It fell from his fingertips

"I'm sorry, Ms. Tang, but I really can't let you up without an appointment."

In the lobby of Zhou's Group, a leading enterprise in Beijing's real estate and tourism industry, a receptionist wore a standard professional smile, but before she finished speaking, a contemptuous smile curled at the corner of her mouth.

Tang Luoqing stood at the front desk, clutching a document in her hand, her fingers slightly clenched.

She was a freelance illustrator, working on a manuscript at home, when she was caught off guard by a call from her boyfriend, Zhou Yanchen, who said he urgently needed some documents. She immediately stopped writing and took a taxi to come over.

Unexpectedly, when she arrived at the Zhou Group's office building, she was unable to contact Zhou Yanchen, the second young master of the Zhou family and also the marketing director of the Zhou Group.

He wouldn't answer his phone or reply to his messages. Tang Luoqing sought help from the front desk, but was refused.

Guessing that Zhou Yanchen might be busy and that's why he didn't answer the phone or reply to messages, Tang Luoqing frowned slightly, bit her lower lip, and mustered her courage to try again: "I'm sorry, Zhou Yanchen really needs this document urgently. Could you please ask him again for me?"

Unfortunately, the receptionist was ignoring her and was even joking around with her colleagues as if no one else was around.

"There are all sorts of people these days. Using her looks as an excuse, she even goes so far as to use delivering documents as a pretext?"

"It's because our young CEO Zhou is so popular; everyone wants to curry favor with him. By the way, wasn't Assistant Ling the one who answered the phone just now?"

"Yes, Assistant Ling said that any girl who tries to find Mr. Zhou under the pretense of being a boyfriend should be stopped."

"How can we not stop them? The beauties in their marketing department are giving out cups of hand-drip coffee one day and bouquets of roses the next. I heard there's even a celebrity trying to woo Director Zhou!"

"Of course! Who is our Director Zhou? He's the second young master of the Zhou family, handsome and rich. I heard he changed girlfriends more often than clothes in college..."

Tang Luoqing tightened her grip on the document, her face flushing.

Involuntarily, she recalled every little detail of Zhou Yanchen's pursuit of her.

At the time, outsiders said that Zhou Yanchen's feelings for Tang Luoqing were just a passing fancy.

But only Tang Luoqing knew that he would squat outside the art studio for two hours while she was in class, just to bring her a cup of hot ginger tea during her period; he would carefully look at all her illustrations and point out the little thoughts in each painting; and when she was overwhelmed by her grandmother's expensive medical bills, he would hold her in his arms, not only covering all the medical expenses but also staying with her in the hospital for eleven days and nights.

On her deathbed, Grandma held Tang Luoqing's hand and told her again and again, "Yan Chen is such a good child to you, don't let him down."

But now...

Tang Luoqing's eyes reddened, she took a deep breath, and despite the mocking looks from the front desk staff, she picked up her phone again and dialed Zhou Yanchen's number.

As expected, the receiver went dead again. Tang Luoqing bit her lower lip tightly as a slight pain shot through her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a simple red string on her left wrist, and a bittersweet feeling welled up inside her.

At this time,

A slight sound came from the automatic doors of the office building behind her, and then the eyes of the receptionists drifted past her.

In an instant, everyone's hushed teasing stopped abruptly, their expressions changed simultaneously, and they all stood up, hurriedly and respectfully greeting, "Hello, President Zhou."

Hearing the noise, Tang Luoqing turned around and saw a familiar figure walking towards her from the doorway.

The man was tall and handsome, with refined and aloof features. He had one hand in his pocket and the other hanging naturally at his side, with distinct knuckles and excellent bone structure. He wore a well-tailored black suit, exuding an indescribable air of noble composure.

The assistant beside him seemed to be reporting something. The man nodded slightly, his gold-rimmed glasses perched on his high nose bridge. The lenses reflected the light from the ceiling, making it impossible to see the emotions in his eyes, but he exuded an indescribable aura of pressure.

It's so striking that you can't look directly at it, yet you can't help but peek cautiously.

Zhou Jinbai seemed to have just returned from outside, carrying a hint of the biting cold air from outside.

As the man drew closer, Tang Luoqing instinctively straightened up.

For some reason, she would feel inexplicably nervous every time she saw Zhou Jinbai, her boyfriend's older brother who was five years older than her.

In Tang Luoqing's memory, Zhou Jinbai was a man so perfect that he was almost unreal.

He was the head of the Zhou Group, taking over the entire group at the age of twenty. He was ruthless and decisive, and multiplied the business scale several times in eight years.

Occasionally, when Zhou Yanchen mentions his brother, there's always a hint of resentment in his tone.

That makes sense. With such a brilliant older brother as a role model, it seems that no matter what he does, he will only be compared to him.

When people outside mention the Zhou family, they always think of the eldest son, Zhou Jinbai, first, and then the good-for-nothing younger brother, Zhou Yanchen.

To outsiders, Zhou Jinbai is always calm, restrained, refined, and proper, with very few superfluous expressions on his face.

He had always been polite and distant towards Tang Luoqing.

At this moment, the tall man stopped three steps away from Tang Luoqing, glanced at the documents in her hand, and asked in a low, gentle tone, "Looking for Yan Chen?"

"Um,"

Tang Luoqing nodded and said softly, "He left the documents at home and asked me to bring them to him. The receptionist said... no one can come in without an appointment, and I called him but no one answered."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jinbai glanced in the direction of the front desk.

At just one glance, the faces of the employees at the front desk, who had been gossiping excitedly not long ago, immediately turned red.

Everyone quickly lowered their heads, and one of them, his voice trembling slightly with guilt, said, "President Zhou, I'm sorry, it was our oversight."

Zhou Jinbai's cold gaze swept over the receptionists again.

The receptionists immediately tensed up even more.

"From now on, Miss Tang, you don't need to make an appointment; you can just let her in."

Zhou Jinbai's voice remained flat as always, as if he were announcing an ordinary decision.

His voice, though devoid of any emotion, carried an indescribable chilling and oppressive quality.

"Yes, yes, I remember, I remember."

The staff at the front desk were all flustered and quickly nodded.

No one expected that, when they were just stopping an ordinary woman as instructed by Assistant Ling, who was working for President Zhou, why did the boss have such a terrifying aura?

"Come up with me."

Zhou Jinbai stopped looking at anyone and turned to walk towards the president's private elevator.

However, when he looked away, his gaze swept over Tang Luoqing's wrist with the red string, and he only glanced at it before looking away.

But after the man turned around, his hands, which were in his trouser pockets, clenched tighter.

"it is good."

Tang Luoqing quickly followed.

As she turned around, she heard a collective gasp of surprise from behind her.

Then look at Zhou Jinbai walking in front.

The man seemed unaware of the significance of his words to the company employees, nor of the special privileges he had granted him, and strode forward.

Tang Luoqing didn't have time to think much and quickened her pace to catch up.

Zhou Jinbai stopped in front of the president's private elevator.

He stood sideways by the door, blocking the elevator with one hand, gesturing for Tang Luoqing to go in first.

Tang Luoqing walked into the elevator with a tense body and stood in the far corner.

Zhou Jinbai then followed him inside. The elevator doors closed, and the elevator slowly ascended.

The small space was filled with Zhou Jinbai's faint, refreshing scent.

Tang Luoqing stood in the corner of the elevator, clutching the documents, her body tense, trying to minimize her presence.

She glanced casually at the man's reflection in the elevator mirror and saw Zhou Jinbai standing near the door, about two steps away from him.

The man's back was straight, his profile was smooth and hard, and his aura was cold.

Tang Luoqing freely raised her right hand and grabbed the red string on her left wrist.

The red string was a birthday gift from Zhou Yanchen last year, with a delicate and adorable goldfish pendant hanging from it.

At the time, Zhou Yanchen said that her cat loved to eat fish, so he gave her a goldfish, which meant that he and the cat were always by her side.

"How long have you been waiting?"

Zhou Jinbai suddenly asked a question, which immediately interrupted Tang Luoqing's scattered thoughts.

The man's clear voice echoed in the enclosed space, sounding lower than usual, yet more magnetic and resonant, giving Tang Luoqing a brief moment of relaxation.

Tang Luoqing looked up and saw Zhou Jinbai in the mirror looking down at something.

So she thought that the question was probably just something Zhou Jinbai asked casually.

Tang Luoqing breathed a sigh of relief and looked away: "Well, it'll only take an hour."

As soon as she finished speaking, Tang Luoqing pursed her lips, clutching the goldfish pendant on the red string, hoping the elevator would go faster, even faster.

Zhou Jinbai took in Tang Luoqing's reaction, hummed in response, and said nothing more.

In fact, the phone screen showed surveillance footage from the lobby not long ago.

While Tang Luoqing didn't notice the angle, Zhou Jinbai's eyes turned slightly cold.

He handed the phone back to Assistant Shen with a casual glance. Assistant Shen nodded seriously, but in his heart he was thinking: The receptionists on the first floor are really brave to make things difficult for Miss Tang.

Let us mourn for them as they are about to lose a high-paying job.

The air grew quiet.

The elevator dinged as it arrived at the 28th floor.

The elevator doors opened, and Zhou Jinbai stepped out first.

The man walked with a steady gait and an upright posture. His black suit jacket accentuated his noble and powerful aura.

After walking a short distance and reaching the corner, the man slowed his pace slightly, and without turning his head, gestured with his chin towards the right-hand corridor.

"Yan Chen's office is at the end of the corridor on the left."

"Don't be shy."

"Okay, thank you."

Tang Luoqing quickly thanked her in a low voice.

Seeing Zhou Jinbai nod slightly and turn to walk quickly towards a spacious CEO office on the left side of the corridor, Tang Luoqing didn't linger and walked to the end of the corridor on the right.

Unbeknownst to her, Zhou Jinbai, who was about to step into the office, paused briefly behind her, watching her slender figure walk further and further away.

With just one glance, the man quickly looked away, pushed open the office door, and went inside.

Not long after, Tang Luoqing arrived at the end of the corridor, turned around, and saw a sign hanging in front of the office door on the left: [Marketing Director Zhou Yanchen].

It is here.

After waiting for an hour, Tang Luoqing finally breathed a sigh of relief and completely relaxed. She turned the doorknob, pushed the door open, and prepared to go in.

But as soon as she stepped through the door and saw the scene inside, Tang Luoqing stopped in her tracks, and the relaxation on her face vanished instantly, turning deathly pale.

In the large office, by the floor-to-ceiling window and behind the desk, Zhou Yanchen was sitting. Beside him, a well-dressed and graceful girl was leaning close to Zhou Yanchen's ear. The girl said something, and Zhou Yanchen's lips curled into a bright smile.

Tang Luoqing's breath hitched.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yanchen, who was in the office, was surprised to see Tang Luoqing suddenly appear at the door. After a brief moment of surprise, his expression changed slightly.