novelraw Chapter 397: The Big Misunderstanding (Third Update)
Chapter 397: The Big Misunderstanding (Third Update)
With Ji Rui out and Yang Sheng out, Le Tong became exceptionally busy.Although she is only the CEO’s secretary, and in a company like the Ji Family, which has a bunch of executives, her position is relatively low.
But now, in the eyes of the Ji Family employees, she is almost like the future boss’s wife. Plus, having been in the Ji Family for over a year, she gives the impression of being clever and capable. Now, with the CEO out and the assistant out, anything urgent that needs handling, everyone naturally turns to her.
Le Tong was swamped at the company; meanwhile, in Beijing, Ji Rui wasn’t idle either. Outside of meetings, he squeezed in plenty of social events.
During noon, Ji Rui had originally arranged to have lunch with several successful entrepreneurs he was meeting with, but Yang Sheng received a call and left last minute, so Ji Rui went to the reserved hotel alone with the other businessmen.
Just after entering, the waiter served tea though the dishes hadn’t arrived yet, and one of the forty-something-year-old men suggested inviting some gals over for drinks. Ji Rui frowned, but before he could refuse, the others chimed in.
"Let’s get some sprightly ones to spice things up; after two days of meetings, my mind’s all muddled."
Having been in the business world for so many years, Ji Rui was used to these situations; he wasn’t interested in this, but he wouldn’t interfere with others’ preferences.
Soon enough, several young women in their early twenties walked in; once inside, their coquettish eyes scanned the group of men in the private room.
Among the men, Ji Rui was the youngest in terms of age and, in terms of looks, his tall and handsome appearance undoubtedly attracted the most attention.
The women, accustomed to being selected by guests, had an unspoken hierarchy. The most beautiful and enticing woman, almost before the others could react, swayed her hips charmingly towards Ji Rui.
"Boss..." A coquettish voice sounded, and Ji Rui frowned; before he could turn his head, the woman was already beside him, one hand on his shoulder, her soft body leaning in.
Ji Rui, as if scalded by fire, raised his hand, smacking away the hand on his shoulder, and coldly reprimanded, "Don’t touch me!"
The woman paused, probably never having received such "attention", stunned beside Ji Rui, looking panicked.
Ji Rui didn’t even bother to look at her and only gave a perfunctory glance at the men who already had beauties in their arms, saying, "Suit yourselves."
In other words, he wasn’t interested in it.
The others had already heard about Ji Rui’s restrained lifestyle, but today they saw it firsthand; they didn’t dare force him, signaling the embarrassed woman to leave.
The woman, frustrated, stamped her foot, still wanting to resist, but the man who suggested bringing beauties over frantically signaled her, and she reluctantly left with a look of grievance.
Ji Rui paid no attention to this, asking the server to bring a tea set over, and leisurely started making kung fu tea himself.
This leisurely activity was always about drinking rather than doing; thus, his clumsy hands and feet didn’t affect his interest in tea tasting at all.
The men nearby, initially a bit restrained, seeing Ji Rui indifferent towards them, relaxed and started playing around with the women.
When Ji Rui’s phone rang, the men and women over there were in high spirits with their games and drinking. Ji Rui saw it was a call from the company and assumed some executive was calling him, so he didn’t mind, directly pressing the answer button, "Hello, it’s Ji Rui, who’s this?"
"Mr. Ji!" Le Tong’s voice came through the receiver.
After lunch, Le Tong was caught by the Planning Director and brought to the Planning Department. The reason was a crucial project had been modified and needed the CEO’s review and signature for the department to start preparation work.
Now with the CEO unavailable, this responsibility fell on Le Tong.
If it were a minor project, Le Tong would have approved it following Ji Rui’s instructions after reviewing it herself.
But this was a billion-dollar project; Le Tong didn’t dare be careless. After reviewing it thoroughly, she noted areas she deemed needed modification and sent it to Ji Rui’s email.
"I just sent a project proposal to your email; do you have time to look at it now?"
Initially, Le Tong didn’t see anything unusual, but after explaining the situation, she distinctly heard the laughter and joking of men and women on the other end, lively indeed.
Le Tong blinked, seriously distinguishing, and upon hearing, furrowed her brows.
"Mr. Ji, sorry for disturbing you. Please reply after you’ve reviewed it."
Before Ji Rui could respond, Le Tong directly hung up, placing the receiver back onto the phone base with a snap.
Ji Rui, having not yet had the chance to respond to Le Tong, found the call suddenly disconnected. He looked at the phone, puzzled, and coincidentally, the merriment of the men and women beside him further intensified. He then realized, might Le Tong be misunderstanding something?
Thinking of this, Ji Rui felt uneasy.
He glanced indifferently at the group enjoying themselves, picked up the phone, and silently walked out.
The waiter immediately approached him, "Sir, is there anything I can help you with?"
The servers here were shrewd, understanding that guests who came to spend here were either wealthy or noble, not to be offended.
"Find me a quiet place; I need to make a call."
Ji Rui didn’t hold back; he was here to spend money, and naturally, he had requests.
"This way please, sir."
The waiter led him to a smaller private room opposite, and after Ji Rui went in, they smartly retreated and politely closed the door for him.
Ji Rui walked to the window and took out his phone to dial Le Tong’s number.
The phone rang for a long time with no answer; unknowingly, a thin layer of cold sweat appeared on Ji Rui’s palm holding the phone.
When the phone went to a busy tone, Ji Rui wouldn’t give up, so he dialed again.
This time, it rang for quite a while, and just as Ji Rui thought she wouldn’t answer, the call connected, "Hello."
Le Tong’s crisp voice came through. Somehow, with just that single word, Ji Rui felt a chill.
"Le Tong, I’m having lunch with the boss of the Le Sheng Group and the CEO of Jinghong Group."
These two people, Le Tong knew. Ji Rui remembered clearly that last time, when Le Tong accompanied him to dine with these two, they, too, had called over drinking girls.
"Mr. Ji, why are you telling me this? You don’t need to report to me who you dine with." Le Tong’s cool tone was colder than the north wind blowing in through the window.