Mr. Lin, to have such outstanding employees is truly your good fortune!

Generally, a hungry CEO is in a foul mood, even downright fierce, so it's best to wait until he’s fed before daring to test his patience.

She promptly opened the lunchbox and, noticing one of the dishes contained green peppers, she took it upon herself to pick them out with her chopsticks and put them straight into her own mouth. Once she’d removed all the green peppers, she handed her chopsticks to Yichen.

Sure enough, President Lin’s expression visibly softened.

Just as before, Fang Liru brought in a meal and withdrew in silence.

Xiao Qi thought to herself, How silly—next time just bring two servings. After all, when you accept someone’s things or eat their food, it’s hard to argue your case. The more she thought about it, the more she knew she had to speak up, but the CEO beat her to it. “Didn’t I tell you to bring it with you?”

Xiao Qi was momentarily at a loss, but five seconds later she understood his meaning. She had intended to mention this herself, but didn’t want to upset him, so she softened her tone and produced a white box. “President Lin, I don’t recognize what this is, so I…”

It was labeled in French, which she couldn’t read.

Yichen began pointing at each word, translating for her.

But there was one word that didn’t match what her colleague had said.

“That’s strange, this word isn’t what Sister Liu told me it was.”

Yichen frowned. “You asked someone else?”

“Yes, I wrote it down and asked.”

At this, the gentleness that had just returned to Yichen’s face vanished, replaced by cold displeasure. He scolded her, “You went to ask someone else about this? Even if you’re not embarrassed, I am.”

Was it truly so shameful not to understand French? Xiao Qi felt wronged; she wasn’t even from Earth, and her English was already pretty good. So she retorted, “Please don’t judge me by the standards of a superhuman from Earth! Besides, even if it’s embarrassing, it’s my embarrassment, not yours.”

“You’re my employee. How is it not my business?”

Yichen’s face turned a shade of green with anger. He steadied himself and pointed at the French on the white box, translating again, “Listen carefully, this is…”

He translated each line, while Xiao Qi was left dumbfounded.

Wow, the CEO is truly extraordinary—even his French is impressive.

Before she could finish marveling, Yichen was done. “Did you catch all that? It’s just an ordinary—”

“No, I didn’t catch it.”

She had been so busy being amazed that she hadn’t listened at all.

Yichen gave her a look as if he were staring at a pig. Xiao Qi wanted to protest, but didn’t dare anger him further, so she lowered her head in shame.

“When you spoke fluent English to Mr. Cruz, I thought you were quite clever. Turns out you’re this foolish.”

He wasn’t upset that she didn’t know French, but rather by her earlier words: “Even if it’s embarrassing, it’s my embarrassment, not yours.” That had infuriated him.

Meanwhile, Xiao Qi was still wondering if it was really worth getting angry over her asking a colleague.

But Dr. Pan had advised her not to provoke him, to praise him instead.

So she beamed and massaged his shoulders, “President Lin, don’t be angry. I know you’re brilliant. Why not just write it down for me?”

Looking at her smiling face, Yichen finally picked up a pen and wrote the translation in Chinese on a piece of paper. His posture exuded authority and charm, a natural command of the moment, and his handwriting was powerful and bold.

Xiao Qi’s gaze drifted from the paper to Yichen himself, growing a bit dazed as she watched him. How could this capitalist, who had been so furious just moments ago, seem so gentle while writing? It must be her imagination.

When Yichen finished and looked up, he saw Xiao Qi staring at him absentmindedly, which put him in an unexpectedly good mood. “Take a look.”

“Oh!” Xiao Qi lowered her head to read.

Yichen smiled faintly, “You can read Chinese, can’t you?”

His sudden smile left Xiao Qi a little flustered. She nodded instinctively.

Satisfied, Yichen took out a necklace. “Let me put this on you.”

“Oh!”

But as her gaze fell on the golden necklace, Xiao Qi suddenly returned to her senses.

“President Lin, did you make a mistake here?” She pointed to the letter on the box, then to his translation on the paper. “This letter doesn’t match the brand you wrote.”

Seeing Yichen’s brows knit together, Xiao Qi quickly found a scapegoat. “It was Sister Liu who said so.”

Sorry, Sister Liu, she thought, but she couldn’t risk angering the CEO. To make up for it, she quickly listed Sister Liu’s virtues: “President Lin, Sister Liu is beautiful, capable, attentive, gentle, and even has a master’s degree. You’re truly lucky to have such an outstanding employee.”

Yichen gritted his teeth. “Yes, I’m very lucky.”

Seizing the opportunity, Xiao Qi added, “Exactly, with such a great employee, you should give this to Sister Liu.”

Yichen narrowed his eyes. “You really are less clever than her.”

Wait, wasn’t the point to give it to Sister Liu? How did this turn into him calling her stupid?

“President Lin, so this thing…”

“She really is smarter than you.”

So is he giving it or not? Why can’t this capitalist just give a straightforward answer? Xiao Qi was getting dizzy from his roundabout way.

“This will look just right on your silly neck,” Yichen snorted.

Every word was a jab. Xiao Qi was almost at her limit, but she remembered his illness.

She endured.

Watching her silently swallow her anger, Yichen’s mood improved. He pulled her over and put the necklace on her himself.

“I don’t want it.”

Xiao Qi nimbly retracted her neck.

Yichen’s expression darkened again.

Ignoring his changing moods, Xiao Qi stammered, “If I keep accepting your gifts and eating your food, and you keep giving and I keep taking, won’t I end up going from a lowly employee to an indentured servant?”

Indentured servant—her words sent a chill down her spine. She straightened and declared, “I absolutely refuse to accept this. Take it once and it’ll never end. If I keep taking, I’ll never have a chance to move up. Refusing may be a matter of pride, but accepting is a matter of life. I’d rather offend the CEO than become an indentured servant.”

Yichen was left speechless by her logic.

At last, he sighed. “Xiyang, today is my birthday.”

Huh?

Wait, that’s not right. She blurted out, “Shouldn’t I be giving you something for your birthday? Why are you giving me something?”

Yichen gave a dazzling smile. “Yes, you should have, but you didn’t. So this is your punishment.” With that, he deftly fastened the necklace around her neck, then smiled again. “Alright, I haven’t finished my meal. You can go now!”

“Oh!”