Luo Jing and the new hiree walked by me. Before they left, I had to try to save myself. I definitely didnât want to be alone with Suyang.
âIs there something important you need help with, manager?â
âAfter seeing your résumé, there are some parts I am curious about. I want to ask you individually. Is that not alright with you?â Suyang responded smoothly. He must have figured out my response ahead of time.
âOf course not....â I was speechless. After all, he was currently my superior. I couldnât go against him in front of the secretary and the new hiree.
Suyang glared at the two other men. He seemed a bit annoyed, âAre you guys not going to leave?â
âYes.â The two of them swiftly exited. The new hiree probably thought I was going to get scolded. Before he left the room, he secretly peeked at me and had a crafty smile on his face.
F**k that child! Why is he rejoicing in my misfortunes? And ugh, why does Suyang want to keep me here? Iâm so nervous. Is he going to question why I left without saying a word three years ago? Or does he want to get revenge? Or maybe...
Wait, we are working in the same company right now. He probably wonât do anything. Lin Yixin. You can do this. Stop freaking out.
My thoughts were spinning in my mind like mad. Suddenly, Suyang closed all the window blinds and the room turned pitch black. I recoiled my body and stared at Suyang with caution.
Suyang seemed to be abnormally calm. Then, he pressed a switch and the room was lit. He comfortably sat in his boss chair as he took out my résumé, âLin Yixin job candidate, where have you worked previously?â
âI donât think where I have worked previously is important. The most important thing is that Iâm part of the company now.â
Oh? So Suyang wanted to act like we didnât know each other? Thatâs fine with me.
âThatâs true. But if your superior is asking you a question, you must answer it, no?â
How dare he try to threaten me? On the inside, I rolled my eyes countless of times. But on the outside, I appeared strong, âIn the past, Iâve worked at Day Mountain Trading Company.â
I told him the job I last held four years ago. You canât blame me. Ever since I was fired, I was Suyangâs assistant. After that, I never worked another white collar job again. The only thing I could use or say was the Day Mountain Trading Company.
âDay Mountain Trading Company? How come I have never heard of it?â Suyang muttered as he rubbed his chin.
âOf course you havenât. Or else, you wouldnât be asking. Do you have any other question? If not, Iâm going to go leave now.â I coldly replied and tilted my chin up. My eyes landed on a painting behind Suyangâs back.
On the wall was a painting of a sunflower that had a missing a petal. The golden yellow hue gave its viewer a misconception of warmth. But if one looked closely at the missing petal, they would see that the flower was weeping. Its head was lowered like it was drowning in regret.
Suyang suddenly stood up and blocked my view. His expression was solemn, âWhy are you in such a rush to leave? You donât want to be in the same space as me?â
I immediately denied, âNo, Iâm only a job candidate. I must quickly get used to the area.â
Suyang leaned against his office desk as he played around with an item in his hand, âI noticed your age, Lin Yixin job candidate. Youâre already 29. Youâre much older than the other hirees. What do you have to say to that?â
âI donât think a personâs age should determine whether a person is qualified for a job or not. If you want to assess an employee, you should be judging based on his/her abilities, decision making, and how diligent they are.â
Suyang clapped, âGood. I agree with you.â
âManager, do you have any other questions?â
âYes.â Suyang tilted his head as he grinned like a child, âIt has been three years. Have you missed me?â
That smile brought me back to three years ago. He always had this smile whenever he leaned against my leg or buried his head against my neck.
To me, the three years were nothing. My love for him didnât lessen at all. But it was impossible between us. Honestly, I wanted to rush over and embrace him. I wanted to ask him whether he missed me. I wanted to know if he was dating someone else. I wanted to know how he was doing. And while he was thinking of how to respond, I wanted to give him a deep, passionate kiss...
But, I was able to hold back my powerful desires. During these past three years, this ability was something I was most proud of. Although my heart longed for him, I was able to act emotionless.
As for Suyangâs question, I wasnât sure how I should respond.
I still loved him. But for the past three years, I have been very busy working. I had almost no time to miss or think of Suyang. Even if I did have time, I would control myself so that I wouldnât think of him. Since I have already decided we had no future together, I had to crush all my thoughts.
But it was strange. Suyang became something non-concrete in my heart. He was someone that I didnât want to remember but couldnât forget.
âManager, what is that supposed to mean? Today is the first time weâve met.....â Iâm going to continue playing dumb; even if it was the stupidest idea.
âAre you sure that is your final answer?â Suyangâs smile suddenly became dim. âIâll give you one more chance. If you reply badly, I will investigate why you entered this company and tell the chairman.â
âYou!â I panicked and glared at Suyang.
He reacted very excitedly as he clapped. âYes. This is the Lin Yixin I know. Terrible temper and easily provoked. Comes whenever she feels like it and doesnât care about how others feel. That is your style!â
As expected, Suyang was bitter towards my departure. Should I explain myself? But honestly, I couldnât think of anything that could clear my crime. Forget it. Itâs probably better that he hated me.
âI know your motive for entering this company isnât pure. You better answer my question.â
âI......â Before I could continue, someone knocked and saved me.
âIâm busy!â Suyang snapped. He sounded like he didnât want the person to come in.
âManager, the chairman is looking for you.â
âTell her Iâm busy. No time.â
Wow, he even dared to reject the chairman. Suyang was still unruly like he was three years ago. What was his relationship with Yao Youfan?
âThe chairman says itâs urgent.â
âI got it. Iâll come now.â Suyang finally gave in. He gave me a dirty look as he walked by me. Then, he whispered in a low voice, âThe future is long. We have ample of time later to chat.â
After that, he confidently walked out of the room.
âWhew....â After Suyang left, I quickly ran out and found an empty seat to sit down. I held onto my beating heart as I tried to calm down. I gazed at Suyangâs office and thought to myself, What am I going to do if he wouldnât let me go? At this rate, how can I do further investigation.....?
My head began to hurt and I started to mess with my hair. The new hiree noticed and sneakily came up beside me. He mumbled, âWhat did the manager say to you? Are you in trouble?â
He tried to hide it, but I could still see his upward smile. Clearly, he wanted me to look bad. I looked down and noticed the worker ID around his neck. His name was Guo Zijun.
I said what he wanted to hear and pretended to act miserable. âYes, the manager scolded me. He said I had to be alert during my work hours. If I continue acting like this, there is no need to return back to work.â
Guo Zijun seemed pleased by what I said. âOh yeah, Secretary Luo said there is a welcome ceremony for all the new hirees tonight. After weâre done work, we have to go home and change before we attend.â
Whatâs going on? Heâs actually nice enough to notify me?
âWelcome ceremony? Will we see the chairman too?â
âWho knows...? I guess it depends if weâre lucky. I doubt the chairman would come to a regular event like this though.â
If Yao Youfan shows up, this event would be a good excuse to get close to her. After all, if itâs a party, there will definitely be drinking. People are the least guarded when they are drunk. Perhaps Iâll be able to find out some stuff through her spirit and figure out whether she made the will up.
Suddenly, an unknown number appeared on my phone. I hesitated but decided to pick it up, âHello?â
âMiss. Lin Yixin. Itâs Xu Chuqiao. This is my personal cell phone. In order not to arouse suspicion, Iâll be using this phone to contact you from now on.â
âAlright. Is there an issue?â
âI heard you were called in by the marketing manager. Is everything ok?â
âYeah. Itâs my own issue. No need to worry.â For now, itâs fine. But soon....
âAlright. If thereâs anything, call this number.â
âYes, I understand.â You canât solve my problem! I made a depressing face at my phone and shook my head. I swear my life was a joke.
So, I lingered around the office for the rest of the day until work was over. Initially, I thought being a job candidate would be very busy, but Guo Zijun wanted to show off so badly that he fought to do everything. So because of him, I had a lot of free time. That was good. I didnât have to do anything.
After work, I purposely went to buy an outfit for tonightâs event. When I swiped my credit card, my heart ached. I hadnât even made money and now I already had to go negative...
When I arrived at the company, it wasnât the type of party I had imagined it to be. The only people that were standing in front of the building were the new hirees from this morning. Was this the event that Guo Zijun mentioned?