My Boss Always Flirts With Me - Chapter 23
Chapter 23: Confusion
Fang Ci had been feeling restless and irritable recently, so he instinctively hit the emotional pause button on himself.
The next few days were extremely busy. The final proposal was decided to be Fang Ci’s, and Chen Yu, who hadn’t had an easy time since joining the AP team, was clearly holding a grudge. Every time he saw their team, he looked at them with a scowl.
There were also a lot of rumors on the company forum about Fang Ci, saying his rapid promotion was because he had someone behind him and that he was suppressing his peers. Cheng Wen and the others suspected that Chen Yu was the one spreading them.
Fang Ci was indifferent to such things. The anonymous forum was a place for people to vent emotions, and trying to find the truth there was just a waste of energy.
“Did you finish the budget report?” Fang Ci interrupted Cheng Wen’s gossip.
Cheng Wen and Xiao Zhu exchanged a look and quickly went back to their desks.
…
The Colleagues’ Observations
[Something’s up with little Ci-Ci, isn’t it? It’s not just my imagination this time, right?] Xiao Zhu typed furiously on WeChat.
Cheng Wen: [Yeah, I noticed. It’s been three days, right? He’s been working overtime until 9 or 10 every night and still sends me progress reports. It’s like he wants to finish tomorrow’s work today. It’s scary.]
Xiao Zhu: [Go and try to get a feel for what’s going on. You men just keep everything bottled up inside. Doesn’t that get frustrating?]
Cheng Wen: [It’s hard to say. When I’m in a bad mood, I just want to process it, not vent. It’s not like you girls. After the mood passes, I’ll just pat myself on the back and say, ‘Hey, look how awesome I am! I’m all good now!’]
Xiao Zhu: […Okay, you’re awesome.]
Cheng Wen: [(Picking nose emoji) (Hands on hips laughing emoji)]
Xiao Zhu: [Then with him like this, when do you think he’ll finish processing it?]
Cheng Wen: […Give me a minute to consult my crystal ball.]
Xiao Zhu: […(Sweating emoji) Don’t bother. Just sit there. What’s the point of having you!] She rolled her chair over to Fang Ci’s side.
“Little Ci-Ci, I’m leaving on time today. Don’t stop me, okay?”
Cheng Wen turned and frowned. What kind of tactic was this? He had never seen it before. Xiao Zhu gave him a quick wink.
Fang Ci nodded. “Okay, got it.”
Xiao Zhu: “Aren’t you going to ask me what I’m doing?”
Fang Ci finished writing what was on his screen and put a period at the end. He then said, “Is there something I should know?”
Xiao Zhu was stumped. His defensive posture was definitely different from before. The tone of his question… it was very intense.
“I’m going on a blind date. I met him a few days ago and just felt like our vibes didn’t match. We had a meal and went our separate ways. But then we chatted on WeChat and I felt like he was very polite and considerate, so I’m going to meet him again today,” Xiao Zhu said with a smile.
“Oh,” Fang Ci replied casually. Then he saw that Xiao Zhu was still eagerly waiting for a response, so out of politeness, he added, “Blind dates are a good idea.”
“Huh?” Xiao Zhu was taken aback. “Weren’t you always a staunch supporter of free love? What changed your mind?”
Fang Ci: “Blind dates are good… you know who the person is from the start. You get to meet a few times, get to know each other, and then decide. Normal processes have their own benefits.”
Xiao Zhu gave Cheng Wen a “mission accomplished” hand signal behind her back. She chatted for a bit longer and then returned to her seat. She typed quickly: [It’s definitely about his feelings.]
Cheng Wen: [Are you Sherlock Holmes? How do you know it’s about his feelings?]
Xiao Zhu: [A woman’s intuition. It’s either about his feelings or about work. I explored both options and it became clear. You didn’t hear the tone he used just now?]
Cheng Wen: […No.]
He added: [But you still haven’t solved his crazy work problem. If he’s already working this much overtime now, what are we going to do when the brand launch gets closer? Pull all-nighters for twelve straight days and then meet in the hospital to play mahjong?]
Xiao Zhu: [The person who tied the bell must be the one to untie it. Who am I supposed to untie?]
She typed again: [Don’t you men all have a thing about saving face? I can’t be the one to expose it. We just have to wait for the right time.]
Cheng Wen split his screen, working on one side and slacking off on the other. [We’re in the same boat. My solution is no better than yours.]
[Who’s making a bet with you?! Get out!] Xiao Zhu hit her keyboard with vigor.
Cheng Wen laughed and replied a couple of times. Then he heard a “ding-dong.” Fang Ci had messaged him, asking him to go to the project report again today. The reason given was that he had a meeting with procurement.
Fang Ci had a meeting every afternoon now. Cheng Wen agreed.
…
He Chi’s Analysis
At 5 p.m., he had his materials ready and walked into He Chi’s office on time. The previous few departments had just finished their reports. Cheng Wen walked past them, greeting them. Someone smiled. “Your department must be busy lately. I haven’t seen Manager Fang in a while.”
Cheng Wen smiled. “You bet. We’re in the accelerated R&D phase.” He took two steps forward, then paused, noticing a change on the wall.
When He Chi saw him, he also seemed to be momentarily stunned, an unusual expression that disappeared incredibly fast. Cheng Wen thought he had misread it. He hesitated. “Is something wrong, CEO He?”
He Chi clasped his hands on the desk. “Let’s talk about the AP’s progress first.”
Cheng Wen: “Okay. Our system development is in the second phase. The main board is complete, and the camera and other hardware components are in place. The subsequent assembly will take a month to a month and a half.”
He then reported on the problems they had encountered. He Chi only spoke when he needed to make a decision. The entire process took about fifteen minutes.
Cheng Wen closed his laptop. He saw He Chi tapping the desk with his fountain pen, seemingly asking casually, “What is your manager Fang doing?”
Cheng Wen was afraid He Chi would think Fang Ci was slacking off, which was why he was here to report, so he explained, “He’s in a meeting with procurement.”
He Chi: “I received the AP procurement report yesterday. What’s the topic of today’s meeting?”
Cold sweat broke out on Cheng Wen’s back. “I didn’t attend the meeting, so I’m not sure. Maybe there were some adjustments to the project?”
He Chi nodded slightly. “You can go back to your work now.”
Cheng Wen quickly slipped out of the office and messaged Fang Ci in the hallway: [CEO He seemed unhappy that you didn’t come to the report. He asked me what your meeting topic was.]
Fang Ci took a long time to reply. When Cheng Wen finally saw it, he simply replied: [Mm.]
The negative emotions were practically overflowing from the screen. Cheng Wen didn’t understand, but he was in awe.
When Fang Ci finally appeared, Cheng Wen asked him if he had explained things to CEO He. Fang Ci replied, “I emailed him the meeting notes.”
Cheng Wen finally felt at ease. He then gathered a few team members to give them a morale boost. “Guess what I saw in CEO He’s office?”
Xiao Zhu was the most supportive. “What?”
Cheng Wen slapped his thigh. “Our department’s commemorative gift is hanging on the wall! We’re the only department!”
The other team members were all excited, except for Fang Ci, who remained silent. Cheng Wen asked, “You prepared the gift. Aren’t you happy?”
Fang Ci still had no reaction, or rather, he looked incredibly confused.
He Chi was just as confused. He made himself a cup of coffee to clear his mind. He read Fang Ci’s meeting notes. There was a procurement clause that required an additional payment, which needed to be discussed in person, but whether it required a full meeting was debatable.
At least in his opinion, it didn’t need to take up so much time.
Fang Ci’s recent behavior was unusual. For example, at home, he was talking about work more and more, even replying to work messages before going to sleep or reading in the study. In contrast, they were seeing each other less and less at the company. For several days in a row, the afternoon report was handled by someone else.
He wasn’t good at analyzing problems with emotion; he could only rely on big data for comparison. He had concluded that Fang Ci was unhappy during their movie date on the weekend using this method—by judging his different communication styles throughout the day.
Rational thinking was stable enough, at least more real and reasonable than “feelings.” The tech industry he worked in was based on data models to make effective progress.
He believed marriage was the same.
With that thought, he made a decision. He looked at his schedule. He had a business trip in two days. He would resolve their issue before he left.