Someone gently hit Zheng Yuntong’s head with a file right after she finished speaking.
Lu Lixin pretended to sound unhappy when he said, “Little girl, are you complaining that I’m unfit to be your mentor?”
“But sir, the other section leaders and mentors like yourself always want to participate in more cases with President Wei as well. It’s the same for the other small fry like us,” said Zheng Yuntong, smiling. She was not afraid of him.
Lu Lixin laughed. “Hey, don’t lead the recruit astray!”
Zheng Yuntong chuckled and tugged at Lin Chu. “Let’s go, I’ll introduce you to your colleagues.”
As they walked, Zheng Yuntong continued their previous discussion. “Fortunately, we don’t have to compete with each other to become President Wei’s helpers. We don’t need to be recommended by our mentors either. Most of the time, we’ll take turns randomly. There’s no fixed order, but once you’ve been selected, they won’t select you again until the rotation has been completed throughout the office. That’s why none of us are anxious. We don’t have to scheme or backstab each other secretly. Frankly, the working environment in this office is pretty good. Everyone gets along rather well, except that person of course.”
Zheng Yuntong pointed in front at a female worker in the middle section. The woman was currently reapplying her makeup. “Her name is Hu Yuesha. She’s madly in love with President Wei. She views all unmarried women who speak to President Wei for extended periods as her enemies. Whenever it’s a female staff member’s turn to be called over by President Wei to handle a case, Hu Yuesha will taunt her when she’s working with President Wei on that case. She’ll make it seem as though the other woman has done many terrible things to her. However, it’ll be fine as long as you’re aware of this. You can just ignore her. Her words can’t hurt you and you won’t be harmed at all. Why should we be afraid of her meaningless insults if we’re just doing our work in an honest manner? She’s just obsessed with him. Aside from the older women in the company, she’s worried that the other women in their thirties and below are secretly in love with President Wei, regardless whether those women are already married or if they have boyfriends.”
“According to her, the married women can simply have affairs while those with boyfriends will just break up with them. She thinks that nobody is immune to President Wei’s charm.” Zheng Yuntong faintly shuddered and rubbed her arms. She seemed disgusted by the thought. “You should avoid her if you can. I’m not afraid of a woman who bravely pursues love, but I’m scared of her because she’s unreasonably obsessed with him!”
Lin Chu cautiously nodded. Although she would not make any judgments solely based on what Zheng Yuntong had said, at least she knew what to expect now. If Hu Yuesha was really like this, she would certainly stay away from her if it was possible.
Zheng Yuntong took Lin Chu around the office and introduced her to everyone else who worked in the same department as them.
“We don’t have many colleagues in the other departments. You’ll meet them slowly when we have lunch together and during the dinner event that is planned by the company,” said Zheng Yuntong.
Zheng Yuntong was a brilliant conversationalist. After a short while, Lin Chu discovered that Zheng Yuntong was a year older than her and she graduated from B University. Lu Lixin had handpicked her for this job. He would occasionally go to B University to lecture. He thought that Zheng Yuntong was a lively and intelligent person that could easily leave a good impression on others. Her talents could be polished if she underwent training in this field.
Lin Chu was not given a lot of work because she had just joined. They mainly wanted her to get used to everything first.
Zheng Yuntong gave Lin Chu the information about the most recent case that she and Lu Lixin were currently working on so that she could familiarize herself with it. Lin Chu would handle it with them if she could catch up. Otherwise, she could familiarize herself with Lu Lixin’s work style first.
At noon, Zheng Yuntong dragged Lin Chu off to have lunch with a few of their other colleagues from the same department. She never expected that Hu Yuesha would be there as well.
Hu Yuesha’s gaze revealed that she thought of Lin Chu as a new love rival who appeared out of the blue. Lin Chu was completely speechless by this. She believed Zheng Yuntong now. Fortunately, Hu Yuesha did not cross the line. She did not ask her too many questions because they were meeting each other for the first time. Moreover, they were not familiar with each other yet.
…
Lin Chu managed to work smoothly until Friday. The work environment at Lin Yi was truly excellent. Unlike Lin Yi, Jing Wen was chaotic.
Lin Chu felt that she had nothing to worry about now. She was unusually relaxed. Wei Zilin rarely came to the public relations department and he did not give Lin Chu any special treatment. It seemed as though Hu Yuesha was not wary of her anymore.
It was already past 1:00 p.m. when she returned in the afternoon after she had lunch with Zheng Yuntong and several other colleagues. They browsed the web and relaxed for a while since they had nothing to do.
Zheng Yuntong and Lin Chu’s desks were next to each other. Suddenly, Lin Chu heard the other woman say, “Oh my god.”
When Lin Chu looked over curiously, Zheng Yuntong had already turned toward her. She said, “Look at this. According to the news, Yan Beicheng met a woman in Ning City. She’s supposedly his fiance. They said that his family intends for him to marry that woman. It seems like a clear picture of Yan Beicheng has never been posted on the internet. This photo is blurry too, but at least we can roughly see him here.”
Lin Chu moved closer to take a look. Although it was not clear, she could vaguely see him in the picture. That man was probably Yan Beicheng. A young woman was seated opposite him while two middle-aged women sat next to them respectively. They appeared to be the guardians of both parties.
He told her that he went to Ning City for work. How did he find time to meet that woman?
Lin Chu visited that website once she managed to find it. The report stated that the pair had a meal in a very famous Western restaurant in Ning City. The environment there was exceptionally romantic. Last year, it ranked first among the top ten restaurants in Ning City that couples had to visit for dates.
Lin Chu did not believe that Yan Beicheng was a fickle man who could never be satisfied. However, it seemed like he went on a date with another woman behind Lin Chu’s back despite speaking to her on the phone last night. Lin Chu would not believe him if he said that the other woman was merely his business partner.
She never thought that she would be so unlucky. After encountering someone like Cheng Ziming, perhaps she had finally discovered that Yan Beicheng was like that as well.
Despite everything, she still believed in Yan Beicheng’s character.
Unfortunately, there was still an uncomfortable feeling in her heart. Regardless of what she thought, she wanted to get to the bottom of this.
It seemed as though she had lost control of her hands before she thought everything through. She took her cell phone from her desk as if she was possessed. When she opened WeChat, Yan Beicheng’s name was the first one that appeared. His profile picture was still her two inch-sized identification photo.
Initially, she wondered how she would ask Yan Beicheng about this without making it too obvious that she was being deliberate and petty. In the end, the pangs in her heart instantly disappeared when she saw his profile picture.
This man had openly used a photo of her as his profile picture. Why did she have to doubt him when he was not hiding her existence at all?
Lin Chu decided to drop this matter. She opened her Moments when she noticed that there were new updates. She happened to notice that the most recent post was a selfie that Zuo Qiu shared. It showed that he was currently on a business trip. This was not a big deal. It was a very common matter.
Zuo Qiu called her on the day that Yan Beicheng was sick with a fever. After that, he sent her a friend request on WeChat. Lin Chu accepted it because he was not a stranger.
Her Moments were filled with Zuo Qiu’s selfies from then on, but Lin Chu got used to it over time.
Coincidentally, there were two other people in the background of that photo. Lin Chu used two fingers to slide across the screen and enlarge the image. She discovered that the man behind Zuo Qiu was indeed Yan Beicheng. The expression on his face could not be seen clearly because he was standing behind Zuo Qiu in the distance.
There was a young woman opposite him. She could vaguely see that the woman looked gentle and graceful. She was also beautiful and desirable. There was no difference between her silhouette in this photo and the one in the news article.
She merely saw two people standing together. Lin Chu’s instincts told her that it probably meant nothing to Yan Beicheng, but that young woman might have felt otherwise. She closed her WeChat and abandoned this matter.
She did not have to worry about this if Yan Beicheng thought nothing of it. After all, Yan Beicheng could not control someone else’s opinion. It was obvious that Yan Beicheng had not done anything wrong. It would be somewhat unreasonable for her to interrogate him for this.
She never expected that Xu Moyan would call her just as she was about to put her phone back down.
Lin Chu answered. Before she could speak, she heard Xu Moyan say, “Lin Chu, did you read the news? I can’t believe that Yan Beicheng would be so unreasonable! I’m so conflicted. Wasn’t I the one who previously told you to give this relationship a try? In the end, it has only been a few days, but there are so many rumors about him now. Doesn’t that make it awkward for me? I’m really worried that I’ve given you a bad idea and put you in a bad spot.”
Lin Chu’s phone was excellent at amplifying noises. Moreover, Xu Moyan was speaking loudly on the phone as well. She was afraid that someone else would overhear this. Lin Chu sneaked a glance at Zheng Yuntong and noticed that she was currently watching a video. She sighed in relief before she hurriedly grabbed her phone and went outside.
“Lower your voice. Someone could hear you,” whispered Lin Chu in the corridor. “I’ve read the news, but it’s difficult to distinguish whether this news is real or fake because it’s simply written to be eye-catching. I trust him and I’m not going to doubt him because of that article. If something happened, I’ll wait for him to return and ask him properly. It’s a bit too soon to be suspicious now.”
“That’s true.” Xu Moyan relaxed when she noticed that Lin Chu was rather calm.
The pair ended the call without saying anything further. When Lin Chu turned around to return, she was shocked to discover that Wei Zilin was walking toward her now.
She had never encountered Wei Zilin aside from the day of the interview. She wondered if he had overheard her conversation just now.
Lin Chu greeted him, “President Wei”. Wei Zilin looked particularly friendly when he smiled at her and nodded. He left without saying anything.
However, Lin Chu felt that Wei Zilin was looking at her rather strangely.
Wei Zilin called Yan Beicheng as soon as he returned to his office. “Cheng’er, do you know that you’re on the news? Your wife saw a photo of you dining with another young woman. Get ready to kneel and apologize when you return. I don’t know how your wife feels, but if I were her, I’d suspect that you were doing inappropriate things and having an extramarital affair.”
“…” Yan Beicheng abruptly hung up without saying anything further.
Wei Zilin stared at his phone while a clicking noise rang out continuously. He was kind enough to inform that man about this, but the other party did not reply at all.
Yan Beicheng was not in the mood to chat with Wei Zilin. He simply feared that Lin Chu had misunderstood. Nonetheless, he was not worried that Lin Chu did not trust him. On the contrary, since Lin Chu had recently experienced something similar with Cheng Ziming, it would be difficult for her not to overthink if this happened again.
He immediately called Lin Chu after he hung up. Yan Beicheng was unusually anxious because it rang for a long time. Zuo Qiu was sitting beside him because he came along, but he looked extremely annoying to Yan Beicheng now.
He pointed his slender finger at a random spot beside the road. “Stop.”
Shao Huai looked at the rearview mirror to check the traffic condition before turning the steering wheel and stopped the car by the roadside.
“Get out, both of you. Come back in when I call you,” Yan Beicheng hurriedly said before Lin Chu answered the phone.
Shao Huai and Zuo Qiu glanced at each other before they got out of the car quickly. They stood at the roadside in the chilly wind, looking looked at Yan Beicheng who was inside the car.
Lin Chu was about to return to work when Yan Beicheng called. She felt bad about letting this interfere with her work. She scanned her surroundings, but it seemed like no one was paying attention. She speedily took her phone and went outside before she answered the call.
“Hello?” This time, Lin Chu went to the stairway immediately. She answered the phone in a hushed tone.
“Am I disturbing your work?” Yan Beicheng gently asked.
“I was just getting ready to work. I was rather embarrassed to go outside and answer the phone while everyone was busy working,” said Lin Chu honestly.
“…” Yan Beicheng paused. He was uncertain whether she was angry or not. “Did you read the news?”
Lin Chu gulped. Suddenly, she could not tell if he called her to explain that this was a misunderstanding or if he wanted to lay his cards on the table.
Indeed, she had always felt that Yan Beicheng was a responsible person. He was brave enough to accept the consequences of his actions and he would never beat around the bush. However, it was also possible that he was just using this news to apologize to her and state that he wanted to break up.
Lin Chu felt as though her heart had stopped beating suddenly. She realized that she had never thought of this possibility all along. Her heart ached when that thought crossed her mind now. It felt like a blunt knife was slicing the surface of her heart, but it could not cut it open in the end. It was so painful that her mood was ruined.
This was merely an assumption. However, the hurt feelings that she felt were more intense now than when she initially found out about Cheng Ziming’s betrayal.
Lin Chu weakly leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. She did not pretend that she was unaware. She made her voice as calm as possible before she said, “Yes, I read it.”
Her composed tone made Yan Beicheng terribly anxious. He was itching to roll the window down. He wanted to ask the two men who were standing at the roadside in the cold about what he should do.
Yan Beicheng exhaled and said, “The report was misleading. When I went to Ning City for work matters, my older relatives were coincidentally there as well. They invited me out for a meal and I went with them out of respect. I never knew that the young woman and her mother would be there too. I made an excuse and left after a short while. I think I know the reason why the news portal managed to get that photo.”
Lin Chu was aware as well. Yan Beicheng’s relatives had probably leaked the information to the reporter. He was waiting there on purpose to take the photo.
However, she could tell from Yan Beicheng’s tone that he was not looking forward to meeting his relatives in Ning City. He even mentioned that they had simply met by chance despite being in the same city. Lin Chu calmed down when she heard him say that. The uncomfortable feeling that she felt just now had disappeared while her entire body was filled with energy again. It felt as though someone had grabbed her heart earlier and released it suddenly. She was relieved.
Lin Chu stood bolt upright. She stopped leaning against the wall because it was slightly cold. She unconsciously sounded like a wife who was stirring up trouble now. It seemed like she was throwing a tantrum to get revenge after being betrayed. “Why did you meet her again then?”
“Again?” Yan Beicheng was instantly stunned. He was temporarily unable to react.
Lin Chu was not angry, but her state of mind seemed faintly troubled when she snarled, “I saw the selfie that Zuo Qiu posted on his Moments today. You were standing behind him with that young woman, but you weren’t far away. Your eyes were filled with affection when you stood there facing each other.”
Yan Beicheng truly felt that he was being wrongly accused when he heard Lin Chu’s exaggerated description. He lowered the car window right away and furiously glared at Zuo Qiu who was standing beside the car in the freezing cold weather.
Zuo Qiu blinked and quickly inhaled his snot that was about to drip down soon. He was completely innocent.
Yan Beicheng ruthlessly rolled the car window back up again. He did not forget to look outside the window and glared at Zuo Qiu during the entire time.
Zuo Qiu noticed that Yan Beicheng would continuously strangely raise his gaze as he rolled the car window back up. His eyes could not be seen anymore once the window was tightly shut. Only then did Yan Beicheng placed his bottom on the leather seat again.
Zuo Qiu innocently glanced at Shao Huai who stood next to him. He noticed that Shao Huai was admiring the long legs of the beautiful woman in a miniskirt who was passing by. Zuo Qiu felt neglected. He needed his comrade’s attention now. He reached out and tugged at Shao Huai because he wanted Shao Huai’s gaze to be focused on him again.
Shao Huai patted Zuo Qiu’s shoulder. “Don’t cry, you’ll feel better when you go home and jack off.”
Zuo Qiu, “…”
Suddenly, they heard someone snorting and laughing beside them. Zuo Qiu and Shao Huai looked over there at the same time. They saw a young woman who was holding a manga magazine. She was looking at them strangely. Her gaze seemed slightly perverted as well. She laughed to herself and walked away quickly when she noticed that they were looking at her. However, she would occasionally turn back as her questionable gaze wandered across the two men’s bodies.
As they were both straight men, Zuo Qiu and Shao Huai had no idea what her gaze implied. They were terribly naive.
Inside the car, Yan Beicheng was anxiously explaining everything to Lin Chu now. He was so frantic that he stuttered. “No… That… That woman ran to my company’s branch office in Ning City on her own and stopped me at the entrance. However, I chased her away sternly, I swear! I’m coming back to B City tomorrow. Please wait for me.”
“Alright, I have to return to work now so I can’t speak to you anymore. Bye.” Lin Chu ended the call once she had finished speaking.
“…” Yan Beicheng looked at his phone in a dumbfounded manner. Was she… Was she still mad at him?
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