A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Her pouty look was so adorable, the chauffeur couldn’t bring himself to reject her. “How about, I give it a shot?”

“Okay, okay!” She was excited again. On second thought, she said, “It’s alright if it doesn’t work. In any case, just don’t let Brother Pei know that I’m about to give him a gift.”

The chauffeur smiled and gave Secretary Zhou another call.

Secretary Zhou was indeed caught in a fix. “This is unprecedented, let me ask him.”

“Don’t.” The chauffeur hurriedly stopped her. “Miss has already said that she doesn’t want Mister to find out. If she can’t go over, it’s okay.”

Secretary Zhou rolled her eyes in the empty office. “Let me think of a way before I return your call.” She then hung up. It wasn’t by chance that she beat all the other elite employees in Imperial Entertainment and emerged as the chief secretary of Pei Ziheng; she certainly did not take the easy way out. Secretary Zhou’s principle was to do her best in everything. Take Xia Ling’s case for instance—she could have pretended that this call never happened, like what the chauffeur was suggesting. But wouldn’t that make her no different from all the other mediocre secretaries?

This was not something an elite like her would do.

She paced about in her office for a while before deciding to look for Chu Chen.

She had heard that Chu Chen was with Boss when he adopted Xia Ling at the orphanage. He was even in charge of most administration matters before and after the adoption; he should be clear about whether Xia Ling could be let into Imperial.

Luckily for her, Chu Chen was in his office.

After hearing what she said, Chu Chen smiled. “You owe me a huge favor.”

Secretary Zhou teased him in return, since they had known each other well enough after working together for so long. “Don’t you worry, Manager Chu. If you manage to make the right decision for me, I’ll definitely remember this help in the future. But don’t you dare get me in trouble. You know Boss’s temper. If this isn’t handled well, he’s definitely firing me.”

Chu Chen scoffed. “You think I’ll be able to get you fired?” The fact was that they were both equally important to Pei Ziheng, and either one of them getting into trouble would not be good for the other. If Secretary Zhou got into trouble and they hired a new secretary, it would take a long while to get to know each other. Who knew whether a new person would be able to be as close a work partner as Secretary Zhou?

Secretary Zhou understood that too and smiled. “Alright, don’t keep me in suspense. Just tell me whether I should let Miss Xia in.”

“You should.” Chu Chen was decisive. “Letting her in could get you a raise, believe me or not.”

“For real?” Secretary Zhou was taken aback. “But you know that Boss doesn’t like being interrupted when he’s at work, and he hates bringing his personal life into the office. Don’t you remember how Manager Li of the Finance department was fired last year? It was just because his wife came to the office and made a scene about their divorce.”

Chu Chen looked at her. “You’re comparing Xia Ling to Li Wei?”

Secretary Zhou was speechless.

Her cellphone rang again. It seemed like the chauffeur and Xia Ling couldn’t wait any longer for her reply.

Secretary Zhou looked at Chu Chen calmly, and then at her cellphone. She picked up and said, “Hey, Brother Li, I’ve checked Boss’ schedule today. He’ll be in his office from about half past two till three o’clock today, settling some documents. There isn’t a meeting with anyone during this period. If Miss Xia wants to come, this would be a preferred timing.”

“So, she can come?” The chauffeur was half doubtful. “Please tell me you didn’t actually let Mister know about it.”

“Why would I?” Secretary Zhou smiled. “How could I not abide by Miss Xia’s orders? Just tell her to come. It seems like Boss is in a good mood today, it’ll be fine.”

The chauffeur said, “We’re coming, then.”

“Come, come.” Secretary Zhou glanced at Chu Chen. “But let me make this clear first. If Boss is very happy to see Miss Xia later on, don’t mention me. Don’t let Boss know that it’s my idea.” The most important thing to note about being an employee was knowing where to draw the line—it was bad not to know what the Boss thought, but it was taboo to know the Boss too well. Secretary Zhou did not want to give Boss the impression that she “knew him too well”—it’d threaten her position.

The chauffeur had fought his way up in his field too and knew what Secretary Zhou was concerned about. He chuckled. “Of course, of course… but if Mister needs to blame someone, I’m definitely throwing you under the bus. We can’t have Boss think that Miss Xia made the call to go to Imperial on her own.”

Secretary Zhou was loyal enough. “If anything happens, I’ll be there to take it!”

Both of them hung up amicably.

Chu Chen looked at her, about to break into a smile. “How smart.” Secretary Zhou was becoming more and more emotionally intelligent.

Secretary Zhou smiled insincerely. “Same to you.” She wasn’t afraid that Chu Chen would blurt anything out in front of Boss. After all, he had a part to play in this decision.

Chu Chen got up from his seat and stretched. “Don’t you say I didn’t remind you. This little one can get very aggressive, she managed to make Pei Jingyu so helplessly angry. If you have any good friends around, get them to beware this afternoon. My advice is—don’t get in her way.”

With that, he packed up his office bag and left for a task.

Secretary Zhou was so touched by this ally, he was so nice! It seemed like Chu Chen did not just resort to dirty and ruthless means to attain and maintain his position today, he was also a very nice person when he wanted to be one! This simple reminder could get so many people out of trouble.

Secretary Zhou thought for a while and picked up the receiver—

She did not announce that Xia Ling would be arriving at Imperial, but that did not mean that she couldn’t call for a secretaries’ meeting! As long as they didn’t get in her way during that time, all would be well.

Once this went out, she continued thinking about what she could do. Besides protecting the people who mattered, she could also make use of this to attack those whom she didn’t like! “Hey, Li Bingyu, aren’t you daring and confident against everyone and anyone? Let’s see who’s more valued then—you, the superstar, or Boss’ newly adopted little girl!” she murmured to herself.

In the Rolls-Royce, Xia Ling was overjoyed after hearing the response from Secretary Zhou. She especially changed into a set of beautiful new clothes at home and brought the bookmark along as she headed for Imperial in time.

The chauffeur parked the car in the basement carpark before taking Xia Ling to the elevator.

The elevator did not respond even after pressing the button a few times.

“Chauffeur Li, are you going to look for Chairman like that?” The security guard in the carpark recognized Pei Ziheng’s chauffeur. He smiled. “Our apologies, but someone was complaining about a strange odor in the elevator a while ago. We got the logistics department to lock the elevators while they get it cleaned.”

“How coincidental.” The chauffeur glanced at Xia Ling. “We got to take another route, then.”

Xia Ling smiled. “In that case, we can take the chance to take a look around Imperial. I’ve never seen such a huge company before, it’s so majestic.”

The chauffeur smiled. “If Mister heard you say that, he’d be so happy.”