Chapter 420 - 242: Entering the Palace

Chapter 420: Chapter 242: Entering the Palace

Liu Jingjing never would have imagined that Chen Xiao knew the regional head of Junxiao Business Management for the Hanjiang Region.

That was a real big shot, someone high up in the company. Even Liu Jingjing’s own boss, the operations manager of Luocheng Junxiao Square, was nowhere near her level.

She was incredibly curious how Chen Xiao could possibly know her.

Chen Xiao didn’t explain much. He just said they were close and sent Lin Ya’s contact information to Liu Jingjing.

Liu Jingjing sent a friend request.

"Hello, President Lin! I’m Chen Xiao’s university classmate, Liu Jingjing, a floor supervisor at Luocheng Junxiao Square."

She sent a long message with her request.

A moment later, her request was accepted. Lin Ya even took the initiative to send a smiling emoji: "Hello, Jingjing!"

Probably never expecting such a high-level executive to be so down-to-earth, Liu Jingjing said happily, "Chen Xiao, you’re really doing well for yourself! You’re even close with our top boss!"

’We almost went all the way, so how could we not be close?’

"I saw you were ready to go down swinging, so I thought I’d introduce you to an executive. If there’s any real injustice, now you have a direct line to the top, right?"

Knowing he was joking, Liu Jingjing laughed. But he did have a point. In the future, if something major happened, she now had a channel to report it.

Of course, she also understood discretion. She couldn’t just run to a top executive for every little thing.

It would be one thing if the executive thought she was tactless, but it would be terrible if she ended up getting Chen Xiao in trouble.

After dinner, a reluctant Liu Jingjing walked Chen Xiao downstairs.

"You don’t have to see me out. The elevator’s almost here. I’m heading to the parking garage on B2."

"Chen Xiao, when will you come back to Luocheng?"

"It’s close enough that I can come whenever I feel like it. Just text me if you need anything."

Liu Jingjing lowered her head. "Next time you come, I’ll invite you to my place for dinner."

"Okay."

It was a noncommittal response. ’Who knows when ’next time’ will be.’

His perfunctory reply, however, made Liu Jingjing’s eyes light up again.

The elevator arrived.

"Jingjing, if you ever have time to visit Jiangzhou, message me. It’ll be my turn to treat you."

She nodded emphatically. "I will! The Junxiao Business Management headquarters is there. I’ll have to go for training someday. I’ll contact you ahead of time when I do!"

Lin Ya was staying at the Haiman Hotel.

It was Luocheng’s only five-star hotel, but in Chen Xiao’s opinion, it didn’t live up to the rating.

Compared to a true five-star establishment like the Junxiao Lake View Hotel, the difference was night and day.

Lin Ya had already been there for over an hour and had finished her meal.

Chen Xiao went upstairs to the room number she had given him.

The doorbell rang.

A moment later, the door swung open from the inside.

Shoulder-length hair, exquisite makeup, a black skirt suit.

She had clearly taken care to dress up. The hotel suite was over sixty square meters, with a small living room outside the bedroom.

Chen Xiao made himself at home, walking right in and plopping down on the sofa.

Lin Ya said, "Boss, I know you like white tea, so I brought some with me."

She didn’t drink tea herself and usually only kept guest tea in her office. But ever since learning Chen Xiao loved white tea, she had asked someone to procure some of high quality.

’How thoughtful.’

"I also brought this cup from Jiangzhou. I was worried the hotel’s cups might not be clean."

As she spoke, she placed the tea in front of Chen Xiao.

A fragrant scent wafted past him. ’Mmm, an alluring aroma.’

A man and a woman alone in a hotel room—the atmosphere gradually grew charged with ambiguity.

Lin Ya broke the silence. "That Liu Jingjing I just added, is she an employee at our Luocheng Junxiao Square?"

"My university classmate."

There was no reason to hide it. Chen Xiao then recounted what he had overheard between Lu Guangming and Zhang Hua at Starbucks that morning, as well as their later conversation with Liu Hui.

Lin Ya’s brow furrowed as she listened, shocked that her subordinates could be so audacious.

"I’ll go to the square this afternoon. We must resolutely remove these bad apples!"

He waved his hand, signaling her not to be hasty.

"Don’t rush. We’ll use a long line to catch a big fish. If we’re going to clean house, we need to get them all in one fell swoop."

Lin Ya understood. She nodded, realizing Chen Xiao wanted her to investigate the matter thoroughly and then eliminate everyone involved in one clean sweep.

"Boss, I never expected a situation like this. It’s a failure of my management. I’m willing to accept my punishment."

Chen Xiao chuckled. "Punish you for what? The corporate appointment just came through. You’ve only just taken over the region, how could you know what they were up to before?"

’Punish her how? By pulling down her pants and giving her a few spanks?’

He teased inwardly, but the thought instantly brought back the scene from her office that day.

She had been bent over the small round table in her white blouse while he was behind her, getting up to mischief. The image was just too potent.

His mind went blank with a ROAR. ’Who could possibly withstand that?’ An immediate reaction began to build.

’Endurance Value, you son of a bitch! You can’t just spring this on me so suddenly.’

Lin Ya was sitting right across from Chen Xiao, and since they were talking, her eyes had been fixed on him.

She noticed the change.

"Hah—!"

She let out a small cry, then immediately realized she had overreacted. She quickly covered her mouth, but her eyes remained fixed on *it*, filled with curiosity.

Chen Xiao had never been so embarrassed. It was like he was giving her a live demonstration of being in a ’hard’ spot.

The problem was, his Endurance Value was acting up, and he had no control over it.

If it were of his own volition, he could have reined it in at will, but this was a side effect of the Endurance Value. He couldn’t make it go away.

"Boss, are you all right?"

’She’s still asking?’ Chen Xiao shot her a glare. "What do you think!"

Since she’d already noticed—and they were very "familiar" with each other anyway—he gradually grew accustomed to the situation.

But one thing was clear: as they talked, Lin Ya kept sneaking glances at it. ’You clearly don’t appreciate its power!’

Frustrated, Chen Xiao kept chugging his water, hoping it would put out the fire.

The glass was empty in no time.

Lin Ya stood up and said, "Let me get you some more water!"

She bent over to pick up the glass. Chen Xiao’s gaze followed the line of her slender neck downward. Huge... and so pale.