Lu Zhengting was never a man of many words, and Xia Yan was happy to have the peace and quiet.
At the school gate, Xia Yan said goodbye, unbuckled her seatbelt, got out of the car, and walked straight into the school with her backpack.
Back in the dormitory, Lin Xujia, her face covered in a face mask, suddenly leaned in close, pulling out the chair next to her. "Xia Yan, did President Lu send you back?"
Xia Yan fiddled with the things on her desk, glancing at Lin Xujia. "Xiaojia, you look pretty scary with that mask on. How about you finish what you're doing first, then come find me?"
Hearing this, Lin Xujia reached up and ripped the mask off her face in one go. "Is this better?"
"I give up. What do you want to say now?"
"Xia Yan, we submitted our resumes to the Lu Group a week ago. Have you heard anything from them?"
"No, you're still hung up on that? Remember how I sent my resume to a few other companies? I got a notice from one of them—I report in three days." Xia Yan picked up a comb, running it through her hair as she lazily looked at Lin Xujia. Then, as if something struck her, she looked surprised. "Don't tell me you only applied to the Lu Group?"
"..."
"Xiaojia, I know you want to work at Lu Group because Brother Ye is there, but with our qualifications, getting into Lu Group is like a pipe dream. I never expected to hear back from them."
"Xia Yan, aren't you pretty close with Lu Zhengting? Could you put in a word for me?" Lin Xujia clasped her hands together, looking at Xia Yan with earnest hope.
The moment Lin Xujia finished speaking, Xia Yan's combing motion paused. She looked at Lin Xujia through the mirror. "Xiaojia, I know you like Brother Ye and really want to work at the same place as him, but my relationship with Lu Zhengting isn't what you think. Besides, do you really think he, the head of the Lu Group, would listen to anything I say?"
"Xia Yan, since you know how I feel about Brother Ye, you should also know I'm determined to get this job at Lu Group. Just help me out, okay? Look how much his son likes you—maybe he'd agree for his son's sake?"
"Xiaojia, I..." Xia Yan looked at her, troubled. Just the thought of bringing this up to Lu Zhengting made her skin crawl.
"Xia Yan, please help me. I really want to work at Lu Group." Lin Xujia grabbed Xia Yan's arm, whining.
And Xia Yan's weakness was people whining to her. She gave an awkward smile and pulled her arm back. "Let me think about it."
"So you're saying yes?"
"No, I—"
"Xia Yan, I don't care. I'm taking that as a yes." Lin Xujia beamed, looking at Xia Yan with joy, feeling like the distance between her and Ye Yunchen had just shrunk.
Xia Yan stared at the cheerful Lin Xujia, her own emotions tangled and hard to express. How was she supposed to bring this up to Lu Zhengting?
All night, even in her dreams, Xia Yan was mulling over this problem. Meanwhile, Lin Xujia in the other bed slept soundly.
******
Lu Zhengting drove back to the Lu residence from Jiangcheng University late into the night. The crescent moon hung in the sky, casting a cold, clear light, and the stars around it seemed to lose their brilliance, serving only as its backdrop.
The night sky was a deep, bluish black.
After finishing up with company matters, Lu Zhengting stood by the window in a black silk pajama set. The coffee-colored curtains swayed gently in the breeze. His hair was slightly tousled, his sharp, angular face half-hidden in the darkness, appearing and disappearing. Moonlight spilled over him, pooling into soft halos, making him look hazy and unreal.
A cigarette dangled between his fingers, its faint glow flickering in the dark. In the utter silence, an image of Xia Yan suddenly surfaced in his mind—her in an apron, her long hair casually tied up high, revealing her fair, slender neck. In the kitchen, she was bent over, focused on whatever she was doing, the bright light lazily draping over her as if she were wrapped in a golden halo.
Her every smile and expression stood out vividly in his dazed thoughts.
This strange feeling drew him in, even stirring a new kind of emotion toward Xia Yan.
The next day.
Lu Zhengting arrived at the company. As he walked into the lobby, an employee carrying a stack of documents rushed straight toward him, sending the papers flying everywhere. The secretary beside him shot a dark look at the offending worker.
"What are you doing? Why the rush?"
The startled employee knew their boss's temper well. If it weren't for the earlier mix-up in the resume submission process, the HR department wouldn't be in such a chaotic scramble.
Lu Zhengting straightened his clothes, his gaze dropping to the scattered resumes. Among them, he immediately spotted the name "Xia Yan." He frowned slightly, picking up her resume. If not for the photo, he might have thought it was someone else with the same name.
Given how Xia Yan always tried to avoid him, the fact that she'd submitted a resume to Lu Group felt like fate—like she was destined to never escape his grasp.
The secretary, still scolding the employee, caught Lu Zhengting's meaningful look and quickly turned to him. "President Lu."
"This person has good qualifications." With that, Lu Zhengting handed Xia Yan's resume to the secretary.
As he stepped into the private elevator, the secretary glanced at him, puzzled. He never meddled in HR matters. What was up with him today? She looked down at the resume photo. The woman was, at best, plain-looking. She couldn't see anything special about Xia Yan.
"Xia Yan, direct hire."
"Secretary Wu, Xia Yan's qualifications don't meet the requirements."
"It's President Lu's decision."
By the time Lu Zhengting reached his office, the sun was already blazing outside. A soft knock came at the door, and he paused his signing. "Come in."
Ke Yaru hadn't actually taken a full week off. She'd returned on the fifth day, her foot still wrapped in bandages, though her demeanor was noticeably better. She walked slowly to the desk. "Zheng—President Lu, I'm ready to come back to work."
"Is your injury healed?"
"Much better. The doctor said I can walk a bit. I can't stand being idle, so I figured I'd come to the office."
Meanwhile, Xia Yan, having sorted out her internship, now faced another big problem: how to bring up Lin Xujia's matter with Lu Zhengting.
Xiaohan's kindergarten only ran in the mornings; in the afternoons, a tutor came to the house for additional lessons.
After getting a call from Xiaohan, Xia Yan waited at the school gate. Most of the time, Xiaohan would order the driver to pick her up, and over time, she'd stopped refusing.
At the Lu residence, the tutor was still with Xiaohan. Xia Yan set her bag on the couch. She'd been to the Lu house more often than Ke Yaru, and she knew the place like the back of her hand. A few days ago, she'd promised Xiaohan a strawberry cake. With nothing else to do, she headed straight for the kitchen.
Given how Lu Zhengting and Xiaohan treated her, the household staff treated her with the same respect they showed Lu Zhengting.
After an hour of work in the kitchen, Xia Yan tasted a small piece of cake, then took out two more from the oven.
"Auntie Chen, take this one and share it with the others."
Lu Zhengting's oven was several times bigger than hers, so baking two or three cakes at once was no problem. She'd made a few extra.
"Miss Xia, you shouldn't trouble yourself to make something for us," Chen Ma said, flattered. She'd worked at the Lu residence for years, and the only women she'd seen come through were Ke Yaru and now Xia Yan. With the former, she was always deferential, but with Xia Yan, she was much warmer.
"Auntie Chen, cake is meant to be eaten, isn't it? If you don't mind my poor skills, I'd be thrilled." Xia Yan gently put her arm around Chen Ma's shoulders, placing the cake in her hands. Her eyes curved like crescent moons.
"Miss Xia, you're too modest. Any cake the young master never gets tired of must be delicious."
After distributing the cakes, Xia Yan took the one she'd made for Xiaohan to the study.
To give Xiaohan a quiet, independent learning space, Lu Zhengting had a small study designed. This was Xia Yan's second time there. The first time, she'd been startled by the variety of books on the shelves. Even as a child, Xiaohan's reading spanned many fields.
In the study, Xiaohan caught the milky scent of cake and, without a second thought, jumped off his stool and dashed to the door. Xia Yan was about to knock, her fingers still raised, when the door swung open, nearly making her drop the cake.
"Sister Yan, how did you know I was hungry?" Xiaohan looked up, grinning brightly, his eyes fixed on the strawberry cake in her hands.
"And how did you know I was outside?"
"I smelled the cake."
Xia Yan chuckled at him. "You have to finish your homework first before you can eat."
"That's harsh?" Xiaohan blinked his charming eyes, tugging at Xia Yan's clothes. "Sister Yan, you know, when I'm hungry, I have no energy. Without energy, I can't focus. Without focus, I'm not efficient. So to finish my homework faster, I should eat first."
"You and your excuses."
"Full stomach means more motivation!"
Xiaohan was small but full of logic. Xia Yan, both exasperated and amused, took his hand and led him back to the desk. From the moment she'd entered the study, she'd felt a wave of hostility. But aside from the tutor, there was no one else in the room.
Xiaohan sat down on his own, waiting for Xia Yan to hand him the cake. Once he had the strawberry cake he'd been craving, his attention was entirely on it. Xia Yan casually offered a piece to the stunned tutor.
"Don't you know I'm tutoring the young master? How dare you bring cake up here and disrupt his lessons?"