President, please comfort me.

Then he stepped back a little, still holding her face in his hands, and said to her with unusual gentleness, "Yes, you are qualified. Look, I've already stamped your seal. From now on, I'm yours. My girlfriend has all the qualifications."

At this moment, his voice was full of sensuality, deep and melodious, each syllable carrying a hint of magnetic provocation, like ambiguity in the night, igniting sparks in one's heart.

Help! Who can resist a kiss from someone they secretly love? And then the person used the same words she said before to respond to her. Lanling, who was just feeling a little wronged, suddenly lost all her temper.

She forcefully suppressed the upward curve of her lips, pouting as she tried to appear angry: "What are you doing? Who said I wanted to be your girlfriend? I don't want my boyfriend to be alone with someone in an office for half an hour while discussing business."

Tang Chao found her pouting face adorable, like a tiny strawberry, and couldn't resist wanting to kiss her, which he did.

He easily lifted her up and had her straddle his strong, muscular thighs. He leaned forward again, his lips pressed together, and then he began to carefully and gently peck at the corners of her lips, one peck after another.

Lanling was caught off guard, her mouth agape, dumbfounded. Her mind seemed to have been paused, frozen in time. Not only did she lose her emotions, but even her heartbeat disappeared.

Afraid of frightening her, Tang Chao kissed her lightly, full of tenderness, gently lingering and sucking on her moist and sweet lips. Although his muscles were tense and his breathing had become hot, he did not choose to explore further.

Lanling couldn't resist his kiss instinctively; she was almost driven crazy by it, her face flushed red.

Having made up her mind not to be too proactive like before, and seeing that he didn't intend to take things further, she decided that a short pain was better than a long one. She turned her head away, placed her hands on his chest, and buried her face in his arms. Her hair was slightly messy, and the lip gloss on her lips had faded considerably.

Tang Chao was satisfied. He looked down at her, put one arm around her slender waist and rubbed her head with the other, and said with a smile, "We're not alone. There's an assistant here. She did stay behind and say a few nonsense words for a short time, but don't worry, I only like you. As long as you're my girlfriend."

"This little girl is so jealous."

Upon hearing this, Lanling couldn't help but break into a wide smile, looking up at him teasingly, "Didn't you say you treated me like a little sister before? Now you're not?"

Tang Chao looked at her thoughtfully and began to complain to himself: "I won't do it anymore. My sister doesn't torment me like you do. You misunderstood me and didn't let me know, didn't give me a chance to explain, and then secretly ran back by yourself."

Seeing this, Lanling straightened her back and sat up straighter, her tone softening considerably: "Alright, I'm not angry anymore, so don't pretend to be pitiful."

Suddenly remembering that he had run into Zhou Luwen at his doorstep, Lanling said indignantly, "Besides, she ran to your doorstep and said she would tell you on my behalf. How could I not overthink it?"

Tang Chao's expression was inscrutable, and his tone was somewhat surprised. He asked, "At the doorstep? She went to the Imperial Garden? I had no idea about this."

"Hmm," Lanling replied in a muffled voice.

Tang Chao scrutinized the curve of her lips, his tone becoming more serious: "It's been many years since college between us. I've never taken her home, and I have no idea how she got to the Imperial Garden. I'll have someone look into it later. Don't overthink it, okay?"

Lanling didn't think too much about it; she simply felt that it would be better to take this opportunity to say what was bothering her so that she wouldn't keep it bothering her.

But when Tang Chao explained their situation, she breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped her arms around his neck, replying cheerfully and easily, "Mm."

After the misunderstanding was cleared up, both of them relaxed a lot. Tang Chao liked her initiative to get close to him. Seeing that she was happy, he put his arm around her and took a large box of pastries from the passenger seat.

"Are you hungry? I brought you some delicious pastries."

Lanling saw that this was Bao Shifu's restaurant and immediately perked up, her feet swaying restlessly from side to side: "How did you know I like to eat this?"

Tang Chao took a piece and brought it to her lips, his voice laced with a lazy laugh: "Of course, it's because of the guidance of an expert. Eat up."

Lanling took a small, ladylike bite from his hand and said, "Mmm, delicious."

"You eat too." She turned to the side, bent down, picked up a piece, and prepared to hand it to him.

Tang Chao, however, put the piece she had eaten directly into his mouth: "Mmm, it's really delicious."

A strange feeling lingered in her heart, and seeing the food, she suddenly remembered something: "Haven't you had dinner yet?"

"Yeah, I didn't eat lunch either. I can't eat anything without you." Tang Chao was indeed hungry at the moment, but he didn't forget to say a few nice things to himself.

Upon hearing that Tang Chao hadn't eaten for two meals, Lanling became anxious, let go of his hand, and struggled to get down: "You didn't eat lunch either? Then hurry up and go eat, don't eat this yet."

Tang Chao was holding her tightly, but when she suddenly rubbed against him like that, his body tensed up instantly. He gently patted her little bottom and warned in a hoarse voice, "Don't move around. Don't you know what you're wearing?"

Lanling, wearing a nightgown, straddled him, almost naked underneath. When he patted her like that, she immediately froze, too shy to move. She was still a naive young girl, her face turning as red as a rosy bottom, too embarrassed to look at him.

Despite her refusal to admit defeat, she muttered in protest, "You know she's wearing a dress, yet you still hugged her like that."

Tang Chao patted her little bottom again, this time a little harder: "What are you muttering about? Speak louder."

Lanling was so embarrassed she wanted to disappear. Her thoughts became very confused, and she shouted in a cute but fierce way, "Hey, what are you doing? Don't spank me like you're hitting a child, hmph."

Tang Chao looked at her with a smile in his eyes, admiring her very much. He put one hand on her eyes and gently rubbed them, saying, "You're just a little kid, a crybaby. You're not allowed to cry secretly anymore."

Lanling was unusually well-behaved, and asked softly, "Okay, I know. Are we going to eat or not?"

Tang Chao had been working non-stop for several days without getting enough rest. Now that he was relaxed, he was like a deflated balloon. His clear voice revealed a hint of fatigue: "I'm not going. Let me hold you for a while. I'll just order some food when we get back to the hotel."

Lanling felt sorry for him being hungry, so she obediently leaned in and threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder and feeling his breath.

Tang Chao held her tightly in his arms, as if trying to meld her into his own body. His heart pounded with a strong rhythm, each beat sending a warm current through her body, as if expressing his love.

They hugged for a long, long time, until Lanling almost fell asleep, and then the phone rang, at which point they finally separated.