Li Shan Shan followed Zhou Mengdie to learn how to be Yi Anguo's assistant secretary, but Zhou Mengdie found herself at a loss for where to begin. It wasn't that she was being secretive, but rather that the job was simply too irregular. Other than the tasks assigned by Yi Anguo, the rest of the time she had to find her own work, like serving tea, giving schedule reminders, or greeting and escorting visitors. The so-called work experience relied entirely on intuition—something that could only be understood through experience, not explained with words. Therefore, besides the most basic tasks, there was truly no way to teach the rest.

After Zhou Mengdie had worked with Li Shan Shan for a few days and the handover was nearly complete, Yi Anguo instructed her to recruit her own team, establish an investment department, and begin domestic investment work. The first project was to invest in an online food delivery startup at a university in the metropolis.

Everything is difficult at the start. It was only now that Zhou Mengdie realized how challenging it was to lead a team and work independently. As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. She had always been envious of Chen Xuejiao's confident and spirited demeanor, but only after experiencing it for herself did she understand that the glory seen by others was the result of a hundred times more hardship and effort behind the scenes.

However, an arrow, once shot, cannot be recalled, and Zhou Mengdie was not one to give up easily. No matter how hard it was, she had to make a name for herself; she couldn't afford to become a laughingstock. More importantly, she had no way out. Yi Anguo already had Li Shan Shan by his side, so it was impossible for her to return to her old post as his personal assistant.

Li Shan Shan also found that being a personal assistant secretary was no easy task. She had always thought the job was simple, easy, and relaxed—that just being beautiful was enough. Many people referred to female secretaries as "vases," and many employers only sought out young, attractive women. As for professional skills, it seemed sufficient to be able to type, use office software, print documents, create reports, compile statistics, and take notes during important meetings.

But in reality, being Yi Anguo's personal assistant was not so simple. He often assigned various tasks on short notice, many of which were quite challenging. This was even with him being lenient because she was his woman. Previously, Zhou Mengdie's workload had been even heavier, and working overtime when busy was the norm.

In truth, Yi Anguo also had a hard time adjusting after Zhou Mengdie left. Li Shan Shan, after all, had very little work experience and needed to be taught everything from scratch. There were many things Yi Anguo himself didn't know how to teach her, so she truly had to figure them out on her own. Fortunately, Li Shan Shan was a fast learner. After an initial adjustment period, she gradually started to get the hang of it.

However, it was a case of fearing the worst and having it come true. Just as Li Shan Shan was beginning to adapt to the job, she became pregnant. Of course, Yi Anguo wouldn't let his woman continue working while pregnant. As a result, he was once again short an assistant secretary. Without a personal assistant to help arrange and handle daily tasks, his work was unsustainable. He had to find a new one; he couldn't possibly do everything himself.

Meng Die was utterly shocked by Li Shan Shan's sudden pregnancy. She had never heard anything about Li Shan Shan getting married, let alone having a boyfriend. As the personal assistant who had earned Yi Anguo's deep trust over several years, Meng Die was very familiar with his private life and family situation. She certainly knew who Li Shan Shan was and understood her relationship with Yi Anguo. She knew Li Shan Shan was Li Si Si's younger sister, that Li Si Si was Yi Anguo's girlfriend, and that Li Shan Shan had always called him "brother-in-law." It was precisely because of this that she was so stunned to learn of the pregnancy.

Could the child Shan Shan is carrying be Yi Anguo's? The thought struck her almost immediately.

Meng Die felt a deep sense of loss, her emotions a complicated tangle. She knew she had feelings for Yi Anguo, yet she lacked the courage to take that final step. Yi Anguo, for his part, always reined himself in at the edge of the cliff, never taking the initiative to move forward. Meng Die knew he was waiting for her to be the one to close the distance. If she was unwilling, he wouldn't force her, but she couldn't expect him to be the one to take that last step either. She also understood exactly what taking that step would mean and what the consequences would be, because Yi Anguo would never marry her. If she were alone, she might have thrown caution to the wind for the sake of "love." But she had parents and relatives. If she followed Yi Anguo without any official status, her parents would never accept it, unless she was prepared to be disowned. With her family on one side and the man she loved on the other—so close yet so unattainable—one could only imagine the turmoil in Meng Die's heart.

Yi Anguo entrusted the task of recruiting a new personal assistant to Meng Die. She hesitated for a moment before asking, "Do you have any requirements for the new personal assistant?"

"Requirements? You've been with me for so many years. Don't you know what I look for in a personal assistant?" Yi Anguo countered.

"You didn't recruit me, and I never applied to be a personal assistant! I was just an intern in the HR department, fresh out of college with no work experience," Zhou Mengdie reminded him. "Are you telling me to recruit someone based on those same conditions? Surely it can't be that just being young and pretty is enough?"

"What do you mean, 'just being young and pretty is enough'? Do you think I'm looking for a decorative vase?" Yi Anguo glared at Meng Die, his tone sharp. "If your capabilities were inadequate, do you think you could have stayed by my side for this long? I would have fired you ages ago. You don't seriously believe I kept you around all this time just because you're young and beautiful, do you? We should look for someone with experience at a large corporation, preferably an all-around talent familiar with corporate management, legal regulations, administration, and investment financing."

"Ah! Such exacting criteria? That's enough to recruit a vice president!" Meng Die exclaimed in surprise.

"Is there a problem?" Yi Anguo asked. "If we're recruiting, of course we want someone who is excellent in all aspects. That would make my life much easier, wouldn't it? Or should I go out and recruit a clumsy, ignorant person to be my personal assistant?"

"Ah, you're the boss, so whatever you say goes," Zhou Mengdie said helplessly. "So, for this new assistant, are there any requirements regarding gender? Any age restrictions? What about educational qualifications? And what's the annual salary?"

"Gender doesn't matter, as long as the person is qualified," Yi Anguo said after a moment's thought. "There are no age restrictions either. Let's tentatively set the annual salary at 200,000, and we can increase it based on work performance. As for educational qualifications, that's not important. I'll be conducting the final interviews personally, anyway."

"By the way, how is the domestic investment department progressing?"

Zhou Mengdie nodded. "The progress is quite satisfactory. Besides completing the tasks you've assigned, we are also actively searching for startups with investment value and good growth potential."

"That's good," Yi Anguo nodded and said. "Put your other work on hold for now and immediately reorganize the securities investment department. Recall the trading teams that have worked for us before. This time, we need traders who are familiar not only with the domestic stock market but also with the Hong Kong and U.S. stock markets. Therefore, we'll need to gather a considerable number of them and establish three separate departments: a Domestic Securities Investment Department, a Hong Kong Securities Investment Department, and a U.S. Securities Investment Department."

"Ah! Such a big move? Is the stock market about to surge again? Is another bull market coming?" Zhou Mengdie asked excitedly. She knew very well how much money Yi Anguo had made in the previous bull market, and the memory alone was enough to make her blood race.

"A bull market doesn't come that easily. I have other plans," Yi Anguo said, shaking his head.

He turned and sat down in his office chair, but Zhou Mengdie didn't leave. Instead, she followed him and stood by his side. Yi Anguo looked up at her and asked, "I've told you what you need to do. Is there anything else?"

Zhou Mengdie looked at him without saying a word.

Yi Anguo casually pulled her into his embrace, settling her onto his lap before leaning in to kiss her.

"So, Li Shan Shan is pregnant? But she doesn't seem to have a boyfriend, does she?" Zhou Mengdie asked, even as she enjoyed the electrifying touch of his caresses.

"What are you trying to ask?" Yi Anguo paused, his hands stilling.

"Is she also one of your women? Is the child in her belly yours too?" Zhou Mengdie hesitated, but finally voiced the question.

"That's right," Yi Anguo admitted frankly.

Since Zhou Mengdie already knew he had multiple women, what did it matter if she learned about one more?

"You... You already have her sister. Why did you have to have her too?" Zhou Mengdie asked. "Does Si Si know about your relationship with her sister?"

"Of course, she knows. It was with her consent," Yi Anguo confirmed.

"How could Si Si agree to that? After becoming your woman, she just let her sister do the same?" Zhou Mengdie said, her voice filled with disbelief. "Wait, Si Si has two sisters. Shan Shan is the youngest... the other one isn't involved with you too, is she?"

"No! What are you guessing at?" Yi Anguo said, pinching one of her soft mounds a little forcefully.

"Ouch! That hurts! Can't you be gentler?" Zhou Mengdie protested.

"That's your punishment for letting your imagination run wild," Yi Anguo said.

"How is that my fault? You got her youngest sister pregnant. How could I not let my imagination run wild?" she retorted.

"It's not what you think," Yi Anguo explained. "The reason I'm with Li Shan Shan is because her sister, Li Si Si, lost the ability to conceive after her car accident. Li Si Si desperately wanted a child, but she couldn't have one herself.

"Li Shan Shan has feelings for me, but I've always kept my distance. Even though she likes me, she knows I'm her brother-in-law and doesn't want to hurt her sister. So, no matter how strong her feelings were, she forced herself to keep them hidden.

"Li Si Si probably noticed this herself, so she was the one who brought it up. She wanted her sister to be with me, so that her sister's child could also be her child. She felt that this would be much more intimate than adopting a stranger's child.

"Li Si Si can't have children, and she came to me asking for help. What was I supposed to do?"

"You got everything you wanted and you're still playing innocent!" Zhou Mengdie complained. "Are you waiting for me to beg you before you'll finally have me?"

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