Javier Zhong gazed at her. Well, that was definitely not what he meant.
Has he not made it obvious enough that he likes her? Or is she just deliberately ignoring it?
"There are no other girls. It's just you." He said with certainty in his voice.
"But I'm still not interested." She quickly rejected him and left no room for negotiation.
"..."
She knows it!!...
Judging by her facial expression and choice of words, Javier Zhong could tell that Stephanie Ruan is aware of his advances.
But what could he do about this??
Facing the current situation, it is definitely not wise of him to directly confess his feelings to her now because it clearly has a rejection rate of a hundred percent and nothing less!
This is not working out! He has to find another way around this...
Just then, Javier Zhong thought of a brilliant idea to tackle this tricky situation.
Basically in the world of business, if you cannot come up with your own ideas, you gain inspiration from other people's ideas to create your own version!
Yes, this is it!!
As such, someone on the other side has suddenly received a text message from Javier Zhong.
[Collate 20 ways to chase a woman. Send it to me in 2 hours via email.]
Upon receiving it, Isaac Wen widened his eyes and blinked a couple of times just to confirm that the sender is really his boss!
Because according to past statistics, such a message could easily mean that Javier Zhong's phone was hacked.
In short, it is simply impossible for his boss to ask anything about love-related topics as he is far from being interested in it.
But right now, circumstances have changed...
"So it is for Director Ruan??..." Isaac Wen asked himself thoughtfully and slowly let out a grin.
Since this is the case, he'd definitely want to pray that his boss would be successful in the pursuit of his first love!...
"Secretary Wen, did something good happen to you?" After noticing Isaac Wen's good mood, a colleague could not help but ask him.
"Oh, not just for me, it's good news for all of us! Seems like better days are coming..."
He also quickly advised them, "Anyway, hurry get out of the office while you still can! As for me, I'll be staying here for a bit longer."
...
Back at the run-down restaurant, the food arrived within a couple of minutes. Though the place is rather shabby, Javier Zhong could not deny that the food does look appetising.
"Try it! Let me know how is it!" Without waiting for him to reply to her, Stephanie Ruan has already taken her first slurp of the handmade noodles.
Busy savouring the taste of it, her face is instantly filled with maximum satisfaction, "Mmmm!!... This is so good!!"
Without caring about her image in front of him, Stephanie Ruan quickly finished up half the bowl of noodles within the first few minutes.
Seeing this scene made Javier Zhong, who is usually carrying an indifferent expression, chuckle softly.
In fact, this is the first time he got to see a more authentic side of the woman he likes and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is falling for her even more than before!
So this is what she is usually like??...
In no time, Javier Zhong picked up his chopsticks and started mirroring her actions. Her excitement has naturally boosted his appetite for the food as well!
But when he took the first slurp with great anticipation, the noodles turned out to be only average...
A second slurp and it is still pretty much average...
When it came to the third slurp, he saw that Stephanie Ruan is already eagerly waiting for his review of the food.
"Mmm... It's quite good." Javier Zhong lied through his teeth.
This is after all her favourite restaurant so he couldn't possibly just give it a sub-pass right?
People have to understand that at such a crucial moment, the quality of the food is no longer important. What truly matters is that she has to be happy!
"Really??..." With a doubtful expression, she re-confirmed his verdict with him.
"Yes, it's good." Javier Zhong unhesitatingly replied.
"Oh, I didn't know you are so easily satisfied with average food. Actually, I didn't come here for their food." Stephanie Ruan smiled as she spoke to him honestly.
"???..."
Seeing that Javier Zhong had put down his chopsticks and dropped the act, she playfully raised one of her eyebrows to let him know that she had already seen through him just now.
"I've had way better handmade noodles in the city. But still, nothing could beat this shop..."
"...because this place brings back fond memories for me. My parents used to bring me here very often."
"Initially, I did avoid coming to this place for quite a while because being here will remind me of their tragic accident and how they are no longer here with me." She vulnerably admitted to him while glancing around the store.
"But I soon realised coming back is not that bad after all. At least I get to revisit our experiences here and to me, that is the closest I can get to feeling their presence again."
Even though Stephanie Ruan let out a soft smile to assure him that she is feeling alright, he could still clearly feel her pain and agony.
There was a moment of silence between them before Javier Zhong reacted to her deep sharing.
"Thank you." He said to her succinctly.
"Hmm? What for?" Stephanie Ruan asked in confusion.
"Thank you for opening up a hidden part of yourself to me." This time, Javier Zhong did not hold back in expressing his sincere thoughts to her.
"..."
Well, Stephanie Ruan definitely wasn't expecting a man like Javier Zhong to be saying such words to her.
It absolutely contradicts her initial poor impression of him.
But yet at the same time, she is also feeling genuinely happy to hear that. As such, Stephanie Ruan simply stared into his doting eyes and quietly returned a long-lasting smile to him.
...
The next morning, Stephanie Ruan entered Zhong Holdings' office building, as fashionable as always.
Rumours surely spread quickly in this company as it has only been less than a day but all the employees seem to already recognise her.
"Good morning! Have a good day!" She cheerfully greeted every group of employees who were either smiling or bowing to her.
Soon, Stephanie Ruan arrived at the highest floor where only the company's high-ranking management team are working at.
"No one is here??..." She asked herself as she glanced across the empty cubicles in the large common office space which comfortably seats about thirty people.
But as she walked towards the glass-panelled meeting room situated beside Javier Zhong's private office, Stephanie Ruan quickly realised that everyone is actually inside for their usual morning meeting.
"With the market growing rapidly, it is important for the company to invest in more efficient yet sustainable technologies for our production line and..."
One of the employees is fully focused on presenting to the entire team while everyone, including Javier Zhong, is listening intently.
Witnessing this scene, Stephanie Ruan wanted to turn away and directly enter Javier Zhong's office as she did not want to disturb them.
However, just as she is about to do that, she noticed that his eyes have already shifted to her.
Hmm... It's a little awkward to just turn around and leave without saying anything right??...
So with that, Stephanie Ruan waved her hand elegantly and generously greeted him with a bright smile.
She then raised the other occupied hand that is carrying a three-tiered lunch box, signalling to him that she has prepared his breakfast as well.
"??!..."
Seeing that she has already arrived at the office and even personally packed food for him, Javier Zhong could no longer focus on the meeting.
Although he is still wearing his usual aloof expression, no one would be able to guess that his heart is actually pounding very excitedly!
"Chairman Zhong, what do you think about this?"
"Chair... Chairman Zhong?..."
Surprised, all of the employees turned to look at their boss, who is being unusually quiet in the meeting.
"Meeting adjourned. All of you can leave."
"??!!..."
With that, he suddenly stood up, left the meeting room, and headed toward his private office.