What To Do When The Boss Takes A Liking To You chapter 34
Good Boss
Upon arriving at the apartment, Xu Le finally breathed a sigh of relief. “President Lan, then I’ll go back first, thank you!”
“Okay,” Lan Qing replied.
Xu Le picked up his camera and was about to get out of the car when he heard some commotion not far away, accompanied by the sharp and frightened meows of a cat.
“Grab that cat, it’s the last one, let’s get this over with!” a male voice said.
“Damn, this cat is quite clever. It almost scratched me just now,” another rough voice cursed.
Xu Le immediately understood. The other party was probably the property management staff sent to deal with stray cats.
The direction from which the sound came was exactly where his little lucky cat was hiding in the flower bed.
Xu Le hurried over and saw two men, one holding a snake bag and the other holding a net to catch the cat.
“Meow~” The orange cat let out a low growl in response to the stimulus, its back shivering, alert to the two men in front of it.
Seeing this, Xu Le’s heart tightened. He stepped forward to intercept: “This cat has been neutered. It’s usually well-behaved and won’t run around or scratch people. Please don’t catch it!”
The man holding the snake bag glanced at Xu Le, “It’s instructed above. We’re only responsible for catching the cat and ensuring there are no more stray cats in the vicinity.”
Xu Le became anxious. This standoff wasn’t going to work. Sooner or later, the cat would end up in the net, and he didn’t know what would happen to it then.
“I’ll take it somewhere else to raise it for a while, away from this area. Is that okay?” He tried to negotiate.
“No, it’s against the company’s regulations. If someone complains, we’ll be the ones losing money. Young man, please understand, we’re not having an easy time either.”
At this moment, the orange cat let out a desperate, mournful cry, struggling even more intensely in the net.
Xu Le felt heartbroken.
Seeing that the two were about to take the cat away, Xu Le quickly stopped them, “Don’t take it away, let me take it up first. I’ll find a new owner for it tomorrow. Can I?”
The man with the snake bag was a little impatient, “It’s against the apartment’s rules. Tenants are not allowed to keep cats or dogs. We can’t openly violate the rules. Young man, please understand.”
With that, the two were about to leave.
“Please wait a minute, I’ll take it up for just one day. Tomorrow, I’ll figure out a way to find a new owner for it. Is that okay?” Xu Le was getting anxious.
“No, the company’s regulations. If you have any complaints, you can directly talk to the manager. We can’t do anything about it.”
Xu Le was at a loss. There was nothing he could do for the moment. He could only watch as the two took the cat away.
“What’s going on?” Lan Qing got out of the car and, after a glance, understood the situation.
Xu Le sighed, “The property management wants to clean up the stray cats and dogs. I asked if I could take the cat in first, but they said the company has regulations and doesn’t allow it.”
Lan Qing saw his dejected look, resembling a lost little dog with drooping tail, “So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know, sigh.” Xu Le sighed, his visible disappointment in his eyes.
Seeing the two about to leave, Lan Qing said to the person holding the snake-skin bag, “Wait.”
Seeing that he was a well-dressed, dignified man, the staff, although unfamiliar with him, didn’t dare to offend him, “Sir, is there something you need?”
“Give the cat to him.” Lan Qing said calmly.
“This…” The two looked at each other, the man with the snake-skin bag looking helpless, “I’m sorry, sir, it’s our company’s regulation.”
“Give it to him, you won’t be held responsible.”
After hesitating for a moment, the man with the snake-skin bag, seeing that Lan Qing was not an ordinary person, could only reluctantly nod towards his companion, “Give it to him.”
So, the orange cat returned to Xu Le’s arms again. The startled cat behaved unusually well, not attempting to jump out of his embrace. Instead, it curled up tightly, trembling, in Xu Le’s arms, occasionally emitting low meows.
“Don’t be afraid, no one is going to take you away.” Xu Le gently stroked its fur, then frowned with some trouble, “Thank you, President Lan, for helping me again, but our apartment doesn’t allow pets…”
“If you’re worried, you can leave it with me for now.” Lan Qing said calmly.
“Leave it with you?” Xu Le was surprised.
“Don’t trust me? Have you forgotten that I’ve also had pets before?”
Xu Le quickly shook his head. Where would he dare to question the big boss? He just hesitated, “Then I’ll find a new apartment that allows cats first. Once I find one, I’ll move immediately. It will trouble you, President Lan, these days.”
Lan Qing nodded.
Xu Le looked at the expensive suit on Lan Qing’s body, then at the dirty little cat in his arms, feeling it wasn’t right to just give it to him like this. He said, “President Lan, could you wait for me for a minute? I’ll be right back down.”
Lan Qing replied, “Sure, I’ll wait for you.”
At that moment, he stood by the warm yellow streetlight, his tall and straight figure resembling a sturdy pine, giving people a strong sense of reassurance, which warmed Xu Le’s heart.
He placed the cat on the ground first, patting its round little head, “You must be obedient, no running around, understand?”
“Meow~” The orange cat meowed softly and licked Xu Le’s fingers.
“Haha, you know I’m good to you, huh? You ungrateful little thing!”
Xu Le stood up, bowed slightly to Lan Qing, then quickly ran into the apartment building.
Not long after, he came down holding a cardboard box, with a bag in his hand.
He ran fast, slightly out of breath, sweating on his forehead. With one hand, he picked up the cat and put it into the cardboard box, along with a bag, handing it over to Lan Qing.
“President Lan, last time, the pants you gave me… I’ve cleaned them. I’m returning them to you.” Xu Le said somewhat embarrassedly.
Lan Qing glanced at the bag, his thin lips slightly curled, almost imperceptibly, “You didn’t need to return the pants. I’ll take the cat for now and take care of it for you.”
Xu Le was stunned for a moment, feeling even more embarrassed.
Of course, how could President Lan possibly want pants worn by someone else…
Who knew, in the midst of his daze, both the box and the bag in his hands were taken away.
“Go back, have a good rest tonight.”
Xu Le looked up, gazing into Lan Qing’s beautiful deep blue eyes, he was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously, “Yeah! President Lan, you too.”
Lan Qing just made a sound of acknowledgment, and got into the car with the cat.
Watching the car gradually disappear around the corner, Xu Le turned back to the apartment.
He thought, President Lan is indeed a good person, not the so-called cold and overbearing boss at all. On the contrary, he is very humane.
But… Xu Le thought of President Lan’s words and actions tonight, which were easy to misinterpret, and he began to feel conflicted again. But he quickly dismissed that inexplicable thought.
He’s straight, and President Lan is also straight. Moreover, those words and actions couldn’t prove anything, right?
Perhaps this was just a unique way of showing friendliness and trust from foreigners.
After all, aren’t there such greetings as kissing hands and even kissing on the cheeks abroad? Just touching hands and face can’t be considered anything, right?
Xu Le had always been good at finding excuses, the more he thought about it, the more he felt so, perhaps it was influenced by the commentary on the TV series “The CEO and the Xiao Shuai” he watched some time ago.
It seemed that short videos were indeed the modern “spiritual opium”, he needed to spend less time watching videos and more time watching movies and reading books to recharge, in order to avoid these scattered whimsical thoughts.
Since the next day was the weekend, Xu Le planned to find a new rental house in these two days.
His requirements weren’t too high, just convenient transportation, good environment, and pet-friendly. The rent could be higher, as he was not worried about not being able to afford it with his current salary and savings.
After arranging several viewings online, he went to see them in person but wasn’t satisfied with any of them.
Either it was those heavily renovated houses emitting formaldehyde, or the surrounding tenants were noisy with poor sound insulation, or the actual place looked nothing like the pictures, and the real estate agent still tried to argue that they were similar. Xu Le couldn’t help but laugh.
It seemed finding a satisfactory house wasn’t an easy task.
Coming out of the subway station, Xu Le ran into a well-dressed young man who was pestering him about buying a house. “Sir, are you buying a house? Our property is in a prime location, with beautiful surroundings and convenient facilities. This is the last discounted unit. You only need a down payment of two hundred thousand now…”
“Sir, do I look like someone who can afford to buy a house?” Xu Le sighed in resignation.
…
After sending away the sales guy, Xu Le felt a little lost.
Before him was a bustling street, each passing person hurried without sparing a glance around. The towering buildings around, under the sunlight, reflected a cold, inorganic gleam as if overseeing everything from above.
He had just dipped his toes into society, joining a decent company with a good boss and colleagues. Things were going smoothly enough, but at this moment, he suddenly felt that he wasn’t fundamentally any different from other young people striving in big cities.
Not long after this realization, his phone vibrated.
It was a WeChat message from Lan Qing.
He immediately perked up, opening the message interface.
President Lan: [How’s the house hunting going?]
Xu Le truthfully replied: [Not too smoothly. I visited several places this morning, but none felt right. I plan to get help from a real estate agent, so I should find a suitable place soon.]
He waited for a while, but Lan Qing didn’t respond. Perhaps he was busy and didn’t have time to reply.
Xu Le found a bench and sat down, preparing to find a reliable agent on the platform. Ideally, he would finalize the house today and pack up tonight to move tomorrow.
But just as he started browsing the platform, Lan Qing replied.
He sent a video first—a clean and neat cat staring blankly into the camera, meowing. Its clear blue eyes were charming, and Xu Le couldn’t help but smile.
It seemed Lan Qing was indeed experienced in taking care of pets!
President Lan: [I have an empty house near the company. You can stay there for now.]
Xu Le’s smile turned into an “o” shape.
Huh? Did President Lan just offer his own house for him to stay?
Trembling, Xu Le replied: [President Lan, I can handle the house hunting myself. I can’t trouble you any further.]
Then, he sent a timid emoticon of a puppy bowing its head.
President Lan: [I have a flight to Y country tomorrow morning for a business trip, so I’ll send a driver to pick you up. Can you manage on your own?]
Xu Le was dumbfounded. He had just said he didn’t want to trouble him, so why did President Lan seem to ignore his message?
And asking if he could manage on his own? He wasn’t a child. Moving houses was a simple task. What was there to manage?
Could it be that President Lan still wanted to come over himself and help him move? Xu Le shuddered at the thought.
His fingers froze above the screen, unsure of how to reply.
President Lan’s concern seemed a bit… excessive.
Before Xu Le could think of how to refuse again, he sent another message.
President Lan: [At eleven in the morning. You’re allowed to sleep in a little.]
Xu Le: “……!”
He hadn’t even decided whether to accept, and Lan Qing was already being so assertive?
Staring at his phone for a long time, Xu Le weakly replied: [Okay, Lan Boss.]
It took him several seconds to realize he had typed it wrong. He quickly hit the delete key and sent the corrected message: [Okay, President Lan!]
But before he could feel relieved, he remembered that he just hit… the delete key, not the undo key.
Xu Le: “……”
Oh no, he was doomed.