When the first dish arrived, Lin Tingyue realized it looked exactly like the photo. It wasn't a bait-and-switch at all, and it was a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate.
[Bookmark this.]
When Lin Tingyue was enjoying her food, she sometimes narrowed her eyes, looking just like a contented cat.
Ying An was watching her when he suddenly heard someone beside him call out.
"President Ying, what a coincidence. I wonder if you still remember me?"
Ying An stared at the man's face. He looked alive, but seemed as lifeless as if he were already in the grave. After thinking for a moment, he finally remembered. "Special Assistant Li."
Li Pengtao said excitedly, "You actually still remember me... Sorry, I need to take this call."
After Li Pengtao went to answer the phone, Ying An explained to Lin Tingyue, "He's the special assistant to a former business partner of mine. His name is Li Pengtao."
Lin Tingyue nodded.
[So this is what the special assistants beside CEOs in novels are like: they can handle anything, from booking flights to finding people.]
Lin Tingyue couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Special Assistant Li.
Ying An paused. Did special assistants really have to do that much?
It seemed so.
"There really isn't anything I can do... Fine, fine... I'll get back to you after the meeting."
After Li Pengtao hung up, he was just about to go over and say a few words to Ying An when his phone rang again.
"It's me... Oh, come on, how could I not love you? If I didn't love you, I wouldn't..."
[Huh?]
[Is he two-timing?]
After that, Lin Tingyue watched Special Assistant Li answer a total of eight calls. He had a different excuse for each of the eight callers, and one of them was even a young master.
He placated one, then another, rushing around in a frantic whirl.
[Heh. The last guy with this many boats-and a man aboard one of them-has already gone to prison.]
"President Ying, I'm really sorry. My phone always gets especially busy on weekends."
Li Pengtao noticed that Ying An's attitude seemed to have changed. He wasn't as... friendly as before.
Still, this was within Li Pengtao's expectations. Why would a CEO be friendly to a special assistant like him?
"Who is this young lady?"
Lin Tingyue said, "I think you should make a schedule. Aren't you worried you'll get too busy, or that your appointments will overlap?"
Lin Tingyue thought she'd phrased it tactfully while still getting in a dig, but Li Pengtao replied in a lifeless voice, "I've made one, but people keep getting added, so the schedule's no use."
Lin Tingyue: "?"
[Are octopuses really this brazen these days? Special Assistant Li, right? Let me see what dirt you've got...]
[Good heavens, is this what the rich and powerful are like? They really have all kinds of tricks.]
All kinds of tricks among the rich and powerful?
Come on, tell us! We're all ears!
Chapter 37
[Actually, it doesn't have much to do with Special Assistant Li, but it's not completely unrelated either.]
Girl, quit with the word salad and get to the point!
[Those calls Special Assistant Li just answered weren't for him. They were for his boss. As the middleman, Special Assistant Li not only had no cut to make, but also had to rack his brains over how to fit eight people into the schedule.]
[Take that first call, for example. Special Assistant Li's boss had already arranged to take her to her favorite restaurant for breakfast, and Special Assistant Li had everything set up. But then his boss suddenly decided to take a woman he'd just met to an exhibition, so Special Assistant Li had to sweat buckets while telling her that his boss had suddenly been called into an early meeting.]
[And then there's that young master. He kept insisting on going to Special Assistant Li's boss's house, where the boss's wife was still living. How could Special Assistant Li let him go? He was scared out of his wits. It took a lot of coaxing to get that little tyrant to forget about rushing over to the boss's house.]
[Eight relationships running at once in a single day. Even if you chopped the twenty-four hours into pieces, you couldn't make the schedule work. Special Assistant Li, you're not the playboy. You're the master of time management.]
[At any rate, I couldn't do it. I'd just make a mess of everything.]
The onlookers enjoying the gossip said they couldn't do it either. They'd be lucky if they didn't schedule several people for the same time.
So they looked at Special Assistant Li with admiration, just like Lin Tingyue.
Li Pengtao: "?"
Was it his imagination, or had this young lady suddenly started looking at him with respect?
Lin Tingyue asked with concern, "Special Assistant Li, have you had lunch?"
Li Pengtao froze. "Not yet."
"Didn't you come here to eat?"
Li Pengtao's expression turned instantly pitiful. "I came to book a table."
Lin Tingyue looked as if she understood.
[I wonder which of his boss's relationships he's meeting for lunch.]
[But Special Assistant Li's boss is really confident. Isn't he afraid of getting caught? If even two of them run into each other, he's done for.]
[Oh, so he's meeting that young master for lunch. But Jiang Peipei, the first one who called, is already coming this way.]
[But she won't make it in time. The boss doesn't seem to be getting here until twelve. What a pity-we won't get to see that scene.]
Ying An couldn't let Lin Tingyue miss out on the gossip. Hearing this, he came up with an idea.
"Special Assistant Li, it's rare for us to run into each other. Why don't you sit down and join us?"
"Huh?"
Li Pengtao was more surprised than anyone. First, Ying An's attitude toward him had made a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn. Then Ying An had actually invited him to eat with them.
"Special Assistant Li, you must have had something else in mind besides just saying hello to me, right?"
"President Ying, you could tell? All right, then. I just don't know if this young lady would mind."
In Li Pengtao's opinion, Ying An had come on a date with this young lady. Now, with the two of them alone together, Li Pengtao had suddenly inserted himself into the picture...
Lin Tingyue was more than happy for Li Pengtao to stay. She hurriedly said, "I don't mind at all. Not one bit. What would you like to eat? I'll go get it for you."
As she spoke, Lin Tingyue was about to get up, but Ying An stopped her. "I'll go get it."
"That works too."
After sitting back down, Lin Tingyue propped her chin on her hand and looked at Li Pengtao.
[Ah, this is so tragic. He's been working around the clock for twenty-four hours and still hasn't gotten a bite to eat. No wonder he looks so lifeless.]
When Lin Tingyue saw Li Pengtao, she'd almost thought she was looking in a mirror. How could he look so much like her when she'd been a wage slave?
Sure enough, wage slaves everywhere were all the same.
Now that she knew Special Assistant Li wasn't a playboy, she felt even sorrier for him.
Lin Tingyue pushed the plate Ying An had brought over toward Special Assistant Li and said, "Hurry up and eat."
[Work is important, but you can't just drop dead. Especially not from starving.]
Ah, Lin Tingyue suddenly remembered that she'd died from overwork. Maybe she hadn't been any better off?
After Li Pengtao finished eating and was about to discuss business with Ying An, a furious figure stormed in and stopped beside Li Pengtao's table.
Li Pengtao raised his head. When he saw who it was, a thousand emergency plans flashed through his mind.
What do I do? Come on, stupid brain, think!
Li Pengtao stood up and smiled. "Miss Jiang."
Jiang Peipei crossed her arms and demanded, "Didn't you tell me A-Chen was in a meeting? If he's in a meeting, why are you eating here?"
Li Pengtao smiled bitterly. "Miss Jiang, I'm human too. I have to eat."
Jiang Peipei froze, then slapped the table. "Cut it out. Tell me, were you lying to me?"
"Miss Jiang, I can swear to heaven that I absolutely, definitely wasn't lying to you."
Because the one who lied to you was my boss. If anyone's going to be struck by lightning, please strike Situ Chen.
"What era are we living in? Who still swears to heaven?" Jiang Peipei scoffed.
"Then what do you think I should do, Miss Jiang?"
[As expected of a professional special assistant. He still hasn't gotten angry after all that!]
Jiang Peipei said, "You have to prove you weren't with A-Chen this morning."
Li Pengtao: "Huh?"
This was a turn of events he truly hadn't expected.
He wasn't the only one who hadn't expected it. The onlookers enjoying the gossip in the restaurant hadn't expected it either.
[Why would Jiang Peipei ask him that? Did she misunderstand something?]
Jiang Peipei leaned toward Li Pengtao. "Otherwise, how would I know whether you were trying to take my place?"
Li Pengtao: "?"
His gaze went blank. He was about to lose his professional composure as a special assistant.
If he'd known that becoming a special assistant meant facing this kind of ordeal, he'd rather have died.
Li Pengtao said, "Miss Jiang, I'm a man."
Jiang Peipei glanced at him and sneered, "Well, isn't that something?"
Li Pengtao: "..."
He said solemnly, "Even if the world fell apart, my boss wouldn't like a man."
Because his boss was already standing amid the ruins!
The young master had just walked in, beaming as he linked arms with Situ Chen. "?"
He couldn't stand it for another second. "Special Assistant Li, what do you mean by that?"
Special Assistant Li and Jiang Peipei turned around at the same time. Special Assistant Li saw Situ Chen, and Jiang Peipei saw him too.
Jiang Peipei looked at the hand the young master had hooked around Situ Chen's arm. If she still didn't understand after seeing that, she'd be the biggest idiot in the world!
"Fine, fine. So I suspected the wrong person after all."
Situ Chen hadn't expected to run into Jiang Peipei here either. "Peipei, listen to me. Let me explain."
"Explain?" Jiang Peipei sneered. "He's got his arm linked with yours. What is there left to explain?"
The young master yanked Situ Chen behind him. "Of course he's with me, A-Chen even bought me a present."
The young master took out the painting he'd kept tucked against his chest and treasured like a jewel.
Lin Tingyue, watching the drama unfold, was stunned.
[What kind of move is this? He bought that painting for the girl he went to the exhibition with, then turned around and gave it to someone else. Aren't you some domineering CEO? You're this stingy too?]