"Manager He, are you in your office?" Liu Shu received no response, and the knocking became more urgent.
He Suyan lowered his gaze, glanced at the panicked Su Mianmian in front of him, frowned slightly, pulled Su Mianmian behind him with one hand, and snapped the office light off with the other.
Then he opened the office door, and before Liu Shu could see what was inside, he closed it behind him. "Just about to leave work, Deputy Manager Liu, is there something you need?" He Suyan's calm voice came through the door. Su Mianmian stood with her back against the wall, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. Liu Shu searched the office area but didn't find anyone suspicious.
Her upturned fox-like eyes stared at He Suyan for a few seconds, finding him to be the same as always—aloof, indifferent, and without a trace of anything amiss. "Oh, it's nothing. I just noticed the light was still on in Manager He's office so late, so I came to check."
He Suyan nodded. "Deputy Manager Liu, it's so late, you haven't left work yet either." Liu Shu gave a perfunctory smile. "I still have some work to finish. Manager He, you can go home now. I'll be going right away." With that, Liu Shu slid back into her office in her high heels.
Su Mianmian had just breathed a sigh of relief when she heard two knocks on the office door. He Suyan's cold voice rang out from outside. "Aren't you leaving?" Of course she had to leave!
Su Mianmian cautiously opened the door like a thief, glancing left and right to make sure Liu Shu wasn't outside before looking at He Suyan. Her dark eyes blinked. "Manager He, could you please be a good Samaritan to the end?"
...In the underground parking garage, Su Mianmian sat in the passenger seat of He Suyan's car, her heart finally at ease. Fearing Liu Shu might suddenly return, she begged He Suyan to take her out of the company with her.
He Suyan looked at Su Mianmian, who was letting out a sigh of relief, and said in a cool tone, "Now can you tell me what happened just now?" Upon hearing this, He Suyan could see Su Mianmian's face flush.
"I went to the restroom, and I heard, I heard..." He Suyan frowned. "Heard what?" Su Mianmian was too embarrassed to speak, her eyes lowered as she gripped the seatbelt, her gaze flickering.
"I heard someone in there, having an affair..." He Suyan should understand what she meant; she was too embarrassed to use any more explicit words. He Suyan clearly hadn't expected Su Mianmian to describe it this way; no wonder she stammered and couldn't get a straight answer.
He also felt a little awkward, coughed, and looked away from Su Mianmian. "So, it was Liu Shu?"
Su Mianmian nodded, then shook her head. "I'm not sure. When I was about to sneak out of the restroom, my phone rang, which alerted them. I felt they were chasing me, so I hid in your office. Then, Deputy Manager Liu came."
He Suyan roughly knew what had happened. Half an hour ago, he saw Huang Zhong go to Liu Shu's office. He just hadn't expected the two of them to be having such a wild time, actually doing it in the company restroom!
His long, slender fingers tapped on the steering wheel. "Don't tell anyone else about this." Su Mianmian nodded quickly. "I know, I'm finished if I tell anyone."
He Suyan looked at Su Mianmian, who looked terrified. Her doe-like eyes were wet, and her thick eyelashes trembled slightly from her lingering breath. He Suyan felt a strange stirring in his heart, and suddenly wanted to pat Su Mianmian's head to comfort her.
But just as her fingers twitched, He Suyan remembered the man's voice that claimed to be her husband that night, and her brows furrowed. "Su Mianmian, you..." She was only halfway through her sentence when Su Mianmian's phone rang again. She glanced at the caller ID and quickly answered.
Gu Yizhou's deep, pleasant voice came through the receiver. "Mianmian, still working overtime? Why didn't you answer my call earlier?" Su Mianmian pursed her lips, feeling He Suyan's subtle gaze on her, and felt embarrassed to continue the conversation.
"I was about to leave the company. I just went to the restroom and didn't hear it." Gu Yizhou had been in a meeting, but his driver, Lao Zhang, reported that Su Mianmian hadn't come down yet. Worried that Liu Shu might be giving her trouble again, he had specifically paused the meeting to call Su Mianmian.
Hearing Su Mianmian say everything was alright, he finally relaxed. "Old Zhang is waiting for you near the company. Get some rest when you get home. I have a meeting, so I won't call you again."
Su Mianmian obediently agreed. After hanging up, she looked at He Suyan. "Manager He, what were you going to say to me just now?" He Suyan had originally wanted to ask Su Mianmian if she was married.
But after overhearing Su Mianmian's conversation with that man on the phone, he felt that even if they weren't married, they were probably living together. He Suyan felt rather ridiculous, and his fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
"Since someone's picking you up, I won't take you home. Be careful on the road." Su Mianmian said "Oh," unaware of the odd tone in He Suyan's voice. After thanking He Suyan again, she got out of the car. ...It was already late when she returned to Yushui Bay.
Aunt Zhou had already prepared a bath for her. Just as Su Mianmian was about to take a bath, she suddenly realized her lucky bracelet was missing. It was a souvenir Song Zhi had brought back for her from her trip—a red string with a four-leaf clover in the middle.
Song Zhi said the lucky bracelet was very effective and told her to wear it every day, so Su Mianmian always kept it in her bag. But now, she couldn't find it anywhere.
Su Mianmian emptied her bag, but it was still nowhere to be found. Could it have fallen out when she got her phone in the bathroom? What if Liu Shu found it? Wouldn't she immediately know that Su Mianmian was in the bathroom?
Su Mianmian grew increasingly anxious and, unwilling to give up, searched the room again. When Aunt Zhou came up to bring Su Mianmian milk, she saw Su Mianmian's frantic search and couldn't help but ask what was wrong. "Madam, what are you looking for?"
Su Mianmian was searching under the bed when she heard Aunt Zhou's voice and quickly looked up. "Aunt Zhou, have you seen my lucky bracelet? It's a red string with a four-leaf clover on it?"
She held onto a sliver of hope; what if Aunt Zhou saw it when she came in to tidy the room? "A red string, a four-leaf clover?" Aunt Zhou thought for a few seconds and shook her head. "I haven't seen it."
Su Mianmian slumped her shoulders in disappointment. It seemed she had most likely lost it in the company restroom.
Seeing Su Mianmian's dejected look, Aunt Zhou guessed the lucky bracelet must be important. "Madam, why don't you call Mr. Zhou? Maybe he found it."
Upon hearing this, Su Mianmian immediately took out her phone. Just as she was about to dial, she remembered Gu Yizhou's mention of a meeting that evening and didn't want to bother him with such a small matter. "Never mind, he has an important meeting tonight. I'll look for it myself first. Aunt Zhou, you should get some rest too."
After Aunt Zhou left, Su Mianmian thought about the places Gu Yizhou usually kept his things and searched them, but to no avail. Now, only the study drawers remained unchecked. If they weren't there, then it was certain the item was truly missing!
Clinging to her last hope, Su Mianmian went to Gu Yizhou's study. The first thing she saw when she saw the desk was the image of Gu Yizhou pinning her against it that night and kissing her… Her face flushed involuntarily.
Although Su Mianmian had been to the study many times, she had never rummaged through Gu Yizhou's desk. She knew that the desk was a relatively private place, especially since Gu Yizhou was the president of the Gu Group; there might be confidential documents stored there.
But in this urgent situation, she decided to act first and inform Gu Yizhou later. The desk had three drawers. The first two were filled with various documents and seals. The third was empty, containing only a wooden box. Su Mianmian was certain the lucky bracelet wouldn't be in there and was just about to close the drawer.
Suddenly, Xue Jing's words flashed through her mind—"If you still don't believe me, go home and look for it. A-Zhou has a butterfly hair clip by his side. For years, he's kept it in his pocket every day. It belongs to that woman; A-Zhou values it more than life itself."
Thinking of this, Su Mianmian's hand paused, her eyes fixed on the wooden box. After hesitating for no more than three seconds, Su Mianmian took the box out.