Chapter 3
** You Picked Well**
The stairwell, like the residential complex itself, was somewhat dated but not particularly dilapidated. The floor was gray cement. Su Hao walked up the steps one by one until she reached the third floor. There were two units per floor. The key was in the door of Room 301, and the door wasn’t fully shut. She pulled the key out, opened the door, and walked inside. The light in the room was decent, though the area near the kitchen and dining room was a bit darker.
It was an old-style apartment. Facing the entrance were two rooms.
She closed the iron door, then the wooden one, and pushed her suitcase into the master bedroom before coming back out to start cleaning.
The place was quite clean, actually. There wasn’t much to do. By the time she finished, it was nearly noon. She wasn’t very hungry, so she sat on the sofa, scrolled through her phone, first texting Su Qian to let her know she was safe, then taking photos of the apartment and sending them to her mother and Liao Yun. After that, she opened her contacts and typed the name “Zhou Yang.”
Zhou Yang’s WeChat profile popped up at the top.
She couldn’t remember when she had added him. They had never spoken on WeChat anyway. In those past years, she had been too busy to use the app much.
After clicking on his profile, Su Hao got straight to the point.
**Su Hao:** How much did you pay upfront? Let me pay you back.
After sending the message, she waited.
About five minutes later.
**Zhou Yang:** XXXX
Su Hao transferred the money.
Seven or eight minutes passed on the other end before he accepted it.
**Zhou Yang:** Here’s the lease agreement.
**Su Hao:** Okay.
She opened the contract and looked it over. The lease was for six months, with one month’s rent as deposit and paid monthly. There was no property management fee. The total of utilities and rent seemed quite cheap. Most importantly, she could afford it.
Su Hao breathed a sigh of relief and saved the photos.
The chat page fell quiet. After a moment’s hesitation, she tapped on his profile picture to view his Moments.
He had set it to show only the last three days.
In those three days, he had posted two updates.
The first was a paper about aviation.
The second was a racetrack photo. There were many nice cars, and many handsome men and beautiful women. He was far away in the shot, barely visible—just a silhouette smoking.
He wore a black T-shirt and trousers. Even among the crowd, he was extremely eye-catching.
Su Hao looked at it for a while, then quietly backed out.
His life, after all, was very different from hers.
—
Liao Yun didn’t have much work experience either, so she couldn’t offer Su Hao much advice. Su Hao could only flip through more books, hoping to put what she had learned to use.
Early the next morning, Su Hao left the house with a small bag. Since she wasn’t familiar with the transportation routes, she took a taxi directly to Festina. The Festina logo was easy to recognize. By the time she arrived, the morning rush hour had already passed. Only a few scattered people were in the lobby.
Su Hao walked over with her resume to find the front desk.
The receptionist was very pretty, with delicate makeup. She took the resume, glanced at it, then looked down at her memo pad. “Go straight up to the sixteenth floor and find General Manager Zeng.”
Su Hao took back her resume, smiled, and said, “Thank you.”
The receptionist nodded and didn’t pay her any further attention.
Su Hao walked to the elevator and pressed the floor button.
The place was so brightly lit that even shadows reflected off the surfaces. She was a little unaccustomed to it and found herself instinctively looking at the reflected shadows.
*Ding—*
The elevator doors opened.
Su Hao stepped out, asked for directions, and made her way to the financial director’s office to find General Manager Zeng. Zeng was on the phone. Hearing his assistant’s voice, he looked up and saw the woman standing beside her. He paused for a second before realizing that this seemed to be the financial assistant that Assistant Lu had arranged for yesterday.
Assistant Lu hadn’t clarified who she was, but since he had dared to arrange it, she was probably somewhat connected to General Manager Zhou. Not that it had been confirmed.
Zeng said a few more words into the phone, then hung up and nodded to Su Hao. “Come in.”
Su Hao took out her resume, walked in, and placed it on Zeng’s desk.
“I’ve already seen this. Your name is Su Hao?” Zeng glanced at the resume, tapped his finger on the desk, and asked.
“Yes. Hello, General Manager Zeng.” Su Hao spoke politely.
Zeng raised his hand. “Have a seat.”
Su Hao sat down.
Zeng said, “Let’s have a brief chat to get to know each other a bit better.”
“Okay.” Su Hao was a little nervous inside, but her expression remained calm. She looked very gentle. Zeng asked some questions while sizing her up.
No makeup? Just lipstick?
Her skin was nice.
But she looked far too domestic and demure.
This type probably didn’t have much of a connection with General Manager Zhou.
Besides, General Manager Zhou didn’t dip his pen in the company ink.
Zeng immediately felt much more relaxed. As long as she wasn’t a girlfriend or the boss’s wife, the pressure wasn’t as great.
After a brief conversation, Zeng was quite satisfied with Su Hao. The stone in Su Hao’s heart also fell. Zeng’s assistant came in, took Su Hao, and led her to the finance department.
—
There were already three people in the finance department: one cashier and two accountants.
The cashier was Chen Yu, slightly younger, with a fairly delicate appearance.
One of the accountants was Lu Mimi, a bit older than Chen Yu but still looking very young. She was rather striking, wearing very high heels, with a somewhat arrogant demeanor.
The other accountant was very steady—Zhang Xian. She was the oldest of the three, three years older than Su Hao, and had a rather stern air about her.
As soon as they entered, Zhang Xian pointed to a desk and told Su Hao to clean it up first.
Lu Mimi glanced at Su Hao, clicked her tongue, turned around, and continued with her own work.
Only Chen Yu blinked at Su Hao in greeting.
Su Hao returned her smile, stood by the desk, and began tidying up the pile of receipts, bills, reimbursement forms, and so on.
—
Around ten in the morning, on the sixteenth floor of Festina, the elevator doors opened. Assistant Lu walked behind Zhou Yang, holding some documents. Zhou Yang was looking down at his phone, a cigarette between his fingers, scrolling. He let out a soft scoff. After a moment, he began typing with his long, slender fingers. As he passed the finance department, he happened to look up. His long, narrow eyes swept over casually.
He saw a woman in a black A-line skirt and white blouse standing by a desk. The skirt suit accentuated her figure perfectly—curves in all the right places, a waist as slender as a willow branch, and jet-black hair like ink.
Even from behind, she was a striking sight.
Zhou Yang’s pace faltered slightly. He looked at her for a few more moments.
Who was this?
He turned his head, about to ask Assistant Lu.
Then the woman turned around. Her side profile appeared, and then she looked up and saw Zhou Yang. Their eyes met. Zhou Yang got a clear look at her bare face.
He paused for half a second, then raised an eyebrow.
After that, he strode away.
Su Hao turned her gaze back and continued what she was doing.
Assistant Lu hurried to catch up with Zhou Yang. Before leaving, he looked at Su Hao several more times. This was the new financial assistant, Su Hao.
The desk was already clean. Su Hao was sorting the receipts into categories when she heard Lu Mimi stand up, take Chen Yu’s ledger book, and say, “I’ll hand this in to Zhou Yang for you.”
Chen Yu pouted but seemed unable to resist. Huffing with anger, she watched Lu Mimi’s high heels click-clack away, then turned back to complain to Zhang Xian.
“She relies on how much General Manager Zhou spoils her and just calls him by his name outright. Hmph.”
Zhang Xian seemed disdainful of their little power struggle. “Just finish recording the accounts. Count the cash in the safe. If you can’t do it alone, ask Su Hao to help.”
Hearing her own name, Su Hao immediately turned around, waiting to be called.
Chen Yu glanced at Su Hao and said with a smile, “Come help me, then.”
“Okay.” Su Hao was more than happy to. She couldn’t just keep tidying her desk forever. She walked over, pulled up a chair, and sat down next to Chen Yu.
Chen Yu picked up the ledger, which had many entries tucked inside. She pointed to the computer screen. “Enter these one by one. Let me know when you’re done.”
“Alright.”
—
They stayed busy until nearly 11:40 a.m. Since Su Hao was new, she didn’t know where to go for lunch. Chen Yu took her downstairs to the second-floor cafeteria. The entire cafeteria was decorated in a very modern style. The whole building belonged to Festina, so employees flooded to the second floor to eat.
Most of them were young. People from the development department, the engineering department—they all greeted Chen Yu and asked who the person next to her was.
Chen Yu introduced her with a smile.
At first, Su Hao was a little nervous, but she quickly relaxed. When people greeted her, she nodded and smiled back.
They got their rice, dishes, and soup and sat at a high table by the window. The air conditioning was cool there. As soon as she sat down, Chen Yu let out a breath. “So nice and cool.”
Su Hao took a sip of her soup first.
In front of them was a floor-to-ceiling window with a clear view of the first floor outside. Just then, a bright red Maserati screeched to a stop in front of the building.
The sunroof opened. A woman in a short-sleeved, midriff-baring shirt sat in the driver’s seat, phone in hand, looking up. Her face was stunningly beautiful, like a bold, blazing rose—extremely eye-catching.
Everyone sitting at the row of high tables turned to look at her.
She even stuck one long leg out onto the ground, as if about to get up.
“She’s here to see General Manager Zhou again. Too bad he’s in a meeting.” Chen Yu chuckled, tapped on the glass with her fingertip, making a thumping sound.
When they had left the office, the meeting room door had been closed, the lights on inside. Zhang Xian had also been called into the meeting. Su Hao picked up a bite of food with her chopsticks and ate it, her gaze still on the woman outside, who was still on the phone and seemed a little impatient.
Lu Mimi, who was also eating nearby, clicked her tongue. “They say when a woman chases a man, it’s like a thin veil—easy to pierce. Looks like Miss Li here still isn’t giving up.”
“She’s been at it for quite a while.”
Hearing this, Chen Yu leaned across in front of Su Hao and shot back at Lu Mimi, “At least General Manager Zhou gives her some response. It’s bound to happen sooner or later. Just wait and see.”
Lu Mimi rolled her eyes fiercely at Chen Yu. “What do you know?”
“You think just because you look gentle and virtuous, General Manager Zhou will like you? Pfft. He’s not into your type.” Lu Mimi pointed her red-nailed finger at Chen Yu, moving it up and down in a very contemptuous manner. Su Hao quietly scooted back a little, not wanting the fire to spread to her.
She lowered her head and continued eating in silence.
“I’m not gentle or virtuous,” Chen Yu said, opening her mouth as if to bite.
Lu Mimi snorted. Her gaze happened to fall on Su Hao, and she immediately said, “True. After seeing Assistant Su, I realize you don’t even measure up to ‘gentle and virtuous.'”
Chen Yu was so angry she almost lunged at Lu Mimi.
Just then, downstairs, *thud*—a car door closed.
Miss Li stepped out in her high heels, phone in hand, and walked up the steps. That red Maserati was left arrogantly parked right at the entrance.
Several of them watched her disappear up the steps.
Chen Yu stopped trying to berate Lu Mimi. She looked down and continued eating, muttering, “What’s wrong with gentle and virtuous? General Manager Zhou just has no taste.”
“He likes thorny roses. Hmph.”
Her voice was very soft, a mumble.
It sounded a little resentful.
Su Hao glanced at her.
Chen Yu had a delicate face, but her makeup was quite heavy. It seemed she was also interested in him.
Back when Su Hao pursued him, she really hadn’t known what type he liked.
Bare-faced.
Always doing gentle things.
She smiled to herself and took another sip of her soup.
—
After lunch, fruit was handed out. Everyone got a fresh-keeping box. Su Hao and Chen Yu each took one upstairs. They had eaten slowly, so the elevator wasn’t crowded anymore—it was quite empty.
When they reached the sixteenth floor, the elevator doors opened with a *ding*. As the two women stepped out, they looked up and saw Miss Li standing outside the meeting room, one long leg swinging, waiting impatiently.
Just then, the meeting room door opened. Zhou Yang walked out, tugging at his collar, and came face to face with Miss Li. “I have another meeting this afternoon. Did you come all the way here just to eat our cafeteria food?”
“That wouldn’t be so bad,” Miss Li said, standing up straight, her tone delicate and soft.
“Fine by me.” Zhou Yang took a cigarette from Assistant Lu and was about to light it when his peripheral vision caught Su Hao and the other woman. Chen Yu quickly greeted him. “Good afternoon, General Manager Zhou.”
Zhou Yang curled his lips into a smile. “Afternoon.”
Su Hao also nodded at him. “Good afternoon, General Manager Zhou.”
Zhou Yang nodded back.
Su Hao pushed open the office door and walked in with Chen Yu.
The door closed behind them, blocking out Miss Li’s scrutinizing gaze. Su Hao sat down in her office chair, opened her fruit box, and noticed a WeChat notification on her phone.
She reached over and picked it up.
It was from Zhou Yang.
She hesitated for a moment, then swiped it open.
He had sent two photos.
Both were of men.
Both very handsome.
One of them looked a bit roguish.
Su Hao hesitated, then chose that one and forwarded it back to him.
**Su Hao:** This one.
A few minutes later, WeChat beeped.
**Zhou Yang:** You have good taste.
**Su Hao:** You picked well.
