6
Fate Comes to an End
When Lin Yuxi stepped into the office, her colleagues were all buried in their work.
In recent years, the artificial intelligence industry had been developing rapidly, and as a result, Cloud Atlas had gradually phased out lunch breaks across its departments.
Employees grumbled privately but had no way to push back against the company. After all, most of them had families to support, and losing their income would be like cutting off their lifeline.
These days, the easiest employees to exploit were those with both elderly parents and young children to care for.
Director Chen happened to walk out of his office just as Lin Yuxi passed by, and his expression darkened instantly.
“Lin Yuxi, you’re late for work. Your perfect attendance bonus for this month is revoked.”
In an instant, the entire office turned their attention to Lin Yuxi.
She was only one minute late.
If she had a different supervisor, they might have let it slide.
But the problem was, Director Chen was a snob who never had a kind word for employees like Lin Yuxi, who had no influential connections.
Not to mention, during the initial employment test, Lin Yuxi had been the first person in the department’s history to score full marks—a slap in the face to everyone else.
Director Chen, in particular, took it hard.
After all, as one of the first graduates from Peking University’s AI program, he had graduated with a perfect GPA.
Yet, on the employment test, he had only managed a score of 90.
Fortunately, Lin Yuxi later took maternity leave, giving him the perfect excuse to exclude her from the department’s key projects.
Hearing that she had just lost 500 yuan, Lin Yuxi felt a pang of frustration.
“Understood.”
Seeing her compliance, Director Chen strode out of the R&D department.
He had just received a notice from upper management that a certain Ms. Qin would be joining the company.
A woman.
Normally, he wouldn’t even bat an eye at a female employee.
R&D work required extremely high intelligence—something he didn’t believe a woman could handle.
But this Ms. Qin had skipped the employment test entirely and was parachuting directly into the company, which meant she must have powerful backing.
He was determined to win her favor.
That was why he had come downstairs personally to greet her—to show his respect.
Qin Ruoshi was dressed in a sharp professional outfit: a white silk blouse paired with black trousers, her wavy hair cascading over her shoulders. She looked vibrant and full of energy.
Director Chen couldn’t help but sense an air of aristocratic elegance about her.
His heart skipped a beat.
This Ms. Qin didn’t seem like someone who relied on connections—she seemed like the kind of person others relied on.
He would have to look into her background later.
When Qin Ruoshi saw him, she approached with a warm smile.
“You must be Director Chen. I’m new here and not very familiar with the work environment in the country. I hope you’ll guide me along the way.”
Hearing the flattery in her tone, Director Chen immediately felt more at ease.
“You’re too kind, Ms. Qin.”
Director Chen led Qin Ruoshi upstairs, enthusiastically explaining the company’s background along the way.
Cloud Atlas was founded ten years ago and had since become a leading AI company in the country. Three years ago, it developed YunAI.
Based on this algorithmic model, the company had launched numerous derivative products, such as intelligent driving systems and smart home systems.
In truth, Cloud Atlas owed much of its smooth development to an investment from Fu Tingchuan, the CEO of the Fu Corporation.
If it weren’t for that investment of over 100 million seven years ago, Cloud Atlas might have long vanished in the fierce competition.
Lin Yuxi was making copies when she faintly heard voices from the elevator lobby.
They sounded familiar.
A moment later, she saw Qin Ruoshi’s face appear at the entrance.
For a brief moment, Lin Yuxi’s mind went blank.
What was Qin Ruoshi doing here?
Soon enough, Director Chen cleared up the mystery. In front of the entire department, he formally introduced Qin Ruoshi and arranged for her workstation to be right next to Lin Yuxi’s.
But that wasn’t all.
Before leaving, Director Chen called Lin Yuxi into his office and assigned her to be Qin Ruoshi’s assistant.
Lin Yuxi almost laughed in disbelief. “Qin Ruoshi and I are colleagues at the same level. There’s no reason for one of us to be assisting the other.”
Director Chen frowned. “She holds a Ph.D. from an Ivy League university in the U.S. What’s the problem with you assisting her?”
Lin Yuxi pressed her lips together.
So, Fu Tingchuan had indeed spent the past seven years in the U.S. with Qin Ruoshi.
“May I ask, Director Chen, what field did Qin Ruoshi earn her Ph.D. in?”
If she remembered correctly, Qin Ruoshi had studied hardware engineering as an undergraduate—completely unrelated to algorithm development.
Director Chen’s good mood evaporated at her defiance. Raising his voice, he snapped, “Why do you care so much? Just do as you’re told. If you don’t want to do it, then leave!”
Lin Yuxi didn’t need to think hard to guess that Qin Ruoshi’s entry into Yuntu must have been arranged through Fu Tingchuan’s connections.
What Fu Tingchuan did was his own business, and she had no say in it. But no one was going to make her life difficult without consequences.
Her well-being mattered too.
Lin Yuxi’s gaze remained steady and calm as she said coolly, “Last Qixi Festival, I saw you on the second floor of the World Trade Center.”
Seeing her stubborn refusal to back down, Director Chen’s face turned pale with anger. He pointed at the office door and began, “What Qixi Festival or Valentine’s Day? Get out—”
Halfway through his sentence, he abruptly stopped, recalling that he had indeed been on the second floor of the World Trade Center last Qixi Festival.
He had been dining with his mistress.
How did Lin Yuxi know about that? Had she seen him?
Director Chen’s face shifted from pale to ashen.
No wonder Lin Yuxi dared to act so boldly in front of him—she had already dug up dirt on him.
His wife must never find out about this.
He came from a humble background and relied heavily on his wife’s family for his career. Moreover, his father-in-law had been suffering from heart problems in recent years. If he divorced now, he would lose any chance at inheriting a share of the estate.
…
Lin Yuxi smoothly returned to her workstation.
Although, on her way out, Director Chen had hurled a few more insults at her.
Over the years, Lin Yuxi had grown immune to Director Chen’s harsh words.
She had no choice but to endure it.
After all, Director Chen’s wife was one of the founders of Yuntu and held a significant amount of shares. After giving birth, she had stepped down from her position and helped her husband climb the corporate ladder.
Lin Yuxi had no intention of meddling in someone else’s marriage, so she could only grit her teeth and bear it.
Just then, Qin Ruoshi from the neighboring workstation suddenly leaned over and said, “Yuxi, I have many lawyer friends. If you ever need help, feel free to reach out to me.”
Lin Yuxi was puzzled. What did Qin Ruoshi mean by saying that?
“Thank you, but no need.”
Qin Ruoshi nodded and calmly moved back to her seat.
Out of the corner of her eye, something sparkled. Lin Yuxi turned her head and immediately noticed the diamond ring on Qin Ruoshi’s finger.
It looked like an engagement ring.
Worn on the left middle finger, it symbolized either an engagement or a serious relationship.
Who else could Qin Ruoshi be involved with if not Fu Tingchuan?
At that thought, Lin Yuxi’s heart ached.
But… if Qin Ruoshi was already wearing a ring, why hadn’t she received the divorce papers yet? Something didn’t add up.
Perhaps the division of marital assets was taking some time?
After all, she and Fu Tingchuan hadn’t signed a prenuptial agreement when they got married.
It was only after they registered their marriage that she belatedly realized this.
Perhaps Fu Tingchuan was confident enough in himself, backed by a powerful legal team, that no woman could become wealthy by divorcing him.
But she didn’t care.
All she wanted was Haohao.
Fu Tingchuan had always been aloof, stern, and hard to read. Since she couldn’t understand him, she simply waited for the divorce papers to arrive.
Even though she was unwilling in her heart, when fate had run its course, forcing things would only hurt herself.