Chapter 97 – Extra: Big Brother and Bai He
At the very least, Lu Lou was certain of one thing: Bai He did not reject his pursuit. Otherwise, he would never have agreed to move into the house, to live right next door. Among the bee clan there were so many young bees—he could easily have been replaced with another nurse bee. If Bai He were in trouble, plenty of worker bees would gladly step in.
A CEO and a chief assistant choose each other. Bai He chose him. That meant that, in Bai He’s eyes, he must be a little different, right?
To be honest, there weren’t many CEOs in the world as obedient as him—one who followed his secretary’s arrangements completely. A flawless, mistake-free secretary depended on a cooperative CEO.
In terms of emotional value at work, Lu Lou could give Bai He everything he wanted.
Lu Lou felt that Bai He had a sense of control over him.
Watching Bai He straighten his suit for him, it took Lu Lou a moment to realize that he shouldn’t just sit there doing nothing. He was the pursuer now, not the aloof big boss.
But this entire floor was impeccably organized. Lu Lou wasn’t blind to work—he genuinely felt there wasn’t much left to do. Yet, in the eyes of a worker bee, such idleness would certainly be a grave sin.
He needed to find something to do…
Lu Lou glanced at the two adjacent rooms. One had a south-facing window, the other an east-facing one. The latter was Bai He’s guest room.
Lu Lou walked into the bedroom, took out a brand-new set of bedding from the closet, and prepared to change it.
Bai He noticed and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”
The Lu family’s housekeepers would never be lazy enough to require Lu Lou to change bedding himself.
Lu Lou said, “You sleep in my room.”
Bai He replied, “I’ll stay in the guest room.”
Lu Lou was firm. “My room gets sunlight in the morning. You can see the flower garden.”
Bai He said, “I can look from the living room balcony.”
Lu Lou countered, “My room has the best angle for viewing the wild lilies in bloom.”
Bai He was about to refuse when Lu Lou added, “If you were a little honeybee, you probably wouldn’t refuse me.”
Bai He: “……”
“Fine then. No need to change the bedding. I don’t mind.”
Lu Lou immediately put the four-piece bedding set back. When he came out of his bedroom, his face was full of barely concealed happiness.
He sent a message to the gardener, asking him to plant more lilies in the small patch of land that had been cleared.
The gardener told the eldest young master awkwardly, “I already promised the second young master to plant orchids there.”
Lu Lou said, “Figure out a way to add some lily varieties elsewhere.”
The entire flower garden had been carefully designed by Shen Ning, full of artistic intent. Now the eldest and second sons were competing for a place in it. The gardener felt that he had truly encountered aristocratic household intrigue.
He asked Shen Ning for instructions, unsure which son the madam would favor.
Shen Ning said, “Help them think of a solution. The eldest really needs lilies.”
The gardener marveled inwardly—truly worthy of being the eldest son. “Understood.” He brought in many lily bulbs and planted them interspersed all around the garden.
Before going to bed, Bai He received a WeChat message from the Lu family’s butler.
[Butler]: Eldest Young Madam, this is a taste preference survey for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night snacks. Link: %……?%
[The butler withdrew a message.]
[Butler]: Please fill in the taste preference survey for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night snacks, Secretary Bai. Link: %……?%. The kitchen will prepare meals according to your preferences.
Bai He: ……
[Same as President Lu’s.]
[Butler]: Okay, Eldest Young Madam.
[The butler withdrew a message.]
[Butler]: Sorry, verbal habit.
Bai He: “……”
In the morning, almost right after he finished washing up, an aunt brought over a cup of lightly flavored honey water to soothe his throat and stomach.
“Thank you.” Bai He took it. As soon as he lifted the cup, he smelled something off. “This is royal jelly for Yuan Yuan, isn’t it?”
“I’m sorry—”
Bai He quickly interrupted her, afraid she might follow up with the same verbal habit as the butler. “It’s fine.”
Everyone finished washing up around the same time. Especially among the bee clan, there was no need to set alarms—they naturally woke at about the same hour.
They followed their biological rhythms and rarely broke them.
Thus, a rare sight appeared in the Lu household: the three brothers, who used to wake up at completely different times and eat separately, now appeared at the dining table in sync.
Because Meng Xueyuan was pregnant and his diet differed slightly, Lu Xiao decided to temporarily replace the round dining table with a long rectangular one. Everyone could have their favorite dishes placed in front of them without turning the table, avoiding having delicious but pregnancy-forbidden foods circle endlessly in front of his wife.
When Meng Xueyuan learned the reason, he put on a stern face and told him to change it back. How could pregnancy justify replacing a round table they’d used for ten years?
Lu Xiao had thick skin. “Not changing it. My dad agreed.”
Meng Xueyuan had no way to deal with him and sat awkwardly at the end of the table.
Bai He subconsciously picked up his sandwich, intending to go to the living room to eat while confirming Lu Lou’s schedule for the day.
Click.
“Don’t know where to sit?” Lu Lou placed a nameplate on the table. On it were the characters “Bai He.” This trick from the third brother really worked well.
Official and businesslike—leaving Bai He speechless.
Looking at the nameplate he himself had once sourced for the company, Bai He felt like he’d lifted a rock only to drop it on his own foot.
Bai He said, “I get it. Put it away.”
His seat was awkward. The long table had a clear hierarchy. Shen Ning and Lu Fengge sat at the head. Lu Lou sat to the right, Lu Yushu to the left. Lu Xiao had run off with his wife to the far end.
The seat beside Lu Lou was clearly the position of the eldest daughter-in-law. Even the order in which the aunts poured tea and water started from there.
Bai He suddenly felt that moving in had been a misstep—it was practically no different from agreeing to Lu Lou’s pursuit.
He was frigid by nature. Lu Lou had said he had no time for sex, that they didn’t need a nightlife. If they were together, there’d be no difference from how things were now.
On the weekend, Lu Lou was going to attend the anniversary celebration of a subsidiary company. That subsidiary had performed very well this quarter, and Lu Lou would give a speech on stage thanking all the employees.
Bai He accompanied him. An anniversary celebration was a massive social occasion. Especially since he was Lu Lou’s chief secretary, people came one after another to try to build connections.
In the twenty minutes Lu Lou wasn’t by his side, Bai He rejected fifteen invitations to various shady, money-burning venues.
Those who failed couldn’t help but sigh—Secretary Bai was truly impervious to both soft and hard tactics.
While talking with the subsidiary’s general manager, Lu Lou kept an eye on Bai He’s situation. Watching him reject others again and again—just as smoothly as he rejected Lu Lou himself.
These people were tactful enough not to press further… just as Lu Lou thought this, a man holding two glasses of champagne clung to Bai He like a piece of sticky plaster.
“Sorry, I need to speak to Bai He about something.” Lu Lou walked straight over, coldly addressing the clingy man. “Secretary Bai has to drive for me later. Why are you trying to get him to drink?”
The man’s face turned green. He—he’d long heard that Secretary Bai didn’t personally drive anymore! “Sorry, I didn’t know.”
Seeing the CEO’s displeased expression, the man quickly fled with his champagne.
Lu Lou said, “Stick close to me.”
Bai He replied, “Okay.”
Since starting work, Lu Lou had never had his secretary block drinks for him. He hired assistants, not human shields for alcohol.
Lu Lou added, “Next time, reject them more decisively.”
Bai He said, “Okay.”
Then he added, “Actually, I can drink.” Though he’d need a lot of honey afterward to sober up.
Lu Lou said, “Even so, you shouldn’t drink. Alcohol isn’t good. You just need to stay clear-headed and help me with my work.”
Bai He thought of Xiang Jin’s drunken debauchery and deeply agreed.
“Alright.”
After saying that, Lu Lou felt his wording was too formal, as if he’d bound Bai He too tightly to work. To make up for it, he asked a personal question. “Secretary Lin is dating my second brother. Do you find that strange?”
Bai He said, “Why would I?”
Lu Lou vaguely knew that two drone bees were working in the southern city, apparently in very synchronized ways, influencing each other.
Why hadn’t Lin Xilan’s relationship affected Bai He at all? That wasn’t scientific.
Lu Lou asked, “You’re completely unaffected?”
Bai He said, “No.”
Just as Lu Lou was at a loss, Lu Xiao suddenly discovered his conscience and, in exchange for covering shifts for seven days, told him some gossip.
There had once been a worker bee sent on an overseas assignment for two years—and he’d ended up falling for his roommate.
That was a steel-willed, top-tier worker bee, with extremely strong resistance to desire.
Lu Lou understood. He immediately took Bai He on a one-month overseas business trip.
After half a month, Lu Lou began to suspect that Lu Xiao had tricked him into going abroad.
After a full month, he was sure that Lu Xiao had lied to him.
He had already tried things like metaphorical peacock displays, yet Secretary Bai remained unmoved—just as calm as back home.
The bee clan greatly enjoyed flying, so business trips by plane were torture for some, but a delightful journey for Bai He.
For Lu Lou, it was another story. He disembarked with a dark expression and, upon returning home, immediately went to complain about Lu Xiao’s underhanded methods, feeling an even stronger urge to beat his brother.
Lu Xiao protested, “What do you mean you didn’t succeed and it’s my fault? This was a tried-and-true method!”
“Wife!” Lu Xiao called Meng Xueyuan over to arbitrate. “Isn’t what I said true?”
Meng Xueyuan: “……” He’d never thought he’d be mediating disputes between the Lu brothers one day.
Meng Xueyuan declined to take Lu Xiao’s side, because Lu Xiao’s original intention had been to find someone to substitute for his business trip—he was in the wrong from the start.
Lu Xiao said, “Then call big sister-in-law to judge.”
Lu Lou, concerned about appearances, said, “Don’t—”
But Bai He said, “What he said is true.”
Lu Lou stared blankly at Bai He. “Th-then… did it work?”
Images flashed through Bai He’s mind—Lu Lou’s gloomy face on the plane, the various deals he’d made with Lu Xiao over the past months. He nodded. “It worked.”
Lu Lou said, “So I can go farm in Baihua Village?”
Bai He said, “No.”
Lu Lou asked, “Why not?”
Bai He replied, “Because you still have six meetings to attend and seventeen emails to reply to.”
Lu Lou said, “I can finish those in advance.”
Bai He said, “No. Because you don’t know how to farm.”
Suddenly, Lu Lou’s romantic intelligence kicked in. “You don’t want me to go farming—is that favoritism?”
Bai He’s expression grew slightly unnatural. “No.” Lu Lou was constantly dragged into competition by his brothers—competing at work, competing in the flower garden. Farming meant waking up at three in the morning. Wouldn’t Lu Lou have to stay up all night? And he didn’t like flying, yet he’d still have to go on long international trips.
Alright. In this world, the most effective way to pursue someone was still to play the victim.
Big Brother Lu hadn’t grasped the true essence. He thought himself overly strong—capable of handling overtime, business trips, and farming all on his own. But by sheer coincidence, Secretary Bai saw it all and felt sorry for him.
After all, a little honeybee secretary was supposed to help lighten the CEO’s burden. With him handling arrangements, Lu Lou shouldn’t have been so overwhelmed and chaotic.
