When He Suyan arrived at the company the next day, Su Mianmian's workstation was still empty.
He glanced at his wrist; it was five minutes before clocking in. Usually, Su Mianmian would be there long ago. Was she really not planning to come? Even if she wasn't coming, she should have called ahead.
Just as He Suyan's brow furrowed, a pretty figure jogged in from outside. "Good morning, Manager He!" Su Mianmian was wearing a blue shirt dress with accordion pleats, playful yet formal.
As she ran, she brought a refreshing breeze, carrying a sweet fragrance. He Suyan's furrowed brow relaxed. "Good morning," he said, turning and entering his office. Su Mianmian checked the time; thankfully, she wasn't late.
In the car earlier, Gu Yizhou had grabbed her, demanding a kiss, refusing to let her out until he gave it to him. Su Mianmian had no choice but to give him a light peck on the lips, but he grabbed her and they lingered for a long time. Su Mianmian sighed and returned to her workstation.
She had thought about it all night and decided to stay at Huarui for the time being. It wasn't that He Suyan had provoked her into proving herself to him. She simply didn't want her first job to end so abruptly.
Besides, wasn't Liu Shu just trying to force her out? She wasn't going to let her have her way. After finishing all the documents she hadn't translated last night and organizing them, Su Mianmian knocked on Liu Shu's office door. "Deputy Manager Liu, all the documents are translated."
Liu Shu was applying lipstick in front of the mirror, glancing at Su Mianmian. "Su Mianmian, if I were you, I'd already found a sugar daddy. Why would I go to work? Just go home, act all cute, and make money lying down—it's so easy!"
Su Mianmian frowned. "What sugar daddy? I don't understand what you're talking about." "Oh, still not willing to admit it? Everyone in the language department knows…" "Deputy Manager Liu!" Liu Shu was interrupted halfway through her sentence by He Suyan, who had entered unnoticed.
He Suyan's face was cold, his tone somewhat stiff. "Have you checked the translator list with the organizers for the exhibition at Jiaxin Plaza next week?" Liu Shu pouted, reluctantly sitting up straight. "I'll check it right away."
He Suyan nodded, turning around, his gaze sweeping across Su Mianmian's face. "Su Mianmian, come out with me for a moment." Su Mianmian said "Oh," and silently followed He Suyan towards the manager's office.
He Suyan walked into the office, not hearing any movement behind him, assuming Su Mianmian hadn't followed. He stopped, turned around, and suddenly a fluffy head bumped straight into his chest. "Ouch!"
Su Mianmian was preoccupied, not noticing when He Suyan had stopped, and stumbled. She touched her sore nose, tears welling in her eyes, and hurriedly apologized, "Manager He, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you."
He Suyan looked at Su Mianmian's anxious appearance, and a slight stirring stirred in his heart. "You never learn! I told you before to watch where you're going." Before? Su Mianmian was trying to remember when He Suyan had said that to her.
Looking up, she saw his meticulously buttoned shirt and suddenly remembered something. Her watery eyes widened. "You're the one who saved me at school last time?!"
She and Song Zhi were almost hit by a basketball at school, and a man in a suit pulled her away in time, saving her from injury. Zhi Zhi had said he looked fierce at the time.
Seeing that Su Mianmian remembered, He Suyan neither confirmed nor denied it, coldly turning around to his desk and taking out a stack of documents. "This is a business contract. Some of the vocabulary might be a bit technical or obscure. Try translating it." A contract?
Su Mianmian had just joined the company, and the documents she had translated before were relatively simple. She had never translated such an important contract before. Su Mianmian was delighted and quickly accepted the documents with both hands, thanking He Suyan profusely, "Manager He, I will complete it well."
He Suyan hummed in agreement, "You can ask me if you don't understand anything." Su Mianmian's eyes lit up. Did He Suyan mean he was going to personally mentor her? Just as she was about to ask him, He Suyan seemed to guess her thoughts and spoke before she could.
"Don't overthink it. I just heard you keep mentioning your professionalism in front of me, and I wanted to see just how professional you really are." Su Mianmian said "Oh," a hint of disappointment flashing across her face.
But it was only a fleeting thought. After all, her seniors all said that He Suyan didn't easily mentor newcomers; it would be strange if he were willing to mentor her after only a few days. Taking the documents, Su Mianmian left the office and went straight back to her workstation.
Two female colleagues nearby, who had been whispering amongst themselves, exchanged a knowing glance when they saw Su Mianmian return, then fell silent.
Su Mianmian found them acting strangely, and it wasn't just them; it seemed that many of her colleagues' gazes towards her had changed since she returned from the interpreting session that night.
Including Zeng Ke, who used to occasionally strike up a conversation with her, now avoided her gaze whenever she saw her, looking like she had something to say but couldn't bring herself to say it. Su Mianmian recalled Liu Shu's mention of the word "sugar daddy" earlier, and her brows furrowed slightly.
Could it be that someone had seen Gu Yizhou picking her up from get off work these past few days? Su Mianmian couldn't figure it out and didn't bother to waste her energy; the innocent would clear themselves up. ...Gu Group. Gao Ze placed a document in front of Gu Yizhou.
"Mr. Gu, all the information about Liu Shu is here." Gu Yizhou didn't look up, his eyes lowered as he reviewed the document. "Get straight to the point."
Gao Ze nodded. "Liu Shu, female, twenty-eight years old, graduated from…" Gu Yizhou put down his pen and rubbed his temples. "Get to the point." "Yes."
Gao Ze involuntarily puffed out his chest and continued, "Liu Shu is the deputy manager of Huarui's language department. She's high-profile, arrogant, and doesn't get along well with anyone in the department."
"Her professional abilities aren't actually that outstanding. The reason she's able to hold onto her deputy manager position is because she has a secret relationship with Huarui's vice president, Huang Zhong." "Huang Zhong?" "Gu Yizhou took off his glasses. "I remember Huang Zhong is over forty, and his daughter is already in middle school, right?" Gao Ze nodded. "Mr. Gu has a good memory."
Gu Yizhou glanced at Gao Ze indifferently. "Did you find out why Madam was kept behind to work overtime again last night?"
"I found out. It's because Liu Shu assigned Madam very unreasonable work, causing her to be unable to complete her work on time, so she was forced to work overtime." Gu Yizhou's fingers tightened slightly on the temples of his glasses, his deep eyes flashing with coldness.
Gao Ze hadn't seen Mr. Gu angry in a long time, and he became a little nervous. "Mr. Gu, Liu Shu is bullying Madam like this, shouldn't we find a reason to just fire her from the company?"
Gu Yizhou hesitated for two seconds. "Not for now. Madam has just started working, and she'll inevitably encounter all sorts of petty people in the future. Keeping her around for Madam to practice on is not bad." Practice on? Gao Ze's eyes flickered. He thought to himself, Mr. Gu really is a big bad wolf; even his way of playing with Madam is so unique. "Have someone keep an eye on her. Also, give her a little hardship to wear her down." Gao Ze raised his eyes. "So, what does President Gu mean?" Gu Yizhou put his glasses back on and picked up his pen. "Vice President Huang's wife probably doesn't know her husband is having an affair, right?" Gao Ze's eyebrows twitched upon hearing this. "Understood, President Gu. I'll take care of it immediately."
...Liu Shu returned from meeting a client with a female colleague. At the company entrance, she saw a man in his fifties, dressed smartly and composedly, getting out of a BZ car. Her phoenix eyes narrowed. "Isn't that Chairman Su from Yongkang Group?"
Liu Shu had the opportunity to see Chairman Su once before at a business exhibition, but only from a distance, without even exchanging greetings. "Yongkang Group, Chairman Su?" The female colleague followed Liu Shu's gaze. "Huh?"
"That man who was hugging Su Mianmian at the last event seems to be him." Liu Shu immediately frowned. She only knew that Su Mianmian had been seduced by an older man, but she didn't know that the older man who seduced her was so influential. A surge of anger and jealousy welled up inside her. "Are you sure?" The female colleague glanced at her again. "Absolutely! It wasn't just me that day; Manager He, and Xiao Liu—the three of us saw it together."
Everyone had clearly seen Su Mianmian nestled in the older man's arms, acting coquettishly towards him.
Upon hearing this, Liu Shu gritted her teeth and sneered, "You've got some nerve, coming all the way to the company. Well, I might as well go along with it and let everyone see Su Mianmian's true colors!"