In the following period, Zhou Wan experienced increasingly frequent harassment from Huang Hui.
He often summoned her to his office and closed the door.
Zhou Wan's young age and rapid promotion to department head had already aroused colleagues' suspicions. Now, rumors swirled throughout the company—enough gossip to drown her.
Zhou Wan neither exposed him nor argued back.
She had always been skilled at enduring since childhood.
She silently recorded all of Huang Hui's verbal harassment and inappropriate advances, saving his explicit chat messages and images in a compressed folder.
On the last weekend before Spring Festival, Zhou Wan was awakened by her doorbell.
Having recently ordered daily necessities online, with several packages already delivered, she assumed the early visitor was another courier. Without much thought, she opened the door.
Huang Hui stood at the doorstep, holding a bag of breakfast.
"Director Huang?" Zhou Wan's drowsiness vanished. "What brings you here?"
"You haven't eaten breakfast, have you? I was passing by and brought some up for you." As he spoke, he squeezed past her into the apartment, striding inside before she could stop him.
Huang Hui acted as if he owned the place, fetching a bowl from the kitchen.
"Director Huang, there's no need to trouble yourself," Zhou Wan said quickly, hoping to expedite his departure.
To her shock, Huang Hui sat down, wrapped an arm around her waist, and forced her onto his lap.
Zhou Wan's hair stood on end; her entire body stiffened.
Unable to contain herself, she let out a sharp scream. All her carefully maintained composure shattered in that moment. Alone with him, vastly outmatched in strength, she struggled to break free but couldn't move. His grip around her waist was painfully tight.
Fortunately, her hand brushed against a fruit knife on the table.
Spotting it, Huang Hui immediately released her.
Zhou Wan's clothes were disheveled, but she had no time to adjust them. Staggering backward, she put distance between them.
"What's with the act?" Huang Hui sneered, baffled. "Enough already, Xiao Zhou. I've been plenty patient with you."
Zhou Wan felt as if every inch of her skin, every pore, was being defiled.
Trembling uncontrollably, her breath ragged, she pointed the fruit knife at him and shrieked, "Get out! Get out of here now!"
Only then did Huang Hui realize she was serious.
Gone was the gentle, refined woman he once knew—this was someone willing to risk everything.
Cursing her vehemently, Huang Hui stormed out, grumbling insults under his breath.
Zhou Wan slammed the door shut and locked it immediately. The knife clattered to the floor as she collapsed, legs weak and drained of strength.
A long time passed before she managed to push herself up using the wall for support and made her way to her computer.
Recalling how Huang Hui had treated Sister Li in the past, Zhou Wan knew she would inevitably share the same fate if she didn't act.
She booted up her computer and opened her email.
Starting from that very night, Zhou Wan had begun investigating Huang Hui.
Fortunately, she discovered online that he was recently involved in a collaborative project with another company. Coincidentally, a university classmate of hers was part of that project. This classmate, sociable and well-connected, had gathered plenty of insider gossip from colleagues.
Zhou Wan enlisted her classmate to dig into Huang Hui's affairs.
She learned that Huang Hui was actually a live-in son-in-law. Though he held the title of general manager at a subsidiary, he answered to his father-in-law and wife in all matters. Despite being under their thumb, he still couldn't control his impulses—a truly foolish move.
Zhou Wan compiled all the evidence of Huang Hui's sexual harassment over the past month and sent the compressed file to his wife and father-in-law.
…On the weekend, Zhou Wan slept for two days.
When she arrived at the company on Monday, she overheard colleagues whispering about something. They said the Old Director and his daughter had come and were currently in Director Huang's office.
With such a big commotion, she wondered what had happened.
Zhou Wan silently returned to her seat and began working.
About half an hour later, the office door opened.
The Old Director walked out, with Huang Hui following closely behind, continuously apologizing and begging for mercy. There wasn't a trace left of his former domineering demeanor.
Zhou Wan looked up and saw the woman striding quickly toward her, raising her hand and slapping her hard.
Smack—
Zhou Wan's head jerked to the side, her cheek numb with pain, accompanied by ringing in her ears.
"Slut!" the woman glared at her viciously. "Why couldn't you do anything else but seduce someone?!"
Instantly, murmurs of discussion arose around them.
Zhou Wan widened her eyes in disbelief, staring at the woman.
"I didn't," Zhou Wan said.
"You didn't?" the woman sneered. "Can one hand clap alone make a sound? Flies don't go after uncracked eggs!"
With her back to the crowd, she looked at Zhou Wan, her eyes fierce yet clear.
Zhou Wan immediately understood.
She had made a mistake.
By using such an undignified and disgraceful method, she might have succeeded in pulling Huang Hui down from his position, but they needed a scapegoat to save face.
Nothing she said would matter now.
No one would believe her.
At ten in the morning, she packed her things and, like Sister Li two months earlier, left the company.
At noon, she sat alone on a stone bench downstairs from the office building. The wind chilled her ankles as she called Sister Li to ask if she wanted to have lunch together.
...
After leaving the company, Sister Li had found a new job.
With her seniority and impressive resume, she was already back on track.
After hearing Zhou Wan's story, she sighed and said, "You're too young. If such methods were effective, I wouldn't have been fired either."
Zhou Wan lowered her eyes. "But I did nothing, and no one believes me."
"Zhou Wan," she smiled faintly, "if there were so much empathy in this world, we wouldn't be in this situation. Perhaps when the next woman faces something like this, someone will finally understand what we've been through."
After lunch, Zhou Wan bid farewell to Sister Li.
With nowhere to go and no desire to return home, she wandered aimlessly outside.
It wasn't until evening that she slowly made her way back, her heels rubbed raw and stinging with pain.
She took the elevator upstairs, intending to sleep and worry about the future tomorrow.
But as she reached her door, she paused. Her luggage had been thrown outside. She tried to open the door, but the lock had been changed and wouldn't budge.
Zhou Wan immediately called her landlord.
The landlord claimed there had been a mistake with the previous contract—the apartment had been reserved by someone else long ago, and she had mixed things up. She needed to move out, and as compensation, she would be given eight hundred yuan.
Zhou Wan hung up directly.
She knew exactly who was behind this.
Arguing was pointless.
Zhou Wan crouched down, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and stuffed her scattered belongings into her suitcase. She went downstairs and dragged her luggage aimlessly along the street. The wind grew stronger, and dark clouds gathered, as if rain was coming.
She had no idea where to go.
Finding a new place to rent at such a late hour wouldn't be easy.
Just as she passed a bus stop, Zhou Wan, exhausted from walking, sat down.So much had happened today—being beaten, forced to resign, framed, misunderstood, and then driven out—yet she didn’t feel like crying at all, only exhausted.
So very tired.
Half of her 24 years had been spent in this kind of weariness.
But at least she was used to it.
Sometimes, she truly wished she could just stop, give up, and not move forward anymore.
Zhou Wan leaned back wearily, her head resting against the light board behind her, and closed her eyes.
Soon, a heavy rain began to fall. The wind blew against her, chilling her to the bone.
But she couldn’t even muster the energy to pull her clothes tighter. She had no strength left.
The sharp sound of tires screeching against the pavement reached her ears, but Zhou Wan didn’t open her eyes until the wind blowing against her eased considerably.
She opened her eyes, her gaze slowly lifting.
Lu Xixiao stood before her, looking down at her from above.
His shoulders had broadened considerably, and just by standing there, he blocked the biting wind for her.
“What are you doing here?” The boy had grown into a man, his voice now deeper and more resonant.
Zhou Wan looked at him, unable to speak.
Lu Xixiao glanced at her suitcase and the cardboard boxes stacked on top, filled with office supplies. It was as if the word “destitute” was written all over her.
“Kicked out?”
“Mm.” Zhou Wan responded.
“Then find another job.” Lu Xixiao looked at her, his tone indifferent, devoid of any warmth. “Come keep me company. I’ll pay you.”
Zhou Wan’s eyelashes trembled slightly.
Being paid for companionship—to put it bluntly, wasn’t that just being kept?
If anyone else had said such a thing, Zhou Wan would have felt insulted, but at that moment, she couldn’t react.
She knew Lu Xixiao wasn’t that kind of person.
He was so successful now—what couldn’t he get? Why would he need to pay for it?
Zhou Wan’s reaction was a bit slow, making her seem dazed. “Why?” she asked.
He sneered, lifting her chin with one hand. “It’s definitely not because I love you.”
Zhou Wan obediently raised her head, her gaze soft as she looked into his eyes. “I know.”
Lu Xixiao’s expression darkened further, his grip on her cheek tightening. Lowering his voice, he said, “Zhou Wan, it’s because this is what you owe me. Come keep me company, and when I’m tired of you, I’ll let you go.”
Only this way could he completely forget her, let her go.
A red rose must wither and fade over time before it can become a mere speck of mosquito blood, forgotten.
Zhou Wan understood this logic too.
She had always understood Lu Xixiao in the past, and even after six years, she still understood him.
“But I promised your grandfather that I wouldn’t have anything to do with you ever again.”
“The Lu family has nothing to do with me and can’t control me,” Lu Xixiao said. “Besides, Zhou Wan, I’m telling you, not asking you.”
“If I come to keep you company,” Zhou Wan asked, “will it be easier for you to let go?”
The words sounded all too familiar, making Lu Xixiao’s eyes burn.
The cold wind swept in, bringing with it memories of the past.
…
“If I date you, will you be happy?”
…
With her words, the image of the girl she had been suddenly materialized before his eyes again.
He thought he had long forgotten.
But it turned out that as long as she appeared, every detail of the past came rushing back.
Back then, they had been standing downstairs in the residential complex. Zhou Wan was about to walk inside when he called out to her, abruptly asking if she wanted to date him.
Zhou Wan stood five meters away from him, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, her skin pale, her pupils dark as ink—pure and innocent.Lu Xixiao lowered his gaze, forcing himself to pull his thoughts away from the memories. He said quietly, "Perhaps."
He gave the same answer as he had years ago.
...
In the end, Zhou Wan carried her suitcase and placed it in Lu Xixiao's car.
He didn't offer to help, watching with an indifferent expression.
She was drenched from head to toe. She pulled a coat from her suitcase, laid it on the expensive leather seat, and got in the car.
Lu Xixiao got in and glanced back at her. "Am I your chauffeur?"
Zhou Wan got out again and moved to the passenger seat.
Neither of them spoke.
Lu Xixiao started the car and soon merged onto the elevated highway. Raindrops pounded heavily against the windshield, only to be wiped away by the wipers.
Zhou Wan silently turned her head to look out the window.
From the very beginning, her relationship with Lu Xixiao had been unhealthy, filled with lies and deception.
So, it should end in an equally unhealthy way.
Let them become entangled once more.
Until weariness grew between them, and they would never see each other again.
OpenNovel