It had to be said that Jiang Li was just as good at manipulating people as his boss.
He knew Xu Tingyu's weak points and always put on an innocent and pitiful act.
Under normal circumstances, Xu Tingyu might have stayed for Youyou's sake.
But right now, she really had something urgent to attend to.
"I'm sorry. You'd better hire a nurse. I've got to go now," she said.
She wasn't blind to the man's act.
She could play along when she had the time, but now that she was in a hurry, she had to prioritize her own business.
Jiang Li failed to stop her. Only after her figure disappeared behind the door did he look at his boss with trepidation.
His boss seemed a bit absent - minded.
For a moment, he looked like a big dog that had been abandoned, looking really pitiful.
Jiang Li didn't dare to actually think his boss was pitiful. He just tried to fade into the background and kept silent.
"Do you remember? Back then, when I was drunk and you sent me home, she was always so worried," Qi Shifeng said suddenly after a long silence.
Jiang Li nodded repeatedly.
At that time, he didn't know much about Mrs. Qi. All he knew was that she didn't have a job, never went to Qi's Group, and rarely went out.
Some people in the outside world said she was mysterious, while others said she was spoiled. After getting married and becoming a rich wife, she did nothing but have fun and go shopping all day.
But every time he sent Qi Shifeng home, no matter how late it was, he would see her come out to greet them in person.
She would always thank him and tell him to be careful on his way back.
At that time, Jiang Li always thought that Mrs. Qi was really gentle, the kind of standard wealthy lady he had imagined, dignified, gentle, and considerate.
But as time went by, he noticed Qi Shifeng's attitude towards her and felt sorry for her.
This kind of "standard" wife, who seemed to be carved out of a mold, must be boring and rigid, which was why Qi Shifeng didn't like her, he thought.
With this thought in mind, he couldn't help but look down on Xu Tingyu a bit.
He even once thought that in the end, Xie Yu would successfully replace her and become the beloved one.
He even imagined how Xu Tingyu would react when she found out about Xie Yu.
Would she cry and make a scene, or would she make it a big public scandal?
To his surprise, Xu Tingyu neither cried nor made a scene. Even before her family's accident, she never asked about Xie Yu.
She remained indifferent to the rumors just like before.
At that time, he thought she was just enduring it for the family fortune.
Some rich wives were like this. They were dependent on their husbands, had no say, and could only pretend not to know about such things.
But later, Xu Tingyu's actions exceeded his expectations.
She actually took the initiative to propose a divorce.
And even left the marriage with nothing.
He never expected that the one who didn't want to lose this marriage was Qi Shifeng.
Others might not know, but as Qi Shifeng's secretary, he knew all his changes.
Since Xu Tingyu proposed the divorce, he had been re - evaluating this marriage.
After Xu Tingyu left the country, he never mentioned her again, but he voluntarily went to see a psychologist.
At first, Jiang Li didn't know why. He thought it was for raising Youyou.
Once, when Qi Shifeng was drunk, Jiang Li helped him home. Suddenly, he said, "It's all my fault. I don't know how to love, so I lost her."
"I'll change. I'll learn how to love. So, Tingyu, come back, okay?"
He was so drunk that he couldn't even see clearly. When he said this, there were tears sliding down his cheeks.
Jiang Li was shocked and didn't dare to respond. He quickly settled him down and fled the scene.
He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, his boss would kill him after sobering up.
After that, Jiang Li started to pay careful attention. He found that his boss would occasionally stare blankly at Youyou.
Sometimes, when he was really tired from overtime work, he would subconsciously call out "Tingyu". After that, he would be in a daze for a long time...
Now, Xu Tingyu was back. Jiang Li found that Qi Shifeng, who had been silent for four years, seemed to come back to life.
Thinking of these things, he felt complicated and inexplicably wanted to cry, but he didn't know why.
But he couldn't lose face in front of his boss, so he quickly replied, "I remember. Miss Xu always waited for you to come home before."
This was just an echoing answer, but suddenly Qi Shifeng looked at him.
His gaze was so deep that Jiang Li felt a shiver down his spine.
"I've never asked you. Why do you call her Miss Xu?"
Everyone started to change their address after four years, but Jiang Li had been calling her Miss Xu a long time ago.
Jiang Li was silent for a few seconds. Then, under his boss's imposing gaze, he replied,
"After Miss Xie came back, once I went to pick up the evening dress she needed for an event. I met Mrs... uh, Miss Xu in the store."
"Miss Xu was there with her friend Chen Chunyao to pick up clothes. She greeted me when she saw me."
At that time, Jiang Li was extremely embarrassed. The clothes in his hand seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.
Just then, the salesperson came out and said to him, "Miss Xie's other evening dress is also ready. Do you want to take it together?"
Hearing this, Xu Tingyu, who was standing nearby, looked obviously surprised, followed by disappointment and bitterness.
Chen Chunyao scolded him on the side, "I said you looked familiar. You're just that lackey beside the big scumbag. What, do you even help your boss's mistress with such trivial things?"
Chen Chunyao's words were harsh, but they were the truth.
At that time, Qi Shifeng was legally married to Xu Tingyu. No matter how much he liked Xie Yu, she was still the other woman.
But Jiang Li couldn't afford to offend either side, so he could only force a smile.
It was Xu Tingyu who stopped Chen Chunyao from going further, "Yaoyao, forget it. Don't make things difficult for Secretary Jiang. Don't you still want to look at shoes? Let's go."
Then she pulled Chen Chunyao and was about to leave.
Jiang Li quickly said goodbye to her.
Unexpectedly, Xu Tingyu stopped again, turned around, and gave him a faint smile.
"Secretary Jiang, from now on, just call me Miss Xu. I'm sure he'd prefer that. It'll also save you from calling the wrong name in the future."
Although she was smiling, Jiang Li still felt that her eyes were sad and there was a kind of intimidating pressure that made his back feel cold.
He understood that this was a kind of warning in a sense.
He was blamed for being Qi Shifeng's secretary but doing such small things for Xie Yu.
Before Jiang Li could say anything, he saw Xu Tingyu widen her smile, as if she could see through him.
"I'm serious. Secretary Jiang, don't overthink it. I'm leaving. See you later."
It seemed that she thought it was meaningless to make things difficult for a secretary, so that sense of pressure disappeared.
She returned to being the dignified, gentle, and virtuous Mrs. Qi.
Jiang Li never told Qi Shifeng about this. Later, when he met Xu Tingyu, he still called her "Mrs.", but Xu Tingyu insisted that he change the address.
After a few times like this, Jiang Li had no choice but to follow her and change the way he addressed her.
Occasionally, he would call her Miss Xu in front of Qi Shifeng, but Qi Shifeng never showed any reaction. So Jiang Li didn't take this matter to heart anymore.