Chapter Forty-Two: Xue Tian'ai, What Are You Doing?

“This is just a normal male sense of aesthetics! There’s not a hint of malice in it!” Xue Tian’ai declared righteously, showing not the slightest trace of guilt on his face.

“Hmph! I’m not some naive little girl who’s easily fooled! Tell me why you’re so good at poker, and I’ll let this matter go!” For some reason, Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t feel the least bit repulsed by Xue Tian’ai’s gaze lingering on her chest. Perhaps it was because he happened to be exactly her type.

“Alright, I’ll tell you, but you absolutely cannot tell anyone else.” Xue Tian’ai sat up a little, shielding his mouth with one hand as he spoke in a low voice. “Actually, I can count cards, and I can remember up to twenty-four decks. So whatever the other players play, and whatever’s left in their hands, I can pretty much figure it out.”

“That’s amazing!” Yu Xiaoxiao gazed at him with starry-eyed admiration.

“Of course! Back in the day, when I roamed the casinos of Las Vegas, I was unbeatable—people would flee at the sight of me!”

“Yeah, right, you expect me to believe you’re some kind of gambling god?” Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t believe a word of the latter part; if it were that easy to meet a gambling god, wouldn’t that be a little too simple?

“Suit yourself.” Xue Tian’ai pursed his lips. He wasn’t boasting—by the age of fifteen, his training with the wolf pack had already made him a master of every gambling trick in the book. Although he had never been crowned a gambling god, even the real legends would gain nothing going against him. Gambling wasn’t his main career, so his name never spread, but in Las Vegas, his skills could let him walk sideways with impunity.

“By the way, Assistant Xue, what’s your relationship with President Qin?” Yu Xiaoxiao finally voiced the question that had been burning in her heart.

“What do you think my relationship with President Qin is?” Xue Tian’ai deflected, throwing the question back at her.

“Are you two dating?” Yu Xiaoxiao blurted out her guess—it seemed perfectly plausible to her, considering Xue Tian’ai’s looks were more than a match for Qin Mengxue.

“Do you really think that’s possible? With President Qin’s standards, would she go for someone like me, a broke nobody?” Xue Tian’ai hadn’t expected Yu Xiaoxiao to guess so close to the truth right off the bat.

“But you’re handsome!” Yu Xiaoxiao replied without a second’s hesitation.

“Looks aren’t everything. Besides, there are plenty of men out there who are both rich and handsome. Do you really think President Qin would pick someone solely based on looks?”

“Oh, true. Plus, you’re a bit… pervy. From what I know as her secretary, you’re probably not President Qin’s type.” Yu Xiaoxiao nodded in sudden realization, pushing the idea of Xue Tian’ai and Qin Mengxue being a couple to the back of her mind.

Upon hearing this, Xue Tian’ai’s face darkened. Did she have to be so blunt? He was, after all, the flower of the Xue family. Still, this was the outcome he wanted; he had no intention of revealing his relationship with Qin Mengxue just yet.

“Hey, did you just say I’m handsome?” Xue Tian’ai decided to change the subject, unwilling to linger on the previous topic.

Yu Xiaoxiao visibly panicked. Had she really just complimented him without realizing it?

“N-no… I didn’t… I definitely didn’t…” she stammered, biting her tongue several times in her nervousness.

“Alright, you can’t even get your words out—you’re making all sorts of mistakes.” Xue Tian’ai laughed heartily, giving Yu Xiaoxiao a friendly pat on the shoulder. For some reason, he found chatting with this girl rather delightful.

“I… I did not.” Yu Xiaoxiao’s face grew hotter and hotter, as if she could fry an egg on her cheeks. Embarrassed, she lowered her head, not wanting him to see her flustered state.

“By the way, Secretary Yu, do you know which floor Su Jiaqing’s office is on?” Xue Tian’ai hadn’t forgotten the task Qin Mengxue had entrusted to him—to apologize to Su Jiaqing.

“Ah, President Su’s office is on the eighteenth floor—it’s where the investment department is!” Yu Xiaoxiao breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn’t continued that shameful topic.

“Alright then, I’ll head up to the eighteenth floor. See you later, pretty girl.” With that, Xue Tian’ai stepped into another elevator and strode off.

Yu Xiaoxiao stared dumbly after his departing figure, at a loss. Wait, did he just call her ‘pretty girl’? Thinking of Xue Tian’ai’s handsome face, the blush on her doll-like cheeks deepened.

While he had certainly stirred Yu Xiaoxiao’s young heart, Xue Tian’ai himself was in a state of deep distress—a tad exasperated, even. How was he supposed to apologize to a woman?

Upon arriving at the eighteenth floor, he stepped off the elevator and found himself hesitating outside Su Jiaqing’s office, torn over whether he should listen to Qin Mengxue and go in.

As Xue Tian’ai paced back and forth at Su Jiaqing’s door, some company employees watched him from a distance, whispering curiously among themselves.

Just earlier, the company intranet had posted a new announcement—Xue Tian’ai was to be appointed as President Qin Mengxue’s personal assistant.

The news set off a firestorm within the Dreamhua Group’s little social circles. After all, Qin Mengxue was famous for her absolute intolerance of nepotism. Since taking the helm, she had ruthlessly rooted out anyone found to be leveraging connections to loaf around in the company—not only were these people fired, but those who brought them in were dismissed as well.

Her actions were swift and decisive. Even those who thought themselves indispensable, who accepted bribes to arrange jobs for others, quickly found themselves shown the door when Qin Mengxue discovered them, regardless of their contributions to the company.

Since that purge, no one had dared to test her again. Who would risk angering such a cold-blooded leader just to coast on connections?

And yet now, out of nowhere, Qin Mengxue had opened the back door for someone—no warning, no preamble—directly appointing him as her personal assistant. Who wouldn’t be curious?

Rumors swirled that the very man who had caused a scene with Su Jiaqing in the cafeteria that morning—the one not even dressed in formal attire—was none other than Xue Tian’ai, the new personal assistant to the president.

This only intensified people’s curiosity. Causing trouble for Su Jiaqing, the company’s legendary figure, on his very first day—now that was something!

Su Jiaqing was notorious for her temper and bluntness. Despite her innocent looks, her temper was as fiery as her figure. She was the only woman in the company who dared to challenge Qin Mengxue’s proposals—if she saw a flaw, she would call it out publicly, without hesitation.

And now, this iron lady had gained nothing from her encounter with the new assistant. So when Xue Tian’ai appeared on the eighteenth floor, it inevitably became the focus of much discussion.

Oblivious to the growing attention, Xue Tian’ai continued to hesitate at Su Jiaqing’s door. Finally, he gritted his teeth, determined to face whatever came. If Su Jiaqing was truly unreasonable, he’d just have to deal with her head-on.

He raised his hand and knocked.

“Come in. The door’s not locked!” came a cold voice from inside.

When Xue Tian’ai entered, Su Jiaqing looked up, her gaze as sharp as a blade, piercing straight through him.

“What do you want?” Su Jiaqing’s expression was anything but friendly, her tone as cold as ice and tinged with barely restrained fury.

“Um, President Qin asked me to come apologize to you,” Xue Tian’ai replied, feeling a sudden jolt of nervousness at the hostility on her face. Was she going to pounce on him?

“Close the door,” Su Jiaqing ordered. She recalled that Qin Mengxue had promised her an explanation—so this was it, sending this man to apologize.

“President Su, could we maybe leave the door open? I wouldn’t mind making amends with my body, but this is a company, after all—it would be better to take it up tonight instead,” Xue Tian’ai joked.

Su Jiaqing was momentarily stunned, then, realizing his implication, she snatched up her water cup and hurled it at him with a snarl, “Go to hell!”

To Xue Tian’ai’s relief, she didn’t throw a notebook—finally, a woman who didn’t resort to hurling electronics! With quick reflexes, he caught the flying cup with his left hand, saving the beautiful cup from destruction.

“Just kidding, just kidding—no need to get worked up!” Xue Tian’ai grinned, closing the door anyway as he spoke.

He approached her desk, set the cup down, and said, “President Su, in all seriousness, if you really want me to make amends with my body, I don’t mind at all.”

“I’m actually quite willing to provide that sort of service! Of course, if you’re still a virgin, I’d even give you a red envelope to apologize properly!”

Xue Tian’ai was determined to seize the initiative, unwilling to let her dominate the apology—he wanted to control the conversation from the start.

But he overlooked one thing—this wasn’t an apology, it was sheer impudence, bordering on outrageous!

Su Jiaqing’s face darkened further, her anger reaching a breaking point. “Xue, I’m going to kill you!” she exploded.

Before the words had fully left her mouth, she sprang from her chair and lunged at him, her ample chest heaving with fury.

Without hesitation, she aimed a vicious kick straight at his nether regions.

A chill ran down Xue Tian’ai’s spine. He quickly braced himself against the desk with his right hand, using the momentum to swing his body to the other side, narrowly dodging her devastating kick.

A woman’s wrath truly was the deadliest! Had that kick connected, he was sure he’d never be able to give Qin Mengxue a child.

Driven mad with rage, Su Jiaqing launched another attack—a high kick aimed at his chin. Xue Tian’ai was taken aback; she actually knew some taekwondo!

He ducked low and rolled, sliding right through her spread legs.

Good heavens, she was wearing white underwear. Was that… Teletubbies printed on them?

Officer Shen had worn pink ones with a cartoon sheep—was it a trend among Chinese girls to have cartoon characters on their underwear?

“President Su, I have to say, your outfit choices are questionable,” Xue Tian’ai remarked as he steadied himself and stood up.

“My choices are questionable?” Su Jiaqing fumed, frustrated that her taekwondo training had failed her twice in a row.

“Sexy black stockings with Teletubbies-printed white underwear—that’s not exactly a good combination.”

She was stunned. The flush on her face deepened from anger to an almost purplish hue—this scoundrel dared peek at her! Unforgivable!

“Xue, you bastard! If you’ve got the guts, stand still!” she screamed.

“Am I a masochist? Why would I stand there and let you hit me?” Xue Tian’ai pointed at himself in disbelief.

“Damn you!” Su Jiaqing was on the verge of losing her mind. She launched another flying kick at him—she refused to believe she, a taekwondo expert, couldn’t land a single blow.

Seeing her relentless onslaught, Xue Tian’ai grew exasperated—was she ever going to stop?

But this time, instead of dodging, he met her attack head-on, catching her leg with his arm.

She felt the impact and was just about to celebrate, but with a gentle twist of his arm, Xue Tian’ai sent her tumbling off balance.

He scooped her up around the waist with one arm, holding her as effortlessly as if she were a log.

Before she could react, his palm came down hard on her backside.

A crisp sound echoed throughout the office!

Just as Xue Tian’ai was about to gloat and taunt her, a voice rang out from the doorway, thick with anger.

“Xue Tian’ai, what are you doing?!”