Wei Mingjue, Executive Director of Shuangming Pharmaceutical Group.
Looking at the text and contact information on the business card, Zou Yuqing fell silent once again. He clenched his back molars, quickly relaxed them, and loosened his grip on the card just as much. No matter how unyielding he tried to be, at this moment, he remained the most pathetic one, because aside from this Alpha who had violated him, he could no longer find anyone else who could help him.
With a bitter laugh, Zou Yuqing dialed the number on the card.
Wei Mingjue was not surprised at all by this call. Despite having spent very few days in contact with Zou Yuqing, he knew that this fiercely proud Alpha would definitely never ask his friends to borrow money.
Money. Speaking of money, among the people around Zou Yuqing, only he could effortlessly provide it; fifty thousand meant practically nothing to him.
“Come to my office and we will talk.” He curved his lips into a smile. After hanging up, his irritation, originally caused by the engagement banquet arrangements between Zou Yuyang and his own younger brother, vanished significantly. “Xia Fan, go down to the company entrance in a while to pick up Zou Yuqing and bring him up here.” With that, he swiveled his chair around toward the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him, admiring the outside view in high spirits.
At this moment, Xia Fan finally surrendered to reality. Everything Liang Shi had said a few days ago was true: the person Wei Mingjue wanted to bring over was indeed Zou Yuqing. “Got it.” Nodding, Xia Fan immediately walked out of the office and headed downstairs.
An hour and a half later, Zou Yuqing’s figure appeared outside the company entrance. The Alpha was dressed in a white shirt and dress pants, looking somewhat unnatural, and pressed his lips together even tighter upon seeing him.
“Let us go. President Wei is waiting for you upstairs.” Xia Fan glanced at Zou Yuqing once before turning around to lead the way.
The atmosphere along the way was dead silent, and even more so once they stepped into the elevator. Inside the enclosed space, the two Alphas stared straight ahead without a word. Standing slightly behind and to the side of Xia Fan, Zou Yuqing occasionally glanced at him with furrowed brows. After a moment, he spoke up awkwardly, “I am sorry about last time. My mother hurt you.”
Seemingly not expecting Zou Yuqing to bring this up out of nowhere, Xia Fan paused for a second before softly murmuring, “It is fine.” The silence descended upon them once again.
Zou Yuqing did not speak further. The higher the floor, the more anxious he grew. Just a moment ago during their phone call, the second he muttered that he had something he wanted to talk about, Wei Mingjue had told him to come right over without even asking what it was. Figuring that he was asking Wei Mingjue for a favor anyway, he had changed his clothes and set off immediately.
Seeing the familiar office door, Zou Yuqing pressed his lips together again. This was his first time coming here to see Wei Mingjue of his own accord. Clearly, he had previously told Wei Mingjue never to look for him again, yet this time he had come seeking the man out himself. Everything was due to those damn, wretched circumstances.
“You are here? Xia Fan, you can head out first.” Hearing the noise, Wei Mingjue spun his chair around, looking at the person before him with a half-smile. Once Xia Fan stepped outside, Wei Mingjue sized up Zou Yuqing. “Do you not have to go to the supermarket today? Why are you dressed so formally?”
Wei Mingjue’s teasing expression made Zou Yuqing feel somewhat humiliated. He clenched his fists, then forced them open again, accepting his fate as he said, “What you said last time about being able to intern here, was that true?”
“Of course it is true. Have you decided to come over?” Wei Mingjue did not look annoyed in the least by Zou Yuqing’s complete disregard of his question; the corners of his mouth remained curved upward. “If you come, I will arrange for someone to look after your mother every day, so you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Staying in the employee dormitory is also an option.”
“No, I will not stay in the dormitory.” Zou Yuqing shook his head. “Then, when is the interview?” Dressing slightly more formally today was also because he worried Wei Mingjue might make him interview right on the spot; after all, this man was always completely unpredictable.
“Interview?” Hearing those words, Wei Mingjue burst out laughing. “What interview?”
Zou Yuqing frowned, completely at a loss for what the man in front of him meant. “Is there no interview before an internship?” Even for an internship, an interview should be standard procedure.
Wei Mingjue laughed even louder. “You were brought in by me, why would you need an interview? The moment you decide on it, I can take you down to the department right now.” As he spoke, he stood up. “Let us go, I will take you to have a look.”
So he was a parachute hire? Would people look at him with strange expressions? Zou Yuqing pressed his lips together. Then again, he had already been brought to the company by Wei Mingjue before; anyone who knew should already be aware of it. An Alpha being carried into the company by Wei Mingjue, the rumors must have already started circulating.
Following behind Wei Mingjue with his head lowered, Zou Yuqing arrived at the Twentieth-Floor Administrative Department, which was where he would be interning from now on.
“Everyone, please pause what you are doing for a moment.” Wei Mingjue clapped his hands with a smile. “This is Zou Yuqing. Starting today, he is a member of the Administrative Department. Supervisor Cui, please step over here.” He then called over a supervisor, a middle-aged female Beta with a very polished and professional demeanor.
The moment Wei Mingjue appeared, everyone on the twentieth floor looked over with keen curiosity. Zou Yuqing felt a mixture of awkwardness and shame, but he still greeted Supervisor Cui as she approached.
“Supervisor Cui, please show him the ropes.” Wei Mingjue looked smilingly at the employee before him.
In the past, Wei Mingjue had never personally brought anyone in and rarely ever showed his face on the twentieth floor. This time, bringing Zou Yuqing along, coupled with the whispering grapevine from previous days about President Wei having a lover, led everyone to automatically regard Zou Yuqing as that rumored lover.
“Alright, President Wei, rest assured. The colleagues in the department and I will guide him well.” Supervisor Cui adjusted her glasses, glanced at Zou Yuqing, and nodded.
“Mm, then you will follow Supervisor Cui. If there is anything you do not understand, just ask her.” Wei Mingjue also looked at Zou Yuqing with a full smile. This beaming expression only served to further solidify the gossipy rumors in the employees’ minds.
However, Zou Yuqing was completely bewildered. “Starting today? I have not told Auntie Zhang that I am quitting my job at the supermarket yet.”
“Then let us make your official start tomorrow. Supervisor Cui, you can go back to your work.” After dismissing Supervisor Cui back to her workstation, Wei Mingjue looked at Zou Yuqing. “Shall I drive you back to the supermarket right now?”
Such an ambiguous remark! Zou Yuqing could feel countless gazes sweeping toward them. He gritted his teeth. “No need, I can go back by myself. I will report here on time tomorrow.”
He could not afford to lose his temper at Wei Mingjue. This time, Wei Mingjue had bailed him out and secured him an internship at Shuangming Pharmaceutical. The monthly nine-thousand-yuan internship salary was the best compensation he could possibly earn right now; he had no reason to pass it up.
Knowing that Zou Yuqing would inevitably refuse, Wei Mingjue merely smiled. “Alright, then be careful on your way back. See you tomorrow.”
Zou Yuqing did not say anything more. He simply nodded and prepared to head downstairs. Wei Mingjue followed right behind him, and the two of them found themselves packed into the enclosed elevator once again, an atmosphere even more awkward than when he had been with Xia Fan earlier.
“You really did not need to see me off.” Catching out of the corner of his eye that Wei Mingjue’s smile had not faded in the slightest, Zou Yuqing felt a surge of irritation.
“I am not seeing you off. I happen to be heading downstairs to go somewhere else.” Wei Mingjue shrugged with an innocent look. “Did you forget? My younger brother and Zou Yuyang are getting engaged, I have a lot of things to prepare.”
Of course, he genuinely just wanted to spend a bit more time with Zou Yuqing. Although this Alpha’s wounds had completely healed and not a trace of the fresh mint scent could be inhaled, being around Zou Yuqing put him in an exceptionally fantastic mood, especially when seeing that glaring, hostile gaze directed at him, which made his scalp tingle with thrilling excitement.
“Oh.” So he had just overthought it. Zou Yuqing let out a soft acknowledgment, cleared his throat awkwardly, and practically fled the moment the elevator doors opened.
Watching Zou Yuqing’s retreating back, the curve of Wei Mingjue’s lips grew wider and wider.