Chapter 173: Chapter 173 Concern

On the second day, Li Yifei arrived at the company, and the office phone just wouldn’t stop ringing, all from people responding to the job advertisement they had seen on TV.

Li Yifei could only answer them one by one. He had originally thought that a Human Resources Manager who didn’t do anything would be the most leisurely person in the company, but now he realized that not only was the job not easygoing, it was actually quite busy. He was so busy that he didn’t leave the phone until noon.

When he saw that it was already half past eleven, Li Yifei unplugged the telephone line. Now, even if someone called, he didn’t want to answer. He really was exhausted.

Jus then, his cellphone rang. Li Yifei frowned, but seeing that it was Xu Yingying’s call, he still answered it.

“Why is your office phone unreachable?” Xu Yingying asked.

“Big sister, my phone has been a hotline all morning, it hasn’t stopped for a moment. It’d be divine intervention if you actually got through.”

Upon hearing Li Yifei’s hoarse voice, Xu Yingying remembered that these were the days of recruitment and Li Yifei, the Human Resources Manager, must be busy. She couldn’t help feeling a bit smug and said, “Serves you right for wanting to slack off. If you were the president, wouldn’t you have less to deal with?”

Li Yifei rolled his eyes and said, “President Xu, what exactly do you want? I don’t want to talk much now, my throat is smoking.”

“Alright, then just wait. I’ll go out for lunch with Sister Fangqing and you.”

It wasn’t long before He Fangqing and Xu Yingying came to find Li Yifei together. As soon as they entered, He Fangqing asked with concern, “Is your throat feeling better?”

Li Yifei shrugged helplessly and said hoarsely, “You listen to it.”

He Fangqing immediately responded with sympathy, “How did you get so tired? Go buy some medicine after this.”

Xu Yingying pulled out a box of medicine from her bag and threw it to Li Yifei, saying, “Suck on two of these.” Then she turned and walked toward the door.

It was normal for Xu president to care about her employees. If she saw someone with a hoarse throat and offered them some throat lozenges, it was a nice gesture that could also bring her closer to her employees. However, because she had made a declaration to be together with Li Yifei at her home yesterday, giving Li Yifei medicine today felt somewhat awkward, as if she was pursuing him.

He Fangqing didn’t notice Xu Yingying’s discomfort and hurriedly said, “Then suck on one quickly.” She was too embarrassed to show her care for Li Yifei in front of others, but in front of Xu Yingying, she had no such scruples. After all, she could stay with Li Yifei at Xu Yingying’s home, so this little matter was nothing to worry about.

Li Yifei nodded, took out a lozenge, and put it in his mouth. It was cool and refreshing, truly quite comforting.

The three of them walked out of the office together. By that time, everyone had already gone out for lunch. Since the cafeteria wasn’t open yet, everyone had to go out to eat. However, because the three came out a bit later, they didn’t run into anyone else.

Li Yifei drove Xu Yingying’s car and chose a nearby Western restaurant. After they sat down, a waiter came over to them.

He Fangqing and Xu Yingying, holding the menus, both looked at Li Yifei and said in unison, “What would you like to eat?”

The waiter paused for a moment. There were many people who came here to dine, and it wasn’t rare for a man to bring two women out for a meal, but like this, with both beautiful women caring for the same man, that was a first for the waiter. He immediately envied Li Yifei, thinking this man must be wealthy and skilled, managing to bring out two at the same time and still so harmonious.

He Fangqing and Xu Yingying didn’t realize that a simple question had sparked such imagination in the waiter. Although Xu Yingying mentioned being together with Li Yifei, there was no sister present, and there was He Fangqing, a woman involved with Li Yifei. She could only continue to stay silent, letting He Fangqing help Li Yifei order food.

During the meal, He Fangqing and Xu Yingying, both career-driven women, continued to discuss company matters while eating, and Li Yifei just focused on his meal.

“I can’t eat anymore. You can have the rest.” He Fangqing had eaten half of her steak and then pushed the plate in front of Li Yifei.

Li Yifei didn’t stand on ceremony and just took it and started eating.

Xu Yingying’s steak was also half-eaten, but she couldn’t just offer it to Li Yifei. Even though they had dined together quite often, giving her leftovers to Li Yifei felt particularly intimate. She wasn’t that close to Li Yifei, and she didn’t want to expose her intentions to He Fangqing—their work relationship might become awkward, as if she was competing for a boyfriend.

She simply wanted to make her sister, Xu Shanshan, back off, not to actually be with Li Yifei.

Unexpectedly, after Li Yifei finished He Fangqing’s portion, he looked at Xu Yingying’s plate, clearly still not fully satisfied. Xu Yingying immediately sensed it, but pretended not to notice.

“Hey, Xu president, are you still eating your steak?” Li Yifei didn’t think too much about it. The steak at this Western restaurant was particularly delicious, and it was the first time in a while he had enjoyed such a tasty steak. Plus, he was indeed quite famished after the busy morning, making his appetite even larger.

“Oh… I’m done, if you’re still hungry…”

Xu Yingying intended to say that if he was still hungry, she could order another one for him, but Li Yifei had already reached out and taken her steak over, then began to eat with big bites.

He Fangqing glared at Li Yifei and said, “Are you still okay? It’s one thing for you to eat my leftovers, but to snatch food that President Xu has eaten, don’t you know that only people who are close can do that?”

Xu Yingying was even more embarrassed and quickly said, “It’s fine, I was just cutting it to eat it anyway.” Now she could only comfort herself with that reason.

Li Yifei nodded repeatedly, “Exactly, exactly, how would I not know that?”

He Fangqing looked at Xu Yingying and then chuckled, “I’m probably worrying too much. You two have been together for so long, such matters are nothing to you.”

Xu Yingying’s face flushed, and she said anxiously, “Sister Fangqing, don’t talk nonsense. Our being together was just for show, nothing more.”

“Really? Then why are you blushing?” She winked, leaned into Xu Yingying’s ear, and whispered softly, “Even for show, you’ve got to act close, right?”

Xu Yingying pushed He Fangqing away and protested, “Sister Fangqing, you know that was just to deceive my parents and sister, it doesn’t mean anything. Besides, that’s in the past now, so please stop teasing me about it.”

“Alright, alright, I won’t talk about it anymore.”

Li Yifei had been stealthily observing Xu Yingying, who was displaying a certain demureness today typical of a young woman with romantic interest, and he couldn’t help wondering if Xu Yingying actually considered being with him.

“By the way, Yifei, when are you going to bring your girlfriend over for us to meet?” He Fangqing shifted the topic onto Li Yifei.

Li Yifei was just about to bring up Su Yiyi to gauge Xu Yingying’s true feelings. It wasn’t that he had feelings for Xu Yingying, but he felt that there was something odd about the situation, so he wanted to clarify. Smiling, he said, “She usually has to attend school during the week and can only come back on the weekends.”

He Fangqing immediately said, “Then bring her over next weekend for us to see.”

Li Yifei nodded and said, “No problem, I’ll bring her over next week for you all to meet, but as a president and a director, please don’t scare my girlfriend.”

Xu Yingying glared at Li Yifei and said, “Are we that scary?”

Li Yifei chuckled, “Not that you’re scary, but you both have a strong presence. At first glance, you’re important people, while my girlfriend is just a young girl who hasn’t seen much of the world. How could she possibly compare with you?”

He Fangqing curiously said, “I’m really curious, since when did you start dating a college student? Didn’t you say before that you didn’t want to get into a relationship so soon?”

Xu Yingying also stared at Li Yifei, equally curious. For the time that Li Yifei had been in Mile City, most of his time was spent with her, and she had no idea that he managed to get a girlfriend, and a college student at that.

Li Yifei glanced at Xu Yingying and laughed, “I have to thank Zhao Qingsheng for that, as he got me assigned to the warehouse. That’s where I met Yiyi. President Xu should remember when I asked you for a loan, right?”

Xu Yingying nodded and said, “So that’s why you needed the money then.”

“Yes, she was having some financial trouble at the time and urgently needed money, so I helped her out. Then she was very grateful and would come over on weekends to help me clean the house and such. As time passed, I found her to be quite nice, and we ended up together.”

Li Yifei didn’t mention that Su Yiyi had sold herself to save her father; although he thought Su Yiyi did nothing wrong, it was still something not to be proud of, and he didn’t want anyone to look down on her.

In her heart, Xu Yingying suddenly felt an uncomfortable emotion, “It seems that I played a part in you two being together.”

Li Yifei nodded vigorously, smiling, “Yes, if it weren’t for President Xu’s help back then, who knows if we could have been together.”

Xu Yingying rolled her eyes at Li Yifei and said, “Then you have even more reason to bring her to meet me.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll bring her over this weekend for you to meet her, but please don’t tell her I’m some kind of CEO, it’ll scare her.”

“What if I do tell her?” Xu Yingying folded her arms, a playful smile at the corner of her mouth, teasing Li Yifei.

Li Yifei rolled his eyes and said, “President Xu, you wouldn’t be that cruel, would you?”

He Fangqing laughed softly, “Telling her you’re a CEO would make you seem even more impressive, better at picking up girls, right?”

“I’ve settled down now, not chasing after girls anymore.” Li Yifei laughed awkwardly, and as he said this, it seemed like he was also signaling to He Fangqing the end of whatever relationship they once had.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep