“Did your company just hire a new guy?”
After Xu Xuan left the office, he immediately made a call to someone in Xinqi’s management.
Xie Yaohui was momentarily stunned before flipping through the recruitment list.
Before Xie Yaohui could speak, Xu Xuan instructed directly, “I don’t like this Chen Yi.”
“Assistant Xu, did he offend you somehow?” Xie Yaohui couldn’t help but ask.
Xu Xuan didn’t answer the question and only let out a soft cough.
Xie Yaohui chuckled and promptly replied, “Understood. If Assistant Xu dislikes someone, then there’s no reason for him to stay.”
Although he didn’t understand how Chen Yi had upset Xu Xuan, he certainly wouldn’t dare offend a trusted aide of the CEO of the Gu Corporation.
After hanging up, a faint smile surfaced on Xu Xuan’s cold face.
…
After receiving Xinqi’s onboarding notice, Chen Yi went to his current company to handle his resignation.
The manager knew that with Chen Yi’s abilities, it was only a matter of time before he surpassed him, so he tried to persuade him to stay.
But Chen Yi had already made up his mind. He signed the resignation form and left.
Once the process was done, Chen Yi headed to the swimming center.
As he was warming up with some stretches, he heard a whistle from behind.
Turning around, he saw a familiar figure walking toward him step by step.
His heart skipped a beat—it was Gu Mingxue again.
“You’re not stalking me, are you?” Gu Mingxue asked with a surprised look in her deep black eyes as she spotted Chen Yi.
“No, I’m here to swim because I’m trying to lose weight.”
Gu Mingxue looked at his nervous expression and couldn’t help but laugh, “Alright, I was just teasing.”
Wanting to earn a reward from the system, Chen Yi followed her into the pool as well.
However, his movements weren’t very precise. Even though he had received some guidance from a coach, he still couldn’t grasp the right techniques quickly.
While resting at the edge of the pool, Gu Mingxue glanced at Chen Yi from time to time. Eventually, she stood up and walked over.
“You won’t get anywhere doing it like that.” She said, then stepped into the water beside him and gently held his arm.
The moment her fingertips touched the warm skin of his arm, Chen Yi’s heart began to race.
After several interactions, Chen Yi found that Gu Mingxue wasn’t just beautiful—she had a gentle personality too.
But he knew he wasn’t worthy of her, so he kept his thoughts in check.
After being a simp for three years, he had no intention of going back to that path again.
Taking a deep breath, he looked at Gu Mingxue calmly.
She applied light pressure to his arm, guiding him through the proper stroking motions, showing him how to swim and kick step by step.
Her warm palm pressed against the back of his hand, the force just right.
Such close contact made Chen Yi blush instantly. His heart pounded like a startled rabbit.
He took a few more deep breaths, silently telling himself to stay focused.
With Gu Mingxue’s patient coaching, Chen Yi made rapid progress and soon grasped the swimming techniques.
“Miss Gu, thank you so much! If it weren’t for your help, I don’t know how long I’d be struggling. Let me buy you a coffee—there’s a nice café nearby.”
Gu Mingxue didn’t reject his offer. During the training earlier, he hadn’t even dared to look at her directly.
What was particularly amusing was that whenever there was any physical contact, Chen Yi would intentionally pull away.
If it were any other man, their eyes would have locked on her without hesitation.
Gu Mingxue studied him. She suddenly noticed that Chen Yi actually had very attractive features—a tall nose bridge, bright eyes, fair skin, and a very clean presence about him.
“Chen Yi, how do you have so much stamina? Do you work out regularly?” she asked curiously.
Whether it was badminton or swimming, she noticed he practiced longer than most people.
Chen Yi scratched his head sheepishly, “Honestly, I just eat a lot. I can eat several bowls in one meal. Maybe that’s where all the strength comes from.” This story is hosted at g.com.
His answer made Gu Mingxue burst out laughing, and the two grew closer as a result.
…
On Monday, Chen Yi went to Xinqi to complete the onboarding process.
A colleague grinned and asked, “Chen Yi, who recommended you for this job?”
Chen Yi looked confused and replied honestly, “No one. I got in through a regular interview.”
Even though he was honest, no one believed him. Instead, he overheard people whispering behind his back, assuming he was hiding something and had deep connections.
Chen Yi didn’t care about the gossip.
On his first day at work, he was assigned an important task—upgrading and repairing the internal system of Gu Corporation.
The colleague who was originally responsible for this task, out of jealousy for the high performance it offered, sneered and walked over with a mocking tone, “You? Doing this job? Don’t screw it up and drag everyone down.”
Chen Yi didn’t flinch. He raised an eyebrow and smirked, “How about a bet? If I do better than you, you give me your latest headphones.”
That colleague immediately perked up and challenged, “Fine. And if you lose, you resign. Deal?”
“Deal. I’ll record this just in case you try to back out later.” Chen Yi smiled and stood confidently in front of Jiang Kai.
Seeing how calm Chen Yi was, Jiang Kai scoffed, “The one who’ll regret it will be you.”
He didn’t believe that someone who got in through connections could be any good. With a cold snort, he turned and returned to his desk.
The older colleague sitting next to Chen Yi sighed and shook his head. He kindly advised, “Kid, you shouldn’t have made a bet with Jiang Kai. The work from upstairs isn’t easy.”
“It’s fine, Old Xu.” Chen Yi nodded at Xu Dahai—the only one who treated him decently—and walked out of the office with his laptop.
Xu Dahai watched him leave and frowned slightly, doubts surfacing in his mind.
The Gu Corporation’s projects had always been the company’s top priorities—complex and tricky to handle. Normally, a newcomer wouldn’t be assigned to them.
He couldn’t help but wonder—did Chen Yi really come in through the backdoor?
If things went south, the company wouldn’t fire him, but criticism would be inevitable.
He never expected Chen Yi to go as far as making a bet with Jiang Kai.