Chapter 42: The Art of War

The art of war prioritizes strategy, but attacking the heart is the supreme approach!

This tactic of Gu Liyan's is extremely effective on Zhou Xiaoru!

At this moment, she is no longer in a rush to think about resigning, but is instead weighing the pros and cons in deep thought.

However, with her brain constantly overdrawn at the moment, Zhou Xiaoru's head feels like it is about to explode.

Furthermore, at this time, she feels herself alternating between cold and hot.

Oh no! This is a precursor to a fever!

Truly too lazy to keep thinking about those wretched matters, Zhou Xiaoru, feeling very impatient and helpless, continues to ask for her things.

"Big Boss Gu! Master Gu! I beg you, please stop making things difficult for a poor little woman like me, just give me back my phone." She is one step away from kneeling and kowtowing.

It is sweltering in this office, just like a giant heater; she is about to be baked unconscious.

Over there, the handsome Gu has already noticed her abnormality and asks.

"What is wrong with you? Are you not feeling well?"

Zhou Xiaoru cannot help but curse in her heart again!

"Damn it! As long as one's eyes aren't blind, any person can see that she is very unwell right now, okay!"

Before she even finishes cursing in her heart, a touch of icy coolness reaches her forehead.

The hand of the President Gu has successfully pressed against it.

Zhou Xiaoru is now completely drained of all temper.

And upon making contact with her burning forehead, Gu Liyan cannot help but furrow his brows even deeper.

"You have a fever!"

At this moment, Zhou Xiaoru feels inexplicably furious inside!

She has always felt that Gu Liyan is just deliberately playing with her!

It is just that this lady is feeling very unwell all over right now! Very annoyed! She is in no mood to play house with him!

Not only does she have a headache, eye pain, and a stomachache, but she is also bored out of her mind—why is she even babbling with him about all this!

Isn't it just coming to get a phone! Why is it as difficult as coming to collect a debt!

This won't do; she is feeling a bit dizzy and lightheaded now. If she stays any longer, she will end up on tomorrow's social news headlines.

She has even thought of the title...

"A senior graduate from a well-known university dies suddenly in the President's Office of a well-known company."

She waves her hand and says, "If you like that phone, just take it. This lady... doesn't want it anymore..."

If she says she doesn't want it, that should be enough, right? After saying this, she prepares to leave...

At this moment, Gu Liyan strides forward and, with force, half-carries and half-drags the person who is currently somewhat dazed, pulling her to sit on the sofa.

Zhou Xiaoru is now completely enraged!

Pinned to the sofa and forced to look up at that man, she fires on all cylinders.

"Gu Liyan! What exactly do you want to do!"

The man only looks at her steadily; one hand remains pressed on her shoulder, while the other hand frees itself to press the landline phone on the table beside the sofa.

The call is connected quickly.

"President Gu..."

"Go and call my private doctor over."

"Understood, please wait a moment."

After hanging up the phone, the man does not stand up immediately; he leans over the sofa and reaches out to stroke Zhou Xiaoru's flushed, swollen forehead.

Because of the fever, Zhou Xiaoru's eyes are red, and because of her anger, she is still panting.

What a sin! Her brain must have short-circuited back then to like a person like this!

And what the handsome Gu says next makes her already high blood pressure rise straight to the top.

Gu Liyan looks down at the furious little face on the sofa and says gently.

"Zhou Xiaoru... I have taken a fancy to you, so do not think about resigning from Tengyuan. If you resign, you should know the consequences... but if you stay, I can make you a permanent employee right now, without waiting for the internship period to end before applying to stay... but the prerequisite is that for the next two years, you cannot resign from Tengyuan. If you resign, it counts as a breach of contract, and you must pay a high penalty fee..."

The first half of this statement already made her blood pressure rise significantly, and the second half is like throwing a shiny gold bar to a penniless pauper!

This is a windfall!!

How could such a tempting condition not be heart-stirring!

Tengyuan's internship period is three months, and the probationary period is another three months; this adds up to half a year...

But now, she can become a permanent employee without waiting for half a year!

Zhou Xiaoru, with her brain burning, is still struggling to think about whether this deal is worth it.

And the man still hovering above her has a glint of calculation flash in his ink-black eyes.

Thirty-six stratagems, the delaying tactic!

Just as Zhou Xiaoru is still thinking, the landline on the small table beside them rings...

"Hello, President Gu, your private doctor has arrived..."

A strange smile flashes across the corner of the man's mouth as he replies.

"Let him in."

"Very well."

Then, the door to the President's Office is pushed open from the outside.

A steady, handsome young man, looking only in his early thirties, walks in carrying a medical kit.

After entering, he is the first to tease.

"What is it? Where are you injured this time?"

Zhou Xiaoru, sitting on the sofa, heard the word "injured" and subconsciously began to perform a little drama in her mind.

But the curtain of this theater had not yet been raised before it was interrupted by a certain man.

Gu Liyan watched her eyes slowly turn round again, and he knew this girl was about to start letting her imagination run wild.

He affectionately flicked her little nose and said.

"No more wild thoughts! The last time I was injured, that was the time you came to deliver documents; I was scalded by hot coffee, which is why I went to Su Poyang's office to change clothes."

It was that very time that this girl had been misunderstanding him as being gay!

Actually, he should also be grateful for that blunder, as it gave him so many opportunities to reconnect with and get to know this girl again.

At this moment, Shen Andong noticed that there was still someone sitting on the sofa.

However, he had known Gu Liyan for many years and had never seen him be so affectionate toward any girl.

He wanted to see what kind of great beauty she was.

When he walked around to the front of the sofa, he saw a little girl with flushed cheeks, blinking her large eyes, panting, and looking somewhat indignant.

Shen Andong looked suspiciously at the man standing in front of the sofa and asked.

"This is..."

He had never seen her before.

Gu Liyan introduced her in a friendly manner, "Zhou Xiaoru..." He then glanced at the person on the sofa and said again.

"Shen Andong, my high school classmate, a famous internist."

This served as an introduction for Zhou Xiaoru.

Zhou Xiaoru might have been angry, but she couldn't lose her temper for no reason in front of others.

However, as she looked up, she saw a very handsome man, and her eyes instantly lit up.

This change made a certain gentleman's expression darken.

Shen Andong, however, smiled and asked, "Is this the Zhou Xiaoru that Aunt Xiaofang mentioned?"

A certain man gave a "hmm" as an answer.

Shen Andong was Gu Liyan's best friend; the two had known each other since middle school.

He not only knew Gu Liyan's parents but had also met Gu Liyan's aunt, and he had once heard her mention that she had already picked out a partner for Gu Liyan.

So, it was this girl!

Shen Andong coughed twice, deliberately ignoring a certain infatuated gaze.

He asked, "Which one of you needs to see a doctor?"

Gu Liyan's expression was already looking worse and worse, and he pointed to the woman in front of him.

"She hit her head and is running a fever now."

After hearing this, Shen Andong placed the medical kit in his hand onto the coffee table in front of the sofa.

He then took out a thermometer from inside...

Before he could come over, Gu Liyan snatched the thermometer and said.

"I'll do it!"

Shen Andong couldn't help but want to tease the man!

He saw Gu Liyan carefully wipe the thermometer clean with a tissue first...

Shen Andong, who was watching from the side, was very annoyed.

"Hey! My things are all pre-sterilized; you're doing extra work for nothing."

Gu Liyan just kept wiping it, ignoring him.

After he finished wiping it, he said to the person on the sofa.

"Open your mouth!"

Zhou Xiaoru pursed her lips and had no choice but to obediently open her mouth.

A certain man looked at her fluffy hair and said again.

"Tie your hair up, and you won't feel so irritable."

He had already seen her tugging at her hair more than once just now...

Zhou Xiaoru was stunned; how did he know she was feeling irritable because of this mess of hair?

She turned her head away and said in a muffled voice.

"I didn't bring a hair tie."

She had come out after taking a cold shower in the morning; how could she have cared about such things?

Gu Liyan watched her quietly for a moment longer, then pressed the button on the desk phone beside him again.

"Hello, President Gu!"

"Find a few hair ties."

"..." There was a pause on the other end of the line, followed by a hurried reply, "Understood."

After hanging up the phone, the secretary was still in a state of shock.

And in the office, Shen Andong was also watching the interaction between the other two as if he had discovered a new continent.

A few minutes later, Gu Liyan took the thermometer out of a certain Xiaoru's mouth, glanced at it, and frowned even deeper.

"Thirty-nine point three degrees."

This made Shen Andong, who had rushed over specifically, a bit annoyed...

"I say, kid, you could be a doctor yourself, so why did you call me over?"

He was doing everything himself, so there was no need for him to make this trip at all.

At this moment, a certain gentleman wiped the thermometer in his hand clean again and handed it over.

He said, "You need to prescribe medicine for her, and she has a bump on her head from the impact; you should check if she needs to go to the hospital for a CT scan."

These words made Shen Andong laugh out loud, while Zhou Xiaoru widened her eyes once again.

She immediately retorted, "What CT scan! My brain isn't damaged!"

These words couldn't help but hit Shen Andong's funny bone again, making him shake all over as he laughed.

He walked over, preparing to examine the head of a certain Xiaoru.

However, just as his hand reached out, it was intercepted halfway.

A certain gentleman grabbed his arm and said with a dark expression.

"For this, I don't think you need to use your hands!"

Shen Andong felt helpless, "If I don't touch the tissue around the head, how would I know if your little girlfriend needs to go to the hospital for a CT scan!"

Hearing the term "little girlfriend," Zhou Xiaoru's impression of this handsome man instantly plummeted and hit rock bottom.

Yet the gentleman didn't explain at all, and he didn't seem to have any aversion to such a label.

Although he really didn't want to see Shen Andong's hand touch this girl, the man was a doctor, and he was the one who had specifically called him over.

After thinking for a moment, he slowly let go of the arm he was holding...

Shen Andong shook his head in amusement; when had he ever seen his good buddy care so much about someone?

It seemed that what Su Poyang had told him before was correct; the iron tree that hadn't bloomed in a thousand years was finally going to bloom...