Seeing her come, An Ruo was genuinely happy. A faint smile tugged at her lips as she went into the break room to brew her favorite black tea.
Returning with the tea, she couldn't help but ask, "Why haven't you been coming to work at the company these past few days?"
Zhou Mingyue let out a cold laugh. "I'm not short on money, so why would I come to work?"
That made sense.
As the daughter of the Zhou family, one of the four major clans in Shencheng, she was just here to experience life. She could come and go as she pleased, and no one could stop her.
"Has anyone been gossiping while I was away?"
An Ruo shook her head. "No."
"Has anyone been bullying you?"
An Ruo paused, a warm current flowing through her heart. She smiled lightly and shook her head. "With you standing up for me before, who would dare bully me now?"
"Good." Zhou Mingyue stirred her tea with a golden spoon. "But you need to toughen up too. Don't always let people find a chance to walk all over you."
An Ruo nodded, a glimmer of light flashing in her beautiful eyes. Then she asked, "You... didn't you used to dislike me? Why do you still help me?" She even bought her branded clothes and luxury items...
At first, she couldn't even stand the sight of her.
"Who said I dislike you?" Zhou Mingyue looked at her with a cold smile. "I just can't stand that you have such a beautiful face and don't take good care of it."
"?"
"Look at your face—always bare and natural, never bothering with skincare. And with such a great figure, you wrap it in cheap street-market clothes. What a waste! Don't you know these qualities of yours are things others envy their whole lives?"
When she said the last sentence, Zhou Mingyue deliberately raised her voice, as if she wanted the entire planning department to hear.
"..."
"What I hate most are people who dress tacky and don't bother to groom themselves."
An Ruo chuckled softly. "May I ask, are you a Libra?"
"Yeah, why?"
No wonder.
Libras spend their lives pursuing beauty. In their eyes, looks are everything. You can hurt me, but please make sure you're good-looking.
"Xiao An," Manager Bai waved at her. "General Manager Jiang is back and looking for you everywhere. Go to the CEO's office right away to report on the project progress."
Zhou Mingyue held a lit cigarette between two fingers. "At this hour? What project is so important?"
In truth, every time Jiang Su called for her, it was never anything major. Sometimes it was awkward work chatter, or else, like now, he always found her right at mealtime, saying things like "It's getting late" or "I'm hungry, let's talk over a meal," then taking her to upscale restaurants and ordering all her favorite dishes.
His obvious attempts to curry favor made An Ruo deeply uncomfortable, especially since they had nothing to talk about when sitting together.
"Come on, let's go eat." Zhou Mingyue crushed her cigarette in the ashtray, stood up, and grabbed the dazed An Ruo.
Manager Bai called out twice from behind, but neither of them paid any attention. As they were about to disappear through the planning department's door, he quickly called Secretary Fang.
The man gently lifted the curtain, peering through a gap at the girl waiting for her meal in the lobby, his deep eyes narrowing slightly.
"Oh dear, little sister-in-law's been snatched away. Someone's going to be staring at his wife until his eyes pop out~" Gu Chao wore a smug expression, swirling his glass as he took a sly sip of whiskey.
Shen Xiaoxing coldly lowered his hand, his handsome face dark as he stared at him, then suddenly raised an eyebrow. "You've been pretty free lately?"
"The task you assigned is done. Just waiting for that old bastard Shen Yu to fall into the trap."
"Good." He smiled. "Go and get Zhou Mingyue out of the way."
Gu Chao froze, then cursed. "You're using me as a tool again? One more second with that annoying pest and I'll lose my life. Then who'll do your work?"
He didn't know if he'd saved the galaxy or the universe in his past life, but he'd been saddled with this clingy pest who followed him everywhere—he was about to get depressed!
"Is it really that serious?"
Gu Chao propped his forehead on his hand. "You'll never know how much I've sacrificed for you."
"..."
"By the way, let me warn you—you can't keep playing this Jiang Su identity for much longer. A sudden client appearing out of nowhere in the company will raise questions if it goes on too long."
Shen Xiaoxing poured himself a drink. "What's the relationship between Zhou Mingyue and Zhou Wang?"
"You don't know?" Gu Chao said flatly. "Zhou Wang is the eldest son of the Zhou family, but he rarely returns to Shencheng. I've heard he's in some..."
"Ninghai."
Gu Chao raised an eyebrow. "Huh, you even know where he is?" He paused, then asked, "You seem to know Zhou Wang pretty well. Do you two have history?"
Shen Xiaoxing set down his glass, his gaze deep. "Old acquaintance."
He, He Su, and Zhou Wang had become friends through a fight—they were all graduates from the same year at Cambridge University.
During their years as classmates, he'd heard some things about him. Word had it there was someone he cared about back in China. Back in school, he'd return home every few days, and after graduation they went their separate ways and rarely kept in touch.
Oh, right—that person he cared about lived in Ninghai City. So it made sense that he rarely went home, always staying in the neighboring province.
"Never thought she'd be Zhou Wang's sister."
Gu Chao snorted. "I don't care whose sister she is. If she keeps clinging to me, don't blame me for getting rough."
"Zhou Wang's no pushover you can mess with. If you touch his sister, have you thought about how you'll survive?"
This made Gu Chao furious. He clicked his tongue. "What, you're old friends with him, so you'd hand me a stick while he beats me up?"
"I'd hand you a gun."