Chapter 24

October is the start of the fourth quarter. Many goals set at the start of the year need a final push.

There were economic meetings, big construction projects, investment conferences… For four days in a row, Zhou Zhou was so busy she felt dizzy and weak.

It wasn’t until Thursday afternoon near the end of work that she could finally sit calmly in her office for half an hour.

“Is it this busy already, and it’s not even the end of the year?” her coworker Yu Wenting sighed.

“My thyroid hurts from all the stress,” another coworker, Zhuang Shu, complained loudly.

“Even though it’s only October, you can already see how the end of the year will be. We’re just like working horses—worth nothing.”

“Working horses, working horses—both a cow and a horse,” they joked.

“Zhou Zhou, you’ve been running around a lot these days. Are you tired?” Yu Wenting poured water for herself and for Zhou Zhou.

Zhou Zhou looked around the office and saw only Yu Wenting and Zhuang Shu there, so she relaxed and said, “I’m exhausted. My legs feel short, and my brain is broken. Honestly, I just want to go home, eat dinner peacefully, turn off my phone, and sleep.”

“Haha, I thought you wouldn’t complain with us,” Zhuang Shu laughed.

Zhou Zhou didn’t complain much. They guessed quietly she was used to hard work from before.

“I feel like I’m turning into a grumpy wife. I haven’t seen my husband in two weeks,” Yu Wenting sighed again.

Yu Wenting was the same age as Zhou Zhou but had been married two years. Her husband was a police officer, also very busy. Even though they lived in the same city, it felt like a long-distance relationship.

Hearing this, Zhou Zhou asked, “Can you go home early tonight? I heard Mayor Xu said tomorrow’s meeting is canceled and postponed to next week. The report you’re working on isn’t urgent now.”

Yu Wenting was very good at writing and was responsible for many reports, which was hard work. Sometimes she had to stay up all night.

“Really? I was planning to work overtime today!” Yu Wenting’s eyes lit up.

“Really. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Director Wu,” Zhou Zhou smiled.

Yu Wenting, deputy head of the secretarial office, wasn’t afraid to be scolded. She quickly went to ask Director Wu.

So only Zhuang Shu and Zhou Zhou were left in the office.

“Hey, Zhou Zhou, did you hear they want to bring Yun Shanhai from the next office to be our new director?” Zhuang Shu asked quietly.

“No, I didn’t,” Zhou Zhou said. It didn’t matter to her who came; she usually didn’t think about such things.

She was an outsider. Even if her past experience looked good, it didn’t count here.

Honestly, she didn’t spend much time sitting in the office anyway. Whoever became the office director didn’t affect her. If they wanted to cause trouble, they’d have to find her first, right?

Zhuang Shu seemed to remember something and pulled a chair closer to ask quietly, “Zhou Zhou, is your pay at the deputy director level?”

Zhou Zhou laughed, “Not yet.”

She told the truth. According to her previous progress, she could have been promoted this year. But since she just came back, maybe everything had to start over. Right now, her salary was at regular staff level. They said if new rules came, they’d adjust her pay.

She had asked others in similar situations. Most kept their old pay. She’d been back for over a year; now it depended on the organization.

If she had to start over, she couldn’t do anything. After all, she had already come back. She couldn’t go back again.

“Alright,” Zhuang Shu said quietly. “Actually, you’d be more suitable than Yun Shanhai, but your time here is too short.”

“I’m definitely not. Thanks for the compliment,” Zhou Zhou said. It was a sensitive topic, so she didn’t say more and focused on work.

Just then, another coworker, Gu Yu, came back.

Gu Yu was also a secretary but was moved to another leader after Mayor Xu rejected him. Because of this, he didn’t like Zhou Zhou and sometimes teased her.

Seeing Zhou Zhou in the office, he said without much warmth, “Oh, busy person is back.”

Zhou Zhou ignored him. He snorted and left without looking back.

There were two men and two women in the office. Not everyone was a good friend, but they weren’t enemies either. They just had work conflicts. As long as work wasn’t affected, there was no need for fights or arguments.

Zhou Zhou was used to this and ignored it.

She finished some tasks and was about to leave when Cheng Yanran messaged her, saying the monitor was ready and asked if she could have it installed at Jade Bay after work.

“Of course,” she replied quickly.

Cheng Yanran said he would get off work late, around 7:30 p.m.

Zhou Zhou didn’t mind.

She looked at the time. Mayor Xu had gone to the province for a meeting and probably wouldn’t call her anymore. She had finished most of her work and might even cook dinner for herself if she hurried.

Chi Yao had sent her sweet potatoes from Northwest China, said to have orange skin and red flesh. She was eager to get the package and cook a pot of porridge.

Thinking about this, she typed faster.

By 6 p.m., she shut her computer and left.

On the subway, she remembered Cheng Yanran was coming to install the monitor.

She thought for a moment and sent a message, “I’m not working late tonight. I’m going to cook sweet potato porridge and some dishes. If you haven’t eaten, I’ll make extra.”

Soon Cheng Yanran replied, “That’s exactly what I want.”

Then he sent a voice message. He said they’d been very busy lately, he just got back from Nanjing yesterday, ate hotel food for days that was oily and full of MSG, and now wanted some plain porridge and simple dishes. If Zhou Zhou was willing to treat him, he would feel very honored.

Zhou Zhou could cook. Not like a chef, but she knew how to make home-cooked meals, having lived alone for so long.

She listened to the voice message happily and was about to reply when he sent another message: “Work is hard enough. Don’t make too much food. I eat anything.”

Zhou Zhou left work early that day and felt good. After replying “Okay,” she started thinking about what to cook.

Sweet potato porridge would be the main dish. She could buy two shrimp dumplings from the dim sum shop.

She had some pickled beans and radish cubes from her mom, which could be side dishes.

She just needed to buy spinach, celery, carrots, and meat to make cold spinach salad and fish-flavored shredded pork.

That would be enough for two.

But she thought maybe guys eat more, so when she went to the fresh market, she bought some chicken wings too, to bake some salted egg yolk chicken wings.

Cheng Yanran had a meeting until after 7 p.m. and left the office late. Worried about traffic, he messaged Zhou Zhou to eat first and not wait for him, just save something for him. But when he arrived at her house following the address she gave him, he found a warm and romantic scene waiting.