Together with a few family friends, a group played golf all morning. At noon, they had a lively lunch at the clubhouse on the course, relaxed for a bit, and then spent the afternoon fishing at the club's fishing grounds.
Ji Rui has a calm demeanor and had a bountiful catch, while Zhuo Jiarui, who was impatient, had barely any luck all afternoon. He was constantly preoccupied with getting Le Tong's phone number and kept pestering Ji Rui every now and then.
"Ji Rui, aren't we brothers?"
Ji Rui ignored him, so he brazenly moved his small stool over to sit beside Ji Rui, "Isn't it just a phone number? Can't you share it with a brother?"
Ji Rui watched the bobber sink in the water, stood up, and swung the fishing rod to pull it up.
A lively fish was immediately flung to the ground, and Zhuo Jiarui quickly ran over, took the fish off the hook, and placed it in Ji Rui's bucket.
"It's someone else's privacy. If you want it, ask her yourself. Don't ask me."
Ji Rui wasn't swayed by him, coldly gesturing for the attendant, handed over the fishing rod, stood up, and turned to leave.
"Mr. Ji, your fish." The attendant pointed to the full bucket of fish left behind and called out to Ji Rui.
"Give it to you."
Zhuo Jiarui caught up, looking bitter, "President Ji, for such a small matter, you won't help me?"
"This is a matter of principle, not about big or small." Ji Rui said sternly, leaving no room for compromise.
The driver had parked the car outside the fishing area early in the morning, and Ji Rui got into the car as Zhuo Jiarui shamelessly did as well, then called his own driver to drive away his car, clearly determined not to let go until he got Le Tong's phone number today.
Ji Rui paid him no mind, reclined in his seat and closed his eyes to rest, while Zhuo Jiarui buzzed non-stop like a fly beside him.
The car drove on for an unknown amount of time when Zhuo Jiarui suddenly excitedly pushed Ji Rui.
"Hey! Ji Rui, look quickly, isn't that your little secretary?"
"Xiao Liang, slow down!" Zhuo Jiarui immediately instructed Ji Rui's driver.
Ji Rui, annoyed by Zhuo Jiarui's shaking, opened his eyes and looked outside the car.
On the side of the wide road, there were four white bicycles riding slowly in a row, and of course, the so-called 'slowly' was compared to the car speed he was in.
Riding on the four bikes were two men and two women, all of whom he had met before. Leading was Luo Yifan, followed by his secretary Le Tong, and the last two were the other couple from the bar that night.
Ji Rui's gaze swept past the others and finally landed on Le Tong.
Today she wore black skinny jeans and white running shoes, a white hoodie on top, with her long black hair tied in a ponytail. She leaned over, holding the handlebars, pedaling the bike with all her might. Against the backdrop of the clear blue sky, she appeared lively and full of youthful vigor, looking vastly different from the composed and plain Le Tong he saw in the office.
"Hi! Yifan, Le Tong, where are you guys headed?"
Still observing his secretary, Zhuo Jiarui had already leaned over, pressed down the car window, and stuck his head out to greet the people outside through Ji Rui's window.
The people outside heard the call, naturally all stopped their bikes, planting their long legs on the ground, and turned to look over.
"Brother Zhuo, what a coincidence!" Luo Yifan was the first to park his bike and walk over.
Zhuo Jiarui glanced several times at Le Tong's straight long legs resting on the ground, disregarded the owner's wants, got out of the car, and ran around it.
Le Tong, who initially had nothing to do with it, was standing aside waiting. Recognizing the car, she knew it was her boss's, feeling annoyed but had to park her bike to the side and bent over to greet Ji Rui inside.
"President, hello!"
Ji Rui nodded at her, showing no intention of getting out of the car.
Le Tong stood for two seconds, the atmosphere somewhat awkward, ready to leave when Zhuo Jiarui suddenly moved away from Luo Yifan and came to her, extending his hand with a smile.
"Hello, Miss Le! I'm Zhuo Jiarui, Ji Rui's childhood friend!"
This Zhuo Jiarui was not unfamiliar to Le Tong, because he often came to the Ji Family looking for Ji Rui, although he mostly ignored her.
"Hello, Mr. Zhuo!"
Le Tong had no interest in mingling with this type of playboy, so she treated it as their first meeting, smiling and shaking his hand only briefly before quickly withdrawing it, stepping back slightly without any intention of engaging further.
Since seeing the different side of Le Tong that night, Zhuo Jiarui seemed deeply smitten. Now seeing another different and charming side of her, he couldn't help but feel it was a great chance bestowed upon him by the heavens and was unwilling to let it slip away easily.
Slanting and throwing an arm around Luo Yifan's shoulder, "Yifan, it's so fate that we're together, how about Brother treating you all to dinner tonight?"
The Luo family, although wealthy, was a bit overshadowed by the big conglomerate Ji Family and Zhuo Family. In their usual interactions, Luo Yifan was mostly the proactive one. Now with Zhuo Jiarui extending such a warm invite, naturally Luo Yifan couldn't refuse.
Moreover, the four of them were just discussing where to have dinner, so now there were just two more people, which didn't really change their original plan much.
"Since Brother Zhuo is so generous, it would be pretentious of me to say no. But, our bike speed is very different from your car speed, afraid we might trouble you and Brother Ji to wait for us."
Zhuo Jiarui, having extended the invitation, naturally had a plan.
"Your bicycles seem to be foldable, right? Fold them up and put them in Ji Rui's trunk. I have a car behind us that can accommodate all four of you."
In the end, because Ji Rui's trunk could only fit three bicycles, one had to be placed in the passenger seat of Zhuo Jiarui's car, and Le Tong had no choice but to be pulled into Ji Rui's car.
Forced to sit in the car, after what happened that night, being in such a close space with Ji Rui, Le Tong felt entirely uncomfortable.
Fortunately, between her and Ji Rui, sat the talkative Zhuo Jiarui.
"Tongtong, you're Ji Rui's secretary, right?"
Zhuo Jiarui was oblivious to the subtle atmosphere in the car, facing his acquaintance with Le Tong, tried to take their relationship a step further.
"Yes, I am."
Le Tong's expression was calm, her reply swift and tidy. She neither acknowledged that she knew Zhuo Jiarui nor expressed any flattering words.
Her answer made Zhuo Jiarui pause; he thought she would say something nice to flatter him a little. After all, he was the future successor of the Zhuo Family, and many women were eager to catch his attention, but she appeared to be as cold as ice toward him. Could it be that this woman was skilled at playing hard to get?
Zhuo Jiarui was puzzled but kept a smile, "I've seen Tongtong at the Ji Family a few times, quite admire you. I wonder if Tongtong would be interested in becoming friends with me?"
Le Tong sat up straight, looking earnestly at him, "Sorry, Mr. Zhuo! Our President prohibits us from having private interactions with any clients!"