Chapter 55: Ignoring You Just to Drive You Crazy

That night when she was drunk?! Lily of the Valley paused for a moment. She lowered her head to arrange the documents, holding them against her chest. "Of course I remember. So give me a chance to properly thank you."

She seemed to be deliberately hiding something, and he didn’t press further. He adjusted his cuff and glanced at his watch. "Work ends at five thirty, but I might not be able to leave until six."

"That's fine, I need to work late too. I'll come find you at six then, let's settle it that way." Holding the heavy stack of files, she nodded in acknowledgment. "Thank you for this!"

Tang Pei saw her take a few steps back with a chair behind her, worried she might bump into it. He quickly reached out to pull her forward, swift as lightning. "Chair!" With a clatter, the file box slipped from her hands and crashed to the floor.

Lily of the Valley hurried to pick them up, but Tang Pei bent down at the same moment. Their foreheads collided, and she winced, pressing her brow and squinting. She saw Tang Pei mirroring her gesture, and she couldn't help but relax and smile. They exchanged a look and laughed softly. "Sorry."

Tang Pei’s lips curled into a smile. He bent down and picked up the file box. "Lily of the Valley."

She realized it was the first time he called her by name. She looked at him. "Yes?"

He piled the documents back into her arms and said gently, "Be more careful next time."

She returned a faint smile. "I’ll head downstairs now."

She exited the office, closing the door gently behind her. She sensed a gaze from nearby but ignored it, returning to her desk. She sorted the files, organized them into folders, and browsed through each one, her brows slightly furrowed. She paid attention to every detail, making notes as she read, sometimes pausing to think.

Unconsciously, night deepened. Lily of the Valley sighed, weary. When she looked up, she noticed her coworkers in the cubicles had gradually left.

She instinctively checked the lower right corner of her computer screen—six fifteen. Damn, she thought, she’d missed the time. She quickly saved her files and turned to knock on Tang Pei’s office door, only to find it ajar and the office empty.

A colleague passing by stopped when she called out, "Did you see Director Tang?"

"He seems to be with President Mo."

Lily of the Valley paused, quietly peering toward Mo Zhicheng’s office. Under the white incandescent light, the pleated blinds cast obscure shadows. She glimpsed Mo Zhicheng and Tang Pei deep in conversation, focused. Mo Zhicheng propped his chin with one hand while pointing at a notebook computer with the other.

She could only return to her desk and wait for Tang Pei during her break. Perhaps it was the intense work all afternoon, her neck felt sore, nerves pressing and causing her a headache. She massaged her throbbing temples, trying to ease the pain, occasionally glancing at Mo Zhicheng’s office, still brightly lit with no sign of anyone leaving.

Outside, the night grew darker.

Her eyelids grew heavy, and she leaned over her desk, yawning softly, eventually drifting off to sleep without realizing it.

Tang Pei waited until Mo Zhicheng lowered his head to make notes, then quietly checked his watch. It was already past eight. Mo Zhicheng looked up, noticing his distracted expression. "What’s wrong?" he asked. "You’ve been absent-minded since the end of the workday. Is something urgent?" Without realizing it, he glanced out the window; in the darkness, only a faint, dim desk lamp shone.

Tang Pei thought for a moment. "President Mo, I’ll step out to make a call. It’s already past eight, shall I prepare dinner for you?"

Mo Zhicheng lounged casually in his swivel chair. "No need. If you have urgent matters, just say so." His words were concise as he toyed with the steel pen in his hand.