Chapter 76 Part 2

Du Shuwen tsked. What kind of focus was that from Wen Zenian?

Seriously, she’d asked such a big question, and all Wen Zenian had latched onto were those three words: “little beauty.”

“It’s not about her being young. She’s about our age, right? She just doesn’t wear makeup, so she looks eternally youthful.”

“Would my skin look bad without makeup?”

Du Shuwen burst out laughing. “Getting competitive now? Hey, don’t change the subject. I’m asking if you like her.”

“No.” Short and to the point.

Du Shuwen let out a scoff of disbelief. “Others might not know you, but I do. You give off this distant vibe at first glance—and even more so once you get close. Not a shred of that trendy novel heroine ‘gap moe’ charm.”

She continued, “You, personally escorting an allergic employee to the hospital? Somehow, I just can’t buy it.”

Wen Zenian replied coolly, “I’m not interested in anyone. I have no plans to date.”

“Right, after those two relationships, you just up and quit the game. What kind of trauma did you go through? Spill it to me—my noble, aloof shoulder is here if you need it…”

“Du Shuwen.”

Du Shuwen knew that whenever Wen Zenian used her full Chinese name like that, it meant she was genuinely getting annoyed.

“I didn’t sleep well last night, and I don’t want to pull overtime today. Can we wrap up this data analysis quickly?”

“Oh. Sure.”

Two days later, Meng Ning tapped open the hospital’s official Weibo account and saw that her allergen test results had come back.

The electronic report was incomplete, though, and came with the standard disclaimer: “Paper report is authoritative.”

What a hassle. She’d still have to make a trip to the hospital.

With work filling her day, Meng Ning decided to head over after her shift. As she walked toward the employee passageway with Zou Min, her colleague nudged her arm.

Meng Ning followed Zou Min’s gaze and spotted Wen Zenian along with Du Shuwen and their group.

Wen Zenian’s tailored suit always fit her like a glove, perfectly suited to the soaring, opulent lobby of a five-star hotel. Her high heels amplified her commanding presence, and her strikingly featured face rarely cracked a smile.

Zou Min remarked, “You know, she’s actually pretty nice. Last time you had that allergic reaction, she drove you to the hospital herself.”

“Ah.” Meng Ning pulled her eyes away. “Yeah.”

“What did it feel like?”

“Hm?”

“Being alone with her, up close like that.”

Meng Ning considered for a moment, then opted for the truth. “Nervous as hell.”

Zou Min grinned. “Tell me about it. Someone like her.”

Meng Ning asked, “How long are they staying at the hotel?”

“Who knows? That high-finance world isn’t for the likes of us.” Zou Min shrugged. “A month or two? I hear she’s the jet-setting type with a packed schedule.”

“Rare sight.” Zou Min teased her. “First time I’ve seen you take an interest in someone.”

Meng Ning shot back playfully, “She’s a total bombshell—top-tier, like some urban legend. Who wouldn’t gossip? Hahaha.”

It wasn’t just seeing Wen Zenian that made her nervous—even talking about her brought back that old habit of tacking “hahaha” onto the end of her sentences.

She took the subway to the hospital.

Compared to the morning rush, the hospital felt far more desolate in the evening dusk. After picking up her report, Meng Ning stood in the corridor flipping through it. An absurd thought bubbled up: After the list of allergens like house dust mites, plane trees, and green beans, would it list Wen Zenian?

Wen Zenian was her deepest allergen.

Meng Ning recalled that little girl peering in through the window of the chocolate shop. Clearly allergic, yet she’d sweetly negotiated with her mom: “I won’t eat any. Can I just hold the box and sniff it?”

But could you really hold back after catching the scent?

It was probably the same for everyone with their allergens: you knew they were bad for you, but you couldn’t quit them.

Another day, as Wen Zenian and Du Shuwen crossed the hotel lobby, they ran into Meng Ning and Zou Min, who were on their way to conduct pool safety training for the kids staying at the hotel.

They were still in their uniforms, but Zou Min had donned a crab costume hood, while Meng Ning sported a starfish one.

Du Shuwen burst out laughing. “Quick, look—your little beauty’s gone full costume party!”

Wen Zenian corrected her. “First off, stop calling her my little beauty. Second, she’s not mine.”

“I’ve heard she’s super popular. Tons of people chasing her.”

Wherever Du Shuwen went, she had her finger on the pulse of every scrap of gossip.

It wasn’t innate nosiness; anyone clawing their way up from the bottom had to keep their ears to the ground and eyes everywhere. You never knew which tidbit might prove useful.

Wen Zenian asked, “And what does that have to do with me?”

“Why do you always act so detached from worldly desires? How rough were those last two breakups? You planning to join a convent or something? Don’t leave me all alone in this messy mortal world!”

Wen Zenian reminded her, “The act’s over.”

It was Zou Min who spotted Du Shuwen and Wen Zenian from afar. She tugged Meng Ning’s arm. Meng Ning glanced over with a neutral expression. Zou Min waved enthusiastically, and Du Shuwen waved back.

Meng Ning seemed to hesitate between waving and bowing.

They were superiors, after all. Waving might come off as too casual.

In the end, Meng Ning directed a bow toward Wen Zenian.

Wen Zenian: ……

Du Shuwen kept her smile in place, but once out of earshot from Zou Min and Meng Ning, she pressed her lips together and let out a stifled burst of laughter. “She’s hilarious. Why does she seem so scared of you? What did you do that night when you drove her to the hospital?”

Wen Zenian thought to herself, What could I have done?

I’d only brushed the back of her hand with mine—ever so lightly.

Though they worked in the same hotel, Meng Ning rarely crossed paths with Wen Zenian.

Beyond the occasional one-on-one meeting, the most she got was a distant glimpse. She’d stopped bowing and now waved like Zou Min did, but Wen Zenian always seemed too swamped to pause for even a word.

She hadn’t sought out Meng Ning again. Not even on the day the allergen report came back had she asked about the results.

It was her personal business, after all—something only Meng Ning needed to know.

But once, while doing children’s pool safety training with Zou Min, Meng Ning glanced up to find Wen Zenian in her suit, leaning against the doorframe at the back of the activity room.

Meng Ning: ……

When had Wen Zenian arrived?

She knew the investment group made unannounced inspections of the hotel’s facilities, but the timing here was uncanny. Meng Ning was still wearing her starfish hood, teamed up with crab-hooded Zou Min to lead the kids in the “crab dance.”

Don’t ask why there was no starfish dance—the thing was so floppy, it’d look downright inappropriate in front of children.

Just moments ago, Meng Ning had raised her arms beside her ears to mimic crab claws, grinning broadly without a clue if her face had twisted into something comical.

Neither Zou Min nor the kids had noticed Wen Zenian. Only Meng Ning did, her gaze piercing through the room’s cheerful clamor. Her smile lingered faintly on her face, but her eyes softened into a rare gentleness as they met Wen Zenian’s in a quiet, lingering stare.

“Cara Teacher.” Zou Min called her over to grab some English flashcards.

Meng Ning took the cards and glanced back. The doorway stood empty now, revealing only the pale wall and classic wooden trim beyond the activity room.

Wen Zenian’s appearance had felt like a hallucination.

In the office, Du Shuwen scrolled through the results of the first round of interviews, rolling her mouse wheel.

“They’re so guarded,” she said, stretching her arms with a yawn. “No way to get any real insights from this.”

After a moment’s thought, she added, “Hey, let’s invite them out for karaoke.”

“You.”

“Huh?”

“You—not ‘us.'”

“Hey, you can’t expect me to handle all the frontline grunt work while you hog the glory of reporting to the big boss.” Du Shuwen teased her deliberately.

Wen Zenian actually paused in sorting her files and slid the stack toward Du Shuwen. “Fine. Then you handle the next call with the big boss.”

“No, no!” Du Shuwen backed down instantly. “I’m terrified of her.”

Du Shuwen rounded up every employee who’d been interviewed. “Everyone’s coming—no exceptions. Treat it like clocking in for work. No-shows count as absent.”

She said it with a smile, leaving it unclear if she was joking or serious.

The upward tilt of her eyes lent her smile a touch of allure, never grating. It was like a different face from her serious one.

Naturally, no one skipped out.

Du Shuwen picked Pei City’s hottest KTV and booked the largest private room. All the interviewees showed up and fit comfortably.

She had no intention of prying for info in a setting like this, nor did she put on a show of forced enthusiasm. Once the drinks and fruit platters were ordered, she busied herself with her phone, stepping in and out to take calls as if oblivious to what the employees were up to.

With her attention elsewhere, the group’s vibe gradually loosened up.

A few rounds of drinks in, as Du Shuwen propped her elbow on the sofa with one slender hand cradling her head to join the conversation, people started chatting with her too.

Emboldened, someone even asked, “Is Gwyneth not coming?”

“How so?” Du Shuwen smiled radiantly, shifting to rest her elbow on her knee with the back of her hand propping her chin. “Can’t I come solo? Am I not as pretty as her?”

“No, no!” The employee waved their hands frantically, laughing.

“Come on, take a good look at me.” She leaned her face right up to theirs with a grin. “We need to settle this tonight: Who’s prettier, her or me?”

Du Shuwen’s smile had a unique quality to it.

You couldn’t call it fake, yet it lacked full emotional investment. She gave seven parts of herself to savoring the moment—like this lively, relaxed evening—but like pouring just seven-tenths of a glass of wine, she always reserved three parts for herself.

At first glance, you might peg her as a vixen. But after some time around her, Meng Ning saw her more as a chameleon.

The joke landed perfectly. Her colleagues caved, laughing that she outshone Wen Zenian.

Meng Ning, the introvert, huddled in the corner, praying: Please don’t ask me, Du Shuwen.

But as the saying goes, what you fear most is what comes knocking. Du Shuwen plopped down beside her with a beaming smile. “Come on, Cara—you take a look too. Who’s prettier, her or me?”

She even gave Meng Ning a playful wink.

Meng Ning: ……

Oh god, she was terrified.

Du Shuwen encouraged her. “Go ahead, just say what you really think.” She brushed a lock of hair from her shoulder with effortless allure.

Meng Ning replied, “Alright, if you insist.”

“Say it!”

“She’s prettier.”

“Hey!” Du Shuwen’s eyebrows shot up. “I’m sitting right here in front of you—no mercy?”

“Sorry.” Meng Ning offered a faint smile, her fingers digging into the back of her own hand where it rested on her knee. “But she is prettier.”

As she spoke, amid the buzzing thrum of a blaring hit song vibrating their eardrums, the sound of the door swinging open cut through.

Meng Ning and Du Shuwen both whipped their heads around.

There stood Wen Zenian in her suit and high heels, phone in hand—like she’d just walked into a board meeting.