In the corridor, Chu Ge walked behind Tong Yaqi, neither of them speaking, just like the silence when they left the Encounter Bar yesterday.

However, their moods now were worlds apart from then.

Chu Ge followed Tong Yaqi into her office and casually shut the door behind him, producing a "bang" sound in the room.

Though the noise wasn't loud, Tong Yaqi shuddered abruptly, then shed her facade of calmness and swiftly turned around.

When she met Chu Ge's eyes full of smiles, her mood became even heavier and more chaotic. No matter how she looked, his smile seemed sly.

Taking a quick breath, Tong Yaqi forced herself to stay as calm as possible. What had to be faced must be faced; it was time to have a proper talk with him.

"What exactly do you want?"

Tong Yaqi didn't want to beat around the bush with Chu Ge. She sat down on the leather office chair behind her desk, crossing one leg over the other, arms folded in front of her chest, and stared intently at Chu Ge's eyes with a very assertive posture, asking directly.

"What do I want?" Seeing Tong Yaqi with a defensive posture, Chu Ge couldn't help but find it amusing. He played dumb and feigned ignorance, lighting a cigarette nonchalantly, sitting on the sofa by the wall, and crossing his legs.

Anyway, there was nothing to do back at the office, and since Tong Yaqi had called him over, chatting with her might be a good choice.

Chu Ge's attitude worsened Tong Yaqi's mood because she clearly couldn't pressure him. His easy-going demeanor was enough to prove that this man was an extremely tough opponent.

Tong Yaqi took a deep breath and rested her arms on the mahogany desk, fingers interlocking, as she spoke again, her expression cold.

"I think you should understand what I mean. We should speak frankly. Yesterday, you approached me with a premeditated plan, didn't you?"

Chu Ge was a bit dumbfounded; this woman's imagination was truly rich, or perhaps she placed herself too highly?

Yesterday, he merely wanted to have a drink at the bar, saw her in a bad mood, kindly made her a drink, and coincidentally walked with her. How did it turn into a premeditated plot from her perspective?

But thinking about it, the circumstance was indeed too coincidental, to the point that even Chu Ge found it a bit unbelievable, let alone a high-ranking company executive like Tong Yaqi. It's not surprising she thought so.

Since there was still time before work ended, and teasing this woman felt quite interesting, Chu Ge wasn't in a hurry to deny it. Since she put it that way, he nodded in agreement.

"That's right."

Tong Yaqi's face darkened further. She instinctively bit her lip, staring straight at Chu Ge. If looks could kill, she'd probably wish to tear Chu Ge apart with her gaze.

Unfortunately, her glare couldn't harm Chu Ge at all; instead, it made the corners of his mouth turn up even more. In Tong Yaqi's eyes, it was a proud, sinister smile of a villain who achieved his plot.

After a moment, Tong Yaqi rubbed her temples, sighed slightly in defeat, and said, "Alright, I admit you have your ways. Since your goal has been achieved, you can start stating your conditions now."

Seeing Tong Yaqi acting like someone about to face execution, where she seemed like a lamb to the slaughter, Chu Ge found it even more amusing. But just as he was about to speak, the phone on Tong Yaqi's desk suddenly rang.

Tong Yaqi furrowed her pretty brows, looked at the phone hesitantly but eventually picked it up.

"Chairman, yes, okay, I'll be right over."

After hanging up, Tong Yaqi stood up from her chair, gave Chu Ge a deep look, and said, "I'll contact you again. Before that, I hope you can behave; otherwise..."

It wasn't that Tong Yaqi intentionally left her sentence unfinished. Her mind was a mess, and her words were more of an instinctive reaction. In fact, she really didn't know what she could do to Chu Ge. Upon saying "otherwise", she didn't know what else to add.

Since Tong Yaqi wanted to leave, naturally Chu Ge couldn't stay there any longer. He causally extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray, looked at Tong Yaqi with her frowning brow, and asked with a smile: "Director Tong, if I may ask, was that a request or a threat?"

A hint of hesitation flashed across her brows. Tong Yaqi bit her lip but didn't look at Chu Ge's ever-smiling face, and said, "Let's... consider it a request."

"Hehe, alright, I'll wait for your call."

Chu Ge chuckled, said another sentence, stood up from the sofa, and pushed the door open to leave.

Returning to the Operation Management Department's office, as soon as Chu Ge entered the door, he sensed something was off. The moment he stepped in, while his back foot was still outside, six girls turned their heads towards the entrance, their gazes clearly carrying some oddness.

This situation left Chu Ge quite bewildered. There was nothing special on his face, and when he checked in the mirror, he was sure his face was very clean. What were these girls looking at?

What bewildered him even more was that when he fixed his gaze on any girl, that girl would instantly turn her head a bit panicked, not daring to meet his eyes. Once he looked away, they would sneak another glance towards him.

Amidst this strange atmosphere, Chu Ge returned to Mo Xiaoran's side and jokingly said: "Master, I'm back. Shall we continue with the lesson?"

However, what Chu Ge didn't expect was that his casual remark startled the shy girl, who nearly knocked over the water glass on the table. She shook her head in panic, "Chu Ge, you, you should just call me Xiaoran."

Seeing Mo Xiaoran's flustered look, Chu Ge was speechless. Everything was fine just now, how did things change after he stepped out for a bit? Was he really that frightening?

"Alright, Xiaoran, why do I feel like everyone is acting weird? Did something happen?"

"No, nothing."

Since Mo Xiaoran didn't want to talk, Chu Ge didn't press further. He smiled at her and returned to his seat.

The afternoon quickly passed, and when the clock on the wall pointed to five, it was time to finish work.

Chu Ge stretched lazily, just about ready to head home, when Ji Songtao walked out of the minister's office.

"Chu Ge, are you busy tonight? If not, could you stay a little while longer?"

Ji Songtao said with a cheerful smile, his tone not at all like a leader speaking to a subordinate, but rather with a touch of negotiation.

"Sure, Minister Ji."

Chu Ge naturally had no objections, nodding happily and following Ji Songtao into the minister's office.

"Chu Ge, come, sit down and let's talk."

"Ah, thank you, Minister Ji."

Ji Songtao politely gestured for Chu Ge to sit on the sofa and quietly scrutinized him, gradually noticing things he hadn't observed before.

In front of him, Chu Ge sat casually. He didn't recline completely into the sofa, but he also didn't just perch on the edge as many junior employees might, out of nervousness or wanting to leave a respectful impression, appearing anxious and uneasy.

Chu Ge not only sat casually, but his expression was also relaxed, neither defiant nor overly humble, just a serene smile that conveyed a calmness from within, an air of transcending the mundane.

Ji Songtao was a man with average looks and capabilities; the only thing noteworthy about him was his ability to read people. Although at first glance, he found Chu Ge quite ordinary, the more he observed, the more secretly astonished he became, even developing a sense of reverence.

"Ahem."

Seeing Ji Songtao simply sizing him up without speaking, Chu Ge had to cough twice to signal it was about time to say something.

Ji Songtao came to his senses, remembering the purpose of inviting Chu Ge, and put on a very amiable smile, "Chu Ge, how was your first day at work? Any problems or areas where you need help?"

"It's been great, thank you for your concern, Minister Ji."

"That's good. By the way, did you know our Director Tong before?"

After hesitating for a while, Ji Songtao decided to ask directly, casually bringing up the topic while observing Chu Ge's reaction closely.

Chu Ge straightforwardly replied, "No, I don't."

His words were true; when he met Tong Yaqi last night, he hadn't even known her name.

When Chu Ge noticed Ji Songtao's gaze flickering, as if thinking "That's strange," he suddenly understood. No wonder the atmosphere in the office was so odd when he returned from seeing Tong Yaqi—this was the reason all along.

Figuring this out, Chu Ge found it amusing and thought to himself, "Just the administrative director Tong Yaqi makes them so apprehensive. If they knew I was arranged here by Qin Ruojing, the chairman of Tianjiao Group, I wonder what their reaction would be?"

Of course, Chu Ge had no interest in actually testing out the answer to that question.

Even though Chu Ge gave a denial, Ji Songtao still held some disbelief. Just as he was about to press Chu Ge further, his phone suddenly rang.

Taking out his phone, Chu Ge glanced at the caller ID and directly hung up the call, then gave Ji Songtao an apologetic smile.

Watching Chu Ge put away his phone, Ji Songtao was momentarily stunned. Once he regained his composure, he quickly put on a more enthusiastic smile.

"Chu Ge, I have nothing more. I won't keep you from heading home after work. In the future, if you encounter any problems in work or life, don't hesitate to talk to me. By the way, if you don't mind, when no one else is around, you can just call me Brother Ji instead of Minister Ji. Haha..."

Although Chu Ge hung up the call quickly, Ji Songtao's eyes were sharp. As soon as Chu Ge took out his phone, he glanced over, and although it was brief, as a member of Tianjiao, how could he not recognize that phone number?

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