He was only thinking about "giving her a direction to try," completely forgetting what Qin Lie had said earlier.
Qin Lie had mentioned before that Su Miaoyin wasn't a suitable assistant because her feelings for him were too obvious, which could easily lead to gossip within the team and affect their work decisions.
Moreover, her background is in economics, which doesn't overlap much with the job of an assistant.
Cheng Che thought Qin Lie's words made sense at the time, so he didn't agree when Su Miaoyin brought it up later.
But when she said that confused tone, he acted impulsively and his mouth spoke faster than his brain.
Now it's all right.
She agreed, and she was extremely happy to agree.
"When can I start?" Su Miaoyin was still in his arms, looking up at him, speaking quickly, "I'm free tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that is fine too. What does Sister Chen Wei need me to do? Run errands? Organize the itinerary? Or pick up your packages?"
Cheng Che opened his mouth, wanting to say "I'll think about it some more," but looking into her incredibly bright eyes, the four words stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say them no matter what.
"... I'll talk to Qin Lie about it later," he finally managed to squeeze out.
"Okay!" Su Miaoyin nodded vigorously, then buried herself in his arms again and whispered, "I'll definitely do my best."
Cheng Che reached out and hugged her, looking up at the kitchen ceiling with a complicated expression.
He cursed himself again in his mind.
A few days later, at the CCTV building.
Su Miaoyin was wearing a dark blue dress, with a work badge around her neck and a mobile phone in her hand. She walked quickly while reading the content on the screen.
"At 10:30 AM, there will be a 20-minute interview on CCTV News Channel. The list of questions has already been sent to you; I'll read it to you. At 2:00 PM, there will be a live interview on Weibo, where the host will ask five questions online. At 4:00 PM, there will be a text interview on the CCTV Daily; no recording is needed, just text replies. Tomorrow morning, someone from the General Administration of Sport will pick you up; they will arrange the award ceremony."
Cheng Che walked beside him and nodded.
Su Miaoyin checked her phone again:
"By the way, Brother Qin said that Weibo will be pushing a topic this afternoon, asking you to mention ' The Realm and Old Friends ' in your interview. Tengda gave us a script for the announcement, do you want to take a look?"
"I don't need to look at the script," Cheng Che shook his head and said, "I know what to say."
Su Miaoyin hummed in agreement, put her phone away, and then turned to look at Chen Wei was following behind her.
Chen Wei's gait was a bit off; her shoulders were slumped, she was clutching her phone, her eyes were fixed on the ground, and she exuded an aura of "Am I about to lose my job?"
Cheng Che noticed it too, and turned to Chen Wei, saying:
" Chen Wei, you and Miaoyin go to the lounge for a while. I can go in for the interview myself. I'll call you if I need anything."
Chen Wei nodded and hummed in agreement, but her "hmm" sounded rather listless.
Cheng Che entered the interview room, while Chen Wei and Su Miaoyin sat down in the rest area at the end of the corridor.
Several bottles of mineral water were on the sofa. Su Miaoyin picked up a bottle, twisted it open, took a sip, then leaned back in her chair and sighed.
Chen Wei glanced at her.
"I haven't even sighed yet, why are you sighing?"
Su Miaoyin rested her chin on her hand and sighed again, "Sister Chen Wei, this assistant's job is so busy."
Chen Wei: "... Being busy is normal."
"I know it's normal to be busy," Su Miaoyin said, resting her chin on the back of her hand, her voice a little muffled. "But I thought being his assistant would mean I could always be by his side. But what happened? Running errands, organizing schedules, liaising with the media, screening invitations—there's a mountain of work, and I barely have any chance to get close to him."
Upon hearing this, Chen Wei was secretly pleased, but she didn't show it on her face, simply saying:
"Yes, distance makes the heart grow fonder. Besides, if you're his assistant and make a mistake, Brother Cheng will feel awkward about criticizing you; it would put him in a difficult position."
Su Miaoyin's expression changed slightly.
She worked as an assistant for a few days, and although she didn't make many mistakes, she did have a few minor issues. For example, she once misremembered the afternoon interview time and almost was late.
Another time, the priorities of two invitations were reversed, and Qin Lie rearranged them after discovering this.
Cheng Che had never said anything to her, but she knew that his silence didn't mean there wasn't a problem.
"You're right." Su Miaoyin sat up straight, her expression becoming serious. "I can't make things difficult for him."
Chen Wei nodded, already wondering if she should treat herself to a chicken leg.
Then Su Miaoyin's phone rang.
She glanced at the caller ID, paused for a moment, and then answered.
"Dad?"
The voice on the other end of the phone was very loud; even Chen Wei could faintly hear it.
" Xiaoyin, what have you been busy with lately? You're a senior in college and doing an internship, but you haven't come home. Your mom nags you every day."
Su Miaoyin hesitated for a moment. "I... have some business to attend to in the Capital City."
"What could be more important than coming home?" Father Su asked directly. "Your company is short-staffed. Come back and intern for a while, learn how to manage the company, and stop wandering around outside all day."
When Su Miaoyin heard such words, her first reaction was to refuse.
She has always resisted going back to the company, feeling that a life planned out for her is meaningless.
But when she heard those words today, her eyes lit up.
"Good."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.
"... What did you say?"
"I said yes," Su Miaoyin said lightly. "I'll go back in a few days."
After a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, Father Su cautiously asked, "Are you my daughter?"
Su Miaoyin pouted. "Of course I am!"
"Didn't you say before that you'd rather die than come back?"
"That was before. Now I've figured it out." Su Miaoyin's tone held an undisguised joy. "Dad, you're right. I should go back and learn how to manage the company."
Father Su paused for a moment, then said, "Okay, let me know before you come back," and hung up.
Chen Wei watched her from the side without saying a word, but the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.
After Cheng Che finished the interview and returned to the rest area, Su Miaoyin told him about the phone call.
Upon hearing this, Cheng Che first breathed a sigh of relief, then a slightly reluctant expression appeared on his face.
"Did your uncle tell you to go back?"
"Mmm." Su Miaoyin nodded, her tone tinged with a hint of playful reproach, "It's all my dad's fault, he insisted I go back to my internship. I was doing so well as an assistant."
Cheng Che looked at her, knowing exactly what was going on.
She was doing a "good job" as an assistant, and there was probably some causal relationship between that and Chen Wei's words just now, but he didn't intend to expose it.
"Uncle is right," he said earnestly. "You studied economics, so an internship at a company is more relevant than being an assistant. Besides, someone will need to manage the family business sooner or later, so it's better to go back now and familiarize yourself with it than to take over temporarily later."
Su Miaoyin glanced at him, her resolve strengthening.
Being an assistant means you're naturally subservient; you can't even be affectionate, and you're too embarrassed to admit your mistakes, which only makes you feel worse.
Going back to her internship would be different. She would have her own things to do, and when she met him, they would be equals. She could act as cute and affectionate as she wanted.
"Then I won't be an assistant anymore," she said. "I'm resigning."
Cheng Che nodded. "Okay."
Chen Wei sat beside her, watching this scene, and sighed to herself: Love is too troublesome.
In Shandong, after hanging up the phone, Father Su stood in the living room for a while with a strange expression on his face.
He dialed Mother Su's number.
Your daughter has agreed to come back for her internship.
Mother Su paused for a moment on the other end of the phone. "Really?"
"Really. But I have a feeling something's not right." Father Su's tone was cautious. "She absolutely refused to come back before, but she agreed very readily today, even saying something like 'Dad, you're right.' Do you think something might have happened to her outside?"
Mother Su paused for a moment, then laughed.
"Why are you laughing?"
" Old Su," Mother Su said with certainty, "Your daughter is in love."