Chu Ge stood up from his seat, turned his head, and directed his gaze at Lu Gang.

Even though Chu Ge's expression was calm, the moment Lu Gang met his eyes, he immediately felt uncomfortable all over, as if those eyes radiated a powerful aura that suppressed him.

Almost at the same time Chu Ge looked over, Lu Gang felt his heart twitch, suddenly feeling unsure and regretful, subconsciously taking a step back, stiffening his neck, and glaring as he said, "What do you want?"

Seeing Lu Gang's face full of vigilance, clearly all bark and no bite, Chu Ge was quite speechless and amused. Did Lu Gang think he would eat him? Was such a big reaction necessary?

Chu Ge smiled gently and said, "Senior, I've just arrived here and don't know the rules of our place, sorry if I've been neglectful. Since Senior Lu Gang advised me, I thank you; I'll treat everyone to lunch today, don't hesitate to eat whatever you want."

The female colleagues in the office had a good first impression of Chu Ge initially, and hearing him say this, their evaluation of him immediately rose several notches.

"Chu Ge, don't listen to Lu Gang's nonsense, we don't have such nonsense rules here. I think you should treat Xiaoran to lunch; she helped you all morning. As for us, just forget it."

It was still Feifei who spoke; she was naturally sociable, and Chu Ge exuded a masculine charm with his decorous mannerisms, so she already considered Chu Ge a friend.

"I don't need it either." Mo Xiaoran blushed again, as she didn't feel Chu Ge should treat her. Explaining the job duties was a task assigned to her by leadership, so it was her duty.

"Since he's sincerely inviting, we shouldn't be too polite. Feifei, not accepting his invitation would be disrespecting Chu Ge."

Seeing Chu Ge's attitude, Lu Gang's slight anxiety instantly turned into glee, thinking that Chu Ge feared him and really considered him a senior, he spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"Senior Lu Gang is right, Feifei, Xiaoran, and the rest of the ladies, please don't be shy. It's indeed my honor to treat everyone to lunch."

Seeing Feifei about to retort to Lu Gang, Chu Ge quickly rounded things off, although he didn't take someone like Lu Gang seriously. He hoped for a good working environment and didn't want any unpleasantness between Feifei and Lu Gang because of him.

"What's with you... oh, fine, fine, let's let you splurge once today then."

Feifei could see Chu Ge's intent but felt a bit annoyed at his concession to Lu Gang, thinking Chu Ge was too indulgent with Lu Gang's bad habits. But since Chu Ge had already said it, she didn't say much more and nodded.

Although the other girls had a good impression of Chu Ge, they weren't as warm-hearted as Feifei nor as shy as Mo Xiaoran. Saving a meal cost made them quite happy, so they modestly declined a bit, then agreed with a smile.

After a few more words, it was lunchtime. After Chu Ge said he'd treat, Feifei didn't want him to overspend and ordered takeout.

When ordering takeout, the girls ordered items costing a dozen or so yuan each, but Lu Gang went ahead and ordered a set worth over sixty yuan. Chu Ge still said nothing, but Feifei frowned again, being more annoyed on behalf of Chu Ge.

After lunch, no one went out. Instead, they gathered in small groups to chat, as the lunch break was only an hour and a half, which wasn't enough time to do much outside.

Initially, because Minister Ji Songtao was still in the office, the girls spoke a bit cautiously, but once Ji Songtao left, they all completely relaxed.

While the girls chatted, Chu Ge listened on the side. Occasionally someone would ask him something, and he would casually respond. Lu Gang, for now, didn't bother him again, and the atmosphere was rather pleasant.

It seemed like the girls' conversation topics never strayed far from entertainment gossip and celebrity idols. As they chatted, Feifei, who was always the most animated talker, brought up a name that Chu Ge found very annoying.

"Hey, did you know? I heard our company recently invited Zhou Zhigao to act in a movie."

Upon hearing this news, the eyes of a few girls around lit up immediately, and one girl quickly said, "Really? I'm absolutely in love with Zhou Zhigao! If he could come, even just seeing him would make me extremely happy!"

"Oh! I thought the same when I heard about it, but unfortunately..."

"Unfortunately what? Hurry up and tell us, are you trying to make us anxious?" A few girls urged eagerly.

After teasing everyone's curiosity enough, Feifei surveyed around mysteriously, sighed, and whispered, "Unfortunately, I heard the deal eventually fell through."

Hearing this, a few girls around sighed along with her, showing expressions of great regret. Only Mo Xiaoran, who had been sitting silently on the side, spoke up, "Actually, I don't think he's that handsome. I think men should be more masculine; men like Chow Yun-fat have real charm."

Taken aback, Chu Ge glanced at Mo Xiaoran, surprised that a girl of her age could have the same taste as him. It felt like he had finally found a kindred spirit.

Even though Mo Xiaoran had retorted, Feifei wasn't upset at all. She grinned and teased, "Xiaoran, so you like masculine guys, huh? I think Chu Ge is very masculine, no wonder you explained everything to him so thoroughly. Turns out, that's why..."

The girls nearby started to coax as well, showing mischievous expressions and all collectively made a long drawn-out "Oh" sound.

Originally, when Chu Ge glanced at Mo Xiaoran, she was already a bit blushing. When a few colleagues started joking about her and Chu Ge, her face turned even redder.

"You guys... what are you talking about? It's a task assigned to me by Minister Ji. Even if it wasn't Chu Ge, I would still explain it seriously."

Mo Xiaoran, face red, desperately defended herself. Her earnest yet embarrassed look was irresistibly adorable.

"Really?"

"I don't think so."

"Hehehe..."

Unfortunately, her defense was quickly drowned out by more teasing smiles and drawn-out coaxing sounds, completely failing to have the effect she hoped for.

In fact, no one had any malice. It was just because Mo Xiaoran looked so cute being serious. Not to mention these teasing girls, even Chu Ge felt like teasing her a bit.

But thinking about it is one thing, Chu Ge wouldn't really do it. After all, he was new here and not very familiar with everyone, and these girls could joke with each other, but if he got involved and made Mo Xiaoran mad, it would definitely be awkward to interact in the future.

So Chu Ge could only look on speechlessly from the side, feeling amused yet somehow caught in the crossfire.

However, just as everyone was laughing, Lu Gang's sarcastic and somewhat sour voice broke the harmonious atmosphere again.

"Chu Ge, the water cooler is out of bottled water. Come and change it."

Seeing how popular Chu Ge was with everyone, Lu Gang couldn't help but get angry. He was bewildered; why was that? When he first came, why didn't anyone make jokes like this about him?

Moreover, when Mo Xiaoran and Feifei mentioned the word "masculine," he couldn't shake off the feeling that they were indirectly criticizing him, as if their laughter was strangely mocking his lack of manliness.

"Alright, I'm on it."

Chu Ge nodded and walked over to the water cooler. He removed the empty tank, peeled off the label of a full tank nearby, lifted the 30-pound bottle effortlessly with one hand, as though it weighed nothing at all.

Then, he flipped the bottle over, held it steadily with his left hand, and placed it securely onto the water cooler.

"Wow! They weren't wrong about calling you masculine. You're really strong! Truly much stronger than someone else. I remember when that certain someone was changing the water, it was such a hassle, and we had to help out too,"

said Feifei admiringly as she watched Chu Ge finish changing the water, glancing momentarily at Lu Gang, who looked very embarrassed. Although the other girls said nothing, they covered their mouths and chuckled.

It wasn't that Feifei meant to stir conflict between Chu Ge and Lu Gang; she just had a straightforward personality and was annoyed with Lu Gang's petty and effeminate demeanor, taking pleasure in mocking him whenever an opportunity arose.

Lu Gang's intention was to get Chu Ge out of the girls' sight, but not only did he let Chu Ge shine again, he even got laughed at by Feifei.

Moreover, seeing how easily Chu Ge changed the water, he felt Chu Ge must be deliberately showing off his strength in front of the girls. This made Lu Gang even more resentful of Chu Ge, and his expression turned even more displeased.

Watching Chu Ge sit back at the table after changing the water, Lu Gang pursed his lips, crossed his legs, and snorted through his nose, ordering, "Chu Ge, who said you could sit back down? Think you're done after changing the water? The office still needs cleaning. Do I, as your senior, really need to teach you this? Come over here and throw out the trash from my bin."

In Lu Gang's mind, Chu Ge was a good-natured pushover who had to do whatever he was told.

Besides, Lu Gang had figured out that Feifei and the other girls were already displeased with him no matter how he looked at it. So he might as well keep bossing Chu Ge around, if only to vent some of his frustration.

This time, not only Feifei but even the always good-tempered Mo Xiaoran found it a bit intolerable, thinking Lu Gang was being too overbearing towards Chu Ge.

However, no one said anything this time; they were all curious to see if Chu Ge could still tolerate Lu Gang's repeated provocations.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.