Sweet Chief Secretary

“Grandma, I think you’d better talk to Shen Yan yourself.” Xia Yu didn’t want to make a decision on this issue for Shen Yan. Or, to put it another way, she wanted her to have real knowledge about her grandson.

She felt that it was so funny when she thought of this as they had lived in the same house for almost thirty years.

“Why? Is that what he meant?” Old Madame was unhappy. She talked to Xia Yu because she didn’t want to face Shen Yan, that unfilial grandson in her eyes, who was so ruthless to his own brother.

If Old Madame was threatened by Shen Yan with this matter, she would never compromise even if she died. But as the person Shen Yan had threatened was Shen Mo, she was forced to be really cautious and had to hold back from taking action against him.

In fact, Old Madame was also very strange. She would give in if Shen Mo threatened her, but she couldn’t accept the threat from Shen Yan. Xia Yu really had no idea what she was thinking. Looking at Old Madame, Xia Yu smiled and said, “I think you’d better talk to him in person.”

“Xiao Yu, are you not willing to compromise for me on such a trivial matter?” Old Madame felt difficult and sulky. There was nothing to write home about. She had compromised humbly, and there was no need for Xia Yu to be so stubborn at all.

“Grandma, because you are talking to me as an elder, I hope you can talk to Shen Yan personally. Maybe, you will have a windfall.” Xia Yu’s tone was sincere.

“In this case, forget it.” Old Madame nodded finally.

When Xia Yu came out, Secretary Yang just stood at the door and was stupefied for a while, seeing nothing in her hands. But she then returned to normal. “Miss Xia, I will send you back.”

It was very hard to hail a taxi in a villa area, so Xia Yu did not refuse affectedly. She just nodded and headed to Secretary Yang’s car. After getting into the car, they both kept silent, and Secretary Yang directly sent Xia Yu to the gate of Ruyi Tower.

Xia Yu said thank you before getting out of the car. Secretary Yang nodded and then drove away. The whole process was over like this.

Shen Yan didn’t stay in the company for long, and soon he went to the Red Lip Bar. When he came in, the boss was right by the bar counter, and he seemed to be training a bartender. Because it was not a weekend, there were not many people in the bar.

When the boss saw him come in, he left the bartender and came up. “Young Master Yan, I haven’t seen you for long.”

In fact, Shen Yan was not very familiar with the boss, so he just responded with a nod. Seeing Shen Yan’s bad complexion, the boss didn’t ask much. He just said, “Young Master Li has arrived. He is alone, and he is waiting for you in a box. You can go there first, and I will ask someone to bring a bottle of wine to you later.”

After all, he was a regular customer, so the boss took care of everything he needed. Shen Yan nodded without saying much and walked across the hall to the other side. The box was at the end of the hall. Shen Yan directly pushed the door open and entered it. Sure enough, Li Wen was alone in the box and didn’t ask for wine. He sat alone on the sofa and played with his mobile phone. When he looked up, he saw that Shen Yan was standing at the door. Then he threw the phone aside and put his legs on the tea table.

“Come in!”

Shen Yan twisted his eyebrows and then went in. They sat face to face and looked at each other.

In the past, the lights in the box were not on every time he came here, but now the lights were all turned on. On such an occasion, once the lights were turned on, he felt unaccustomed. Li Wen’s eyes were half-narrowed, and his legs were crossed.

Their identities and positions were ignored. Now, these two people sitting face to face were just “enemies” who had been fighting with each other from their childhood.

Shen Yan braced his knees with his arms. “Don’t ask for a snub!” He cut to the chase.

Li Wen smiled. “I just want to see you making a spectacle of yourself. What can you do to me?”

“I will just tell you some risks and benefits as a spectator today. Well, as with previous projects, you will analyze the pros and cons of each project before it is officially launched. Besides, you will conduct market research and then create a proposal. Let’s also analyze it now.”

Li Wen lowered his legs from the tea table and sat in an analyst’s position.

“First of all, talk about your risks. Once you and Old Madame are completely ruptured, what else can you do in Shen Group? Of course, you will say that there is still room to change the situation. You have Xia Family’s support and even Yang Family’s support, so you may not lose. But you work so hard. Isn’t it just because you want to make Shen Group flourish?”

“Otherwise, concerning your ability, you can even rebuild another Shen Group. I believe you can make it, but you didn’t do that. Why? You know the answer.”

“Talk to Old Madame earnestly. There are many rumors outside, but I believe you are not that kind of person. Otherwise, I would not have continued to work with you even though I was beaten by my father.”

“You are really well-informed, but the truth is not what Old Madame has thought. Besides, I also want to talk to her, but I don’t have the chance at all.” Shen Yan let out a long breath. Sometimes, when thinking about it, he really felt sad.

The person he disliked most knew him best, but the person whom he had always attached great importance to did not know him at all.

“Or, let Xia Yu talk to Old Madame first.” Li Wen shook his head and took a sip from his wine glass.

“You could even say something like this? Did I hear it right?” Shen Yan smiled.

“Don’t be self-satisfied, boy! I said so because Xia Yu really likes you very much. If she does not like you so much one day, I will take her away from you.” Li Wen rolled his eyes several times at Shen Yan.

“Dream on!” Shen Yan said. Then he stood up and walked out. What did you expect from a pig but a grunt? Shen Yan felt speechless when facing such a person.

The boss opened a bottle of imported wine in person and sent it to the box. When he pushed the door, he just saw Shen Yan coming out of it, and these two people nearly ran into each other.

The boss said, “Young Master Yan, why are you leaving so soon?”

Shen Yan kept silent with a cold face and just passed by the boss.

The boss held the wine, feeling embarrassed, and then he walked into the box, seeing Li Wen still sitting there while fiddling with his mobile phone.

The boss said, “What’s going on? Did you just quarrel?”

Li Wen yelled, “I have no time to argue with him. Come on! Give me the wine.”

“You will drink alone?” The boss said.

Li Wen rolled his eyes at the boss. “How can it be? I can call some buddies to come here, can’t I?” He said as he unlocked the cell phone. Then he dialed a number, and it quickly got connected over there.

“Hey, Yan, are you free? Come and have a drink here in the Red Lip Bar if you are!”

Shen Yan went directly to Xia Yu’s house. Seeing his appearance, Xia Yu knew he was still angry. It was normal. She would be angry as well if it happened to her.

“What do you want to eat? I’ll cook it for you.” Xia Yu didn’t ask, thinking that it was better for them to sort it out on their own.

“I like whatever you cook.” Shen Yan fell on the sofa. He picked up the remote control and began to change channels in a random way.

Xia Yu made his favorite fried spring chicken, Mapo tofu, stir-fried beef, a plate of green vegetables, and a large bowl of soup.

Shen Yan picked up the bowl and started to eat. After finishing, he still stayed at Xia Yu’s house and did not want to leave. Xia Yu could only let him stay here. These days Xia Yu was also tired, so she fell asleep early. When she fell asleep, Shen Yan was still watching TV in the living room.

But she was awakened by nightmares in the middle of the night. When she woke up, she was covered with cold sweat, and her pajamas were almost soaked, so she couldn’t sleep anymore. Then she just turned on the light and got off the bed. She headed to the kitchen for a cup of warm water, feeling herself in a state of chaos.

When she passed by the living room, she glanced at the door again, and there was no sound outside.

It was already early in the morning at that time, so he must have gone.

Xia Yu couldn’t help walking to the door and opened the door gently. There was nothing else but a dark corridor outside the door. Faintly breathing a sigh of relief, she walked back to the bedroom again. The bedroom was not lightened, but she could hear the hands of her bedside alarm clock moving. Ticktack! Ticktack! It told her that night and life were passing at the same time.

Xia Yu couldn’t fall asleep anymore. She just walked over and directly turned on the bedside lamp. With a clapping sound, the space in front of her eyes was brightened up. She closed her eyes and relaxed for a while before sitting on the edge of the bed again. She took out something from the pillow. To be precise, it was an old collection of poems, which was bought at a second-hand bookstore and wrapped carefully with a layer of cover by her.

She lay back on the bed with that book. She gently held it in her arms and touched the author’s name printed on it with her fingers.

Shen Yan left Xia Yu’s house because he wanted to go back and talk to Old Madame. But on the half-way, he changed his mind. He was quite aware of everything. He worked so hard just for brotherly love. He would not care about his family’s misunderstandings as he had done these things.

But he still felt very wronged in his heart, so he turned the car around and returned to his home. But he couldn’t fall asleep. He lost his sleep in the first half of the night and finally fell asleep after drinking two glasses of red wine, but he was awakened by the doorbell at dawn.

Who would knock at his door so early?

Shen Yan stepped on a pair of slippers and walked over. He pressed the temple with his hand and opened the door since he still felt dazed. He raised his head, only to see Secretary Yang standing outside the door.

“Young Master Yan, Old Madame asked you to come to her!” Secretary Yang said respectfully. She had no choice since she knew that Shen Group would belong to him when he went there, and it would be Shen Yan in charge of her salary.

“Oh, I’ll go there after changing my clothes.” Shen Yan turned around, and Secretary Yang followed in. At this time, Aunt Ma also heard the sound and got up, and when she saw Secretary Yang, she hurriedly made tea.

“No need to make tea! We will leave immediately.” Of course, the word “we”, which she said, referred to Shen Yan and herself.

Aunt Ma looked in the direction of Shen Yan’s room. Then she nodded and went out to walk Diudiu.

Shen Yan soon appeared in front of Old Madame. Secretary Yang closed the door and went out as before.

“Little Yan, I didn’t disturb your rest by asking you to come here so early, did I?” Old Madame barely forced a smile, but her smile was no better than crying.

Shen Yan thought secretly in his mind that she could just stop smiling hypocritically if she did not want to smile. But he said, “No! Grandma, what did you ask me to come here for?”

“I just want to ask about your investigation into the matter of Ningjing in the past. Have you made any new progress?” She asked with a sense of resentment secretly repressed in her heart. Since he had been asked to come here, she would just talk with him earnestly.

“Yes! Basically, we can be pretty sure that Ningjing was murdered by someone.” Shen Yan said seriously.

Not having anticipated him to be so straightforward, Old Madame stood up from her chair and stared straight at Shen Yan. Shen Yan also looked at her, and time slipped away little by little when they were looking at each other.

In the end, Old Madame gave up first. She sighed and sat down. “You really can’t let go of your elder brother? In fact, isn’t it just for the position of President? There are many ways to get it. Why do you have to choose the most stupid one?”

“Grandma, what do you mean?” Shen Yan gazed at Old Madame all the time as if he wanted to see her through.

Old Madame felt uncomfortable all over when he stared at her. She avoided his eyes and murmured, “I can directly recommend you for President.”

“Oh? Grandma, do you have any give-and-take conditions?” Shen Yan’s expression was calm, and his tone was smooth, but his eyes were always on Old Madame.