Chapter 152

Xiao Qi ignored the setting entirely, took out her phone, and opened her usual mobile game.

Because her desk was right next to the window, her colleagues didn't pay much attention to her.

Before starting, she changed her in-game ID to *Lin Yichen is a total bastard*, muttering to herself as she played.

"I'll beat you to a pulp, you bastard! How dare you scold me and misunderstand me? I'm going to beat you until your teeth are scattered all over the floor, until your face is bruised and swollen, until you beg me for mercy—"

"Enjoying the scolding?"

While her brain was fully engaged in the battle, her blood was boiling with curses, and her heart was brimming with happiness, she remained completely unresponsive to someone approaching her side.

She subconsciously replied, "Not enough yet. I'm going to beat that bastard until his head looks like a pig's, beat him until—"

"Ye Xiyang, try saying one more word."

She spun her head around to find herself face-to-face with the man's abruptly darkened, handsome countenance. With a start, her hand jerked, and her phone slipped from her grasp.

Fortunately, the man caught it with nimble reflexes.

*Ah, ah, ah! Why is he here?*

*Shouldn't she be in his office?*

Her inner monologue wailed continuously.

"You... Hello, President Lin!"

Yichen hummed coldly. "Scolding me like that just now, how am I good?"

"..."

"I—" Xiao Qi flashed an awkward, ingratiating smile. "I was just playing a game, completely lost in it, totally lost in it."

Yichen asked with a sinister chill, "What level are you on?"

"Just started, currently practicing my skills."

Yichen looked thoughtful. "Oh! Playing games during work hours, salary and bonus deductions it is."

With that, he walked away.

Xiao Qi: "..."

Only then did it dawn on her that she was currently at work. *Ah, ah, ah!*

Then, the realization hit her.

Salary. Bonus.

*What should I do? What should I do? My salary and bonus are both gone.*

"Xiyang, how could you play games at work?"

Seeing the president leave, the colleague beside her finally spoke up, "Getting caught by President Lin like that—I bet your salary for this entire month is completely gone."

"Yeah, President Lin has always strictly gone by the book. I think he was being very generous just by not firing you."

Xiao Qi wore a look of utter panic!

Her mind was entirely consumed by thoughts of her lost salary and bonus.

Should she ask Yiyang for help?

*No, no, no. I can't put Yiyang in a difficult position.*

*Honestly, how could I be so stupid? If I wanted to play, I should have hid in the restroom...*

Suddenly, she remembered that her phone was still in his hands, and then she remembered that ID.

*Oh mother, it's over, completely over. I'm in deep trouble now.*

Xiao Qi immediately leaped to her feet and sprinted toward the president's office.

Naturally, this time Yichen had no intention of driving her away.

Having her come looking for him was precisely what he wanted.

"Um, President Lin, I promise I will never play games during work hours ever again. Could you please return my phone to me?"

Xiao Qi entered cautiously, not daring to walk too far in, stopping right by the doorway. She still harbored lingering fears from the last time the cold-hearted president had thrown her out.

However, she had already forgotten her anger over being misunderstood; her entire heart was now anxiously tethered to her phone and her deducted salary.

Yichen raised his gaze, casting a cool, detached glance at her, and mused, "What should I use to make me believe you?"

"I—I'll write a guarantee letter, is that okay?"

Yichen did not respond immediately. He elegantly lifted his coffee cup, his every gesture radiating natural grace and poise.

Xiao Qi felt that Lin Yichen didn't look particularly angry at the moment, and the icy aloofness around him had vanished.

*Ugh, this man is as unpredictable as the weather and unfathomably deep. Trying to read anything from his expression is simply impossible.*

She still needed to be cautious.

Yichen set down his coffee cup and suddenly stood up, his tall, handsome, and slender figure walking slowly and leisurely toward Xiao Qi.

Xiao Qi's heart thumped wildly against her ribs.

*What is he going to do?*

*Is he going to hit me?*

*Surely he won't just slap me across the face the moment he reaches me, right?*

A visceral fear of being beaten welled up within her.

She couldn't bear the torment of a thousand cuts, so to speak.

And her delicate, tender face certainly couldn't endure the destruction of his bear-like paw.

So... she instinctively wanted to retreat.

Just as she was about to slip away, she saw the president smiling gently at her with his handsome face.

*Is this... a smile hiding a knife behind it?*

*Whatever! As the saying goes, you can run from the eleventh, but you can't run from the fifteenth.* Xiao Qi lifted her chin proudly, her eyes flashing with backbone. "Just say it—what do you want? Kill me or carve me up, I'll submit to your absolute disposal."

"..."

Quite to the contrary, he placed her phone gently into her hand with surprising compliance, his tone remarkably soft, "No playing on your phone next time. Understood?"

What was happening here? He hadn't flown into a rage over that ID?

Or perhaps he hadn't read it?

Given his naturally cold disposition, Xiao Qi thought it quite likely that he hadn't bothered to read the ID.

However, with him saying that just now, the subtext was clearly that he was letting it go this time?!

Since he was sparing her this once, Model Student Xiao Qi nodded repeatedly like a good child. "Yes, President Lin! I promise I will never play games during work hours again, and I'll work even harder than before."

"Mm. It's rare for Xiyang to be sensible for once, not bad." As he spoke, Yichen reached out and patted her head.

That head-patting gesture suddenly gave Xiao Qi the peculiar sensation of an adult watching a young maiden finally blossom into maturity. "..."

*Why does he seem so easy to talk to all of a sudden?*

*Regardless of whether he's easy to talk to or not, the problem is solved, so I better scram fast. Who knows when this unpredictable person might suddenly decide to dock my pay again.*

"Well, President Lin, I won't disturb your work any longer. I'll head out to work now."

"Mm." Yichen gave a slight nod, then added leisurely, "Considering this is your first offense, I won't dock your entire month's salary. Let's just make it half a month instead!"

"..."

Xiao Qi was dumbfounded.

What on earth did he mean by that?

"President Lin, didn't you just say..."

"Say what?"

"You said," Xiao Qi mentally replayed his previous words, "that I shouldn't play on my phone next time."

"Right. I never said I wasn't going to dock your salary."

"..."

In Xiao Qi's heart, a thousand streams of tears flowed, rushing toward the sea with no hope of return!

This was a capitalistic exploiter through and through...

*Wait? Why does he suddenly feel so much like that other Lin Yichen?*

*Could it really be...*

*No, no, no. If it were him, that Lin Yichen definitely would have complained about me not looking for him for so many days.*

*But why is his expression right now so...*

Xiao Qi realized her thoughts were drifting off course.

Right now, her salary was at stake! π_π

With this thought in mind, she immediately presented her argument, "President Lin, you just said yourself that this is my first time, and usually first offenses are forgiven. Furthermore, I admit my mistakes and am willing to correct them—as the saying goes, 'there is no greater virtue than correcting one's mistakes.' And as another saying goes, 'where you can spare people, spare them'..."

"That's why I'm only docking half your salary. You should be thanking me for my magnanimity."

"..."

With a fake, compliant smile, Xiao Qi said, "Then thank you for your magnanimity, President Lin."

She desperately wanted to shoot daggers at him with her eyes, but lacked the courage.

She was filled with grievance and suppressed rage.

Seeing her looking like she wanted to glare daggers at him but didn't dare, Yichen was in an exceptionally good mood.

He let out a low, deep, husky chuckle. "You don't need to look so moved you're about to burst into tears. I've always been a broad-minded president with great grace, so no need for thanks."

"..."

Xiao Qi gnashed her teeth. Being in the weaker position, she didn't dare talk back. "Fine, no thanks needed. President Lin, I'm going out to work."

"Go ahead. Oh, and by the way," Yichen said with a smile playing at the corners of his lips, "since I'm such a broad-minded and graceful president, I'll show immense mercy one more time—your bonus will only be halved as well. But if there's a next time, this broad-minded and graceful president won't be so easy to talk to!"

*>___<*

*So what if you have multiple personalities? You're still just a capitalist at heart, always looking for ways to dock my money.*

*It infuriates me to death!*

Xiao Qi gnashed her teeth and glared angrily at him, wishing she could flatten that handsome face with a slap.

Suddenly, the president knelt down on one knee right in front of her feet. The crisp creases of his tailored suit shifted with his bending posture as his long, elegant fingers reached down to tie her untied shoelace.

Xiao Qi was dumbfounded all over again.

He was actually kneeling to tie her...

Yichen stood back up, and seeing her dazed expression, an indescribable and wonderful emotion suddenly welled up in his heart.

When he first lost his memories, she had truly annoyed him. But when had it started that he gradually grew to enjoy seeing her, liked the way she spoke, liked the way she smiled, and liked having her by his side?

Every expression of hers now, even her happiness and anger, held such an irresistible attraction for him.

"Xiyang, I want to..."

"Don't speak."

Her heart raced. Hearing his voice made it beat even faster.

*Stop beating, don't beat so fast, calm down.*

*I really can't handle this load!*

Xiao Qi felt that if her heart continued to pound so lawlessly like this, she was going to experience a system bug.

*Stay steady, stay steady, inhale, inhale.*

*Think about it, think about all the bad things he did to you, how cold he was, how he sneered and mocked you, humiliated you with money, misunderstood you, scolded you, wronged you, and glared at you...*

The list of grievances was endless.

*If he's treating you well now, it's probably just an act. If he really cared about you, would he still be docking your salary and bonus?*

The frantic pounding of her heart gradually morphed into a blazing fire of anger.

*Treating me well now, huh...*

A flash of inspiration struck her.

Xiao Qi beamed brightly and called out, "President."

Her tone carried an unusually provocative, flirtatious edge.

Yichen was momentarily stunned by the jolt.

He watched as Xiao Qi pressed her slender fingers against his muscular chest, her fingers wreaking havoc without the slightest bit of politeness, while she muttered, "My, what a sturdy texture this chest muscle has, truly solid!"

"..."

For the first time in his life, Yichen was somewhat baffled, though his primary instinct told him that those claws resting on his chest were definitely harboring a follow-up move.

He wanted to see what kind of game she was playing. Yichen curved his lips and said lazily, "If you like my chest muscles this much, why don't I take my shirt off and let you wreak havoc at zero distance to your heart's content?"

"..."

Faced with the president's retort, Xiao Qi found herself momentarily cornered in embarrassment, and she felt a brief urge to pull her hand back.

However, since she had already gone this far, she might as well finish the play.

Xiao Qi never liked doing useless work.

With that thought, Xiao Qi smiled brightly. While one hand lingered on the man's chest, her other daring hand slid downwards.

Her slender fingers brushed against the man's arousal through his tailored trousers—feeling the taut, building heat, the desire trembling on the verge of explosion...

Yichen's lower body suddenly tightened. *Is she playing with fire?*

Xiao Qi curved her lips.

*It's time.*

With bright, seductive eyes, she gazed at the president's flushed, handsome face, noting how the lines of his jaw were pulled taut.

Her soft lips hovered mere inches from his hardened, tense face as she slowly blew a gentle breath toward the president.

Yichen felt as though something down there was about to burst through its confines.

With a sudden burst of strength, her hand shoved hard against his chest, and Yichen let out a muffled groan.

Before he could react, the hand on his chest had already rapidly withdrawn, and she dashed away.