I fled from Yin Jie’s playful attacks. By the time Little Duan called people down to move everything and I finished my task, I returned to the office only to face an inevitable wave of Yin Jie’s meaningful glances…
How quickly do rumors spread?
It was almost time to get off work, and Lin Yusen was still in his office meeting with the department heads. As I was packing up my things and preparing to leave, I suddenly received a text message.
“Sorry about earlier. It was an unexpected situation that required some crisis management, but thinking about it now, it might have been inconsiderate.”
I immediately turned to look at Lin Yusen’s office. He was seriously conducting the meeting, eyes focused straight ahead, looking completely disconnected from the person who sent the message.
After some thought, I quietly turned off my phone. When the end-of-work music played, I walked out of the office without a sideways glance and then ran back to the dormitory.
Um, I’m not sure why I ran, but I just did.
I didn’t even go to the cafeteria, just nibbled on some crackers in my room. I waited and waited until nine o’clock, then ran to check the parking lot next to the office building. After confirming Lin Yusen’s car was gone, I turned on my phone, sent him a reply, and then quickly turned it off again.
After all this, my mood improved dramatically. Unable to contain my happiness, I went to the company’s small supermarket and bought a bunch of snacks. Back in my room, I was opening this and tasting that, debating whether to make instant noodles, when suddenly there was a knock at the door.
I froze. That unhurried, characteristic knocking rhythm instantly brought three words to mind—
No! Way! Possible!
I hesitated for a full minute, until the knocking had stopped, before finally getting up and reluctantly opening the door. As expected, the tall, striking man was leaning against the opposite wall, watching me with a silent smile.
I coughed lightly: “…You haven’t left work yet?”
That’s impossible, his car was gone.
“I was driving halfway when I got your message, then you turned off your phone when I called.” He walked toward me with composed steps, holding out his phone. “What does this mean?”
On the phone screen was my message to him, three words and a punctuation mark—”Good luck!”
I looked at him innocently, “Ah, I sent it to the wrong person.”
Do you think I’d still believe your “inconsiderate” excuse after all that’s happened and being tricked into working overtime yesterday? Calling it “crisis management,” indeed.
“Oh, wrong person. I thought you were deliberately trying to keep me awake.”
“Haha… how could that be?” How did he know what I was thinking… Was it that obvious?
“That’s disappointing.”
His tone was full of regret, but his eyes sparkled with amusement. “Then what if it wasn’t sent by mistake? What were you trying to tell me?”
Without waiting for my answer, he continued, “Were you telling me that although the revolution hasn’t succeeded, I must keep striving, but the policy has opened up to me?”
Such sophisticated interpretation…
“If you insist on understanding it so sophisticatedly… you’re not wrong.” I nodded with difficulty, “Oh, I mean if it wasn’t sent by mistake.” I quickly added.
“Of course, I understand.” His smile deepened, his eyes suddenly bright enough to burn. I still hesitated, stumbling, “But…”
“No buts.” He interrupted me, raising his wrist to check the time, “It’s not too late. I specifically filled up at the gas station on my way here. Miss Nie, would you be interested in getting some late-night snacks with me?”
“…Now? It’s already past nine, isn’t it?”
“When it comes to refueling, I spare no effort, day or night.”
“Uh, better not. I haven’t been sleeping well lately, I was planning to go to bed early today.”
He drew out a long “Oh,” then said, “Nie Xiguang, many people saw me coming up here just now.”
“…”
“Or would you prefer to chat with me here? If people don’t see me leave after a while… hmm…”
After staring at him for a full thirty seconds, I said: “…Fine, let’s go. Where to?”
“Rumors flying” perfectly describes the current situation.
Mr. Lin maintained his characteristic composure about it. Of course, how could the culprit not be composed? I even suspected this was exactly the effect he wanted.
I was composed too.
I’ve never really cared about company rumors. Perhaps after that baptism in university, I’ve become less sensitive to these things. What I did care about was—why I always get led away by Lin Yusen after just a few words. Whether it was eating, watching movies… Every time I firmly said no in my heart, but after ten sentences…
I don’t even want to mention it.
I remembered Lin Yusen saying—”How stupid would I have to be not to catch you?”
Suddenly, I had an ominous feeling of impending defeat.
However, although I didn’t care about rumors, hearing people speak maliciously in person still made me angry.
I stood at the door of the break room with my tea cup, the partially closed wooden door doing nothing to block the voices from inside.
“I could tell something was wrong when she was shamelessly working overtime every day before. You didn’t believe me then, but look now, wasn’t I right?”
“But don’t envy her. Do you think Director Lin would be interested in her? Heh, don’t be naive. Look at the car he’s been driving lately—his family must be influential. How could a man like that seriously consider an ordinary little employee? He’s just playing around because she’s pretty.”
The other female colleague didn’t say much, probably not knowing how to respond, just laughing awkwardly in agreement.
I pushed open the door.
The sound startled those talking inside. Jiang Ya and that female colleague turned around together, and immediately, that colleague jumped to her feet.
“Haha, Xiguang, what a coincidence, haha, I’ve made my tea, got lots of work to do, I’ll go first!”
She hurried away, leaving just Jiang Ya and me in the break room.
I stepped forward to get water.
Jiang Ya turned her head to avoid my gaze.
“Jiang Ya, when Marketing Director Li pursued the front desk girl, you spread rumors that he just wanted to play with her. Now you’re spreading rumors that Deputy Director Lin wants to play with me. I’m really curious—can’t you imagine any normal, pure relationships?”
Jiang Ya probably didn’t expect me to confront her so directly. After a long pause, she said: “…If you don’t respect yourself, don’t blame others for talking.”
I couldn’t help but laugh in anger, “How am I not respecting myself? Deputy Director Lin pursuing me means I don’t respect myself?”
“You’re just relying on your looks, aren’t you?” Jiang Ya sneered, “I admit you’re pretty, but beautiful women are a dime a dozen. How long can you stay fresh? Let me give you some advice—be realistic. With Director Lin’s status and position, how could he be serious about you?”
“Oh, but I am serious.”
…
Jiang Ya and I turned around together.
Our much-discussed Deputy Director Lin was standing at the break room door with his teacup, looking graceful as ever, seeming to have been listening for quite a while.
What was this feeling of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it?
And why was he even in the break room? He had a water dispenser in his office!
As if knowing my inner questions, he calmly explained: “The water dispenser in my office is broken.”
He came in, got a cup of water, then leisurely walked away. Before leaving, he dropped a very leader-like comment: “However, I suggest that during work hours, everyone should avoid discussing personal matters. Let’s not let this happen again.”
Jiang Ya’s face turned pale. She probably thought there was no way to salvage her career after being caught badmouthing a leader behind his back.
I thought there was no way to salvage the situation either.
So I looked at Jiang Ya sincerely: “Jiang Ya, can we make a deal? How about neither of us mentions this incident to anyone?”