Chapter 2 - Loyalty

After her mom's constant nagging, Xiu Mei finally raised the white flag and surrendered. Lying on her bed, she thought of how she was going to ask for a time off this weekend. As Lu Chen's left-hand person, she was also working overtime during weekends and barely had rest days even in Sundays.

"Let's worry about it tomorrow." She then went to do her night routine before sleeping. Setting her alarm, she fell asleep instantly upon hitting the pillow.

She went to work early the next day. Since it was still an hour before the normal working hours, only the security and a handful of employees are within the building. Xiu Mei exchanged pleasantries with some of the people she passed as she walked to the elevator exclusive for the president and his secretaries.

After placing down her things in her cubicle, she went straight to the pantry to prepare the hot water and snacks. She also placed an order for breakfast just in case the emperor CEO needed it and if not, she could just place it inside the refrigerator and have it heated for her own consumption. The emperor CEO hated wasting food thus, he wasn't very selfish in sharing his own food to Lu Shao and her.

Xiu Mei finally buried herself to her own paper works for the next few hours while faintly greeting the emperor CEO and Lu Shao who just arrived at work.

"What's the status about the acquisition for the power plants?" Lu Chen asked with an indifferent tone as he watched his two secretaries sitting opposite him presenting their status reports.

"These are the papers delivered by the Accounting Department." Xiu Mei handed a red folder to him. "The owners have signed the papers for the acquisition so the legal department have started the processing for change of ownership. I will also visit the site with the technology team for further inspection."

"After the final inspection, arrange the team heads for a meeting tomorrow." Lu Chen simply skimmed through the report before putting it down.

She nodded and noted it down on her phone. Lu Shao's report went after hers and she waited till he left the room before asking about her personal matters.

"CEO, I would like to request for half-day off on Saturday." Xiu Mei resolutely said to Lu Chen. He was looking down on the reports when he heard her. He slightly raised his head and stared at her for whole two seconds before giving a reply.

"Reason?" Lu Chen thought that the work would become a bit slower if Lu Shao or Xiu Mei would miss work thus, he rarely gave them long vacations. And lucky for him, his two subordinates are more career-focused than other people and almost never requested for day offs either.

Xiu Mei hesitated for a second if she should be honest about the reason for her absence. In the end, she still declared the real reason and silently apologized for her mother for taking the blame. Since she was the one who really wanted me to attend this blind date, let all the responsibility be hers. Love you, mom.

"Blind date? How old are you again this year?" Xiu Mei's right eye almost twitched from annoyance. She's been working for him for at least four years and the least he could do was remember his subordinate's ages.

"25 years old, Mr.Lu."

Lu Chen leaned back to his seat and stared at Xiu Mei. His thoughts were focused on the person in front of him. He thought back on how he personally picked Xiu Mei out of all the applicants for the internship program in their company.

He had Lu Shao do a background check on Xiu Mei before he decided on training Xiu Mei to become his secretary. Lu Chen knew that this girl in front of him came from a prestigious background that were better than his. Her family's power is deeply rooted not only in mainland China but also in other countries.

Because of that, he wondered why this supposed-to-be privileged lady since birth is applying for in his company rather than going to her family's. Were their family trying to spy on his company and try crushing them on the inside?

Lu Chen had great doubts about Xiu Mei's intention thus he ordered his subordinates to dig deeper into her past. Realizing the truth about her actions, he admired her resolve for not depending on her family and stood by her own feet.

He still had some little doubts but those were slowly erased when Xiu Mei officially entered the company and knew how competent and loyal the girl was. He appreciated this kind of people the most and willingly trusted this girl to become his secretary right after she graduated.

He just realized it right now that it's been quite a while ever since she entered his company. 4 years… it's already considered long enough if we compare it to the other incompetent employees.

Lu Chen may be aloof towards other people but he deeply cares about his subordinates. In return for their loyalty, he treats them very well than how the other CEOs' of other companies treat theirs.

He grew up in a difficult environment thus he became a miser so he rarely gave bonuses to his own two secretaries aside during holidays. So the only he could do was treat them with respect and appreciate their competence and loyalty for him. For their requests, he would always hear them out and if it was within reason, he would not hesitate to help them out.

"Okay. Goodluck with your date then." Lu Chen smiled lightly at her before resuming his work.