At this time, she had actually already finished work.
She was staying in the car because she was chatting with her former colleague.
"Don't you find it lonely in Pretty Country?"
Xiao Wen on the other end of the phone sighed, his voice carrying a hint of exhaustion: "It's just like that. Facing a pile of data reports every day, it's fine when I'm busy, but as soon as I have free time, I really miss home—do you remember that Midnight Diner we used to go to? Now I can't even get a bowl of hot wonton noodles. I eat sandwiches every day; I'm about to throw up."
"Then you might as well come back to the country. Now, when I get off work, I can just turn a corner and eat freshly made xiaolongbao. It's much better than sandwiches."
"Haha, you're right. I do miss domestic food," the other party replied with a smile. "But I've also thought about returning to develop my career. However, as you know, the work intensity back home is quite high, and frequent overtime is required. I'm a bit worried I won't be able to adapt. Also, I'm afraid that once I go back, it will be hard to return to Pretty Country. A few months ago, I even got a bonus for Christmas. Now, large investment firms back home have their own investment consultants. If I go back now, I might have to spend some time adjusting..."
Zhao Linger tapped the steering wheel with her fingertips and followed up on his words: "You got a bonus for Christmas? How much? Is it enough for you to buy a plane ticket and come back for a few good meals?"
Xiao Wen laughed, sounding a bit proud: "Twenty thousand USD. That's not a small amount, right? It's considered a good benefit over here."
"Twenty thousand?" Zhao Linger's voice rose slightly, sounding like a casual remark. "That's indeed... a bit more than the spare change from my project bonus last month."
The other end of the phone went silent instantly. After two seconds, Xiao Wen's voice carried an unbelievable urgency: "What did you say? Spare change? How much was your project bonus last month?"
"It wasn't much," Zhao Linger said deliberately nonchalantly, her finger tapping the steering wheel lightly. "Just over a million. Pure bonus, not counting the base salary."
"Over a million?!" Xiao Wen's voice almost jumped out of the receiver. "Linger, you're not joking with me, are you? Is the pay back home that high now? Which company are you at?"
Seeing him take the bait, Zhao Linger spoke slowly: "I'm at Xingchen now. You should have heard of it, right? We've been expanding into overseas markets recently, and we're short of people like you who understand the Pretty Country market. I don't have to stare at reports every day now. I even led a small team last month. Besides the bonus, there are also dividends at the end of the year."
Xiao Wen's breathing clearly became heavier, but his tone carried a bit of hesitation: "Xingchen... I've heard of it, but isn't domestic overtime legendary? I'm afraid my body won't be able to handle working around the clock. Besides, I've been here for three years. If I go back, I'll have to adapt again. What if I don't do well..."
"What are you afraid of?" Zhao Linger directly interrupted his concerns, her tone certain. "Those overseas merger and acquisition cases you handled back then are unique experiences back home. Xingchen is scrambling for people like you! As for overtime, our company is busy, but we never do ineffective overtime. You can leave on time once the project is finished. Isn't that better than staying up until midnight every day in Pretty Country without overtime pay?"
She paused and softened her tone, as if sharing her heart with a friend: "Think about it. If you work there for another five years, at most you'll be promoted to senior analyst, still facing data every day. But at Xingchen, you'll start as a department head, managing people and holding projects. When the company goes public in the future, you might even get stock options—this is an opportunity you'll never touch in Pretty Country."
"And haven't your parents been hoping for your return?" Zhao Linger dealt the final blow. "Last year, your mom was nagging me, saying you didn't come home for the New Year, and there wasn't even anyone to paste the spring couplets. If you come back now, you can get a high salary, fight for your future, and stay by your parents' side. Isn't that better than being all alone over there?"
The other end of the phone was silent for a long time before Xiao Wen's voice came through with determination: "You're right... I really should think for myself, and for my parents..."
"Xiao Wen, you were the most capable analyst in our group back then. What the country lacks now is an elite like you who understands the overseas market."
Having said this, Zhao Linger added another sentence: "Our company has been recruiting for an overseas business head recently. I thought of you immediately. However, I heard from the company's HR that they've already received many excellent resumes, so I'm just mentioning it in passing."
Xiao Wen and Zhao Linger used to work together.
Now that Xingchen Company is on the rise, it naturally needs more and more talent.
Chen Xueer had recently been using her connections to contact some former colleagues or competitors.
So Zhao Linger had also been contacting some colleagues lately.
It just so happened that when she got off work, it was morning in Pretty Country.
So Zhao Linger made a call to him.
Just as she sat in the car and chatted for a few lines, she saw that the rolls-royce cullinan parked diagonally opposite her was actually Jiang Cheng's car.
It wasn't that Zhao Linger hadn't been in Jiang Cheng's car before, but previously Jiang Cheng always drove supercars.
What surprised her even more were Jiang Cheng and Yu Xiaoxiao.
Although Zhao Linger's relationship with Yu Xiaoxiao wasn't as close as Chen Xueer's,
they would occasionally have lunch together because of Chen Xueer.
However, the other beauty was wearing a mask, so Zhao Linger couldn't tell who it was for a moment.
Through the car window glass and the somewhat dim light,
Zhao Linger leaned her body forward abruptly, wanting to see more clearly.
The cotton hem of her dress retracted upward a few inches with the movement, and the full curves of her chest were squeezed particularly noticeably against the seat back due to her leaning posture.
Before her elbow could steady itself on the steering wheel, those two mounds of flesh on her chest accidentally pressed onto the horn.
"Beep—"
The sharp sound of the horn suddenly exploded in the evening parking lot.
Diagonally opposite, Jiang Cheng, who was about to pull open the car door, paused and instinctively turned his head toward the sound.
His gaze passed through the half-lowered car window, happening to meet Zhao Linger's, who was craning her neck and looking over with an inquisitive face.
Seeing the Bluetooth headset still hanging by her ear and her other hand raised in mid-air, she was clearly still on a call.
Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow, a trace of imperceptible surprise flickering in his eyes, and his footsteps also stopped.
Being caught "peeping" by her boss on the spot, the inquisitiveness on Zhao Linger's face instantly froze.
It was replaced by a sudden burst of embarrassment.
After hurriedly sitting upright, she forced a slightly stiff dry smile onto her face.
She swore she really didn't do it on purpose.
Although she usually joked around with Jiang Cheng,
what employee would honk at their boss while he was surrounded by beauties?
Isn't that a blatant provocation?
Unless you don't want this job anymore.
Damn it, it's all because of these breasts.
Zhao Linger continued her somewhat socially awkward dry smile and waved unnaturally in Jiang Cheng's direction.
She didn't even have time to respond to Xiao Wen's voice on the other end of the phone asking, "Why was there a sudden horn sound?"
After closing the car door he had just opened, Jiang Cheng walked toward Zhao Linger's car.
Seeing this, Zhao Linger hurriedly said a few words to Xiao Wen and immediately hung up the phone.
Seeing her hang up, Jiang Cheng leaned down, his elbow resting on the car window.
He pulled a smile: "Linger, what did you call me over for?"
Zhao Linger continued to smile dryly: "This... if I said I pressed it accidentally, would you believe me, President Jiang?"
"Such a coincidence??"
"Hehe, yes. It's mainly because I'm a bit nearsighted and forgot to wear my contact lenses today. I couldn't see clearly just now, so I wanted to lean in for a look. I didn't expect that leaning in..."
As Zhao Linger explained, Jiang Cheng's gaze followed her words and swept downward.
It landed on her hands crossed on her lap, then slowly moved to her front.
The heater was on in the car, and Zhao Linger had already taken off her coat and draped it over the passenger seat.
She was only wearing a cream-colored stand-collar knitted camisole.
Around her neck, she was still wearing the Bvlgari necklace Jiang Cheng had put on her last time.
The soft fabric was stretched tight by the heavy curves of her chest, making even the delicate patterns on the fabric clearly visible.
It truly lived up to a figure score of 98 points.
If it were an A or B cup, Jiang Cheng might have been skeptical.
But with this G-cup, it was perfectly reasonable that such weight would press against the horn with just a slight lean.
"So that's how it is," when he withdrew his gaze, a hint of a half-smile still hung at the corners of his mouth. "Now that you mention it, I can understand. It seems having large breasts has its benefits; leaning in presses the horn for you, saving you the trouble of using your hands."
The teasing in these words was more than obvious, and Zhao Linger's cheeks instantly burned.
However, seeing that Jiang Cheng wasn't angry about her honking, she felt a sigh of relief in her heart.
After relaxing, she also started to tease: "I didn't expect President Jiang to be so glib and such an enjoyer at such a young age."
As she said this, her gaze quickly swept toward the rolls-royce cullinan not far away.
She even reached out and waved at Yu Xiaoxiao in the passenger seat.
Seeing this, Jiang Cheng opened Zhao Linger's character scan data.
[Name: Zhao Linger]
[Age: 24]
[Height: 168 cm]
[charm: 88]
[figure: 98]
[Privacy: 0]
[favorability value: 89]
[Loyalty: 120 (Absolute Loyalty)]
So he knew that even when he was surrounded by beauties, Zhao Linger's favorability value didn't change at all.
Interesting.
Pretending not to hear the sarcasm in her words, Jiang Cheng instead raised an eyebrow.
His tone was very frank: "It's precisely because I'm young that I should seize the time to enjoy myself. When I'm old and can't move, I won't have the chance even if I want to."
These words made Zhao Linger instantly speechless, and the rebuttal at the tip of her tongue suddenly couldn't be spoken.