All My Colleagues Are Animals 107

Epilogue 5: Mom’s Story (Part 1)

“—CEO Xiao?”

A voice suddenly sounded in her ear.

Xiao Yu’s gaze sharpened, and she came back to her senses.

Her assistant said, “The guests have already arrived.”

Xiao Yu asked, “And CEO Ye?”

Her assistant: “She’s here.”

And so, Xiao Yu unhurriedly stood up and, in front of the mirror, put on her suit jacket.

Her expression was light, and she looked calm and composed.

But her breathing was silently and heavily slow.

When she was putting on her cufflinks, the thin sweat that seeped from her fingertips soaked the deep blue gem, and it showed a deep and dark luster.

She took a wet wipe and, inch by inch, carefully wiped her fingers clean, and turned and went downstairs.

In their circle, the name “Xiao Yu” made many people shudder.

As the completely ignored daughter of the Xiao family, she had been unobtrusive since she was little, quietly lying in wait for a long time.

Later, when no one had expected it, she had appeared out of nowhere, each move fatal. She had stepped on the heads of her brothers to climb up, purged the Xiao family from top to bottom, and completely claimed it as her own.

And tonight was the first banquet she had hosted since she had come to power, and all the important figures in the circle were gathered here.

“It’s Xiao Yu.”

A low cry was faintly heard from the crowd.

In the brilliantly lit hall, Ye Zhao lightly lifted her eyes and saw a woman walking gracefully down the spiral staircase.

She was wearing a casual suit as white as snow, which made her look noble and otherworldly.

Her features were as bright and beautiful as a painting, and her every move showed the charming style of a mature woman.

Ye Zhao’s gaze moved slightly.

These past few days, Xiao Yu’s deeds had stirred up a heated discussion in their circle, and her reputation as a “demon” was resounding.

Ye Zhao did not think that that was a demon.

It was just that she had heavily stepped on the people who had once trampled on her, which was only right.

She had done the same thing back then, and so she had a certain natural fondness for Xiao Yu, and had gladly attended the banquet after receiving the invitation.

At this moment, she had finally seen Xiao Yu for the first time, and she suddenly felt that the woman’s air and aura were completely in line with her preconceived notions.

She stood tall and straight in the center of the hall, full of spirit, and her brilliance flowed.

Ye Zhao couldn’t help but look at her a few more times.

She saw Xiao Yu holding a wine glass with her fingertips, and as a good host, she was talking and laughing with the guests all the way.

Finally, she came up to her and, with a proper and polite gesture, raised her glass.

“CEO Ye, I’ve long admired you.”

The corners of Ye Zhao’s lips curled up slightly, and she raised her red wine glass and lightly clinked it with Xiao Yu’s.

“CEO Xiao, it’s a pleasure.”

Ding—

The glasses collided, making a clear sound.

Xiao Yu lifted her wine glass, and in her peripheral vision, she saw the woman’s fair neck and the light movement of her throat as she elegantly sipped her wine.

No one knew that the “long admired” just now was not a polite phrase.

To be able to talk and laugh so freely and with such composure with Ye Zhao at this moment, Xiao Yu had spent a full twenty years.

…

Twenty years ago, at Hope Middle School in the barren suburbs of B-City.

“This is the new Teacher Ye Zhao. She will be leading the biology class this semester. Let’s welcome her with a round of applause.”

Amidst the sparse applause, Xiao Yu slowly lifted her head in the back row.

Under the mottled gray walls and the dim and damp square walls, the woman named Ye Zhao stood on the stage.

Her back was straight, and her figure was graceful, and she was beautiful, confident, and full of spirit.

She was a rare and exquisite and bright sight in this simple and shabby middle school.

Her features curved slightly, and her voice was clear and pleasant when she spoke.

“Hello, classmates.”

Then she turned around and, with a piece of chalk, wrote the two large characters “Ye Zhao(叶曌)” on the blackboard.

Her handwriting was free and easy, like a soaring phoenix.

“This is my name.”

After Ye Zhao finished, she paused slightly. “I chose it for myself after I came of age.”

For this addition, no one in the audience cared.

But Xiao Yu’s gaze lingered on the character “Zhao(曌)” for a long time.

The sun and the moon in the sky. (T/N: 日 (sun) and 月 (moon) above 空 (sky).)

She recited it in her heart, and for a moment, her chest was inexplicably hot.

Xiao Yu had never thought that this day would be the beginning of her next twenty years. She just quietly and without a moment’s pause watched Teacher Ye’s class—

The woman was knowledgeable and eloquent, and she had exquisite and profound insights into many things.

She mentioned that her main profession was a veterinarian, and she owned a pet hospital.

She said that that was the career she loved for life, and she hoped that everyone would also be able to find and persist in their own passions in the future.

After class, Xiao Yu watched the woman leave.

When Ye Zhao walked, her back was still straight, and her steps were like the wind, and every step was firm and composed.

As if she had a certain mastery over life.

Xiao Yu unconsciously watched for a long while, even though that figure had long since disappeared from her sight.

In a certain moment, she came back to her senses, and she slowly lowered her head and continued to do her problems seriously.

…

As the youngest daughter of the Xiao family, Xiao Yu and her mother had always been treated coldly in the Xiao family.

Unable to bear the contempt, her mother had taken her and had left the Xiao family, and had rented a house in the suburbs to live.

Life was difficult, and they could not even afford the tuition. Fortunately, there was a free Hope Middle School.

Xiao Yu did not like to make friends, nor did she like to participate in activities.

She had voluntarily sat in the back row and had never been in the limelight at any time. She would also deliberately make mistakes on exams, so that everything about her seemed mediocre.

Having been bullied by the Xiao family in every way, she had habitually protected herself like this.

In class, the only student Xiao Yu was familiar with was her deskmate, Xu Zhaodi.

That day, Xu Zhaodi had said, “I don’t like school. I might as well drop out and go to work.”

Xiao Yu was silent for a moment and persuaded her, “You should study.”

Xu Zhaodi did not listen. “I want to work at Teacher Ye’s hospital. Do you think I can? I like her so much.”

Xiao Yu was speechless.

The last class of the day was biology. After school, all the students had left.

Xu Zhaodi pulled Xiao Yu to the office to find Ye Zhao.

Xiao Yu did not go in and waited at the door.

She heard Xu Zhaodi complain to Ye Zhao, and she cried and said that she was not favored at home, and that she hated her own name, and that she wanted to drop out of school to go to work.

The office was quiet for a moment, and Ye Zhao’s voice finally and slowly sounded. Her words were clear, and they held a gentle sigh.

“Did you know? We have similar names. Before I changed my name, my name was Ning Yindi.”

Xu Zhaodi was stunned for a moment and forgot to cry.

“I was also treated rather coldly in the Ning family. They would not let me enter the ancestral hall or be on the family tree, and even my schooling was as a companion to my younger brother.”

“At that time, I chose to work hard in secret, and I struggled to absorb knowledge like a plant absorbing rain and dew. When I came of age, I neatly and cleanly left the Ning family, and I took the surname Ye, and I developed a career in a field I liked.”

She paused and chuckled lightly. “Now I don’t care at all about the so-called family tree… I am the ancestor of the Ye family.”

“Xu Zhaodi, you can totally build your own company in the future, instead of dropping out of school early to work at my hospital.”

Xiao Yu stood at the door, her body and soul trembling, and for a long time, she could not come back to her senses.

Thinking of the feudal and contemptuous way the Xiao family had stepped on her and her mother, she slowly clenched her fists.

Xiao Yu’s mother and grandmother were also surnamed Xiao, and their names had been chosen by her grandmother.

And so, on this ordinary evening, she stood at the office door and made a rather overconfident decision:

In the future, she would step on their heads, rewrite the character “Xiao” of the Xiao family, and personally be the ancestor of the Xiao family.

…

At night, Xiao Yu returned to the simple and crude rented house.

At dinner, her mother suddenly said, “Why don’t we go back to the Xiao family?”

Xiao Yu was slightly stunned. “Why?”

Her mother said with a troubled expression, “Although we’ll be laughed at and bullied… at least you’ll be able to eat and dress warmly, and enjoy good educational resources.”

Xiao Yu pursed her lips and, for a moment, did not answer.

She couldn’t help but think of Teacher Ye.

This thought continued until late at night.

The girl was lying on her back on the bed, looking at the distant and holy, bright moon outside the window.

She remembered the voice and tone with which Teacher Ye had told her own story.

Looking back after so many years, the woman had downplayed the past of breaking free from oppression, and in her laughter, there was a certain admirable strength, and she was mature and moving.

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but begin to fantasize that, in a few years, she would be standing tall and straight in front of Teacher Ye, and she would also downplay it and say with a smile:

“Teacher Ye, I’ve stepped on all of them.”

Gradually, the girl fell into a dream in this wonderful fantasy.

In her dream, Teacher Ye was smiling brightly and, slowly lowering her head, she kissed her on the forehead.

She praised her gently, “Classmate Xiao, you’ve done very well.”

Xiao Yu’s breath hitched, and she suddenly woke up from her dream and opened her eyes.

The lonely night sky outside the window was still the same.

She moved her legs and felt a hidden, strange dampness.

The girl, who had just entered puberty, sat lost in thought for a long while, a certain vexation and embarrassment over offending the bright moon rising in her heart.

…

Ye Zhao came to teach three times a week.

After that dream, Xiao Yu had for a time not dared to look directly at Ye Zhao’s face.

She and Xu Zhaodi sat in the back row, their heads lowered, but their ears were still seriously listening to the woman’s lecture.

Fortunately, a similar dream had not appeared again.

Xiao Yu gradually dared to lift her head.

Every word that Teacher Ye had said, the golden sunlight that tinged the tips of her lashes when she blinked, the way her slender white fingertips would lightly tap the lectern when she was thinking, the nimble and vivid writing on the blackboard, and the spirited arc of her lips when she smiled…

Xiao Yu had firmly remembered all of it in her heart.

Soon, a semester had passed.

Ye Zhao’s volunteer teaching was over, and she said goodbye to everyone.

The school had divided the classes by gender, and this class was all girls.

Her gaze lightly swept over the young, tender faces before her, and she said, “I hope you all study hard and become your own sun and moon.”

On the day they took a commemorative photo, Ye Zhao sat in the front and center, her smile moving.

Xiao Yu, on the other hand, as always, stood in the very corner.

Every class at Hope Middle School had more than seventy students, and among them were many lively and enthusiastic students who liked to take the initiative to talk to the teacher.

Ye Zhao could not have, and had not, noticed the silent Xiao Yu in the corner.

Looking at the woman’s gradually distant back, Xiao Yu quietly thought—

Will there be a day in the future when she can stand by Ye Zhao’s side with a generous air, on an equal footing?

That night, she said to her mother, “I want to go back to the Xiao family.”

If you crave the moon, do not wait for the moon to fall.

Xiao Yu wanted to climb, bit by bit, and when she was high above the sun, she would finally be side by side with the moon.

…

The wine was flowing, and the conversation was happy.

The banquet had entered its final, classic stage—

A ball.

As the host of the night, Xiao Yu would be leading the first dance.

She did not seem to have a partner, so who she would invite to dance became a matter of secret curiosity and anticipation for everyone.

In the midst of everyone’s attention, Xiao Yu, with an air of complete composure and elegance, walked up to Ye Zhao.

Her right hand was lightly raised, and her jade-white palm was facing up.

“CEO Ye, may I have this dance?”

For a moment, there was a faint sigh in the crowd.

Everyone knew that Ye Zhao never danced with anyone, and no one in their circle dared to invite her to dance.

Ye Zhao looked up.

She saw that Xiao Yu was calm and composed, and her smile was bright and at ease.

But the ear behind her hair was faintly pink, and the tips of her lashes were trembling like a butterfly’s wings in the light. Her dark, black eyes were staring at her, as if with a certain self-consciousness and a pure craving.

She did not know which detail had moved her.

Ye Zhao, for once, slowly raised her hand and placed it in Xiao Yu’s.

Her hair flew, and she was held by the waist and fell into the dance floor.

A melodious melody sounded, and their steps were light, and their coordination was perfect.

The light and shadow on the dance floor flickered, and they swayed in each other’s eyes, and they shimmered.

Xiao Yu could feel the clear and subtle fragrance of Ye Zhao’s neck, the soft and warm touch of her skin, and the itch of her hair brushing against her cheek as her body turned.

She could see the mature woman’s eyes, which held a certain leisurely scrutiny, as if she were slowly sketching her features.

To be so close to the person she had looked up to for twenty years, Xiao Yu’s chest gradually grew hot, and she could not restrain the tide in her heart.

She even gradually did not dare to look at her, and her gaze was a little flustered.

On the next beat, she was a half-beat too fast and actually almost stepped on Ye Zhao.

She immediately froze slightly. “I’m sorry.”

Xiao Yu was secretly annoyed.

Tonight’s banquet, for her, was a one-sided handing in of her homework to Teacher Ye.

But how was it that after twenty years of hard work, she had finally stood before Ye Zhao, her head held high, full of light and pride, yet she was still as inexperienced and inexperienced as a clumsy little puppy, and the moment she was nervous, she would fall apart?

Ye Zhao looked up.

The woman had just been so full of spirit among the guests, and she had lived up to the resounding reputation of CEO Xiao.

But at this moment, she had faintly shown a moment of dejection, and her lips were slightly pursed, and for no reason, she was like an annoyed and disappointed little puppy.

Ye Zhao suddenly found it very interesting, and the corners of her lips unconsciously curled up into a faint smile.

“It’s fine.”

She turned her head and, in a low voice, gently taught Xiao Yu by her ear:

“Slower.”

When the woman spoke, her breath, a hot and orchid-like scent, lightly brushed past her ear.

Xiao Yu’s heart pounded even more, so fiercely that it was as if it were about to burst from her chest.

But she was, after all, a woman who had endured and lain in wait for many years in the treacherous Xiao family, and had leaped to the top.

This time, she suppressed the surging tide in her heart, steadied herself, and perfectly danced the remaining half of the dance with Ye Zhao.

The music stopped.

The hall was filled with enthusiastic applause and cheers.

The lights were dazzling, and Xiao Yu felt that the woman she had been chasing for so long was now half-lying in her arms, panting lightly.

Her body was warm and soft, and their bodies were pressed together, and it was real.

In an instant, she was reminded of that secret night twenty years ago—

The girl had woken up from her transgressive dream and, looking up at the bright and clear moonlight in the sky, had been both embarrassed and disappointed by her own overconfident fantasies.

“CEO Xiao danced very well.”

Ye Zhao caught her breath and looked up with a light laugh, and with a gentle and encouraging tone, like a teacher praising a student.

Xiao Yu stared at the woman without a moment’s pause.

Suddenly, she felt a little like crying.