Carrying two stainless steel bowls, she filled them with soup and, spotting the engineer's position, prepared to walk over with a bowl in each hand.
However, the floor had been splashed with water, making it slippery.
Her stiletto heel accidentally stepped into a puddle, causing her foot to slip. Her hands jostled, and the scalding soup spilled onto her clothes.
He Yao was wearing a white shirt, a dark blue skirt, and three-inch heels that day.
The soup splashed on her chest, not only burning but also staining her shirt.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she steadied herself and prepared to put the bowls back to find some tissues to wipe herself.
Before she could do any of that, a familiar voice called out from across the way.
"Xiao He, what happened? Did you spill soup on your clothes?"
It was President Fu's voice.
He Yao looked up and saw two people with powerful auras approaching from the direct elevator to the President's office.
One was President Fu, and the other was Zhan Jingrui.
They must have appeared at some point and probably saw her embarrassing moment.
President Fu saw the water on her clothes and wanted to find some tissues for her. He fumbled in his pocket, realized he didn't have any, and turned to look at Zhan Jingrui. Zhan Jingrui pulled a silk scarf from his pocket.
President Fu took it and handed it to her.
"Be careful. You young ladies, wearing high heels, are already unstable when walking. Add some water on the ground, and it's easy to slip. More than one employee has made a fool of themselves in the cafeteria. Fortunately, you didn't fall. Are you burned?"
Perhaps it was because she had enjoyed playing chess with him, but President Fu was very gentle with her.
He Yao was already embarrassed by the incident, and then to have Zhan Jingrui see it made her extremely mortified, but she pretended to be composed.
She took the silk scarf and wiped herself.
"I'm not burned, thank you for your concern, President Fu. Are you here for lunch too?"
After saying that, she felt she had asked a redundant question.
Presidents are people too, and it was lunchtime; of course, they would come to eat.
President Fu chuckled, "Yes, we're here to eat too. Why are you eating at our company today? Are you here for work?"
In the distance, the engineer had also seen He Yao spill soup on herself. Seeing the two presidents standing opposite her, he quickly ran over with some tissues.
"President Zhan, President Fu, are you here for lunch too? This is an employee from a supplier. She's at our company today for work, so I brought her up to eat."
"He Yao, are you alright?"
With so many people showing concern and curious eyes cast her way, He Yao couldn't bear to stay any longer.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. President Fu, please go eat quickly. Thank you for your concern. I'm going to eat too. It's alright now."
President Fu nodded, "It's good you're alright. Go and eat. Take your time. Lunch break is long, no need to rush."
The engineer took another bowl of soup and accompanied He Yao to the side, holding the bowl with both hands.
As she sat down and took the chopsticks handed by the engineer, she realized she was holding something in her hand.
He Yao opened her palm; it was Zhan Jingrui's silk scarf.
President Fu and Zhan Jingrui went to the serving counter to get food, chatting casually.
"It's a shame you didn't play chess with us over the weekend. This young lady is quite skilled. I haven't met such a good opponent in years. We played for a whole day. Guess what?"
Zhan Jingrui lacked work experience and followed Zhan Beijue's advice to learn from President Fu, so they interacted more often.
President Fu treated him like a son and confided everything in him.
He didn't want to get involved in He Yao's affairs, but seeing him talk so enthusiastically, it was difficult for him not to respond.
"What is it?"
"I lost to her several times. And this girl, to protect my pride, sometimes deliberately went easy on me. Otherwise, I would have lost even more miserably."
"Oh dear, you can't deny age; the young generation is always surpassing the old. The world will belong to you young people from now on."
Zhan Jingrui was somewhat surprised.
He Yao could actually play Chinese chess, and so skillfully?
Someone so dispirited and restless, yet to be praised by President Fu, was incredible.
He couldn't help but tilt his head slightly to find her.
In the center of the cafeteria, among the male engineers from the technical department, she was nestled in the middle, her figure appearing exceptionally slender and graceful.
Everyone seemed to welcome her, tilting their heads to chat with her.
Zhan Jingrui silently withdrew his gaze.
No matter how He Yao changed, one thing would remain constant.
That was—she was a woman who was liked by men.
Just for this reason, she probably wouldn't have too bad a life.
The lunch break passed in a flash. After waiting for more than an hour, the test results came out.
The product's performance and quality were good and compatible with Zhan's terminal products. The technical department gave them an excellent rating.
They had obtained the supplier qualification.
He Yao was very happy. She wouldn't have to come to Zhan's company anymore.
She sent a message to Xu Zheng, who was also very happy. He permitted her to leave work early.
"You've worked hard these past few days. Since it's getting late, don't bother coming back to the company. You can leave early. Rest well. Consider it a bonus."
He Yao left the Zhan Group building, preparing to take the bus back to the employee dormitory.
It wasn't that she couldn't afford a taxi, but the factory employee dormitory was quite far, spanning almost half the city, making a taxi ride not cost-effective.
Since she wasn't in a hurry, she decided to walk leisurely.
As she exited the group building, the sky was overcast, seemingly brewing a storm.
She didn't know where the bus stop was, so she opened her navigation on her phone.
It would take 20 minutes to walk there.
Without an umbrella, she was afraid it would start raining as she walked, so she walked quickly with her head down.
Unexpectedly, within five minutes of walking, President Fu's voice was heard again.
"Xiao He."
He Yao stopped, turned her head, and saw Zhan Jingrui's low-key black Bentley again.
President Fu sat in the passenger seat, rolled down the window, and looked at her with a gentle expression.
"Finished working? Are you heading back to the company?"
He Yao didn't bend down. From this angle, she could only see the well-defined hands of Zhan Jingrui resting on the steering wheel.
"Yes, President Fu. Are you going out for something?"
"Yes. President Zhan and I have something to attend to outside. The park is quite large, and it's a long walk to get a taxi. Get in, we'll give you a ride."
Her work was completely finished, and she wouldn't have to come to Zhan Group anymore, meaning she wouldn't have to see Zhan Jingrui again.
After only a few minutes of rejoicing, how could He Yao get into his car again?
"No, thank you, President Fu. It's not far, I'll just walk a bit and then I'll be out."
President Fu knew that employees felt pressured when speaking with their superiors, so they would unconsciously be polite, and most of the time, their words were not sincere.
He could tell that He Yao was not a greasy or smooth-talking person, and her age was similar to his daughter's, so he couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards her and want to care for her.
"Why be so formal? We're not saying we're taking you all the way back. We'll just give you a ride a short distance to the main road to make it easier to get a taxi. Come on up."
President Zhan was waiting in the car, and President Fu was earnestly inviting her. If she refused again, it would seem too ungracious.
Although He Yao was a hundred percent unwilling, she still obediently got into the car.