Chapter 11

After Meng Zhengrong left, Xu Yuan stood calmly beside Sister Zhou.

Sister Zhou clapped her hands and introduced Xu Yuan to the Finance Department employees, saying, “This is our new colleague. Please take good care of her at work.”

The introduction felt a bit unusual. Normally, when a new employee joins, they would mention the person’s name and position. Sister Zhou’s introduction left room for speculation, and even though the onlookers had already guessed that Xu Yuan’s identity was not ordinary, they were still surprised.

Xu Yuan just smiled at them and remained silent. Until she understood the dynamics of this environment better, it was best to maintain the image of Mrs. Meng in front of her colleagues.

Sister Zhou led Xu Yuan to her office. While not as spacious as the manager’s office, it provided a private space that most other employees didn’t have. Xu Yuan seemed satisfied.

Once inside Sister Zhou’s office, while she went to fetch some fruits to replenish her nutrition, Xu Yuan looked around. There was a sofa, a small refrigerator, and a desk. When she saw the computer on the desk, she hesitated. She had just recently learned how to use a smartphone, and there were many things she didn’t understand about computers. 

“Sister Zhou, I’ve never worked before, and I don’t know where to start…” Xu Yuan bit her lip, trying to appear controlled in her expression. 

Sister Zhou, who was at an age where she could be considered a mature woman, had worked hard on her career when she was young. Now that she had achieved what she wanted and had the luxury to focus on her family, she was looking forward to the birth of her baby in two months. At this moment, everything in her world seemed beautiful, and she had great patience with Xu Yuan.

“Don’t worry,” Sister Zhou said reassuringly, “For the next two months, just help me and ask if there’s anything you don’t understand. Your office might be used for resting for now. How about temporarily being my assistant?”

Sister Zhou naturally understood Meng Zhengrong’s intentions. She knew that even if Xu Yuan continued to work in the Finance Department, she wouldn’t take Sister Zhou’s position. If Meng Zhengrong really wanted his wife to continue working at Meng Corporation, a mere Finance Manager position wouldn’t be sufficient.

Xu Yuan quickly replied with a smile, “Meng Zhengrong mentioned that you’re very capable and encouraged me to learn from you. This is an opportunity that others can’t get. How could I feel inconvenienced?”

Sister Zhou chuckled, “You have such a sweet mouth. Should I address you as Mrs. Meng in the future, or do you have an English name?”

Xu Yuan thought for a moment and said, “You can just call me Xu Yuan for now. I’m your student, and it would be strange for the teacher to call me Mrs. Meng.”

This opportunity was rare for her. She needed to quickly understand this era and acquire some skills. While she could learn a lot from Sister Zhou, the most urgent task was to become proficient in using a computer.

Sister Zhou was very considerate. She handed Xu Yuan the personnel information and seating chart of the Finance Department, introducing each person’s position one by one.

Meanwhile, Meng Zhengrong was in a meeting. For a company executive, meetings were perhaps the most common occurrence during a workweek.

Today’s routine meeting didn’t involve anything unusual. Department managers were reporting on their work, and Meng Zhengrong appeared to be listening attentively. However, his mind was partly occupied with thoughts about Xu Yuan.

He took out his phone and opened WeChat, thinking of sending a message to Xu Yuan.

When he opened the chat with Xu Yuan, the most recent message was “I’ve accepted your friend request, so we can start chatting now.”

That was four months ago.

Meng Zhengrong suddenly realized that the development between them had not been very optimistic over these four months.

During this time, they hadn’t exchanged WeChat messages, and they had only sent one or two text messages. The number of phone calls was also quite limited.

He sighed and sent a message to Xu Yuan, “Are you getting used to it?”

Meanwhile, in the absence of Sister Zhou, Xu Yuan was looking through the materials she had been provided with. She heard her phone receive a message, and when she checked, it was from Meng Zhengrong.

Although Xu Yuan could understand the written language in this era, she hadn’t yet learned how to type. She hesitated for a moment and then managed to send a smiley emoji in response.

Meng Zhengrong, relieved to receive her response, continued, “If there’s anything you’re not used to, feel free to tell me.”

Xu Yuan couldn’t help but find Meng Zhengrong annoying. It was work hours, after all. Why was he texting her continuously? She didn’t know how to type, and if there was something important, wouldn’t a phone call be more appropriate?

Xu Yuan had no choice but to send another emoji in response.

Thankfully, Meng Zhengrong didn’t send any more messages, which allowed Xu Yuan to relax a bit.

While the Finance Department employees suspected that Xu Yuan might be Mrs. Meng, nothing was confirmed yet. Until official news came out, no one dared to say anything. This led to the situation where, even during the lunch break, most of Meng Corporation’s employees were still unaware that Mrs. Meng had silently joined the company.

Meng Zhengrong’s secretaries were all astute individuals. They interacted with him directly every day, and they knew better than to spread any rumors. It was as if they had sealed their lips with wax, not uttering a word.

After a morning of interactions and observing Xu Yuan’s deliberate behavior, Sister Zhou had developed a favorable impression of her.

Xu Yuan had initially planned to have lunch with Sister Zhou in the cafeteria, but Meng Zhengrong called her, so she had to go upstairs to meet him.

Meng Zhengrong’s lunch was prepared by the cafeteria’s chef, tailored to his preferences. It included three meat dishes, two vegetarian dishes, and a bowl of soup. The fruit was sliced and arranged neatly on a plate, making it quite lavish.

His office was spacious, and before Xu Yuan arrived, the assistant had already brought in a foldable dining table. Although it was much smaller than the one at home, it allowed for enough space for the two of them to sit at either end without being too far apart.

Meng Zhengrong noticed that Xu Yuan hadn’t touched one particular dish, and he realized it was because it had cilantro, an ingredient she didn’t seem to like.

“Do you not like cilantro?” he asked. His own feelings about cilantro were neutral – he neither liked nor disliked it. Cilantro, like durian, was a divisive ingredient; people either loved it or hated it. It appeared Xu Yuan belonged to the latter group.

Xu Yuan responded with a subtle shake of her head, indicating that she didn’t like cilantro.

Xu Yuan felt there was no need to lie about this, so she nodded, “Yeah, I don’t like it.”

She found the taste of cilantro quite strange, so she didn’t want to eat it.

Meng Zhengrong saw this as an opportunity to build a closer emotional connection and demonstrate how much he cared about her. He couldn’t let it slip by.

He got up, walked to his desk, and picked up the landline phone to make a call.

Despite the CEO’s office being quite spacious, Xu Yuan could still hear what Meng Zhengrong was saying.

“Inform the cafeteria that they shouldn’t put cilantro in my meals from now on,” Meng Zhengrong said into the phone. His voice was actually quite pleasant to listen to. However, for some reason, when Xu Yuan heard him say this, she felt uneasy. She couldn’t help but rub her arm, causing goosebumps to form.

Well, what could she do? At this point, she’d rather eat cilantro than accept his affectionate gestures.