I Fell In Love With My Friend's Younger Brother Who Has A Low Sense Of Presence. - Chapter 13:
Chapter 13: Inviting for a Meal
Wu Qing walked to the department entrance and happened to hear his words. Her heart immediately became uneasy, and she clutched her clothes, staring at him coldly, “Who do you think you are? How could Mr. Nan pay attention to an insignificant person like you?” Nan Yanzhou was on his way to find General Manager Jin, passing by the Art Department, when he heard her words, and his face darkened.
“Not only will I pay attention to an insignificant person like him,” Nan Yanzhou walked past her and stood beside Su Shixiao, looking up and sweeping his gaze over everyone. “If anyone dares to bully Su Shixiao again, none of you will need to stay at the company.” His aura was already very powerful; normally, they barely dared to look directly at their boss. Hearing his serious and cold words today made them even more afraid to look up at him.
Su Shixiao, however, looked up at him in disbelief, while Wu Qing stared at Su Shixiao fearfully yet resentfully. She gritted her teeth, staring at Su Shixiao. He is good-looking indeed. No wonder he could hook up with Nan Yanzhou.
Nan Yanzhou turned to look down at Wu Qing condescendingly, his voice cold and steady: “The matter of you stealing Su Shixiao’s drawing is not over. Since you won’t admit you stole his drawing, we will directly report it to the police.”
“How can you say I stole it without evidence? Can’t I draw it myself?” Wu Qing’s person panicked upon hearing “report to the police,” and she cried out, trying to look pitiful.
“Since we mentioned calling the police, of course, we have evidence. Did you forget? Su Shixiao sent you the drawing via a chat, and more than once,” Nan Yanzhou lowered his gaze to look at her, his tone playful.
Her hands clenched tightly, fingernails digging into her flesh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Su Shixiao, turn on your computer, log into your messaging app, and show her,” Nan Yanzhou said sternly, having lost his last bit of patience when he saw she was still being stubborn.
Su Shixiao snapped out of his daze and quickly opened his computer, logged into his account, and found the chat history between him and Wu Qing. Wu Qing instantly felt like the sky was falling. She had planned everything but never thought they could actually recover the chat history. She immediately apologized to Nan Yanzhou, “Mr. Nan, I’m sorry, I was wrong, I won’t ever dare to do it again.”
“I am not the person you should apologize to,” Nan Yanzhou stepped back in disgust, his tone harsh.
She quickly rushed to apologize to Su Shixiao: “Xiao Xiao, I’m sorry. I’ve been at this company for ten years. All the colleagues I started with have been promoted, and I’m still stuck here. When I saw your incredibly brilliant drawing, I just had a moment of heat-headedness and did something wrong. I’m sorry, please don’t call the police, I beg you.” Tears streamed down her face, making her look utterly miserable.
Su Shixiao didn’t even look at her, only saying plainly, “Whatever you say is useless. Call the police.”
Nan Yanzhou saw his calm and composed demeanor, which was quite aloof and suited his appearance. If Su Shixiao had been soft-hearted, Nan Yanzhou might have genuinely looked down on him.
“Also, Wu Qing, you are fired.”
After the police arrived and took Wu Qing away, General Manager Jin finally learned what had happened. Nan Yanzhou looked at General Manager Jin, who was across from him, leaning back on the sofa with his legs crossed and his chin slightly raised. “General Manager Jin, I’ll let it slide this time. If you handle things so carelessly again, you can directly get out.”
“It certainly won’t happen again. At the time, Su Shixiao couldn’t provide any evidence, and Wu Qing had the line art and creation process. Who would have thought she could do such a thing? I will definitely investigate thoroughly before making any decisions in the future,” General Manager Jin said respectfully. He was furious with Wu Qing; he had believed her because she was a veteran employee.
“Alright, don’t let there be a next time. Get back to work.”
General Manager Jin breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. As he turned to leave, he heard his boss say, “Su Shixiao, take good care of him, and find a reliable person to mentor him.”
“Understood, I’ll arrange it right away.” Although he said this, he was confused about Su Shixiao’s identity. Who exactly is he, for Mr. Nan to personally intervene and be so concerned about him?
In the end, Wu Qing was fined. When Su Shixiao returned to the company from the police station, General Manager Jin called him into the office and apologized to him.
General Manager Jin apologized sincerely, “I am truly sorry, Xiao Xiao. I believed Wu Qing so easily back then and caused you to be wronged.”
Su Shixiao: “It’s alright. At the time, I truly didn’t have any evidence to prove my innocence.”
“Alright, alright, I’ve arranged for another person to mentor you,” General Manager Jin patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, this time it’s definitely a reliable person.”
“Mmm, thank you.”
Su Shixiao left the office and took the elevator to the CEO’s office. He ran into Assistant Cheng halfway.
Cheng Dan: “Are you looking for Mr. Nan again?”
“Mmm, is Mr. Nan in?” Su Shixiao only realized today that he was Assistant Cheng.
Cheng Dan, holding a file in one hand, “He’s in the office.”
“Okay, thank you.”
He walked to the office door and raised his hand to knock.
“Please come in.”
Nan Yanzhou’s low, magnetic voice came from inside. His ears felt slightly hot. He pushed the door open and walked in. “Mr. Nan.”
“What is it? Do you need something?” Nan Yanzhou raised his chin to look at him, asking in a playful tone.
“I… I just wanted to come and thank you, both for what happened today and for keeping it a secret from my brother and the others.” Su Shixiao lowered his eyes, mustering his courage. “Would you let me treat you to a meal as thanks?”
Nan Yanzhou kept staring at him. He found Su Shixiao absolutely fascinating at this moment. He never expected this person, who had been aloof since childhood, to have a shy moment. He always thought it would be difficult for Su Shixiao to show any emotion other than a poker face. Even when he smiled, he still gave off a distant, cool feeling. He used to think he was boring, but now he was quite cute.
“Sure, how about tonight? I haven’t made any plans for tonight yet.”
Su Shixiao, being watched by his smiling eyes, said, “Okay, after work, I’ll wait for you, and we’ll go together. I need to get back to work now.”
That day, he learned alongside his new mentor, Brother Zheng, and familiarized himself with the company’s workflow. He also uploaded the two game characters he created into the system. He heard that the review would start this Wednesday. He checked if there was anything that needed modification or improvement in the two characters he drew.
The workday finally ended. He thought about waiting for everyone to leave before going to find Nan Yanzhou, but unexpectedly, while he was waiting, Nan Yanzhou came to him.
Employees who were leaving for the day greeted him as they passed by. The other employees saw Nan Yanzhou and quickly hurried out of the department. Su Shixiao turned his head only to see Nan Yanzhou standing at the doorway. Now, only he was left in the department.
Nan Yanzhou frowned and twitched his mouth. “What? When you invite me out to dinner, you’re not proactive? Do I have to come looking for you?”
Su Shixiao immediately stood up from his seat and explained, “I’m not. I wanted to wait until everyone left before looking for you, otherwise, I’ll be talked about again.”