{It was the first time she realized that she could also have selfish motives 1}

“At this time, how come you’re here at the company?”

Qian Xu didn’t know if the cafeteria at Zhao Tian Group had some kind of irresistible attraction to Zhao Buhui, but ever since she joined the company, the frequency at which she encountered Zhao Buhui wasn’t exactly low.

However, today there was no need for Qian Xu to remind him on purpose—

Although Zhao Buhui had entered her office, it seemed that his understanding of the distinction between public and private matters had shifted. He didn’t stay too long.

“I’m just here for lunch. I’ll leave once I’m done,” he said.

He didn’t dwell on his past negative influence on her, nor did he make any pointed remarks about the so-called friendship.

He didn’t pick up the pieces of their past, nor make any grand conclusions about female friendships based on those past fragments.

Zhao Buhui seemed genuinely free at the moment, walking through her office with an air of calm. He mimicked his father’s usual posture, hands clasped behind his back, as if inspecting the office, but realizing it made him appear overly mature, he quickly retracted his hands and carelessly stuffed them into his pockets.

What comforted Qian Xu was that Zhao Buhui finally stopped bringing up the subject of birthdays. He didn’t ask for anything, and she found herself slightly unaccustomed to this shift.

He stretched lazily. “Since you’re not upset about those little animated characters, I won’t make a big deal out of it.”

Qian Xu glanced at him before turning back to the work page she hadn’t finished processing. “So should I start crying my eyes out now, saying that I’ve suffered emotional turmoil and that things from eight hundred years ago are being dug up just to be laughed at?”

“You could look at it from a different perspective. You see, I’m the company’s popular figure, so of course there’s an animated character made to go with me,” she said, finally setting aside her work for a moment and asking him, “You’ve been back in the country for a while now, and you’re always around the office. How come I haven’t seen your father’s employees design a cartoon character for you?”

Zhao Buhui stared intently into her eyes, asking repeatedly, but only to express concern about the same thing: “Just making sure you’re okay.”

Yet, he always worried—what if she smiled and then suddenly tears started to pour out? Even though she didn’t seem delicate, her tears were certainly not as cheap as some people’s.

Anyone else might be indifferent and stand by watching, but he was the only one who couldn’t do that.

“Really leaving now,” he said, giving a casual goodbye before walking out without looking back.

The transparent glass window of the office reflected the tall, upright figure of a man. Regardless of his temperament, if you only judged by his looks and demeanor, you would never guess he was the troublemaker.

Qian Xu just glanced up at him and didn’t linger. A short while later, as she passed by the breakroom, she overheard her colleagues gossiping about how Zhao Buhui had stormed into the HR department earlier that day and thrown a huge tantrum.

“Why is Zhao Buhui trying to interfere with the HR department’s arrangements?”

“Yeah, I heard from someone in HR that our company has outsourced HR work,” a colleague said, voice rising with the gossip. “This round of hiring was entirely handled by an external agency, so even if the young master wants to intervene, it’s not going to be that easy.”

“Wait, but isn’t the company still in charge?” another colleague asked.

“…”

Qian Xu realized that things were getting a bit absurd. On the surface, she appeared oblivious, pretending to be unaware of what had happened with Zhao Buhui earlier, but it seemed he knew exactly what had happened and, after leaving her office, went straight to the head of the HR department, likely trying to clear the way for her—

She couldn’t help but wonder if her inner self had developed some less-than-noble thoughts.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing to let Zhao Buhui handle it. If he solved the problem and removed an old friend who might cause trouble, it would be to her benefit.

For her, it seemed like there was no downside.

In fact, she could even do other things to make everyone believe that the decision to dismiss Li Xiyin from the second-round interview had nothing to do with her.

This idea started to rise within her, but it also made Qian Xu feel a strong sense of guilt. Fortunately, Zhao Buhui’s efforts to influence the interview list didn’t succeed.

He wasn’t frequently involved in company decision-making, and the head of HR was a tough cookie who believed they were acting reasonably in selecting talent for the company. She refused to let Zhao Buhui, the young master, interfere with internal matters and potentially affect the company’s long-term development.

So, by the end of the day, Qian Xu unexpectedly saw a somewhat dejected face.

If his previous handsomeness had been mixed with a bit too much narcissism, now, with a slightly gloomy expression, his narcissism was less apparent, and his features appeared even more sharp and defined.

She couldn’t help teasing him.

“What’s wrong? Even Zhao Buhui, always smooth sailing, can run into trouble?”