Chapter 7: So the one you like is Bo Fan?

Outside the Jiangye Club, the most extravagant den of indulgence in Jiangcheng, all manner of luxury cars were parked in rows.

Inside a top-tier private suite, Gu Hanchen drank his sorrows away. "Damn it, I haven't treated her poorly, have I? Which secretary in all of Jiangcheng has a higher salary than her? She’s so heartless to want to resign—I’m not approving her resignation letter!"

Chu Lin kicked Gu Hanchen. "Who are you calling 'I' (laozi)? Yuan Xi is my sister now!"

Gu Hanchen took another gulp of his drink.

Bo Fan, hearing this, looked slightly surprised and raised an eyebrow. "Secretary Yuan is your sister?"

Chu Lin replied, "I just found out myself. It turns out I had a sister who was abducted years ago. Chu Yan was adopted; Yuan Xi is my biological sister. I’ve known her for five years—who could have guessed she was my sister? It really is a twist of fate; life is truly unpredictable."

Bo Fan picked up his glass and took a light sip.

Chu Lin patted Bo Fan’s shoulder. "Even though Yan-yan is adopted, she is still a daughter of the Chu family. That will never change."

Gu Hanchen continued drinking. "What exactly is wrong with me? Why does she want to resign?"

"You don't even give her weekends off. Only Yuan Xi could have tolerated you for five years."

Gu Hanchen frowned. "Is it just weekends? I’ll give them to her! I’ll give her this weekend off!"

Bo Fan asked Gu Hanchen, "Does Yuan Xi have a plan after she leaves? Is she interested in being my secretary?"

When Chu Yan arrived at Jiangye to find Bo Fan, she heard this at the door. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "President Bo, are you short a secretary? How about I be your secretary?"

Seeing Chu Yan, Bo Fan smiled faintly. "It’s better to have Yuan Xi as a secretary. Secretary Yuan is resigning, and Young Master Gu is acting like he’s going through a breakup—it shows just how capable she is. I wonder what kind of salary it would take to get her to work for me."

Chu Yan felt a sudden, inexplicable panic. Her relationship with Bo Fan was primarily a marriage of convenience.

Now that Yuan Xi had returned and was the true daughter of the Chu family, would she come to snatch Bo Fan away?

After all, among the four great wealthy families of Jiangcheng, Bo Fan and Gu Hanchen were arguably the most outstanding. Yuan Xi said she didn't like Gu Hanchen, but what about Bo Fan?

The Chu and Bo families were already linked by marriage; would Yuan Xi want to "reclaim" Bo Fan?

Gu Hanchen stood up. "No one is allowed to snatch Yuan Xi from me. Yuan Xi is mine, mine!"

Chu Lin frowned at him. "You're drunk."

Gu Hanchen picked up his phone and sent a voice message to Yuan Xi: "I want to eat the wontons you make. Bring them to Jiangye."

"Yuan Xi, wontons, small wontons. Bring them over immediately."

"If you don't reply, you can kiss your year-end bonus goodbye."

...

At Ruohu Mansion.

After Yuan Xi put down the photo frame, a wave of drowsiness hit her. She didn't know if it was because she was pregnant, but she was especially sleepy. She fell asleep before Huo Shiyan returned.

When Huo Shiyan opened the door and entered, he saw Yuan Xi fast asleep. He put the fruit in the refrigerator.

Seeing Yuan Xi’s phone lighting up repeatedly with messages from Gu Hanchen, Huo Shiyan simply muted the volume.

He lay down beside her and pulled her into his arms.

The moment she was pulled into his embrace, Yuan Xi woke up for a brief second, but she quickly drifted back into a deep sleep.

Too many things had happened that day; she truly needed a good rest.

...

When the morning sun shone through the curtains, Yuan Xi’s internal clock woke her up exactly five minutes before her alarm.

She opened her eyes and saw Huo Shiyan still fast asleep. Looking at his profile, Yuan Xi thought, *A substitute is a substitute, I suppose.*

Marrying Huo Shiyan was, by any measure, a deal she wouldn't lose out on.

The moment the alarm went off, Yuan Xi reached to turn it off, but she felt the person beside her open his eyes. "Sorry, I woke you up."

Huo Shiyan checked the time. "It’s only 6:30... Doesn't Michen start at 9:30?"

Yuan Xi said, "My hours aren't fixed. I usually arrive at the office by 8:00, and it takes over half an hour to get there, so I set the alarm for 6:30."

Ruohu was practically in the rural outskirts of Jiangcheng, while Michen was in the city center. Just the elevated highway alone took forty minutes.

Fortunately, their route was rarely congested, and the forty-minute drive was almost always smooth.

Huo Shiyan said, "I thought the air here was good and suitable for the pregnancy, but if your commute is too long, should I buy a place near Michen?"

Yuan Xi smiled faintly. "No need. I’m resigning soon anyway. And I’m used to waking up this early."

Huo Shiyan got up with her. "Shall I drive you to the office?"

"Don't. What if Gu Hanchen sees you..."

Huo Shiyan said, "Haven't you checked Gu Hanchen’s social media? He was still partying at Jiangye at 2:00 AM last night. You won't see him before noon today."

Yuan Xi opened her phone. There were quite a few messages from Gu Hanchen on WeChat.

"Secretary Yuan, Jiangye, small wontons."

"Where are the wontons? I want to eat wontons. I want to see them within half an hour!"

"Don't want your year-end bonus?"

She scrolled for nearly a minute; it was a wall of messages about wontons. Yuan Xi wondered how deeply she must have been sleeping to not hear the notifications.

Huo Shiyan glanced at her screen and frowned. "Does Gu Hanchen treat you like a secretary or a nanny?"

Yuan Xi smiled helplessly. When she went into the bathroom to wash up, she noticed her toothbrush and cup were blue.

Yuan Xi pursed her lips. *Huo Shiyan’s little childhood sweetheart must really like blue.*

After washing up and applying light makeup, she went downstairs. Breakfast was already laid out—soy milk, fried eggs, sandwiches, and oatmeal. It was quite a spread.

Huo Shiyan said to her, "The chef made these. I wasn't sure of your taste, so I just had them make everything."

Yuan Xi said, "I usually don't eat breakfast."

Huo Shiyan replied, "You’re pregnant now. You have to eat breakfast."

Afraid of morning sickness on the road, Yuan Xi didn't dare eat much. She had a little bit of breakfast, drank some bird's nest, and headed out.

When Yuan Xi reached the car, Huo Shiyan took her hand and led her to a different vehicle, opening the passenger door for her. "Take this one, it’s more comfortable."

Yuan Xi didn't refuse. Once inside, she began checking her emails on her phone.

When the car pulled up to the office building, Yuan Xi unbuckled her seatbelt and said to Huo Shiyan, "President Huo, drive back safely. Watch the road."

Huo Shiyan reached out, pulled her close, leaned toward the passenger seat, and kissed her red, lipstick-stained lips—a brief, shallow touch. "Still calling me President Huo?"

Looking at Huo Shiyan so close, Yuan Xi’s face flushed. "Shiyan, I’m going now."

She hurried toward the office. Just as she reached the elevator, she received a message from the front desk.

Yuan Xi went to the first floor. In the lounge area next to the front desk, Chu Yan was looking at her with a sour expression.

Yuan Xi noticed Chu Yan hadn't even changed her clothes; she was still wearing the same white dress from yesterday.

Chu Yan walked up to her. "Sister."

Yuan Xi looked at her. "What do you want, coming to see me so early?"

Chu Yan stared at her. "Bo Fan wants you to be his secretary. Are you going to agree?"

Bo Fan was a childhood friend of Gu Hanchen. Over the past two years, he had indeed tried more than once to poach Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi hadn't agreed because Bo Fan didn't pay as much as Gu Hanchen.

Chu Yan scoffed. "You’re going to agree, aren't you?"

She gripped her skirt tightly. "No wonder you told Mom you didn't like Gu Hanchen. So, it’s Bo Fan you like?"

Chu Yan looked at the blue diamond ring on Yuan Xi’s finger. "You knew Bo Fan was going to buy this ring to give to me as an engagement ring, so you went and had a fake one made?"

Chu Yan sneered. "Although the Bo and Chu families are linked by marriage, and you are indeed the true daughter of the Chu family qualified to marry into the Bo family..."

"But Yuan Xi, the Bo family is an old-money dynasty. Do you really think the elders of the Bo family would accept you... a rural girl who grew up in a village, as the wife of the Bo family heir?"