They arrived at the office on the second floor. Just as Shen An had anticipated, Zhao Qingyu was seated in the Office Director’s chair, waiting quietly.
Pushing open the door, Zhao Qingyu and Shen An locked eyes. Song Rui did her best to hide behind Shen An, her voice wavering even as she greeted them. “Senior Sister Zhao… hi.”
Shen Lianyao, on the other hand, felt no fear toward Zhao Qingyu. She offered a casual greeting as well.
Zhao Qingyu arched a brow and turned her gaze to Shen An. Her first words were unusually direct. “Did you sleep well last night?”
Song Rui’s eyes widened in shock.
This…
“Yeah, not bad,” Shen An replied. After yesterday’s events, he was still technically her subordinate, but he no longer needed to play the role of the obedient, well-behaved junior.
“Have a seat first.”
Zhao Qingyu gestured to the empty office chairs around her. Shen An and the other two took their seats one after another.
The four of them sat at the four cardinal directions, evoking the feel of a roundtable meeting.
“Your department doesn’t have a president for now, and Taili is busy with the Singing Group, so I’ll be taking on the role temporarily. Any objections?”
Zhao Qingyu got straight to the point, leaning back in her chair with a thoroughly boss-like pose.
Who would dare object?
Shen An grumbled inwardly while keeping a smile on his lips. He shook his head. “No objections from me.”
Song Rui naturally echoed Shen An’s stance. Even sitting down, she only dared to sneak glances at him, refusing to meet Zhao Qingyu’s eyes.
But the last person in the office had her own thoughts on the matter.
“I have a few questions I’d like to ask.”
Shen Lianyao looked straight at Zhao Qingyu.
Seeing this, a guess suddenly formed in Shen An’s mind. No way, right?
“Go ahead?” Zhao Qingyu nodded lazily. “What’s your question?”
“I want to know why I was assigned to the Office.”
Shen An was momentarily stunned by Shen Lianyao’s words.
She was actually bold enough to ask that?
He had just been wondering if she would confront Zhao Qingyu directly about it.
He hadn’t expected her to actually do it.
Shen Lianyao narrowed her eyes, her somewhat cold features giving her a commanding air as she kept a straight face. “My first choice was the Dance Group, with Street Dance Group as my second. I also checked the box allowing reassignment to other Performance Groups.”
“I don’t understand why I ended up in the Office.”
Zhao Qingyu met Shen Lianyao’s icy stare without flinching. “Is that your question?”
“Yes, that’s my question.”
Shen Lianyao showed no fear of Zhao Qingyu, her momentum unwavering. “I don’t mean to look down on the Office or belittle it. Every department has its value, and I hope you understand that, Senior Sister.”
“I just feel I’m not suited for the Office. Not at all.”
“Being assigned there is a result I really can’t accept.”
Shen Lianyao took a deep breath, her gaze resolute. “So I want to know if this was your personal decision.”
Zhao Qingyu found the situation rather amusing.
Rather than answering right away, she countered with a question of her own. “If you think it’s unsuitable, why didn’t you file an appeal?”
Shen Lianyao replied softly, “If it was your decision, Senior Sister, I believe an appeal would be pointless.”
“Instead of waiting for a meaningless outcome, I figured I’d come straight to you with my concerns.”
“Hmm, yes, it was my decision.”
Zhao Qingyu shrugged, her tone laced with a dismissive nonchalance.
Shen Lianyao’s furrowed brows tightened further. She turned her head and muttered, “I knew it.”
“Senior Sister, you made this decision without even asking for my input. I see that as a profound lack of respect toward me.”
“If you can’t give me a reasonable explanation, then…”
“Then you’ll quit the Art Troupe?” Zhao Qingyu’s eyes sharpened, cutting off Shen Lianyao’s follow-up. “If that’s your mindset, I can let you leave the Art Troupe right now.”
The atmosphere froze solid, tension hanging in the air.
Shen Lianyao held her ground in a staring contest with Zhao Qingyu, but in truth, she had already lost this round.
If she truly had the guts, she would have stood up and walked out right then.
But she remained seated.
That meant she had no intention of leaving the Art Troupe.
Or perhaps, she had never even considered it from the start.
At that moment, Shen An recalled his earlier conversation with Shen Lianyao.
He had hypothesized what she would do if she failed to get in and was assigned elsewhere.
Her response had been: “If I can’t get into the Dance Group, I’ll find a way in.”
The Dance Group…
What did that department really mean to her?
With her aloof personality, she probably rarely fixated on anything.
Shen An glanced at Song Rui beside him.
Could it be that, like Song Rui, some senior sister in the Dance Group had once given Shen Lianyao some major “help”?
Song Rui, for her part, sat with her head bowed, the picture of obedience.
Her legs were trembling, her heart pounding with nerves.
The head-on clash between Shen Lianyao and Zhao Qingyu filled this bystander with unease.
It had nothing to do with her, yet it felt as if it were happening to her.
After a full minute of locked gazes, Zhao Qingyu curved her lips into a faint smile, brimming with unshakable confidence. “Have you decided on your answer?”
Shen Lianyao struggled to conceal her defeat. “As a member who’s been assigned, I have the right to demand an explanation from you, Senior Sister. And as Troupe Leader, you have the obligation to provide one.”
Even in this moment, Shen Lianyao maintained her rationality and composure.
In fact, from the beginning, her statements had been logical and well-structured.
Aside from that last bit tinged with personal emotion, everything else was perfectly reasonable.
Unfortunately, Zhao Qingyu wasn’t one for reason. It was like a scholar arguing with a soldier—logic stood no chance.
“Oh~” Zhao Qingyu let out a light chuckle. “So you just want an explanation, huh?”
She paused to think, tapping her fingertips idly before tossing out, “I think you suit the Office. Satisfied with that?”
“Senior Sister!”
This time, Shen Lianyao truly lost her composure.
It wasn’t the casualness of the explanation—it was the deep sense of disrespect from Zhao Qingyu that hit her hard.
She shot to her feet, biting her lip, looking ready to throw down.
“Whoa, easy now, easy.”
Shen An dropped his spectator mindset and quickly stood, grabbing Shen Lianyao’s arm to hold her back, afraid she might do something rash in the heat of the moment.
Shen Lianyao irritably shook off his hand and crossed her arms, turning aside.
Shen An: ?
Picking on the soft target, huh?
He mentally noted that for later. For now, the priority was to de-escalate.
He turned to Zhao Qingyu and said softly, “Senior Sister, at least put some sincerity into it. No one could accept an explanation like that, right?”
Then he muttered under his breath, “If you’re gonna make something up, at least make it believable…”
Shen Lianyao whipped her head around at his words, glaring daggers at him.
Zhao Qingyu burst out laughing. She rested her small hands on her knees, propping her chin up lightly as she teased, “Still sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, I see.”
Shen An replied gently, “I just don’t want conflicts before we’ve even started working.”
“I doubt you want to see a team that’s united in name only, Troupe Leader.”
Zhao Qingyu nodded slightly. “Fair point.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you the truth then.”
A scheme suddenly sparked in Zhao Qingyu’s mind. She flashed her fox-like eyes and sent Shen An a subtle flirtatious glance.
But this unexpected overture brought Shen An no comfort at all.
On the contrary, his heart tightened. This is bad.
Sure enough, Zhao Qingyu continued without missing a beat. “The reason I assigned you to the Office is because Shen An said he needed you.”
“He thought the Office was short-staffed and work wouldn’t go smoothly.”
“Plus, since you’re classmates, he figured you’d mesh well. So he specifically asked me to put you in the Office.”
“He nagged me until I had no choice but to agree.”
Shen An: …
I knew it!
Zhao Qingyu, you…
The moment her words landed, the situation flipped on its head.
Zhao Qingyu neatly distanced herself from the mess and shoved all the blame onto Shen An.
Shen Lianyao’s eyes flashed with fury as she fixed him with a death glare, grinding out through clenched teeth, “Is that true?”
Zhao Qingyu and Song Rui watched him too, awaiting his response.
The former’s gaze was playful and teasing, the latter’s filled with worry.
At that instant, Shen An faced three options.
First, admit it and face Shen Lianyao’s wrath and contempt.
Second, deny it and throw the blame back at Zhao Qingyu—but that risked losing her favor and embarrassing her.
Third, play peacemaker without admitting or denying—but that was the most pointless, as it would still breed suspicion from Shen Lianyao and cost him Zhao Qingyu’s goodwill.
So it boiled down to one or two.
Digging deeper, Zhao Qingyu probably wasn’t simply dumping the blame out of malice.
If he breached her first layer of defense, her next would be riddled with tests and trials.
Just like last night, when she refused to sit with him and made him take the front seat instead.
She was convinced Zhao Qingyu wouldn’t take the fall for her, and Shen Lianyao’s anger meant little to her one way or the other.
Zhao Qingyu was using Shen Lianyao to test him.
Now, turning back to his own perspective.
When compared to Shen Lianyao, Zhao Qingyu was undoubtedly the more important one.
Sure, Shen Lianyao had triggered a system commission task before, but he and she hadn’t had much interaction so far.
If he denied it, he’d confirm Zhao Qingyu’s suspicions. All the goodwill she’d only just begun to feel toward him would vanish—and for what gain?
None at all.
Shen Lianyao wouldn’t thank him for it, either.
If he admitted it, though, he’d catch Zhao Qingyu completely off guard. He could even win a bit of that rare softness from her, that flicker of guilt.
He had seen it last night, right after he’d gotten out of the car—that subtle shift in her emotions.
All he’d lose in the bargain was Shen Lianyao’s fickle opinion of him.
With a little excuse-making, he might even smooth things over with her.
After all, hate could burn hotter than love sometimes. A little effort, and it wasn’t impossible to turn loathing into something more.
The conclusion was clear.
He chose to admit it, taking the blame for Zhao Qingyu.
“I… I think the office… should… be a little more relaxed… right?”
Shen An’s gaze darted away evasively, his voice small and hesitant.
Shen Lianyao’s fury boiled over, her beautiful eyes as cold as midwinter. “Good… good… good.”
“No wonder you asked me earlier what would happen if I didn’t make the cut.”
“So you’d already planned this out.”
“I never thought you’d be this kind of person. I misjudged you, Shen An!”
Song Rui’s eyes went wide. She hadn’t seen this coming at all.
Shen An…?
Had he pulled strings behind the scenes to shunt Shen Lianyao into the office?
Then…
Song Rui felt her resolve waver.
She couldn’t help wondering if her own placement in the office was…
No, no, no.
Song Rui silently berated herself as a fool.
How could she even think that?
Without his help, she wouldn’t have gotten a shot at the Art Troupe interview in the first place.
She didn’t have what it took for the Singing Group, either—even Senior Sister Qi hadn’t recommended it.
But…
People were greedy by nature.
No matter how hard Song Rui tried to quiet her churning doubts, once they took root, they were nearly impossible to uproot.
Shen An was caught in a bind. He could only look silently at Zhao Qingyu, his eyes conveying a silent message: Happy now?
Zhao Qingyu looked stunned as well.
The teasing glint in her eyes vanished without a trace, replaced by a tangle of complex emotions.
She hadn’t expected Shen An to actually take the fall for her.
She’d meant it as a test, of course—a way to put him in his place. Who did he think he was, always jumping in like that? Strangers might assume she was scared of him.
But he’d admitted it.
He’d foiled her expectations yet again.
Shen An’s silence only solidified Shen Lianyao’s suspicions.
She schooled her features into an icy, wordless stare.
“I’m done here.”
She sank slowly back into her seat.
Shen An sighed inwardly. The Office trio hadn’t even formed, and it was already dead in the water.
He could already picture the endless tripping hazards Shen Lianyao would lay in his path from here on out.
And as the Discipline Committee Member, she’d have the perfect cover for it.
But that was the nature of these games. You had to strike precisely, adapt on the fly, and above all, know when to cut your losses.
For now, trading Shen Lianyao for Zhao Qingyu was worth it.
