73: Chapter 73 Don't be too nice to me, I'm allergic.

The general manager's office.

The office was not small; it was very clean and tidy.

Directly facing the door was a desk, upon which sat an expensive computer.

To the left was a bookcase.

To the right were several sofas and a coffee table, used for chatting and drinking tea.

...

Qin Xun sat in the general manager's chair, turned on the password-free computer, and then... propped his legs up on the desk, took out his phone, and started a game.

Suddenly.

The door creaked open!

Qin Xun habitually flipped his phone face down on the desk, pulled his legs down, and quickly looked up.

Seeing it was Xia Ning walking in carrying a cardboard box, he let out a sigh of relief.

"You scared me to death! I thought someone else had come in!"

Xia Ning placed the box on the desk and looked down at Qin Xun. Seeing him pick up his phone to play games again, she frowned slightly.

She said coldly,

"Give me your seat. I need to use the computer, and you're not using it anyway."

Qin Xun heard this and thought it made sense.

He stood up while still operating his phone and walked over to sit in the chair opposite the desk.

"Why did you come in too?"

Xia Ning sat down, took the documents out of the box, and arranged them neatly. She said expressionlessly,

"I was worried you'd hide in here alone watching movies—and 'those' kinds of movies at that—so I came over to keep an eye on you, lest you pollute the company environment."

Qin Xun was in the middle of an intense game when he heard this and suddenly looked up.

In the game, his character was besieged and killed by enemies with long and short-range weapons.

He looked surprised.

This was the first time he had heard Xia Ning joke, and she started with a dirty joke at that.

She had always been aloof, serious, and boring.

Yet, looking at her serious expression, it didn't seem like she was joking.

Qin Xun protested,

"After spending so many days together, you still don't trust my character?"

Xia Ning looked up at Qin Xun and revealed a faint smile.

"After spending so many days together, I've become increasingly certain that your character is unreliable."

Qin Xun gave her the middle finger, too lazy to pay her any more mind.

He lowered his head and continued playing his game, regaining control of the situation and starting to carry his teammates like crazy.

The game ended.

Qin Xun looked up at Xia Ning, who was working diligently. After a long silence, he suddenly spoke up.

"Little Xia, you're acting a bit strange today."

Xia Ning looked up at Qin Xun.

Qin Xun's expression was a bit strange as he continued,

"You've been weirdly nice to me today."

Xia Ning froze for a moment, seemingly taking his words as a cheesy pick-up line, and felt a bit embarrassed.

"Except for... lending money, anything else is fine."

She lowered her head, her voice softening, but her tone remained cold.

"People are reciprocal. If you care about... others, others will care about you."

Immediately after,

she heard Qin Xun's voice, sounding a bit low.

"You don't have to be this nice to me in the future."

Looking up, she saw Qin Xun's serious expression.

Xia Ning felt inexplicably uncomfortable, watching Qin Xun quietly.

Qin Xun smiled faintly.

"I'm allergic."

Xia Ning was silent for a moment before softly spitting out one word:

"Jerk."

Qin Xun laughed!

Xia Ning laughed along with him!

It seemed everything had returned to the starting point.

...

Eleven-thirty in the morning.

Qin Xun suddenly stood up and walked out.

Xia Ning watched his retreating figure without saying anything, continuing to check emails to find companies they could cooperate with.

Suddenly.

Her phone rang; it was an unknown number.

She answered the call.

An unfamiliar man said enthusiastically,

"Hello, may I ask if you are Mr. Qin Xun's assistant, Ms. Xia?"

"I am Xiao Wang, the PR manager of Sharp Sword Headhunting Company..."

Xia Ning said coldly,

"Sorry, you have the wrong number!"

She hung up the phone.

Three seconds later, the phone rang again.

Xia Ning hung up immediately, feeling a bit annoyed, and her stomach started feeling uncomfortable again.

She rubbed her stomach.

She felt she had been too polite just now and should learn from Qin Xun.

When the other party said "May I ask if you are Ms. Xia?", she should have just blurted out a swear word.

She glanced at the closed door, cleared her throat, and imitating Qin Xun, said,

"I am... I am your mother!"

Aggressively!

At that moment, the door opened!

Qin Xun was standing at the doorway carrying a bag of boxed lunches, having just heard the line "I am your mother" and seeing her hand rubbing her stomach.

He sighed inwardly,

"If you are his mother, then you're his mother!"

"You don't have to be so proud about it!"

Xia Ning was a bit embarrassed, lowered her head, and typed on the keyboard with a serious look, pretending to be working hard.

Qin Xun placed the three dishes—two meat and one vegetable—and two boxes of white rice on the coffee table, beckoning Xia Ning to come over and eat.

"Little Xia, from now on, just go to 'Fat Auntie's Stir-fry' to buy your meals."

"I just realized that out of all the shops around this office building, her food is the only one that can truly be considered clean, it's just... a bit unpalatable."

Xia Ning walked over, sat on the sofa, and opened a box of rice.

Remembering the day she treated Qin Xun to roast meat and he said "If it's not clean, eating it won't make you sick," she found it quite interesting.

She laughed,

"If it's not clean, eating it won't make you sick."

Qin Xun looked up and gave her a speechless look.

"As long as you're not afraid of dying, do as you please."

Xia Ning was a bit surprised.

"Can it actually kill people?"

Qin Xun lowered his head and ate his food.

"The big ones won't die, but the little ones might."

Xia Ning didn't understand.

Why had Qin Xun become so weird these past two days?

...

After taking a nap on the sofa,

Qin Xun woke up and continued lying on the sofa playing on his phone.

Xia Ning sat in the general manager's seat, filled with emotion.

She never expected that the first time she sat in the general manager's chair, it would be in the capacity of a junior assistant.

She smiled.

Xia Ning buried herself in work, looking at the inbox stuffed full with over twenty emails, all of which were cooperation intentions from clients sent by the business department.

She opened them one by one, reviewing them carefully, fearing she might get tricked again by a brat like Song Ying.

Reading one email after another, the corners of her mouth curved higher and higher.

They were all reliable companies, and several were powerful, major corporations.

She clicked on another one.

It was a chain bubble tea shop looking to undergo a brand upgrade.

Xia Ning's expression suddenly changed, and the smile on her face vanished.

She glanced quietly at Qin Xun, and seeing him lying on the sofa focused on his game, she sent a message to "Dad" on WeChat on the computer.

[Dad, I said I didn't want your help and wanted to manage the company on my own. Why are you still sending emails to my company?]

Soon.

Xia Ning's father replied.

[Is your so-called "managing on your own" just playing spy games? Pretending to be a junior assistant, following an internet celebrity around every day, cheering for him?]

Xia Ning glanced at Qin Xun, feeling a bit embarrassed.

She knew Niu Xiaojun had really gone to tattle to her father.

[My company is already slowly getting on the right track!]

Xia Ning's dad:

[The order was sent over by a group subsidiary on its own. I don't deal with these minor matters at all; I only found out last night.]

Xia Ning replied.

[Really?]

Xia Ning's dad:

[Don't be so arrogant. Your proposal might not necessarily meet the brand upgrade requirements for this bubble tea shop.]

[This bubble tea shop is half-dead; it's lost me 200 million in three years.]

[I was already planning to divest by the end of the year!]

Looking at her father's reply, fighting spirit gradually ignited in Xia Ning's cold eyes.

She looked up at Qin Xun, who was sprawled on the sofa playing games.

Xia Ning sighed.

The fighting spirit in her eyes instantly became like a flame flickering in the wind.