Ning Qiuxiu’s feelings of gratitude had vanished—sigh, men.

Zhan Qingyue was too clever.

She knew she couldn’t come up with that much money.

Her father had just weathered a tough winter and couldn’t spare any funds to help her.

The money from “Campus Bully” wasn’t coming in quickly, and her fantasy of making money from face masks had failed.

This left her unable to pay back the debt.

She had been promised that she would become a shareholder, but why was she the major shareholder in the end?

If that’s the case, does that mean she’s… the boss?

Ning Qiuxiu was still struggling with the debt and now faced a new panic—she didn’t know how to manage!

If she’s the boss, the company would go bankrupt sooner or later.

The shareholding details listed several shareholders’ names, none of whom she recognized.

Besides her large stake, others held relatively small shares.

Zhan Qingyue’s name was listed at the bottom with only 5%.

“…” Why? Could it be that he doesn’t have money?

Ning Qiuxiu didn’t understand well and wanted to ask Zhan Qingyue, but she hesitated and suspected he might not have ever been in a relationship.

If he hadn’t said he could sell himself to repay her, she might think she misunderstood.

Doesn’t he know that girls need to be pampered?

Since it was Valentine’s Day, everyone was showing off their relationships.

Ning Qiuxiu saw endless displays of affection on her social media, which made her feel even more single.

She was surrounded by couples everywhere—humans and even animals showing off.

She felt like the only single one.

A single dog in the sea of couples (goodbye, manual).

Ning Qiuxiu was unhappy and wanted others to feel the same way.

She logged out of Weibo, opened her contact list, found the company’s CEO, Tan, and called him.

“Uncle Tan… um, happy New Year to you too, and I wish you success… I just wanted to ask if you’re familiar with the higher-ups at Huasheng. I need a favor…”

---

Feng Ting had checked WeChat over 30 times, knowing she’d hear a notification if there was a message, but she still couldn’t help checking, afraid of missing a reply.

She had invited Guan Nanpei to the lantern festival.

With the Lantern Festival approaching, the festival in a historical street in the city had opened today.

She had gone through great effort to get two tickets and, not wanting to miss this rare chance, had asked Guan Nanpei directly.

Unfortunately, half an hour had passed with no response from him, making Feng Ting anxious and restless.

“Feng Ting, Director Zhong wants to see you in the office,” Feng Ting’s direct supervisor’s assistant said as she was staring blankly at her computer, unable to write anything.

Feng Ting had to set aside her worries, grab her notebook and pen, and head to Director Zhong’s office.

Director Zhong welcomed her to sit and said with a smile, “Feng Ting, you’ve been with our company for half a year now.”

“Yes, I joined in August last year,” Feng Ting replied.

“Well, you’re practically a veteran now and can handle things independently,” Director Zhong said, lightly tapping the desk. “So, you won’t be working on the script for ‘The Devil’s Record’ for now. I have two good outlines for you. Take them and see if you can develop one into a script.”

Feng Ting’s hand tightened around her pen, and she said anxiously, “But Director Zhong, I’ve read ‘The Devil’s Record’ twice and spent two months preparing for it. I…”

Director Zhong interrupted her, “This is a work arrangement. I’ve sent the outlines to you on QQ. Come back next week and tell me what you think. Now, go back.”

“No,” Feng Ting was upset, “Director Zhong, this decision is too sudden. You need to give me a reason. I’ve put a lot of effort into the adaptation of ‘The Devil’s Record.’ You can’t just dismiss me like this.”

“The reason?” Director Zhong looked down and thought for a moment before saying, “I’ll give you a chance to test yourself.”

Feng Ting: “……”

She returned to her workstation, disheartened. “Battle Against Demons” was a hugely popular IP with 5 million words, and there were six screenwriters involved.

Feng Ting had put in a lot of effort to secure this project.

“Battle Against Demons” was no easy task.

Just reading it twice, organizing the character relationships and events based on the author’s chaotic outline, took Feng Ting two months, and she still hadn’t finished.

But Director Zhong’s offhand comment seemed to nullify all her hard work.

A test? Was this really a test?

Feng Ting opened the outline Director Zhong had sent her, hoping it would be good, but she nearly broke down after reading it.

The first outline was for a soap opera where the female lead was a troublemaker—breaking computers, spilling makeup boxes, getting into conflicts with people, and even causing stray dogs to suffer because she fed them chocolate.

No matter how it was written, she was definitely not a likable character.

The second outline was a typical domineering CEO plot, mixed with various cliches like mistaken identity and the “not the father” trope.

The worst part was that the male lead, after hearing a piece of bad news, ended up tearing his own… eardrum?!

What kind of nonsense novel outlines were these?

Tearing an eardrum to show me!

Feng Ting was about to cry from frustration and was about to go to Director Zhong’s office to complain when her phone’s WeChat message alert went off.

Feng Ting’s eyes twitched, and she hurriedly checked.

【Guan Nanpei: Sorry, working late tonight.】

This was the most frustrating and memorable Valentine’s Day for Feng Ting—work was failing, and the person she liked couldn’t be reached.

She lost her composure and typed a trembling message in the chat box.

【Feng Ting: If the person asking you out today were Ning Qiuxiu, would you be free then?】

【Guan Nanpei: ?】

【Feng Ting: Don’t think I don’t see you like Ning Qiuxiu. You said you wouldn’t go to the class reunion, but when you heard she was going, you decided to go. Back in high school, you paid a lot of attention to her and even made a copy of your notebook for her.】

Guan Nanpei took a while to reply and sent a link.

Feng Ting clicked on it and found it was an appointment website for a neurology doctor.

The implied message was that she should see a doctor if there was something wrong with her brain.

Feng Ting: “……”

Just then, someone knocked on their office door. It was a delivery person who said, “Is Miss Feng Ting here?”

Feng Ting collected her thoughts and maintained her composure, saying, “That’s me.”

“I have a gift for you,” said the delivery person, holding a luxurious box. “Please sign for it.”

“Wow.” The other people in the office looked at Feng Ting with envy.

This was quite a high-profile Valentine’s gift.

Feng Ting, feeling down because of work and Guan Nanpei, almost cried.

But now, receiving a gift, even though she didn’t know who it was from, gave her a sense of pride.

She straightened up and signed for the gift in front of her envious colleagues.

“What is it? Let us see!” Two colleagues who usually got along with Feng Ting gathered around, and others in the office eagerly awaited to see what it was.

“I guess it’s a box of roses.”

“Maybe it’s a box full of chocolates.”

“It could also be cosmetics,” someone said.

“Wow, Tingting, I’m so envious! Open it and let us see,” another person said.

Feng Ting placed the gift box on the table, untied the ribbon, and began to open it. But before anyone could see what was inside, she quickly closed the box.

“It’s from a very good male friend of mine,” Feng Ting said, holding the box closed as her colleagues looked on in confusion.

“Come on, let us see what it is. I’m really curious,” they insisted.

Feng Ting sat back in her office chair, exhausted. “There’s nothing interesting. He’s not a suitor. You all should go back to work. The boss will be talking to us soon.”

Seeing her upset expression, her colleagues exchanged glances and then dispersed.

Feng Ting waited until everyone’s attention was elsewhere before opening the box.

Inside wasn’t a gift, but a box of colorful chrysanthemums.

No male suitor would send her chrysanthemums.

There was also a note inside.

Feng Ting took it out and read it. The note was typed in neat characters:

“To Miss Feng, who is lost and disheartened: Those who harm others will ultimately harm themselves. Karma will return. You harmed me once; I will return the favor, plus a free gift. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Feng Ting clutched the note tightly, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

---

Ning Qiuxiu, after going through the memories of the original person, didn’t feel any personal enmity with Feng Ting.

She couldn’t understand why Feng Ting was targeting her, so she asked Ning Wanwan about it.

From Ning Wanwan’s message, Ning Qiuxiu began to understand why Feng Ting might be hostile.

Although the original person’s grades weren’t great, she was attractive and wealthy, making her a goddess in the eyes of the male students.

This caused Feng Ting to feel deep jealousy and insecurity, even fearing that her own boyfriend might be attracted to Ning Qiuxiu’s charm.

It seemed that today’s lesson wasn’t too harsh.

After dealing with Feng Ting, Ning Qiuxiu felt refreshed.

Even the posts showing off relationships on Weibo no longer bothered her.

She pulled her equally single friend Miaomiao over for a photo and posted it on Weibo.

[Ning Qiuxiu]: My Valentine’s Day with my single dog [Pig Emoji]

Miaomiao, with her sharp eyes and disdainful expression, had become an internet sensation, resembling a domineering CEO. Ning Qiuxiu’s fans seemed to prefer seeing Miaomiao over her.

Comments on the photo were more active than usual.

【Ahhh, Miaomiao is so mighty. Send Miaomiao some beef jerky!】

【Miaomiao spending Valentine’s Day with me makes me feel less lonely [Dog Emoji]】

【Domineering Miaomiao and her beautiful owner’s daily life (Feed her!】

【(Photo) Autumn’s house has men’s clothes. Did she secretly start dating? Boohoo~】

While scrolling through her Weibo comments, Ning Qiuxiu saw this particular comment and froze.

She found a photo showing Zhan Qingyue’s coat hanging in the background, the same one she had brought him from Vivi.

Since she hadn’t noticed it while taking the photo, it was inadvertently included.

Fans with sharp eyes spotted it.

This… Ning Qiuxiu tearfully replied: “It’s my father’s.”