After leaving the Bai Group, Lucas didn't go anywhere else.
He returned directly to his own company.
The moment he sat down, his assistant, Li Yufei, hurried into the office.
"Mr. Lucas! Mr. Lucas! Great news!" Li Yufei exclaimed, barely containing her excitement.
Lucas looked up. "What news?"
"The patent we applied for—the Intellectual Property Office got back to us! They're treating it as a top priority and have already begun an expedited review process!"
Li Yufei was practically dancing with joy. "We'll be able to start production very soon!"
He had the intellectual property secured, but Lucas wasn't foolish enough to put all his cards on the table. He kept certain key aspects held back.
He nodded calmly. "Good. And what about the other tasks I assigned?"
That was the more critical part.
Hearing this, Li Yufei's face immediately fell. "I..."
Oh no, oh no.
I shouldn't have gotten cocky.
Mr. Lucas is still a penny-pincher at heart. Sure, he surprised me last night, but...
His core nature is still that of a clueless straight man with no idea how to treat a woman!
"They're... not done yet," Li Yufei said cautiously.
She closed her eyes, bracing for the inevitable storm of reprimand.
But...
contrary to her expectations, the usual scolding from her hot-tempered boss never came. Instead, she heard words of comfort.
"That's fine. No rush. Take your time. Just make sure you complete the tasks I've given you properly."
Lucas's attitude toward Li Yufei was actually quite good.
After all, she was highly capable. If he really fired her, he wasn't sure who he'd find to replace her.
It was better to gradually nurture her loyalty and affinity for him.
Besides, he could literally see her 'Favorability' rating.
Li Yufei was dumbfounded, looking at Lucas with disbelief. "Huh?!"
"M-Mr. Lucas... you're not going to yell at me?"
My goodness.
Has Mr. Lucas been body-snatched? He's actually not scolding me?
"Why would I yell at you for no reason?" Lucas said, sounding somewhat exasperated. "The workload I gave you is meant to be spread over two months."
"Do you understand?"
"I didn't ask you to finish it in a single day!"
The materials on the USB drive, aside from the patent application, mainly involved scouting locations and drafting some preliminary plans.
As for him...
He was perfectly happy being the 'leisure boss.'
With diligent employees keeping the company running, of course he should enjoy himself!
Li Yufei: !!!
Two months?!
My God, is he serious?
Before Li Yufei could fully process this, Lucas suddenly tossed a bank card onto the desk, saying impatiently, "Alright, alright, stop standing there looking dumb."
"Get back to work. This is your bonus."
"There's two million in there. Consider it compensation for your hard work over the past two years. Keep it up, and there'll be more in the future."
Li Yufei suddenly froze.
Two million!
That's two years of my salary!
She was at a loss. "Mr. Lucas, you... that's too much."
Although she desperately needed the money, this... was genuinely an enormous amount.
Lucas snorted. "Too much?"
"Your father is in the hospital. It's exactly when you need money the most. Where were you going to find hundreds of thousands?"
"You've earned this!"
Then, his tone turned serious. "The company's valuation skyrocketing to 1.3 billion—I see the role you played in that. These two million... it's not too much!"
"Take it. Do good work. I'll reward you properly again after some time has passed."
Maybe even invite you to my place.
Seeing Lucas's earnest expression, Li Yufei was stunned. "Mr. Lucas, how did you know about my dad...?"
How did he know my father was hospitalized?
I never said anything about it.
So how could Mr. Lucas know?
Lucas glared at her, displeased. "Why do you have so many questions? You're my secretary. Isn't it normal for me to look into your family situation?"
"If you get held up by personal issues, won't my company fall into chaos?"
"Now hurry up, take the money, and get out of here. I'll contact Jiangcheng's top private hospital later. Transfer your father there. I'll handle the expenses."
In the original story, Li Yufei's father passed away from his illness.
Heartbroken, she went a full day and night without sleep.
She eventually collapsed at the office.
After she recovered, the original Lucas gave her three days off. She spent those nights drowning her sorrows in alcohol, trying to force herself not to think.
Then,
at a bar, she was harassed by some local thugs, coincidentally running into Ye Fan who happened to be there.
Thus began the classic 'hero saves the damsel' scene.
The rest of the story followed predictably:
She fell for Ye Fan, helped him undermine her 'villainous' boss Lucas, the boss was ultimately killed off, she disappeared, and never appeared again in the narrative.
"Ah? Oh." Li Yufei's mind was completely elsewhere at the moment.
Dazedly clutching the bank card, she turned to leave.
"Take three days off. Spend some time with your parents. If anything comes up, remember to call me."
Lucas added this just as she was about to walk out the door.
Faced with her boss's outwardly cold but inwardly caring demeanor, the sensitive Li Yufei felt her eyes welling up again.
Mr. Lucas...
Has he been putting on an act all this time?
He actually cares about my situation behind the scenes? He even paid attention to my parents...
"Mr. Lucas, I won't let you down."
Once Li Yufei had left,
a system prompt sounded in Lucas's mind.
[Ding! Gained +30 Favorability from Li Yufei. Current Character Favorability: 80 (Affection)!]
[Steadiness Points +3000!]
Tsk.
Hearing the system's notification, Lucas couldn't help but click his tongue.
Well, well.
Jumped straight to 'Affection' that fast?
Is my little assistant really that easy to win over?
No wonder Ye Fan only had to play the hero once to capture her heart in the original story.
With all I've done for her, shouldn't she be moved to tears by now?
Li Yufei's role in Lucas's eyes was quite significant. She could handle the vast majority of his workload diligently and without complaint.
She didn't even have a significant other to distract her.
She was practically the ideal, born-to-work employee.
If he didn't 'utilize' such talent to its fullest, Lucas felt he'd be doing a disservice to his identity as a shrewd, profit-driven character.
However,
he wasn't about to ruthlessly exploit his assistant. He'd give her the occasional pleasant surprise and a bit of 'sweetness.'
A small red envelope here and there, and she'd happily work her tail off.
Just look at yesterday.
Those 'Blue Enchantress' roses? Just a few thousand from the wholesale market for a huge batch, some ribbon, and a bit of his own decorating.
A cake that cost a little over three hundred.
Tsk tsk.
Had the little secretary practically moved to tears just from that?
Thinking about it, Lucas couldn't help but admire his own tactics.
"With a good boss like me in the world, shouldn't my employees be crying from gratitude?"