By the time Qiu Xiaoya finished with her overall styling and walked out of the clothing store, it was already half an hour later. Then, she and her Boss spent nearly half an hour drive to the hotel’s venue where the banquet was held. So when they walked into the banquet hall together, everyone coincidentally focused their attention on both of them who had just walked in.
"General Manager, we're almost an hour late. Will this give the host a bad impression on you?" Qiu Xiaoya hooked Han Yinglei's arm, and when she saw the attention they received in the banquet, she smiled lightly, leaned towards Han Yinglei's side and asked in a low voice.
"I don't care about their impression of me." Han Yinglei's arrogant attitude remained the same, but a strange light flashed in his eyes.
While they were still at the clothing store, she had been stressing to him that it was bad to be late, but after arriving at the banquet venue and they were genuinely late too, she didn't open her mouth for the sake of lecturing him, but she was somewhat concerned about him...
Although her question might be something that she hadn't thought thoroughly, Han Yinglei, however, felt that it wasn't that bad if he could make the housekeeper belong to him only!
"Even if you don't care, you should think about the company's reputation! An untimely company leader will make the company partners doubt whether the company is worthy of cooperation. Since the upper level of the company has no sense of time, employees' work efficiency will also become questionable..."
Though she knew from his comforting words last time that he did things with a complete disregard for other people's eyes, she would still say these words of advice anyway. Whether he listened or not, that was beyond her control.
"Housekeeper, you're thinking too much." Hanying Group's reputation had never been earned by attending banquets but rather through genuine works and architectural achievements.
"General Manager, I'm doing this for your own good!"
"Why? Have you fallen in love with me?"
"General Manager, don't be ridiculous." She spat. Since she knew that they were now in a banquet, she maintained the look of hooking his arm. Although her proximity with him was just a little apart, the light makeup couldn't stop her pretty face from burning red, making it very tempting for him to take a bite.
"There's no shame in falling in love with me. What's there to hide?" She tried to pull their bodies apart, but he moved closer to her instead as he whispered these words intimately in her ears.
"I'm rich, powerful, and handsome, that so many women can't help falling in love with me. However, I don't mind if you're the one who falls in love with me." His cocky tone of voice took a turn as if he was implying something.
"General Manager, don't get any more ridiculous than you already are." She verbally rebuked, but her heart suddenly quickened its beat, letting her know that she was moved by what his words suggested.
"You are the boss, and I'm just a little housekeeper. Which boss wants his housekeeper to fall in love with her boss?" She tried to calm her quickening heart, but she recalled when she took the housekeeper's job, her cousin once told her that he didn't like it when women approached him with affection in their attitudes. However, when he went against his own commitment, her heart seemed to beat more violently.
"I do."
"General Manager..." She wanted to say something, but a voice suddenly interrupted her. She looked in the direction of the voice and came across a familiar-looking, troublesome woman!
She politely listened to their conversation with a calm smile on her face, but deep down, she felt helpless, especially when a particular person kept on staring at her.
"Xianzhi, Uncle Lin thought you weren't coming. As it turns out, it's your beautiful female companion who has been hindering you!" The host of the banquet, Lin Boxue, knew of his daughter's love for Han Yinglei and brought his only daughter, Lin Yuer, with him to deliberately interrupt their intimate conversation.
"Lei Gege, isn't she a housekeeper? A person with no background or identity, what qualifications does she have to attend this banquet?" Lin Yuer spit out these sarcastic remarks without thinking as she looked jealously at Qiu Xiaoya, who had become more beautiful than before, even surpassing her appearance.
Why was Qiu Xiaoya allowed to stand by his side? Even if Lei Gege didn't have the same feeling of love as what she (Lin Yuer) had towards him, the only female who could be next to him should be her, and only her...
"The qualification for her to attend is that she is my female companion." He grasped Qiu Xiaoya's palm and subconsciously stepped forward, not without his disdainful snort. When Lin Boxue spoke, he had a polite smile on his face, but when Lin Yuer's sarcastic remarks came out, he even put away his hypocritical smile.
"Your female companion is me..." Lin Yuer's face became a little ferocious because of his words, and her vicious line of sight shot at Qiu Xiaoya, who stayed protected behind Han Yinglei.
When Lin Yuer found out from Uncle Han that Lei Gege was coming to today's banquet, she was thrilled. She knew that usually, when he attended a banquet, he would either bring Secretary Xu only or come alone. So when she woke up early this morning, she did her hair, put on her best makeup and her little dress, as she waited to be Lei Gege's companion...but her full expectations were all shattered because of Qiu Xiaoya's appearance!
"What a joke." Han Yinglei did not even restraint himself even though Lin Boxue stood beside her as he scoffed at her thought that herself was favoured by him.
Qiu Xiaoya, who had been very silent, watched their strained, stagnant conversation. She felt very good to be protected by the same man once again. There was even a hint of sweetness in her heart when she felt the warmth from their palms together, and her polite smile turned more sincere.
"You..." Lin Yuer was so angry that her face turned white, especially when she found out that Qiu Xiaoya was smiling sweetly at Han Yinglei, and the resentment in her eyes spiked up.
"Yuer, don't make a scene." Lin Boxue noticed the atmosphere between the two of them getting even more strained. Although he was also annoyed that Han Yinglei didn't give him any face and slashed his baby daughter's face right before him, he also understood that Linshi Company had too many project collaborations with Hanying Group. If Han Yinglei were ruthless and terminated some of the project collaborations, Linshi Company would be the one who suffered the most. Thus, he had to swallow his anger and step in to smooth things over.
"Dad——" When Lin Yuer saw that her father didn't even support her, Lin Yuer's chilled eyes were filled with tears. She stomped her foot hatefully and turned to leave.
Before Lin Yuer left, her eyes that looked at Qiu Xiaoya were even more vicious than when she left Han Yinglei's house before. Once again, Han Yinglei, who had her in his sights, started to be on guard. He wouldn't overlook this sign as he did last time.
"Xianzhi, thank you for coming to this banquet. You do as you wish. I'll go greet other guests first." After Lin Boxue finished with his pleasantries, he followed behind Lin Yuer, who had left.
"M-hm." Han Yinglei lightly responded as he thought they could finally leave now that they had greeted the party host.
"Housekeeper, let's go!"
"-?" When he dragged Qiu Xiaoya to the venue entrance, only then did she realise what he meant by them immediately leaving.
"General Manager, we have only been here for less than twenty minutes! And even if we have to leave, don't we need to greet the banquet host? This is too rude for the host..." Even if he didn't care about other people's eyes, basic courtesy was still required ah!
Even if he was rich, powerful and influential, how could he win the respect of his partner if he did not have any basic manners and always act arrogantly like no one was noble but he alone? And how would he win the hearts of his subordinates? Unconsciously, her heart began to revolve around him.
"The two, father and daughter, just now are the hosts of the banquet." In other words, he had already greeted the host.
"Even if the hosts, the father and daughter, are obnoxious, as guests, we should politely inform the hosts before we leave. Otherwise, won't we be unable to obtain people's hearts just like the two of them?" She insisted on this basic etiquette, but she didn't notice that what she just said seemed to have nothing to do with polite etiquette.
"Heh...housekeeper, you're right." The father and daughter, Lin Boxue and Lin Yuer, were certainly obnoxious!
"General Manager, this is the first time you agree with what I said!" But why did she find the smirking expression on his face looked so strange?
"Did I just say something wrong?" She finally asked after hesitating for a while.
"No, you are right."
"General Manager, are we going to say goodbye to the hosts of the banquet now?" Since he had said that she was right, she had to shake off the weird feeling and asked.
"Uh-huh, why don't you just stay here and wait for me. I'll be right back." As he searched for Lin Boxue, he found Lin Yuer was together with many business elders there. When she thought of Lin Yuer's jealousy towards Qiu Xiaoya, he decided it was better not to let Lin Yuer and Qiu Xiaoya meet again.
"Yes, General Manager."
Qiu Xiaoya wasn't interested in seeing the annoying father and daughter again, but the Boss had ordered an amnesty, so of course, she had to be his good little housekeeper!
She walked to the door, leaned against the wall, looked out at his sparkling figure in the crowd, and found that her Boss seemed to be surrounded by people. The distance was too far, so she couldn't see his expression, but she thought that his face should not be looking good!
It was not looking very good because, as soon as he stepped into the banquet venue, all he thought about was showing his face and then turning around and leaving. Now that these people surrounded him, his complexion showed a sinister trick happening behind the scenes!
"Beautiful Miss, how come you're standing here alone? So do I have the pleasure to invite you for a glass of wine instead?" By the time her Boss left, a rich young man, who thought he was handsome, came near her.
"Sir, I'm sorry, I'm not alone. I'm waiting for my male companion to come back, so please give this glass of wine to other beautiful ladies!" Qiu Xiaoya politely but firmly refused.
"Beautiful Miss, don't you think it's your male companion's dereliction of duty for putting such a beautiful female companion aside? If it were me, I would never leave you." The rich young man raised her little hand and printed a kiss on the back of it.
"Sir, thank you for your compliment." Knowing that it was a courtesy, Qiu Xiaoya let him kiss her hand decently. After he kissed her hand, she retracted it a little too fast.
"Miss, are you really not going to consider changing your male companion? Otherwise, can I be your temporary male companion before your real male companion comes back?" The rich man seemed to be possessed by her beauty, as he appeared to be reluctant to leave her side. He even offered his service like Mao Sui as her male companion for the time being.
"No need, but thank you for your kindness."
"Miss, you seem to be really guarded. I envy the man who is your male companion." The rich man shrugged his shoulders at her repeated rejection. His tone seemed like he had given up, but a quick, strange treacherous glint flashed in his eyes.
"Miss, since you don't need me to accompany you as your male companion, how about you accompany me with a glass of wine. Then, I'll leave you alone. How about that?"
"...okay." Qiu Xiaoya subconsciously glanced at Han Yinglei, who was still busy, unable to get away. To dispel the pestering man in front of her, she hesitated for a moment before she nodded in agreement.
"Then let's have a good night tonight, cheers.
When Qiu Xiaoya finished drinking the wine, the rich young man left her just as he said.
Not long after he left, a server, who was carrying a tray in front of her, suddenly stumbled and spilt all the red wine inside the tray on her; after accepting the waiter's apology and asking about the direction of the dressing room, she walked out of the assembly hall door, wanting to clean up the stain of the red wine from her dress.
However, just a few steps out of the door, she suddenly felt her head start to get dizzy. She put her hand on her forehead as she leaned against the wall and shook her head, trying to throw the sudden dizziness out of her head, but it was of no use. Before she lost her consciousness, she seemed to see the former rich young man's face, that was harbouring malicious intentions——
Tags:
My Housekeeper