Chapter 70

Returning to the Sakura Snow Apartments, the group had just started eating when Lin Zixian felt a bit regretful for having eaten his fill outside. Not seeing Qin Yue, he casually asked about her. Tong Yunan pointed and indicated that Qin Yue was in Xia Qiu's room, refusing to come out for dinner.

Lin Zixian walked to the room's door, intending to relay the news about Xia Qiu, but after some thought, he decided not to enter. Xia Qiu had no confidence to face the massive Qin family, and it would be better to cut ties cleanly rather than suffer a painful and fruitless future. He decided not to get involved in their affairs.

By evening, Qin Yue still hadn't come out of Xia Qiu's room. Later, a few women brought food and drinks in, and Lin Zixian took the opportunity to peek inside. He saw Qin Yue curled up on Xia Qiu's bed, silent and unresponsive, even to their encouragement to eat. She looked like a classic case of a broken heart.

Worried that she might do something foolish, Liu Yanzhi stayed in the room to keep her company for the night.

The next morning, since Qiao Yun's health had recovered, Deputy Minister Lin also had to go to work.

On the way down, he noticed that Qin Yue had tidied up and changed into her work clothes, chatting and laughing with Liu Yanzhi as if nothing had happened. This made Lin Zixian, who knew about her and Xia Qiu's relationship, somewhat worried. He wondered if she had really moved on so quickly but didn't dare to ask much.

Lin Zixian drove to the Qiao family's villa on the hillside, where he switched cars to take Qiao Yun to work.

In the rearview mirror, Qiao Yun had resumed her usual cold demeanor. The occasional sunlight that filtered through the car window made her face appear ethereal and holy, her white collar accentuating her elegant, swan-like neck. Lin Zixian, who had been stealing glances, couldn't help but think that this woman was only cute when she was hurt; once she recovered, she put on her haughty attitude.

"Qiao General... did the medicine I prescribed work well? How do you feel now?" Lin Zixian tried to make conversation, genuinely concerned about her health.

At the mention of the medicine, Qiao Yun immediately thought of the foul-smelling excretions caused by its side effects. She suspected that he was deliberately asking, feeling a bit irritated, and responded with a brief "Mm" before falling silent.

Lin Zixian sensed her displeasure but didn't realize he had offended her. Thinking he was just embarrassing himself, he focused on driving.

Back at the company's security department, after several days off, he first toured the security posts and then found Duan Jiye to get a new hat, as the previous one had been destroyed by Zheng Longqing's eagle claw technique. However, he had managed to damage the other's car in retaliation, so it was a fair trade.

Wearing the new hat, he took the elevator straight to the business department. This was one of the busiest and most important revenue-generating departments in the Minghua Group, and the atmosphere was intense, like a battlefield. Even people passing by didn't have the time to look at him, showing the immense work pressure. Compared to the security department, this place was much more stressful, though the benefits were also much better.

Lin Zixian was looking for Liu Yanzhi when he saw the business department head, Li Yuehua, storm out of an office, waving a stack of papers and shouting, "Who did the Xingyuan order?"

A young woman stood up from the public office area, weakly raising her hand. "Minister, it was me!"

Li Yuehua strode over and slammed the papers on her desk, shouting, "What are you doing? How dare you bring me such a mess to sign? Redo it!" He turned and then turned back, pointing at her nose and scolding, "Your performance has been the worst for two consecutive months. If you don't submit a satisfactory report by the end of this month, you're fired! We don't need useless people in the business department!"

"Yes!" the young woman weakly replied, tears streaming down her face. Liu Yanzhi, sitting at the next desk, bent down to help her pick up the scattered papers.

Lin Zixian sighed and shook his head. Seeing him, Li Yuehua was taken aback, his anger dissipating as he put on a smile and extended his hand. "Deputy Minister Lin, what brings you here to inspect our work?"

Previously, Li Yuehua would just nod politely to Lin Zixian, finding him intimidating due to his reckless behavior. As a mere deputy security minister, he didn't take him seriously. Now, however, Lin Zixian was the general manager's driver, essentially a close confidant, and it was wise to maintain a good relationship. Otherwise, he might face trouble if Lin Zixian spoke ill of him behind his back. There were many people who could be department heads, and he wasn't irreplaceable.

A person who only cared about business and ignored human relations and coordination couldn't have climbed to his position.

"Minister Li, you're too kind," Lin Zixian shook his hand and nodded toward Liu Yanzhi, who was looking at him in surprise. "How is Liu Yanzhi? Has she caused any trouble for Minister Li? If she hasn't done her work well, please follow the rules and criticize her. Don't give me any special treatment."

Liu Yanzhi, hearing this, discreetly looked around and saw many envious glances. She maintained a calm exterior but was inwardly delighted, loving Deputy Minister Lin even more. "You're being too obvious!" she thought. "I'll wash your sheets when I have time!"

Anyone could understand what Lin Zixian meant. By saying he didn't want special treatment, he was essentially declaring to everyone that Liu Yanzhi was under his protection, and anyone who didn't respect him would face consequences.

Li Yuehua was frustrated, thinking, "If you want to show favoritism, you could have done it privately in my office! Now, with so many people around, how can I respond? Even if I wanted to owe you a favor, I couldn't express it!"

Unbeknownst to him, Lin Zixian didn't want to owe him any favors. He was there to support Liu Yanzhi, and he wasn't foolish enough to say such things in public otherwise.

Li Yuehua cleared his throat. "Deputy Minister Lin, you're overthinking it. Liu Yanzhi, though new, has already ranked third in performance this month. She's a valuable asset to our department, and we should be praising her, not criticizing her."

"Ha ha! Minister Li, you're busy. I won't disturb you. I'll just look around," Lin Zixian waved and walked toward Liu Yanzhi.

Li Yuehua was speechless, immediately turning away and retreating into his office, closing the door to pretend he hadn't seen anything.

Normally, anyone caught talking about personal matters during work hours would be fired, but Liu Yanzhi's boyfriend was Deputy Minister Lin. In the competitive workplace, it wasn't worth losing one's job over such a trivial matter. Finding a similar job was not easy.

By supporting Liu Yanzhi, Lin Zixian was solidifying the rumor that he was her boyfriend.

Liu Yanzhi was a rare gem, a woman who could be fierce and independent in the workplace and gentle and dependent in personal life. She was the type who could excel in both professional and personal settings, making her a natural fit for the urban workplace.

As soon as Lin Zixian approached her, she looked at him with affection and said softly, "Deputy Minister Lin, is there something you need?" Her eyes were filled with desire, almost dripping with water.

This immediately drew a lot of envious glances from her female colleagues, as if they were saying, "It's so obvious, who doesn't know he's your boyfriend? Do you really need to pretend to call him Deputy Minister?"

Lin Zixian felt a chill run down his spine but, determined to support her, he played along. "If you're not busy, can we find a place to talk? I need to discuss some work matters with you."

A chorus of suppressed disgust rose from the surrounding colleagues. A deputy security minister discussing work with a business department employee? More like a romantic rendezvous!

Liu Yanzhi smiled and nodded. "Sure, Deputy Minister Lin, please follow me." She led the way.

"Keep it up! Keep pretending!" the surrounding colleagues thought with disdain.

Liu Yanzhi poured two cups of coffee at the coffee machine and led Lin Zixian to the public rest area. He pulled a chair and sat down, chuckling. "Minister Li is really tough, making a girl cry like that. Has he ever been hard on you?"

"The business department doesn't believe in tears. Everything is based on performance. To survive here, it's all about competition. The rule is survival of the fittest. Anyone who ranks last for three consecutive months is fired. So, I can't blame Minister Li for being strict." Liu Yanzhi looked confident, clearly believing in her abilities. She gently placed the coffee in front of him. "But with you here today, no one will make me, a new employee, run errands anymore."

Lin Zixian chuckled. "How about that? I'm pretty cool, right? How are you going to thank me?"

"Would you like me to offer myself to you?" Liu Yanzhi sipped her coffee, half-jokingly.

"Uh..." Lin Zixian was speechless. She laughed. "Okay, I'm just kidding. Assistant Ning already marked you as her territory yesterday. I wouldn't dare compete with her. But since you're being so nice, how about treating me to lunch today?"

"You really know how to take advantage of a situation. Do you want the whole company to see us together?" Lin Zixian rolled his eyes.

"Can't help it. If I can't catch a rich husband, I'll have to work harder." Liu Yanzhi kicked his leg. "I work hard and don't complain. I've cleaned your room in the apartment many times. Can you do this small favor for me?"

Lin Zixian looked resigned, not refusing since his reputation was already tarnished.

"Alright! It's settled. I'll find you at the security department at lunch. I have some work to do now, so I'll leave you." Liu Yanzhi waved and left, swaying her ample hips.

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