Chapter 768: Come to my office

"Oh, I have some business with Division Chief Lan." Hearing her loud call, Division Chief Lan certainly knew he was standing at her office door. In his urgency, Zhao Desan replied, then steeled himself and walked up to the door of Lan Mei's office. He raised his hand and knocked gently on the half-closed door, calling out in a gentle, polite tone, "Division Chief Lan."

From inside, Lan Mei responded in a lukewarm tone, "Come in."

Zhao Desan pushed the office door open softly and walked in, not daring to take heavy steps. Once inside, Division Chief Lan was looking down, intently flipping through some documents. She didn't even lift her head, asking him in a detached tone while she read, "What is it?" This soft tone actually made Zhao Desan feel that the atmosphere wasn't quite as oppressive; it seemed that only when she was working seriously and speaking to someone would her tone sound a bit distracted, not as cold and indifferent as usual.

Watching Division Chief Lan working so seriously, Zhao Desan felt truly embarrassed to ask her for money. After all, as a man, it was already inappropriate to ask a woman for a loan. On top of that, if Division Chief Lan started asking all sorts of questions, it would be too annoying. Thus, he hesitated, stammering for a long while without being able to get to the point.

Division Chief Lan, who had been looking down at the documents on her desk, noticed he had come to find her but hadn't said what he wanted after a long time. Feeling a bit curious, she stopped her work and slowly lifted her fair, beautiful face. Her long, slender eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and her exotic eyes were half-closed as she looked at him with a very puzzled expression. She asked impatiently, "Zhao Desan, what is it? Why are you dragging your feet?"

Forget it. Since he had already come to her door, if he didn't say it, he would have suffered her cold glare for nothing! Zhao Desan steeled his heart, gritted his teeth, and with his head slightly lowered, he stammered, "Division Chief Lan, I... I would like to ask you for a favor."

"Oh?" Lan Mei raised her long, willow-leaf eyebrows and slightly widened her enchanting eyes, her expression showing some surprise. "What else do you need my help with? Tell me, let's see what I can do for you." Although Division Chief Lan didn't refuse directly, her tone was quite flippant, as if she felt that since Zhao Desan was usually so resourceful, how could he still need her help?

"I... I would like to borrow... borrow some money from you..." Zhao Desan said in a low voice, feeling so embarrassed that he didn't even dare to lift his head.

"Borrow money from me?" Lan Mei felt a bit surprised. She straightened her willow-like waist, lifted her head and chest, and her two plump, fleshy mounds pressed forward under her autumn attire. Although she was sitting in a chair, her imposing figure still made Zhao Desan, who had his head lowered, steal a glance before he nodded.

Lan Mei considered it for a moment, lost in thought, and hummed in her nose for a while, as if she had made up her mind. She leaned back in her chair again, squinting at him, and said, "Since you've opened your mouth, if I, as your leader, don't agree, it would seem too heartless. Besides, I think that since you were willing to swallow your pride and ask me, you must be in a difficult spot. How much?"

Zhao Desan couldn't believe his ears. He hadn't expected that Division Chief Lan, who was always aggressive and never cared about her subordinates outside of work, would actually have a charitable heart. He had thought she would politely refuse; after all, in this world, you can talk about anything, just not borrowing money. Once you mention borrowing money, a whole group of friends will have all sorts of excuses to politely decline. Zhao Desan lifted his head, pleasantly surprised, and smiled at Lan Mei with gratitude, holding up three fingers. "Three hundred thousand."

Lan Mei was just lifting her teacup to drink. As she brought the cup to her rosy, thin lips and took a sip, her exotic eyes were fixed on him, waiting for him to state the amount. When Zhao Desan said the words "three hundred thousand," Lan Mei spat out the water she had just taken into her mouth, spraying it all over the desk, and she herself was choked into a fit of coughing.

Seeing this, Zhao Desan didn't care about anything else and immediately stepped forward. While she was bent over coughing because water had gone up her nose, he patted her back gently and asked with concern, "Division Chief Lan, are you alright?"

Lan Mei had truly been frightened by his "lion's opening of the mouth." She had thought that if it were thirty thousand, she could consider it, but this three hundred thousand had shocked her so much that she spat out the water in her mouth. She was choked into coughing, and it was only after Zhao Desan, in his urgency, stepped forward and patted her back for a while that she slightly recovered her composure. She then slowly sat up straight, pulled a few tissues from the box on the side, and wiped the water droplets hanging from her nose and the corners of her mouth. Feeling that Zhao Desan had seen this uncomposed side of her, a slight rosy glow appeared on Lan Mei's face. As she wiped the moisture from her mouth and caught her breath, she said, "Zhao Desan, you really are a lion opening your mouth. You should go to the bank to borrow that much money; why did you come to me?"

"I... I have an urgent matter at home. I don't have many acquaintances in Xijing, that's why... that's why I came to ask Division Chief Lan for this favor." Zhao Desan lied in his urgency, his hand still mechanically and habitually patting her back.

Division Chief Lan looked up at him with her exotic eyes and asked, "Still patting?"

Only then did Zhao Desan realize that Division Chief Lan had long since stopped coughing. He immediately stopped his hand, looked at her with a somewhat foolish expression, his demeanor appearing extremely awkward, and then pretended to be calm and smiled.

Sometimes, Lan Mei really couldn't get angry at his cheeky appearance. She glanced at him, continued to pull a tissue from the box on the side to wipe her nose, which had turned a bit red from choking, and said, "I can't help you with three hundred thousand. I can lend you at most one hundred thousand, and the term can be a bit longer. I know that if you weren't in urgent need, you wouldn't have steeled yourself to ask me. You'll have to find a way for the rest yourself. How about that?" Lan Mei threw the tissue she had used to wipe her nose into the trash can beside the desk, leaned over, and looked up at him, waiting for his answer.

Just as she turned and lifted her face, because Zhao Desan was standing right beside her, looking down from above, his line of sight was wide and the angle was good. He looked down along her fair neck. Although her dark blue coat wrapped her slender, exquisite figure tightly, the collar of her close-fitting shirt was open by one button. Looking down, he could see a scene of fragrant, alluring scenery hidden beneath the shirt—white and tender, just like buns fresh out of a steamer. It looked soft and warm, truly provocative, making Zhao Desan unable to help but swallow his saliva. Fearing he might appear uncomposed, he quickly shifted his gaze elsewhere, smiled somewhat uncomfortably, and said, "Then... then thank you, Division Chief Lan. When can you lend it to me?"

Lan Mei could see that this guy was in a great hurry to use the money. As a newcomer to the Planning Division, he had been able to handle things on his own in less than half a year, sharing quite a bit of work for her. No leader would treat a subordinate who helped share the workload poorly. Therefore, Lan Mei actually valued him quite a bit in her heart, so when he came to her with difficulties, she agreed without hesitation. If it were someone else, it might not be the case. Like Xia Xia Xia Jian, who came to borrow money when he got married and bought a house the year before last, she didn't lend it to him. Being subordinates, leaders naturally like subordinates who have outstanding work ability, a flexible mind, and who not only don't cause trouble but can also help share the workload.

So Lan Mei said, "Then come to my office when you come to work this afternoon. I'll bring it to you when I come over this afternoon."

Although he had only solved one hundred thousand, which was merely one-third of the money he needed to raise, this already made Zhao Desan very gratified. Every little bit helps; at least he could give an account to Zhao Xue. So Zhao Desan thanked Division Chief Lan repeatedly and excitedly. Seeing him so happy, Lan Mei, who hadn't smiled much since her divorce several years ago, felt her lips involuntarily curl into a warm smile for some reason. At this moment, it seemed as if the two of them were not in a superior-subordinate relationship at all, especially since Zhao Desan had just stepped forward to stand beside her and pat her back when she was choked by water, and was still leaning against her chair. It looked more like he was Lan Mei's personal male secretary. If an outsider saw this scene, they would definitely misunderstand.

And sure enough, this scene was seen by Zheng Zheng Zheng Tulu, who had come down from the third floor to find Lan Mei. Zheng Zheng Zheng Tulu had originally come downstairs with his briefcase to get a planning draft from Lan Mei to take to the provincial government for a special meeting on the work of the provincial newspaper for the famous historical and cultural city, and to see Lan Mei while he was at it. For this ice-cold beauty in her early thirties with a top-notch figure and appearance, Zheng Zheng Zheng Tulu, this old lecher, had long harbored evil intentions and had coveted her for a long time. But he was troubled by the fact that this woman had a proud personality and was difficult to approach outside of work. Furthermore, although she was divorced, her ex-husband was a leader in the provincial People's Congress, so the old guy didn't dare to act rashly and could only use work excuses to find opportunities to visit her office, feasting his eyes on her curvy figure and that cold, frosty face that made people want to get close to her.

When Zheng Zheng Zheng Tulu walked to the door of Lan Mei's office, whistling and in high spirits, he found that the beautiful, alluring young woman he had coveted for a long time was smiling at Zhao Desan, eye to eye. Seeing this scene, the enthusiastic smile on Zheng Zheng Zheng Tulu's chubby face suddenly froze, and he looked at them in a daze. It was also Zhao Desan's fault for leaning against the sexy, cold, and beautiful Division Chief Lan, relying on his height advantage to have a wide view, and being able to vaguely glimpse the beautiful, white, fragrant scenery in the collar of her white shirt. He didn't want to leave for a while, and Lan Mei had agreed to lend him one hundred thousand. The two of them were just smiling at each other politely, but this scene was seen by the old bald donkey, who was very annoyed. He thought to himself, "The woman I've been coveting for so long, and you, Zhao Desan, are really bold enough to compete with me for a woman!" So he pulled a long face and coughed a few times on purpose.

Hearing the movement at the door, Division Chief Lan and Zhao Desan turned their gazes to the door at the same time. Unlike Division Chief Lan, who remained calm and didn't feel anything, and didn't deliberately change her sitting posture, Zhao Desan, upon hearing the cough and looking toward the door, subconsciously and alertly moved his body away from Division Chief Lan's chair, standing more than a meter away. His expression was a bit flustered, but he also smiled enthusiastically at the old bald donkey as if nothing had happened, greeting him, "Director Zheng, you're here."

Zheng Zheng Zheng Tulu smiled insincerely as he walked toward the office and said meaningfully, "Comrade Comrade Xiao Zhao, what are you doing here instead of staying in your office during work hours? I think you almost snatched your Division Chief Lan's seat."