{It was the first time she realized that she could also have selfish motives 2}

She knew he was struggling because of her situation, and yet, saying it out loud felt a bit excessive.

“Don’t mention it.”

Zhao Buhui had a displeased look on his face. “A bunch of stubborn people at the company, all they know is to follow procedures, not considering the actual situation at all.”

As for asking specifically “what happened,” Zhao Buhui once again chose to turn a blind eye and pretend he didn’t hear.

He didn’t bring up the messy situation with Li Xiyin, instead casually asking, “How about we have dinner together tonight?”

“After having the dishes you specially prepared for me yesterday, I think I can pick up the tab tonight.”

“Maybe next time.”

Qian Xu walked alongside him but realized that recently, they had gotten too close. She even began to suspect that it wouldn’t be long before people started speculating about Zhao Buhui’s motives behind the commotion at the HR department.

This was all likely due to her.

Qian Xu felt that perhaps everyone was contradictory. She could boldly admit to her meaningless past, yet she didn’t want people to project their constant speculation onto her and Zhao Buhui.

They were innocent.

“Okay.”

He didn’t seem particularly eager to keep her from leaving, as though it was just a casual meal—if they ate, they ate, if not, then no big deal. There was no self-doubt or bitterness, no hint of a man who would lash out when rejected, not the slightest trace of calculation.

What Qian Xu wouldn’t know was that, just fifteen minutes after she turned him down, Zhao Buhui—still slightly disoriented—finally called that famous, hard-to-book western restaurant in Jiangcheng. “Sorry, I won’t be coming. Could you cancel the window-side reservation for me?”

It seemed like a casual mention, but it was clearly a result of someone’s careful preparation and planning.

—

Qian Xu had a dream.

The dream wasn’t exactly absurd, but it had a clear connection. In the dream, she desperately wanted to prevent Li Xiyin from joining the company, yet didn’t want to be seen doing so.

So, she placed the burden on Zhao Buhui again.

As expected, Zhao Buhui didn’t let her down. Somehow, he ended up becoming one of the interviewers during the second-round interviews. She gave him a few subtle glances, but he seemed not to notice, which didn’t stop him from performing well. He asked Li Xiyin several difficult questions from different angles.

Li Xiyin couldn’t answer a single one.

She was eliminated.

What Qian Xu worried about most was that her manipulation of Zhao Buhui might be exposed. So, in front of everyone, she confronted him angrily. To protect her own reputation and avoid being labeled as someone who heartlessly eliminated an old friend, she immediately placed the blame on Zhao Buhui. Everyone in the company knew she was a loyal friend. As for why the young master Zhao would get involved, opinions varied, but no one suspected her.

In the dream, Zhao Buhui really seemed like a fool.

There was no need for him to speak up for her. His reputation was already quite bad, and yet, because of this incident, which had nothing to do with him, he was forced to defend himself and couldn’t even respond properly.

Afterward, Zhao Buhui found her, and instead of holding a grudge, he started reflecting and apologizing.

He admitted that his overly high-profile handling of the situation was indeed his fault.

He even swore that he fully understood her actions, thinking that they were just playing the roles of the “good cop, bad cop” together. It was his fault for not playing his part properly. Leaving other things aside, Qian Xu wasn’t quite willing to admit it, but when it came to Zhao Buhui’s ability to self-reflect and self-regulate… she couldn’t help but feel inferior.

But the Qian Xu in the dream remained tense. Even though she should have been grateful for Zhao Buhui’s actions, she stayed cold-faced, handling the situation with a detached expression. “I don’t agree with how you handled this. I don’t think what you did really helped me, so I can’t say ‘thank you’.”

“I didn’t expect a ‘thank you’ from you,” Zhao Buhui stretched lazily in the dream. “I just did what I wanted to do.”

Compared to the Zhao Buhui in the dream, who was always by her side, working hard and not afraid of rumors, Qian Xu felt that it was far more frightening for a man to appear in her dream.

Even during her so-called “honeymoon phase” with Shen Qi, he had never appeared in her dreams.

But she had dreamt of Zhao Buhui.

Qian Xu felt that this was even more troubling than letting Li Xiyin join the company. In reality, she could clearly distinguish different emotions, but in her dream, all those feelings got mixed up irresponsibly.