Qian Meng put her laptop aside and reached him. She pushed all the things that he could stumble or hurt himself on out of his way.
Mo Qingchen stormed across the room without so much as a glance her way.
He swung the door open with a loud band. His dominant frame filled the doorway and all she wanted was to get out of the room to follow him.
She followed blindly, not saying a word but worry brewed in her heart.
He was at the door to his office in no time and blocking the entrance. Qian Meng's eyes focused on the slender woman standing before him. She was looking down at her feet.
"Is that the contract?" he growled.
The woman slowly nodded.
"Give it to me." His control was slipping and Qian Meng could see his muscles tense. With shaky hands, the woman handed him a folder, her eyes remaining plastered on the floor.
He scanned page after page silently, though the tension that filled the room was so loud, it was deafening.
"Unacceptable." His eyes shot fire.
"I tried…" the woman dared to look up to speak.
"You tried what?" He threw the folder on the floor causing her to flinch.
"I tried telling them that you wouldn't like this outcome," she squeaked.
"Well, obviously, you didn't try hard enough." He sounded livid.
Qian Meng knew better than to stop a boss from reprimanding their employee. She didn't even know what this woman had done wrong.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Mo. I…" her voice broke as she held back her tears.
"Where were the senior lawyers?" He cut her off before she could make more excuses.
"He was stuck in traffic. I was the only one at the meeting. I tried calling you several times but you didn't answer." Her eyes lifted and Qian Meng could see tears finally spill from her eyes.
"Then you should have cancelled the meeting. What made you think that you could take my place?"
The woman stood frozen, her eyes looking directly at him in horror.
"Answer me!" he asked venomously.
"They said there was a deadline. They said they didn't need you there."
He lowered his head. "I thought you graduated top of your class. If you don't have common sense, let me teach you something. The other side will always try to exploit you. And you were the perfect chicken to cut and eat. And who was it that persuaded you to talk on my behalf?" His voice was suddenly eerily calm.
"Uh… it was mostly the white-haired guy." She was so petrified that she could barely talk. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
"Get out." He extended his hand to point behind him. He moved away, giving Qian Meng a clear view of the girl. She was about twenty-three or twenty-four.
Under Mo Qingchen's scolding, this girl remained frozen in place.
"Go!" he roared. Even Qian Meng flinched. She made a small screeching noise before running away.
He stormed inside the office and slammed it shut so hard that Qian Meng was surprised it didn't fall off the hinges.
She slid the door open and watched him. He had stalked over to his desk. She had half a mind to leave him to his tantrum.
Before she could turn, he stopped her. "Where are you going?"
"I don't think I can calm you down and I don't want your fever to go up, so I was leaving," she told him firmly.
"Stay," he ordered.
"Why?" She was not in a mood to argue with him. And considering his demonstration a minute ago, he wasn't going to laugh and chat with her.
"I want to talk to you before you go." He was trying not to sound angry with her, that much she could make out. She was almost thankful for him trying.
Slowly, she made her way over to him. His face was red and his eyes burning with rage but he was trying really hard to control. She had not seen him go off on anyone before. Now, she had first-hand experience of how he breathed fire.
Finding out that he tried to reign in his anger when around her was new.
"Why are you angry all the time?" she asked with genuine curiosity.
"I am not angry all the time, just around imbeciles," he replied with a deep sigh.
"And you think everyone is an imbecile, she countered.
"Untrue. Not everyone." His eyes grabbed hers. "If people do their jobs well, I won't think of them as imbeciles. It's that simple."
Qian Meng almost laughed. "Being a boss for so many years, you must already know that there are few people who actually work well," she told him.
"You'd be surprised how well a good screaming can do to shake them up and get their asses off their seats. When they realize that I won't be paying them for doing nothing and making mistakes, they make sure that they work well."
"Primitive methods. I wonder how your turnover rate is so low…" she trailed off, genuinely curious.
"Because my company is one of the best and to show people you are the best, you get to stay on. You learn new things and the next place you go, you'll be revered as a God." He paused. "And it's because my standards are high and I won't let them get away with bad work."
Qian Meng nodded. "But you can't slam doors like that. You can't make them think they are worthless and you wouldn't mind killing them if not for the law."
Mo Qingchen looked at them incredulously. "Is that how I come off?"
"Yes. There is a fine line between a rough and demanding coach and a belligerent man on a power high." She laughed as Mo Qingchen gave her the stink-eye. "You need to work a little on your attitude and you'll be spanking your employees into perfection without making them cry."