Caught Red-Handed, The President's Little Scheme, Shut Up, You Bastard

At the Dongfang family villa on campus.

It was already nighttime, when one would normally be resting, but ever since returning earlier, Dongfang Zhixia had been holed up in the gym, running and working out for nearly three hours straight.

Her little secretary had tapped out after just half an hour, making up some excuse to sneak out and snack. The fat burned from exercise hadn’t even melted away before the calories from her munchies piled right back on. Rounding it off, by the end of the day, the secretary hadn’t lost an ounce—instead, she’d only enriched her collection of "useless flab."

"Miss seems really upset today. It’s all that jerk’s fault! Hmph!"

The secretary peeked through the gym door at her mistress, still grinding away, and puffed her cheeks indignantly. It was rare to see the young lady like this. Though the secretary was a bit airheaded, she wasn’t completely oblivious to the shift in mood. By all rights, she ought to avenge her mistress.

But… the mere thought of confronting the Shen family’s young master made her shiver. If she went, she’d probably get pummeled into minced meat.

In the end, she could only vent her frustration in her imagination, mentally giving Shen Qinghan a thorough thrashing on behalf of her lady.

In short, it was pure copium. In reality, the secretary lacked the guts to confront the young master head-on, but in her mind, he’d been utterly crushed, begging for mercy.

"Hehe…" The secretary giggled foolishly to herself and quietly shut the door.

Better not let Miss catch her slacking off, or she’d be dragged back to the treadmill. So exhausting…

"It’s so late now. That jerk should’ve gone back to his dorm already."

After closing the door, the secretary muttered to herself for a while, then put on a sneaky expression and tentatively called out toward the gym in a hushed voice.

"Miss, I’m going upstairs to stargaze. I’ll come back down later to keep you company, okay…?"

"Miss, if you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as a yes…"

"Miss, I’m leaving now…"

"Miss… hehe…"

At first, she kept up the pretense of exercise-related excuses and "disclaimers," but soon, she dropped the act entirely. With a silly giggle, she bolted upstairs, her retreating figure practically bouncing with glee.

In the past, the secretary’s greatest joys were mealtimes and the days her mistress handed out allowance. But recently, she’d found a new daily delight—going up to the balcony to "stargaze."

Hehe…

Inside the gym, Dongfang Zhixia kept running on the treadmill, her sports headphones blaring music. She’d long surpassed her usual workout quota, yet she showed no signs of stopping.

Only by pushing her body to exhaustion could she briefly numb herself and avoid dwelling on what had happened earlier that day.

The more she thought about it, the more her blood boiled. She could tolerate Shen Qinghan’s cold shoulder—after all these years, she was used to that self-righteous ice block.

But what she couldn’t stomach was Ye Cheng giving her the same treatment, especially after she’d cleaned up his mess. He’d just taken off without a word, leaving her behind.

This was the first time she’d ever experienced the sting of being the one "left unchosen."

Just recalling it now sent her heart rate and blood pressure skyrocketing again.

Beep!

A crisp electronic chime sounded as the treadmill gradually slowed to a stop. Wiping the sweat from her brow with a towel, Dongfang Zhixia exhaled sharply.

"Where did that idiot go?" Only now did she realize her secretary, who was supposed to be running alongside her, had vanished long ago.

Hadn’t she said something about getting water? And yet…

Dongfang Zhixia glanced at the wall clock. One or two hours had passed. Did it take that long to drink water?

Clenching her fists, she growled, "That slacker! Skipping out again!"

She stormed out of the gym, intent on dragging the secretary back to make up for the missed workout. But after scouring the first floor, there was no sign of her.

The only trace was a half-eaten slice of cake on the table.

Dongfang Zhixia narrowed her eyes, picked up the dessert, and took a small bite.

"She didn’t even finish her favorite cake before running off?"

A thought struck her. Her gaze lifted from the cake to the ceiling, eyes narrowing further.

"Don’t tell me she’s… again?"

"Useless fool!"

Gritting her teeth, she tightened her grip on the fork—then quietly tiptoed upstairs herself, phone in hand, recording mode activated. Time to catch the secretary red-handed.

On the rooftop, the secretary was in her usual spot, this time better prepared. Anticipating another nosebleed, she’d stuffed her nostrils with tissue.

She was hunched over her telescope, grinning like an idiot and muttering to herself, a smear of cake cream lingering at the corner of her mouth.

"Eh? Why are the lights still off? Did he not come home today? How dare he!!!"

Her frustration was palpable as she huffed about Ye Cheng staying out so late, completely unaware of the figure creeping up behind her.

"What hasn’t come back?"

"That jerk! It’s so late, and he’s still not home! So annoying, hmph!"

"Oh… So you’re up here to spy on some ‘jerk,’ not stargaze?"

"Of course I’m stargazing! But stars are always there. That jerk, he’s only—"

The secretary froze mid-sentence. Something felt off. Wasn’t she alone on the balcony? Where did that other voice come from?

And… it sounded so familiar. Almost like… the young lady?

The young lady?! The young lady!!!

Her pout vanished instantly. Slowly, she adjusted the telescope—away from Ye Cheng’s dorm window—and pointed it skyward instead.

"Wow, what a beautiful star! It looks like a red bean mooncake!"

"Oh? Miss, when did you get here?"

"Ah, right! I’ve rested enough. Time to get back to running! Bye now—"

Dongfang Zhixia: "???"

"Get back here, you idiot!!!"

"Waaah! Nooo, Miss! I’m sorry! Waaah…"

The secretary tried to bolt, but it was too late. Of all times to suddenly remember her workout, why now?

"Looking at such indecent things in the middle of the night!" Dongfang Zhixia wore an expression of exasperation, while her little secretary pouted pitifully, her delicate nose stuffed with two wads of tissue. The combination of her aggrieved look and the ridiculous sight made it oddly amusing.

"I wasn’t, Miss! I was just adjusting the telescope’s direction…"

Faced with the secretary’s weak excuse, Dongfang Zhixia silently pulled out her phone and played a video right in front of her—footage of the secretary giggling foolishly while peering through the telescope and muttering complaints.

The evidence was undeniable.

"Idiot, anything else to say for yourself?" Dongfang Zhixia crossed her arms, seizing the initiative, completely forgetting that she, too, had been caught red-handed by the secretary earlier.

Of course, tormenting the secretary wasn’t her real intention. The main issue was… the Guild Leader herself had been embarrassed after getting caught, and now that she’d dragged the secretary down with her, neither could point fingers at the other.

"Wuwuwu, Miss… wuwuwu…" The secretary, never expecting her mistress to be so underhanded, could only stare at her with pitiful eyes.

"Idiot, the telescope is confiscated from now on!" Dongfang Zhixia put on a fierce act as she snatched the telescope away, while the secretary stood by helplessly, longing to rescue her precious device.

Wuwuwu… gone, it’s all gone… wuwuwu…

The secretary watched in despair as her "treasure" was mercilessly seized by her mistress. Just as she was on the verge of tears, she suddenly noticed someone approaching the villa from outside.

Her big, sparkling eyes blinked as she stared at the figure walking down the path—Ye Cheng. A question mark practically materialized above her head.

And when she saw that Ye Cheng was clad in nothing but two leaves, the impact was immediate. The secretary "turned red," her flush spreading from her face down to her neck like a chameleon, rivaling the legendary "Second Master’s" infamous blushes.

The things seen through a telescope and the things witnessed in person were on entirely different levels of intensity.

Now, the secretary was completely overwhelmed by this "surprise" spectacle, so flustered she couldn’t even speak coherently, frantically patting her mistress’s arm.

"Miss, Miss…"

Thud!

Before she could finish, the secretary fainted from sheer excitement, the two little white tissue wads in her nose now soaked red and limp.

Dongfang Zhixia: "???"

Turning around in confusion, Dongfang Zhixia had no idea what had just happened before her secretary collapsed.

Frowning, she glanced in the direction the secretary had been staring.

Was there something unspeakable over there?

"Guild Leader, open up! It’s me!"

Ye Cheng stood below the villa, clad in two leaves, waving enthusiastically and bouncing up and down to make sure Dongfang Zhixia saw him.

Dongfang Zhixia: "???"

In an instant, the Guild Leader underwent the same transformation as her secretary, turning into a matching "chameleon," her face and neck burning red. The suddenness of the sight was too much—even the unshakable Guild Leader couldn’t withstand the visual impact.

"You shameless jerk, SHUT UP!!!" Dongfang Zhixia’s face burned crimson, her eyes spinning in dizzy embarrassment as she roared in fury.