Chapter 423 - 242: Punishment

Chapter 423: Chapter 242: Punishment

Liu Jingjing never would have imagined that Chen Xiao could know the regional president of Junxiao Business Management for the Hanjiang Region!

That was a major figure, someone high up and out of reach. Even her usual boss, the operations manager of Luocheng Junxiao Square, couldn’t get close to someone like that!

She was very curious how Chen Xiao knew her.

Chen Xiao didn’t over-explain, simply saying they were very familiar, and forwarded Lin Ya’s contact info to Liu Jingjing.

Liu Jingjing tapped to add her as a friend.

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

She sent a long verification message.

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

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

’We almost slept together. How could we *not* be familiar?’

"It looked like you were ready to die for the cause, so I thought I’d introduce you to a leader. If there’s any real injustice, you’ll have a direct line to the top, right?"

Knowing he was joking, Liu Jingjing smiled. But he had a point; she now had a channel to provide feedback on major issues in the future.

Of course, she knew her place. She couldn’t run to the big boss for every little thing.

’It’s one thing if the top leader thinks I’m tactless, but it would be awful if I ended up dragging Chen Xiao down with me.’

After dinner, Liu Jingjing reluctantly saw Chen Xiao downstairs.

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

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

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

Liu Jingjing lowered her head. "Next time you come, let me invite you to my place for dinner."

"Mhm."

A faint response. ’Who knows when ’next time’ will be.’

His noncommittal reply, however, brought the light back to Liu Jingjing’s eyes.

The elevator arrived.

"Jingjing, if you ever have time to visit Jiangzhou, message me. I’ll treat you to a meal in return."

She nodded emphatically. "I will! Junxiao Business Management headquarters is there, and I’ll have to go for training in the future. I’ll contact you in advance then!"

* * *

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 quite meet five-star standards.

Compared to the five-star Junxiao Lake View Hotel, the difference wasn’t just a star or two.

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.

Soon, the door was pulled open from the inside.

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

She had clearly dressed up with care. The hotel suite was over 60 square meters, with a small living room outside the bedroom.

Chen Xiao didn’t stand on ceremony, walking in and plopping down on the sofa.

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

She didn’t drink tea herself, and her office usually only had tea for guests. Ever since she learned Chen Xiao loved white tea, she had asked someone to source some of the good stuff.

’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 by. ’Mmm, a very tempting aroma.’

A single man and a single woman alone in a hotel room—the atmosphere gradually grew ambiguous.

Lin Ya tried to make conversation. "That Liu Jingjing I just added, is she an employee at our Luocheng Junxiao Square?"

"My university classmate."

There was nothing to hide. Chen Xiao then recounted what he had overheard at Starbucks that morning between Lu Guangming and Zhang Hua, as well as the later conversation with Liu Hui.

As Lin Ya listened, her brow furrowed deeply. She hadn’t expected her subordinates to be so audacious.

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

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

"Don’t rush. Cast 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 meant for her to investigate the matter thoroughly and then sweep out everyone involved all at once.

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

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

’Punish her how? By giving her a few spanks like that day in the office?’

He teased inwardly, but his mind immediately flashed back to the scene in her office that day.

She had been bent over the small round table in her white shirt while he was behind her, "misbehaving." The mental image was just too powerful.

A jolt shot through his brain, and an instant later, the front of his trousers suddenly bulged.

’Endurance Value, you son of a bitch! You can’t just mess with my head like this!’

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

She noticed the abrupt change in him.

"Oh!"

She let out a small cry, then, realizing she’d overreacted, quickly covered her mouth. But her curious eyes remained fixed on it.

Chen Xiao had never been so embarrassed. He swore it wasn’t on purpose.

The problem was that his Endurance Value was acting up, and he couldn’t control it.

If it were his own arousal, he could control it at will, but this was a side effect of the Endurance Value, and 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 seen it, and they were very "familiar" anyway, he gradually got used to the situation.

But there was one problem. As they talked, Lin Ya kept sneaking glances. ’You clearly don’t know how formidable it is!’

Frustrated, Chen Xiao kept drinking water, hoping it would extinguish the "fire."

The glass of water was quickly empty.

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 her slender neck downwards, and... ’Good lord.’