“This is the whole story of what happened.”
Just recounting the past events had already left Xu Jiao drenched in sweat.
She drained a glass of red wine, as if the sensation of alcohol sliding down her throat could numb the fear in her heart.
Qiao Qian frowned, pondering in silence.
It was the 21st century now, and most people’s first reaction to such superstitious rumors was naturally disbelief.
But Xu Jiao’s reaction was too genuine. If she was exaggerating, her acting skills wouldn’t be this good.
Moreover, she had been drinking—there’s a saying that wine brings out the truth. Who has the energy to fabricate such a complete story after a few drinks?
“Absolutely do not tell Chu Susu.” Xu Jiao slumped drunkenly over the table, not forgetting to remind her. “Otherwise…”
Before she could finish, she had already drifted off into a light sleep.
Qiao Qian sighed and prepared to settle the bill. “Swipe this card.”
But not long after, the waiter returned with the card. “Sorry, miss, this card can’t be used.”
Qiao Qian frowned and pulled another from her wallet. “What about this one?”
Four or five credit cards were all declined.
Helpless, she had no choice but to use a debit card instead, then stared at the repayment notification on her phone, clenching her fist.
That day, when the colleague asked Han Xuan to deliver the USB, it was just as Chu Susu had predicted—a deliberate attempt to make things difficult.
The next day, as soon as Chu Susu arrived at the office, Jack asked her for the file and whether she had any revision suggestions.
It was so obvious that Chu Susu couldn’t be bothered to deal with it.
She directly sent a pre-prepared file to that colleague, filled with three full pages of revision comments.
When the colleague received it, she immediately asked discontentedly, “Did you really read it carefully?”
Chu Susu gave a half-smile. “The file you copied was complete, of course I read it.”
She hadn’t messaged last night to ask for it again because it was after hours, and the other party had every excuse not to reply.
As for the revisions, they were all the usual back-and-forth stuff. If it had been done well to begin with, they wouldn’t have dragged it out like this.
Her words left the colleague speechless for a moment.
She couldn’t very well admit she’d deliberately sent a corrupted file, so she could only grudgingly go make the changes.
It was because it wasn’t finished in the first place that Jack had come up with this idea for her…
Chu Susu sat at the conference table, staring at the empty desk, lost in a daze for a moment.
After that day, Han Xuan no longer brought her lunch. Occasionally, though, she’d hang a small box of snacks on the door handle.
The two of them didn’t work on the same floor anyway. Beyond that, no more WeChats, no more private meetings—it was as if they’d completely cut off contact.
Previously, Chu Susu’s interview piece and video with Lawyer He had been published on the official account and received good feedback. The client decided to double down and send her again.
This time, there were four or five lawyers to interview, and Chu Susu couldn’t handle it alone, so she inevitably had to bring Jack along.
During the break, Jack went out for a smoke with two male lawyers to get chummy, leaving their phones on the table.
One lawyer’s screen kept lighting up, as if some client was sending urgent messages.
The two female lawyers went to the bathroom together. As they reached the door, Chu Susu overheard them saying, “I’m so jealous of Lawyer Zhang—that divorce client is super generous.”
“Yeah, she even sends red envelopes with a few thousand yuan during holidays.”
The notification sounds from the phone on the table kept going off. Unable to resist, Chu Susu glanced over and caught sight of the contact name.
【VIP Client – Feng Lidong】
At the sight of that name, Chu Susu’s pupils contracted in surprise.
Feng Lidong was Rebecca’s Chinese name. Though it could be a coincidence… thinking back to that man who’d blocked her in the parking lot that day, Chu Susu figured it was almost certainly her.
She hadn’t expected Rebecca to be in the middle of a divorce lawsuit. But given how unhinged her husband seemed, divorce was probably the smart choice.
Soon, the lawyers trickled back one by one, and the interviews continued as usual.
Throughout, Jack kept seizing every opportunity to chime in with his opinions at length, clearly having put in some prep work.
Chu Susu ignored him and let him show off. After all, the official account would only feature what the lawyers said anyway.
On the ride back, the two of them were waiting in the car for the driver to finish using the bathroom.
Chu Susu wanted to close her eyes and rest, but Jack suddenly said, “Susu.”
He had always called her by full name without any courtesy, never like this, with such a softened tone.
Chu Susu immediately frowned, her eyes tinged with laziness and fatigue as she lifted her gaze. “Hm?”
Jack hesitated, as if it was hard to bring up.
“After I got robbed last time, I took some time off to recover,” he said. “A lot of the work ended up on your plate. But I’ve been following these projects for a long time, so in the end, I’m more familiar with them.”
Chu Susu didn’t want to beat around the bush with him and cut straight to it. “What are you trying to say?”
Her tone wasn’t friendly, but for once, Jack didn’t get angry like usual. Instead, he stammered hesitantly, cautiously:
“Could you talk to Rebecca and get those tasks reassigned back to me?”
When misfortune strikes, it’s natural to overthink. During the days Jack lay in his hospital bed, he was constantly worrying that Chu Susu would snatch all his work.
And that’s exactly what happened. A project team doesn’t grind to a halt just because one person is out—someone else naturally steps up.
But Jack couldn’t accept it. Deep down, he knew it wasn’t his fault; he’d just had the bad luck to run into a mugger. Why should he bear the consequences?
Now, whenever something came up, Rebecca’s first thought was surely Chu Susu, not him.
“Reassign them to you?”
Chu Susu had thought he was going to say something else. She slowly closed her eyes and said carelessly, “Did I steal them from you? Where does ‘reassign’ even come into it?”
“…Please, I’m begging you.”
Jack gritted his teeth and said humbly, “I really need this opportunity.”
He’d been at the company for several years too, and this was a chance for promotion right in front of him.
Climbing even one rung higher on the ladder would at least double his salary—an enormous temptation for Jack.
And Chu Susu was his fiercest rival.
They’d joined the company at the same time, at the same level, even working on the same projects every time.
But they weren’t really the same.
Chu Susu was younger than him, a local from the Imperial Capital, and rumor had it her family wasn’t short on money.
Jack’s voice broke intermittently. “I’m from out of town. My wife stays home full-time with the kid—our daughter’s about to start kindergarten… I’m not like you. I need to support the family; we’re all counting on me.”
The financial pressure on them wasn’t the same.
Chu Susu opened her eyes oddly and shot him a glance. “If money’s tight, have your wife go back to work.”
“Someone has to take care of the kid and the elders.”
“Then why have a kid when you can’t afford it?” Chu Susu said softly. “No one forced you. Yet you go and complain after having one—what’s the point?”
She simply couldn’t understand why people facing financial hardship still insisted on carrying on the family line.
If you can’t provide good conditions for the child, you’ll be too busy scrambling for a living to spend time with them.
If you want kids, make money first.
Jack felt like his shoulders were too heavy to lift—the burdens weighing him down seemed utterly trivial in Chu Susu’s mouth.
He said indignantly, “Yeah, your dad’s loaded—how would you understand our struggles?”
At the mention of Chu Zhen, Chu Susu wearily looked away, refusing to engage further.
No point talking. On issues like this, with such different standpoints, no one could convince the other.
But asking her to give up her opportunities? Absolutely not.
Sure, getting mugged was tragic, but she’d earned her chances through her own hard work—pulling all-nighters that weren’t wasted.
Just hand them over because he said so?
Jack stared at Chu Susu’s cold profile and dejectedly lowered his head, falling silent.
Back at the company, Chu Susu took the elevator up as usual.
It stopped on the second floor, and a few acquaintances-but-not-friends from work got on, greeting her.
Chu Susu noticed they were all holding small paper plates with cream cakes topped by a bright red cherry—exquisite and pretty.
“Is someone having a birthday?” she asked with a smile.
The colleagues looked surprised. “Han Xuan—didn’t you know?”
“Yeah, I thought you two were close.”
Chu Susu let out an “Ah,” a bit taken aback.
She hadn’t known it was Han Xuan’s birthday today. After all… they hadn’t been in touch for quite a while.
Once the colleagues got off, Chu Susu didn’t head to her floor. Instead, on a whim, she pressed “2.”
She stepped quietly out of the elevator and saw a crowd gathered around a desk, chatting animatedly.
Han Xuan wore a paper birthday hat, smiling shyly as she handed out cake to everyone—reserved, yet clearly happy.
It seemed she got along great with the others.
It was about time to clock out, so they were giving Han Xuan a group birthday celebration.
Chu Susu couldn’t say what she was thinking at that moment. Standing at the corner of the corridor, she watched for a while before preparing to leave.
Before she pressed the elevator button again, a voice called out to her: “Susu.”
She turned around and saw Han Xuan holding a slice of cake, standing right in front of her.
She was still wearing a black skirt today. From her hurried steps just now, the hem had flared up in an arc like a black butterfly folding its wings.
“Happy birthday.” Chu Susu met her gaze for two seconds before saying, “Why not wear some festive colors for your birthday?”
Han Xuan’s lips curved faintly. “Habit.”
She held the paper plate out to Chu Susu. “I made it myself. Try some.”
“No thanks.” Chu Susu smiled and shook her head. “If I take it, there won’t be enough for the others.”
Even though the cake looked so tempting, making one’s mouth water.
But Han Xuan didn’t pull her hand back. “There’s plenty. Eat it.”
It was just one slice of cake—refusing back and forth would seem weird—so Chu Susu took it.
“Then I need to get you a gift. Is there anything you want?”
She had only asked offhandedly, but Han Xuan looked at her with utter seriousness, her eyes clear and pure.
“Yes.”
“Oh? Tell me. I’ll definitely say yes.”
No one passed through the corridor. She asked softly, “You’ll agree to anything?”
“Mm.”
Then Chu Susu watched as Han Xuan raised her hand and pointed vaguely at her own lips.
“Is that okay?” she said.
