Chapter 05

- They met again

Pausing for a while, she held her breath before shouting aloud.

Ming: PLEASE HELP ME OUT!

Keeping a hand on her ear, she covered it.

Rong: Yah! You first calm down and stop shouting.

Ming: I have an urgent meeting. The file that I need is at our home. Please, bring it to my office, Rong. Otherwise, today will be my last day here.

Rong: Huh? Ah, sure. When do you need it?

Ming: Just now. The meeting is starting in 15 minutes.

Choking in the air, she stood up.

Rong: WHAT?

Ming: Please, save me this time. I'll treat your favorite dish hotpot.

Rong: Ugh! Okay, I'm coming.

Hanging up on the call, she glanced at her wristwatch. "Only 15 minutes?"

Now she knew, if she didn't run at the speed of a bullet train, Ming's job would be destroyed.
Running away, she came out of the mart. Moreover, to save time, she took a shortcut to reach her home.
She had to run around a small street with a stinking smell.

.............................................

On the entrance door, holding a phone in her hand, she was roaming here and there.
Her eyes were fixed on the door as she was waiting for Cong Rong.
Her body was trembling out of fear. "Cong Rong, please come soon..."

As she started roaming again, Xiaomi called her from behind.

"Ms. Zhao, the meeting is about to start. Please, come with me. I have something to discuss with you."

Hesitated, she shifted her gaze towards the entrance door and then back to Xiaomi. "I'm coming..."

.............................................

After coming back home, she ran straight upstairs and started searching the file in the room.
She opened every drawer and looked at the cabinets too, but there was no trace of that file.
To find that file on time, she made the room look like junk, but she had no time to keep the thing back to their place.

Tired, when she came down, her eyes fell on a red envelope lying at the top of a drawer near the TV.
An exhausted sigh escaped from her mouth as she almost felt like crying.

"Ugh! Here, it was."

Walking towards the TV, she took the file and checked on the time.
"Only 7 minutes left?"

Holding the file in her hands, she ran towards the door and took a cab to Ming's office.

...........................................

Getting out of the taxi, she ran inside while crossing the entrance door.
Arriving inside, she dialed Ming's number too, but she was not picking up her call.
Even after looking around, she did not see Ming anywhere.
But when her eyes fell on the left corridor, she saw the same man, who she tossed the cake on.
Shaoqing had his eyes fixed on his phone while his steps were coming towards her.

Upon seeing him here, her eyes came out of the socket.

"What is he doing here?" she thought.

When he was about to raise his eyes, then to avoid his gaze, she pulled a worker coming from the front towards her.
With him, she covered herself. As with her attentive eyes, she peeked to check him.

"Miss, who are you?"

Shifting her gaze up, she hushed him. "Keep your mouth shut!"

"But... who are you?"

Keeping his phone inside, he raised his eyes while walking to them. However, they still grasped his glare.
He stopped his feet near to them as Rong gripped that worker's shirt tightly.

"Please, not today. God, help me," she begged within her thoughts.

With his eyebrows narrowed, he cleared his throat. "Xiao Ling, don't you know we don't allow meetings with girlfriends in the office?"

As he tried to tell him something, Rong pinched his hand harshly that made her groan in pain.

"AGH!!"

"What's wrong with you?"

"I-- Boss, I'll remember it next time. Please, spare me this time."

Maintaining his poker face, he tried to peek at her face while she tried her best to hide.

"Xiao Ling's girlfriend, please remember to meet outside next time. We don't allow a couple of things here."

Gulping down, she just hummed as he glared at Ling. "You better focus on your work if you don't want to get fired."

Saying this, he immediately left for the meeting hall.

“Boss, I--”

Peeking from a corner, she sighed with relief as her hands automatically left his shirt.

"Thanks for this time, God."

His hands crossed together, he glared at her with his burning eyes as she nervously laughed.

"Hahaha! Thank you and sorry, Xiao Ling."

"WHO ARE YOU?"

Flinching at her spot, she remained silent when Ming came to her mind. She quickly gripped his hand and handed him that file. "Help me to pass this file to Zhao Ming. She has a meeting today."

Glaring at him with her daring eyes, she ran out of the building. While he remained there, confused about what just happened.

"She didn't even tell me her name. Huh?"

...............................................

Throwing the papers on the table, Xiaomi glared at her. "Ms. Zhao, where is that file? You know how important this is for our meeting today."

With a cracked voice, she replied. "M-manager Xiaomi, I really finished it. But I forgot to bring it today."

He furrowed his brows, shocked and disappointed at the same time. "Forgot? How irresponsible are you? How can you..."
.
Fear was visible on her face. Her whole body was shaking with her eyes squeezed shut. "I'm so sorry, manager Xiaomi. Trust me, I completed the file and also asked my friend to bring it here."

"Another excuse? How many excuses has left, Ms. Zhao?" he sarcastically shouted at her.

"It's not an excuse. My friend is really coming. I was only waiting for her at the entrance door."

"Then, where is she? Will she really come today, or do I have to wait till next year?"

Standing there with her head lowered, she had no answer to his questions. Never in her life, she felt that humiliated.
Her tears were almost to come out when he banged the table again.

"Tell me, what will I answer the boss? Our employee FoRgOt such an important file at home. And her friend will come next year."

"I-- I'm so sorry, manager," she replied in her weeping voice.

Just then, someone banged the door and came inside. "Here's the file."