My Boss Always Flirts With Me - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Weekend

After leaving the company, Wei Lin hadn’t yet figured out who He Chi’s new partner was. That same evening, he was berated by his father over the phone for being idle and useless, saying he just wandered around even when he went to the company.

So, Wei Lin decided to go back to the company on Friday. The timing was perfect, as the product proposal was being finalized with the R&D department. Many channel vendors would be present to learn more for future bidding. Since he had nothing else to do, he’d at least look busy and try to get He Chi to put in a good word for him with his dad.

He didn’t go empty-handed, either. He chose gifts and distributed them to a few key departments.

The next day, he had Yuan Cheng help him move the gifts upstairs and then went to the conference room to check in with He Chi.

As he passed by some cubicles, he heard a group of people whispering together, saying that CEO He was furious.

“Wait, why is He Chi angry?” Wei Lin felt like he had heard a great piece of news.

A few employees thought he was part of their department and said, “There was some hitch in the product communication meeting, we don’t know the specifics, but we heard about it in the group chat.”

Someone next to them added, “It was for the AP product, the one Manager Fang presented.”

Wei Lin paused slightly. “Fang Ci?”

“Yeah, which other Manager Fang is there for the AP smart unit?”

…

Fang Ci’s morning was a bit frustrating. The product communication meeting was usually simple, just for internal staff and third-party vendors. But right before the meeting, Cheng Wen and a few team members rushed over and said that CEO He and a few directors would be attending.

Suddenly, the meeting was no longer so simple.

If the directors were present, some details needed to be added to the proposal. He Chi hoped to accelerate the pace of going public with this year’s new product launch, so the directors’ attendance meant they would definitely be making a product assessment.

Perhaps it was the idea of other directors, and He Chi hadn’t had time to let him know in advance.

Fang Ci was surprised for a moment and confirmed with Cheng Wen, “Does Chen Yu know about this?”

Cheng Wen nodded. Their department was in charge of channels, and Chen Yu’s was in charge of R&D. They had already gone over the data in advance. While it was a tight schedule, adding the temporary content would take about an hour, which was enough.

Fang Ci had other things to do, so everyone prepared on their own.

That afternoon, when he entered the conference room, Fang Ci saw He Chi, along with a few core management members. He didn’t see the young partner, but there were a few older directors by his side.

The two who ate and slept in the same bed at home barely exchanged a glance in the workplace, each returning to their own professional roles.

Fang Ci felt a little complicated but quickly composed himself.

“Let’s begin.” Chen Yu sent over the revised document. Fang Ci was very familiar with most of the content and spoke fluently. The room was silent, with only occasional nods and note-taking.

Flipping a few pages to the product analysis and competitive analysis, Fang Ci paused. The content Chen Yu had marked was fine, but there was too much framework and no specific numbers. For example, it said which company had the same technology but didn’t list the parameter changes. The distribution volume was only listed as a percentage, without the main regions and year-on-year market share growth.

Fang Ci glanced at Chen Yu, but Chen Yu didn’t look at him.

The pause didn’t last long, but Fang Ci saw He Chi raise an eyebrow. He calmed himself, went off-script, and continued speaking.

As he unfolded the data, surprise grew in Chen Yu’s eyes. He hadn’t expected Fang Ci to have added so much on his own.

“That’s all I have to say. Now, we’ll enter the Q&A session.” In the large conference hall, Fang Ci’s voice was clear and confident, not at all like a newcomer who had only been in the workplace for two years.

He saw the directors talking to He Chi, nodding occasionally. He Chi’s expression was as indifferent as ever, making it impossible to tell if he was dissatisfied.

Fang Ci looked away.

During the Q&A, the vendors asked a lot of questions. For a seasoned professional like He Chi, these were small cases, far less complex than management or equity distribution. Fang Ci, having just been appointed, answered fluently. He also handled the questions he was less familiar with or couldn’t confirm, using data to provide a well-rounded response.

He Chi watched from a distance, tapping his fingers on the paper.

Fang Ci was wrapping up and motioned for He Chi to say a few words, but He Chi told the vendors to leave first and for everyone else to stay.

Returning to his seat, Cheng Wen whispered to Fang Ci, “Is the boss going to scold us?”

Fang Ci: “CEO He doesn’t scold people.”

Cheng Wen touched his nose, unconvinced.

Sure enough, He Chi’s first sentence made their hearts race. “Who made the proposal?”

Everyone was startled by the question. Unsure of the boss’s intention, no one dared to admit it.

He Chi then said, “The framework is good.”

Hearing this, Chen Yu immediately jumped in. “CEO He, the product proposal is, of course, our department’s responsibility. We’ve revised it many times, hoping to present our new product in the best possible state.”

Cheng Wen covered his mouth and coughed, annoyed. “He sure knows how to talk. I don’t know why his throat hasn’t been poisoned yet.” The two teams knew well that if Fang Ci hadn’t been supervising, they didn’t know what problems the proposal would have had. It had only been revised three times, yet Chen Yu complained every day about how hard he worked.

He Chi looked up. “Since there’s a person in charge, take on the responsibility. The logic of this framework is fine, but it lacks detail. Fill in the missing parts and submit them to me today.”

Chen Yu was speechless, his smile frozen on his face.

“Any problems?”

It was almost time to get off work, which meant the department would have to work overtime tonight. And He Chi had called him out by name, so Chen Yu didn’t dare to pass the blame to his team and leave early himself.

Cheng Wen clenched his fist under the table and gave Fang Ci a victory sign.

When He Chi was expressionless, his presence was especially powerful. Chen Yu naturally gave in. Whatever the boss said, was what went.

The corner of Fang Ci’s mouth turned up in a tiny smile.

After the meeting, everyone went back to their own business. Once they were back in their own territory, the team members cheered. Their mood was visibly better.

“If we’re not working overtime tonight, let’s all go out for a dinner!” Cheng Wen and Xiao Zhu gathered around. They had vented their anger and completed a stage of their goal. Everyone wanted to relax. A few other team members also agreed.

Fang Ci said yes. Then he remembered He Chi. The two of them had been going to and from work together recently and had gotten used to it. He figured since a CEO had so much to do, he probably wouldn’t have this kind of free time.

He should at least say hello to He Chi and ask if he’d be working late.

He stood up and took two steps when he ran into Wei Lin. Fang Ci said, “Mr. Wei, you’re here again?”

Wei Lin nodded. “I heard someone was giving you a hard time?”

Fang Ci: “Not really giving me a hard time, just a small lack of smooth communication.”

Wei Lin wasn’t interested in their internal meeting. After all, they had just met yesterday, and he quite liked this young man. He took a few pieces of chocolate out of his pocket and handed them over. “To calm your nerves. I brought them back from abroad.”

Fang Ci accepted his kindness. “Thank you.”

Wei Lin smiled, put his hands in his pockets, and walked off.

Entering the office, Fang Ci first talked about business, reporting on the project’s progress and the things to be pushed next week. Then he brought up private matters. “Do you need to work overtime tonight?”

He Chi: “Do you have plans?”

Fang Ci didn’t explain clearly but added, “Our team wants to go out for a dinner tonight.”

So he wasn’t asking if he was working overtime. He Chi paused, indicating he understood, then his gaze fell on the chocolate in Fang Ci’s hand, and he changed the subject. “You saw Wei Lin.”

“Mr. Wei is very warm.”

He Chi: “Yes, he’s always like that.”

Fang Ci smiled.

“That chocolate is very bitter,” He Chi suddenly said.

Fang Ci was stunned. The wrapper had letters he didn’t recognize, and there was no percentage listed.

“Don’t you like sweet things?” He Chi asked casually.

Fang Ci did indeed like sweet things. He put milk and several sugar cubes in his coffee and liked to add sugar when cooking at home. He Chi was the opposite; he only drank black coffee or an Americano.

Since that was the case, he might as well let He Chi have the chocolate.

He thought for a few seconds and placed the items in his hand on He Chi’s desk. “Then I’ll offer this to you.”

He Chi’s eyes shifted slightly.

Fang Ci’s eyes crinkled at the corners, showing his lower eyelid rolls. “Thank you for your fair judgment today.”

He Chi mused, “If you ever encounter something like this in the future, you’re welcome to report it anytime.”

Fang Ci knew He Chi had a firm hand and favored healthy competition, not liking subordinates to get emotional or fight over useless things. That’s why he wasn’t willing to report things to him. It wasn’t like he was a student tattling on others.

“They’re just small matters.” Fang Ci didn’t want to bother He Chi with everything.

He Chi looked at his smile for a moment, lost in thought, then nodded.

After Fang Ci left, He Chi played with the chocolate. The plastic wrapper rustled in his hand. Then he dialed the office number and called Yuan Cheng over.

Getting called into the boss’s office right before quitting time on a Friday was not a good sign. Yuan Cheng’s face was bitter. After a few deep breaths, he bravely stepped inside.

“CEO He, you wanted to see me?”

He Chi: “What are your plans for the weekend?”

Yuan Cheng’s heart sank. This is it, he wants me to work overtime! But he couldn’t be sure of He Chi’s intention, so he was careful and asked, “Do you need me to do anything this weekend?”

He Chi then realized his words were easily misunderstood. “I mean, what do you usually do on your days off?”

Yuan Cheng never expected He Chi to ask this. “Huh?”

He Chi showed full patience. For something he wasn’t good at, he always had to show more patience to understand it.

Yuan Cheng carefully answered, “I live alone, so I just sleep at home on weekends.”

He Chi: “…”

Yuan Cheng glanced at his expression and offered a few other options. “Sometimes I hang out with friends or visit family. We’ll go to the movies, go shopping, or have dinner together.”

He Chi thought for a moment and nodded. “Okay, I understand.”

Yuan Cheng’s mouth was left half-open. Understand what? Is the boss taking the weekend off?

“Last week, CEO Xue invited you to play golf. Should I schedule it for this weekend for you?” Suppressing his burning curiosity, he decided to fish for gossip indirectly. Usually, He Chi was too busy during the week, so some dinners and business talks would be scheduled for the weekend.

He Chi: “Schedule it for next week.”

Yuan Cheng: “!” A married man really is different. Even the great CEO He has changed!

As soon as he left the office, Yuan Cheng immediately posted a celebratory emoji in the product development group: [My friends, it’s highly likely we won’t be working overtime this weekend!]

This group was temporarily created for the new product launch, and all the members had been working overtime like crazy lately. When they heard the news, the number of replies shot up to 99.

@IsXiaoZhuHappyToday: [That’s awesome!]

@ChengWnWnWn: [Cool!]

@IsXiaoZhuHappyToday: [It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I just heard we weren’t working overtime tonight, and now we don’t have to on the weekend either. It’s so unscientific that CEO He would let us go.]

@YuanChengisaBladeofGrass: [He even pushed a business meeting. He must be going home to be with his spouse!]

@IsXiaoZhuHappyToday: [Damn! Thank you, CEO He’s spouse!!]

@ChengWnWnWn: [Thank you, CEO He, for having a spouse!]

@TeamMemberA: [Thank you, CEO He’s spouse!]

@TeamMemberB: [Thank you, CEO He’s spouse!]

…

Fang Ci was tidying up his things when his phone kept buzzing with notifications. He thought something was wrong. When he opened it, he saw the work group chat had exploded. Opening it was even more shocking, with the entire page filled with “Thank you, CEO He’s spouse.”

He was dizzy and dazed for a moment before asking Xiao Zhu, “Which CEO He?”

Xiao Zhu: “?”

Scrolling up, Fang Ci saw the message from Yuan Cheng.

Xiao Zhu made a tsk sound next to him. “I thought CEO He had no private life besides work, but I didn’t expect him to actually spend time with his spouse. He’s really impressed me. His spouse is amazing.”

As the other half on the marriage certificate, Fang Ci had the right to speak but had nothing to say. His ears just felt a little hot.

“If I ever meet the legendary celestial being, I’ll personally draw a portrait and hang it in my living room, right in the center. Every time I have to work overtime, I’ll go and worship it. What do you think?” Xiao Zhu said, sounding a bit crazy.

Fang Ci put down his phone. “…No need for that. He wants to live a good life.”

Xiao Zhu laughed. “You don’t understand metaphysics.”

Fang Ci smiled politely. “You don’t understand me.”

Xiao Zhu never quite understood what Fang Ci meant.