What To Do When The Boss Takes A Liking To You chapter 63
Lele’s Special Charm!
At first glance, Li Dongming was as startled as the auntie in the elevator earlier when he heard the fluently spoken Chinese from the handsome man with blue eyes and fair skin.
“Oh my god! You startled me. You can speak Chinese!” Li Dongming felt somewhat guilty; it was embarrassing to be caught gossiping in front of someone.
“Do you need to see my ID?” Lan Qing replied indifferently.
Li Dongming awkwardly apologized, “Sorry, I thought… your appearance…”
His thick eyebrows furrowed slightly. Facing this unusually imposing man who was Xu Le’s CEO, he had to be careful not to offend him. “You look so much like a foreigner at first glance, but on closer inspection, you do resemble someone from China. Haha, sorry, sorry.”
In fact, as Lan Qing aged, his Western features had softened considerably, but his deep blue eyes were distinctive enough to set him apart from ordinary people from China. It was no wonder both Li Dongming and the auntie mistook him for a foreigner at first sight.
Seeing this, Xu Le discreetly hooked Lan Qing’s finger and winked at him.
Unexpectedly, Lan Qing responded by grasping his hand in return, his expression still cold but his actions possessive. Xu Le felt a bit flustered for a moment, especially with Li Dongming present.
“Let’s go inside first. Li, I need to check if you’ve been starving Fa Cai,” said Xu Le calmly, pulling his hand away subtly and glancing at Lan Qing with a hint of grievance.
Only then did Lan Qing let go, appearing composed as if there was someone else who had just teased him.
“Come in, come in. I’ll show you the new monitor and speakers I bought; gaming is super fun with them!”
Xu Le also loved gaming, so upon hearing that Li Dongming had new equipment, he became interested. “Great!”
Li Dongming chuckled and naturally tried to put his arm around Xu Le’s shoulder, but then remembered his immediate superior was right beside him. Quickly turning to Lan Qing, he intended to politely smile in acknowledgment.
However, before his hand could touch Xu Le’s shoulder, he noticed Lan Qing’s expression had turned even colder than before. Not only that, Lan Qing’s gaze seemed to briefly flick towards his hand.
Li Dongming felt inexplicably uneasy and withdrew the hand that was about to reach for Xu Le’s shoulder.
After letting go, Li Dongming belatedly realized, puzzled, why he felt wary. He only wanted to get closer to his good buddy, so why be cautious of this mixed-blood Russian boss nearby?
Nevertheless, despite Lan Qing’s seemingly calm demeanor, Li Dongming sensed an inexplicable aggressiveness about him, despite his restrained demeanor, it still exerted a subtle pressure.
Li Dongming had seen many high-ranking officials and CEOs of big companies, but this young-looking man before him somehow exuded a stronger aura than those seasoned middle-aged men.
Moreover, though Li Dongming appeared thick-skinned, as a half-social butterfly, there were certain things he understood without needing them to be spelled out.
He couldn’t help feeling there was something inexplicably harmonious and eerie between this Russian boss and Xu Le.
But as a straightforward guy, his thoughts ended there, without delving deeper.
Whatever, as long as he was Xu Le’s boss, he’d happily serve him food and drink. Since he valued Xu Le and was even willing to befriend him, it was surely beneficial for Xu Le’s future.
With his mind made up, Li Dongming felt much more at ease.
“Meow~”
Upon entering, Xu Le heard the familiar meow. He joyfully saw Fa Cai lying on the sofa, nibbling on a dried fish toy.
Seeing his owner, Fa Cai meowed a few times and jumped down from the sofa.
Xu Le happily ran over and picked up the big boss cat, petting him enthusiastically on his little head. “Fa Cai, did you miss me?”
“Meow~”
“You definitely missed me a lot, didn’t you? Has Li been ‘mistreating’ you these days? Tell me, I’ll beat him up for you!” Xu Le joked good-naturedly.
Fa Cai didn’t respond, lazily snuggling in Xu Le’s arms, allowing him to stroke him for the moment.
“Wow, Lele, if I haven’t mistreated your cat, that’s already good enough. Hurry up and take this little guy away today!” Li Dongming complained.
Xu Le glanced at him. “You and him just don’t click.”
“There’s nothing I can do about that.”
Li Dongming poured boiling water into tea cups, putting some Dahongpao tea leaves into the exquisite cups on the tea table in front of Lan Qing cautiously.
He wasn’t usually so particular and had planned to grab a few bottles of beer and drinks from the fridge for guests. But considering Lan Qing was Xu Le’s company CEO, he pulled out the tea leaves and tea set gifted by others.
Brewing tea made things seem more formal and respectful.
He had thought Lan Qing might not drink it, but Lan Qing directly lifted the cup, took a shallow sip, and even replied, “Thank you.”
Li Dongming was taken aback. “Oh, Mr. Lan, please enjoy.” Xu Le had mentioned his Chinese name.
Xu Le played with a small dried fish plush toy while accompanying Fa Cai to play, sneakily observing the reactions of the two. Although the two were currently a bit too polite, overall it was still enjoyable.
Lost in thought, Fa Cai suddenly twisted around, jumped off the sofa, and with graceful steps walked towards Lan Qing. Then, gently laying down, it rubbed against Lan Qing’s spotless leather shoes.
“Meow~” It even meowed with clipped tones, acting cute and spoiled.
Seeing this, Li Dongming was dumbfounded, “Lele, could it be your cat judges people by their looks? Why does it act so fierce in front of me?”
Xu Le chuckled, “I told you it’s judging by looks. Do you believe me?”
It was strange; most orange cats had gentle temperaments, but Fa Cai was quite special—not only aloof but also particularly picky with people.
“Damn, I’m not ugly, right? Even though I’m a bit dark-skinned, I’m still a handsome guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes!” Li Dongming said indignantly, showing off his well-built biceps.
Xu Le couldn’t help but laugh at this. Unconsciously, he glanced at Lan Qing beside him. Lan Qing was teasing Fa Cai with a cat toy, occasionally lowering his head, his sapphire-blue eyes exceptionally focused.
A mixed-race handsome man teasing a cat—a pleasing sight.
Lan Qing noticed his gaze, softly glancing at him. Xu Le’s face blushed slightly, fearing that Li might notice something. He cleared his throat and quickly averted his gaze, saying seriously, “Uh, it’s just because you’re too burly.”
Li Dongming was so angry he took a sip of scalding tea, shivering from the heat.
Lan Qing put down the cat toy, handed it to Xu Le, and asked Li Dongming, “Are you and Xu Le best friends?”
Li Dongming naturally replied, “Of course, Lele and I are very close. We were college roommates.”
As Xu Le teased the cat, he listened intently to their conversation.
Although Lan Qing didn’t ask many questions, being a typical northerner, Li Dongming initially felt restrained due to Lan Qing’s status and aura, not daring to chat freely. Later on, he found out that although Lan Qing seemed cold-faced, he was actually a good listener.
Gradually, Li Dongming relaxed and realized Lan Qing was mainly interested in Xu Le. Although he found it strange why a CEO would pay such attention to his employee, since Lan Qing liked listening, he was willing to talk.
Thus, with Xu Le’s frustrated and embarrassed expression, Li Dongming even went into details starting from military training in freshman year. He even mentioned how Xu Le used girls’ sanitary pads to cushion the painful shoes provided by the school. He also talked about how Xu Le barely passed the CET-6 English exam with a score of 425.
Xu Le even saw Lan Qing’s lips curve slightly.
Especially when Li Dongming mentioned how Xu Le dressed up in women’s clothing and a wig for a microfilm assignment in freshman year because he couldn’t find a girl to play the lead role, Xu Le clearly noticed the amusement in Lan Qing’s eyes, which was already quite obvious!
He kept gesturing to Li Dongming with his eyes, but as Xu Le’s personal promoter, Li Dongming continued to talk enthusiastically, unable to stop.
Xu Le could only resign himself to his fate, frustrated and embarrassed, pretending not to hear while teasing the cat.
If he had known Li Dongming would blabber so much, he wouldn’t have brought Lan Qing over!
“Lele was particularly popular in college, often chased after by girls. I remember there was even a guy from the arts or dance department who confessed to him. Tsk tsk, his charm was really something!” Li Dongming couldn’t stop sighing, excitedly sipping his tea.
Xu Le: “!”
Nervously, he defended himself, “Li, don’t talk too much. I didn’t have anything with that junior, I’m straight…”
He glanced nervously at Lan Qing, who seemed to be smiling knowingly, quickly shifting his gaze back, “I mean,…”
Xu Le sneakily glanced at Lan Qing, his eyes desperately signaling, but Lan Qing maintained an elegant posture, calmly sipping his tea.
“Continue,” Lan Qing said calmly.
Li Dongming, this rough guy without tact, continued teasingly, “I remember you said that junior was quite cute, he even smelled like orange cologne!”
Xu Le was trembling with fear. He dared not look at Lan Qing’s expression. “At that time, I didn’t know he liked guys. I just thought he was different from other boys, thin and cute. It was nothing! I just thought he was okay to talk about photography with…”
“Haha, I didn’t say you liked him, just found it interesting. President Lan, don’t you think Lele has extraordinary charm?” Li Dongming boasted happily to Lan Qing about Xu Le’s charm.
Xu Le covered his face, unable to listen.
Lan Qing glanced at Xu Le softly, his deep blue eyes flashing slightly, “Hmm, indeed.”
Hearing this, Xu Le thought, Oh no, he must be jealous and angry now!
“By the way, President Lan, you have extensive experience managing the company. I’ve also partnered to open a gym. There are some issues I’d like to consult with you about. Would that be okay?” Li Dongming was someone who liked to delve into things; having a CEO of a listed company around could help him learn a few things.
Finally, the topic returned to normal, and Xu Le breathed a sigh of relief.
Lan Qing glanced at Xu Le, who was nervously teasing the cat, and replied, “Sure, go ahead and ask.”
After all, Li Dongming had just graduated and was a novice entrepreneur with little experience. He asked Lan Qing many questions about company management, and Lan Qing gave concise and meaningful answers.
After the exchange, Li Dongming benefited greatly from Lan Qing’s insights, and Lan Qing also learned about Xu Le’s past.
It was Xu Le who was now nervously wondering how he would explain things to Lan Qing later.
Before leaving, the straightforward Li Dongming expressed his desire to add Lan Qing on WeChat to occasionally seek advice in the future.
Lan Qing instinctively wanted to refuse, but Li Dongming took the initiative, offering to send him the web link of Xu Le dressed in women’s clothing for the microfilm.
Xu Le’s face changed color, desperately struggling, “Li, you can’t betray me like this!”
Lan Qing glanced at him gently, then said to Li Dongming, “Alright.”
Xu Le wore a pained expression, watching his boyfriend and good friend exchange WeChat contacts with each other.
After getting in the car, Xu Le cautiously glanced at Lan Qing’s expression and felt there was no change. He then held Fa Cai in his arms as the first line of defense.
Anthony seemed to be assigned elsewhere, so Lan Qing took the driver’s seat.
Xu Le leaned forward proactively, a pleasing smile on his face. “President Lan, can I explain about that junior brother to you…”
Lan Qing raised an eyebrow slightly, his expression unchanged. “Privately, you still call me President Lan?”