Shi Tianyou sat in his chair, and when he saw Xiang Yuan slipping away in a hurry, he silently scooted forward until he was right in front of Xu Yanshi.

“I looked into her a bit for you yesterday. This woman probably doesn’t have much money. She may look like she dresses and uses expensive stuff, but I think she’s the same type as Lin Qingqing. She comes from a modest family and may have a bit of vanity. Women like that usually have strong self-esteem. They like carrying luxury bags when they go out, have credit card bills piling up, and are constantly moving money around to cover debts……”

Xu Yanshi said, “Why do you care about her?”

It was over. Their boss had fallen hard. Shi Tianyou spoke as if laying bare his heart, “Did you have a crush on her back in school?”

Xu Yanshi leaned back in his office chair, flicked the two lollipops into the pen holder at the corner of his desk like he was shooting a basketball, and along with the crisp clang, he scoffed and looked at Shi Tianyou. “You’re really bored.”

Li Chi slid over from the side and poked his head in. “Hey, Boss, you two were schoolmates? So how was she back then?”

To everyone’s surprise, Xu Yanshi answered, “In what sense?”

“In every sense, of course.” Li Chi followed up eagerly, a sly grin on his face. “Students these days are expected to be well-rounded— morals, intelligence, physique, aesthetics, labor, all of it. So like, how were her grades? Did she ever date anyone?”

“Her grades were average. As for boyfriends……” Xu Yanshi paused and gently adjusted his glasses. “Quite a few.”

Li Chi wore a look like he’d guessed as much and seemed strangely excited. “What about her family? I heard from You Zhi yesterday that she had to borrow two hundred yuan from Gao Leng.”

Xu Yanshi said, “Two hundred?”

Because of Ying Yinyin, Li Chi already had a bias against Xiang Yuan. “Yeah, before you retracted that message in the group chat, You Zhi screenshotted it. He saw an opportunity and asked Xiang Yuan for two hundred as an info fee. She didn’t have the money and initially refused, but then borrowed from Gao Leng in private.”

Xu Yanshi raised an eyebrow as he leaned back. “Gao Leng lent it to her?”

Li Chi shook his head and replied with regret, “Gao Leng didn’t have the money either. I heard Sister Shu lent it to her, but Xiang Yuan suddenly refused to take it. I really don’t get what these women are thinking.”

“Oh.” Xu Yanshi lowered his head and casually tapped on his keyboard, turning on his computer. “I don’t know much about her family.”

He really didn’t. All he knew was that Feng Jun’s family was quite well-off. When it came to Xiang Yuan, he had automatically skipped over the details.

After speaking, Xu Yanshi impatiently glanced at the two in front of him. “Are you done? If so, get back to your data.”

Li Chi sensibly rolled his chair back to his workstation. But Shi Tianyou, still unafraid of death, added, “So based on this analysis, Xiang Yuan is probably just putting on a show of living decently. She probably has less in savings than you. You need to think this through. Don’t fall in too deep—”

Before he could finish, Xu Yanshi kicked his chair backward.

Right then, You Zhi strolled in from outside, humming “Little Little Boy, few are his troubles……”, his face full of cheer. But the next second, his tall and imposing boss, without a word, grabbed him by the back collar and dragged him straight into the restroom.

You Zhi was the youngest in the group and, aside from Xu Yanshi, also the best-looking. In terms of height, he was the second shortest after Gao Leng.

Xu Yanshi carried a kind of mature man’s charm, but still lingered dangerously close to that line of youthful allure— just barely past the threshold. As for You Zhi, he was like a pure-bred, untouched 21st-century youth.

To put it bluntly, he was over twenty-five and still a virgin, his entire being radiating a kind of inexperienced awkwardness.

With his back against the cold wall of the men’s restroom, You Zhi, who already had some psychological trauma regarding the company’s bathroom, instinctively shielded his crotch and stammered, “Boss…… w-why’d you drag me in here……?”

Xu Yanshi snapped, “I’m not here to compare size with you.”

Pfft…… That story was a joke in itself.

Guys always cared about length and size. So not long after joining the department, everyone started bonding by discussing intimate topics— first times, stamina, size, etc. As friends, you had to be honest.

You Zhi had bragged he was twenty centimeters. Gao Leng refused to believe it and challenged him to compare. After the whole group checked, You Zhi turned out to be the smallest. That left a lasting trauma. Everyone tried to comfort him, saying, ‘You just haven’t finished growing yet.’

However, Xu Yanshi was the only one who refused to compare, so to this day, everyone remained curious about his size.

You Zhi relaxed a bit. “Then what do you want?”

Xu Yanshi said, “The screenshot.”

You Zhi froze. “Actually, I didn’t screenshot it. I lied to Xiang Yuan.”

“……”

“But I was planning to Photoshop one in case she really asked for it.”

Xu Yanshi asked, “Do you want to compare sizes?”

“You serious?” You Zhi felt insulted. “You sure you’re bigger than me? You’ve never even been in a relationship, what are you so smug about?”

Xu Yanshi looked at him with clear contempt.

You Zhi lost a bit of confidence. “Fine, no Photoshop. But why don’t you want her to see it? The message wasn’t even a big deal.”

“It doesn’t concern you. Ask again and we’ll go back to comparing sizes.”

You Zhi: “……”

────ρя

This translation is by Pocketrobbin at S h a n g h a i f a n t a s y . c o m

Lately, Xiang Yuan was strapped for cash. She was so broke she mistook sheep^[1]羊 for the currency symbol^[2]￥. It was labeled 30,000. She gasped in awe, “So rich”, which made Lin Qingqing, who was organizing comparison data for Xu Yanshi nearby, look up and glance at her. “Team Leader Xiang, that’s a sheep, not a currency symbol.”

Xiang Yuan stared at it again. Ah, she had misread it. But just then, her phone buzzed with a credit card payment reminder…… This month’s bill has ¥.

Xiang Yuan froze, her brain imploding.

No way. Over forty thousand yuan on one Northwest trip? She was sure she hadn’t spent that much.

Head spinning, she thought she’d misread it. She handed her phone to Lin Qingqing. “Xiao Qingqing, confirm this for me. Is this the yuan symbol or the sheep?”

Lin Qingqing replied, “It’s the yuan symbol. Your outstanding balance is forty-five thousand—”

“Stop.” Xiang Yuan quickly waved her hand. “My head hurts.”

Lin Qingqing wanted to ask how she managed to owe so much, but seeing Xiang Yuan’s devastated look, she figured the credit card had maxed out. Watching her confused and disoriented expression, Lin Qingqing tilted her head and reminded her, “Team Leader, did you buy a bag?” She pointed with her pen at the Chanel bag hanging on Xiang Yuan’s chair. “Looks pretty new.”

That’s when it hit Xiang Yuan. The haze cleared.

Oh, right, she did buy a bag. Last weekend, in a moment of excitement about her new relationship with Xu Yanshi, she went shopping. She’d only planned to buy a down jacket, but somehow ended up forgetting her current situation. A phoenix stripped of its feathers is worse than a chicken. She had no money for luxuries. Only after getting home and taking off her shoes did she realize something was wrong. She pulled out her card and panicked. It was the one her brother gave her, not linked to the family account, meaning she had to pay it herself.

She originally planned to return the bag that weekend, but once she came to work on Monday, she forgot and casually carried it with her.

As the saying goes, from frugality to luxury is easy; from luxury to frugality is hard.

When would she ever stop forgetting who her own father was the moment she saw a luxury bag?

Xiang Yuan, slumped and depressed, sent out a mass message to a few friends she was once close with, 【Urgent SOS. Need money for cosmetic surgery.】

No one replied, except Xu Yuan.

These girls only thought of her when it was time to party or split the bill. When it came to borrowing money, forget it. There wasn’t even a holiday greeting. She was their ATM, and only now did she feel the sting of cold human nature.

Lai Feibai had warned her that most people in their circle were bound by interests. Her grandfather didn’t want her hanging out with those girls for a reason. Their parents were all cut from the same cloth. He’d seen it all. But having grown up under that halo, everyone around Xiang Yuan always treated her with a mix of flattery and fear. There was never any true sincerity. That’s why in high school, she insisted on living at her teacher’s home and refused to reveal her family background. Few people knew her real identity, which was how she made a genuine friend like Xu Yuan.

That was the only true friendship she had ever made in her life.

Still, she was fairly optimistic. One good friend was enough. Why does she need more?

So, the silence from her phone wasn’t surprising. She just smiled bitterly. Her grandfather had been right.

The night she left home, her grandfather had offered her a bit of wisdom.

“Xiang Yuan, I hope you’ll learn two things this coming year.

First, no matter what grievances or betrayals you suffer, you can cry, you can complain, you can drink to forget— but never give up, and never deny your own worth. I gave you this opportunity because I want you to see the world for what it is, and learn to see yourself clearly. To have basic judgment.

Second, learn to distinguish people from good people. If a colleague completes his or her job on time but refuses to help you, he or she is just a person. Don’t complain. If a colleague helps you after finishing his or her own work, he or she is a good person. Be grateful. But if a colleague can’t finish his or her own work yet still tries to help you, he or she is a fool. I hope you don’t become the third type.”

Xiang Yuan sighed deeply. Then suddenly, one of those long-lost friends sent her five thousand yuan. The message said, 【This is all I’ve got right now. It should be enough for an injection.】

Xiang Yuan was moved to tears, silently recording the other party’s name down to repay her once she got control of her finances again.

Xu Yuan sent her another five thousand. 【Girl, I’m broke too. I had to ask my boss for an advance. Take it.】

【Xiang Yuan: T.T  You’re family. You’re all family!】

【Xu Yuan: Wait, someone else lent you money? I can’t believe it. Who?】

【Xiang Yuan: A middle school classmate. We haven’t talked in forever. I was shocked too. Classmate bonds run deep. By the way, does your boss give advances? That’s amazing. I’m going to ask Yongbiao later.】

【Xu Yuan: Go ahead, if you’re not afraid of getting smacked.】

Xiang Yuan had the guts but not the face. Li Yongbiao was notorious for being stingy. He’d never agree and might even beat her up with his Yierkang leather shoes.

Just imagining it felt violent and bloody. Then suddenly, she had a flash of inspiration. She remembered Xu Yanshi had forwarded a competition link last time. She rushed to find her phone, only to realize he’d deleted the message.

She knocked on the desk and asked Lin Qingqing, who was typing rapidly, “Where’s Xu Yanshi?”

“In the main conference room. Lao Liang just arrived, and the boss is discussing follow-ups on the batch of goods from Wade.”

Xiang Yuan asked, “Who’s Lao Liang?”

Lin Qingqing explained, “Liang Liang^[3]梁良 – Beam of virtue.”

That name…… Xiang Yuan silently judged it.

Lin Qingqing added, “Wade was collaborating with us on a tracker. It wasn’t supposed to be exported, just a batch of trial models. Chen Shan worked for ages to close that deal, and honestly, they only agreed because of the boss. Back then, Wade wanted to sign him. But there was a defect in this batch, and now Wade is disappointed in him. Liang Liang is the lead advisor of Wade’s R&D. He’s been retired for years and only works behind the scenes now. But for this issue, he’s been smoothing things over on the boss’s behalf.”

“Why was there a defect?”

“No clue. Probably because someone was too busy dating at work and drew screw number one as screw number two. The factory doesn’t know the difference and follows the blueprint exactly. That’s how the whole batch got messed up.” Lin Qingqing said sarcastically.

Xiang Yuan asked, “Gao Leng?”

Lin Qingqing replied, “Gao Leng wasn’t in charge of that. Li Chi was. But Gao Leng isn’t innocent either. He was the design inspector.”

“Didn’t Xu Yanshi handle it?”

“He was in Beijing at the time. Li Chi had full responsibility. Everyone thought it was just a minor error, easy to fix. But Wade wouldn’t let it go, and now they’re targeting the boss directly. The whole team’s on edge.”

────ρя


Xiang Yuan crouched by the glass doors of the conference room. The blinds weren’t closed, so she peered through the slats. Across from Xu Yanshi sat a man with a stern face, likely in his late fifties. His temples were streaked with gray, made all the more visible under the lights.

Today, Xu Yanshi wore a camo short jacket. His joggers were tucked into combat boots, making his long legs look even more relaxed and striking. He sat at the far end of the table, his chair slightly pulled back, speaking to Liang Liang with calm confidence.

Only when Liang Liang received a call and left did Xu Yanshi get up to escort him out.

When he returned, he found Xiang Yuan waiting at the door with a steaming disposable cup in her hands, grinning fawningly at the handsome man in camo. “Team Leader Xu, thirsty?”

No one offers kindness for no reason, unless they’re up to something.

Xu Yanshi took the cup without hesitation, muttered a flat “Thanks”, and gave her no chance to say more. He brushed past her, turned back into the conference room, and slammed the door shut.

Xiang Yuan, who was left outside: “……”