**Chapter 19: I’m Here to Install Her…**
Lin Siyi and Zhou Minghui attended the same prestigious high school and met during the school’s sports day.
At that time, Lin Siyi was in the process of choosing between arts and sciences in her first year, while Zhou Minghui was making his final push for college entrance exams.
As the dream guy of many girls during high school, Lin Siyi’s emotions were quite evident. “What a coincidence.”
“I just happened to be passing by and decided to pick up some takeout for my colleague. I heard this new place has pretty good food. I didn’t expect to run into you—what a surprise.” Zhou Minghui shook the takeout bag at Lin Siyi.
“Senior, I heard you got into the top university in Beicheng. Didn’t you stay there to work after graduation?”
Zhou Minghui replied, “I was recently transferred to the headquarters here. I work at ZhaoX Bank. What about you, where are you working now?”
Lin Siyi felt a bit shy. “I just started last week at a private equity firm. Since you’re in the finance circle, you might have heard of it—Yiyang Capital.”
“I think I’ve heard of it. Isn’t your company’s custodian partner also ZhaoX Bank? But I just got transferred here, so I’m not very familiar with the details. Other colleagues are handling that.”
Zhou Minghui checked the time and apologized to Lin Siyi. “I have to rush back for an impromptu department meeting. If it’s convenient, can I add you on WeChat? We can meet up when we’re both free.”
“Sure, I’ll give you my phone number: 1398989XXXX. You can search for it; it’s the same as my WeChat.”
“Got it. Your profile picture is a cartoon bunny, and your nickname is your real name, right?”
“Yes.”
“Great, I’ve added you. Check it when you have time. Enjoy your meal, I’ll be off now. Let’s keep in touch, bye.”
But honestly, how could she sit down and eat calmly after that?
The guy of her teenage dreams had just added her on WeChat. The adrenaline rush was better than eating ten plates of spicy crayfish at once.
Lin Siyi felt like she was about to have a heart attack from excitement.
Such a happy event definitely deserved to be shared online.
She opened WeChat, confirmed Zhou Minghui’s friend request, and saw the message “You can now start chatting.”
Lin Siyi saved a screenshot and sent it to Song Yunxiao, typing, “Guess who I just ran into, babe?”
“I’m so exhausted right now. My eyes are going dark, and my nerves are fried. My brain is full of charts and data. How would I know who you just ran into?”
Lin Siyi: “…” Why so dramatic?
“It was Zhou Minghui.”
Song Yunxiao’s brain seemed to short-circuit. “Who’s Zhou Minghui?”
“…” Lin Siyi let out a cold laugh. “Did you lose your memory while dating jerks in high school? You’re not even old yet and already getting amnesia?”
Song Yunxiao hesitated. “Was he a guy from the class next door?”
“He was the guy two years ahead of us, the campus heartthrob!” Lin Siyi was exasperated with Song Yunxiao.
“Oh, oh, oh. I kind of remember now. But how did you run into him?”
Lin Siyi then babbled about their chance encounter and emphasized, “And he was the one who wanted to add me on WeChat!”
“So what are you trying to say? You have a crush on him, and you think him adding you on WeChat means he likes you? What does that prove? Insurance salespeople add people on WeChat every day to make sales. Does that mean they’re interested in everyone?”
Lin Siyi wasn’t annoyed by her friend’s sharp words. “But that’s different. He’s not selling insurance!”
Song Yunxiao rubbed her forehead. “I’m just making a comparison, sis. He might just be adding you out of alumni camaraderie, nothing special. It’s normal to add someone on WeChat after not seeing them for years, meet up for tea or a meal, catch up, and maybe ask for a favor. In the finance world, isn’t networking important?”
“But I’m just a recent graduate. What kind of network do I have?”
“You might not have one now, but your boss does, right? Your company is on the list of billion-dollar private equity firms, with partners lining up to do business. Investors are throwing money at you, and you still have to screen them!”
“You told him you work at Yiyang Capital, so won’t you have plenty of opportunities to interact with banks in the future? He’s two years ahead of you. Even if he did a master’s like you, he’s been in the real world for a few more years. People are savvy now. If you’re not useful to him, he wouldn’t bother with you.”
Song Yunxiao’s logical reasoning made Lin Siyi start to doubt herself. *Is it really just adding someone on WeChat? Do you have to lay out the facts like this? Are you so overworked that you can’t let me have a brief fantasy? Being this clear-headed won’t get you a boyfriend!*
Lin Siyi quickly stopped her friend’s long-winded speech. “Alright, alright. Aren’t you busy with overtime? I won’t disturb you. I’ll be careful. With a successful boss like mine as a reference, ordinary people really don’t catch my eye.”
Song Yunxiao: “Haha, then don’t disturb me while I earn my overtime pay. Bye.”
Really won’t disturb her? How could that be?
Lin Siyi casually snapped a beautiful photo of the spicy crayfish on the table and sent it to Song Yunxiao with the caption: “Enjoy your meal. I’ll help you eat your share too, hahaha…”
Song Yunxiao: “???!!!”
At 7:30 PM, Cheng Yixiu texted Lin Siyi while waiting for the elevator in the underground parking lot: “You can head to the elevator now. I’ll be there in about five minutes.”
But by the time Cheng Yixiu stepped out of the elevator and reached the 28th-floor corridor, Lin Siyi still hadn’t replied.
Time was precious, so he decided to take the shopping bags home first and bring them to her later when she replied.
Lin Siyi had rushed out and left her phone on the shoe cabinet by the entrance.
Unexpectedly, the broadband installation technician was so efficient. She had just registered in the evening, and while she was eating crayfish, they called to say they were coming to her neighborhood to install broadband for another resident. If she was available, they could install it for her too.
Lin Siyi readily agreed. Why waste another appointment? Besides, her boss next door was working late at the office, so he shouldn’t be back early.
She confirmed over the phone that the technician would arrive around 7 PM and would call her when they finished the other job.
At 7:10 PM, Lin Siyi received the technician’s call. She hurriedly ran to the door, changed her shoes, grabbed the access card and house keys, and headed out.
She waited at the building entrance and was surprised to see it was the same technician who had repaired Cheng Yixiu’s broadband yesterday.
“Wow, what a coincidence. We just met yesterday.”
“Because I’m responsible for this area.”
Lin Siyi, familiar with the process, led the technician to swipe the card and take the elevator up.
Perhaps it was fate, but a day later, the three of them met again.
Cheng Yixiu had just taken out his keys to open his door when he heard the elevator arrive, thinking it was Lin Siyi returning.
As he turned around, he saw her step out of the elevator with a man in work clothes following her.
At first glance, the man looked familiar—wasn’t he the technician from yesterday?
Cheng Yixiu was puzzled. “Is your broadband having issues too?”
Lin Siyi was in a panic. What kind of luck was this!
She hadn’t thought of how to answer her boss’s question when the technician quickly chimed in. “No, I’m here to install her broadband.”
Cheng Yixiu: “…”
Lin Siyi was petrified on the spot, then slowly… cracked.
*Technician, did you eat talcum powder for dinner? Are you trying to bury me with your quick response?*
If Cheng Yixiu still didn’t know what was going on, it would be a waste of his years in the real world. But with the technician present, he couldn’t react.
So he pretended. “Oh, in that case, I’ll come in with you to check the installation and bring over the clothes I bought earlier.”
“No need, boss. I can take the clothes myself.” Lin Siyi said as she tried to grab the shopping bags from Cheng Yixiu’s door.
But Cheng Yixiu’s long legs took a step to the side, blocking her path. Lin Siyi looked up with a hint of pleading. “Boss?”
“Go ahead. I’ll bring the clothes over. The technician is waiting to finish and get off work.”
Lin Siyi: “…”
So, Lin Siyi resigned herself to opening the door. The technician followed with his toolbox, and her boss Cheng Yixiu followed closely with three shopping bags.
After the technician asked Lin Siyi where she wanted the router and modem installed, he squatted in the corner to work.
In the living room, Cheng Yixiu crossed his arms, silently asking Lin Siyi how she planned to explain.
As a newcomer to the real world, Lin Siyi couldn’t bear the guilt. Having just received the “performance sponsorship clothes” from her boss, she decided to come clean.
She had really thought she could perfectly cover up this “crime” if Cheng Yixiu hadn’t come home early today.
It truly proved the saying: “What goes around comes around.”
The twists and turns of the past two days’ plot were so unexpected that her fragile little heart really needed a dozen musk heart-saving pills to survive this!