll order fresh ones for you!"

"Is that so?" Lu Mingyu asked with a smile.

Song Shi'an nodded. "It was my oversight. I'm truly sorry, President Lu."

"I haven't eaten any, so I don't know whether they're fresh or not. Why don't I try some first?" Lu Mingyu's dark eyes fixed on Song Shi'an.

Damn? If Lu Mingyu ate that, his ass would be ruined!

Just as Song Shi'an was considering how to persuade him, a clear voice rang out.

"Brother!"

A pretty young girl entered from outside and jogged over to Lu Mingyu.

Looking at her, Lu Mingyu said, "You're almost an adult, yet you're still so reckless."

Though his tone was reproachful, it was full of indulgence.

Lu Tingting did not mind. She looked Lu Mingyu up and down, worry in her eyes. "Brother, I heard you were hit by a car. Are you okay?"

"It's nothing serious. Don't worry," Lu Mingyu said softly. He had always doted on his younger sister, who was eight years his junior.

"Brother, be more careful next time. When I heard you'd been in a car accident, I was scared to death," Lu Tingting said.

"Mm." Lu Mingyu nodded, then asked, "How are the preparations for your coming-of-age birthday banquet?"

In two days, it would be Lu Tingting's coming-of-age birthday banquet. The Lu family was planning to make it a grand affair and had begun preparations a month in advance.

This birthday banquet was destined to be incomparably glamorous.

Song Shi'an had met Lu Tingting a few times.

As the youngest daughter of the Lu family, she had been pampered since childhood and was rather innocent.

Such a good girl. What a pity that something like that will happen at her birthday banquet! Sigh.

Lu Mingyu, who had been speaking with Lu Tingting, paused.

He immediately turned to look at Song Shi'an.

Song Shi'an was baffled by the look. He quickly composed himself and glanced back in confusion. "President Lu, do you have any instructions?"

Suppressing his doubts, Lu Mingyu said lightly, "No."

Lu Tingting linked arms with Lu Mingyu and chattered away about recent events.

Lu Mingyu listened quietly beside her.

Whenever he faced his younger sister, Lu Mingyu always wore a gentle expression.

After Lu Tingting had said almost everything she wanted to say, Lu Mingyu redirected the conversation to the birthday banquet two days later.

"Have you invited any friends to your birthday banquet?" he asked as though it were a casual question.

Lu Tingting nodded with a bright smile. "Yes. Didn't I meet a very good girl while I was abroad? She specially came back from overseas this time to attend my coming-of-age ceremony."

Song Shi'an sighed inwardly. Lu Tingting knew Chen Xiaowen had taken out loans to study abroad and helped her a lot while they were overseas. What a pity that woman is an ungrateful wretch. She's jealous of Lu Tingting's family background and can't stand her young-miss attitude, so she brings her thug brother to Lu Tingting's coming-of-age ceremony.

Lu Tingting has no guard up at all. Chen Xiaowen tricks her, and Chen Yaoqiang defiles her. Because of it, Lu Tingting falls into depression. Tang Ruan stays by her side and helps her out of it, which also lets Tang Ruan smoothly enter the Lu family's doors.

Thinking of this, Song Shi'an could not help frowning. Why was this plot so vicious?

He cursed inwardly. Stupid-ass author. Just to get the male and female leads together, they actually use such a disgusting trope! The girl in front of me has only just turned eighteen! That's utterly inhuman!! Forget it. When the time comes, I'll ask Lu Mingyu to bring me along too and see whether I can stop it.

Lu Mingyu's hand at his side tightened slightly. It seemed that this secretary of his did not harbor any particularly bad intentions.

"Mm, then go back and rest early. In two days, your brother will attend your birthday banquet," Lu Mingyu said gently.

Lu Tingting nodded. Knowing that Lu Mingyu was all right, she happily left.

After Lu Tingting left, only the two of them remained in the room. Lu Mingyu's dark eyes settled on Song Shi'an's face.

He could hear Song Shi'an's thoughts, and Song Shi'an could foresee the future. He needed to find an excuse to keep Song Shi'an by his side.

Song Shi'an felt chills down his spine under Lu Mingyu's stare. Trembling, he asked, "President Lu, is there something you need?"

Lu Mingyu said, "Stay in my room tonight."