When Jiang Huaixu looked up and saw the woman standing in the doorway, he froze for a moment, unable to recognize her. It was only when Rong Shu spoke that he realized who she was.
“Professor Jiang.”
Jiang Huaixu composed his expression without letting it show and said to Rong Shu, “You’re here.”
Rong Shu took off her mask and walked into the office.
“Professor Jiang, it’s been a long time.”
Jiang Huaixu smiled warmly at Rong Shu. “It has. I almost didn’t recognize you.”
Rong Shu gave a self-deprecating smile. “I almost didn’t have the nerve to come see you looking like this.”
Jiang Huaixu stood and walked around his desk. “It’s normal for your figure to change during pregnancy. You’ll be fine again after the baby is born.”
“Have a seat, Rong Shu.”
Rong Shu sat down on the sofa.
Jiang Huaixu poured Rong Shu a cup of warm water. “Warm yourself up.”
She accepted it. “Thank you.”
Jiang Huaixu glanced at Rong Shu’s protruding belly. “How many months along are you?”
“Twenty-five weeks.”
“Then, Rong Shu, when the term starts at the end of January next year, you’ll be at your due date.”
Rong Shu asked earnestly, “I’d like to ask you for a favor, Professor. Would it be possible for me to defer my enrollment?”
There was nothing she could do about having a baby, but she truly didn’t want to miss this opportunity.
Jiang Huaixu asked Rong Shu seriously, “Why do you want to go?”
Rong Shu lowered her eyes. “Once the baby is born, Sheng Tingchen plans to divorce me. I don’t want to continue this ill-fated relationship either. I want to start my own life over.”
Six months wasn’t a particularly long time, but neither was it short. To her, it had felt like a lifetime.
Jiang Huaixu couldn’t help frowning. The bright, lovable girl he had once known had changed so much in such a short time. It was clear how much she had suffered, both physically and emotionally.
“Rong Shu, I’m relieved you’ve come around and found the strength to start over. You and Sheng Tingchen truly aren’t right for each other. I’m sure you’ll meet someone who genuinely loves you someday.”
Rong Shu lowered her eyes and nodded.
Back then, Jiang Huaixu had been against her going to work as Sheng Tingchen’s assistant, but she had insisted on having her way. In the end, she had only hurt herself.
She suddenly asked, “In your eyes, Professor Jiang, what kind of person is Sheng Tingchen, really?”
Jiang Huaixu was silent for a moment, then said slowly, “Someone who’ll stop at nothing to achieve his aims and puts profit above everything else. I doubt he’s capable of love.”
“Is that so?”
But his tenderness toward that girl had seemed genuine. Perhaps only someone hopelessly in love would be willing to lower himself like that.
Only a beautiful woman like Rong Shu was worthy of him.
Rong Shu asked no more.
“Since you’ve made up your mind, I can help you apply to defer your enrollment when the time comes.”
“Thank you, Professor.”
Jiang Huaixu had Rong Shu fill out an application form.
Rong Shu finished filling it out.
“After the baby is born, will she stay with the Sheng family?” Jiang Huaixu asked Rong Shu suddenly.
Rong Shu gave a helpless smile. Even if she wanted to take the baby with her, it was impossible. She could only let this child down. “The Sheng family should take good care of her.”
Jiang Huaixu didn’t ask Rong Shu anything more. “As it happens, I need an assistant. Just for a month. Would you like to give it a try?”
Rong Shu agreed without hesitation.
“All right.”
Since she’d become pregnant, Sheng Tingchen had moved her to a dispensable position in the secretary’s office. Overnight, she had fallen from executive assistant to a nobody, and all her hard work had come to nothing.
She really did need a new job now to take her mind off things and get her life moving again.
It would also be a good way to prepare for her studies later.
Besides, Rong Shu had taken the day off anyway.
So Rong Shu stayed and started working as the professor’s assistant. She had been Jiang Huaixu’s student, and she’d also spent some time working at an intense pace for Sheng Tingchen. Even after months of letting herself go, she got back into the swing of things quickly and handled the work with ease.
At that moment,
Rong Shu felt as if she had found her old self again, and rediscovered the value she truly had.
Just as Jiang Huaixu had said, she belonged in the workplace, where she could shine. Love shouldn’t be the only thing in life.
That night,
Sheng Tingchen didn’t come home. As usual, he only came home once in a while.
But she no longer cared.
The next day, she had her resignation letter ready.
Sheng Tingchen oversaw the financial businesses under Sheng Group, including its banks and investment funds. In this cutthroat arena of power and money, he had managed to inherit the Sheng Group’s core businesses through his own efforts and continued to expand them by swallowing up other companies. That was proof enough that he possessed not only an exceptional mind and formidable skills, but also the cold, ruthless heart it took. Rong Shu knew this all too well.
When Rong Shu arrived at the company, she happened to run into Sheng Tingchen as he got out of his car.
His figure was tall and straight; dressed in a suit, he looked handsome and imposing. His wealth and status lent him an air of mature allure.
“President Sheng.”
Employees bowed their heads and greeted him respectfully.
Rong Shu came to her senses, quickly lowered her head, and took two steps back.
The man acted as if he hadn’t seen her and strode into the company.
Rong Shu handed her resignation letter to Zhou Shan.
Zhou Shan was Sheng Tingchen’s secretary.
She used to be Rong Shu’s subordinate.
Things had turned around.
Rong Shu was now working under her.
When Rong Shu was suddenly demoted, everyone in the department had been surprised. She had become the president’s assistant straight after graduating from university.
The position required more than ability; appearance mattered too. Rong Shu was quite ordinary in both looks and figure, yet she had still been chosen. That was proof enough that her ability outweighed her looks.
Even the notoriously strict president had once praised her.
But Zhou Shan knew the truth.
Rong Shu was just a toad dreaming of eating swan’s flesh, hoping to climb the ladder by sleeping her way to the top. No matter how capable she was, she was still no good.
That was why President Sheng couldn’t stand her.
Zhou Shan glanced at the resignation letter, then at Rong Shu’s pregnant belly. A mocking curve tugged at her lips. “A person should know her place. Look in the mirror once in a while. Don’t think that having his child means you can marry into a rich family. Take a good look at what kind of place the Sheng family is—and what kind of person you are.”
No one at the company knew that she and Sheng Tingchen were already legally married.