"Mommy, stop playing with Mommy! Come wash your hands and eat. Also, straighten the cushions."
"oh."
The two women, whose combined age was over fifty, immediately got up obediently, arranged their soft pillows, turned around to wash their hands, and finally sat properly at the dining table.
The last dish, chicken and bamboo shoot soup, was served. The little boy in the apron glanced at the table. Hmm, shredded pork with garlic sauce, fried prawns, braised beef, pineapple and scrambled eggs, plus this soup—exactly four dishes and one soup. A smile finally appeared on his handsome face.
"Let's get started," he declared.
As if granted a pardon, the two women exchanged a glance and spontaneously took turns serving rice and soup, vying to offer their respects to the hardworking and meritorious chef.
"Lucky, Mom will take you to see the new school tomorrow, okay?" Admiring her son's handsome features and his most captivating jewel-like blue eyes, Ye Zi glanced at Feng Zi with pride.
"Mommy will take you! And this afternoon we're going to see the latest and greatest information exhibition, and Mommy's also going to buy Lucky a new computer." Not to be outdone, Fengzi quickly chimed in. Hmph, what's so great about him? She has her son too!
"stop!"
Seeing that the two mothers were about to argue again, Ye Pei immediately made a decisive move, waving his small hand to stop the fight. He glanced at the two women with his sharp eyes, making them feel guilty, before speaking: "First of all, I don't want to go to school for the time being, and I certainly won't go to that elementary school you mentioned, understand?"
"But..." Both of them opened their mouths to argue.
"I'm currently studying French and Italian, and I have neither the time nor the interest to relive that kind of boring childhood. Besides, wouldn't you like to have a translator with you when you travel to Europe in the future?"
Under pressure and enticement, the two women had no choice but to nod in agreement.
"The computer?" Fengzi couldn't help but ask.
"Of course I'll buy it." Ye Zi made her decision from the side, earning a roll of her eyes.
"Buy it."
The head of the household nodded, and the servants... no, the mothers naturally joined in. There was no way around it; after all, their sons were geniuses.
"What about breakfast and dinner?" the food-loving mother asked.
"Of course I'll cook, and," sigh, well, what can I do? Mom can't cook, while Mom's skills are pretty good, but she always seems to get injured, big or small, as soon as she enters the kitchen, like she's returned from a battlefield. Sigh, there's nothing I can do, this genius has to fend for himself. "I'll prepare lunchboxes for you." How merciful!
"This...how could I possibly accept this?" The mother was uneasy.
"You don't want it?" The little genius raised his left eyebrow and sneered.
"We want them," they answered in unison, making the two of them quite embarrassed.
"That settles it then. If necessary, I'll... deliver it personally." Ye Pei chuckled, a shrewdness beyond his years flashing in his blue eyes...
※※※
Three days later, on the 26th floor of the Ouni International Building.
"Hello, I'm Ye Zi, the new employee reporting for duty."
Upon arriving, Ye Zi looked around while exchanging perfunctory pleasantries with the sparrow secretary that Feng Zi had mentioned.
The so-called evolutionary theory implies that the woman "has lofty ambitions" and is suspected of trying to climb the social ladder and transform herself from a sparrow into a phoenix.
"Wow...a beautiful office," Ye Zi thought to herself.
This secretary's office alone is definitely over ten square meters. The clean and neat design and the bright and elegant office supplies are truly eye-catching. Not to mention how exquisite and elegant the small reception room connected to it is, and the modern tea room separated from it by a door—tsk tsk, it's basically a fully equipped kitchenette!
Are you satisfied with what you see?
A deep, cold male voice, tinged with displeasure, interrupted her reverie. Ye Zi hurriedly turned around and saw a handsome and distinguished man with a slightly sullen face, raising his left eyebrow and glancing at her with a mocking look.
He looks so familiar, like we've met before, but it's not the kind of... ordinary familiarity. But... damn it, who is he?
Carefully scrutinizing the man's features, Ye Zi knew that her actions were extremely impolite, but she couldn't control herself. Her eager gaze tried to find the reason for her palpitations, because a voice in her heart was screaming—why, why is this happening?
Finally, she found it. In disbelief, she covered her mouth with her hand, swallowing her gasp. She looked again to identify the identical raised eyebrow and the faint mockery at the corner of his lips. It was so similar, so very similar. This man was exactly the same as Lucky, except... those deep black eyes.
Lucky has naturally blue eyes, as does that other person, but the person in front of you... is not.
Realizing the most easily ruled-out difference, Ye Zi breathed a sigh of relief, half relieved and half disappointed. She lowered her eyelids and called out "General Manager" just like the secretary next to her.
Perhaps... there are so many people in the world, and they are only similar.
Despite the professional smile still on her lips, Ye Zi felt a bitter taste in her mouth.
This woman...
He nodded stiffly to them, but Pei Zaiyu did not deny that the new secretary had piqued his interest, and he was even a little curious.
Do they know each other? Otherwise, why would this woman be staring at him with such an overly intense gaze? She seemed to be trying to find something on his face, and then... she seemed to have found it. She was surprised and stared intently at his eyebrows and lips... In that instant, he seemed to have nowhere to hide, his brows almost twitching, and his lips inexplicably burning hot, like a shy young boy longing to be kissed by his sweetheart.
He glared back at her, annoyed and almost embarrassed, but she was completely oblivious... No, she didn't find it, because she was escapistly relieved. She... felt a little lost. She lowered her eyelids, trying to hide the loneliness in her heart, but little did she know that he had already seen through her.
Damn it, whose shadow was she trying to find in him? Damn it, how dare she... how dare she... look at him with her eyes while loving another man with her heart?! How dare she?!
"General Manager... what are your instructions?" Secretary Zhang waited cautiously for her boss's reply. Heaven knows how much she regretted being chosen as the temporary replacement; she also regretted her rash and impulsive actions last Friday... God, Guanyin, Buddha, and all the gods in the heavens and caves, please bless this humble woman to get through this difficult time. Afterwards, she will definitely observe a vegetarian diet and sacrifice a pig to repay the gods...
Good heavens, the general manager's face looks really bad. Someone please help her!
"Hello, beautiful ladies, good morning!"
A nonchalant man, completely unaffected by the situation, swaggered out of the elevator with a big smile. "And you, my dearest boss, good morning!" he said, casually putting his arm around his boss's shoulder.
Ignoring the fact that she had always despised this man, the Sparrow Secretary immediately rushed over, wagging her tail as she ran, "Vice President, coffee or tea? I know, it must be coffee, right? I'll go right now..." Before she finished speaking, she had already darted into the tea room and locked herself inside.
"Oh, I didn't realize today that Secretary Zhang has such excellent athletic ability." Fang Weiyang chuckled and nudged Pei Zaiyu affectionately with his elbow as he stroked his chin. "Well-trained, huh?"