Li Qianfan pushed open the door and entered the general manager's office.
A faint sweet fragrance permeated the room.
Dai Paipai, who was living like a widow, was sitting behind the desk, typing something on the keyboard.
Seeing her busy, without even looking up at him, Li Qianfan didn't mind.
He walked to the sofa and sat down.
On the coffee table, there was a pink thermos cup.
Green tea was brewed inside.
There was also a box of cigarettes, a lighter, and an ashtray.
"The cup is new," Dai Paipai said. "I bought it yesterday afternoon and intended to use it myself. After coming here and seeing my husband's cup, I used this one. Now, you use this cup. The cigarettes are company-provided, decent quality."
The cigarettes were "Huazi," so their quality was indeed good.
The green tea cost several hundred yuan per fifty grams; Li Qianfan could tell just by the aroma.
The perfume Dai Paipai wore was also the kind that cost thousands of yuan per bottle; Li Qianfan could identify it by smell.
Li Qianfan lit a cigarette and took a sip from the thermos.
Dai Paipai, watching him with her peripheral vision, breathed a sigh of relief.
Since Li Qianfan was smoking her cigarettes, using her cup, and drinking her tea!
It proved that he would not resign.
If he didn't resign—
It meant he was willing to help Dai Paipai deal with Zhao Lianjin!
"Li Qianfan, how old are you this year?" Dai Paipai stopped typing, clasped her hands on the desk, and looked at him with gentle eyes.
Her current "virtuous wife" demeanor made it hard to associate her with the aggressive Ms. Dai who had demanded Wang Hong's dismissal at the all-hands meeting.
Li Qianfan replied truthfully, "Twenty-one."
Dai Paipai shook her head. "You're lying."
Li Qianfan remained silent.
Dai Paipai added, "You're at most nineteen this year."
She wasn't flattering Li Qianfan. She knew that unlike women, young men didn't like being called girls or told they looked underage. Dai Paipai was simply stating the truth. "I've been a teacher at the First Middle School since I was twenty-two. For eight years now. Over the years, due to my excellent teaching abilities, I've always been a homeroom teacher for graduating classes. Those seventeen or eighteen-year-olds are no different from you."
Li Qianfan asked indifferently, "Can seventeen or eighteen-year-olds smoke as skillfully as I do?" He detested it when people said he was too young!
"No." Dai Paipai stood up, her high heels clicking as she walked around the desk. "Seventeen or eighteen-year-olds don't have the guts to call out my name and slap my backside."
Li Qianfan—Damn it. This woman was indeed a master conversationalist; she could easily take control of the discussion with a single sentence.
He gave a wry smile. "Boss Paipai, I've already apologized for that."
"Now I believe you are indeed twenty-one." Dai Paipai sat opposite him, crossed her legs, and said, "You are now a mature man, both physically and mentally."
Li Qianfan asked curiously, "Why do you suddenly believe I'm twenty-one now?"
"Only a physically and mentally mature man," Dai Paipai said, looking down at her own buttocks, "would stare at my backside while calling my name."
Damn— Li Qianfan's mouth twitched, and he quickly looked away.
"I'm proud that I can interest you," Dai Paipai said calmly. "It means I'm a charming woman. But I despise men like Zhao Lianjin, who peek at me with lewd eyes while fantasizing about slapping me hard."
Li Qianfan quickly picked up his water cup. If he hadn't sensed that Boss Paipai was genuinely "discussing facts," he would have thought she was trying to seduce him with her words.
"You weren't this wise that afternoon," Li Qianfan said, putting down the cup.
"After my husband had his accident, I was kept at the police station for dozens of hours as the prime suspect." Dai Paipai hesitated, then picked up a cigarette. "During that time, lost in despair, I thought about many things. I could feel myself changing significantly. It seems I've truly matured overnight."
As she spoke, she lit a cigarette. After just one puff— she coughed violently, tears welling up. She even felt dizzy and nauseous. This was how most first-time smokers felt.
Li Qianfan watched her quietly, not offering solicitous concern or advice to quit. This woman was indeed a different person from the one on that afternoon a few days ago. For both men and women, after facing an unavoidable disaster, true maturity might come in an instant. If the current Dai Paipai were placed in that afternoon, she would have unhesitatingly asked Li Qianfan to save her husband!
Dai Paipai had changed. Before lighting this cigarette, she must have weighed it carefully in her mind before making this decision.
Finally, Dai Paipai stopped coughing. Li Qianfan then appropriately handed her some tissues. This action was also something a mature man would do.
"Thank you, you are indeed twenty-one," Dai Paipai whispered after thanking him, repeating her earlier statement.
Li Qianfan was pleased. Dai Paipai adjusted her high heels and said, "I know that a mature and outstanding man like you wouldn't willingly stay and help me deal with Zhao Lianjin and help me reclaim what is mine, just because I, an older woman, say a few bold words to you."
She was right. Even if she took Li Qianfan to her bedroom now and had him call her name while slapping her hard, she wouldn't sway him to her service. He would only look down on her.
Dai Paipai took another drag of her cigarette. This time, she only coughed lightly. This showed her strong adaptability to new things. She imitated Li Qianfan's smoking posture, flicked the ash with her fingers, and said, "I want to ask you a few questions."
"Ask away," Li Qianfan nodded.
"You, you must have a girlfriend, right?" Dai Paipai said. "After all, a man as excellent as you might have been claimed by the most outstanding woman ten years ago."
Was Li Qianfan excellent? Setting aside his family background and his good looks (combining his mother's handsome features and his father's yang energy), his medical skills alone were enough to qualify him as an excellent man.
Li Qianfan replied truthfully, "I am already married."
"As I expected," Dai Paipai smiled and continued, "Why did you stay? I thought you would leave without a word."
Li Qianfan answered, "Su Laiyun, who introduced me to the garment factory, hopes I will stay and help him regain the position of sales director."
Dai Paipai asked, "What is your relationship with Director Su?"
Li Qianfan picked up his water cup.
"One last question." Seeing that Li Qianfan was unwilling to answer, Dai Paipai suddenly stood up. Just as Li Qianfan thought she was going to sit next to him, he saw her bend her knees and kneel on the opposite sofa. Her back to Li Qianfan, Dai Paipai held the sofa back with both hands, bent over, and slowly began to sway.
Such a temptress— Li Qianfan frowned.
"Li Qianfan, I just want to know," Dai Paipai turned her head, her voice low but resonant, "can you bear to let a woman like me be brutally beaten by Zhao Lianjin every night?"