They exchanged glances, then she belatedly handed over the document. "Is this the one?"
He reached out to take the document and motioned for her to come inside. "Have you eaten?"
"Not yet." Gu Qimiao hesitated, placing her dripping umbrella by the door, and followed him in.
The room smelled heavily of smoke. He put down the document and said, "Let’s go eat."
"Is your work finished?"
A hand lightly rested on Gu Qimiao’s waist, he gently guided her out. Under the receptionist’s barely concealed gossipy gaze, Shen Yanchen turned back and calmly instructed, "Clean up inside and air it out."
Watching the two walk into the elevator, a group of people started to talk.
"Is it that girl?! She looks really young!"
"But don’t you think she’s very pretty? Especially her eyes. When Little Bai stopped her just now, you didn’t see how adorable and pitiful she looked."
"She’s a nice girl, but it always feels like she’s not quite a match for President Shen; too ordinary."
"It’s a real-life Cinderella story! How wonderful!"
Following Shen Yanchen to the company cafeteria, Gu Qimiao couldn’t shake the feeling that everyone they passed was staring at her like she was some kind of curiosity, while Shen Yanchen seemed oblivious, striding confidently ahead.
Soon, the company was abuzz: "President Shen is having lunch alone with a young girl!"
"Really? Just a few days ago, I heard from the assistants’ office that President Shen was in love. Looks like it’s true! What does the girl look like?"
Another chimed in, "Not necessarily. I think the girl looks rather young. She might just be a relative, a distant cousin, or niece."
The people outside were gossiping, but the subjects were completely unaware.
The rain and snow continued outside, while inside the cafeteria, the warmth seeped in through the windows, slowly thawing her chilled body.
Halfway through their meal, having exchanged few words, Gu Qimiao forced a topic, "The food at your company is quite good."
"It’s alright," he replied.
Gu Qimiao smiled and casually added, "But it’s not as good as the food you make."
He raised an eyebrow slightly, not responding.
Feeling like she had put her foot in her mouth, Gu Qimiao quickly changed the subject, "Do you have a lot of work this afternoon?"
He nodded and asked, "What about you?"
"I’m free. I start work tomorrow."
He immediately said, "Then wait for me to finish, and we can go back together. My car is in for maintenance, and I didn’t bring an umbrella."
Gu Qimiao felt a burst of joy in her heart and tried to hide her happiness as she nodded, "Okay."
Anyone who knew Shen Yanchen even slightly would know how flimsy the "car maintenance" excuse was. His garage could probably exhibit cars; they couldn’t all be in for maintenance at the same time.
However, Gu Qimiao, caught up in her happiness, didn’t think that far.
After lunch, they returned directly to his office, just in time to see He Ye coming out. Seeing Shen Yanchen walking in with Gu Qimiao, He Ye raised an eyebrow and gave Shen Yanchen an [ambiguous] smile, then said, "I’ve left a few contracts from the Gu family on your desk."
"Okay," Shen Yanchen replied.
"I’ll leave you to it," He Ye said, leaving with a mischievous smile.
Back in the office, the smoke smell had completely dissipated, replaced by a pleasant, fresh scent. The office was relatively simple and sparsely decorated, with a cold color scheme.
"Do you want to take a nap? There’s a room next door."
Gu Qimiao shook her head and asked, "Is the Gu family matter... very troublesome?"
"It’s manageable." He sat at his desk and picked up the documents He Ye had just left.
Gu Qimiao watched him, feeling a bit down. She wished she knew more about this stuff so she could at least help him a little.
She walked over to the bookshelf and asked, "Can I read these books?"
Seeing him nod, she began to look over them. Mostly filled with business management books, covering topics like microeconomics, financial management, and marketing, Gu Qimiao felt utterly confused.