After a long moment, Yu Xiaoduo stepped into the elevator clutching his personal belongings, his mind still struggling to catch up.
Gu Wan’er, you are so vicious. I had a perfectly nice, easy job, and you just had to go and kick me out of it. The way my colleagues looked at me, it was like I’d become your little boy toy. And here I was, bringing you breakfast this morning. Talk about a stab in the back.
He arrived at the top floor, outside the General Manager’s office, and caught sight of that sexy secretary lady. Suddenly, he realized things weren’t looking so bad.
“Hello, my name is Yan Li. Looking forward to working with you.”
“Hi there, hi! I’m Yu Xiaoduo.” He reached out and shook her hand. Her skin was really soft and smooth. Thanks for this perk, GM Gu. I, Yu Xiaoduo, will gladly accept it.
Just then, as luck would have it, Gu Wan’er opened her door and stepped out. Her eyes immediately landed on Yu Xiaoduo, who was clearly taking advantage of her secretary. What a jerk.
“You. Get in here,” Gu Wan’er said, her voice cold.
Yu Xiaoduo gave a quick “Oh,” then turned to Yan Li. “Yan Li, let’s chat later.”
Yan Li just smiled. It felt like GM Gu was always giving him special attention. And just now, she seemed almost… jealous.
Walking into the office, Yu Xiaoduo put on a stern face. “What are you doing? Why did you transfer me here to be your secretary? Isn’t this just giving everyone in the company something to laugh about? ‘Got work? The male secretary does it. Got nothing to do? Then you do the male secretary.’ That’s what they’ll say.”
“Yu Xiaoduo, I gave you a promotion. Shouldn’t you be happy?”
“Well, you could have at least discussed it with me first!”
“I’m your boss. I promote you whenever I want. Stop being so fussy. Weren’t you the one who said I should build my own team? So, I’m putting you in charge of that. From now on, you’re my person.”
Yu Xiaoduo: “…”
“Gu Wan’er, first you want me to be your girlfriend, then your boyfriend, now I’m ‘your person.’ What exactly do you take me for?”
Gu Wan’er didn’t back down. Her voice low, she asked, “Let me ask you this. Would you say I count as half your woman?”
“Uh…!” Yu Xiaoduo was suddenly speechless. In a certain way, since they swapped bodies, she did sort of own half of him, didn’t she?
Gu Wan’er continued, “If I fail, I’ll have to marry some other man. And what if you happen to be inside my body when that happens? If he takes me from behind… I’m really curious how you’d feel about that.”
“I…!!!” Yu Xiaoduo had no comeback. Thinking about it sent a shiver all through his body.
“So, by helping me, you’re also helping yourself.”
“Hold on, that doesn’t track. You’re going to get married someday anyway,” Yu Xiaoduo quickly spotted the flaw and argued back.
“Who knows how far away ‘someday’ is? But if you don’t help me and I’m ruined, that’ll happen immediately.”
Yu Xiaoduo let out a long sigh. He was completely trapped this time. “Fine, fine. I really owe you one.”
“Don’t be so down about it. I’ll introduce you to some pretty girls later.”
“Don’t give me empty promises. How about something concrete?”
“How does next month sound?” Gu Wan’er gave him a strange smile.
Yu Xiaoduo felt like she was setting another trap for him. “Alright, but you’d better not lie to me again.” He was really looking forward to meeting Yun’er.
“Yu Xiaoduo, when have I ever lied to you? You’re the one who’s always lying to me.”
“Then be honest with yourself. Tell me, have I been good to you or not? Who stepped up when you were in trouble? Who gave selflessly? I’ve given you my heart and soul, and all you do is scheme against me.”
Seeing how heartbroken Yu Xiaoduo looked, Gu Wan’er might have believed him in the past.
“Stop pretending. The meeting starts in half an hour. You’ll be there too.”
Whoa. She saw through my masterful acting? No way!
Originally, Gu Wan’er had planned to have Yu Xiaoduo go undercover in HR. But after observing him these past few days, she realized he was better suited for strategy. It made sense to keep him close. Plus, since she sometimes turned into him, she could keep an eye on him and make sure he didn’t do anything embarrassing with her body.
Half an hour later, the branch company’s upper management filed into the conference room.
The room was very spacious. One wall was adorned with a painting of galloping horses, the floor covered with an expensive rug. In the center stood a large redwood conference table, and overhead hung several glittering gold crystal chandeliers. It was opulent and grand.
Present were the heads of various departments, over twenty people in total. Among them were only three women; the rest were men around fifty years old.
These twenty-plus individuals were split into two factions. One faction, led by the Finance Department, followed Gu Xiao. The other, mainly the Public Relations Department, sided with Gu Lin. The two sides had been battling for a long time. This was a rare moment of cooperation; usually, they were at each other’s throats. Now, seeing each other, they just smiled sweetly.
“Old Hong, you’d better keep a tight rein on the finances. Don’t let our young GM Gu catch on to anything,” teased a woman with heavy makeup. Although she was in her early forties, her makeup skills were excellent, making her look only in her mid-thirties. This was Huang Lifei, head of the Public Relations Department.
Whenever the company faced an image crisis, this woman could quickly assess the situation and resolve the negative press. She was very capable.
The man sitting across from her, Hong Lifei, head of Finance, was no pushover either. Under his management, the branch’s financial issues had been properly handled without any problems. Their rivalry had been going on for years.
“Don’t worry about things that aren’t your business. Just focus on yourself,” Hong Lifei said calmly. Once they drove away this young GM Gu, they could go back to being adversaries.
Zhuang Shu, head of Human Resources, was tall, thin, and rather gentle-looking. “I heard GM Gu secured the port project last year. If she pulls that off, it’ll be a major achievement. Everyone, let’s not make any mistakes on this.”
The others nodded in agreement. It was hard to believe that Gu Wan’er wasn’t even there yet, and these people were openly plotting against her, seemingly forgetting that this branch company belonged to her family in the first place.
But then the conference room door swung open, and everyone instantly fell silent. They didn’t have the guts to say such things to Gu Wan’er’s face.
Gu Wan’er’s high heels clicked in a steady rhythm. Her beautiful face was covered in a layer of frost, her presence and aura at maximum intensity.
Yu Xiaoduo, following behind her, remained silent. His job was just to be the little note-taking secretary. Still, seeing a bunch of old men ganging up on his “half-woman” made him feel a bit annoyed.
Gu Wan’er stood at the head of the table but didn’t sit down. Her gaze swept over everyone present.
Yu Xiaoduo, standing behind her, suddenly barked, “Meeting called to order. Everyone rise!”
The shout was so powerful that it startled even Gu Wan’er. Could you maybe give a little warning? Yelling right behind me like that, you almost scared all my authority away.
The company executives turned to look at Yu Xiaoduo. Who was this young guy, following right behind GM Gu?
At Yu Xiaoduo’s shout, Hong Lifei led the way, standing up. Huang Yanfei saw this and stood up too. They had planned to give Gu Wan’er a bit of a cold reception, but this young fellow had already ruined it.
Gu Wan’er felt a secret thrill. She had been right to keep Yu Xiaoduo close. Having another person gave her more strength.
Yu Xiaoduo, meanwhile, was thinking: If I were in Gu Wan’er’s body right now, I’d give them all a piece of my mind. The nerve of them, acting like no one else is in the room.
But looking at this situation, none of them were pushovers. There was a good chance this project was going to fail.
