Shi Su’s eyes were calm: "He offered, I didn’t take it." Jun immediately raised her eyebrows: "Oh, so you don’t want to cut off contact." "It’s not that, I didn’t!" Jun snickered: "Don’t explain to me. In my eyes, in this vast Jiang City, many people want to see him but can’t, the mighty president of Yu Jing Group treats you differently. You can’t say he’s at your beck and call, but if you send him a message, he’ll definitely find time to reply." "Shi Su, he likes you." "Your eyes flickered just now, do you know deep down?" "No, I’m not aware, and it’s definitely impossible." As Shi Su spoke, she couldn’t stop the scene of that night in the Jing Family’s old house bathtub from flashing in her mind, unable to shake it off. But that was just because they were both drunk! It wasn’t just her who drank that night; Mr. Jing’s vintage wine was so strong! Jun chuckled confidently: "Want to make a bet?" Shi Su looked sideways: "Bet on what?" "You have his WeChat, right? Send him a message and see if he responds?" "Isn’t that childish? Am I too idle, or does he have too much time? Am I a primary school student?" "Just send an emoji." "No, that’s too childish!" "If you don’t send it, I will." Jun extended her hand to grab Shi Su’s phone. "Jun, stop messing around!" Shi Su didn’t expect Jun, who was usually much calmer than her, to try this trick on her. Before she could defend herself, Jun stood up, catching her off guard. The phone was successfully taken away. Shi Su reached out to stop her, but Jun knew her phone’s password. She opened it and didn’t randomly send anything, just found Jing Jihan’s name and hid the phone behind her back before looking at Shi Su: "I’ll just send one sentence!" "Then how about one emoji?" ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝙣𝙚𝙩 "No, no! Give me the phone back!" "Just one emoji, a smiley one. Since we’re betting, there has to be a stake. If he really doesn’t reply, then for your next drama’s pay split, the studio gets one percent less, and you get one percent more. How about that?" Shi Su: "...Going big, huh?" Jun rolled her eyes: "You’re already under Yu Jing Group’s wings, I better pamper you a bit, or it wouldn’t make sense, but you have to bet or I’ll retract what I just said!" "One percent for sure?" Shi Su quickly withdrew her hand that was about to snatch the phone: "Go ahead, send an emoji, not a word more or you’re cheating." Jun gave Shi Su a disdainful glance, this little money grubber, and respectfully didn’t scroll through Shi Su and Jing Jihan’s chat history. She picked a grinning emoji and hit send, immediately returning the phone to Shi Su after. Shi Su took it, checked, and saw Jun did indeed just send an emoji. But she’d just faced Jing Jihan’s cold face yesterday, and today she suddenly sent a silly grinning emoji. Won’t he just think she’s a fool? Yu Jing Group, routine executive meeting. Jing Jihan sat at the head of the conference room, his expression icy after the reports finished: "How about the PR Department walk through the new interns’ training process again? If your brains can’t function, submit your resignation to HR sooner rather than later. The company doesn’t support idlers. I’ve given you all quarter, and this is your final answer?" When Jing Jihan critiqued, the cold, unfeeling tone made people shiver, as if everyone sitting at any moment might face getting the sack. Zhou He stood by, slightly bowed, closing the laptop before Jing Jihan, and silently turned off the conference room’s high-res screen. It wasn’t hard to see everyone sitting was on edge. The black phone screen on the desk lit up briefly, Jing Jihan glanced at it showing Shi Su’s name, saw the small grinning emoji, and his eyes showed no change in temperature. The head of PR looked like the current manager, but in reality was one of the veterans from the last project left by Jing Yuanbin at the company, Mr. He. Mr. He and Jing Yuanbin were close, but when Jing Jihan returned to the company, the old man was hospitalized, missing the dramatic HR meeting. This old guard under Mr. He’s command had been getting lazier, intending to loaf around, taking up office space with a pack of dead weight. After the PR manager awkwardly apologized and explained a bit, Jing Jihan didn’t look at him, but instead, turned to Zhou He: "Mr. He is old and can’t handle the important PR department. It’s normal. Zhou He, tell Mr. He after the meeting to take care of himself at home, enjoy some birds and flowers, he doesn’t need to worry about the company’s affairs anymore." Zhou He nodded: "Got it." "Mr. Xiang has returned and the project he retook is smoothly proceeding. Starting today, Mr. Xiang will fully oversee the PR Department. And for elders like Mr. He, the company must provide the most comprehensive retired life." Hearing Jing Jihan say this, the room fell silent. Jing Jihan shifted his focus back to the company executives, his gaze chilling and indifferent, never sparing a glance at the long-time secretary who stayed to observe for Mr. He. Once the meeting ended, Jing Jihan didn’t pause before heading straight back to the president’s office. Some executives couldn’t help but ask Zhou He: "What’s up with Mr. Jing today? Normally he’s aloof, but not this hard to approach. Has he eaten gunpowder or what?" Zhou He felt it too, but how would he know? Usually, even though Jing Jihan was cold and distant, he maintained a fair and gracious demeanor as a leader, never being this cold, making people fearful, as if any misstep could ignite some hidden fuse in the air. "Still no reply?" Jun had looked forward for more than half an hour. Seeing Shi Su’s phone so quiet, she felt the impending loss of her big payday: "Did you put your phone on silent?" "Yeah, no reply." Shi Su pointed at her phone: "It’s been here and the screen hasn’t lit up. I didn’t cheat." Just as Shi Su finished speaking, the phone suddenly gave a "ding" notification sound, and the screen lit up—