“I’m sorry, Mr. Duan. I came to deliver the documents. I didn’t know you were changing… uh, I… I’ll leave now.”

After saying that, I turned and walked out swiftly, as if the room was infected with a virus.

…

“Xiao Qin, what are you daydreaming about during work hours?”

A man came up to my desk, flicking my forehead with his finger.

Suddenly, I snapped back to reality and realized I was drenched in cold sweat without even noticing it. Facing Fang Mingrui’s concerned look, I hesitated for a moment before asking:

“Brother Fang, you once said our president is pure-hearted, self-disciplined, and solely focused on work. Is that true?”

Fang Mingrui gave me a strange look:

“Of course it’s true. Isn’t it obvious?”

“Uh… it’s pretty obvious.”

I hesitated, then asked, “But, is there any chance… that he’s just pretending? And in private, he’s actually quite wild?”

This question clearly hit a sensitive spot.

As soon as I finished, Fang Mingrui’s brows shot up:

“Xiao Qin, I’m telling you seriously, you can question Mr. Duan’s height, his age, or even his gender. But you cannot question his character!”

“…”

Well, now I understand why he got promoted to vice president.

Still, Fang’s words eased most of my suspicions.

It’s funny to think about it now, but earlier, I actually suspected that Mr. Duan was the creep from that night.

6

Actually, I don’t have zero memory of that night.

In those brief moments amidst the haze of passion, I vaguely caught a glimpse of Duan Heng’s slightly out-of-control, handsome face.

But when I thought back later, I dismissed it as a drunken hallucination.

After all, someone who usually buttoned his shirts all the way up to the top button, like an embodiment of virtue, couldn’t possibly be involved in something as sordid as a one-night stand.

Yet today, I started doubting it again.

So, I asked Fang Mingrui indirectly.

Having worked with Duan Heng for four years, Fang Mingrui surely knows him well. What he says must be right.

It seems I was just being paranoid.

After all, a person like Duan Heng has probably never even seen a pig inspection stamp, let alone carried one with him.

As for the marks on his body, they could be from a cat scratch? Or maybe hives? Or perhaps he was scolded by his mother with a feather duster for making a mistake?

In any case, it couldn’t be from me.

After successfully calming myself down, I gave Fang Mingrui a mischievous smile:

“Brother Fang, I said something dumb earlier, don’t take it to heart.”

Fang Mingrui, who was usually easygoing, was surprisingly serious about this topic:

“Don’t ever let me hear you say something like that again, or I’ll be genuinely upset.”

I held up three fingers as if making an oath:

“I swear I won’t.”

Only then did Fang Mingrui seem satisfied. He opened his mouth as if to say something more but suddenly stopped.

He looked towards the door behind me, and his expression immediately turned awkward.

My heart sank, and I slowly turned around.

Duan Heng was standing there, and I had no idea how long he’d been listening.

Damn it…

Is there anything more awkward than this?

7

Duan Heng grabbed the documents he needed, said nothing, and left.

But I knew deep down that he had heard everything.

For the rest of the time, I was on edge, feeling like I could receive a termination notice from HR at any moment.

Seeing my anxiety, Fang Mingrui tried to comfort me:

“Don’t worry, Mr. Duan won’t do anything to you. Haven’t you noticed he’s particularly lenient with you?”

I was taken aback: “Really?”

Fang Mingrui was firm:

“Absolutely.

“Take that speech incident, for example. If it had been anyone else, they would’ve been fired hundreds of times over. But did Mr. Duan punish you? He only said ‘don’t let it happen again’ and let it go.”

Fang Mingrui was referring to something that happened shortly after I joined the company.

As a young entrepreneur, Duan Heng had been invited back to his alma mater to give a speech.

With his busy schedule, he naturally didn’t have time to write the speech himself, so the task fell to me.

But I carelessly made a mistake and wrote the last sentence wrong.

So, in front of thousands of students, Duan Heng confidently delivered:

“Lastly, I leave you with these words:
‘Heaven and earth have not yet been subdued, and you are all destined to be villains!'”

I’ll probably never forget that moment.

The person on stage froze while staring at the script.

The audience stayed quiet for a few seconds before realizing what had happened and breaking into laughter loud enough to almost shake the roof.

Some mischievous boys even shouted: “Senior, what if I’m not destined to be a villain?”

“…”

You can imagine how much psychological damage that would cause a successful young man!

After returning to the company, I went to see Duan Heng to admit my mistake, fully prepared to be fired.

But nothing I had anticipated happened.

Duan Heng didn’t blow up, nor did he fire me.

He simply looked at me quietly for a few seconds, then sighed lightly and said:

“Don’t let it happen again.”

And that was the end of it.

He didn’t even say a harsh word.

8

Fang Mingrui was right.

Even by the end of the day, I didn’t receive a termination notice.

While this brought me some relief, it also filled me with a sense of guilt.

My boss is such a good person.

Even when I made such a big mistake, he didn’t hold it against me.

And what did I do?

Instead of being grateful, I allowed myself to think such dirty thoughts about him.

It was really inappropriate of me.

As it got late, and with most of the office empty, I grabbed my briefcase and headed out of the company.

But downstairs, I ran into the last person I wanted to see.

If you ask who the first is…

Well, of course, it’s the scumbag who stamped the pig inspection mark on me.

“What are you doing here?”

The man, leaning against his car and playing with his phone, looked up when he saw me and smiled brightly:

“Here to pick you up from work.”

My voice turned sullen, every pore in my body exuding rejection:

“I don’t need it. I don’t want to see you. Don’t come again.”

The man’s smile slowly faded:

“Xiao Qin, what happened that night was my fault. I’m here to apologize.”