"President Yuan, I'm driving right now. You're on the car's hands-free system," Shen Yi answered, keeping his eyes on the road.
Though he had answered the call openly, there was an "audience" in the back seat, so he had to stay on high alert.
"Is dinner over?"
"It just ended. I'm driving Secretary Pang and Secretary Li home."
Shen Yi quickly reported that he had passengers.
It was a necessary precaution, a warning before Yuan Chen could give him any instructions.
A brief silence fell.
Everyone in the car instinctively held their breath.
Yuan Chen asked, "How long will you need?"
Shen Yi glanced at the navigation screen, mentally calculating the route and travel time.
"About... another half hour."
"Stop by on your way back."
Yuan Chen sounded calm, using his usual businesslike tone, the sort that would give no one any reason to read into it.
Only then did Shen Yi relax a little. He unconsciously wiped his slightly sweaty hand before taking a firm grip on the steering wheel again.
"All right. I'll contact you before I head over."
Just as he thought the call would end without incident, Secretary Pang suddenly leaned forward between the driver's and passenger's seats.
"What?! He's telling you to 'come home'? What else does he want to do?!"
Shen Yi's breath caught at the unexpected interruption.
Beside her, Secretary Li clapped a hand over Secretary Pang's mouth in shock.
"Are you crazy?!"
"Do you two want to 'kissy-kiss' again?!"
Secretary Pang shouted indistinctly toward the phone. Drunken rambling or not, the content was far too shocking.
By now, even Shen Yi's eyes had widened slightly.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the phone screen-the call was still connected.
Yuan Chen usually hung up the moment he finished