Shine on Me

"Why do all the good-looking men have it out for me?" On my way back to the dorm after work, I couldn't help but vent my frustrations to Jiang Rui over the phone.

Jiang Rui, typing away on his computer, brushed me off: "Oh, what's so bad about that? If a beautiful woman gave me trouble, I'd be thrilled."

"...Jiang Rui!"

"Did you ask him how he knew?"

"Of course I asked. Do you think he'd cooperate and answer me?"

"Oh, you don't need to make such a fuss. He was transferred from the Sheng Yuan headquarters, so it's not strange that he knows you're here. But his attitude... Sis, he's a surgeon who became a department manager as soon as he joined Sheng Yuan. Haven't you ever wondered about that?"

"I have."

Of course, I had thought about it, but it didn't seem relevant to me, so I just casually considered it and then set it aside.

Jiang Rui continued: "I heard the internal struggles at Sheng Yuan have been pretty intense these past few years. The old man is deciding on a successor, and he has many sons. Your boss—who knows whose side he's on—but he must have been in the inner circle before being sidelined. Uncle is on good terms with Sheng Yuan's eldest son, right? So I figure you're just collateral damage."

I frowned, instinctively rejecting the idea: "No way, he doesn't seem like that kind of person."

Lin Yusen had an air of uprightness about him, giving off an impression of impeccable integrity. It was hard to imagine him taking out power struggles on me.

"He's the kind of person..." I struggled to explain to Jiang Rui, "He used to be a doctor, the kind who looks like he'd never take bribes."

Jiang Rui was shocked: "Sis, are you serious? He treats you like that, and you still think he's a good guy? Oh man, this is the start of a romance."

"That's beside the point... Jiang Rui, Shanghai and Suzhou aren't far apart. The high-speed train takes just over ten minutes..."

"Alright, alright, I'll stop teasing you. Heh. Still, these people play dirty. If he really wanted to make things hard for you, he wouldn't let you off so easily. He's not that dumb."

"..." Why did I feel like I'd been shot?

"Then I think it's the other possibility—he just doesn't like you. Did you do something to give him a bad impression?"

I was about to confidently say no, but then I remembered the incident with the downloads... and our first meeting in the desk compartment...

I fell silent.

Jiang Rui, who knew me best, burst out laughing on the other end of the line. After grilling me for details and mercilessly teasing me, he sighed, "Sis, you really need to grow up."

"...Alright, I'm at the dorm. Bye."

I decisively hung up. After much deliberation, I concluded that Lin Yusen's attitude toward me was just prejudice and a bad first impression...

Prejudice is the hardest thing to change, so I might as well let it be...

Besides making me work overtime and run errands, it's not like he can do much else.

The following week was exceptionally busy because we had to coordinate with the finance and production departments for a full factory inventory. Inventory checks are exhausting, so they're usually scheduled during slower periods, with staff from each department taking turns...I figured that given Vice President Lin's "special affection" for me, I probably wouldn't be able to escape this task anyway. So I took the initiative and volunteered to participate in the inventory check on the very first day.

At the factory's management center, I was pleasantly surprised to see Ou Qiqi from the finance department assigned to assist with the inventory. I chatted with Qiqi for a while until Xiao Su from the production department, who was in charge of today's inventory, apologized to us: "Qiqi, Xiguang, sorry about this. Our printer broke down this morning and was just fixed. The inventory list hasn't been printed yet. Could you wait here for a bit?"

"No problem, take your time," I replied.

I was more than happy to have a legitimate excuse to slack off. After setting up the printer, Xiao Su had nothing else to do, so she poured us some water and sat down to chat. Soon, her computer beeped, and when she turned to look, she immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Wow, Qiqi, you're missing out big time! Dandan said there's a super handsome guy in your department today."

Qiqi leaned in with interest, "Who? Where's he from?"

"Let me ask Dandan."

Dandan was also from the finance department and shared a dorm with Xiao Su, so they were quite close. Xiao Su didn't hesitate to chat on the web version of QQ right in front of us. After typing away for a while, she said, "Dandan says he's from Bank A."

My hand holding the paper cup trembled slightly.

"Do you know his surname?"

Qiqi said, "Probably not. Dandan works in tax, and foreign banks usually deal with the treasury team..."

Xiao Su replied, "She knows! She's gossiping about it now. Says his name is really cool, with a rare surname—Zhuang. It's really uncommon... Hey, Xiguang, are you okay?"

"I... I just remembered something urgent in the office. I need to go back for a bit. I'll be right back."

"Ah, is it really urgent?" Xiao Su called after me. "The inventory list is almost ready. We'll start soon—"

I had already left her voice far behind.

I hadn't thought about that person in so long. I thought time could fade everything...

I thought...

Maybe time hadn't been enough yet.

But as I leaned against the door between the factory and the office area, gasping for breath, I suddenly felt immensely grateful for this inventory check.

If it weren't for this task, I would have been in the office just now. At such a short distance, before my rationality could curb my impulse, I would have already run to the finance department.

I would have already seen him...

And he would have seen me—this pathetic, unresolved longing from the past...

Unlike now, where I could still turn back. Turn back and stand in a place where I only knew of him but couldn't see him.

Was this progress?

It had to be.

I had already decided to return to the factory for the inventory, but as I stared at the office building not far away, at every window of the finance department, my feet refused to move.

Until I heard the sound of the factory gate opening, and a group of people walked in, chatting among themselves.

Then I felt several gazes land on me.

The most impossible to ignore one...

I weakly met his eyes.

Lin Yusen.

He stood there, looking at me, a safety helmet in his hand, with several production department managers behind him. Of course—part of the factory was under expansion recently, so it wasn't surprising he was here.After a few seconds of silence, he spoke, “If I recall correctly, you should be conducting inventory at the factory area right now.”

I responded somewhat sluggishly, “I’ll head back right away.”

Lin Yusen didn’t say anything. He looked at me with that piercing gaze again, then said, “You’ll be responsible for the inventory this entire week.”

“Why?” I was surprised. Wasn’t it supposed to be on rotation?

“Unauthorized absence.” He coldly threw out these four words before turning to leave with his entourage. After a few steps, he paused and turned back. “Of course, if Miss Nie is unwilling, no one can force her.”

I clenched my fists. “I’d be delighted.”

And so, under the sympathetic gazes of Yin Jie and Yu Hua and the gloating looks of some others in the office, I began a week-long inventory marathon.

The inventory was even more exhausting than the seniors had described. The factory area had several warehouses, each large and towering, requiring the use of lifts to access many areas. Those makeshift lifts had no protective barriers, often stopping at heights of nearly ten meters. I had to lean out to check material labels and count quantities.

After three days of this, my legs were jelly when I stepped off the lift, and I took a nasty fall, leaving my hands and knees bloodied. On the final day, just as things were wrapping up, a part fell from a shelf and hit me on the head.

I felt like I had never endured such hardship in my life.

Yin Jie had offered to take over for me for two days, but I firmly refused. It was just a week—how bad could it be?

Gritting my teeth, I made it to the weekend. When the inventory was finally over, and I walked out of the factory area with the thick stack of inventory lists, I deeply felt that my youth had withered away, leaving me a battered wreck.

“Mom, I’m not coming home this week… Yeah, going out with colleagues.”

After work on Friday, instead of returning to my dorm, I collapsed onto Yin Jie’s new dorm bed in a barely human shape and called my mom.

Once I’d dealt with my mom and hung up, Yin Jie, who was cooking porridge, came over. “Xiguang, why don’t you come out with us tomorrow?”

“No,” I said without hesitation. Tomorrow, I planned to stay in bed all day. If I didn’t even have the energy to go home, how could I possibly go out?

“But you told your mom you were going out with us.”

“I just said that randomly. Should I have told her I’ve been tortured by my boss to the point of immobility? Oh, by the way, when you guys come back from the city tomorrow, bring me some food for dinner.”

“We’re not going to the city tomorrow. Were you even listening earlier?” Yin Jie smacked me lightly.

Of course I hadn’t been listening. I was so tired my ears were practically deaf.

“Then where are you going?”

“Shanghai. We might be back late, so figure out your own dinner.”

“Shanghai?” I froze for a moment, then sat up.

“Yeah. You know I studied up north, right? Now that I’m working down south and it’s so close, of course I’d want to visit Shanghai. Ah, it’s so convenient from here—just hail a cab right outside the company…”

“I’m coming too.”

“…Yu Hua said she wants to visit Jing’an Temple to pray. Didn’t expect her to be so devout, but she still eats plenty of meat… Huh?” Yin Jie stopped her rambling. “Xiguang, what did you say?”

“Nothing.” I lay back down, trying to sound as casual as possible. “I’m coming too.”