Boss, Please Go Easy On Me (GL) - Chapter 13

For lunch, the three of them went for a hot pot. Yan Xiaomi had just recovered from a high fever and hadn’t completely shaken off her cold, and An Yao had a stomachache. Neither of them could eat irritating foods. Li Weisa, a spicy food enthusiast who couldn’t live without chili, reluctantly sat with them to eat a pork rib and carrot soup pot.

Although the restaurant environment was nice and the air conditioning was on, eating hot pot on such a hot day made them feel anxious. Yan Xiaomi really wanted to buy ice cream but held back, thinking that An Yao couldn’t have it either.

When the soup pot was served, Li Weisa ordered bird’s eye chilies. The combination of the soup and the chili tasted simply awful and weird. Li Weisa took two bites and lost her appetite, becoming extremely irritable.

“Order something else,” An Yao glanced at her, calmly and elegantly sipping her soup.

Yan Xiaomi also looked at the visibly frustrated Li Weisa. It’s just a meal, is there a need to be so annoyed? Like a cat scratching at your heart?

“Forget it.” Li Weisa took a rib with her chopsticks as if defeated, wrapped it in bird’s eye chilies several times before finally taking a bite. Her expression finally softened, as if she had been relieved.

Yan Xiaomi watched her, thinking she wasn’t eating ribs but chilies. Li Meiren (Beauty Li) has a heavy palate! Eating chilies so happily in this heat, isn’t she afraid of getting acne from the irritation?

However, in the end, she didn’t dare to speak to Li Weisa, lest she start calling her Xiaomi-mi every other sentence. The thought of Li Weisa smiling and calling her Xiaomi-mi made her cringe.

After the meal, An Yao’s complexion looked much better. Li Weisa wanted her to go home to rest, but she insisted on returning to the company. As soon as An Yao entered the office, she started yawning and feeling sleepy. Yan Xiaomi adjusted the air conditioner temperature up a bit so she could lie down on the sofa for a nap.

An Yao remembered that she hadn’t finished reading the document when Li Weisa pulled her away that morning, and she stubbornly insisted on continuing to read.

“Are you done or not!” Li Weisa suddenly flared up and yelled at An Yao.

Yan Xiaomi was quite startled and froze instantly. This Beauty Li, when she gets angry, is much scarier than President An!

An Yao stared at her for a while. Aside from fatigue, no other emotion could be seen on her face. President An really stays calm and collected like an iceberg, no matter if a volcano erupts or the sky shakes, watching you go crazy. Yan Xiaomi looked at the two—one spitting fire and the other calm as an iceberg—and could only stand silently, not daring to interject a word, lest she get burned by the fire and then frozen to death by the iceberg. That would be truly miserable.

Li Weisa knew that An Yao was always cool and aloof and didn’t take people seriously. She used to overlook it, but once her temper flared up, she couldn’t control it. She nodded angrily. “Fine, if you don’t take my words seriously, then I’ll go bring her here, and let her personally see you in this half-dead state.”

“Stop!” An Yao suddenly grew anxious. As she moved her foot, she frowned, seemingly feeling a stomach ache again. She covered her stomach, slightly bent over, and looked at Li Weisa, who had stopped with her back to her, saying with some discomfort, “Don’t mess around.”

She was fully aware of Li Weisa’s fiery temper. If she was truly provoked, she would dare to find that person—the person An Yao always missed but dared not seek out easily.

Yan Xiaomi helped An Yao sit down. Seeing her anxiousness, she figured that person must be very important to her. For some reason, she suddenly thought of her aunt.

Li Weisa turned around. Seeing An Yao frowning in discomfort, she didn’t want to cause more trouble. She sighed softly, squatted down beside her, and looked at her with some heartache. “If you would just listen, I wouldn’t have to bring her into it.”

“Mhm,” An Yao responded softly, obediently lying down on her side on the sofa and closing her eyes. It seemed she didn’t want to say anything more.

Li Weisa sighed softly. She knew about An Yao’s feelings for Professor Yan. She had known since college. Before that, Li Weisa had pursued An Yao, but after learning about her feelings for Professor Yan, she gave up. She had remained friends with An Yao all these years. Li Weisa had several girlfriends over the years, and watching An Yao suffer in a bitter, unrequited love for Professor Yan made her indescribably sad. She was genuinely afraid An Yao would waste her best years. Because of this, she wasn’t particularly fond of Professor Yan—it was probably still jealousy, after all, An Yao liked her so much.

Seeing that An Yao was willing to comply, Li Weisa called Yan Xiaomi out. “Xiaomi-mi, I have something to take care of later. I’m entrusting her to your care.” When talking to Yan Xiaomi, Li Weisa still had a smiling, friendly face, which made Yan Xiaomi a little uncomfortable, so she temporarily ignored the nickname Xiaomi-mi. She nodded. “Mhm, mhm, I will take good care of President An.”

“Xiaomi-mi, you’re so cute.” Li Weisa suddenly pinched her cheek and said with a smile, “I like you so much.”

Yan Xiaomi was startled and laughed awkwardly. “Miss Li, you’re teasing me again, hehe, hehe…”

“And don’t keep calling me Miss Li. I prefer you to call me… Wei Wei.” Li Weisa was smiling strangely again, confusing Yan Xiaomi. What was so funny?

“Mhm, mhm, Sister Wei Wei,” Yan Xiaomi nodded vigorously.

Finally seeing Li Weisa off, Yan Xiaomi breathed a sigh of relief. She turned and went into the office, wanting to check if the room temperature was suitable. As soon as she opened the door, she froze. An Yao was already sitting calmly at her desk, reading documents, with no sign of distress on her face. Yan Xiaomi cautiously walked over and asked, “President An, why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Can’t sleep.”

An Yao didn’t need to look at her to imagine her cautious appearance. An Yao had heard everything she and Li Weisa had said at the door. Although Li Weisa’s temper was a bit hard to control, she was truly daring when it came to pursuing someone she liked. As for whether there would be a result or if they would end up together, she didn’t care. According to her, “I don’t care about forever, only about what I have now.”

“In the future, don’t get too close to Weisa unless necessary.”

“Huh?” An Yao suddenly blurted this out, and Yan Xiaomi was a little stunned, unable to react.

An Yao didn’t repeat herself. She knew Yan Xiaomi had heard but didn’t understand why, and she didn’t plan to explain. It’s not like she could say, Li Weisa wants to hook up with you, don’t get slept with without even realizing it.

“Nothing. You…” An Yao paused, looked up, and was stunned by Yan Xiaomi’s expectant gaze. Yan Xiaomi was always excited when given an instruction, as if receiving a major mission that was cause for celebration. She was adorably clumsy.

An Yao originally intended to say you can leave, but meeting Yan Xiaomi’s bright black eyes, she suddenly changed her mind. She said, “There’s a book on the coffee table. Have a look.”

Yan Xiaomi blinked, not quite understanding. Was she being told to read to gain knowledge? An Yao had already lowered her head to continue reading documents, so Yan Xiaomi didn’t dare to say anything more and sat obediently on the sofa to read.

It was a novel, not a romance, not a BL, and not some youth literature. It was a classic that dated back ages: A Dream of Red Mansions (Hong Lou Meng), one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.

Yan Xiaomi’s heart trembled. In university, she had once impulsively borrowed A Dream of Red Mansions from the library to read. Later, there was a phrase that perfectly described how she felt at the time: “However, it was useless” (ran bing luan).

She couldn’t get past the third page. Classical prose was truly brain-consuming, and the book sat around for a long time until it was overdue, at which point she returned it and was fined a few cents by the library.

Yan Xiaomi held the heavy A Dream of Red Mansions, wanting to cry but having no tears. What did President An mean by this? She was in the business world; shouldn’t she be reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms to learn about the deceitful tactics of enemies? Why read A Dream of Red Mansions?

She glanced at An Yao, who was still quietly reading documents and occasionally looking at the computer. Yan Xiaomi swallowed. Read it, then. I can’t understand it anyway.

After reading three pages, Yan Xiaomi was so sleepy she couldn’t stand it. She yawned countless times, and her eyelids kept drooping. She desperately tried to keep them open, but the language in A Dream of Red Mansions was too convoluted, simply unsuitable for a girl who didn’t love classical literature. After forcing herself to stay awake for twenty minutes, Yan Xiaomi successfully leaned back on the sofa, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

She slept so soundly that when she woke up, Yan Xiaomi was a little disoriented, unsure of where she was. She stood up and stretched, and just as she turned her head to stretch her neck, she froze.

An Yao was resting her chin on her hand, leisurely watching her. Her long eyelashes blinked once, and Yan Xiaomi immediately retracted her hands, nervously looked left and right, and scratched her head. “How did I fall asleep? I, I… President An, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was just…”

“Would you like to see how you sleep?” An Yao suddenly held up her phone and shook it. If Yan Xiaomi hadn’t mistaken it, there was a smile on her face, but for some reason, it looked a bit terrifying.

Sure enough, there’s a reason President An and Li Weisa can be good friends: they both have Queenly auras. Li Weisa’s is the explosive kind, and President An’s is the iceberg type.

“President An, why, why are you teasing me like Sister Wei Wei? Hehe, hehe…” Yan Xiaomi’s laugh was completely lacking in confidence. Although she thought An Yao wouldn’t be so bored as to photograph her sleeping, An Yao saying so was enough to make her panic.

“Come look,” An Yao handed her the phone. Yan Xiaomi gasped, She really took a picture?

She quickly took it and looked. Instantly, countless black lines appeared on her head. In the photo, she was sleeping soundly, with her finger in her mouth, sucking on it, as if she were dreaming of something delicious. A silly smile was on her face. Looking at the picture, Yan Xiaomi thought she looked utterly stupid, completely humiliated.

“You are not allowed to delete it.”

An Yao hadn’t even looked at her movements, yet she spoke just as Yan Xiaomi prepared to delete the photo. Her voice was cold and detached, startling Yan Xiaomi so much that her hand shook, and the phone almost fell to the floor again. She quickly grabbed it, her heart trembling. President An’s Apple phone cannot be dropped.

“President An, this…” Yan Xiaomi was practically in tears. “Why can’t I delete it?”