“President Liang, what would you like to drink? Coffee? Tea? Or something stronger?”

Lin Qing was genuinely happy on Liang Meng’s behalf from the bottom of her heart.

On her very first day at work, she had witnessed her boss pull off such a stunning comeback.

Deeply satisfying! The future looked bright.

“Daiwei’s face was practically dragging on the floor just now.”

Lin Qing busied herself preparing drinks while chatting cheerfully.

“The timing on the Zhou Zelong thing couldn’t have been better! President Liang, you truly had extraordinary foresight. If you hadn’t switched out the brand ambassador in advance, Longquan would have been caught in a completely impossible position right now — accused of poor judgment and of being heartless and disloyal…”

In the workplace, Lin Qing constantly kept her mother’s golden rule in mind:

Flattery never goes out of style.

But Liang Meng didn’t appear to be in particularly high spirits — the look in her eyes as she gazed out at the distant sunset suggested she was weighed down by something.

“President Liang, why don’t you go online and see for yourself? The netizens are praising you to the heavens right now — calling you wise and brilliant…”

Lin Qing handed over a glass of warm water.

Liang Meng raised her hand and accepted it.

“Lin Qing.”

Liang Meng slowly lifted her gaze, and the troubled look in her eyes immediately extinguished Lin Qing’s elation.

“Don’t you feel like something is off?” Liang Meng asked.

Lin Qing blinked and thought it over carefully.

She was new to Longquan and genuinely still knew very little about many things.

But by all outward appearances today, Liang Meng had sailed through to victory without a stumble.

“Not every victory on the surface is a real victory.”

Liang Meng took another sip of water and quietly recited a line that Jiang Han had once taught her.

Lin Qing didn’t fully understand the meaning, but she sensed that what her boss needed right now was empathy, so she too composed her expression.

“Lin Qing, let me ask you something.” Liang Meng gently set down her cup. “What do you think of the attitude the people at Longquan had toward me today at the executive meeting?”

Sticking to her principle of telling the truth, Lin Qing bit her lip and answered: “Not great. They didn’t seem to respect your authority. In fact, they were actively challenging it.”

Liang Meng heard this and gave a smile tinged with a dull ache.

She asked again: “How would you describe the atmosphere in the meeting room today?”

“Even worse.”

Lin Qing felt that even the atmosphere of a university debate competition was nothing compared to that.

“Basically, every time you said something from up front, someone down below would push back.”

“So here’s the question—”

Liang Meng shared the doubt that had been gnawing at her.

“Even a newcomer like you could see clearly that the people at Longquan simply don’t accept me as their leader. So then…”

The words struck like lightning.

Lin Qing suddenly came to her senses, and picking up Liang Meng’s train of thought, she reasoned aloud: “But… when you first decided to replace Zhou Zelong as brand ambassador, it was carried out within a single day — smoothly, without a single obstruction?”

“Yes.”

Liang Meng gave a small nod and said nothing more.

That was precisely where the glaring inconsistency in the whole affair lay.

Lin Qing thought about it, and a flash of understanding lit up her eyes.

She crossed the desk and perched sideways on the edge of Liang Meng’s desk, rolled up her sleeves, and proposed to her boss: “President Liang, shall we play a game?”

“What game?”

Liang Meng looked up with curiosity.

“Rock, paper, scissors.”

“Why do you suddenly feel like playing that at a time like this?”

Though reluctant, Liang Meng extended her arm.

Right into Lin Qing’s trap.

Lin Qing gave a crafty smile and adopted a mysterious tone: “President Liang, do you believe me if I say I can win every single round?”

“That’s impossible. It doesn’t hold up statistically.”

Liang Meng gave a rather strained smile, thinking Lin Qing was just trying to cheer her up with a little amusement.

She appreciated the gesture, but she wasn’t in the mood for games.

“Afraid, President Liang?”

Lin Qing used a provocation to draw her in.

Liang Meng smiled and lifted her chin: “Go on then! I’d very much like to see how you win every single round.”

“Rock, scissors, paper!”

Their clenched fists sliced through the air twice, and Liang Meng threw out scissors.

“Hey, why didn’t you play?” Liang Meng said, displeased.

Lin Qing hadn’t moved at all. She just held out a closed fist.

“You go first.”

Lin Qing revealed the winning secret behind winning every round of rock, paper, scissors — you make your opponent go first.

Liang Meng was momentarily baffled, then the realization hit her all at once.

She suddenly thought of her sister Liang Xing — could she have also wanted to get rid of Zhou Zelong for a long time, and simply used her as a pawn to do it?

Of course. She was in the open; Liang Xing was in the shadows.

Just like this unfair game of rock, paper, scissors — Liang Meng always went first, so Liang Xing always won.

To put it plainly: Liang Meng was a puppet.

No matter how carefully and deliberately she had schemed and strategized for the good of the company.

In truth, the person pulling the strings behind the curtain was always Liang Xing.

Act in accordance with Liang Xing’s wishes — and things would proceed smoothly, like replacing Zhou Zelong without a single obstacle in the way.

Act against her wishes — and you’d find yourself at an executive meeting, surrounded and attacked from all sides.

Lin Qing didn’t know who was playing rock, paper, scissors with Liang Meng — she was only drawing an analogy.

A narrow alleyway paved with flagstones.

Little Lin Qing was wiping her tears and wailing.

Her mother came home late from work and scooped her up anxiously.

“Where’s your egg cake? Did you eat it?” Her mother shook little Lin Qing frantically.

Little Lin Qing, both hungry and furious, reported: “Lost the egg cake to Little Xiao Yang next door.”

“Lost it? How did that happen?”

“Rock, paper, scissors. He made me go first…”

“You little fool. In rock, paper, scissors, if you go first, how on earth could you possibly win? Next time be smarter about it! Either make him go first, or don’t play with him at all!”

Her mother gently wiped away the tears from the corners of little Lin Qing’s eyes.

Little Lin Qing had only ever won against one person when she went first — and that was little Lu Zhou.

She’d throw scissors, he’d throw paper. She’d throw paper, he’d tighten his fist and throw rock.

And all the snacks would end up belonging to Lin Qing.

Little Lin Qing would even stand there with her hands on her hips and taunt him: “I go first and you still lose even though you copy me! You’re hopeless!”

Grown-up Lin Qing now understood: many people want to beat you, but there will always be someone who can’t bring themselves to let you lose.

“President Liang, if you’ll allow me to say one more thing.”

Lin Qing still couldn’t hold herself back, and raised another question that had been on her mind.

“That document you produced today…”

Lin Qing’s meaning was clear — when the two of them had discussed strategy together, Liang Meng had never mentioned anything like this.

There will always be someone who can’t bring themselves to let you lose.

Liang Meng let out a soft sigh and offered no explanation.

Quitting time.

In the lobby of the Longquan Group building, Lin Qing bowed devoutly before the statue of Lord Guan, paying her respects again and again.

She silently prayed: “Thank you, Lord Guan, for your blessing! My first day at work went smoothly and without incident. I ask for your continued blessings going forward, that I may be promoted quickly, get a raise, and reach the pinnacle of life!”

“Lin Qing! Lin Qing! Qing’er!”

At that moment, Lin Qing suddenly heard a familiar voice calling her name from behind.

She spun around!

Sure enough, it was her mother — laden with bags large and small — frantically waving at her from the other side of the security turnstiles!

Her mother was bursting with enthusiasm, and the floral scarf on her chest was bouncing with animated energy!

Piled around her feet were at least seven or eight bags: two large suitcases, two woven sacks, and four or five canvas bags and plastic bags besides.

“Mom! How did you find your way here?”

Lin Qing hurried over in surprise, completely unconcerned about the strange looks being cast by colleagues nearby.

“You left in such a rush this morning! I kept calling your phone and you didn’t pick up. I didn’t know where else to find you, so I came to the Longquan Group!”

“Mom, you must have waited so long.”

“Not really, not really — only about… less than fifteen minutes.”

Her mother took Lin Qing’s hands and smiled.

At that moment, the building’s security guard walked over and, upon seeing Lin Qing and her mother, frowned in displeasure: “What’s the matter with you, ma’am? You said you were waiting for someone, and yet you’ve been planted here the entire afternoon! I told you just now, you absolutely have to clear out before six o’clock! Come on now, you’re blocking the entrance and causing a congestion!”

“Alright, alright! We’re leaving right now, right now.” Her mother, seeing the security guard come again to shoo her away, immediately flustered as she grabbed her luggage from the ground, all while speaking without pause: “Mr. Security Guard, thank you so much! This is my daughter — she works here now too. Please look after her, please look after her! Here, these are oranges from our hometown, have one, have one…”

The security guard was so disarmed by her earnest broken Shanghainese that he had no choice but to helplessly accept the orange: “Just this once. Now hurry up and move these things out of the way.”

“Thank you, thank you!”

Her mother then gave Lin Qing a sly, triumphant smile in private.

Lin Qing felt both sorry for her and amused, gave her dear mother a reproachful look, and the two of them picked up the bags together and made their way out the door.

This whole scene was observed in its entirety by Liang Meng, who was standing at the front desk wearing dark sunglasses.

She watched first out of curiosity, taking in the whole mother-daughter exchange.

Then a pang of something bittersweet stirred inside her.

Liang Meng tried to recall what her own first day at the Longquan Group had been like… Never mind. Better not to bring that up.

“Help me track down this courier.”

Liang Meng handed the empty courier envelope to the front desk receptionist.

“President Liang, the courier was signed for at 9:58 a.m. It was personally delivered by someone sent by Jiang Han, the CEO of Sansheng.”

“Thank you.”

Liang Meng then went to the security room and said: “Pull up the entrance surveillance footage for 9:50 to 10:00.”

Sure enough.

On the screen, at 9:55 a.m., Jiang Han’s black Alfa Romeo glided slowly into the Longquan Group’s grounds.

The high-definition camera swept across.

Liang Meng saw, through the barely open car window, a fleeting glimpse of Jiang Han’s cool, proud, sharp profile.

9:55 a.m. in the grounds — which meant he had almost certainly witnessed the scene at the company entrance that morning.

Yet he had not shown himself.

Today, it was thanks to Lin Qing that Liang Meng had managed to extricate herself.

In this moment, Liang Meng couldn’t quite name what she was feeling inside.

“I will protect you always.”

She could only console herself: whatever the case, Jiang Han was now officially her “brother-in-law” in name — it wasn’t appropriate for him to stand up for her in public.

She… what was she even hoping for.

“President Liang, is there something you’d like me to check?”

The security guard watched her expression with nervous caution.

“What I want to check is none of your business!”

With that, Liang Meng put on her dark sunglasses, her temper flaring without cause, and walked out of the security room with a cool expression.

“That difficult woman must have taken the wrong medication again!”

Only after Liang Meng had walked far enough away did the security guard dare to roll his eyes at her graceful retreating figure, then picked up the orange Lin Qing’s mother had given him and took a fierce, resentful bite out of it!

“Honk! Honk!”

Rush hour. The entrance of the Longquan building was at a complete standstill.

Liang Meng sat in her red Ferrari, impatiently chewing gum and going nowhere.

The car was absolutely not moving!

At that moment, she caught a glimpse of what appeared to be Lin Qing and her mother a short distance away, standing on the curb.

“Mom, don’t worry. It’s really hard to get a car at this hour.”

Though Lin Qing’s voice sounded reassuring for her mother’s sake, she was staring at “27 people ahead in the queue” on her ride-hailing app and was quietly frantic.

The sky was about to open up with rain!

Her mother had already been standing in the cold wind for quite some time.

“Lin Qing! Get in!”

Liang Meng pulled her car up to them, rolled down the window, and called out.

Lin Qing hesitated, then bent down and looked through the window: “President Liang, I have so much stuff!”

“So what if you do? If it doesn’t fit in the front trunk, just toss it in the back seat.”

“No, no, no — our luggage is so dirty…”

Lin Qing blushed red, waving her hands again and again in embarrassment, deeply uncomfortable with her boss graciously condescending to offer her a ride.

Her mother, however, had no such reservations — she was already pulling on the Ferrari’s door handle.

“Lin Qing, what are you fussing about for? If someone’s willing to give us a lift, that couldn’t be better! If you’re embarrassed, look — Mom’s got two more oranges in her pocket!”

Lin Qing was getting a headache, and couldn’t explain to her mother in the moment that this was not a debt that two oranges could repay.

So it was that, under everyone’s eyes, Liang Meng’s car ended up stuffed with luggage inside and out — Lin Qing squeezed into the back, and Lin Qing’s mother settled herself with great ease into the passenger seat.

The car had barely started moving when her mother became “restless.”

She first ran her hand over the leather seat, then turned and asked Liang Meng: “Young lady, this car of yours can’t have been cheap, can it? The quality of this leather… a car like this has to be worth three to five hundred thousand at least! Though I do wonder — why is the trunk in the front? That’s not very convenient!”

Lin Qing curled up in the back seat, pressed one hand to her forehead, and was going several shades of green.

She was doing everything in her power to mouth at her mother in the rear-view mirror: Close your mouth.

But her mother was far too excited today to pay attention to who was driving, and once she opened the floodgates of conversation, there was no closing them.

“My goodness! Lin Qing, this must be a colleague of yours, yes? I have to say, she looks… my goodness! She’s absolutely beautiful! Like a celebrity!”

Having finished complimenting Liang Meng’s appearance to her daughter, her mother still wasn’t done.

She then poked Liang Meng on the arm: “Hey! Young lady, how do you manage to look like this?! That nose, those eyes — everything right where it should be!”

Her mother’s stream of “young lady this” and “young lady that” made Liang Meng awkward — and yet, gradually, something warm quietly began to rise in her heart.

“Mom! Stop talking! Isn’t everyone’s nose where their nose should be and their eyes where their eyes should be!”

Lin Qing deeply regretted it — knowing her mother’s personality, how had she ever let her get in the car?

Liang Meng was not someone who was naturally expressive.

In the face of her mother’s nonstop affectionate compliments, the only thing she could return was the cool, blank expression behind her sunglasses.

Her mother had no sense of boundaries and kept escalating: “Young lady! Looking as lovely as you do, you must have boys chasing after you in droves! How old are you? Are you married? How old are your kids?”

“Screeeech —!”

The red Ferrari came to a sharp, sudden stop!

Liang Meng forced herself to swallow a mouthful of something blood-red, and composedly asked toward the back: “Lin Qing, where are you going?”

“President Liang… I’m so very sorry to trouble you! Fuda University.”

Lin Qing was deeply mortified.

Oh heavens above, all the gods and spirits — please let her mother not open her mouth and say anything else!

The heavens and spirits appeared to have heard Lin Qing’s silent plea, because for the next few seconds, her mother mercifully stayed quiet.

“Here, young lady! Have an orange!”

Just as Lin Qing was thankfully celebrating her mother’s silence, she looked up in the rear-view mirror to see her mother — seemingly out of nowhere — producing a freshly peeled orange segment.

And then, just like that…

She reached her hand forward!

And stuffed it directly into Liang Meng’s mouth — while she was driving!

Oh dear god!!!!

Lin Qing felt her soul nearly leave her body!!!!

Her boss Liang Meng was a germaphobe!

Mom — did you wash your hands???