The glance that had come through the crowd moments ago felt like an illusion it lasted only an instant before the shareholder surnamed Han turned her gaze toward President Gao, whose bleeding had yet to stop.
Her eyes narrowed like a cat’s, and then she put on just the right amount of concern: “Did an employee get hurt?”
Though this explanation stretched credibility, since the shareholder had offered her a way out, how could Xu Zhen not take it? She nodded repeatedly. “Yes, an unexpected incident. Forgive us for disturbing you.”
With that, Xu Zhen looked back, her tone still gentle but her gaze icy, laced with warning. “Why haven’t you taken the injured person to the hospital yet?”
Several employees hurriedly ushered President Gao away. With the shareholder present, no one dared say anything more, and the crowd scattered like startled birds.
Taking advantage of the chaos, a coworker tugged at Lu Wanning’s sleeve and pulled her into an empty conference room.
“Wanning…” The coworker’s eyes were full of deep concern.
Chen Yin was five years older than Lu Wanning, a senior member of her team and her mentor. Under such a gaze, Lu Wanning suddenly felt her nose sting, and she awkwardly turned her head away.
“I’m sorry, jie. I’ve caused trouble for you too,” she said in a muffled voice.
Chen Yin smoothed down a stray lock of Lu Wanning’s hair. “There’s no trouble at all. I was just worried about you.”
She didn’t say more, only sighed.
Lu Wanning fought hard to keep her tears from falling and managed a faint smile. “Come help me pack up my things, jie.”
She knew she couldn’t stay. No matter what the truth was, the company would never accept her again.
News of what had just happened had clearly spread through the entire office at lightning speed. On her way back to her desk, even a passing cleaner shot her strange looks, looking her up and down.
Fortunately, she hadn’t left many things at her desk, and she finished packing within minutes.
Chen Yin found an empty shopping bag for Lu Wanning. She took it and carefully tucked her everyday water bottle inside. In that moment, she couldn’t hold back her tears any longer a few drops fell into the bag, merging with its creases.
Chen Yin patted her shoulder and said softly, “There’s no rush. Take your time. The shareholder is still here. They won’t kick you out that quickly.”
No.
It was precisely because Han Yao was here that she had to leave immediately.
But Lu Wanning couldn’t bring herself to say this. She only lowered her head, opened her phone, and quickly locked the screen again.
Too much had happened in such a short time, leaving her thoughts tangled and her heart unsettled.
President Gao’s fury, the panic of losing her job and the helplessness of reuniting with that person.
All these emotions intertwined in her heart, nearly swallowing her whole.
As for that person Lu Wanning had always known she would see her again someday, but she had never imagined it would be under such humiliating, awkward circumstances. She didn’t know how she should react; she only wanted to leave this place as fast as possible.
Han Yao…
The moment those two characters rolled through her heart, it was like an old scar splitting open again. She had thought she’d forgotten long ago, but that had been nothing but self-deception.
Lu Wanning’s fingers clenched tightly around the shopping bag filled with her belongings. Just as she was about to stand and leave, she saw Chen Yin glance down at her phone, then look up in surprise. “Wanning… President Xu wants you in the conference room.”
“Me?”
“Mm.” Chen Yin was full of confusion too, but the text message she had just received had clearly named Lu Wanning by name and told her to come over.
Everyone knew this shareholder was visiting the company today specifically to discuss business with President Xu Zhen. Why would she want to meet, at this critical moment, an employee who had caused a scene? It made no sense at all.
Chen Yin couldn’t figure it out, but she sensed something keenly and poked Lu Wanning’s arm. “Go now. President Xu never bothers with these things normally. If she’s calling for you, maybe there’s a turning point.”
She didn’t understand why Lu Wanning’s expression grew increasingly grim, her lovely face turning deathly pale, without a trace of color left.
Lu Wanning murmured, “No…”
She was a newcomer who had only recently joined. Xu Zhen wouldn’t even know her name.
The one calling her over was Han Yao. She knew that better than anyone.
She had to leave now.
Lu Wanning picked up her bag, along with the plastic bag stained with her tears, and without a word headed straight for the elevator bay, ignoring Chen Yin’s anxious attempts to stop her from behind. “Wanning, Wanning!”
Chen Yin ran after her, jabbing hard at the down arrow. The six available elevators all seemed to be deliberately defying her, refusing to come to this floor, insisting on stopping one by one at every other level.
As if mocking her futile resistance.
It was working hours, so no one came to the elevator bay, which made the sudden sound of footsteps especially crisp. It was a voice she wasn’t very familiar with. “Lu Wanning.”
Lu Wanning whipped around like a startled bird and saw Xu Zhen’s face.
She had heard about this executive’s style decisive, never wasting a moment.
Just like now, with Xu Zhen’s brief, commanding tone: “Let’s have a talk.”
Lu Wanning took a deep breath. “There’s no need, is there?”
Xu Zhen raised an eyebrow. “You’re a fresh graduate, right? What, is it that easy to find a job these days? You don’t even have the courage to fight for yourself you’re just going to walk away like this?”
“…”
“Last chance.” With that, Xu Zhen turned around. “Up to you.”
Lu Wanning glanced through the glass outside. The conference room Xu Zhen entered was empty; no one else was inside.
She couldn’t read the woman’s intentions, but looking around and seeing no sign of Han Yao, her guard lowered slightly.
After hesitating for a few seconds, she sat down across from Xu Zhen.
Bottles of water were neatly arranged on the table. Xu Zhen casually twisted one open and drank more than half of it in one go. “Go ahead,” she said. “What happened this morning? Why did you hit someone?”
“I…”
Xu Zhen rubbed her brow. “Do you know how important today was? With that stunt you pulled, my bonuses for three quarters nearly went down the drain.”
“I’m sorry.” Lu Wanning hung her head in guilt, her lips trembling. “I…”
She slowly recounted the whole thing, though there was really little to tell nothing more than President Gao trying to grope her, and her being unable to bear it any longer.
“I’m sorry for affecting you.”
Xu Zhen drained the bottle completely. She had nearly failed to smooth things over in front of the shareholder earlier and had broken out in a nervous sweat; now she needed to rehydrate properly.
“All right, you don’t need to say any more of that,” she said. “I’ll handle this matter.”
Lu Wanning was slightly stunned. “The company isn’t firing me?”
“If what you said is true, no.”
“But…” How could that be?
Xu Zhen didn’t hide anything from her, telling her directly: “A shareholder takes this matter very seriously and specifically instructed us to investigate thoroughly. They want the company to protect its employees’ rights.” Then her tone brightened. “As it happens, I’ve been wanting to get rid of that Gao anyway.”
So that was it. Besides Han Yao, what other explanation could there be?
Lu Wanning fell silent.
A probing look gradually surfaced in Xu Zhen’s eyes. In all her years of work, she had met plenty of people. Everyone talked business; the higher the position, the less anyone bothered with other people’s affairs.
Yet that young shareholder, upon witnessing this scene, not only showed no anger but instructed them to handle it fairly and the bias in her words was unmistakable.
Xu Zhen didn’t believe for a second that this was coincidence.
“By the way, do you know President Han?” she asked softly.
Lu Wanning’s heart lurched, and she hurried to deny it: “No… I don’t know her.”
But how could Xu Zhen miss the flicker of panic in her eyes? She understood at once, though she didn’t bother to expose such a clumsy, childish cover-up.
“Go home early. No need to come in these next few days. I’ll contact you once there’s a result.”
“Thank you, President Xu.”
That day, Lu Wanning was practically in a daze, barely aware of how she even got home. The afternoon subway was nearly empty. She stared blankly at the white carriage, and only when the conductor announced the terminus did she snap out of it and get off.
Her roommate was still at work; she was alone in the apartment, and the already small place suddenly felt empty.
The lock was intact. No one had been here. For now.
The name “Han Yao” hung over her like a suspended blade, and she was the condemned prisoner on the guillotine, never knowing when the blade would fall, with nowhere to run.
No one could understand why she was so terrified.
Lu Wanning collapsed onto the sofa. Weariness washed over her, and the softness of the cushions suddenly carried her back to when she was sixteen. She and Han Yao had been lying on an even bigger sofa together. She was about to fall asleep, but even with her back turned, she could feel that gaze impossible to ignore.
She looked back. Han Yao was watching her without blinking.
“What.” Lu Wanning was too sleepy to speak clearly. “There’s nothing… on my face.”
“I like looking at you.”
“What’s there to look at?”
A faint smile curved Han Yao’s lips. She reached out and touched Lu Wanning’s forehead with her fingertip. “Mm. Something to look at.”
Her finger didn’t leave. Instead, it drifted gently down along Lu Wanning’s brow, the bridge of her nose, roaming across her whole face like a falling petal.
“Liar…” Lu Wanning mumbled. It tickled; she instinctively reached up to push the hand away, but Han Yao caught her hand.
They were very close now, a familiar fragrance seeping into every breath.
“Where’s the lie?”
“You’re the pretty one ” Lu Wanning thought Han Yao looked at herself in the mirror every day, so how could she possibly find Lu Wanning pretty?
She had to be lying.
On that exquisite, doll-like face of Han Yao’s, the smile seemed to deepen for a moment, though only briefly, before it settled back into her usual, perfectly measured elegance.
“Go to sleep,” she said.
Lu Wanning slept all the way until night. When she woke, she was startled because meeting her eyes once again were those pupils, black and white, sharp and clear, like little flames.
Han Yao was still watching her, that gaze neither dream nor waking.
“I could never get tired of looking at you,” she said. “I want to spend my whole life just watching you.”
A whole life, what a distant word.
“Wanning, why did you fall asleep on the couch?”
The sound of the door opening woke Lu Wanning. Her roommate peeled something off the door and, as she came in changing her shoes, wondered aloud, “Why is there a note on our door?”
The pale green sticky note had nothing written on it just a small stick-figure doodle drawn in pen.
A lemon.