Chapter 4

“I heard reservations at Ji Qing Pavilion are booked three months in advance. Wen Jiu just started today. Even if she wanted to treat us, we’d have to wait until her three-month probation ends,” the office’s resident peacemaker-sis chimed in.
With one gentle move, she diverted the conversation. In three months, who would still remember this?
But Brother Lin couldn’t feel Wen Jiu’s respect for him as a so-called “company veteran” and wasn’t planning to let go.
“Wen Jiu’s membership must be top-tier. Even getting a table this week might not be impossible.”
Wen Jiu raised her head, about to say something, but her brows drooped and she swallowed the words.
That look of tangled embarrassment only fueled Brother Lin’s confidence and his urge to bully.
He figured a kept woman like her would be lucky to score some leftover takeout. There was no way she could book a table. His little eyes narrowed as he switched tactics, determined to humiliate her.
“How about this, if Wen Jiu manages to book a table this week, I’ll treat.”
Wen Jiu’s expression didn’t change. Her brows stayed low, no surprise, no joy. Instead, it was the brown-noser who lit up, loudly praising Brother Lin’s generosity.
“Well, Wen Jiu?” Brother Lin pressed.
Lan Mingyan was fuming, clutching Wen Jiu’s arm like she wanted to lend her strength. She still had the mindset of a fresh graduate. She leaned close and whispered urgently, “Don’t be scared. We’ll talk to our supervisor. He won’t let Brother Lin bully you like this.”
“You haven’t left campus long enough if your first instinct is to tattle,” the brown-noser sneered. His ears were sharp, and he parroted her words in a shrill, mocking tone, sounding like a squawking parrot.
Wen Jiu gently pressed Lan Mingyan’s hand down, then finally lifted her gaze again.
Her almond eyes had no menace at all. Her brows knotted in apparent embarrassment. “I’ll go home and ask my sister,” she said quietly. “I don’t know if she’ll be able to help me book a table.”
Brother Lin didn’t notice her choice of words. His eyebrows nearly flew off his face.
Just as he thought, they couldn’t book anything. Still pretending. At least he wouldn’t need to pay for a group meal, and he could make fun of the newbie later.
First day on the job and she didn’t even come over to pour him tea. Even now, eating Ji Qing Pavilion food, she hadn’t brought him a single bite to show “respect” to an “old-timer.” Of course he had to “teach her how to behave.”
Smirking like a small-time villain, he sauntered back to his seat. The others followed, each returning to their own desks. If they’d known it would turn out like this, none of them would’ve gathered to watch.
An open spat like this in the office, if other departments heard, they’d laugh themselves sick.
Aside from the peacemaker-sis and Brother Lin, everyone else here was fresh blood. They’d all been worn down by his petty bullying for so long they stopped seeing him as the problem and started viewing every newbie who resisted as “not tactful enough.”
Once Wen Jiu sat back down, the gloomy, troubled look melted off her face. She leaned into her chair, relaxing so much she stretched with a lazy little yawn.
Lan Mingyan scooted closer, still angry, eyes burning. “Wen Jiu, you’re not mad? Even if he didn’t say it outright, Brother Lin was spreading rumors about you.”
“And making you treat everyone, too. That’s way over the line. When I first came, they wanted me to buy everyone coffee, I refused. He targeted me for ages, but he still couldn’t force me to quit or take a pay cut.”
“I’ve never even heard of Ji Qing Pavilion before this. From the way they were talking, it must be insanely expensive.”
“Don’t listen to him. If this keeps up, we’ll go to the supervisor. If that doesn’t work, we’ll complain directly to the president.”
Lan Mingyan was all warm-hearted justice.
Wen Jiu tilted her head, propping her chin on one hand, body shifting from lounging in the chair to leaning over the desk. Her gaze quietly traced Lan Mingyan’s features.
Her hairline was soft and rounded, her bun-shaped face unblemished, her hair pulled back into a round little bun at the back of her head. Her eyes were wide and bright, pure, brave, like a young girl charging forward to stand in front of someone else.
A heroine who really was a little sun.
Wen Jiu’s lips curved. Embedding herself in the protagonists’ inner circle suddenly felt like an excellent decision.
If she hadn’t realized what a good person the heroine was, she might truly have ended up opposing her. But with a girl this sweet, if she knew beforehand that the Young Lady liked Chu Yan, surely things would play out differently from the novel?
“No need to worry. This meal was ordered by a certain Young Miss, she’s incredibly nice. If Brother Lin wants to treat, let him. Booking a table isn’t hard; I just need to ask her first.”
“As for those rumors, once I gather proof, I’ll deal with him properly.”
Before she transmigrated, Wen Jiu had never encountered something like this. If she had, she might’ve swallowed the insult and kept quiet. In that world, she had friends she cared about. And with no family to fall back on, she’d been terrified of having nowhere to go.
But now, things were different. She had no particular friends she depended on, and she certainly wouldn’t pin her hopes on “family.” She wanted, just once, to live for herself.
To be like the heroine, unafraid when facing bad people.
The knot between her brows finally unraveled, and compared to Friday, she seemed more vibrant, more alive.
Outside, the midday sun shone just right. Light slipped through the blinds and brushed across the bridge of Wen Jiu’s nose and the right side of her cheek, blending her eyes and features into a picture of quiet gentleness.
Did you see Chu Yan today?
The Young Lady sent a message.
Wen Jiu: Not yet, Miss Qin.
Qin Yao: All right.
Two small words jumped on the screen, yet they somehow carried all her disappointment.
Just when Wen Jiu thought that was the end of it, another message came:
Qin Yao: I’ll pick you up after work. I’ll wait in your company’s parking garage.
Qin Yao: Time it so you come down exactly when Chu Yan gets off work. That way I can see him.
Qin Yao: I’ve never seen him after work before. I wonder what he looks like then? (sparkly starry eyes.jpg)
Wen Jiu: No problem.
So many problems.
As a brand-new hire, how on earth was she supposed to figure out the president’s off-work time, and appear in the underground parking lot at the exact same moment?
Normally, you’re not supposed to agree to impossible tasks.
But when it comes to work, “impossible” isn’t in the vocabulary.
Wen Jiu glanced several times at her account balance and the salary text from the bank, then gritted her teeth and headed for the president’s office.
She didn’t take the elevator, she took the stairs.
By the time she dragged herself, panting and half-dead, to the top floor, she pushed at the stairwell door, and it didn’t budge.
Wen Jiu: ?
Voices rustled behind it. The soundproofing was too good; she could only make out that someone was speaking, not the actual words.
She pressed her ear to the door, clinging there like a gecko. Just when the voices finally became clear,
The lock clicked, and the door swung open.
“I’ll head out first, then. I’ll be there for tomorrow night’s banquet. Thanks for the reminder. If everything goes well, I’ll recommend you for chief assistant.”
Leaving? Leaving where?
A bad feeling prickled between Wen Jiu’s brows. She bolted.
Her legs flew, shoes nearly smoking as she tore down the stairs.
By the time she reached her own floor, another message from Qin Yao popped up.
Qin Yao: Wen Jiu, I forgot to tell you, there’s a banquet tomorrow night. You have to come with me. I have an idea, but I’m not sure if we’ll act on it yet.
A banquet… which had to be the same one mentioned behind that door.
She’d read the novel back in her freshman year; most of it had blurred by now. She couldn’t recall the details, but some of the dog-blood scenes still had faint outlines in her memory.
Supporting female lead Qin Yao had chased after Chu Yan for so long with no result that she eventually snapped and, like most traditional vicious supporting characters, thought of drugging him.
At first, she hadn’t been firm on going through with it. But after her lackey reported that Chu Yan seemed to be romantically involved with a junior staff member, she went crazy and put the plan into motion.
After the drugging, Qin Yao couldn’t find Chu Yan. The one who stumbled across him instead, lost and disoriented, was the heroine, Lan Mingyan, who ultimately rescued him from danger.
Wen Jiu vaguely remembered that the one who administered the drug had been Qin Yao’s lackey.
“…”
Right. That was her. Cannon-fodder lackey.
According to this timeline, tonight in the parking garage would be the male and female leads’ first encounter. In line with the novel’s title, Lan Mingyan would mistake Chu Yan for her boyfriend.
She didn’t need to investigate his off-work time anymore. All she had to do was follow Lan Mingyan, and she’d naturally run into him.
The only problem was: this time, the Young Lady would be there too.
In the book, Qin Yao never witnessed it with her own eyes, she’d heard it all second-hand from her lackey. If they all ran into each other on-site now… she had no idea what kind of chaos might break loose.
When she pushed open the stairwell door on her floor, Brother Lin was already waiting there like some low-budget final boss.
His beady eyes narrowed. He’d caught Wen Jiu “slacking off” outside her workstation, and he was more thrilled about that than about receiving a bonus. He lifted a finger and pointed rudely.
“Wen Jiu, first day on the job and you’re already hiding out in the stairwell? That’s not good, you know.”
The middle-aged man’s nagging followed immediately, a long lecture pouring over her like a flood.
Wen Jiu had bigger things to worry about, like the impending scene in the parking garage, and had zero interest in wasting breath on him. She walked right past.
“Wen Jiu, you’re really impolite. Even if you don’t listen to me, you should still respect your seniors. Not even a greeting, just brushing by?”
Wen Jiu held up her phone. “Brother Lin, workday’s over.”
She was not about to waste even one extra minute at her desk, especially when she could immediately get away from a coworker like this.
Watching her walk off, Brother Lin hesitated, then stroked his chin and followed.
He wanted to see what kind of car this “Wen Jiu” took home.
“Lan Mingyan, it’s time to clock out. Let’s go together,” Wen Jiu said, having decided that her best option was to drag the heroine along.
Even if the male and female leads were fated to meet, she was going to wedge herself right in between them.
“Sure! I’m taking the subway. What about you?”
“Me too!”
She’d accompany her to the station, watch her get on the train, then double back to the underground parking lot to find the Young Lady.
They pressed the elevator button. Brother Lin naturally wandered over and stepped in with them.
Desperate to avoid sharing a confined space with him, Wen Jiu tugged Lan Mingyan into a random elevator, closing the doors right in his face.
Lan Mingyan glanced at the panel, then suddenly said, “Wen Jiu, we took the wrong elevator. This one’s separated for traffic flow, it goes straight to B2. We need to go to the first floor.”
B2, where the underground parking garage was.