Chu Xia refused everything, including the offer to have a driver pick her up the next day.
What a joke—nothing is more valuable than a man’s guilt. She needed to save it and use it
wisely. Did they think a few designer bags would be enough to brush her off? Dream on.
Under Sheng Jingshi’s persistent coaxing, Chu Xia finally allowed him to stay the night at her
place. He had indeed been exhausted these past few days. The night passed peacefully, and
Sheng Jingshi rediscovered the long-lost warmth of holding her as he slept.
Early the next morning, she was awakened by the man’s kisses. Chu Xia gently refused Sheng
Jingshi’s advances and urged him to hurry to work.
Clearly, he wasn’t pleased when he left, but he did have important matters to attend to, so he had
no choice but to let her go for now.
Chu Xia made no promises, but Sheng Jingshi unilaterally decided that they had reconciled. Over
the next few days, he resumed his routine of calling her once a day to check in—asking what she
did and who she met.
Chu Xia silently wished that his workload would become even heavier.
As usual, she went to work at the gallery.
Wu Jingzhong’s attitude had changed somewhat since the last incident. At the very least, she no
longer made things difficult for Chu Xia in public. Still, there was a certain awkward resentment
about her—as if she disliked Chu Xia but couldn’t get rid of her, which left her frustrated.
Chu Xia pretended not to notice and simply went about her work.
She had already figured out how the gallery operated and had a general understanding of her
responsibilities. She was now an artist agent, responsible for promoting artists’ works and
helping them gain more exposure and recognition in the art market.
Most importantly, if she managed to sell a painting, she would receive a commission on top of
her salary—and the commission rate wasn’t low.
Chu Xia did the math. In a city like Jing City, where every inch of land was expensive, raising a
child alone to the age of eighteen would cost at least 500,000 to 2 million. Right now, she wasn’t
short on small money—she could support herself easily—but having a child would be a different
story.
So she urgently needed a large sum of money.
Lou Fan was generous, but she couldn’t keep taking advantage of him.
As for Sheng Jingshi’s money, to be honest, she didn’t dare accept it. Everything that man gave
came with hidden costs—it was always a transaction. Chu Xia no longer wanted to provide him
with emotional value, so naturally, she didn’t want his money either.
She took out her phone and looked at her previous memo. Number 1, Shen Siren; Number 3,
Sheng Jingshi; and Number 4, Lou Fan had all been crossed out. Only Number 2, Jiang Suizhou,
still had a “?” next to his name.
By process of elimination, he was very likely the child’s biological father.
Should she ask him for money?
Chu Xia immediately shook her head, dismissing the idea.
“Chu Xia, meeting time.”
A colleague’s voice interrupted her thoughts. She picked up her notebook and walked into the
conference room, only to find that everyone was already seated—it seemed like the meeting had
already ended.
She asked softly, “No one informed me about the meeting. Did I miss something?”
Her colleagues lowered their heads and said nothing. Wu Jingzhong lifted her chin and said,
“Your performance target for this month is 20%.”
Chu Xia was confused, while her colleagues looked shocked.
A short-haired female colleague spoke up quietly, “She just joined and doesn’t even have any
artists yet. A 20% target is a bit too harsh, isn’t it?”
Wu Jingzhong immediately glared and said sharply, “If the gallery doesn’t make a profit, what
will we use to pay you? Do the math yourselves—have you even earned your salaries for the
gallery?”
Facing the sudden difficulty, Chu Xia calmly asked, “Supervisor Wu, what are everyone else’s
targets?”
“Just worry about your own share. You don’t need to concern yourself with others.”
After the meeting, Chu Xia learned that other colleagues had targets of 3% or 5%, with the
highest being only 10%.
Once everyone had left, the short-haired girl approached her. Chu Xia remembered her name was
Qiao Nian.
Qiao Nian said, “The gallery has a rule—if you’re still in the probation period and fail to meet
your performance target, you’ll be dismissed. Also…”
She glanced around to make sure no one else was there before continuing, “I overheard Wu
Jingzhong chatting with HR in the pantry this morning. Yesterday, she brought in a junior from
her school and asked HR to train her so she could take over your position as soon as possible.”
Qiao Nian’s warning made Chu Xia realize that Wu Jingzhong truly intended to push her
out—and had even already found a replacement behind her back.
And by doing this, it could be framed as Chu Xia failing to meet expectations, making it difficult
for Lou Fan to openly defend her.
Chu Xia looked at Qiao Nian and asked, “Why are you helping me?”
“I’m not helping you—I’m helping myself.”
Qiao Nian came from a provincial university and had also moved to Jing City for work.
However, she had a sharp eye for art, which made her a thorn in the side of academic elites like
Wu Jingzhong.
On one hand, they looked down on her background. On the other, Qiao Nian gave off a cold,
distant impression—she always carried a faint aura of lifelessness, wearing the same expression
no matter who she looked at.
So before Chu Xia arrived, Qiao Nian had already been excluded by Wu Jingzhong and others
for over a year.
“I know you must have a close relationship with the person in charge, or you wouldn’t have
parachuted into this job. I want you to whisper a few words in their ear—make Wu Jingzhong’s
life harder too.”
After Qiao Nian finished speaking expressionlessly, Chu Xia burst out laughing.
Raising both hands in surrender, Chu Xia said, “My relationship with the person in charge is
completely innocent.”
Seeing her smiling eyes, a faint trace of confusion appeared on Qiao Nian’s otherwise blank face.
“Then what are you going to do? Just take the loss?”
“Of course…” Chu Xia beckoned her closer and whispered in her ear, “Work hard and meet the
target.”
After hearing this, Qiao Nian’s already lifeless gaze dimmed even further. She drifted away
expressionlessly, seemingly regretting choosing the wrong ally.
Over the next few days, Chu Xia stuck close to Qiao Nian whenever she wasn’t busy, asking for
advice. She invited her to lunch, bought her afternoon tea whenever she got some for herself, and
naturally, the two became close enough to even go to the restroom hand in hand.
“How much are you short of your target?” Qiao Nian asked.
“20%,” Chu Xia replied.
Qiao Nian: “……”
So basically, you haven’t done anything at all?
Chu Xia asked, “What about you?”
“Wu Jingzhong set mine at 10%. I have two artists with good potential—if I try hard, I might
make it.”
But Chu Xia knew that Qiao Nian only had those two promising artists. No matter how hard she
tried, it would probably still be difficult to meet the target.
So that afternoon, she accompanied Qiao Nian to visit those two artists and looked at some of
their works.
That evening, when Sheng Jingshi called for a video chat, Chu Xia enthusiastically reported her
activities.
“Looking at paintings?” Sheng Jingshi set down his documents and looked at her on the screen.
“Since when are you interested in art?”
Chu Xia opened the scanned paintings on her iPad and explained them fluently—talking about
the stories behind them and their value as collectibles.
Sheng Jingshi had no interest in art, but he enjoyed hearing Chu Xia talk more. Normally, she
only answered when asked, but today she was chirping like a little bird, making him smile
gently.
“…So, it’s really worthwhile for you to collect a few pieces. They’re also very tasteful as gifts.”
After saying this, Chu Xia looked at him expectantly.