Lemon: The project with Fucheng is progressing extraordinarily smoothly, with good news…
The project with Fucheng was progressing extraordinarily smoothly, with good news pouring in.
The company’s finance department was stunned, asking repeatedly to confirm: “They’re ready to transfer the money this soon? Such a huge sum, this fast? And the invoice comes later?”
“That’s right.” Lu Wanning yawned.
The finance staff was so shocked they were speechless. After a few seconds, they sent over the account information she’d requested. “Things are really looking up for you. I’m jealous you must be getting a nice bonus out of this.”
Lu Wanning raised an eyebrow without answering, though she quietly did the math in her head hmm, even if her share wasn’t much, every little bit counts.
On her way back, she passed by the break room and saw a group of unfamiliar colleagues inside making coffee and chatting.
Lu Wanning didn’t really drink coffee and usually only came here to get water. She was about to continue back to her desk when she heard her name drifting out in fragments.
“That Lu girl.”
She stopped in her tracks.
When she’d first returned to the company, many colleagues had been very curious about her. After all, in this world, workers who beat up their superiors and escaped unscathed not only unpunished but actually promoted were exceedingly rare. Everyone wanted to know what had really happened, and they were even more curious whether she had some hidden background.
Lu Wanning couldn’t be bothered with any of it. No matter who asked, she would flatly say with a cold face that she couldn’t explain. Over time, the way these people looked at her grew more and more complicated.
They’re still talking about it after all this time? How boring.
But what she heard next was rather unexpected.
“Her? She’s just an ordinary girl, a regular office worker. She’s always kept a low profile, you know.”
“No way. If that’s true, how did she get into Director Xu’s department? Dumb luck?”
“Oh, you’d better believe it really was dumb luck.” The speaker cautiously glanced backward to make sure no one was passing by.
Lu Wanning instinctively leaned in slightly, unseen.
“I heard that day the big shots from Fucheng came, and someone saw that whole ugly incident. Shouldn’t she have been in deep trouble?”
One person tapped their phone a few times and showed the others a screen, it was a photo of Han Yao from some public event. “It wasn’t just some minor executives. It was the eldest daughter of the Han family who came. This one, right here in the photo.”
The others’ eyes went wide.
“Damn, someone of that status came in person?”
“What does our company even have that’s worth Miss Han’s personal visit?”
Those who had been there that day immediately remembered, excitedly chiming in: “Yes, yes, it was her! She’s prettier than a celebrity, with eyes that curve when she smiles.”
“That’s why I say it was dumb luck. But don’t go spreading this around word is, Miss Han got a whim that day to inspect the ‘front lines’ and happened to witness the whole scene. She was very concerned about what happened and specifically instructed that employee rights must be protected. Once someone like her gives the word, how could the company dare not comply? That’s why recently they’ve been supporting all the victims in suing that Gao guy, and they’ve also been strictly training management to be more careful about this sort of thing.”
The others suddenly understood: “Oh, so that’s how it was!”
“I was wondering how our stingy company would ever be willing to set aside money for legal aid. Turns out they were just sucking up to the moneybags…”
“Heh, don’t get me started, I still haven’t been reimbursed for the money I fronted. Damn company better pay up soon…”
“Ah well, the outcome of this whole thing was pretty good, though. Sure, it was all to suck up to Fucheng, but better than nothing at least it’ll serve as a warning to those scumbags.”
Lu Wanning listened for a while. Setting other factors aside, the whole affair really had produced a decent effect in the company. The male managers were all on edge, suddenly minding their words and behavior it was a blessing for everyone else, in a way.
Thinking this, her mood lightened slightly.
Let them gossip all they wanted. She’d never cared what people said behind her back. It didn’t matter.
Suddenly, someone asked, “Hey, so that Miss Han is she really even prettier than her photos?”
Lu Wanning had just been about to leave, but her steps halted.
“Yeah, didn’t you just hear? She looks like a celebrity.”
“Pretty and rich. How are us ordinary people supposed to survive? Nüwa, did you have something on your mind when you made us?”
“Alright, that’s it. Pausing work. I’m going to marry into her family.”
This immediately drew laughter from those nearby: “Bro, even if your house doesn’t have a mirror, surely you have a toilet? If she actually took a liking to you, that’d be the eighth wonder of the world.”
“But what if? So many heiresses have gone blind and fallen for phoenix men, why can’t I?”
“Requesting: painless tutorial on marrying into a rich family to inherit the fortune.”
Just as the group was getting into full swing, the half-closed door of the break room was suddenly shoved open with a bang, screeching against the floor and startling everyone. They turned around and exchanged looks.
Lu Wanning, saying nothing, slammed her hand heavily on the old coffee machine by the entrance another loud “bang” that made the group flinch again.
“Xiao Lu, what are you doing?” Who knew how much of their conversation she’d overheard.
Lu Wanning didn’t even look up. “The coffee machine’s just not working well. Carry on.”
But with her standing there, how could they possibly keep chatting?
Once her coffee was done, Lu Wanning picked up her paper cup. “Heading back to your desks?” she said, her tone making it clear she wasn’t joking. “Or do you want to keep researching how to marry into a rich family?”
Their joke having been overheard, the coworkers looked a bit awkward. But then again, they were all quite a bit older than her, why was she making such a big deal out of it? Did she think she was their boss?
“We were just joking.”
“Oh,” Lu Wanning said flatly. “Not funny.”
An awkward silence filled the break room. After a moment, the group got up and left one by one, silently rolling their eyes at her. Even after walking away, they couldn’t resist muttering under their breaths, “Still too naive. We were just talking trash, what’s it to her? Gets saved once and starts speaking up for the capitalists. Pah!”
Lu Wanning couldn’t seal everyone’s mouths, but she figured that at least for the near future, no one would dare say things she didn’t want to hear.
She looked down at the coffee she never normally drank a full cup. It’d be a waste to pour it out after going to the trouble of getting it, so she took a small sip hah, so bitter.
Espresso without milk or sugar. She still couldn’t get used to it. How could Han Yao ever have liked this stuff?
Han Yao, Han Yao. Han Yao again. It seemed that whenever anything involved Han Yao, Lu Wanning lost control of herself.
She knew those people didn’t actually know Han Yao. To them, the so-called Miss Han was nothing more than a symbol, something equivalent to capital something they could joke about for amusement.
But the moment the words “Miss Han” appeared in their mouths with that mocking tone, she still wanted to charge in, grab them by the collar, and fiercely tell them that they were not allowed to talk about Han Yao that way.
Two weeks had passed since Lu Wanning received that absurd contract, and during all that time she hadn’t received any contact or urging from the other party. But precisely because of this, the matter seemed all the more thorny there was no way to predict when the next time would come, whether a meeting or some turning point.
In any case, meet all changes with constancy. Don’t act rashly.
Just as she was thinking this, her phone buzzed.
Chen Yin: “Come here, I’ve got something for you.”