Chapter 19: So Annoying

Wen Lu successfully secured an internship at Shen Xiuzhu’s company.

The CEO-and-his-little-employee love story was finally about to begin.

As a dedicated supporting cannon fodder character, Song Jingyao naturally had to find opportunities to make his presence known.

Every now and then, he would appear in front of the heroine, subtly highlighting just how charming she was.

At lunchtime, Song Jingyao enthusiastically headed to the employee cafeteria.

He sat with Wen Lu and asked whether she was adjusting well to the company.

With someone as handsome as Song Jingyao—who also carried the title of the CEO’s assistant—sitting at the table, many employees came over to chat.

It conveniently helped Wen Lu expand her circle of colleagues.

As they spent more time together, Song Jingyao increasingly discovered Wen Lu’s strengths.

She was genuinely pure and kind.

She treated people sincerely and directly.

Simply because Song Jingyao had helped her twice, she already considered him a friend.

In her eyes, everything about him was wonderful.

Whenever she praised someone, she never beat around the bush.

As she spoke, her eyes practically sparkled, as though they came with their own special effects.

Besides that, Song Jingyao would casually mention Wen Lu in front of Shen Xiuzhu from time to time, helping the heroine stay on the CEO’s radar.

He couldn’t help praising himself inwardly.

He was truly devoted to his role, squeezing every last bit of value out of being cannon fodder and doing everything he could to contribute to the main couple’s romance.

Unfortunately, every time he brought up Wen Lu, Shen Xiuzhu would expressionlessly increase his workload, claiming that Song Jingyao looked too idle.

After several attempts, Song Jingyao’s workload had doubled several times over, forcing him to keep his mouth shut.

Such a hopelessly dense straight man.

With emotional intelligence like that, winning over a wife is going to be a long road.

Clicking his tongue, Song Jingyao shook his head and returned to his desk.

After that, whenever he tried to head to the cafeteria during lunch, he would be stopped before even leaving the office.

Shen Xiuzhu would simply grab him and force him to eat together.

“Your mother specially had someone deliver this for you.”

Since his own mother had lovingly prepared lunch, why bother with the cafeteria?

Song Jingyao immediately tossed the whole “following the plot” business out of his mind.

Skipping one day wouldn’t matter anyway.

In the novel, everything he’d done over the past few days had only been summarized in a single sentence, which clearly meant it wasn’t all that important.

Besides, eating with Shen Xiuzhu gave him another opportunity.

He could casually bring up Wen Lu during their conversation, couldn’t he?

Shen Xiuzhu replied coldly, “Be quiet. Focus on eating.”

Song Jingyao: “…Okay.”

He pouted inwardly.

What a control freak.

He has to control every little thing people around him do.

Not allowing people to talk while eating is practically torture!

He poked at his rice with his chopsticks while secretly grumbling insults under his breath.

Sitting beside him, Shen Xiuzhu glanced over.

Only then did the tightly pressed line of his lips finally curve upward ever so slightly.

As soon as lunch was over, Song Jingyao declared Shen Xiuzhu’s office unbearably boring.

He wandered off to play on his phone.

Soon he became sleepy, rested his head on the desk, and fell asleep.

He slept so deeply that even when the afternoon work hours began, he still hadn’t woken up.

Instead, he smacked his lips happily in his dreams.

When one of the assistants entered the office and saw the scene, her expression was one of utter shock.

President Shen had always demanded perfection from everyone working around him.

Yet someone was actually sleeping during work hours… and hadn’t been beaten to death?

President Shen was being far too indulgent!

Previously, some of the secretaries had whispered in their group chat that the CEO had secretly gotten involved with someone.

She hadn’t believed it.

But now…

This was practically undeniable evidence.

Song Jingyao looks so exhausted… Could it be because things got a little too intense last night…?

The more she thought about it, the further her imagination ran.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to maintain her professional composure and stiffly handed Shen Xiuzhu the report.

As she turned to leave and passed by Song Jingyao’s desk—

A thunderous roar suddenly exploded behind her.

“Stop right there!!!”

The voice was so loud and commanding it seemed capable of shaking mountains.

The assistant froze on the spot.

“You spy stealing confidential intelligence!”

Her face instantly turned pale.

Being accused of corporate espionage was no small matter.

Forget getting fired—she might never find another job again.

Panicking, she hurriedly turned to explain herself to President Shen, insisting she was completely loyal to the company, appreciated her salary and benefits, and had absolutely no intention of betraying anyone.

But when she looked up…

She saw President Shen sitting behind his desk with one hand covering his forehead.

The corners of his lips were twitching upward.

He looked as though he desperately wanted to laugh.

After forcing himself to cough and regain his composure, he calmly said, “It’s fine.

I trust you.

He’s… just talking in his sleep.”

The female assistant stared blankly.

Very slowly, she turned her head toward Song Jingyao.

Sure enough, he was still sleeping soundly with his face buried in the desk, his lips moving as indistinct murmurs bubbled out.

He really was just sleep-talking.

The assistant’s mouth twitched.

He had scared half the life out of her.

If not for that ridiculously handsome face, she genuinely would have wanted to beat him up.

As the office door clicked shut, Song Jingyao blinked awake with a confused expression.

His mind was still foggy, trapped halfway inside his dream.

In the dream, he had become the emperor.

He ruled over a harem of three thousand beauties.

Only, every single one of them was a handsome man.

There were all kinds of handsome men, each competing fiercely for his affection.

It had been absolutely wonderful.

Unfortunately, before he could enjoy it for long—

Someone staged a coup.

A tall figure emerged from the light, dragged him down from the imperial throne, stripped off his dragon robes, and even took over his imperial bed.

Pinned helplessly onto the dragon bed by that shadow, Song Jingyao found himself wrapped up so tightly he could barely breathe.

No matter how desperately he struggled, he was like a fish lying helplessly on a chopping board, completely unable to escape.

My empire!

My beautiful men!

Damn it!

He was so furious that, even outside the dream, he kept muttering curses in his sleep.

Finally, he slammed the desk with a loud smack and startled himself awake.

Opening his eyes, he stared blankly at his reddened palm.

“Why does it hurt so much…?”

His sleepy brain hadn’t even realized he’d smacked the desk himself.

Behind the office desk, Shen Xiuzhu had watched the entire performance from beginning to end.

He had nearly laughed himself to death.

He tried his hardest to suppress it.

But a small laugh still escaped.

Hearing it, Song Jingyao turned to look at him.

In an instant, Shen Xiuzhu put on a stern face.

“You’re sleeping during work hours?”

Song Jingyao still looked dazed.

He hadn’t fully woken up yet, and several strands of hair stuck up messily, making him look unexpectedly adorable.

“…What time is it?”

Shen Xiuzhu cleared his throat.

“Two-thirty.”

The afternoon workday started at two.

Even Song Jingyao hadn’t expected himself to sleep that long.

His arm had gone numb, and his entire body felt sore.

Although he felt guilty, there was no way he was admitting fault.

Instead, he shamelessly turned the blame around.

“Then why didn’t you wake me up?

And how can an office not even have a lounge?

The desk is so hard—I didn’t sleep well at all!”

From the way he said it, it somehow became Shen Xiuzhu’s fault for not preparing the office properly.

Watching Song Jingyao bare his teeth and wave his claws like an angry little cat, Shen Xiuzhu wasn’t annoyed in the slightest.

Song Jingyao had grown up surrounded by people who adored him.

Confident.

Bright.

Always shining.

Although Shen Xiuzhu occasionally disciplined him to keep him from going astray, most of the time he was no different from Song Jingyao’s parents.

He simply couldn’t help wanting to spoil him.

He hated seeing him suffer even the slightest inconvenience.

So when Song Jingyao complained that the office lacked a proper lounge, Shen Xiuzhu’s first thought was to set aside part of the office and build one just so he could nap comfortably.

Later, when President Shen’s order reached the secretary’s office, the female assistant who had witnessed Song Jingyao sleeping wore an indescribable expression.

President Shen was famous for being a workaholic.

Why would he suddenly want a luxurious lounge?

She couldn’t stop connecting the dots.

Surely…

It was built specifically for Song Jingyao.

This was obviously a little ancestor under President Shen’s protection.

Absolutely.

Under no circumstances.

Should anyone ever provoke him.

This had to be written into the secretary handbook.

Top priority.

Bold text.

Multiple exclamation marks.

Immediately.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Land of the Phantom Flower

BLEastern FantasyHistorical

Read Now →
Not interested