Chapter 154: Chapter 154

Qi Longbing snorted coldly. "Bring your meeting notes over for me to see."

Hua Xiaomo felt somewhat embarrassed but reluctantly handed over her version of the meeting records.

Qi Longbing flipped them open and saw only two meager lines of text; then, there was nothing.

THWACK! Qi Longbing slammed the notebook onto the desk. "Is this your meeting record, Miss Hua Xiaomo?"

"You’ve attended university. How can your handwriting be worse than a middle school student’s?" Qi Longbing said mockingly, a sneer plastered on his handsome face.

Hua Xiaomo looked at him, unsure of what to say or what not to say.

Alright, so my handwriting is worse than a middle school student’s—so what? I don’t need anyone to judge what kind of person I am, nor do I need to live by others’ standards, especially not his, Qi Longbing’s!

"What’s wrong? Feeling inferior after just a few words from me?" Qi Longbing chuckled. He leaned back in the Osaka chair, his sharp eyes revealing a subtle, menacing glint.

Hua Xiaomo suddenly laughed. "As long as I’m satisfied with my handwriting, that’s all that matters. There’s no need for the President to concern himself with it. Besides, everything is computerized nowadays. As long as I can type things out, that’s good enough."

Qi Longbing looked down on her, the provocation causing his lip to curl into a smirk. "Good. Very well said. In that case, I’ll trouble Miss Hua Xiaomo to retype all of last year’s meeting records for me."

As he spoke, Qi Longbing’s slender fingers pressed the intercom button and commanded in a cold voice, "Ms. Zhang, bring all the meeting records from every company department from last year."

Soon, a hefty stack of meeting records was placed on Hua Xiaomo’s desk.

"From now on, you will type these for me. You can leave work when you’re finished. Understand?" Qi Longbing’s expression was utterly frigid, his eyes devoid of any warmth.

Hua Xiaomo glanced at them but said nothing more, quickly returning to her desk and beginning to retype the computer-generated text.

Hua Xiaomo stared at the text, her mind blank. Or perhaps this was for the best, the right thing for her. At least she didn’t need to think about any troubling matters; she just needed to focus on typing these documents.

For a while, the only sound in the office was the TAP-TAP-TAP of typing; nothing else disturbed the silence.

Qi Longbing watched her, his expressionless face growing colder still. After observing her for a moment, he stood up, hands tucked into his trouser pockets, and walked over.

"Hua Xiaomo, just look at yourself. What do you think you look like?" Qi Longbing suddenly snapped, his fingers clenching one by one, intense killing intent radiating from his eyes.

Her beautiful face was very fair, but its excessive pallor gave it a sickly hue. Her thin, petal-like lips looked drained of blood, appearing ashen.

This was entirely different from the woman who had entered the meeting room earlier.

"..." Hua Xiaomo lifted her head, a strained smile on her lips. "President Qi, I’m fine with whatever you say I look like. I don’t care." As she spoke, her hands never paused in their task.

A surge of frustration welled up in Qi Longbing’s chest. He sneered coldly, pulled her SIM card from an inner pocket of his suit, and said icily, "Hua Xiaomo, don’t think I’m giving you any special consideration. This matter isn’t going to be resolved that easily! From now on, be smarter about how you do things, and understand your place. Don’t forget who you belong to!"

Having said his piece, Qi Longbing put the SIM card back into his pocket. Then, he tossed a brand-new phone onto her desk and stated domineeringly, "This is for you. In the future, you must answer my calls within three rings!"

After these words, Qi Longbing didn’t spare her another glance and walked out of the President’s office, his face like ice.

Just as he was closing the door, he didn’t forget to add more pressure. "Tomorrow morning, I expect to see all those meeting records typed up."

SLAM! The door closed.

Hua Xiaomo’s expression stiffened, then a cold smile spread across her face. Looking at the new phone, how she wished she could throw it away immediately! But now, these documents weighed on her like a mountain, suffocating her.

"Forget it. It’s no use thinking about anything now. If he wants them typed, I’ll type them! It’s not a big deal!" Hua Xiaomo muttered to herself, resentment building in her chest. "Qi Longbing, you want to break me, but I refuse to let you have your way!"

The office grew quiet, the only sound the rhythmic tap-tap-tap of typing.

It wasn’t until after work that Ms. Zhang came over. Looking at Hua Xiaomo, she said softly, "Hey, Xiao Mo, I have backups of all these documents. Do you want them? I can copy them for you!"

Hua Xiaomo looked at her and smiled. "Thank you, Ms. Zhang, but I think I’ll type them myself."

"Why put yourself through this? There are so many documents; how can you possibly finish them all? As long as you don’t say anything and I don’t say anything, President Qi will never know!" Ms. Zhang urged again, her shrewd eyes gleaming with a sly light.

"I know, but I want to complete these tasks myself. Thank you, Ms. Zhang. You should head home now!" Hua Xiaomo smiled, her hands still typing rapidly.

Ms. Zhang looked somewhat hesitant but eventually said, "Alright then."

After a moment’s thought, she quickly jotted down a string of numbers and letters on a piece of paper. "Xiao Mo, this is the login password for my computer. The meeting records are in this folder. If you get tired of typing, you can just copy them directly from there. Don’t overexert yourself; your health is important. I’m leaving now." ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦•𝘯𝘦𝘵

"BEY." Hua Xiaomo smiled at her. After watching Ms. Zhang leave, Hua Xiaomo picked up the paper with the password, crumpled it in her palm, and threw it into the trash can.

Without a word, she continued typing the meeting records, her face expressionless.

After Ms. Zhang exited the elevator, she found a quiet corner, quickly took out her phone, and dialed the number that ended in eight 8s.

"President Qi, I did as you instructed and offered her the electronic files of the meeting records, but Hua Xiaomo insisted on typing them herself. However, I left her my computer’s login password and the file path. She should be able to find it."

"Good." Qi Longbing hung up after hearing the report, a subtle curve playing on his lips.

His mind involuntarily flashed back to how he had doted on her the previous night, and a strange, inexplicable smile appeared on his incredibly handsome face. It seemed his mood only ever improved, even if just slightly, when he recalled that moment.

Qi Longbing took out his luxury phone, saw the newly saved number, and resisted the urge to call. The next second, he pocketed the phone again.

The city’s neon lights cast a myriad of colors across the sky.

Qi Longbing, already back at the White House Villa, sat alone at the dining table. Looking at the sumptuous feast before him, he suddenly found he had no appetite. His gaze kept drifting towards the empty seat, and his hand beneath the table uncontrollably clenched his thigh...