Chapter 73: Feather Fan

So that’s how it is. It was just a coincidence that she “appreciated” me?

Before Han Yao explained, Chu Susu had been wondering if Fucheng had fallen to the point where the eldest miss had to personally recruit people.

After hearing this, she put on a formulaic smile and replied, “Miss Han, thank you for your invitation. But my current job is pretty stable, so I’m not considering it for now…”

It sounded tempting, but it wasn’t really.

Family businesses usually had deeply entrenched power structures with all sorts of intricacies. Chu Zhen’s company was far smaller than Fucheng’s and already had countless twists and turns—Chu Susu naturally knew the pros and cons and didn’t want to wade into that mess.

Moreover, who knew if this eldest miss was just acting on a whim? Words were no guarantee without a written job offer.

Chu Susu thought she’d been direct enough, but to Han Yao, it still wasn’t clear enough.

The other woman didn’t get her meaning and just gave her an “I understand” look, saying,

“I get it. Your boss came with you, so it’s inconvenient for her to know.”

Chu Susu: …

Fortunately, Han Yao wasn’t the type to pester someone, so she didn’t bring it up again after that.

It took Rebecca a long time to coax the child into eating. By the time she returned, most of the guests had finished lunch.

Han Yao had already left by then, so the two of them didn’t cross paths. Even the table had been cleared spotless by the servers, with no sign anyone had been there.

But Rebecca brought her up on her own.

“I didn’t expect Jiang City’s project to involve Fucheng’s handiwork.” She seemed to have little appetite and stopped after just a few bites of vegetable salad. “Speaking of which, Fucheng’s eldest miss is about your age, isn’t she… Truly young and accomplished.”

Chu Susu thought to herself, the person you mentioned was sitting in this very chair just moments ago.

“Yeah.” She said it sincerely. “She’s the same age as me but way more capable.”

Rebecca smiled. “How can you say that? Fucheng’s eldest miss was born into privilege, after all. You’ve climbed this far on your own efforts— that’s already very impressive.”

Just then, a message popped up in the summit’s WeChat group about today’s weather.

The afternoon had been scheduled for all guests to tour the amusement park and try out the facilities, but there had been a sudden change.

The forecast had called for clear skies, but they’d just learned there was a chance of rain in about two hours.

Since the park was outdoors and there were many leaders in their fifties who might not handle a sudden drop in temperature, the organizers offered two options for the guests to choose from.

One was to proceed as planned since the rain wasn’t expected to be heavy; the other was to rest for the day since there would be another chance tomorrow.

Rebecca asked Chu Susu what she thought. After a moment’s consideration, Chu Susu said, “I’m not afraid of a little rain. It mainly depends on what you think.”

Many of the older leaders had rheumatism or similar ailments and couldn’t handle the dampness. But Chu Susu was only twenty-five with a robust body—a bit of rain was nothing.

Rebecca didn’t mind either way, but she had other considerations:

“I have to see the baby when I get back. With weather this cold, if I catch a cold, I might pass it on to the child…”

“That’s true.”

Her daughter Feng Zhilan did seem to have some health issues, so there was indeed that risk.

Chu Susu immediately got what she meant and volunteered,

“We need to write a report afterward, so we should experience everything fully to make it good. You rest up this afternoon—I’ll go.”

Rebecca smiled gratefully, pleased at how perceptive she was without needing to spell it out. Having a subordinate like this was undoubtedly a huge relief.

“Thank you, Susu.”

“It’s what I should do.”

“Sorry to trouble you.”

She sighed and patted Chu Susu’s shoulder, seeming a bit sentimental:

“Actually, rumors have been circulating lately that I’m leaving the Imperial Capital. You can tell a lot of people are starting to slack off with their soon-to-be-departed boss. Only you are still so dedicated.”

Chu Susu wanted to say something comforting, but Rebecca cut her off before she could open her mouth: “No need to comfort me. I’m almost ten years older than you—I can handle this much.”

Even though a hint of vulnerability showed in her expression.

The sudden bad weather did deter a lot of people. There had been over a hundred guests originally, but by afternoon, only a dozen or so showed up at the park entrance.

Most were like Chu Susu, forced to come for their bosses.

Surprisingly, Fucheng’s eldest miss Han Yao was among them—no one knew why she’d bothered to join in, since she had no obligation to.

She was dressed very low-key in black athletic wear, her hair tied back in a ponytail.

Chu Susu glanced casually and almost mistook her for Han Xuan.

The eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar, after all.

The forecast was spot on—fine drizzle had started falling. Chu Susu was also dressed lightly, so she didn’t mind.

The group held umbrellas and followed the guide forward to a semi-outdoor venue with a transparent ceiling that shielded from the rain. Inside, they could clearly see everything outside.

“We have four venues in total, starting with the history hall.” With fewer people, the guide was more relaxed. “It has a transparent roof—on sunny days with sunlight, viewing our simulated historical scenes is spectacular. Today, it’ll be a bit discounted.”

“The second is the culture hall…”

They spent about an hour roughly going through all four venues, getting a general sense of the layout, but hadn’t tried the interactive facilities yet.

Even with just a dozen people, experiencing them one by one meant queuing, which wasted time—that was the original plan.

After the overview, the guide split them into four groups, each heading to one venue to experience, then rotating.

As it turned out, more people wanted the culture hall because of its 3D viewing project—the promo video was very enticing.

Not wanting to queue, Chu Susu chose the least popular history hall.

The group dispersed quickly. She turned back and spotted Han Yao standing right behind her.

“Let’s go.”

Han Yao swung her ponytail and strode in boldly, even whistling.

Chu Susu gave her a puzzled look, unable to figure out what this eldest miss was thinking.

The two entered the venue and approached the first interactive exhibit, with raindrops pattering crisply on the roof above.

It was a simulation of ancient Jiang City locals using livestock to turn a grindstone. Visitors could even sit on the little donkey and be carried around by it.

Chu Susu let Han Yao go first. The other woman played like she’d discovered a new world, genuinely exclaiming, “This is so fun.”

“By the way, Miss Han.” Chu Susu raised an eyebrow. “I thought you’d rest at the hotel.”

Han Yao propped her chin on the little donkey. “This is a government project, and I’m representing Fucheng. Skipping out over something this minor would be disrespectful to the Jiang City government.”

Chu Susu thought that made sense, but she hadn’t expected Fucheng to value cooperation with the Jiang City government so much—after all, Fucheng’s headquarters was far away in the Imperial Capital.

Taking government partnerships seriously was necessary, but did it require showing sincerity like this?

Han Yao saw through her doubts at a glance. “Mm, we’re planning to expand business into Jiang City.”

Chu Susu smiled and said “Oh,” thinking this eldest miss really didn’t treat her like an outsider.

Earlier, when she had a moment, she’d asked in her high school WeChat group if anyone remembered Han Yao.

There were a few friends from her school days. Though they were scattered now and didn’t chat often, their bond was still strong.

She got replies quickly.

They all confirmed they remembered her: “We weren’t in the same class and barely spoke, but yeah, she was definitely around.”

“Right, Susu, how could you forget her.”

“But back then, Fucheng’s family business wasn’t as glorious as it is now. Who’d have thought we went to school with someone like that.”

Hearing this jogged Chu Susu’s memory, and bits and pieces from years ago started coming back. It seemed she had indeed seen Han Yao around school…

Lost in thought, Han Yao yielded the little donkey spot to her. “Do you feel like I don’t treat you like an outsider?”

“…” Chu Susu glanced at her. “A bit, yeah.”

To be fair, the little donkey was pretty fun—like those musical rocking rides outside supermarkets when she was a kid.

Han Yao shook her head, not upset, just mildly surprised. “We’re old classmates, after all, and you don’t remember me at all.”

“It’s not that I don’t remember at all. After you mentioned it, some things came back to me.”

Chu Susu figured it was because senior year had been so stressful, studying like mad, so her high school highlights were all crammed into that period.

Han Yao stood by, watching with interest. “Then you probably don’t remember Han Xuan either.”

At those words, the slowly turning little donkey suddenly stopped.

Chu Susu pressed the stop button beside her and frowned at her. “What do you mean? Han Xuan goes to the same school as us?”

How was that possible?

First of all, Han Xuan was three years younger than them. Second, Han Xuan was an illegitimate daughter raised by relatives—where would she get the money to attend the same private school as the young ladies? The exorbitant tuition fees alone would be a crushing burden.

Han Yao didn’t answer her question. She merely blinked and walked straight to the next piece of equipment.

“Han Yao… Miss Han.” Chu Susu hopped nimbly off the little donkey treadmill and strode after her. “What do you mean by that? Can you explain?”

But Han Yao walked at an astonishing pace, vanishing in an instant into the realistic historical mannequin models, as if playing hide-and-seek with Chu Susu.

“Miss Han?”

Chu Susu called out to her a few times but received no response.

She suddenly recalled the secret gossip about this family that Zhou Xiaoying had mentioned—hereditary mental illness, with personalities that were all extremely eccentric.

Though it wasn’t yet clear if Han Yao truly suffered from any mental disorder, Chu Susu felt that this Eldest Miss…

Was indeed rather whimsical.