While the temperature of Raelle's office had warmed up a little, Shui Xian's surroundings were becoming chilly with each passing second.
His assistant, Ma Jin felt like he was standing on thorns. He hadn't taken a breather since the morning. For some reason, his boss was more passionate about his work than usual. As if he was hell-bent on doing the work of a year's worth today.
"Master Xian, your sister is calling," Ma Jin entered the office to inform. "Apparently, she can't reach you on your cellphone. So, she called me instead."
Shui Xian didn't even lift his eyes as he said, "If she can't reach me that means I don't want to talk to her."
"So, what should I say to her?" he asked cautiously. Usually, he'd be tactful regarding such things but right now the concerned person was his boss' one and only sister. How was he supposed to interpret Shui Xian's words?
"Should I write a dictation for you?"
"I'll let her know that you're busy," said Ma Jin and was about to turn when he heard Shui Xian's voice.
"There is no need to make any excuse. Tell her honestly that I don't want to talk to her."
Ma Jin was stunned to his place for a minute. It took him a while to nod in a daze. But even after he came out of Shui Xian's office, he was in disbelief. Did he hear it right? Or was there something wrong with his hearing? Maybe he was having hallucinations.
There was a reason why he was in a tight spot. He knew how cold his Master Xian could get but he had always been very warm to his family members. Especially to his sister whom he doted on so much.
Now he was wondering what did Young Miss Shui Sying do to incite her elder brother like that?
However, it wasn't his concern, so he simply called back Shui Sying and told her, "Young Miss, I apologize but it seems Master doesn't want to talk to you."
The girl on the call shouted, "Are you telling me, my brother is avoiding me?"
Ma Jin cleared his throat and replied honestly, "No, it seems to me like he's ignoring you."
*Crash!*
Ma Jin put the phone away from his ear when he heard something breaking from the other end. He really didn't know how two Shui siblings were poles apart. One was calm like a sea, and the other was the tornado. While Shui Xian's emotions would always stay concealed behind his cold demeanor, Shui Sying's emotions were written all over her face. Always!
Especially her bad temper! She didn't have the elegance of a Young Miss but definitely had the arrogance of one.
"Tell him to talk to me or else I'll come to see him at the company," Shui Sying tried to use a different approach.
Since Shui Xian had already told him that he won't be talking to his sister, even Ma Jin knew what would happen if she came here. "I'll suggest you not to do that. It'll be counterproductive for you."
"Stop lecturing me!"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
The phone hung up and only then he managed to breathe a sigh of relief. But it made him very curious now. What could Shui Sying do to make Master Xian ignore her?
And he wasn't wrong, something did happen. Shui Xian had always been giving in to his sister. But it was the first time, he had requested her to do something for his sake. He just wanted her to join him and Raelle on that family dinner on the day of their marriage. But she didn't show up.
Since she chose her ego above her brother, why should he choose her? It was time for her to learn that he wasn't a pushover!
*Knock!*
"Master Xian, would you like to have something for lunch?" inquired Ma Jin with a polite smile on his face.
"Did Ruan Meilin come back?"
Hearing Shui Xian's monotonous voice, Ma Jin instantly replied, "Not yet. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, she'll have to stay in City S for another week. The negotiations are taking a little longer than expected." He silently observed Shui Xian's expressions or lack of it before asking, "If you have any instructions for her, you can let me know."
Shui Xian took a pause and asked, "What about the investigation I told you to do?"
Ma Jin stepped inside the office and hurriedly provided the details he learned, "As you had suspected, there had been plenty of backdoor deals happening between the content creators on our platform and the administrators behind the scene. Even in the recent year-end awards, the points had been manipulated by the staff. When some other live streamers tried to bring this issue to light, they'd been shunned and suppressed by the staff."
Shui Xian suddenly stood up and took his coat jacket saying, "Let's go then."
"Where?"
"To the SK Network. Even though it's just one subsidiary of Shui Conglomerate, I won't let them play me for a fool." Ma Jin gulped at Shui Xian's cold but monotonous voice. "Call an urgent meeting. We are doing some cleaning up today."
Watching Shui Xian's receding back, his assistant shed some silent tears in his heart and also took out his phone to text his girlfriend to not wait for her, his boss was gonna make him work overtime again. At this rate, he'd soon end up breaking up and the culprit would be his boss! It hadn't even been a month since he started dating though.
....
The meeting room in the SK Network building had been intense since their boss showed up. It was very rare for them to see Master Xian in person since SK Network was only a subsidiary. And it wasn't even as important to him. He would only receive a monthly written report from this company every month.
But this time, he showed up himself. And he came with a bigger agenda.
From lunchtime till the evening, all the department heads and higher-ups had been stuck in this tense atmosphere. Master Xian wasn't here to listen to excuses. He was here just to clean up everything or everyone.
As he rubbed his forehead, his eyes fell on his watch and his eyes widened slightly. It was over 8 o'clock now. His lips parted slightly. He completely forgot that he was supposed to go back home on time now.
He was supposed to have dinner with his wife. It was their first dinner at their home after the marriage. He was so engrossed in his work that he completely forgot that now he did have someone to go back to.
"Let's continue this tomorrow," he hurriedly stood up and rushed out of the meeting room leaving everyone befuddled.
Just a minute ago, Master Xian looked like he was planning on spending his whole night here. And now, he just left? Just like that?
The person who was most confused was Ma Jin who wasn't even given any instruction. What just happened?
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