Chapter 185: Feed You
Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Five
Waking up the next day, Long Xiaoshan heard some movement from the floor above.
With one glance of his Heavenly Eye,
he discovered that Long Shiyu had risen.
He hurriedly got up and woke Jin Lian, who was still deep in sleep.
"Xiaoshan." Jin Lian struggled to open her eyes.
"Sister Jinlian, Shiyu is up," said Long Xiaoshan. "I have to leave quickly."
When Jin Lian heard this, she quickly tried to get up, but after moving a bit, she couldn't, and she said anxiously, "I'm so sore, I can't get up."
Looking over at her, Long Xiaoshan realized that Jin Lian had spent the night sitting against him and must have gotten numb.
But then he heard footsteps coming down.
He didn't have time to administer acupuncture to Jin Lian again.
He quickly said, "Just pretend to be sick; don't come to work today. Take a rest, and I'll come over tonight."
"That's the only way," said Jin Lian, lying back down reluctantly.
Watching Long Xiaoshan sneak out like a thief, she felt touched and also amused.
Last night, she didn't know what had gotten into her to insist on keeping him there, but Long Xiaoshan's refusal touched her even more. She believed that any man in that situation would probably act like a wild animal in heat, yet Long Xiaoshan rejected her. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he sat with her on the couch all night, talking to her about his deepest thoughts until she drifted off...
Jin Lian had never felt that kind of concern from someone before, and although nothing truly happened between her and Long Xiaoshan, the comfort in that closeness and sharing was so warm.
Long Xiaoshan avoided the villagers who were up early and quickly took a detour back to the farm.
He first checked on the medicinal herbs.
After another drop of Spiritual Liquid had catalyzed them, Long Xiaoshan found that the herbs had generally grown to appear four or five decades old.
That is, over the course of one night, the age of the medicinal herbs had increased significantly again.
However, Long Xiaoshan also noticed that this time the advancement was somewhat less than the first, not because the efficacy had weakened, but because older herbs are more difficult to grow. Long Xiaoshan was not disappointed.
This was already defying the heavens.
Now it was easier for him to obtain merit than before.
As long as he had enough Spiritual Liquid to cultivate these herbs.
Long Xiaoshan continued to drip the Spiritual Liquid on them.
After he was done,
Long Xiaoshan left the herb room and let Black Whirlwind continue to guard it.
He made some medicinal meals at the farm and ate with his parents.
Then he packed a portion and carried it toward the office building.
With a shortage of manpower, he as the President couldn't just sit back and avoid work, so he too had to check in every day.
As he walked into the office building courtyard, the employees from yesterday gradually arrived. Upon seeing Long Xiaoshan, they all stood up straight with tense expressions, respectfully greeting, "President Long."
Their awe was deeply evident in their eyes.
On Long Xiaoshan's return yesterday, he had slapped Manager Zhou and faced down more than twenty employees staging a coup, sacking them on the spot. His domineering decisiveness was intimidating.
If that had been all, it might have been one thing.
People might have thought of him as just a reckless brute,
someone unable to judge the situation.
But then, Gu Jingheng appeared. His attitude towards Long Xiaoshan made everyone understand that their President was no ordinary man.
Someone who could make a scion like Gu Jingheng from Hong Kong Island apologize was not a simple figure.
Now, they no longer dared to treat Long Xiaoshan as a country bumpkin, but as a tough and respected President.
Long Xiaoshan gave a faint smile and nodded to those who greeted him, "Good morning to you all, have you eaten?"
"Yes, we have eaten," they replied.
"Good. I'll need you all to work harder these days. Until the new employees arrive, your wages for these days will be tripled," said Long Xiaoshan.
Wow!
The employees' eyes all lit up, one by one.
Being assigned to work in the village, their salaries were already doubled.
Long Xiaoshan giving them triple their salary was a very high reward.
All of them excitedly shouted, "Thank you, President Long."
Long Xiaoshan smiled and nodded, making his way upstairs to the President's office.
The employees in the courtyard started talking to one another in low, excited voices.
"President Long isn't bad, you know. I originally thought he was a strict person—yesterday he was hitting and firing people left and right, and I thought we were in for a rough time. But he turned out to be so generous."
"Yeah, triple the salary, it feels great."
"Haha, now I sort of hope the new employees don't come. Even though there are fewer people and more work, working one day is worth three days."
"President Long is actually pretty good, we misjudged him."
...
As Long Xiaoshan ascended the stairs, his ears naturally picked up the low murmurs of discussion, and the corners of his mouth curled into an arc listening to them.
The effect was good.
Yesteryear's display of thunderous methods was to awe, and today he had bestowed favors; these were the tactics of imperial technique.
Read new chapters at empire
The so-called thunder and dew are both the grace of a sovereign.
Though he wasn't a monarch.
Managing a company was similar.
To dispense both kindness and authority was the true way to lead.
Returning to the President's office, he saw Chun Tao wearing a professional body-hugging dress, typing earnestly at her desk. Long Xiaoshan walked over with a smile, hugged her from behind, and placed the medicinal meal on the desk, saying, "You haven't had breakfast, have you?"
Chun Tao jumped when someone hugged her, looked up, and quickly said, "Long... little Xiaoshan, you're here."
As Long Xiaoshan's eyes narrowed slightly, Chun Tao quickly corrected herself.
With a little effort, Long Xiaoshan lifted her onto his lap.
"Little Xiaoshan," Chun Tao said nervously, looking toward the door.
Long Xiaoshan chuckled softly, flicked his finger, and a gust of wind closed the door.
He opened the lid of the thermos cup, and a faint scent of the medicinal concoction spread as he said, "Eat it while it's hot, I've prepared it for you; have a taste."
Chun Tao looked at Long Xiaoshan with a mixture of shyness and delight, nodded her head lightly, and reached for the spoon to start.
Long Xiaoshan, struck by a sudden impulse, said, "Let me feed you."
"Ah?" Chun Tao was bewildered.
Long Xiaoshan took the spoon, scooped up a mouthful of the medicinal porridge, blew on it gently, and brought it to Chun Tao's lips.
Feeling embarrassed, Chun Tao said, "Little Xiaoshan, that's alright, I can eat by myself."
"No, today I want to feed my sweet wife," Long Xiaoshan stated softly yet authoritatively.
Chun Tao was shaken.
Mist instantly filled her eyes.
This was the first time she heard Long Xiaoshan call her his wife.
Although she had told He Xiangyue she didn't need the status and wouldn't marry Long Xiaoshan, what woman wouldn't care or wish to be married to the man she loved?
At Long Xiaoshan's term of endearment, she felt her life was already worthwhile.
She opened her mouth slightly and swallowed the spoonful of porridge Long Xiaoshan had offered her.
"Does it taste good?" Long Xiaoshan asked.
Chun Tao nodded vigorously; she didn't dare speak for fear of bursting into tears.
"If it's good, eat more," Long Xiaoshan fed her spoonful by spoonful until Chun Tao finished the medicinal meal.
With the powerful effect of the medicine, Chun Tao felt warm and comfortable, her cheeks flushed with color, and her whole body exuded vitality.
Such bewitching charm would even make a Heavenly Being's heart flutter.
But at that moment, Long Xiaoshan wasn't overcome with desire; he simply held Chun Tao, enjoying the sweetness shared between lovers.