Chapter 35: The Glass-Hearted CEO

The next day was the third recording session for the show.

Originally, Ruan Li, having cleared her debts and found a “big tree” to lean on, should have been carefree and ready to throw herself into saving her precarious entertainment career.

But now, she was clearly in a bad mood, her whole demeanor saying: Stay away, I’m not in the mood.

In the backseat of the business car, she hadn’t smiled since she got in. Up in the front, Assistant Qin was trembling in fear. He had thought that now that Ms. Ruan and President Fu had a solid relationship, he’d be getting a raise. But with Ms. Ruan in such a sour mood, his bonus seemed a distant dream.

As the car pulled up to Fu Corporation’s entrance, Ruan Li stopped the driver and got out, choosing to enter through the main door herself. As for the person in the car with his private elevator in the basement garage, she had no intention of going upstairs with him.

When she went in to meet Ye Mian, the camera crew was adjusting their equipment, giving her a chance to take a look at the design department, said to be top notch.

“You didn’t come to my house for two days. Did you move in with Fu Huaizhou?” Ye Mian teased, noticing the glow on her face, hinting at a harmonious life.

“Move in?” Ruan Li wasn’t interested in discussing anything about their sleeping arrangements. “You could call it a ‘kept woman’ situation. I’m just temporarily staying.”

“What do you mean ‘kept’? I told you to seduce Fu Huaizhou and become the mistress of the Fu family. How did you end up being his little celebrity toy?” Ye Mian didn’t quite get it.

“I couldn’t even hold onto my engagement with Fu Xingchuan, let alone Fu Huaizhou,” Ruan Li said with a shrug. After breaking ties with the Ruan family, she knew she couldn’t avoid getting bullied or trapped by someone eventually.

She might as well become Fu Huaizhou’s woman, and in the process, drain his bank account dry to make him angry.

Ye Mian sighed. When you have enough status, no one dares criticize you for anything. In Jing City, countless families were vying to marry their daughters off to Fu Huaizhou. To those elders, even socialites were just tools for their interests.

“Not in a good mood?” Ye Mian noticed she seemed off today.

Ruan Li hesitated. No one could understand what it felt like to be tortured for two days straight. If she could make a wish right now, she’d wish that Fu Huaizhou’s bedroom bullying time could be cut in half. The green bean soup she was promised to soothe her after, she never drank; but she sure used a lot of that ointment.

“I’ve become a capitalist’s toy,” Ruan Li grumbled as she walked tiredly into the elevator. As soon as she got in, her phone lit up. It was Fu Huaizhou.

Capitalist: Don’t forget the terms of the contract.

Ruan Li: ?

Capitalist: You need to ensure Party A’s physical and emotional satisfaction.

Ruan Li almost cursed him out in the elevator. After all she went through yesterday, she didn’t ensure his emotional satisfaction? Beast!

However, with the camera crew heading up to the top floor with her, she held it in. As soon as the broadcast began, her stream flooded with viewers.

“So, after that indirect kiss, is it a scolding or romance? Give us an update!”

“Forget personality or background, can you two do a real-life office romance for us to see?”

Of course, there were also a few comments like, “Ruan Li, get out of the entertainment industry.”

She ignored the haters, busying herself by preparing coffee for the people inside. Glancing at the chat while grinding coffee beans, she spotted a particularly offensive comment just when she was already in the mood to argue.

She scoffed, “Flowers come in all kinds of colors, people and dogs are not the same. I’m more likely to make a fortune than you are to quit your trolling job.”

Slowly and meticulously, she ground the beans, throwing in several lumps of sugar into the coffee so much that even a child would find it too sweet. If he wanted emotional satisfaction, fine, let’s see how he enjoys this.

“I see the working class woman is venting again…”

“Ruan Li really doesn’t like this CEO, it’s obvious.”

She knocked on the door, and the person inside responded, “Come in.” She walked in, respectfully placing the coffee next to Fu Huaizhou, saying, “President Fu, you must be tired. Have some coffee.”

Fu Huaizhou raised his eyes coolly and looked at her. “I’ve only been working for ten minutes.”

The chat exploded with laughter, with lines like “hahaha” filling the screen. Ruan Li didn’t care how long he had been working; she was going to serve him this coffee anyway.

Seeing that she wouldn’t leave until he drank it, Fu Huaizhou picked up the cup and took a sip, his brows furrowing tightly at the overwhelming sweetness. It was too much to swallow.

His voice was cold as he asked, “Did you buy out a sugar factory?”

“People say more sugar makes you feel better. Are you feeling satisfied, President Fu?” Ruan Li asked deliberately.

Putting the cup down, he swallowed the coffee with difficulty. “You must have plenty of free time if you’ve got time to add that much sugar.” He then handed her a USB drive from the table. “If you’re that free, take this to the Xin Hai project team.”

Ruan Li recognized the project—it was the one Fu Xingchuan had mentioned yesterday at the villa. Grabbing the USB, she walked out leisurely. She wasn’t going to learn anything useful today; it seemed she was just running errands as usual.

Fu Huaizhou checked his phone, scrolling through the fast-moving comments on the stream. None escaped his notice. He made a few quick moves on his phone, and within moments, the chat exploded again.

“Wait, suddenly no one’s saying anything bad. Did they go crazy?”

“I wasn’t even swearing, I just said Ruan Li doesn’t like the CEO—why did I get banned? Had to switch to my alt account.”

“Glass hearted CEO can’t handle hearing that Ruan Li doesn’t like him, hahaha.”

Seconds later, “What the hell, I got banned again! That was my alt…”

As Ruan Li headed down the stairs with the USB drive, she spotted a familiar figure. It was Ruan Shu, someone she hadn’t seen in days. She couldn’t be bothered to give her any attention.

“Sis, you’re here too?” Ruan Shu turned and greeted her.

Ruan Li frowned, worried that everyone might hear about their relationship. “Please address me by my title during work hours.”

Without even glancing at Ruan Shu, she asked, “Who’s in charge here? President Fu asked me to deliver this USB.”

The chat was buzzing:

“Looks like the fake and real heiress story is real!”

“How could Ruan Li be so rude to her? No respect at all. I feel bad for the girl next to her.”

The person in charge waved her over, and Ruan Li started walking toward them. Just then, her foot caught on something, and she stumbled forward, the USB flying out of her hand, headed straight for the decorative water feature.

Ruan Li lunged, her wrist slamming into the hard tiles of the wall, but at least she caught the USB.

No one expected her to fall like that, and the cameras only caught her tripping forward, missing the finer details.

“Ruan Shu, can’t you just behave for one day?” Ruan Li snapped, clutching her wrist and glaring at the girl standing beside her.

“Why are you yelling at me? Did I do something wrong?” Ruan Shu asked, feigning innocence. “I was just about to catch you when you tripped.”

Ruan Li narrowed her eyes at Ruan Shu’s foot, which had just moved back into place. “You really think I can’t tell the difference between stepping on a carpet and stepping on someone’s shoe?”

The chat was filled with confusion:

“Why’s Ruan Li suddenly biting at people? Scared she’ll get blamed for messing up the job?”

“I don’t think anyone would dare play tricks on live TV maybe Ruan Li staged it herself…”

Just then, Fu Xingchuan walked in, surprised to see the scene unfold. He had known about the show filming at Fu Corporation but hadn’t witnessed it in action before.

Seeing Ruan Li angry and Ruan Shu looking hurt, he stepped in to smooth things over. “The USB’s fine, so let’s not overthink it. Everyone back to work.”

Ruan Li had noticed someone behind her earlier but hadn’t recognized who it was. Now that she realized it was Fu Xingchuan, she stared directly at him.

“All I want to know is: did you see her trip me or not? I don’t care about the rest.”

Fu Xingchuan avoided her piercing gaze, mumbling, “No, I didn’t see it.”