Chapter 20 - The First Time Lying for Ye Fan

After He Jiaqiang left, Cao Guoqiang pondered for a moment, feeling that He Jiaqiang seemed to be acting officially, but his attitude appeared to be targeting Ye Fan.

Thus, he picked up the phone and called Lu Xiaoman’s office.

Lu Xiaoman sat at her desk; her computer was on, and there was a document on the desk, but she was distracted, frequently looking up at the office door.

“Ye Fan, why haven’t you come to work yet?

It’s already past three o’clock.” She murmured anxiously and worriedly in a low voice, “I don’t even know if he has completed the recruitment task.

His phone is turned off too.

I’m so worried.

If he hasn’t finished it, He Jiaqiang will definitely take the opportunity to flare up.

What should I do?

It’s all my fault.”

Just then, the office phone suddenly rang loudly, startling her.

Patting her chest, Lu Xiaoman looked at the caller ID and saw it was from the HR Manager’s office, her heart suddenly tightened.

Still, she had to answer it.

“Hello, Manager Cao, this is Lu Xiaoman.” Lu Xiaoman said cautiously, “What can I do for you?”

“Xiaoman, is Ye Fan there?” Cao Guoqiang’s voice came through the phone.

“Ah!” Lu Xiaoman exclaimed in shock, fearing exactly what was happening, “He, he, he…”

“Is he there or not?”

“…He’s not here.” Lu Xiaoman didn’t dare to lie, answering softly, then quickly explained, “He went out at noon because of the recruitment task.

Maybe he hasn’t come back because it’s not finished yet.”

“Um.” Cao Guoqiang responded, saying, “Come to my office.”

“Yes.”

After hanging up, Lu Xiaoman left her office and headed to Cao Guoqiang’s office.

As Lu Xiaoman entered, Cao Guoqiang said, “Close the door.”

“Oh.” Lu Xiaoman responded and turned to close the door.

Cao Guoqiang walked out of his desk, sat down on the sofa in front of the coffee table, and gestured for the door-closing Lu Xiaoman to sit down.

“Xiaoman, Ye Fan has been under your supervision since he joined.

How has his performance been?” Cao Guoqiang asked straightforwardly.

Lu Xiaoman cautiously replied, “It’s, it’s okay.”

“I’ve heard he was late for work,” Cao Guoqiang stated.

Lu Xiaoman’s heart thudded, and she replied somewhat frantically, “Yes, he was late once, this morning.

He said it was because of traffic.”

Cao Guoqiang did not further probe into Ye Fan’s tardiness.

After pondering for a while, he asked, “Does Manager He pay attention to Ye Fan usually?”

Lu Xiaoman didn’t answer immediately, quickly considering why Cao Guoqiang was asking this.

“Could it be that He Jiaqiang has really made a report to fire Ye Fan?” she thought nervously.

With this thought, she gritted her teeth and said, “Manager Cao, there are some things I’m not sure if I should say.”

“Say it,” Cao Guoqiang responded.

Lu Xiaoman took a deep breath and said, “I don’t know why, but Manager He has a poor attitude towards Ye Fan, frequently criticizing his work.

This morning, Manager He even specifically assigned Ye Fan a task to go out and recruit.

At that time, I thought that Ye Fan, having just joined a few days ago, was not yet fully familiar with the work process and temporarily unsuitable for the task.

But Manager He insisted on Ye Fan doing it.”

“Um—,” Cao Guoqiang hummed a long response without revealing any attitude.

After finishing speaking, Lu Xiaoman didn’t dare to look at Cao Guoqiang, nervously clenching her two pale small hands together under the coffee table.

Cao Guoqiang noticed that Lu Xiaoman had nothing more to say, so he said, “Go back to your work.

If Ye Fan comes back, have him come see me.”

“Yes,” Lu Xiaoman stood up.

“Goodbye, Manager Cao.”

Walking out of Cao Guoqiang’s office, Lu Xiaoman felt her legs weaken and her back was drenched in cold sweat.

Her heart pounded wildly, almost leaping out of her chest.

It was the first time in her life she had spoken ill behind someone’s back, and she had even lied.

If it weren’t for Ye Fan, she would never have had the courage to do such a thing.

Returning to her own office, she immediately started worrying about Ye Fan.

She wasn’t stupid; she had already guessed that He Jiaqiang had submitted a report to Cao Guoqiang requesting Ye Fan’s dismissal.

And the fact that He Jiaqiang dared to submit the report before Ye Fan had returned indicated that he knew the recruitment task had failed.

“What should I do?

If Ye Fan gets fired because of this, I…” Thinking of this, she couldn’t help feeling very sad and guilty about Ye Fan.

Nearly four o’clock, Ye Fan finally returned to the office.

As soon as Ye Fan appeared at the office door, Lu Xiaoman quickly went up to him, without saying a word, hurriedly closed the door, then grabbed Ye Fan’s hand anxiously and led him into the office.

Being grabbed by Lu Xiaoman’s soft and smooth hand, Ye Fan felt a soft, slippery sensation and unwittingly felt a stir in his heart.

He instinctively took Lu Xiaoman’s small hand in his, carefully feeling its delicate smoothness and boneless softness.

Lu Xiaoman hadn’t expected Ye Fan to grab her hand in return, and she felt embarrassed and reflexively tried to pull her hand away.

But Ye Fan wouldn’t let go so easily and held on a bit more tightly.

After struggling a few times without success in retrieving her hand, and realizing she had been terribly worried about Ye Fan’s situation while he seemed to still have the inclination to take advantage of her, she felt overcome by grief and suddenly her tears came flooding out.

Seeing Lu Xiaoman crying, Ye Fan was frightened and quickly let go, hurriedly apologizing, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it was my fault.

Please don’t cry, okay?

Xiaoman sister.”

Lu Xiaoman eventually softened her heart and didn’t want to stay mad at Ye Fan.

She turned away, sniffed, and wiped her tears with a tissue she carried with her.

Seeing that Lu Xiaoman had stopped crying, Ye Fan grinned sheepishly, trying to appease her, “Haha, Xiaoman sister, why did you rush to pull me in?

What do you need?

Please just say it, I’ll definitely do my best to fulfill it.”

Lu Xiaoman looked at Ye Fan with slightly reddened eyes for a while and said, “At least you still have some conscience.”

“Haha, Xiaoman sister’s gaze is indeed sharp, seeing right through to my true nature,” Ye Fan boasted, patting his proudly puffed chest and bragging, “I may lack many things, but I definitely have a big heart!”

“Phf—” Lu Xiaoman couldn’t help but cover her mouth and giggle, the sadness and oppression in her heart dissipating substantially.

Ye Fan, looking at Lu Xiaoman breaking into laughter, found her incredibly beautiful, lighting up the office considerably.

He couldn’t help but compliment, “Xiaoman sister, you look really pretty.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Lu Xiaoman blushed instantly, slightly indignant, “You just admitted your mistake, and now you’re flirting with me!”

Ye Fan chuckled, “I really meant it.”

“Even if it’s false!” Lu Xiaoman glared at him with her lovely eyes, then changed the subject, “Ye Fan, did you complete the recruitment task He Jiaqiang assigned you?”

At this point, she still held a glimmer of hope.

Ye Fan smiled lightly, “I haven’t even met Gao Feng.”

“Why?

Is it because you don’t know the way or couldn’t find the place?

Or did He Jiaqiang purposefully mislead you with the wrong time and location?” Lu Xiaoman asked nervously.

Ye Fan answered, “Neither.

I happened to come across a murder case on the road.

The murderer was purposefully hitting someone with a small truck.

I got involved and couldn’t get away.

It wasn’t until after three o’clock that I was finally done giving my statement at the police station.”

Hearing that Ye Fan’s failure to complete the task was due to an irresistible emergency rather than his own work mistake or fault, Lu Xiaoman breathed a sigh of relief, placing her hand on her chest and gently patting, “That’s good, that’s good.

Since it’s not your fault, He Jiaqiang can’t use this opportunity to file a report to fire you.”

Lu Xiaoman didn’t hear Ye Fan’s answer and looked up only to find him staring intently at her.

Her pretty face instantly turned as red as if bleeding, and she quickly retracted her hand that had been lightly patting her chest.

Her head bowed, her small, cute chin resting against her chest, she felt embarrassed, yet there was a hidden joy inside, not disliking at all the way Ye Fan was looking at her.