The jade was still in her own hands, but where on earth was the person who had originally given it to her? Was she doing well?
In the afternoon, Gu Ming came home from work and saw Xiao Xiaoran lying on the sofa. She shamelessly leaned in close.
“You’re not even turning on the TV, what are you doing all by yourself?”
As she spoke, she didn’t forget to fiercely rub her head against Xiao Xiaoran’s chest, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable. “What on earth is so hard and poking?” Following the black cord around her neck, she gently tugged, pulling out an exquisite piece of white jade. “This is really nicely made, where did you get it from?”
Xiao Xiaoran pushed Gu Ming’s head away from her chest, sat up, and said lazily, “Yours is on the table.”
Gu Ming stopped acting spoiled on Xiao Xiaoran’s body, picked up the box from the table, and asked, “There’s one for me too? Who gave it to us?”
Looking at the character “Ming” carved onto the jade, coupled with the character “Ran” on the one hanging around Xiao Xiaoran’s neck, Gu Ming suddenly had a flash of insight. The only person capable of such thoughtfulness was that person. “Xiaoran, Yuqi gave this to us, didn’t she?” Gu Ming’s tone instantly turned cold.
“Mh.” Xiao Xiaoran pressed her face against Gu Ming’s back. “This box was mailed directly to my house at the time, and I had Uncle Jiang sent it over.”
Clutching the jade tightly in her palm, Gu Ming asked, “Where on earth did Yuqi go?” Over the past few years, she had used every possible method available, yet she never received even the slightest bit of news from that person, as if she had never appeared in their lives at all.
“With her methods, wouldn’t it be easy for her to make sure we couldn’t find her?”
“She’ll come back, right?” It had been five years, and even Xiaoran had come back. Why hadn’t she returned yet? Or could it be that they wouldn’t even get to see each other for the rest of their lives? Thinking of this, Gu Ming couldn’t suppress her emotions. She turned around excitedly, grabbed Xiao Xiaoran’s shoulders, and said:
“She will. How could she bear to let the two of us live defenseless and helpless in this city?” Actually, when Xiao Xiaoran said those words, even she herself didn’t know whether that person would ever come back, because she could more or less guess why that person had left. Xiao Xiaoran felt a bitter ache in her heart. She didn’t understand: she and Gu Ming simply loved each other, and just because they shared the same gender, they couldn’t receive everyone’s blessings. But why did they still have to endure such pain and estrangement? The journey so far had already been exhausting beyond measure; why couldn’t the people who understood give them a little warmth and lend them a shoulder to lean on?
Sensing Xiao Xiaoran’s sudden silence, Gu Ming calmed down. This topic was far too heavy for them. Pushing down her own emotions, she said, “Sigh, fine, fine, let’s not talk about this anymore. Huh? I bought some good stuff and I’ll whip it up for you later.” As she spoke, she didn’t forget to raise an eyebrow at Xiao Xiaoran in a suggestive manner.
Seeing her ingratiating actions, Xiao Xiaoran also put away her sorrowful emotions. Even at her worst, didn’t she still have someone staying right by her side?
“What are you raising your eyebrows for? You look like a hooligan. Go cook right now, I’m starving.” With that, she reached out her foot and gave Gu Ming a gentle kick.
Ugh, what kind of person was this? A moment ago she was lamenting the spring and autumn, and how did she start bossing people around all of a sudden? Hmph, Gu Ming picked up the groceries she had bought and walked toward the kitchen, muttering complaints to herself the entire way.
April Days
At the beginning of the month, Xiao Xiaoran had rested enough and went to the company to officially assume her new post. As soon as she stepped into her office, she saw handover contracts, financial statements, and business agreements piled high across her new desk. She felt like crying; after resting for just a few extra days at home, how did so much work pile up?
“President Xiao, these are the company’s annual financial statements.” Seeing that the newly appointed financial director was a great beauty, Li Xin’s eyes lit up. Even though she was already married, it still couldn’t stop the burning yuri heart inside her.
“Annual financial statements.” Xiao Xiaoran raised her head from her pile of reports and contracts. You’ve got to be kidding me. “Shouldn’t the annual financial statements be reviewed and signed by the CEO?”
“Oh! President Xiao just arrived so you might not know yet! The company’s previous President Wang passed away in an accident, and the parent corporation hasn’t had time to appoint a new CEO yet. According to Xia’s regulations, when the CEO position is vacant, the CEO’s authority is temporarily exercised by the financial director.”
What kind of rule was this? She had studied management for so long and had never seen any large corporation with such an outrageous rule. Besides, didn’t they see she had so many things waiting to be done here? Xiao Xiaoran cast a slightly depressed glance at the CEO’s assistant standing before her. However, Xiao Xiaoran had no choice but to resign herself to her fate and take the annual financial reports. There was no way she would take someone’s paycheck and not do the work. That single glance, though, made Li Xin’s whole body burn with excitement. Who would have thought the beautiful director was actually a closeted flirt!
The beauty of the human world fades in April, while the mountain temple peach blossoms begin to bloom. Gu Ming was born in this peach-blossom-blooming April described by Bai Juyi, crying out at the break of dawn amidst her mother’s expectations.
“Gu Ming, your birthday is in just a few days. Why don’t we ask the boss for a leave of absence for you and go hang out somewhere for a few days with your little childhood sweetheart?” Ye Zi remembered Gu Ming’s birthday crystal clear; she certainly wasn’t going to let slip such a legitimate excuse to go on a trip.
Originally, Xiao Xiaoran had also planned to go on a trip with Gu Ming for a few days, but Xiao Xiaoran had far too many matters at her company and simply couldn’t spare the time.
“Aish! Forget it, let’s just hang out around the city this time. Xiaoran is busy handing over work at her company these days and doesn’t have time to travel.”
“No time? Gu Ming, I’m starting to think there’s something a bit off between the two of you. Why do you care about her so much? I never see you accommodate me like that.”
“You’re overthinking things,” Gu Ming said with dark lines on her forehead. Why was Ye Zi so sensitive about this kind of topic? Why couldn’t she be this astute at other times?
“Fine, let’s just say I’m overthinking it then.” Ye Zi waved her hand. “By the way, where does she work anyway?” Curiosity was bound to strike.
Gu Ming thought about it carefully. Xiao Xiaoran had only ever complained to her about how busy and exhausting work was, but had never actually mentioned where she worked.
Over at her end, Xiao Xiaoran was up to her neck in work when she suddenly received a call from Gu Ming.
“Xiaoran, are you busy?”
“Mh, I’m busy right now. What do you need?”
“Nothing much, just wanted to check where you’re working.”
“Huh? The Xia Corporation, why?”
“Oh, nothing at all, just asking. Well, you keep busy, I’m hanging up.”
Xiao Xiaoran wore a bewildered expression. What on earth was this person up to, coming over to disturb her while she was busy?
“She said she works at the Xia Corporation.”
“The Xia Corporation? Not bad at all! That’s such a huge multinational company. Work hard there for a few years and get promoted to department manager, you’d have quite a future. As expected of a high-achieving student who studied abroad,” Ye Zi said with a look of envy. Compared to their own company, the compensation at the Xia Corporation was much higher.
“Is that so?” Gu Ming simply couldn’t figure it out. Xiao Xiaoran’s family owned such a huge company, yet instead of going back to help out, she ran off to work at another firm. It made zero sense to her.
“What time are you coming home today?”
Looking at the text message on her phone, Xiao Xiaoran’s lips curled upward as her fingers flew across the screen: “You go to sleep first. I still have a mountain of work here, so I’ll be coming back pretty late.”
“Oh!”
Closing her phone, Xiao Xiaoran rubbed her temples and took a sip of the coffee that Li Xin had thoughtfully brought over.
The current issue at the Xia Corporation was no small matter. She had originally thought it was merely an accounting error, but after reconciling the accounts line by line, she discovered that the company’s deficit was a staggeringly large sum. This directly implicated the internal structural integrity of the Xia Corporation, and the people dragged into it were undoubtedly veterans of the Xia family. As a financial director, Xiao Xiaoran genuinely lacked sufficient authority to clean house on them.
After pondering for a long time, Xiao Xiaoran dialed Xia Ling, who was far away in Germany.
“Xia Ling…”
“Xiaoran?” Xia Ling sounded somewhat surprised upon receiving the call, though it quickly turned into excitement. “I thought you had completely forgotten about me. You haven’t contacted me once since you went back to the country. It hurts.”
“I just got back and had too many things going on, so I forgot to reach out.” Xiao Xiaoran felt a bit embarrassed. After all, back in Germany, Xia Ling had treated her with meticulous care, and yet she hadn’t contacted her even a month after returning home.
“Don’t tell me you took my words seriously! The moment you left, I was swamped with work over here and didn’t have time to think about you anyway.”
“Then I suppose I was just being naive.”
“What’s wrong? Calling me up out of the blue, could it be that you missed me?”
“The people uncovered in this audit are a bit complicated, and I’m afraid I can’t deal with them myself. It’s best if you come back to handle this,” Xiao Xiaoran said solemnly on her end of the line.
“It’s that serious?” Xia Ling fell silent for a moment. “Tell me the details.”
She hung up the phone and took a deep breath, preparing for the challenges ahead.
When Xiao Xiaoran arrived home, she found that Gu Ming hadn’t gone to sleep as she was told, but was instead lying on the sofa watching TV out of sheer boredom.
“You’re back. Why are you so late?” Seeing Xiao Xiaoran return, Gu Ming sprang straight up from the sofa in one motion.
“There’s too much going on at the company.” Xiao Xiaoran put down her bag and patted Gu Ming’s head. The girl was almost twenty-four yet still acted just like a child.
“Aren’t you just a regular employee? Where’s all that work coming from?” Gu Ming raised an eyebrow with a look of disdain. How busy could someone who just started working possibly be?
“A regular employee? Did I forget to tell you that I’m the financial director of the Xia Corporation?”
“What? Financial director? I didn’t read many books, don’t try to trick me.” Gu Ming put on an expression of utter disbelief.
Xiao Xiaoran gave her an eye-roll and didn’t bother to refute it.
“You walk in and you’re already a director on day one? There’s got to be some kind of unwritten rule going on here!” What kind of world was this? So what if you studied abroad?
“An unwritten rule? Gu Ming, I’ll let you experience an unwritten rule.” Xiao Xiaoran unhesitatingly grabbed Gu Ming’s ear and twisted it.
“Ow, Xiao Xiaoran, why are you pinching my ear? It’s not like I’m the one pulling unwritten rules on you!” Gu Ming hurriedly grabbed Xiao Xiaoran’s hand, howling continuously.
“I won’t let you!” Xiao Xiaoran didn’t have the heart to actually hurt her, so she let go of her hand.
“Tch, big shot me wouldn’t even want it. One day, you’ll be begging me to pull unwritten rules on you!” Gu Ming stood proudly on the sofa, rubbing her reddened ear as she spoke.
“All joking aside though, how is it that you landed such a high-ranking position the moment you came back? Even if you studied abroad, a company as massive as the Xia Corporation isn’t short on talent!” After getting enough teasing out of her system, Gu Ming crossed her legs and sat cross-legged on the sofa.
Xiao Xiaoran straightened her rumpled clothes and sat down on Gu Ming’s lap. Gu Ming obediently wrapped her arms around her, resting her head on her shoulder.
“When I was studying abroad in Germany, I had a friend named Xia Ling. She’s also Chinese, and coincidentally from City A as well. That’s why our relationship in school was quite close. When we needed to go out for internships in our junior year, she introduced me to the Xia Corporation. I didn’t have any better choices at the time, so I muddled my way in. But working there went pretty smoothly, and it wasn’t until I had been working there for nearly half a year that I found out the Xia Corporation was actually her family’s business.”