Chapter 6

By now, Wen Xin had finally realized that Shi Qianyu was actually incredibly good at taking care of people. After handing over that box of pastries, Shi Qianyu produced a carton of milk out of nowhere, as if by magic.

It was an old, established brand. Wen Xin vaguely remembered drinking this milk when she was little. Shi Qianyu thoughtfully peeled open the straw for her, stuck it into the carton, and only then passed the milk into her hands.

Her tone was gentle, like she was reminding a kindergarten kid, “Make sure you finish it all, okay?”

“…Okay.” Wen Xin nodded. She’d refused, but to no avail, so she had no choice but to accept it. There was an office chair right behind her, but she had no intention of sitting down. Director Shi’s gaze was just too intense; she felt like she might melt under it. All she wanted was to escape as quickly as possible.

So she wolfed down her breakfast at top speed. Of course, it worked wonders—the little box of pastries was empty in no time.

“Director Shi.” Once she’d hurriedly finished the last of her milk, she waited eagerly for Shi Qianyu to wrap up her email and report back. “I’m done.”

“That was fast.” Shi Qianyu seemed a little surprised. There were crumbs on Wen Xin’s cheeks, making her look like a hamster that had just gorged itself and hadn’t tidied up yet. She casually pulled a tissue from the box and handed it over before asking, “Were the pastries good?”

“They were delicious. Thank you.” Wen Xin nodded in agreement.

“That’s good.” Shi Qianyu’s lips curved up slightly, as if pleased by the answer. “Remember to eat breakfast on time from now on.”

“I’ve got some work to handle here, so I won’t keep you any longer.” As she spoke, her fingertip skimmed over the stack of files on her desk, deftly pulling one out and handing it over. “Oh, right—this is an approved document I need to return to Fei Yuan. Could you drop it off for me on your way out?”

“Sure, goodbye, Director.” Wen Xin took it quickly, turned, and hurried out of the office. Finally, their meeting was over.

Even after returning to her workstation, her heart was still racing.

Time always flies when you’re busy. Before long, lunchtime rolled around.

Gao Qiu had been annoyed about failing to treat her to lunch yesterday. Now that she finally had the chance, she was determined to drag Wen Xin along to the cafeteria no matter what.

The two of them arrived at the cafeteria together and found a spot with a nice view. Unlike the company where Wen Xin had worked before, Qi Qing’s cafeteria operated on a buffet system. Not only were there tons of dishes to choose from, but the prices were incredibly affordable too.

“Just six bucks! For only six bucks, you can take as much as you want!” Gao Qiu held her tray in hand, introducing her favorite side dishes to Wen Xin while piling a chicken leg onto her plate. “If this isn’t charity, I don’t know what is.”

She said this with utmost sincerity as she looked at Wen Xin’s face. “To keep eating cheap, delicious food like this for the rest of my life, I’d never leave Qi Qing unless they fired me.”

“You’ve got to try this.” Before Wen Xin could respond, Gao Qiu turned back to the buffet, working the tongs like a pro. In no time, she’d piled Wen Xin’s tray high into a little mountain of colorful dishes—everything under the sun.

And then Gao Qiu laughed heartily, waving her over. “Eat up—don’t waste it!”

“…”

Wen Xin hadn’t even started eating yet, but she already felt full.

Lunch turned out to be a bit much.

Lunch break wasn’t over yet. With a sigh, Wen Xin leaned back in her office chair for once not typing away, instead rubbing her belly to help digest.

Getting into the project team she wanted had been a pleasant surprise. She didn’t want to let Manager Liu down, so aside from that short time in Director Shi’s office, she’d been working nonstop.

Fei Yuan was a capable and dedicated team leader. Even though the project was still in its early stages, he’d already guided everyone in hashing out the core concepts and direction. All that was left were some minor details to fill in. That morning, while cross-referencing the materials and movie screenshots, Wen Xin had pondered a lot, hoping she could contribute as much as possible to the team.

She was deep in thought when her WeChat notification chimed.

Her train of thought interrupted, Wen Xin set aside her musing and picked up her phone. It wasn’t a message from anyone—it was a notification from WeChat Pay that a transfer had expired and been refunded.

Shi Qianyu still hadn’t accepted the money.

How could she not keep her word?

Wen Xin shook her head and stared blankly at her phone for a good while. Yesterday’s meal had been pricey; even after the reimbursement, it still added up to quite a bit. She didn’t want to owe Shi Qianyu any favors and desperately hoped she’d accept the payment soon.

But Shi Qianyu was stringing her along—who knew if it was on purpose? Wen Xin had considered sending another reminder, but she’d already nagged too much and was starting to annoy even herself.

Unable to think of a better way to phrase it, she just spaced out. Then, moments later, a message from Shi Qianyu popped up: 【Too busy, forgot to accept it. Didn’t realize it expired.】

Shi Qianyu: 【Got some urgent business trips coming up for a few days. Probably won’t have time to check messages. Just letting you know ahead of time—don’t send it again. We’ll sort it later.】

Shi Qianyu: 【Really not dodging it on purpose ^_^】

Maybe it was that emoji that looked a tad unserious, but Wen Xin didn’t quite buy it.

She had no counter, though. Shi Qianyu was just that carefree. Wen Xin couldn’t win in a battle of words—or anything else, for that matter. With a sigh, she finally replied: 【Okay, then take care on the road.】

A moment later, she felt that sounded a bit too intimate, so she quickly deleted “you” and changed it to something more formal.

【Okay, take care on the road, Director Shi.】

Seconds later, Shi Qianyu: 【Got it, thanks for the concern, Sister~~~】

The tildes were so flashy they nearly made Wen Xin’s eyes water.

…She’d overthought it. Whether she changed it or not hardly mattered—Shi Qianyu was bound to tease her either way.

~~~

A few days passed in the blink of an eye. Just like that, Wen Xin had been at Qi Qing for five days.

Tomorrow was a holiday—no work, just time to rest at home. Wen Xin breathed a sigh of relief, already planning out those two days.

She didn’t have many friends anyway, so holidays meant gaming at home. The guild had been really active with events lately; their combat power had hit the top three in the zone, and their guild name had been on the leaderboard for three straight days.

The gap between their guild’s rank and second place was shrinking fast. It was a critical moment, and as vice guild leader, Wen Xin couldn’t slack off. If they could overtake second place, the guild would finally snag that gear they’d been after for ages.

Wen Xin was pretty thrilled about it, but there was one thing bumming her out: Shi Yu hadn’t logged on for days.

Players came and went in games all the time, especially newbies like Shi Yu. She might’ve just created the account on a whim, tried it out, gotten bored, and quit. The online world was no match for reality—it was easy to abandon.

But not Wen Xin. As someone who’d spent years immersed online, she truly cherished this so-called “virtual world” and valued her online friends. They’d kept her company through countless long, boring days.

Visibly, Wen Xin was a little downcast.

But she didn’t stay sad for long, because Shi Qianyu had suddenly returned from her trip. The office door swung open, and Assistant Wang came in first, arms laden with bags big and small. Director Shi had brought gifts for everyone again.

“Awesome!” Cheers erupted, instantly shattering the dull, quiet office vibe.

Shi Qianyu was thoughtful to a fault—down to buying something perfect for each person. Wen Xin watched as Assistant Wang handed out the gifts one by one: Manager Liu got perfume, Fei Yuan got a Lego set, Gao Qiu got famous local snacks…

Until it was her turn.

For some reason, Wen Xin suddenly felt nervous. She blinked, carefully opening the box in front of her and peering inside.

It was a bottle of shampoo.

White tea scented.