"Mom, were you peeping on us?" Xu Yun said, speechless.

"No, it was just a coincidence."

After denying it, Zhang Sujuan said with some embarrassment, "I heard a noise just now and was coming out to see if you two were back. I ended up accidentally seeing you through the peephole."

Xu Yun: "..."

’Some "accident."’

"Son, don’t be discouraged. If it didn’t work out this time, just keep trying."

Zhang Sujuan encouraged him, "She took the initiative to kiss you this time, so maybe next time she’ll take the initiative to hug you. You two will get together sooner or later."

"Mom, don’t worry about my affairs."

Xu Yun asked, "For your birthday tomorrow, have you invited all our relatives?"

"I have."

Zhang Sujuan said, "Your uncle and the others will come over after lunch. We’ll play mahjong first, then all go out for dinner in the evening."

"Okay, I’ve already booked a place for dinner."

Xu Yun said, "They can just go there directly."

"Ah, really, for my birthday, you don’t need to spend so much money eating at such an expensive place."

Zhang Sujuan said, "I could have just cooked at home."

"The apartment is so small. If everyone comes, how many people could we even fit? Besides, I don’t want you to get picked on by the aunts."

Xu Yun said, "Now that your son is making money, I can’t let you be put in uncomfortable situations like before."

"Fine, Mom knows you’re making money now and this isn’t a lot to you, but you still need to be frugal."

"I know, I know."

Xu Yun said, "Okay, I’m going to go wash up and get to bed. You should get some sleep too."

After showering, he returned to his room.

Xu Yun didn’t feel uneasy or guilty about what happened with Chen Xin.

’Dating is fine, but I’ll never let myself get sucked in, never let my emotions be controlled by any one woman. If one ever does, I’ll just cut her out of my life. Right now, Chen Xin can’t control me, so there’s no need to cut her out.’

Then, he thought of Yu Xuan, the hero of the evening.

So he picked up his phone and called her. As a boss, he had to learn to show concern for his subordinates.

The video call connected.

Yu Xuan had just finished cleaning up the fireworks show site and returned to her hotel.

Exhausted from the long day, she was soaking in the bathtub, binge-watching a show on her tablet, enjoying the good life and soothing her tired body.

Suddenly, she received a video call from her boss.

If theirs were a normal boss-subordinate relationship, she naturally would have been too embarrassed to answer a video call in this situation.

But it wasn’t.

She and her boss had already bared all to one another, both literally and figuratively. They knew each other intimately.

"Hello, Boss."

Yu Xuan immediately exited the show and confidently answered the call on her tablet.

The camera was pointed right at her.

When Xu Yun first saw the image of Yu Xuan, he was a little surprised.

But even though he knew she wasn’t wearing anything, anything revealing was hidden beneath the water and bubbles.

He couldn’t really see anything.

He smiled and asked, "Taking a bath?"

"Mhm."

Yu Xuan replied, "I just got back to the hotel. I was planning to take a bath and then go to sleep."

"You worked hard tonight."

Xu Yun said, keeping his gaze straight, then asked curiously, "What was the deal with that drone message at the end?"

You don’t usually find drone performance teams like that in a small county town.

"While I was coordinating with the local government, I happened to see that there was a drone show scheduled here in a few days, so I just spent a little money to have them come fly for us."

Yu Xuan apologized, "I’m sorry, Boss. I didn’t get your approval beforehand. I just made the decision on my own."

"What are you apologizing for? I’m not blaming you."

Xu Yun smiled and praised her, "You did a great job. You should be rewarded for it."

"Not at all, it’s just what I’m supposed to do."

Yu Xuan didn’t think her boss was calling this late just to check in on her.

She paused, then asked tentatively, "Boss, are you planning on coming over?"

"I won’t be coming over."

Xu Yun said, "You’ve had a long day, so get some rest. You have a lot to do tomorrow, too."

"Okay, Boss. Goodbye."

After hanging up, Xu Yun sent her a red envelope transfer for 6666.

’Showing concern for an employee isn’t just about talk; it requires concrete action. I’m a capitalist with a conscience, after all.’

In her hotel room, Yu Xuan saw the WeChat transfer from her boss and accepted it.

’She looked down at her alluring body hidden beneath the water. To think that her boss had actually resisted coming over tonight, just to be considerate of her.

’This made her opinion of Xu Yun improve considerably.

’She didn’t envy tonight’s leading lady, Chen Xin, in the slightest.

’Because Chen Xin was a very simple, idealistic woman.

’She wasn’t after Xu Yun’s money, only him. The love she wanted was pure.

’But that kind of love was the most extravagant, and also the most unrealistic.

’The Xu Yun of today simply couldn’t give her that.

’Not unless Xu Yun truly wanted to get married and settle down.

’Unlike myself, she didn’t have to consider any of that.

’It seemed as long as she stayed by her boss’s side and did everything well, she would be rewarded in some way, big or small.

’It was truly a matter of reaping what you sow; no effort ever went to waste.

’What do adults need love or affection for? Money is the steel cable that keeps the relationship between a man and a woman stable.

’Love without money is complete bullshit.

’She’d been through that before and had no desire to go through it again. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

’Perhaps to a woman who believes in pure love, Xu Yun was a bad man.

’But for a woman like her, Xu Yun was a very good man.

’To her, Xu Yun was currently both a temporary boyfriend and a boss.

’And to Xu Yun, she was both a secretary and a temporary girlfriend.

’For each other, they both played two roles, switching back and forth as needed.’