When Song Xinya bumped her head against the door, Chen Siyan happened to be standing just inside.
"Oh my, Teacher Song, it's not even the New Year yet and you're already kowtowing to me. Get up, get up, there's no need for such grand formalities."
Song Xinya rubbed her head and stood up, shooting him a glare. "Who's kowtowing to you? You're not the emperor."
Chen Siyan: "Count three generations back, and my family is actually royalty."
Song Xinya: "Now you're just working in the same company as a commoner like me. The glory of your ancestors belongs to them, not you."
Chen Siyan: "Why so aggressive early in the morning? Did you eat gunpowder?"
Song Xinya knitted her delicate brows, her fingers rubbing her forehead. "It just really hurts."
That bump just now was too hard; her head was still buzzing.
"You were walking perfectly fine, how did you suddenly twist your ankle?" Chen Siyan thought for a moment and said, "It must be because of Gossip Zhao!"
He quickly comforted Song Xinya, "It's okay, don't be afraid of that old witch, Brother Yan has got your back."
A colleague laughed. "Manager Chen, Teacher Song doesn't need your protection anymore. She can protect you now."
Chen Siyan, who had been kicked out of the group chat, still didn't know what major event had just happened.
Chen Siyan stiffened his neck. "What are you joking about? Teacher Song is a regular teacher, and I'm a department manager."
A male colleague walked over holding a jianbing guozi and patted Chen Siyan on the shoulder. "Manager Chen, your internet speed is lagging. It's news the whole company knows, except you."
Chen Siyan opened his mouth to ask what he had missed, but the male colleague drifted away with the jianbing guozi in his mouth.
Chen Siyan: "Speak in halves, and you'll have no spouse in the future!"
The male colleague swallowed the crispy cracker in his mouth. "Bounce back."
Song Xinya silently muttered a few words in her heart: Elementary school kids bickering.
Sitting at her workstation and turning on her computer, she started her work for the day.
Ten minutes later, Chen Siyan, who had asked others and figured out what happened in the group chat, pushed hard against the floor with his feet and slid over to Song Xinya's side with a swoosh.
"Song Xinya, you're so badass!"
Song Xinya: "Nice compliment, I'll tip you twenty cents later."
Chen Siyan: "Wow, Teacher Song isn't just beautiful, she's also so generous. I suspect God molded you with his own hands, otherwise how could you be so perfect?"
Song Xinya: "Your eloquence guarantees you will soar to great heights in the future."
Chen Siyan: "I don't know if I'll soar, but I know you already have. The CEO of a Fortune 500 group suddenly dropping into the work group to back you up, holy crap! I wouldn't even dare to dream of that!"
Song Xinya: "President Qin doesn't like men, so of course you wouldn't dare to dream of it."
Chen Siyan: "...Even if I were a woman, I wouldn't dare to dream of it. Where would I get your kind of luck!"
Chen Siyan put on a flattering face. "Boss Song, please take me with you, I want to cling to your coattails."
Song Xinya: "With your 150-pound weight dragging on my leg, neither of us will be able to fly."
Chen Siyan: "Nonsense, I'm not 150 pounds, I'm 149.99 pounds."
Loving gossip is human nature.
Gossip could be called the spiritual ibuprofen for modern workers.
Chen Siyan couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Song, what exactly is your relationship with President Qin?"
Thinking about President Qin's sentence, [You don't need to tell me her faults, in my eyes she has never been wrong].
Oh—my—Lady—Gaga——
Let alone women, even as a grown man, his teenage boy heart was bursting!
This overwhelming protectiveness was tighter than a sanitary pad!
Chen Siyan sized up Song Xinya. "Teacher Song, you couldn't possibly be President Qin's girlfriend, could you?"
The click-clack of high heels echoed in the hall. Zhao Yinian walked over with her hands on her hips. "Chen Siyan, gossiping during work hours. You always talk the most every day. If you don't want to work, then get out and run three thousand meters. Don't disturb others in the hall."
Chen Siyan looked up. "In this desolate land of Bashan and Chushui, we're all just workers, so cut the crap."
Zhao Yinian: "You come to work on time every day just to be sarcastic and gossip, don't you?"
Chen Siyan: "Once upon a time, I was also a pure and beautiful innocent college boy. Ever since I joined this company and spent every day with a black-hearted person like you, I was tainted by proximity and learned how to be sarcastic."
Zhao Yinian was fuming with anger, then scoffed. "With your looks, an innocent college boy? Bah, who would believe that."
Chen Siyan: "With that pitch-black heart of yours, you wouldn't be able to see the good in others anyway. It's fine, I don't blame you."
Zhao Yinian's lungs were about to explode from anger.
Usually, at a time like this, she would definitely take this anger out on someone who was on good terms with Chen Siyan.
For example, Song Xinya.
Zhao Yinian glanced at Song Xinya, didn't dare to say anything, and left, holding in a stomach full of anger.
Chen Siyan, unhurried and triumphant, said, "Look how badly I scolded the general manager, yet she doesn't dare mention firing me. See that? That's the confidence of a top performer."
Song Xinya gave him a thumbs up. "The top sales champ is awesome!"
Chen Siyan pushed off with his feet, slid back to his workstation, and went to work.
The reason he could achieve the number one performance in the whole company was absolutely due to his solid skills. Goofing off was one thing, but once he started working, he was exceptionally serious.
For the whole morning, they both went about their business, and Chen Siyan didn't bother Song Xinya with another word of idle chatter.
During the lunch break, people in the company walked out in twos and threes to have lunch.
Only Song Xinya and Chen Siyan were left in the hall, still buried in their work.
"Okay, today's online class prep is done," Chen Siyan briskly closed his laptop and gave a big stretch.
"Teacher Song, let's go get lunch together."
"I've been saying I'd treat you to a meal but never got around to it. You can't refuse me today, or I'll get mad."
Song Xinya showed him the invitation message on her phone screen. "Sorry, Manager Chen, my bestie has already invited me to lunch."
Chen Siyan: "Then I'll eat with you guys."
Song Xinya: "I'll ask my bestie if she agrees."
[Quanquan, my department manager wants to have lunch with us.]
Tiantianquan: [Guy or girl?]
Song Xinya: [Guy]
Tiantianquan: [If he's handsome, sure. If he's ugly, tell him to get lost.]
Song Xinya snapped a picture of Chen Siyan and sent it to Tiantianquan: [What do you think of him?]
Tiantianquan: [Tell him to get far away.]
Song Xinya relayed Tiantianquan's words, embellishing them just a tiny bit: "Manager Chen, my bestie says you're too handsome. She's worried that the moment she sees you, she'll just stare at you and won't want to eat. So she wants to mentally prepare herself first and eat with you next time."
Hearing this, Chen Siyan grinned from ear to ear, showing eight gleaming white teeth. "Your bestie is so sweet. Even though I haven't met her yet, I just know she's a truly great person."
.........
In the Western restaurant, Song Xinya and Tiantianquan sat facing each other.
A waiter dressed in a white shirt and black vest served two portions of oak-charcoal grilled beef tongue to Song Xinya and Tiantianquan.
The precious, top-tier ox tongue had an outer layer that was grilled over a charcoal fire until crispy and aromatic, while the inside retained its signature, almost meltingly tender texture.
Song Xinya cut off a small piece of the ox tongue and brought it to her mouth.
The waiter stood to the side, introducing it enthusiastically, "This is our restaurant's signature dish. The thick-cut ox tongue is incredibly tender and bouncy, and the heat is controlled to perfection. We guarantee that every bite you take will feel just like a beautiful, passionate French kiss."
Song Xinya, "..."
"I probably won't be able to relate to this beautiful feeling you're talking about, because I've never French kissed a man before."
With a crisp clatter, the knife and fork in Tiantianquan's hands dropped onto her plate.
She stared at Song Xinya in absolute disbelief, "Babe, did I hear you right? You still haven't French kissed Qin Yuhe?!"
