After half a month of gossip, the much-anticipated gossip male lead finally arrived at the company in the new week.
He was the Director of Finance, rumored to be exceptionally good-looking. Some colleagues who had already met him couldn’t stop swooning over him, praising his height, his handsomeness, and the fact that he was rich – the ideal boyfriend type.
At that time, Su Yao happened to be arranging the meeting room and didn’t participate. She only heard the newcomer’s name was Zhong Ming, which sounded somewhat familiar, but she didn’t dwell on it.
Tian Lijun had a habit of drinking two cups of Americano every day. Today, her mood seemed off, and Su Yao noticed her untouched coffee cup.
She followed quietly beside Tian Lijun, “The meeting room is on the eighth floor since the one on the seventh floor is being used by HR.”
Tian Lijun remained silent, walking briskly with a cold expression, as if she wanted to stomp through the floor.
However, Su Yao couldn’t help feeling a sense of satisfaction in her heart. Headquarters had sent this person over, and although his position was half a level lower than Tian Lijun’s, he still had the authority to overshadow her. Essentially, he was sent down from above to supervise.
Seeing Tian Lijun displeased, Su Yao admired him as a real man.
As they opened the door to the meeting room, most of the seats were already taken. Su Yao scanned the room and noticed that the Director of Finance hadn’t arrived yet. Even without looking at Tian Lijun, she knew that this man must have made her angry again.
“Bang—”
Tian Lijun made a loud noise as she sat down, but the others didn’t react much, considering it usual behavior. She raised her voice, “He’s not here yet?”
“Here he is.”
Everyone turned to the entrance of the meeting room, and the man who appeared instantly became the center of attention.
“Sorry for being late. There was a minor issue that came up unexpectedly,” the man said with a smile, charming everyone present, including Tian Lijun, whose expression softened considerably.
But Su Yao felt differently. Sitting in her seat, she felt a tingling sensation on her scalp.
Zhong Ming? Why did that sound familiar?
The new Director was named Zong Ming.
He was the crush she had secretly admired for a week. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
*
Su Yao had to admit that her former crush had turned into her colleague, and the feeling was like stepping on a buried landmine.
Zong Ming was a shining figure from start to finish. Even now, his brilliance was evident. Back in their student days, he was pure and bright, always smiling and exuding a charming aura, making him the prince charming in many people’s minds.
But Su Yao wasn’t one of those people initially.
During her school days, Su Yao’s focus was solely on studying. Romance and love were out of the question for her. The reason she had some thoughts about Zong Ming was that he took away her first place in the grade three times in a row.
Her thoughts back then were simple—so simple that her liking for Zong Ming was purely because she admired his intelligence.
Zong Ming was famous in school, and without needing to pry, Su Yao knew about him from various sources. However, she wasn’t interested in knowing too much. She just wanted to know what he looked like.
A couple of days later, Su Yao saw Zong Ming’s true colors at the school sports meet, and seeing that he was handsome, she considered being friends with him.
Friends in the academic sense.
For this reason, she wrote a long letter intending to give it to Zong Ming after school.
However, before she could deliver the letter, she witnessed Zong Ming callously throwing a love letter from a pursuer into the trash without a second thought.
Clearly, he could have refused it, or simply not accepted it in the first place. Why did he have to accept someone’s affection and then trample on it?
Su Yao didn’t understand.
Because she was the passive one. Perhaps if she had sent out the letter in her hand, she would have received the same treatment.
Such friends were better off not being friends at all.
Actually, Su Yao never thought of it as a crush; it was a definition imposed by Guan Ting.
Guan Ting disapproved of Su Yao’s dull school life and said assertively, “Rarely do you have such an experience. Forget about friendship; consider it a little ambiguous crush. Don’t waste it.”
*
After the meeting, Tian Lijun smiled and stayed behind with Zong Ming.
Su Yao glanced hurriedly at Zong Ming and noticed him looking at her, so she instinctively lowered her head.
He probably doesn’t recognize her.
Giving him a smile, Su Yao said to Tian Lijun, “Manager Tian, I’ll head back to the office first.”
“Okay.”
With permission granted, Su Yao calmly walked out of the meeting room. As she entered the elevator, she pondered for a moment.
Zong Ming hadn’t changed at all.
But she had changed quite a bit. If she were to apply her current thoughts, shaped by society’s influences, to her school days, she wouldn’t have regarded someone like Zong Ming, who was shining brightly, in the same light. She would have only wanted to be friends who discussed studies with him.
In hindsight, she was too naive back then, single-mindedly focused on studying.
However, even if she were to encounter Zong Ming again now, she wouldn’t feel any unusual flutter in her heart.
Because the timing wasn’t right, and people had changed.
Moreover, Su Yao had no interest in office romances at all.