Why Aren’t You Cultivating Immortality? (GL) Chapter 17

The hated Monday arrived again. An Huaigu walked into the office carrying a newly bought handbag, her face so tired it looked as if she had overindulged all night. She glanced at Bai Moqing’s empty workstation, leaned back against the soft leather chair, and caught up on sleep.
After sleeping for about ten minutes, a rich coffee aroma drifted over. An Huaigu sniffed. Her Little Bai had returned from making coffee.
She opened her eyes and greeted Bai Moqing. “Morning, Little Bai.”
“Morning, Sister An.” Bai Moqing placed the coffee on An Huaigu’s desk, returned to her own workstation, and sat down.
“So good.” An Huaigu praised Bai Moqing with a smile, took a small sip of coffee, and let the bitter, slightly sweet liquid slide through her mouth. Her exhaustion swept away.
Bai Moqing lowered her head and read, not responding to An Huaigu.
After drinking half the coffee, An Huaigu set down the cup, propped up her head, and studied Bai Moqing. Before coming to the office, she had casually mentioned wanting freshly ground coffee, and Bai Moqing had really prepared it for her. So gentle and virtuous. If she could coax Bai Moqing home as a little wife…
Whether she could coax Bai Moqing home was the big problem!
Bai Moqing was gentle, but also lonely and cold. During work hours, she rarely spoke. After work, she went straight home. She seemed to have no nightlife at all.
Even if she did, it was probably petting her cat at home.
How should one start with someone like this? Just as An Huaigu was secretly calculating, Bai Moqing suddenly raised her head and glanced at her.
An Huaigu’s eyes looked somewhat terrifying, like a wolf in a snowy land watching its prey, while Bai Moqing was the little lamb waiting to be hunted.
Uncomfortable, Bai Moqing shifted behind the computer and lowered her head even more, trying to let the computer block her whole body.
That movement was simply too cute.
An Huaigu lifted an eyebrow and twisted her waist over to Bai Moqing’s desk. “Little Bai, a new movie came out yesterday, Demon Slayer. Do you want to watch it with me tonight?” She bent down, and her pair of chest weapons appeared faintly.
“Tonight?” Bai Moqing raised her head. Her gaze swept across Sister An’s chest. Luckily, she had seen plenty of Feiyue’s naked body, so this kind of chest weapon was no more attractive to her than white steamed buns in a steamer.
“That’s right. It’s about humans and demons. The plot rises and falls with all kinds of twists. It has only been out one day, and the box office is already two hundred million. Let’s go watch it tonight.” As if by accident, An Huaigu pushed her chest out a little.
“I’m afraid tonight won’t work. I already made plans to watch a movie with someone else.” Bai Moqing lowered her head.
The moment An Huaigu heard this, excited fire burst from her eyes. “Who are you watching a movie with?”
Bai Moqing answered calmly, “A friend.”
An Huaigu grabbed Bai Moqing’s wrist and pressed for the truth. “What kind of friend?” Someone with such a solitary personality actually had a friend. That friend was most likely her rival in love!
Looking at her captured wrist, Bai Moqing tried to pull away. She had not expected Sister An, who usually looked as if she could neither carry things on her shoulders nor lift them with her hands, to have quite a lot of strength. Bai Moqing tried twice and still could not pull her hand back.
Afraid that using force would injure Sister An, Bai Moqing patiently answered, “An ordinary friend.”
This answer clearly could not satisfy An Huaigu.
She was about to keep questioning when a chill came from behind her. Xiao Xing’s voice sounded at the door. “An Huaigu.” Being called by full name frightened An Huaigu so much that her body shook. By reflex, she released her claws.
By the time An Huaigu turned around, Xiao Xing had already walked up to her. Glancing at Bai Moqing, Xiao Xing said, “Come to my office.” Then she turned toward the door.
When she reached the doorway, she looked back and saw Bai Moqing still sitting at her workstation, while An Huaigu followed happily behind her with a full smile. Xiao Xing’s expression cooled. She said to An Huaigu, “Not you. Her.” Her gaze landed on Bai Moqing.
An Huaigu remembered the secretary issue mentioned before. Her expression changed slightly, and the smile on her face vanished in a second. “Ah Xing… President Xiao, I asked Little Bai’s opinion. She wants to stay here.”
She glanced at Bai Moqing. “Look at her dull, quiet personality. She isn’t suited to be a secretary either.”
The main character being discussed raised her head. Meeting Xiao Xing’s deep, cold gaze, Bai Moqing nodded in agreement. “Yes, President Xiao. I am not suit…”
Xiao Xing did not give Bai Moqing a chance to finish. Leaving behind the sentence “Come to my office,” she left decisively.
“Sigh…” An Huaigu sighed. As Bai Moqing walked past her, she grabbed her wrist and patted her shoulder. “Little Bai, you must firmly and unwaveringly tell her that you want to stay in the archive room.”
Bai Moqing neither agreed nor disagreed.
When she reached the top floor, Bai Moqing discovered that two unfamiliar faces had suddenly appeared there.
One was a woman who looked in her thirties. She wore a black professional skirt suit. Her shirt buttons were properly buttoned to the very top. Her hair was pinned neatly behind her head without a strand out of place. One look showed she was a sharp, capable person who said one thing and meant it.
The other also wore a professional skirt suit, but gave a much more approachable impression. Her slightly curled, shoulder-length flax-blue-gray hair framed a smiling face. She stood sideways, speaking with Assistant Tang.
Tang Yue happened to be facing outward. Seeing Bai Moqing, she said something. The two unfamiliar women turned together and looked at Bai Moqing.
Being looked at like some rare animal, Bai Moqing quickly withdrew her gaze and walked faster toward the president’s office.
Xiao Xing sat on the sofa, holding her phone in both hands. Her left and right thumbs tapped quickly on the screen. Bai Moqing secretly glanced. It seemed Xiao Xing was messaging someone.
She quietly waited before the sofa until Xiao Xing finished. Only after Xiao Xing put away her phone did Bai Moqing ask, “President Xiao, why did you call me here?”
Xiao Xing raised her chin, signaling for Bai Moqing to sit.
The atmosphere was somewhat serious. Uneasy, Bai Moqing clenched both hands and sat on the sofa diagonally opposite. When she raised her eyes and met Xiao Xing’s gaze, her body began warming beyond her control.
After a few seconds of silence, Xiao Xing went straight to the point. In a tone that allowed no refusal, she said, “There is something I am informing you of. From this moment on, you are my secretary.”
Bai Moqing: “…”
Before leaving the office, Sister An had told her to firmly stay in the archive room. But in the current situation, President Xiao had not given her any chance to consider. If she did not become secretary, she could get out.
Leave Xiao Group? She did not lack money. Work was only to make herself look like an ordinary mortal. If she left Xiao Group, she could casually find another job. But if she asked her heart, was she willing to leave?
The cold, detached woman before her, full of abstinent aura, made her feel that their meeting had been arranged by fate. And from time to time, Xiao Xing released a kind of aura like the warm, soft embrace Bai Moqing had fallen into after failing her tribulation.
The same warmth. The same breathing rhythm.
She raised a hand and touched the space between her brows. The warmth of that fingertip seemed still to remain. The warm current that had entered her body still flowed within her. Even if Xiao Xing was not the person who saved her, Bai Moqing still wanted to stay here and be closer to her. Bai Moqing lowered her hand and stood.
Xiao Xing’s gaze moved with Bai Moqing. Seeing her stand, Xiao Xing frowned lightly. Bai Moqing was going to refuse her. Sure enough, Bai Moqing said, “I’ll go pack my things.”
Pack her things and leave? That should be what she meant.
A trace of disappointment rose in Xiao Xing’s heart.
The next moment, the path curved again. Bai Moqing asked, “From now on, will I share an office with Assistant Tang?”
The disappointment instantly became joy. Xiao Xing’s face did not change much. She answered calmly, “Mm. You and Tang Yue will be in the office next door. There are also two other secretaries, in the office two rooms over.”
Those two were secretaries too? It seemed that in the future, anyone who wanted to see President Xiao would have to pass through the four of them first.
“After I pack my things, I’ll go to the office next door.” Bai Moqing turned to leave. Remembering that Sister An would be hard to explain to, she turned back and asked, “President Xiao, about Sister An…”
“I will handle it.” Xiao Xing gave Bai Moqing a reassuring smile.
Looking at Sister An packing things together with her, Bai Moqing never would have expected that President Xiao’s “I will handle it” meant transferring Sister An to the top floor too, as president’s assistant.
The two people from the archive room, one becoming president’s assistant and one becoming president’s secretary, spread through the entire company at tornado speed. Everyone was stunned.
Women gathered in twos and threes to gossip. The subjects of gossip were Bai Moqing and An Huaigu.
Of course, the focus was on An Huaigu.
The president’s secretary did clerical work and had no real power, responsible for drafting documents and organizing files, those scattered tasks.
The president’s assistant was different. The level was equivalent to vice president. When the president was absent, the assistant could make some decisions. An Huaigu had leaped straight into vice president status. No one would believe she had nothing going on with President Xiao.
In everyone’s eyes, Bai Moqing had clearly become the small cannon fodder used to cover for President Xiao and An Huaigu. But being this little cannon fodder was quite worthwhile. Her salary had at least doubled.
After An Huaigu packed, she set her box on Bai Moqing’s desk, gave a hmph, lifted her head, puffed her chest, and left.
Several women coming out of the break room saw Bai Moqing holding two boxes and standing behind the proud An Huaigu while waiting for the elevator. This made them even more certain of the relationship between President Xiao and An Huaigu.
Look at that newly promoted Assistant An. Her little tail was almost wagging into the sky.
The truth was that An Huaigu had scolded Bai Moqing, saying that agreeing to become secretary was a betrayal, equal in nature to cheating, so she had to compensate An Huaigu’s emotional loss.
As for how to compensate: serve before and behind the horse, pour tea and water, and do whatever An Huaigu told her to do.
It had been agreed that Bai Moqing would share an office with Assistant Tang, but it became sharing an office with Sister An. Looking at An Huaigu raising an eyebrow and smiling wickedly at her, Bai Moqing felt a chill down her back.
Sister An’s eyes were telling her: little thing, you cannot escape big sister’s claws.
After settling into the new office, Bai Moqing walked to the window for air. This place was wider and brighter than the old office, and the view was broader.
Even without divine sense, she could look very far away.
But if she wanted to know what President Xiao was doing on the other side of the wall, she still needed divine sense. Bai Moqing closed her eyes. President Xiao was frowning, focused on reading a document. Her long hair slid down, and President Xiao raised a hand, brushed it back, and tucked it behind her ear.
Suddenly, Bai Moqing’s shoulder was patted. She withdrew her divine sense, opened her eyes, and turned back. Sister An was smiling at her. “What are you thinking about, Little Bai?”
Bai Moqing hesitated, then answered, “I don’t know any secretary work.”
“Now you know how good the archive room was, right? Every day was easy and free. There wasn’t much work. You came on time and left on time.”
Bai Moqing nodded.
“It’s too late to regret it now, little cutie.” An Huaigu was about to pinch Bai Moqing’s soft, smooth face when Tang Yue appeared at the door and ruined the mood. “Assistant An, excuse me. Could you come to my office? I have some work to hand over to you.”
An Huaigu was not happy to see Tang Yue at all. Unfortunately, now that she had become president’s assistant, half of Tang Yue’s work would be shared with her. No matter how unhappy she was, she had to follow.
She sighed. “I’ll go over now.”
Tang Yue had given her office to An Huaigu and Bai Moqing and moved across the hall. On President Xiao’s side, the office wall was brick. Their office walls were glass. If the blinds were not closed, anyone across the hall could see clearly whatever they did.
An Huaigu went to the opposite office, and this side immediately became quiet.
The first day passed calmly with no major events. When it was time to get off work, Bai Moqing glanced at Sister An, still across the hall. Thinking of her evening appointment, she left first.
Her appointment with Dr. Xue was at seven-thirty. Bai Moqing first went home and changed clothes.
When the little orange cat learned Bai Moqing was going to watch a movie, she insisted on going along. Bai Moqing was still struggling over whether to agree when Dr. Xue called and said she suddenly had a surgery, so she could not watch the movie tonight.
The little orange cat was so happy she jumped onto Bai Moqing’s shoulder and stretched out her barbed tongue, wanting to lick Bai Moqing’s face. Bai Moqing’s senses were sharp, and her eyes and hands were quick. She grabbed the little orange cat by the back of the neck and pulled her down.
“No random licking!”
“Moqing, take me to watch the movie, okay?” The little orange cat changed into human form and hugged Bai Moqing’s arm, acting spoiled. Her wet eyes blinked and blinked.
Unable to withstand a demon’s coquettish begging, and since the tickets had already been bought and wasting them would be a pity, Bai Moqing took Feiyue to the cinema.
Perhaps the newly released movie really was good, because there were many people in the lobby. Looking around, Bai Moqing saw pairs of young couples and close girlfriends everywhere.
She glanced sideways at the little orange cat following step for step and bought her a bucket of popcorn. In return, she received another sigh of praise. “Qingqing, you are so good to me.” Their feelings instantly became close enough for Feiyue to call her Qingqing.
The tickets had been booked online and could be printed at the self-service ticket machine.
Bai Moqing took out the movie tickets. Feiyue cheerfully chewed popcorn and leaned her little head over. Seeing the title, Feiyue immediately became unhappy. Bai Moqing had actually brought her, a demon, to watch Demon Slayer!