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Gu Xiaoxi bought a few more jars of wine on her way back home.

She arrived home just at seven o’clock, quickly washed up, and then got ready for work.

She had taken a sick day off without a sick leave note and needed to find an excuse to get past Mi Xi.

*

Jinhua Garden.

"Achoo!" Quan Shaoqing had just walked in when he let out a big sneeze.

Lin Mi had been anxiously waiting at the door.

It was already unsafe for Quan Shaoqing to go out alone, and it was unexpected for him not to return for an entire night.

What was even worse, his phone was turned off.

If he hadn’t left instructions before he left, Lin Mi would have already called the police.

Seeing Quan Shaoqing return, Lin Mi quickly ran up to take the clothes from his hand and, looking at the man’s slightly flushed cheeks, asked, "Superior officer, are you sick?"

"I’m fine..." Quan Shaoqing’s words were interrupted by another sneeze.

Lin Mi boldly stepped forward and reached out to touch his forehead, only to find that it was burning hot.

"Superior officer, you have a fever, oh no, Uncle Zhou, call Mr. Ai right away," Lin Mi hurriedly shouted to the butler inside the house.

Uncle Zhou hurried out upon hearing this.

Seeing Quan Shaoqing’s abnormal complexion, he immediately turned to make a phone call.

Quan Shaoqing had wanted to say something, but in the end, he just opened his mouth and let Uncle Zhou be...

It just so happened that he had something to ask Ai Xiang!

Ai Xiang was dragged over by Uncle Zhou early in the morning with coaxing and deceiving,

looking quite unwell due to a lack of sleep.

"The young master has fallen ill and has a high fever. Mr. Ai, please have a look quickly and see if there’s a problem!" Uncle Zhou didn’t care about the details, Quan Shaoqing’s life was more important.

Carrying a medicine box, Ai Xiang arrived in Quan Shaoqing’s room.

Quan Shaoqing had already bathed and was sleeping in bed.

Due to the high fever, he was close to losing consciousness.

Seeing this, Ai Xiang instantly lost all traces of drowsiness.

He immediately approached to examine Quan Shaoqing and asked, "Where did he go last night?"

"It’s said that he had something to do and went out, also without having Lin Mi follow him. He didn’t return until he drove back this morning!" Uncle Zhou quickly reported. Now, Quan Shaoqing’s complexion was even redder, making his pale lips stand out even more.

Ai Xiang took his temperature and the thermometer showed 41 degrees.

He was startled and quickly grabbed his phone, ordering the hospital to send medicine over.

At the same time, he instructed Uncle Zhou to get ice to put on his head to cool him down.

After Uncle Zhou left to follow the orders, Ai Xiang looked at Quan Shaoqing with a deeply furrowed brow.

Having known Quan Shaoqing for so long, he had never seen him this sick, not even with serious injuries.

High fever resulting in unconsciousness!

He couldn’t help but wonder what Quan Shaoqing had done the previous night.

Of course, taking advantage of Quan Shaoqing’s unconscious state, Ai Xiang wanted to check his spell.

Therefore, he took out a blue crystal ball and placed it on Quan Shaoqing’s chest.

After a moment, the crystal ball showed the position of Quan Shaoqing’s heart.

The chains of the Love-Forbidding Curse had disappeared, and everything around his heart appeared normal.

Relieved, Ai Xiang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This at least proved that Gu Xiaoxi’s actions were correct.

And they were effective for Quan Shaoqing’s condition.

"Here they are, ice cubes and towel, all ready," Uncle Zhou said as he rushed over with a tray.

Ai Xiang quickly put the crystal ball back in the medicine box and nodded, "Apply the ice to his head, don’t cover him with blankets, and cool down his palms and the soles of his feet physically."

"Yes, yes, yes..." Uncle Zhou nervously followed Ai Xiang’s instructions.

*

At eight in the morning, Gu Xiaoxi went to the company as usual.

Upon entering, she noticed that the atmosphere in the secretary’s department was unusually strange.

In the two months since Gu Xiaoxi had started working there, she had never seen everyone so serious and silent.

Even Xing Ling, who was jealous of her, would usually mock her and assign her tasks that no one else wanted to do.

"What’s wrong, why does everyone look so down?" Gu Xiaoxi sat at her own desk and asked Jiang Yuhe in puzzlement.

Jiang Yuhe stealthily glanced at the CEO’s office and whispered to Gu Xiaoxi, "Did you know? A woman came this morning, incredibly striking. She came to see the CEO? I heard she’s the CEO’s wife from abroad."

Jiang Yuhe, being new, naturally had no fanciful notions of affection for Mi Xi.

But with Xing Ling and another colleague in a bad mood, she dared not speak loudly.

Gu Xiaoxi nodded upon hearing this.

At that moment, she noticed a breakfast on her desk, still warm.

Looking puzzled at Jiang Yuhe, she asked, "Is this yours?"

Jiang Yuhe shook her head, "It was already there on your desk before we came."

Gu Xiaoxi curiously opened the lid; inside was a cake and a bottle of milk.

Just in time, as she had rushed out that morning.

She hadn’t had the chance to eat breakfast yet.

Especially since both the cake and milk were warm, she felt unexpectedly favored and surprised.

Driven by hunger, she did not think much and immediately began to eat.

At this moment, she was probably the happiest person in the entire secretarial department.

A moment later, the door to Mi Xi’s office swung open.

A woman dressed in a black long dress, wrapped in a trench coat, wearing sunglasses walked out of Mi Xi’s office.

Gu Xiaoxi quietly took out her phone and while eating the cake, stealthily snapped a photo.

Before long, the woman’s figure had disappeared.

The phone on Gu Xiaoxi’s desk immediately rang.

She pressed the speaker button to hear Mi Xi’s voice come through, "Come here!"

Gu Xiaoxi quickly set down the cake.

Xing Ling heard Mi Xi’s voice and her gaze instantly fell on Gu Xiaoxi with displeasure.

Gu Xiaoxi, feeling helpless, hurried toward the CEO’s office.

Pushing the door open, she found Mi Xi at the file cabinet, searching for documents.

Gu Xiaoxi stepped forward and asked, "May I know what you need?"

Pausing with the documents in her hand, Mi Xi turned to look at her fair face and said, "How are you feeling from yesterday’s sickness?"

Gu Xiaoxi quickly nodded, "It’s nothing serious now, thank you for your concern, BOSS."

"Good! You look spirited. Well, there is a chamber of commerce meeting at twenty past noon, and you’ll accompany me," Mi Xi said in a casual tone.

Gu Xiaoxi nodded, "Do I need to prepare anything?"

"No need, I’ve already prepared what’s necessary. Come over at ten o’clock, get ready, and we’ll leave," Mi Xi instructed.

...

At ten o’clock, Gu Xiaoxi finished her tasks at hand, tidied up her desk, and came to Mi Xi’s office to ask, "BOSS, shall we leave now?"

"Go to the resting room and change into the evening gown," Mi Xi said without lifting her head.

Gu Xiaoxi looked down at her work attire, pursed her lips, and without overthinking, she turned and entered the resting room.

Mi Xi’s private resting room had a bed, a kitchen, and a wardrobe—it was like a small living space with everything one could need.

On the table lay a delicate little dress, strapless and off-shoulder, a short skirt in pink.

Gu Xiaoxi looked at it speechlessly—she had never worn such revealing clothes before.

All her clothes were previously bought by Young Master Quan, and he certainly would never have bought her such clothes to wear.

After a long while, Gu Xiaoxi emerged from the resting room.

Mi Xi looked up and seeing that Gu Xiaoxi had not changed into the gown, furrowed his brow and asked, "Why aren’t you wearing the dress?"

Gu Xiaoxi laughed dryly and gave an excuse, "I’m worried about the cold!"

"There’s a trench coat in the wardrobe, didn’t you see it?" Mi Xi’s tone was cool.

Gu Xiaoxi immediately went back and sure enough, found a white trench coat in the small wardrobe.

Thus, without hesitating, she changed into the clothes.

Emerging from Mi Xi’s office, the colleagues in the entire company suddenly looked at her differently.

Initially, Gu Xiaoxi didn’t understand, but later, with her keen hearing, she overheard a lot of gossip and speculation.

"This new secretary hasn’t been at the company for two months, and she’s already hooked up with the boss."

"She went inside for half an hour and came out in a new dress."

"Gaining wealth by selling her body—can that last? Relying on her beauty, she’s nothing but a toy for the boss, without official status, she’ll never be presentable."

"I always thought the boss was abstinent, never expected him to be so indulgent."

Hearing this, Gu Xiaoxi’s face darkened—she had always been careful and cautious, and never expected that just changing clothes in Mi Xi’s resting room would cause so much trouble.

If it weren’t for the fact that she had to attend the chamber of commerce meeting with Mi Xi immediately, she wouldn’t have changed clothes here...

Wait a moment!

Gu Xiaoxi quickly realized something.

She wondered if she had been set up by Mi Xi!

He could have easily given her the dress in advance for her to change at home...

But instead, right before they were about to leave, he had summoned her to the office to rush her into changing clothes, moreover, she hadn’t been thinking in the direction of the misunderstandings they were discussing...

So, she was indeed set up by Mi Xi.

Didn’t he care about damaging his own reputation?

Or was he doing it deliberately, intending to use her?

Thinking this, Gu Xiaoxi turned around furiously and walked back to Mi Xi’s office.

Before her hand touched the doorknob, Mi Xi had already pulled open the door from the inside.

Seeing Gu Xiaoxi with a not-so-pleased expression, Mi Xi’s eyebrows rose slightly, "What’s the matter? Not satisfied with the dress, or are you trying to escape last-minute? This commerce meeting is important, and we have an hour’s drive ahead—we can’t afford to be late."

He appeared completely unfazed, showing no guilt and no further affection for her.

This made Gu Xiaoxi doubt whether she was overthinking it.

Perhaps, Mi Xi was just straightforward, just like her, not taking into account the direction of their colleagues’ misconceptions.

Neither of them harbored any thoughts towards each other.

Could it be that these people were fabricating rumors out of nothing?

Before Gu Xiaoxi could speak her mind, Mi Xi took the lead in walking out, not forgetting to urge her, "Hurry up and follow!"

Gu Xiaoxi felt as if every gaze in the office was piercingly scrutinizing her—as if she was under attack by thorns.

She didn’t know if this was all a setup!