The next morning, Tang Hao arrived at Dragonrock Village and was welcomed warmly by the villagers.
“Do you think that my son Hu’zi, can do it, Lil Hao? He’s 20 years old and built like a tank. He’s very strong as well.”
“Lil Hao, my daughter, Cuihua, is very clever and she’s a diligent worker. Do you think she’s suitable for the job?”
The aunties were initially busy doing laundry by the creek. However, the moment they saw Tang Hao, they immediately started surrounding him and started a lively discussion.
They heard that Tang Hao had recently set up his own company and became a real boss. He even established a factory in town. Naturally, workers were needed in factories, so they all wanted to ask for jobs for their family members.
“Don’t fret! There are jobs available, and there are still a lot of vacancies in the factory!” Tang Hao hurriedly said.
After giving it a thought, he continued, “I’ll discuss the matter with the village committee later. Just go ahead and sign up if you’re interested.”
“That’s great, Lil Hao. Thank you!”
“I don’t think I can call you Lil Hao anymore. We need to start addressing you as Boss Tang from now on. It’ll sound way more imposing!”
The group of aunties laughed out loud.
“Don’t do that. I’m not used to it. Just refer to me as you usually would!” Tang Hao said with a bitter chuckle.
The aunties continued their joking for a while longer before Tang Hao was finally released.
After this, Tang Hao went to the village committee hall and bumped into the village elder, Shi Xuenong. He proceeded to inform him of the recruiting matter.
“You can rest easy and hand this matter over to me, Lil Hao. I’ll pick a group of capable young people for you,” Shi Xuenong said whilst patting his chest.
“Hey! Your project is growing better and bigger, Lil Hao. I feel like the Dragonrock Village is bathing in your glory as well. As the village elder, I really do want to thank you.”
Ever since the construction of the plantation, many of the villagers were no longer desperately looking for work. Now that the factory was up and running, they could hire more people, so their lives would only keep getting better as they received a stable income.
“You’re too kind, elder.” Tang Hao scratched his head and said in embarrassment.
“Haha!” Shi Xuenong laughed out heartily.
Tang Hao went straight to the mountains after leaving the village committee hall.
After an hour or so, there was a car on the road leading to the village.
It was going a little slow as it crossed over the bridge on the creek before ultimately stopping. Then, the car door opened and a charming woman in a professional attire stepped out. It was Han Yutong.
Han Yutong got out of the car and looked around before her whole body froze up.
How on earth was she going to look for the president in such a big mountain village!
The expression on her face turned slightly bitter as she frowned. She was beginning to feel that taking this job might have been a mistake after all.
Initially, she had applied for the position as assistant manager. However, she had abruptly received a call this morning informing her that she had been recruited as the president’s assistant, instead. She hesitated for a while upon hearing this.
Nevertheless, she eventually agreed to it after much consideration.
Even so, she was met with a difficult situation on the very first day of work. The president’s phone was unreachable, which was very frustrating to her. What kind of a boss’s phone could not be reached anyway? How was she supposed to do her job in the future!
“This President Tang is a peculiar person.”
She felt that her boss was really quite different from the rest as she recalled the events from the day before. First of all, he was dressed in ordinary clothes and did not have a leader’s demeanor.
Moreover, he was way too young, at only eighteen years old!
A young man his age was already the president of a company. Moreover, according to Big Sis Yan, the president was not a typical type of boss. He was not the son of an influential family, yet still had relationships with all the prominent businessmen in the county as well as the government.
In her eyes, the boss was a somewhat mysterious character.
“Ah! Where should I start looking?! He was fine where he was before, why’d he have to run up to a mountain village?”
Han Yutong grumbled for a while as she tamed her beautiful hair. Then, she proceeded to walk straight toward the village.
All of the villagers’ attention had turned to her ever since she first arrived. After all, such a beautiful woman was not a common sight inside this mountain village.
“Whoa! Take a look at that gorgeous young lady! I think she’s here looking for Lil Hao!”
“She certainly is! Who else would such a beautiful lady be looking for?”
A group of villagers whispered to one another.
A few of the meddlesome aunties were already surrounding her as one of them yelled enthusiastically, “Little lady, you must be here for Lil Hao, huh!”
“Lil Hao?” Han Yutong paused.
After a momentary pause, she remembered that the boss’s full name was Tang Hao.
“Yes… That’s right!” She nodded. “Where… is he now? I called him a couple of times earlier, but it said that his phone wasn’t in service.”
“Oh! Lil Hao’s probably deep in the mountains now,” One of the aunties said out loud.
“In the mountains?” Han Yutong was stunned. She lifted her head and looked at the dense, shrub-covered mountain and was immediately overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness.
Goodness, gracious. Was she supposed to go in there to look for him?
“He’s in there for sure. I saw Lil Hao entering the mountain not long ago. But, I haven’t seen him come out yet!” Another aunty added.
“Well, what’s he doing in the mountains?” Han Yutong asked in a hushed tone.
“I don’t know anything about that! Lil Hao goes up the mountain every day, and he really goes deep, right into the old forest. It seems like he’s planting something up there. No one in the village is really clear about what exactly he’s doing,” The aunty continued.
“Oh! Right, young lady. You and Lil Hao… What kinda relationship do you have with him?” The aunty questioned her further.
At that moment, all of the aunties perked up their ears as their eyes vigorously locked onto Han Yutong.
Han Yutong’s face instantly blushed. Then, she quickly replied, “There’s… Nothing is going on between us. I’m just his assistant, and it’s my first day of work.”
“Assistant? Doesn’t that mean you’re his secretary*!? (TN: The author used the word 小秘, which directly translates to a little secretary. It ironically means the boss’s mistress.)”
The group of aunties exchanged meaningful glances toward one another as they immediately escalated the situation to make it flirtier than it actually was. Then, they shot an understanding look at Han Yutong.
“It… It’s not the type of relationship you’re thinking about. I’m only an assistant!” Han Yutong hurriedly tried to explain.
“We get it!” The group of aunties said as they laughed out.
Han Yutong didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“You should just wait over here, young lady. Lil Hao’s probably coming out soon!”
Han Yutong had no other option, so, all she could do now was wait.
After ten minutes or so, a figure was seen walking down the other side of the mountain road. He was wearing a white shirt and carrying a hoe on his shoulder. He was dressed up like a farmer.
Han Yutong was dumbfounded as soon as she laid eyes on him.
Was that really their company’s boss? Why did he have to dress up like a farmer?
“Oh my god, what kind of a person is the big boss!?”
Han Yutong lifted her palm up to massage her forehead. She felt powerless.
She was beginning to think that she had been pushed into a pit. After all, it must be very troublesome to be an assistant to these types of bosses.
A moment later, she collected her thoughts and walked up to greet him. She shouted out, “President Tang!”
Tang Hao froze. “Assistant… Han, why are you here?”
Even though Han Yutong had great self-restraint, she wanted to roll her eyes so badly. He was the one with the lair deep in the mountains, and his phone was the one that was unreachable. If not for those things, she need not come all the way here.
Although she was thinking of this, she still smiled and said softly, “President Tang, the manager’s looking for you! The factory’s starting production today and is making a batch of samples. She wanted President Tang to check a couple of things.”
“Oh!” Tang Hao exclaimed in realization, “Then, let’s go!”
It was the first day of production, so he really did want to check everything out and offer them some guidance.
He placed the hoe down immediately and went straight to the village committee hall entrance. Then, he brought his small three-wheeled motorcycle over.
Han Yutong was at a loss for words once again. She felt like she was about to turn into a stone statue soon.
She was even under the impression that her vision was growingdimmer. He was the president of a grand company, but, to one’s surprise, he was riding a small broken down three-wheeled motorcycle. If word got out, their company would turn into the laughing stock of the town.
“Pres… President Tang. Is… Is this… your ride?” Han Yutong stammered.
“Yep!” Tang Hao nodded. “What’s wrong?”
“No… Nothing!” Han Yutong hurriedly shook her head. “That is… Let’s ride in that car, instead; it’s Big Sis Yan’s.”
“There’s no need!” Tang Hao shook his head and started his three-wheeled motorcycle. Then, he rode it out of the village.
Han Yutong was left standing on the same spot. She looked on as the three-wheeled motorcycle disappeared off into the distance and felt like the ground was going to swallow her whole.
‘This boss, he’s one of a kind!’
She thought to herself.