Chapter 5

Su Tao went to the snack street and bought a lot of snacks, planning to go back to her hotel room to watch dramas and eat.

She had originally reserved a Maldives-themed room and paid a month's deposit, but it had been taken by someone else, so she had to choose a seabed-themed room from the remaining options.

The seabed-themed room was probably a honeymoon suite.

Not only were the walls covered in electronic versions of pink jellyfish that moved, but there was also a shell-shaped bathtub in the center of the room.

The bathroom was surrounded by a flat glass fish tank filled with transparent water, and several small fish that Su Tao couldn't tell were real or not were swimming inside, unable to cover up the view of the bathroom.

The outer room had a sofa and dining table made to look like stones, and inside was a light pink shell bed with two blue dolphin plush toys on it.

Su Tao stood at the door hesitating whether to go back to the Antarctic-themed room she had in the morning.

After some thought, she decided to make do with the one she had for the night.

Su Tao closed the door with a casual hand, but didn't hear the sound of the door locking.

She turned around and saw a hand resting on the door, pushing it open. The cufflinks had familiar white gold and diamond buttons, and a sleek black suit was fully displayed in front of her.

Cracks appeared on Su Tao's usually calm face, her deer-like eyes widened suddenly, frowning at this unexpected guest.

The door was suddenly closed shut, and Xie Jin's pitch-black hawk eyes were now bloodshot. Looking closely, one could see the red veins that filled his eyes.

His gaze fell on the snacks in Su Tao's hand, and he said in a hoarse voice with reproach, "You're just going to eat this junk food?"

Su Tao instinctively hid the snacks behind her back, but then thought of something and calmly took them out again, asking him in return, "What are you doing here?"

Xie Jin looked around the room, then finally looked at Su Tao, his black eyes showing exhaustion. "If I don't let you go home, you won't go home?"

Su Tao's face froze, suddenly feeling ridiculous. Did he think she would kneel down and beg him to let her go home?

Besides, she had already let him go and was ready to leave.

"I won't go back anymore. You can throw away everything I left behind there. I've already submitted my resignation application to HR. Whether you hire new people or not, I'll automatically resign after 30 days."

Su Tao's gentle voice sounded particularly harsh at this moment.

He took a step forward, grabbed her small face with one hand, pinching her cheeks on both sides, and lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"Little Peach," his outburst was somewhat exhausted, like an aging hero who wanted to take up his sword but had no strength. "Aren't you afraid of making me angry?"

She used to be most afraid of making him angry. Whenever he got angry, she would try to calm him down.

Later, it seemed to be quite easy to calm him down. As long as she held his hand and smiled at him, he could calm down.

No matter how serious the situation was, there was nothing that a kiss couldn't solve.

She was like a fire extinguisher, as soon as he had a small flame, she could immediately extinguish it. But a fire extinguisher can also catch fire, can't it?

He only knows how to selectively ignore her and thinks that she will never get angry. Or he'll simply make her obey him with brute force, without caring about her feelings.

When she's upset, he'll give her a piece of peach candy.

She didn't know when Xie Jin had received the wrong information.

He believed that as long as he gave her a piece of peach candy when she was unhappy, he could make her happy again.

But actually, it wasn't the candy that made her feel better every time, it was the fact that he gave her candy that showed her he cared.

She didn't want to see him in trouble, but it became his excuse for not valuing her.

Lost in memories of the past, Su Tao was caught off guard when a peach-flavored candy was stuffed into her mouth.

He was sure that he could make her obey him with his usual tricks.

"Obey me," he said.

Su Tao gave a polite yet bitter smile, feeling like clapping for his cooperation.

She couldn't drive him away or beat him, so she chose to ignore him.

She snacked on her own food and watched her own TV shows.

The hot little meatballs were still steaming, and she blew on them before taking a bite. The delicious and crispy texture melted in her mouth, and when followed by a sip of cold Coke, her happiness soared.

"Gudong" - the sound of her phone rang clearly amidst the noise of the TV show. She hesitated and looked towards Xie Jin, who was seated on the sofa just an arm's length away from her, with his mouth slightly whitened. He averted his gaze to conceal his emotions, with a stern and uncompromising posture, as a show of his dominance over her.

He had just insisted that she go out for dinner with him, but she was adamant, and now she was probably hungry.

Su Tao held a bamboo skewer with a meatball on it, and saw that there was still one left. Feeling a little guilty, she reached out to offer it to him, but just as the meatball was about to reach his mouth, she held it there for half a minute, feeling a bit tired as her arm began to ache. He still didn't open his mouth, but his eyes kept darting back to the meatball.

Was he still waiting for her to compromise?

Su Tao was speechless. Just as she was about to retract her hand, he suddenly took a bite of the meatball and swallowed it in three or four mouthfuls. He wiped his mouth with his thumb, looked away, and resumed his dominant posture.

Su Tao pursed her lips and gave him a disdainful look. It was a classic example of someone who criticized the cook after being full.

Su Tao had watched her show without realizing that time had passed. She had also eaten most of her snacks and yawned. When she checked the time, it was already past ten in the evening.

She had been so absorbed in the show that she had forgotten something.

Her gaze shifted from her phone to Xie Jin, who was still sitting on the sofa in front of her. He maintained his dominant posture but his head had naturally fallen back against the sofa's backrest, as if he had fallen asleep.

Su Tao looked at the bathtub in the room. She couldn't wash up and go to bed with him there, so she quietly left the room and booked another one at the front desk.

The next morning, as Su Tao passed by the underwater-themed room, she hesitated for a moment before continuing on her way. But as soon as she stepped out of the hotel lobby, she was blocked by a tall figure in the sunlight outside.

Xie Jin's face was haggard, with faint dark circles under his eyes and a stubble emerging on his chin. But despite his disheveled appearance, he still looked handsome, even in his state of exhaustion.

"Where were you last night?" His voice was hoarse and filled with suppressed anger, as if he wanted to burn down the entire hotel.

Su Tao glanced around at the hotel staff and calmly replied, "Do we have to talk about it here?"

"Get in the car."

When Xie Jin said "get in the car," he meant for Su Tao to drive him to the company while he slept in the car.

Su Tao started the car calmly. She was still his secretary, so it was not unreasonable for her to work as his driver for the day.

She slammed her right foot on the accelerator, and the car shot out onto the road like a wild horse. Fortunately, the car had excellent shock absorbers, so Xie Jin wasn't thrown out of his seat. Xie Jin looked at Su Tao's calm face and then closed his eyes again, silently holding onto his seat belt.

The car weaved in and out of traffic, honking its horn to urge other drivers to move faster or make way. Xie Jin had just fallen asleep when he was suddenly jolted awake by the car's movements.

Eventually, the car arrived safely at the underground parking lot, and Su Tao smoothly unfastened her seat belt and got out of the car, her face expressionless.

Xie Jin felt a sense of relief, as if he had survived a disaster.

When they arrived at the top floor, they entered the crowded tea room. The night owls of the city relied on coffee to keep them going, and the room was filled with the aroma of fresh coffee.

Su Tao carried Xie Jin's black matte cup into the room, and everyone made way for him. Even if they didn't like Su Tao, they wouldn't dare to delay the CEO's coffee.

Su Tao had studied hand-brewed coffee and often made delicious coffee that filled the room with a rich aroma.

Xie Jin didn't usually drink coffee in the morning; he preferred to drink it in the afternoon. Su Tao didn't like to compete with others for the limited time in the morning, so she brewed a large pot of coffee and poured only a small cup for Xie Jin, leaving the rest in a separate pot and saying with a smile, "I made a little extra, so whoever wants some can pour themselves a cup."

As soon as Su Tao left the tea room, everyone rushed to pour themselves some coffee.

Xie Jin was flipping through a document with his finger resting on his head when Su Tao brought him his coffee. Sunlight was streaming through the wooden blinds, casting flickering light on the document and making it difficult to read.

Su Tao put down the coffee, walked over to the window, and closed the blinds, cutting off the stream of sunlight and leaving the office a little darker but more peaceful.

Xie Jin kept his head down, still reading the document. His office had a resting area, and he had already changed his clothes and shaved. His hair was slightly damp, and it was lying naturally on his forehead without the usual styling gel, making him look a little younger. Despite his youthful appearance, he wore a neatly tailored suit and looked every bit the CEO.

Su Tao saw her resignation letter neatly placed in the empty spot where her files used to be, as if it were an abandoned infant.

He XiaoRui had just told her that the CEO's signature and software process approval were required to recruit new employees and execute resignation letters.

Su Tao hesitated for a moment before asking, "When will my resignation be approved, Mr. Xie?"

Xie Jin, who had been silent with his head down, raised his eyebrows and slowly lifted his gaze.

His dark pupils reflected her face, with many blood vessels visible in the whites of his eyes. The contours of his eyes were slightly sunken, and his double eyelids were even deeper.

"Su Tao, I don't like being threatened."

When he called her by her full name, he was extremely displeased.

The last time he used her full name was when they were sophomores and he warned her after he saw her joking around with a male classmate.

"I'm not threatening you," Su Tao blinked her clear eyes. "I really want to resign."

Xie Jin stared at her intently, and the cold air emanating from him seemed to freeze himself. He didn't move.

Suddenly, Su Tao regretted pulling the curtain. Maybe if there had been a little sunshine, he wouldn't be so cold.

After a while, he finally moved. His fierce eyes slowly lowered, and the pen he was holding clicked on the paper as he signed it. His voice was even more hoarse than in the morning.

"Little peach, you should know that challenging me repeatedly will lead to punishment. I won't have lunch with you anymore."

Su Tao: "!!!"

Was this sudden happiness real?

She could choose her own lunch now and eat whatever she liked?

"Thank you, boss!"

Su Tao, who was always calm and composed, couldn't contain her joy, and even her departing figure radiated a beautiful mood at that moment.

Xie Jin: "......?"