The President's Sweetheart Secretary - Chapter 12 - Turns Out It's Just About Money

Lin Haimian shook her head, choking back tears, her voice heavy with pain. “Huahuan, lay low for a few days. Just pretend you don’t know me for now.”

“Huh?” Yi Huahuan felt the change in topic was too abrupt, leaving her brain spinning.

Lin Haimian finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and roared, “Damn it! The president noticed you! And you even apologized to him for me. If the president sees us coming to work together one more time, he’ll realize I’m the one who bumped into him.”

“So what? Let him see, then! You didn’t do it on purpose. Besides, the president seems like a pretty magnanimous person-he didn’t look upset at all.” As Yi Huahuan spoke, she couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty.

Lin Haimian was on the verge of tears. “But I just want to stay under the radar! I only want to be a low-profile employee, far away from the president and those top-level executives.”

Yi Huahuan was speechless, needing a long moment before she found her voice again. “That’s all the ambition you’ve got?”

Lin Haimian pouted. “Yes, that’s all I’ve got. Is that a problem?”

Knowing Lin Haimian’s fear of bosses, what else could Yi Huahuan say? Other people would die for a chance to cozy up to the president, but here she was, doing her best to sever any connection.

“Fine, I get it. But you owe me three meals. I want Spicy Chicken. Yours is the best, hands down.” Just the thought of it made Yi Huahuan’s mouth water.

For the first time, Lin Haimian smiled, her tone finally lightening. “That’s easy! It’s worth ten meals if you want.”

That evening, the moment Lin Haimian got home, her first move wasn’t to head to the kitchen. Instead, she rushed to her room and planted herself in front of her computer.

As she anxiously waited for it to boot up, Lin Haimian felt like she had gotten herself into some serious trouble. Something felt off, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, leaving her no choice but to consult Baidu¹.

Quickly typing in her question, Lin Haimian stared wide-eyed at the flurry of answers Baidu churned out. “Hmm… this one has the most replies, so it’s probably accurate.”

After scanning through the answers, Lin Haimian placed her hand on her wildly pounding heart, carefully recalling how she felt when she ran into Liang Tongheng. “Hmm… Nope. Not a hint of a racing heartbeat. So… I just owe him money?”

She let out a huge sigh of relief. Phew, it was just about the money. She had only been preoccupied because of debt-definitely not because she liked him. Ha! She felt like she could breathe again.

With a newfound sense of joy, Lin Haimian floated toward the kitchen to whip up dinner. Meanwhile, her computer screen, still glowing, prominently displayed the question she had typed:

“What does it feel like to like someone? Why would someone suddenly become fixated on another person?”

Having resolved a major worry, Lin Haimian ate well and slept even better. By the next day, she had completely forgotten about yesterday’s events, including the part where she bumped into the president. She walked arm-in-arm with Yi Huahuan, closer than ever.

Yi Huahuan didn’t think much of it, assuming that Lin Haimian had simply come to terms with things. Honestly, wouldn’t it be awesome if they happened to meet the president again? It could turn into one of those “Prince and Cinderella” stories, and Lin Haimian might just secure a golden ticket to success. Yi couldn’t help but chuckle to herself-what a fantastic scenario.

Sadly, Yi Huahuan’s hopes seemed destined for disappointment. Not once throughout the entire morning- during which she and Lin Haimian visited various departments to distribute the monthly shopping cards-did they catch even a glimpse of the president. It left her feeling dejected.

Finally, after handing out the last shopping card, the two wiped sweat off their brows and decided to goof off for a moment by heading to the rooftop to bask in the sun and take a breather.

“You know,” Yi Huahuan began, gasping for air, “why doesn’t our department hire a couple of guys? Even one would do! All the heavy lifting ends up falling on us delicate girls-this is completely inhumane!”

Lin Haimian appeared distracted, her mind elsewhere. Earlier, both the department managers from the design department and the publicity department had been absent.

She’d been hoping to use the shopping card deliveries as an excuse to try and find out which department the manager might be in so that she could repay the money she owed. However, her plan had fallen through completely, leaving her stuck thinking about the matter yet again.

Lin Haimian felt a pang of defeat. If only she could be as outgoing and lively as Yi Huahuan, casually knowing one or two people from each department, finding out this sort of information would be as simple as snapping her fingers. Instead, here she was, utterly clueless.

Lost in thought, Lin Haimian hadn’t realized that she was staring straight at Yi Huahuan’s face. She was simply deep in the introspection of questioning her own personality. However, her intense gaze was starting to creep Yi Huahuan out.

Nervously swallowing, Yi Huahuan gave Lin Haimian a small shove. “What’s going on with you? Why are you staring at me like you’re about to devour me alive? I mean, I wouldn’t really mind you eating me, but you know, broad daylight and all-it’s kind of inappropriate.”

Lin Haimian: “…”

She must have short-circuited just now. Why on earth was she critiquing her own introverted personality and even envying Yi Huahuan’s vivacious, outgoing nature? Utter nonsense. She felt like she was turning into some kind of neurotic weirdo.

With an exasperated twitch of her lips, Lin Haimian decided not to dignify Yi’s antics with a response. “Forget it. Let’s go. It’s about time, and if we keep dawdling, the manager will be impossible to track down.”

It was only then that Yi Huahuan realized they had already been sitting there doing absolutely nothing for ten whole minutes-and Lin Haimian had been staring at her face for the entire duration.

After a brief hesitation, Yi Huahuan jogged to catch up to Lin. “Hey, if you’ve got something on your mind, don’t keep it bottled up. Tell me about it-I’ll help you figure it out.”

Footnote:

1. Baidu(百度): Baidu is a leading Chinese technology company, primarily known for its search engine, which is the most popular in China. It provides a wide range of internet-related services and products, including artificial intelligence solutions.