“Alright, I understand.”
Xia Bai glanced at her, biting her lower lip as she began reassembling the dismantled parts. She hadn’t touched the complex internal components, afraid that disturbing them would make restoration impossible and cause trouble for the maintenance personnel.
By now, she somewhat understood that the printer might not need urgent repair—someone seemed more eager to set her up and watch her fail.
“Are you hungry? I brought you some food.”
“You…”
Xia Bai stood up, dusting off her hands as she looked at Su Lingyu with confusion. Why was Su Lingyu suddenly being so kind? Could there be something wrong with the food?
“Don’t worry, it’s from the cafeteria. The packaging hasn’t been opened—it’s not poisoned.”
Su Lingyu seemed to notice the suspicion in her eyes and shook the bag in her hand while explaining.
“Thank you, but that’s not necessary. I’ll go to the cafeteria myself later.”
Xia Bai instinctively took a step back, the memory of how Su Lingyu and Qiao Feifei had ganged up on her still vivid in her mind.
“At this hour, the cafeteria probably doesn’t have much left.”
“I can buy instant noodles from the convenience store downstairs.”
Su Lingyu: “…”
This feeling of being distrusted and rejected was quite unpleasant, especially when the other person was someone she was trying hard to please.
Well, there was no helping it. The previous Su Lingyu had gone too far and offended her, accumulating too much negative karma. Now, she could only take it slow.
It seemed winning favor wasn’t something that could be accomplished overnight.
“Anyway, I bought this for you. Whether you accept it or how you handle it is up to you.”
Su Lingyu handed her the food and turned to leave, acting like a proud little princess—which fit the original character’s persona quite well.
“Hey…”
Watching the other person walk away without looking back, Xia Bai lowered her gaze to the transparent lunch box in her hand. The meal inside looked plentiful, and she could still feel the warmth of the food through the container.
It was a meal set she had seen but couldn’t afford to order.
But as an intern with no money or influence, she couldn’t afford to take risks.
Fu Yuchen, who had just emerged from a private dining room in the cafeteria, casually inspected the twenty-first floor and happened to see Xia Bai sitting at her desk, waiting to eat instant noodles.
Frowning, he strode over.
“Is there no food in the company cafeteria?”
“Huh?”
Lost in thought, Xia Bai looked up and realized he was speaking to her. She immediately stood up.
“There is, but I got delayed.”
“Then you…”
Fu Yuchen suddenly noticed the lunch box beside her and paused mid-sentence.
“I just suddenly felt like eating instant noodles.”
Xia Bai naturally noticed his gaze and explained, perhaps speaking too quickly or trying to protect her pride.
“Don’t eat that stuff too often—it’s not healthy.”
“Mm.”
Xia Bai nodded.
Then it suddenly occurred to her: Was Fu Yuchen overstepping a bit?
“Wow~”
Su Lingyu, who had just returned from the restroom, spotted Fu Yuchen and Xia Bai in the office and immediately took two steps back, hiding behind the door.
The Male Lead and Female Lead in the same frame—so pleasing to the eye and full of chemistry!
She even felt like romantic pink bubbles and beautiful background music could appear at any moment…
It was like watching a real-life idol drama.
But she vaguely remembered a chapter in the book where the Female Lead missed a meal for some reason, and the Male Lead saw her and took her out for a fancy dinner.
Was this the scene from today at noon?
Or had she remembered wrong?
“What are you looking at?”
Lu Jiuyan had just stepped out of the elevator when he noticed someone’s suspicious profile by the door. He approached and asked.
“Nothing.”
Hearing his voice, Su Lingyu’s hand moved faster than her brain, immediately shutting the door.
Just kidding—nothing should interfere with the progression of the female lead and male lead!
Let alone the male lead second!
“Hmm?”
Such a big reaction?
Curious, Lu Jiuyan tried to peer inside, but the frosted glass made it impossible to see anything once the door was closed.
“Is there something you need?”
Su Lingyu leaned against the door as she turned to face him.
“…”
What if I said I was just passing by—would you believe me?
Unwilling to admit his curiosity, Lu Jiuyan cleared his throat into his fist. “Ahem, it’s about…”
“The car compensation?”
“…Yes.”
“Don’t worry. If the insurance payout isn’t enough, I’ll cover the difference myself. I won’t let you suffer any loss.”
“Besides, we work at the same company, and we exchanged contact info in front of the traffic police last night. General Manager Lu, are you worried I’ll run off and skip out on the debt?”
Su Lingyu could speak so confidently because she had already checked with the insurance company in detail.
The original owner had not only compulsory traffic insurance but also commercial third-party liability coverage of one million. So, compensation for this accident would definitely be sufficient.
Moreover, after casually glancing at Su Lingyu’s account balance, she saw it had a modest six-figure sum!
So even if she had hit a luxury car, she truly wasn’t worried.
Lu Jiuyan: “…”
Why did it feel like he’d been labeled as stingy by an intern at his own company?
“Actually, that’s not what I meant.”
“Oh, then is there anything else, General Manager Lu? If not, I need to take my lunch break.”
Soon, people heading to the cafeteria would be returning, and she didn’t want other employees to see them together and start making unfounded malicious assumptions about her and Lu Jiuyan, like they had with Xia Bai that morning.
She was fully aware of her role as a female supporting character!
Lu Jiuyan gave Su Lingyu a complicated look.
Was she… shooing him away?
Why did something feel off about this?
After returning to his office, it suddenly dawned on him.
Right—when she saw him earlier, she didn’t seem surprised at all and had even accurately addressed him by his title.
It seemed she knew who he was.
But last night after the car accident, she had seemed completely unfamiliar. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he hadn’t brought it up at the time.
So then she…
Lu Jiuyan took out his phone, remembering they had added each other on WeChat last night.
Had she stayed up late scrolling through his Moments?
And then spent the morning asking colleagues about him?
Hmm, Lu Jiuyan stroked his chin. The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
Afternoon.
Su Lingyu sipped her freshly delivered taro bubble milk tea while scrolling through the story in her email.
“Hey, do you have time to go see a doctor?”
Qiao Feifei, who had been glancing at her repeatedly, couldn’t hold back any longer.
“You mean you?”
Su Lingyu looked at her.
“Of course, I mean you!”
“Reason?”
“Don’t you feel like, since you hit your head, you’ve been a bit… a bit…”
Qiao Feifei frowned, searching for words that wouldn’t sound too harsh.
“A bit what?”
“Not quite right.”
“How so?”
Su Lingyu cautiously set down her milk tea.
Had her transmigration already been discovered?
“Oh, I don’t know how to explain it, but something just doesn’t feel right. You should go to the hospital quickly, before the problem gets worse from delaying.”