A tense silence hung in the air as Qin Heye stared at the message from Shi Ning, his world momentarily thrown off its axis. For three long years, her messages had been a monotonous drumbeat of “divorce,” yet now, a new melody played – she called herself his wife. A tremor, imperceptible to anyone but himself, went through him.
Pei Qianhuo, ever the diligent assistant, entered with a fresh stack of documents this time , his eyes immediately drawn to Qin Heye’s unreadable expression, a premonition of unease coiling in his gut. “President, is that a message from Miss Shi?” he ventured cautiously.
Without looking up from his phone, Qin Heye corrected him, his voice laced with an unfamiliar possessiveness. “Call her madam.”
Pei Qianhuo, taken aback, stumbled over the correction. “…a message from the madam.”
“Yeah.” Qin Heye’s thumb hovered over the keyboard, typing and deleting a flurry of words, unable to find the right response. Finally, he lifted his gaze, a rare flicker of vulnerability in his usually unyielding eyes. “How do you usually coax your wife?”
Pei Qianhuo blinked, his shock evident by his whole body . “Huh? Are you going to coax madam?”
A dismissive wave of Qin Heye’s hand followed. “You probably don’t know how to coax a woman, otherwise you would have gotten married a long time ago.” He returned to his phone, oblivious to the sputtering indignation of his long-suffering assistant.
President! Pei Qianhuo’s mind screamed. Have you ever seen a man working overtime at the company at 10 o’clock at night, with time to fall in love and coax a woman to marry?!
Meanwhile, Shi Ning watched her screen, a silent battle playing out in the chatbox. Qin Heye was typing, then pausing, then typing again, yet no message materialized. Her patience, already thin, snapped.
Shi Ning: [Your wife! Really is super! Angry! ]
Qin Heye, utterly devoid of experience in the delicate art of coaxing, panicked. He scrambled for an excuse, any excuse, to buy himself time.
Qin Heye: [Wait, I’m busy right now , in a meeting! Emergency meeting! Wait for me for 30 minutes! ]
Shi Ning’s response was a string of question marks, laced with disbelief. At 10 o’clock in the evening, an emergency meeting? No wonder he’s called the Great Devil Qin!
Putting down his phone, Qin Heye’s gaze swept over Pei Qianhuo. “Hold an emergency meeting, for everyone in the company!”
Pei Qianhuo stared at his boss , aghast. Is there something wrong with the president? He got angry at Shi Ning and now he’s taking it out on his employees? What a great devil! I really want to quit my job and go home to marry a wife without an annual salary of one million!
Across the city, employees, some already in bed, others fresh out of the shower and contemplating domestic bliss, found their evenings abruptly interrupted by the sudden meeting notification. An emergency meeting! This kind of super-emergency hadn’t happened in five years, and the last time it happened was when , the company had been on the brink of collapse. What fresh disaster awaited them now?
With trepidation, they fired up their computers and joined the video conference. Qin Heye’s face, cold and unyielding, filled their screens immidiately , his eyes now swirling with an unnerving intensity. This very sight of him sent shivers down their spines, plummeting the atmosphere to a glacial freeze.
“President,” an employee ventured cautiously, his mind racing through every mistake he’d made since joining the company. The more timid among them were already mentally confessing their workplace sins: the slacking off, the toilet weight-loss exercises, the extra cafeteria cakes, and the one snuck home for their wives. They braced themselves, envisioning a corporate guillotine.
Then, finally, Qin Heye spoke, his voice slow and deliberate, a profound frown etched on his brow. “How do I coax my wife?”
Pei Qianhuo and the employees, poised for their confessions, gaped in unison. ???
No! their collective thoughts screamed. We’ve already mapped out the most comfortable ways to die! And you’re asking us how to coax your wife?
Qin Heye, oblivious to their internal turmoil, reiterated, “My wife is angry with me , she wants me to coax her! I don’t know how.”
Their eyes, wider than saucers, their mouths agape, were a testament to their utter stupefaction. No way? Mr. President, you’re using that dead-serious expression, like the company’s going bankrupt, to ask about coaxing your wife? Are you serious? Are you serious about convening all employees for an emergency meeting in the middle of the night for this?!
Qin Heye surveyed their stunned faces and, in a deep voice, laid out the stakes. “Employees who attend the meeting in the evening will get double overtime pay, and those who make suggestions will be rewarded with 10,000 yuan, and those whose suggestions are adopted by me will be rewarded with 500,000 yuan! Those who effectively coax my wife will get a bonus of 1 million.”
At the mention of such staggering rewards, Pei Qianhuo’s resignation plans vanished. He was the first to offer a suggestion, his voice ringing with newfound enthusiasm. “Transfer money to the madam! Where the money is, there is love.”
“Buy a bag! Guaranteed to cure all diseases!” another chimed in.
“Buy flowers! 999 flowers! No woman doesn’t love flowers!”
“A cup of milk tea,” offered another with conviction, “there is no bad mood that can’t be solved by a cup of milk tea, if there is, then two cups!”
“Tell your wife a story,” a voice piped up, “under the gate bridge, there is a group of ducklings queuing up, but the ducks are not lined up neatly, the ducks are not aligned, the ducks are not aligned.”
Qin Heye, in an almost comical display, was taking notes with a solemnity typically reserved for matters of national importance.
Then, a voice, bolder than the rest, cut through the suggestions. “If the president’s wife is angry, then president beats the president’s wife severely. If one beating doesn’t work, then two beats!”
Qin Heye’s beautiful, sword-like eyebrows furrowed deeply. His expression turned serious and stern, his voice as sharp as an ice knife. “Domestic violence is illegal, you! You are fired! Never to be hired again!”
Before he could be summarily ejected from the meeting, the man scrambled to explain. “It’s not a real fight! Husbands and wives quarrel at the head of the bed and make up at the foot of the bed! Mr. President, change the beating to a fight! Beat all night! You will understand! You can’t say it too clearly! It can’t be broadcast! President, you and the president’s wife want to have a child!”
With this clarification, a slow comprehension dawned on Qin Heye’s face. A flush, faint at first, then spreading behind his ears, crept across his cold and handsome features. This idea, it was clear, resonated deeply within him, sparking a desire for immediate implementation.
Meanwhile, Shi Ning, having been told to wait half an hour, decided to take a shower. Emerging refreshed, she checked her phone. “It’s been about half an hour, Qin Heye should be done,” she murmured.
She clicked on their chat, only to be assaulted by a relentless cascade of 200,000 yuan transfers, filling her screen. She lost count of them, but there were undeniably many.
Shi Ning: [? ? ]
Qin Heye: [To coax you.]
Shi Ning was speechless. She wasn’t short on money! And he was just so blunt about coaxing her? She felt even angrier now.
Wife: Qin Heye! As my husband! You actually hid your private money! Your wife is even more angry! ! ! ]
Wife: And! You are mine, your money is mine, you use my money to coax me? Qin Heye! You bastard! ]
In his office, Qin Heye saw the two furious messages from Shi Ning. His thin lips pursed, but despite himself, the corners of his mouth stretched into a wide, undeniable smile. She said he is her husband! She said he is hers!
The employees, still observing their cold, devilish president, watched in astonishment as his face, usually a mask of stoicism, curved into a genuine, almost joyous, grin. It’s terrible! they thought.
At that moment, a knock sounded on Shi Ning’s door.
“Miss Shi, the store has sent the latest clothes and bags. Do you want to try them? Or just put them on the third floor?” The entire third floor was her cloakroom, a testament to Qin Heye’s prior attempts at appeasement.
Another voice followed. “Miss Shi, the flower shop has sent all kinds of flowers. They are all downstairs. Do you want to take a look?”
Shi Ning walked onto her balcony, her eyes widening at the sight below. Her yard was a sea of super-beautiful, famous varieties of colossal 999-rose bouquets, an explosion of color and fragrance.
“Miss Shi, various milk tea shops have sent milk teas of different flavors. Which one do you want to drink?”
“Miss Shi…”
Shi Ning was utterly speechless. What a classic, straight-man approach to coaxing!
Infuriated, she sent a voice message to Qin Heye, her voice brimming with exasperation. “To coax me, you only know how to spend money! Spend money! Spend money! Am I a very materialistic, money-worshiping woman?”
Qin Heye frowned as her angry, soft, and incredibly melodious voice filled his ears. If she were a gold-worshipper, she wouldn’t have been harping about divorce for the past three years. He wanted to tell her she wasn’t.
But then, Shi Ning’s voice message continued, cutting him off.
“I’m not just a materialistic woman! I’m also a lustful woman!”
“Want to please me? Immediately! Right now! Send me a picture of your eight-pack abs!”