The Boss Always Thinks I'm After Him - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 — Heartbeat Progress 0.9%: If You Hit It, You Can’t Hit…

“Mm.” Xiao Yang nodded, then turned back to the flower shop owner and pointed to the cactus he liked. “I want this one. Could you please put it in a nicer pot?”

The owner agreed and took the plant inside.

Zhang Heng’s eyes lingered on the cactus, his expression somewhat strange. Tentatively, he asked, “Is this a gift for your girlfriend?”

Xiao Yang’s heart skipped a beat, but not wanting to lose face in front of his friend, he scratched the back of his head awkwardly and said, “Yeah, I upset her yesterday, so I’m buying a little something to make it up.”

Anyway, the owner wouldn’t know—borrowing him as a stand-in boyfriend shouldn’t be a problem.

“But I think…” Zhang Heng’s girlfriend hesitated, still wanting to kindly remind him, “Girls usually like flowers more. Maybe you should buy a nice bouquet—it might work better.”

“That’s true.” Xiao Yang nodded and cooperatively turned to look at the flowers.

Zhang Heng shot his girlfriend a teasing glare, “It’s his own girlfriend, why do you care?”

Suddenly, he got angry for no reason, hurriedly said goodbye to Xiao Yang, and strode off.

His girlfriend quickly chased after him, and their muffled conversation could be heard.

“What are you mad about?”

“I’m not mad.”

“If you’re not mad, then why were you rude to me? That’s your friend, not mine. I was just trying to help—is that wrong?”

“You’re crazy. I told you I’m not mad.”

…

The owner came back with the cactus in a new pot and wrapped it up, handing it to Xiao Yang. “That’ll be 68.”

Xiao Yang sighed quietly at how expensive the little thing was, then took out his phone and scanned the code to pay.

When he left the flower market, Zhang Heng and his girlfriend were already nowhere to be seen. After so many years of friendship, it was rare to meet, yet they barely exchanged a few words.

Zhang Heng was handsome, and all his life he’d never lacked girls around him—his girlfriends changed one after another. Seeing their sweet and quarrelsome moments, Xiao Yang occasionally felt a bit envious. But as time went by, and without meeting someone he liked, he gradually felt indifferent.

On the way home, Xiao Yang passed by an arcade and indulged in some gaming, unexpectedly redeeming a perfect little gift to give away. He felt quite satisfied.

The weekend flew by. On Monday morning, Xiao Yang nervously brought his prepared gifts and arrived at the company half an hour early.

At 7:40, Gu Che walked down the corridor and entered the office.

Hearing the noise, Xiao Yang eagerly carried his apology gifts and knocked on the CEO’s office door.

“Come in.” Gu Che pressed the power button, and the computer screen lit up.

Xiao Yang gently pushed open the door, smiling shyly as he stepped forward. “Morning, boss.”

“Morning.”

Gu Che took off his coat and hung it up, scanning him up and down. “Sober now?”

“Yes, yes.” Xiao Yang smiled awkwardly, secretly watching the boss’s expression, and placed the gifts on his desk.

“I’m sorry to trouble you again. I feel bad, so I specially bought two small gifts to make up.”

He carefully took out the cactus and placed it next to the computer, earnestly introducing it: “A cute cactus—protects your eyes and purifies the air, easy to take care of, and it even flowers.”

As he spoke, he watched Gu Che to make sure there was no impatience. Then he pulled out the other item and held it out with both hands.

“And this stress-relief doll.”

“If I mess up again and make you angry, you can hit this.”

He gently placed the cute doll on the boss’s desk, feeling a bit reluctant, and quietly reminded, “But if you hit it, you can’t hit me.”

The stress doll was a small blue chubby pig, soft and fluffy, clearly very touchable.

Gu Che’s cold eyes flickered with a few hints of amusement. He picked up the little pig and squeezed it twice.

“If you have time for this, you might as well be more careful and cause fewer troubles.”

“No more drinking at company dinners.”

Xiao Yang obediently nodded. “Yes, yes, boss, you’re right.”

Gu Che lifted his chin toward the door, ready to tell him to leave, but suddenly remembered something.

“Have you eaten breakfast?”

“Yes.” Xiao Yang smiled blissfully, thinking the boss was going to treat him, and quickly stepped out of the office.

Just after opening the door, he turned back, “Boss, how much was the dry cleaning? I’ll pay you back.”

“Get lost.” Gu Che didn’t even look at him, sitting down in his chair.

“Got it.” Xiao Yang left briskly and closed the door.

Honestly, the boss was really generous and considerate—he didn’t let him pay and even cared if he’d eaten breakfast. If only he weren’t so cold, it would be perfect.

Xiao Yang happily returned to his desk.

In the office, Gu Che put the blue chubby pig into a nearby cabinet. Then, looking up, his gaze suddenly froze.

The white ceramic pot holding the cactus had a large pink heart printed on it, directly facing his chair—impossible to miss.

A heart? Coincidence?

Gu Che took the pig doll out again, flipped it over, and found a pink heart on its belly too.

One coincidence might be accidental, but two? Pink hearts? The meaning was obvious.

Through the glass window, Gu Che stared at the cubicles outside, deep in thought.

Could it be that all this was on purpose? Purposely causing trouble just to get his attention? His true intention was this pink heart.

The company strictly forbade office romances—both to eliminate misconduct and to prevent anyone from having designs on Gu Che. Yet…

Gu Che took a deep breath. Xiao Yang was very capable at work; it would be a pity if he got fired over something like this.

A few seconds later, he grabbed a sticky note and stuck it over the heart on the pot, covering it completely.

At 8:15, the routine meeting started as scheduled.

This time, Xiao Yang sat quietly. Gu Che’s gaze kept flicking toward him, with an odd look that he couldn’t figure out. Seeing the water cup on the conference table, Xiao Yang suddenly had a flash of insight.

Oh, so when the boss asked if he’d eaten breakfast, it was actually worried he’d be munching bread during the meeting. He’d thought the boss was so considerate.

With this thought, Xiao Yang deliberately turned his head away, showing Gu Che only his profile and the back of his head.

Seeing this, Gu Che hesitated slightly.

Who knew that just by looking at him a few times, he’d get shy… whatever, better pretend not to notice and drag this out as long as possible.

Gu Che lowered his head and flipped through the documents.

After the employees finished their work reports, Gu Che closed the folder and leaned back in his chair.

“Since Tao Hong left, the deputy team leader position is vacant. Anyone want to volunteer?”

A promotion with a raise was naturally good, but no one was sure they had the ability to handle it. Plus, being the boss’s right hand meant more pressure. The meeting room fell silent.

Afraid of being singled out, everyone kept their heads low.

“Come on, no one?” Gu Che’s displeasure showed as he coldly stared at several senior team members, calling their names one by one:

“Ma Weiran?”

Ma Weiran shook his head frantically, refusing.

“Xu Siyang?”

Xu Siyang waved his hands repeatedly and shrank back.

“Liu Xu?”

Liu Xu frowned deeply, clearly distressed.

“Zhong Jun?”

Zhong Jun looked anxious and avoided eye contact.

No one dared to respond. Gu Che’s expression darkened further.

He picked up his water, took a few slow sips, then put the cup down with a “thud.”

“So no one wants to do it, huh? Fine, then it’ll be a secret ballot.”

He glanced at Zhang Rui and tapped the table with his fingers.

Sheets of A4 paper, all cut to the same size, were handed out—one per person. Everyone wrote down a name.

Xiao Yang glanced around, recalling that at last Friday’s dinner, there was someone who seemed particularly influential. He quickly wrote down two characters.

A few minutes later, Zhang Rui collected the votes and tallied them in front of everyone.

When Xiao Yang saw his own name on the whiteboard, his eyes went wide.

No way, he’d just joined the team—who was so desperate to vote for him?

The counting finished quickly. Zhong Jun won with an absolute majority of over ten votes; Xiao Yang came second with nearly ten votes.

Zhong Jun frowned and pleaded with the boss, “Boss, you know I’m just average at coding, more of a tough old hand who jokes around all day. How can I be deputy team leader? Better to let Xiao work do it—he’s much better than me.”

“No no no,” Xiao Yang quickly refused, afraid of getting the position himself. “Being deputy leader requires leadership, and I only know how to code—I’m clueless about management.”

He turned to Gu Che and earnestly pushed the responsibility off, “Boss, since everyone agrees on Jun, then he’s the obvious choice.”

“Hmm.” Gu Che glanced at them and nodded, then stood up.

“Then it’s settled. Meeting adjourned.”

“Zhong Jun, come to the office to discuss work distribution and rearrange everyone’s seats.”

Zhong Jun stood immediately, not daring to delay.

After the boss left the meeting room, everyone chatted and laughed, congratulating each other.

“Congrats!”

“Congrats to Jun for the promotion and raise!”

“Jun, if you get rich, don’t forget us little brothers. Watch out for us!”

…

Zhong Jun spat at them in mock annoyance, “I treat you all as brothers, and you treat me like crap. Remember that.”

His threats had no power; no one took him seriously.

Xiao Yang leaned in and whispered to Zhong Jun, “Jun, when you arrange the seats, please put me and Xu Mubai far apart, and preferably where we can see the boss’s office.”

“You know me—I’m all over the place. If the boss watches me all day, I’ll be under too much pressure and it’ll affect my work.”

He cupped his hands and begged, “Please, Jun.”

Hearing Xiao Yang, others followed suit, using funny voices to beg Zhong Jun.

“Jun, Jun, me too!”

“Jun, we’re brothers; don’t play favorites.”

“Yeah, don’t favor Yang just because he’s cute.”

…

“What nonsense.” Xiao Yang laughed, shooting back, “You’re the cute ones—all of you.”

They joked and laughed while sending Zhong Jun to the CEO’s office door, then dispersed.