Zhang Xiyue returned to her place and slept straight through until dark before getting up.
Her stomach was already growling. She sat on the bed and spaced out for a moment before turning on the light.
Dinner was instant noodles with three ham sausages. The noodles were soaked to a texture somewhere between hard and soft—stylishly reminiscent of the perm curls favored by middle-aged and elderly folks.
Zhang Xiyue sat cross-legged in front of the coffee table, the uneven walls casting patches of light and shadow under the lamp.
This apartment was one she'd rented five days ago.
When she'd first transmigrated over, all she had on her were her ID and phone. The phone had no signal, making it as useful as a brick.
But even though the phone was useless, the parts inside were still worth a bit of money. She'd thought it over for a long time, then found a street-side phone repair shop and sold the camera for two hundred yuan.
With that two hundred yuan, she'd taken the subway and then a bus to Yunxi Temple, where she'd temporarily secured a place to eat and sleep for free.
But it was only temporary.
Whether in the novel world or the real world, not having money just wouldn't do.
So when she discovered that her ID card worked in this world too, her first instinct was to take out online loans—small loans, big loans, she'd apply for them all.
After all, if she succeeded in her mission, she'd be going back anyway, so why not take a shortcut to make herself more comfortable?
But that thought had barely surfaced before she suppressed it.
First, the risk of taking out loans was too high. If debt collectors ever showed up at her door, it could easily interfere with her mission.
Second, although she would do everything in her power to return to the real world, she couldn't guarantee she'd actually succeed. If she didn't make it back and was stuck with a pile of high-interest debt, that would be too miserable.
Finally—and this was the important part—the online lending system in the novel world was strict. To get a loan, you had to provide proof of assets or spending records.
Yeah. She had none of that.
No shortcuts available, so she'd have to keep her feet on the ground.
Fortunately, her dual degree in economics and law was still valid in this world, except the name of her graduating university had been swapped for a similarly ranked one from the novel.
She used the temple's public computer to register an account on a knowledge-payment website, earning money by reviewing contracts and helping people avoid legal risks.
She'd gotten lucky too. Not long after registering, she landed a regular client.
The client said little but paid well, sending her a job every day or two, which let her quickly save up a decent sum—enough to comfortably handle life after leaving Yunxi Temple.
Come to think of it, she hadn't contacted the client in two days.
Zhang Xiyue finished her noodles, pulled out a secondhand laptop, and logged into the website with practiced ease.
Sure enough, the backend showed a new file awaiting receipt.
She clicked on the client's avatar, replied with "I'll take a look now," and opened the contract they'd sent.
Today it was a procurement contract.
In just half a month, she'd already reviewed over a dozen types of contracts for him, to the point where she still couldn't figure out what he actually did for a living.
If he was a boss, the contracts he sent her were all trivial. If he was an employee, no employee could be responsible for business across so many departments at once.
It felt like he was being bullied.
But the speed at which he paid suggested he either had a very high income or came from a well-off family.
Someone like that probably wouldn't let others push him around.
Couldn't figure it out.
Zhang Xiyue pinched the bridge of her nose and started reviewing the contract.
Like many times before, the content was mostly minor details, but among the dozens of clauses, there was always one or two that were unreasonable.
She highlighted the problematic parts in red, checked it twice more, and sent it back to the client once she was sure it was correct.
A minute later, the backend notified her that eight hundred yuan had arrived.
Zhang Xiyue's lips curved up. She withdrew the money, then glanced at the client's avatar again—
A gray-white background, a slender wrist with a bright red string tied around it. At a glance in the small image, it almost looked like blood.
Judging by the avatar, they were young, and very chuunibyou, very gloomy, very… yandere.
The moment the word "yandere" popped into her head, Zhang Xiyue couldn't help but laugh, feeling like she was getting a bit paranoid—seeing everyone as a yandere these days.
After finishing the contract, she took a shower and finally settled into a relaxing evening.
Over the next two days, the client didn't contact her, Cheng Mingjiao's company didn't reach out, and her volunteer work came to an end.
Zhang Xiyue spent the most idle 48 hours since transmigrating into the book, until Friday at five in the evening, when she received an onboarding text message.
The message required her to report to work at nine on Monday morning. Seeing she still had time, she went out the next day to buy a few outfits.
Although the client online paid generously, she was new to this world and had too many places needing money, so she only bought clothes on sale.
But she figured as long as they fit well, it didn't matter whether they were discounted or not.
Monday morning arrived quickly.
She got up just after seven, put on light makeup, wore a dress and five-centimeter heels, and tied her hair into a high ponytail.
Looking at her sharp, put-together reflection in the mirror, Zhang Xiyue let out a sigh, wondering how anyone could be so unlucky—transmigrating into a book only to still have to go to work.
The unlucky one arrived at the office promptly at nine.
Unlike the last time she visited, when the place was quiet and empty, this time the office was as lively as a vegetable market.
The market fell silent the moment she walked in. Three people who had been chatting over coffee and milk tea all turned to look at her in unison, like a row of meerkats.
Zhang Xiyue gave a poised smile and waved. "Good morning."
The meerkats were speechless for a moment. Finally, a girl with a round, short face broke the silence. "You scared me—I thought the Emperor had arrived."
Once one person spoke, the others chimed in.
"My heart nearly jumped out of my chest just now…"
"I can't—I need to pop a quick-acting heart pill. That was terrifying."
"Thank goodness, thank goodness…"
The three of them chattered away, and after expressing their lingering fright, they enthusiastically greeted Zhang Xiyue.
"So you're the new assistant! Welcome, welcome. We're all colleagues now."
"You're so pretty—how old are you? Are you a fresh graduate?"
"How's your heart? Blood pressure? Sleep? Mental state holding up okay?"
They surrounded Zhang Xiyue in the middle, firing off question after question.
Zhang Xiyue had no choice but to answer one by one.
"Twenty-eight."
"Not a fresh graduate."
"My health should be… fine."
Zhang Xiyue had always been good at socializing, and she was easygoing and generous by nature, so she quickly warmed up to the three of them.
The round-faced girl who had spoken to her first was named Fangfang, one of the office secretaries Zhou Ce had mentioned earlier.
The only guy in the room was named Li Dong, and the other tall, slim girl was Sun Nian. Both of them, like her, were assistants.
"It's just the three of us and Assistant Zhou in the company right now. Secretary Wu and the others are on a business trip and won't be back until next month," Fangfang said, patting Zhang Xiyue on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we're all easy to get along with."
Zhang Xiyue received her kindness and returned a friendly smile.
After the pleasantries, Fangfang pulled her into a work group chat called "Yuhuang Intelligence Secretarial Office."
Including her, there were nine people in the group. As the newcomer who had just arrived today, Zhang Xiyue politely introduced herself and said she would work hard in the future.
The moment her message went out, Fangfang and the others started going "Hey, hey, hey!"
"Quick, quick—withdraw it!" Li Dong shouted.
Zhang Xiyue had no idea what was going on, but she did as told. Just as she long-pressed the message, Cheng Mingjiao replied: "You're that free?"
Zhang Xiyue: "?"
She didn't have Cheng Mingjiao as a friend on WeChat. The reason she was sure it was him was because his WeChat name was literally "Cheng Mingjiao," and his profile picture was a photo of him in a suit.
"No, no, don't withdraw it—apologize right away!" Fangfang rushed over in her high heels, snatched her phone, and quickly sent a "Sorry."
The people who had just returned to their desks had somehow gathered together again, hands on hips, heads lowered, all staring at Zhang Xiyue's phone.
Zhang Xiyue felt a little nervous under their gaze and was about to ask what was going on when Sun Nian's phone suddenly rang.
"It's Zhou Ce," she said, glancing at it and relaxing. "Someone submitted the wrong project document. The Emperor probably won't have time to deal with the group chat now."
Fangfang and Li Dong immediately let out a sigh of relief.
In the silence, Zhang Xiyue tentatively spoke up. "The Emperor you're talking about… is President Cheng?"
"Yeah, that's what we call him privately," Fangfang reminded her. "And I mean privately."
Zhang Xiyue understood, then asked, "Was there something wrong with what I said just now?"
"Nothing wrong, it's just that the Emperor doesn't like idle chatter in the work group, and he hates emojis too. Just be careful next time." Fangfang stretched lazily and reminded her in a slow, casual tone.
Zhang Xiyue said she'd remember that.
Fangfang was about to say something else when Li Dong suddenly shouted, "The Emperor's arrived downstairs!"
At those words, the three veteran employees sprang into action in a flurry. Fangfang shouted "Why is he so early today?" as she darted back to her desk, quickly grabbed a document, and started flipping through it.
The office suddenly went quiet, leaving only the rustling sound of pages turning.
In the midst of her busyness, Fangfang still remembered to remind Zhang Xiyue that the desk in the corner was hers, and that the employee handbook was on it.
"It's your first day, so just familiarize yourself with the company's rules and regulations for now. We'll assign you work tomorrow," she said.
Zhang Xiyue thanked her and had just sat down at her desk when the office phone let out a shrill ring.
The veteran employees looked at each other as if facing a great enemy. After a moment of exchanged glances, Sun Nian picked up the phone.
"Hello… okay… okay."
The call ended, and Sun Nian cast a sympathetic look at Fangfang. "Sister Fang, President Cheng is already in his office. He wants you to bring him a cup of coffee."
Fangfang took a deep breath, put down her document, and headed out.
She didn't close the door when she left, and from Zhang Xiyue's angle, she could just see the president's office across the way with its door tightly shut, as well as the break room diagonally opposite.
She watched as Fangfang brewed a cup of coffee, carried it from the break room to the office, and then brought it back to the break room untouched.
She dumped it out, brewed another, and repeated the process.
After two or three rounds of this, Zhang Xiyue looked over at Li Dong beside her.
Li Dong was completely used to it. "President Cheng is very picky about his coffee."
“……Every day like this?” Zhang Xiyue asked.
Li Dong nodded, and seeing her puzzled expression, asked in return, “Are you wondering why we don’t strictly replicate his preferred taste according to a set ratio?”
Zhang Xiyue, keenly aware of workplace boundaries, responded with a gentle smile and didn’t voice the question.
Li Dong took the initiative to explain: “Because President Cheng’s standard changes every day.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…Huh?”
Li Dong: “Yesterday he liked it sweet, today he might like it bitter. Tomorrow he wants it hot, the day after he wants it cold. Nobody knows what he’ll like until the moment we brew his coffee.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
What a handful.
As the two were talking, Fangfang emerged from the CEO’s office for the fourth time, and noticing her colleagues staring at her, let out a rueful laugh.
“The meeting starts in half an hour, and I haven’t even familiarized myself with the materials yet,” she sighed deeply. “First I get scolded over coffee, and soon I’ll be scolded for not knowing the meeting agenda.”
Li Dong and Sun Nian both expressed their sympathy.
Zhang Xiyue thought for a moment, then stood up on her own initiative: “Sister Fang, you keep reviewing the materials—I’ll go brew the coffee.”
All three veteran employees turned to look at her at once.
Zhang Xiyue asked amiably, “Is that alright?”
Fangfang was tempted, but quickly came to her senses: “Forget it—I’m afraid you’ll come running out in tears.”
Zhang Xiyue considered her words: “I’m… pretty good under pressure, and my coffee-brewing skills are decent too.”
Workplace rule: if someone offers to help, saying it once might be politeness, but saying it twice means they genuinely want to help.
Fangfang didn’t want to push a difficult task onto a colleague, especially a newcomer.
But reviewing the materials was urgent, and after much deliberation, she finally handed the coffee cup to Zhang Xiyue.
“Xiyue, I’m so incredibly grateful—from today on, you’re my best friend at Yuhuang. But if you can’t get it right, don’t hesitate to call me over. Whatever you do, don’t tough it out. Thank you, thank you…”
Zhang Xiyue was caught between laughter and tears. After carefully asking about Cheng Mingjiao’s requirements, she headed to the break room with a coffee cup and a pocketful of gratitude.
A minute later, the door to the CEO’s office was knocked on.
Zhou Ce: “Come in.”
The door slowly pushed open, and the opulent, traditionally styled Chinese office came into Zhang Xiyue’s view.
Before coming to the CEO’s office, she’d thought the assistant’s office was already nice enough—but compared to this, it was practically a slum.
The Emperor.
Zhang Xiyue recalled the nickname the assistants had given Cheng Mingjiao and found it extremely fitting.
Seeing her walk in, Zhou Ce’s eyes flickered with surprise. Cheng Mingjiao, however, remained composed—he glanced at her briefly before returning his attention to his tablet.
He looked to be in a very bad mood.
Zhang Xiyue stepped forward and gently placed the coffee beside Cheng Mingjiao: “President Cheng, your coffee.”
Cheng Mingjiao picked it up, took a sip, paused, then looked up with dissatisfaction.
“Does it taste wrong?” Zhang Xiyue spoke up proactively.
She was pleasant and patient, and for most people, that would make it hard to complain even if they weren’t satisfied.
But Cheng Mingjiao was clearly not most people. He set the coffee down on the table and said coldly, “It’s terrible.”
“Understood. I’ll brew a fresh cup right away.”
Zhang Xiyue picked up the cup and headed out, lowering the air conditioning by two degrees on her way through the door.
The moment she stepped out, Fangfang rushed over with documents in hand: “What did President Cheng say?”
Zhang Xiyue repeated: “Terrible.”
Fangfang waited for more.
Zhang Xiyue looked at her.
Fangfang caught on: “Just ‘terrible’?”
Zhang Xiyue nodded.
Fangfang let out a sigh of relief: “Thank goodness… Looks like your coffee-making skills really are better than mine. The kindest thing he said to me earlier was asking where I dug up the grave dirt to brew his drink.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
What a vicious tongue.
Another minute passed, and Zhang Xiyue once again entered the CEO’s office with a cup of coffee.
Cheng Mingjiao took two sips and set it down, but this time said nothing.
Zhou Ce gave a subtle nod, signaling she could leave.
Zhang Xiyue turned to go.
“Wait.” Cheng Mingjiao suddenly spoke.
Zhang Xiyue stopped.
“Last Wednesday, did you pass by Wenyuan Avenue in a taxi?”
Zhang Xiyue blinked: “What?”
Cheng Mingjiao narrowed his long eyes, studying her in silence.
The office fell so quiet that only breathing could be heard. Zhou Ce, keeping his eyes down and minding his own business, was sweating over this unusual silence when Cheng Mingjiao suddenly dismissed Zhang Xiyue.
Zhang Xiyue nodded and left, remembering to adjust the air conditioning back to its original setting on her way out. When the three people in the assistant’s office learned she’d made it through successfully, they cheered and pulled her inside.
“How did you do it?” Fangfang asked curiously.
Zhang Xiyue cleared her throat: “I used a little trick that’s not exactly presentable.”
Before transmigrating into the book, she had also worked as an executive assistant. Her boss changed his mind on a whim, and after years under him, her growth had been nothing short of rocket-speed.
And before she started working, her grandmother had spent two years in a nursing home. Zhang Xiyue went over every weekend to volunteer and help out, and in doing so, she met many elderly people with dementia—and let me tell you, every single one of them was harder to handle than the last.
In simple terms, she was very good at dealing with people who had something wrong with their heads.
The moment she'd stepped into the CEO's office earlier, she'd seen that Cheng Mingjiao was in a bad mood, so when she left, she'd deliberately turned down the temperature, physically cooling his emotions.
That cup of coffee wasn't re-brewed either—she'd just added a bit more sugar and brought it back in.
Low temperature, sugar. Even a raging wild boar would settle back down.
Let alone a mere yandere.
Zhang Xiyue was in a good mood. After sharing her work tips with her new colleagues, she went back to reading the employee handbook.
The whole day passed with nothing to do. Near the end of the workday, only Zhang Xiyue remained in the office.
She tidied up a little and was about to clock out and leave when the office door suddenly opened.
Zhang Xiyue instinctively looked up, froze for a moment when her eyes met Cheng Mingjiao's, and immediately stood up. "President Cheng."
Seeing that she was the only one in the room, Cheng Mingjiao's sharply defined brows furrowed. "Where is everyone else?"
"Sister Fang went to deliver documents. Li Dong and Sun Nian are meeting with clients."
Cheng Mingjiao pressed his thin lips together, stared at her for a few seconds, then asked with some reluctance, "Do you know how to drive?"
Zhang Xiyue nodded.
"Come on. We're going to the R&D base."
Zhang Xiyue was startled. "R-right now?"
It was already off-duty time!
Even though she'd taken this job to get close to the male supporting character, that didn't mean he could delay her from clocking out!
Unfortunately, Cheng Mingjiao had already walked off. Zhang Xiyue took a deep breath and jogged after him.
Five minutes later, Zhang Xiyue found herself sitting in that commercial vehicle for the second time—this time as the driver.
Cheng Mingjiao closed his eyes as soon as he got in. Zhang Xiyue drove, stealing a couple of glances at him in the rearview mirror.
A whole day had passed, yet his hair was still immaculate, his shirt free of wrinkles. Only the top button was undone, and with each breath, she could faintly catch a glimpse of his collarbone and the firm muscle beneath.
What a healthy yandere he was.
The R&D base was in the suburbs. The drive alone took over an hour, and by the time they arrived, the sky had already dimmed.
Cheng Mingjiao had slept the whole way. When he woke up and saw Zhang Xiyue about to drive into the base, he quickly warned, "Don't go in. Park in the small plaza up ahead."
Zhang Xiyue glanced at him in the rearview mirror.
The well-rested yandere male supporting character was full of energy. "I'm going to sneak in for a surprise inspection."
Zhang Xiyue: "…"
She silently mourned for the colleagues she'd never met and for herself, forced to work overtime.
Whether in the real world or the novel world, Zhang Xiyue, who could only ever be a wage earner, silently parked the car in the small plaza and followed Cheng Mingjiao toward the base.
It was late May in Phoenix City, not yet fully summer, but the air had already turned warm and dry. The sun had long since set, yet the heat still left people feeling sticky.
The two residential communities near the base were both Yuhuang employee housing. Every evening, many people brought their children and elderly parents to the small plaza for a stroll.
People came and went, laughing and playing.
Zhang Xiyue, bag slung over her shoulder, hurried after Cheng Mingjiao through the noise. Just as her steps quickened, a girl's voice shouted from behind: "Qing Tian!"
Qing Tian?!
The female lead's name?!
The female lead was here too?!
Zhang Xiyue immediately turned around and happened to see a girl with delicate features running toward another young woman.
Shoulder-length hair, a fondness for hair clips, a purple heart-shaped birthmark on her arm… It was definitely the female lead!
In the novel, the first meeting between the female lead and the male supporting character was supposed to be in autumn… How were they running into each other in May?!
…What would happen if they met now? Would the male supporting character fall for her at first sight like in the original story? Then pester her relentlessly like in the original? Get crushed by the male lead and never recover?
Would her mission still succeed?
Would she still be able to go home with her hundred-million bonus?
Countless thoughts flashed through Zhang Xiyue's mind. At the same time, Cheng Mingjiao also heard that shrill voice.
Everyone has instinctive reactions—yanderes included.
He turned toward the sound, and just as he'd rotated about sixty degrees, Zhang Xiyue's right hand suddenly pressed against his left cheek, gently but firmly turning his head back.
Cheng Mingjiao: "?"