AD Chapter 16
Su Ning quickly shook his head and perked up. "No."
It was just his biological clock acting up. He couldn't control the drowsiness, but he could tough it out. His boss’s work was important, and he, as a lowly assistant, couldn’t afford to be so delicate. Skipping one nap wasn’t a big deal.
He buried his head back into his work. But the next moment, a hand suddenly descended from above and snatched the pen out of his hand. Su Ning looked up in surprise, stunned to see Gu Lingfeng standing right in front of him, though he hadn’t noticed when he got there.
The man furrowed his brows slightly, his gaze sweeping over Su Ning’s sleepy face. His slightly red eyes made him look like someone who had been bullied. Gu Lingfeng’s eyes flickered, and he said coolly, “I don’t like inefficient work. When your energy is low, you’re prone to mistakes. Do you want me to go over all your work again?”
Su Ning looked a bit embarrassed. Although he could keep working while tired, he really couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be errors.
Gu Lingfeng glanced at the remaining documents on Su Ning’s desk, raised his wrist to check the time, and said, “Go to the lounge. You have one hour to rest. Finish the rest of the work once you’re refreshed.”
With that, he returned to his own desk and continued working.
Since Gu Lingfeng had already said so, Su Ning didn’t protest further. He stood up, ready to head into the lounge—though he couldn’t help but let out a huge yawn as he rose.
Startled, Su Ning quickly covered his mouth with his hand and glanced toward Gu Lingfeng, afraid he’d disturbed him. Gu Lingfeng looked up briefly with his usual calm gaze. Su Ning quickly gave him an apologetic smile, and Gu Lingfeng withdrew his gaze, continuing with his tasks.
Su Ning stared at Gu Lingfeng in a daze for a moment. This man was like a machine that never got tired. As long as he was working, he was always upright, focused, and meticulous. Su Ning had never seen him make a mistake, nor had he ever seen him take a lunch break.
Thinking this, Su Ning walked into the lounge—Gu Lingfeng’s private resting room. Gu Lingfeng rarely used it himself, and no one else was allowed to either. But ever since Su Ning started working with him, he occasionally used it to rest when they arrived at the office early.
Still, even though this wasn’t the first time, Su Ning couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy. After all, the big boss was out there working tirelessly while he, a little assistant, was lying in a resting room sleeping—it just didn’t feel right.
Even with those thoughts in his head, the moment Su Ning’s head hit the pillow, he fell fast asleep. It was a deep, dreamless slumber.
Su Ning’s internal clock was reliable. He woke up exactly an hour later, but when he stepped out of the lounge, Gu Lingfeng was nowhere to be seen.
Su Ning didn’t think much of it. Gu Lingfeng wasn’t the type to just sit in the office all day. In fact, he rarely spent much time there.
Though he had rested, he was still a little groggy. Su Ning decided to go get himself a cup of coffee to wake up before finishing his remaining tasks.
On his way out, he ran into Gu Lingfeng’s other assistant, Yang Ke. Unlike Su Ning, Yang Ke was a proper graduate from a prestigious university, highly capable, and had worked his way up from an intern to the CEO’s personal assistant—more than capable of handling matters on his own.
Yang Ke was there to pick up some documents. When he saw Su Ning, he gave him a curt nod and informed him that Gu Lingfeng was in a meeting. He also politely asked:
“Assistant Su, would you like to come with me?”
Su Ning quickly waved his hands. What a joke. He could manage writing reports, but a business meeting? He probably wouldn’t even understand half of it. And though both of them were assistants, Su Ning was fully aware that among Gu Lingfeng’s team, he wasn’t taken very seriously. In the eyes of outsiders, he was just someone who got to stay close to Gu Lingfeng by sleeping with him—basically on the same level as one of his flings, if not worse.
After parting ways with Yang Ke, Su Ning went to the break room.
HuaYu’s break room was unlike most companies. It was not only well-stocked but also filled with premium goods. Gu Lingfeng was a generous boss—not just with his lovers, but also with his staff. Some of the coffee options, for example, were brought back by him from overseas business trips.
Su Ning picked his favorite flavor, brewed a cup, and was about to head back when he turned around and nearly bumped into someone.
“Sorry—” Su Ning steadied the cup just in time to avoid spilling it and quickly apologized, even though it wasn’t really his fault—the person had suddenly appeared behind him.
When he looked up and saw who it was, Su Ning’s polite smile froze. Standing in front of him was Chu Zichen.
After a moment of surprise, Su Ning quickly resumed his professional smile. He stepped aside and said cheerfully, “Mr. Chu, are you here to see President Gu? He’s in a meeting at the moment. Please wait a bit.”
Chu Zichen’s eyes swept disdainfully over the cup of coffee in Su Ning’s hand. He lifted his chin and looked down at Su Ning, saying smugly, “Is this the kind of stuff you drink? Figures. A lowly assistant like you probably can’t even afford good coffee. Just here leeching off the company’s supply.”
Su Ning blinked, a little unsure what was going on. He glanced down at the cup of coffee that Chu Zichen had just dissed—it was the same limited-edition blend Gu Lingfeng had brought back from abroad not long ago. Word was even cafés didn’t have access to it. The price was one thing; the real issue was that it wasn’t even available through standard channels.
Su Ning decided to keep quiet and simply smiled politely.
But Chu Zichen found that smile irritating—no, more accurately, the face itself was irritating.
“You were the one in bed with Lingfeng when I called last time, weren’t you?” Chu Zichen sneered, lips curling into a mocking smile. He had delicate, almost seductive features, and when he smiled, there was a sultry edge to it. “Don’t get cocky just because he slept with you once. It was just convenient for him.”
“If he really cared about you, then why are you still just an assistant? Even need to scrounge for coffee in the office break room.”
Su Ning was getting a bit exasperated. He’d just come to wake himself up with a cup of coffee—how had that turned into "mooching off the company" in Chu Zichen’s version?
In truth, he didn’t even like coffee that much. He kept some freshly ground beans at home, mostly for Gu Lingfeng. He’d gotten good at making it simply because he’d made it so often for him. But he rarely drank it himself.
Chu Zichen’s gaze grew even more disdainful, as if Su Ning were some beggar who couldn’t even afford a meal. “I don’t like coffee. I prefer red wine. Lingfeng bought me a lot of it, even brought a bottle back from abroad just for me.”
His chin was practically tilted to the ceiling, his face full of smug satisfaction.
Su Ning looked at him, his expression slightly strange.
How did someone grow up to be this peacocky?
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