After a short nap in the car, Yu Wan recovered quite a bit of energy. She woke up ten minutes before reaching the destination and opened her laptop to review the documents.
On WeChat, Secretary Cao had sent several sobbing emojis: [Don’t want me anymore?]
Even without seeing her face, the thick bitterness was evident from the text alone.
Suddenly vanishing like that—anyone would be left dumbfounded.
Yu Wan silently apologized to her in her heart. She hadn’t expected to run into Fang Nianchen in the parking lot, and with the other woman so proactively offering to drive her, refusing would have been foolish.
She typed back: [You rest first. I’m giving you the day off.]
Secretary Cao had been with Yu Wan for at least three years. She was one of the few willing to proactively approach Yu Wan without being frozen out.
Though not as close as her friends, she could at least speak freely in front of her.
Today’s outing had come suddenly, and with no time to organize things, Secretary Cao had told Yu Wan to head downstairs and wait.
By the time she finished packing and called to say she was coming down right away, no one picked up.
She thought Yu Wan was busy, but when she arrived downstairs with her little bag, Yu Wan was nowhere to be seen!
A sense of betrayal welled up, and she worried that Yu Wan driving in her current state might lead to an accident. Still concerned, she asked: [Who’s driving you?]
Yu Wan quickly replied: [Fang Nianchen]
Seeing those three words, Secretary Cao choked up a bit.
Fine, home flowers were indeed more fragrant than wild ones.
Ever since coming to Yunqi, President Yu’s condition had visibly improved. Even though her workload hadn’t lightened at all, her smiles had clearly increased.
With her years of dating expertise, Secretary Cao was certain President Yu was in the throes of love!
A certain name kept coming up in her mouth lately. Secretary Cao had kept an eye out and secretly observed this “Fang Nianchen” girl while running errands for her, but hadn’t noticed anything special.
Still, Yu Wan was always responsible about her own affairs, so her judgment in people couldn’t be bad.
With Fang Nianchen being trustworthy, Secretary Cao relaxed. After thanking Yu Wan for the half-day off, she happily drove off in her own car.
Putting down her phone, Yu Wan’s gaze unconsciously drifted toward Fang Nianchen again.
The car stopped at a red light, and during the wait, Fang Nianchen’s slender fingers lightly tapped the steering wheel rhythmically.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, her hand paused. She turned her head, and their eyes met abruptly.
“Ahem…” She coughed, pretending to touch her nose tip, then smoothly turned her head back.
“Is it okay for you to just leave like this?” Yu Wan suddenly asked. “I didn’t see you ask for leave.”
The company’s attendance records were handled by HR, and HR’s were managed by the HR manager, Zuo Anfeng.
She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but he seemed to target Fang Nianchen a bit. So this sudden disappearance might irk him again, leading to deliberate nitpicking.
“But you’re the director,” Fang Nianchen replied righteously.
Zuo Anfeng might be a manager, but no matter how big his position, he was just running errands for the top boss. He wouldn’t dare vent his resentment upward.
Besides, she was leaving soon anyway. Who was there to fear?
“That’s true.” Yu Wan sighed at her cleverness, smiled, and returned her gaze to the laptop screen. “How’s work been these past few days?”
The car windows were sealed tight, with warm air blowing only from the driver’s side, carrying a bit of Fang Nianchen’s reassuring scent. The atmosphere lightened up.
She didn’t bring up why Fang Nianchen hadn’t come to see her for the past three days—it was pointless.
Asking would only force her into silence.
“It’s okay, just that stuff.” HR tasks were tedious and boring—attendance, training, recruitment. A month in, it got stale, leaving only drudgery.
She made the best of it, finding joy only in clocking out or slacking off.
But ever since Director Yu arrived, her slacking joy had been stripped away. No, she’d surrendered it herself, just to pretend to be sensible in front of her former senior.
“What I mean is, are you tired?”
She was definitely tired—Yu Wan must have risen from the ranks herself, so lying was pointless. Fang Nianchen nodded lightly. “There’s a lot, and coming back from illness, my brain feels a bit foggy.”
She always recovered quickly from illnesses growing up, but this time the aftereffects lingered half a month, with her nose still stuffed.
“If there’s any issue, come ask me anytime. Don’t push yourself alone—I can help.” Yu Wan offered the suggestion; it was obvious she thought Fang Nianchen was exhausted.
Alone, she either spaced out or frowned while typing, far less relaxed than when facing her.
In the first few days, Yu Wan rarely saw Fang Nianchen smile and thought she disliked her. Now it seemed she just hated work.
Hearing the suggestion and knowing she never lied, Fang Nianchen felt a bit flattered.
Unfortunately, she was transferring departments soon, so Yu Wan couldn’t help much.
A pity—if it had been a few days earlier, she could have found an excuse to seek her out.
“And your pet at home—if there’s anything I can help with, just say.” Yu Wan’s concern was thorough, even including the cat or dog at her place.
Not mentioning it was fine, but bringing it up made Fang Nianchen think of the pet cat still far away at the pet market, perhaps not even born yet.
She’d only mentioned it that one time and never again. Could it be she’d taken her advice, researched, and given up on getting a cat?
Fang Nianchen couldn’t guess and curiously asked, “You mentioned getting a cat before—still thinking about it?”
Yu Wan let out a long “Mm,” pondering.
Instead of answering, she countered, “What do you think—is it better to buy a pet or adopt one?”
“For me, I’d definitely support adopting over buying.” As they chatted, the light turned green, and Fang Nianchen lightly pressed the accelerator, easing the car forward. “Or pick up a stray cat. Compared to those cats and dogs at the pet market, they’d need me more.”
Pet market kittens were priced from birth—purebreds expensive, little mutts ten yuan each.
They lived by luck: good luck, bought by the rich and pampered like children; bad luck, to poor homes and maybe abandoned later.
Fate sealed at birth—pretty tragic.
From the first time she brought a grubby kitten home, she’d been fighting their fate, even if one-sided.
“I saw someone say before that often it’s not the owner choosing the pet, but the pet choosing the owner.” Yu Wan followed the topic. “Do you think so too?”
“Sort of?” Fang Nianchen’s answer was ambiguous. “But just meeting doesn’t count as fate—you have to bring it home and raise it properly for it to count.”
Bring it home to count.
But what if one side regretted it later?
For some reason, Yu Wan associated it with something else and borrowed the topic to ask, “So bringing it home means success?”
“Mm—” Fang Nianchen pursed her lips, thinking seriously. “There was a purebred cat that got dumped once. After bringing it home, I realized it didn’t like me much. It had probably been neglected too long and listened to other cats’ nonsense, wanting a ‘home’ to stay in. It thought I’d be its owner, but once there, I wasn’t what it imagined, and it didn’t really need my care.”
“What happened later?”
“It ran away, quietly. Maybe found a better owner? Or kept wandering.” Fang Nianchen sighed softly. “But it was naughty too, making me remember it so long. Probably just not a match—the first few days it was gone, I thought it was my fault.”
Fang Nianchen’s description added a fairy-tale tint, making it sound like a story between people. The little cat, swayed by outsiders, went home with a pretty woman, only to find it didn’t need looking after.
So it slipped away before the bond formed.
“You never saw that cat again?”
Hearing this, Fang Nianchen hummed helplessly: “Actually…”
Her gaze shifted left, and the car steadily pulled into the parking spot.
Unknowingly, they’d chatted so long—they’d arrived. For the first time, Fang Nianchen felt time flew with Yu Wan.
“Nope.” Fang Nianchen smiled, not planning to tell the real ending. “That cat probably had purebred pride deep down, too haughty to come back, full of bad habits, needed a good thrashing.”
Hearing Fang Nianchen vent so indignantly at a cat for the first time, Yu Wan couldn’t hold back. Her smile grew brighter and brighter, pushing her physical pains to the back of her mind.
“I can’t bring you into the meeting upstairs. Do you want to wait in the car, or wander around nearby?” Yu Wan unbuckled her seatbelt and turned her head to ask. “If you want to grab something to eat, I’ll reimburse you.”
This area was close to North City’s second most bustling commercial district. A few minutes’ walk away, there were large malls with everything from food to fun.
President Yu was getting more and more generous, but it didn’t affect Fang Nianchen’s feigned restraint at all.
She smiled faintly. “No need. I’m still full from lunch.”
“There’s a milk tea shop next door.” Yu Wan suggested again, but rejected it herself the next second. “Or do you prefer coffee?”
“I’m not really thirsty…” Fang Nianchen found her persistence odd, as if she were worried about Fang Nianchen suffering some grievance.
In front of her, Fang Nianchen felt less like twenty-two and more like twelve.
Was it really that exaggerated?
She could tell Yu Wan had rushed out for this trip. Unless it was extremely important work, there was no need for the director to come personally. If she didn’t head up soon, she’d be late, so she agreed first.
“Alright, I’ll make sure President Yu spends a little.”
Seeing how obedient she was, Yu Wan seemed satisfied, her lips curving up. “I’ll be out in two hours, maybe a bit later.”
“No problem. Text me when you’re about to come out.”
“Mm, see you later.”
“Bye.”
The revolving door quickly ushered Yu Wan inside, flashing a few glints of light before her figure vanished. Fang Nianchen let out a breath, leaned over to grab the jacket from the passenger seat, and put it back on.
A breeze blew by, carrying a scent that didn’t belong to her into her nose from the collar.
As if possessed, she lifted the hem and sniffed it carefully.
It must have picked up Yu Wan’s perfume— a daisy fragrance.
How perverted!
Suddenly, Fang Nianchen recoiled as if her foot had been stepped on, her face twisting as she let go, banishing the thought.
Now, how to kill these two hours.
With a perfectly legitimate excuse to slack off, Fang Nianchen’s guilt hit rock bottom. Even the thought of President Yu in a meeting couldn’t move her.
No games on her phone, and she didn’t play them anyway. She just scrolled through a few social apps, all work groups.
Everyone was such a dedicated employee; no one messaged her for chit-chat. They probably hadn’t even noticed she was gone.
Then, a window popped up at the top of her phone. The browser pushed a movie to her—the third film directed by a famous comedian turned director.
The director’s name rang a bell. Fang Nianchen searched it and clicked into the entry. One of his past acting roles hooked her attention completely.
The phone screen showed his directorial debut from five years ago. Released during the New Year holiday, its box office stayed sky-high. Though a comedy, it had warm, tear-jerking moments too.
