Not having been home for several days, Yun Li opened the windows to air out the place before starting to tidy up. While checking the fridge, she found a few mangoes left over from making towel rolls, which had gone bad after sitting there for so long.
The decision to go to Deng Chuqi’s place had been made in such a hurry. Although they later took her back home to grab some clothes, she hadn’t thought about this at the time.
Yun Li took them all out and placed them on the counter, staring at them.
Earlier, Fu Shize had even asked her where she bought those towel rolls. Thinking about it now, could it be that his sudden patience and advice were because of the towel rolls she made?
Although her original intention had been to ask him if he had any objections to her working at EAW.
But whatever the reason.
Her heart, which had been uneasy the entire way, finally settled back into place.
At the very least, this proved he didn’t dislike her, nor did he feel any aversion to the possibility of her working at the same company as him.
Every time she encountered Fu Shize, Yun Li’s emotions would swing wildly. Yet it wasn’t entirely negative.
She could be utterly crushed by a single action of his, left disheartened.
But with just one word from him, she could revive like embers reigniting, rallying her spirits once more.
Like a can of flat soda, shaken vigorously, only to fizz back to life with countless bubbles rising one by one.
Her expression was dazed for a long moment before she suddenly curved her lips slightly.
Snapping out of it, Yun Li decided to throw the mangoes away and grabbed a trash bag. Remembering Fu Shize’s final words, she paused. With each mango she tossed, she muttered a word: "Suitable…"
Suitable.
Not suitable.
Suitable.
One more.
She dropped it into the bag and repeated without blinking: "Suitable."
When Xia Congsheng sent her the WeChat contact of EAW’s HR department, Yun Li was surprised to find the person already in her contacts list.
—It was He Jiameng, who had been handling the handover with her some time ago.
"……"
Yun Li clicked into her Moments.
She realized He Jiameng had indeed posted a few job advertisements recently, matching the materials Xia Congsheng had sent her. The position most relevant to her field was the R&D role in the tech department. Since Yun Li wasn’t in the habit of checking Moments, she hadn’t noticed.
After hesitating for a long while, Yun Li sent her a message: [Jiameng, are you the HR at EAW?]
He Jiameng replied quickly: [No.]
He Jiameng: [I’m the general manager’s secretary. The HR department has been swamped lately, so I was temporarily assigned to help out. But I only screen resumes and schedule interviews.]
He Jiameng: [What’s up?]
With the shift in roles, Yun Li wasn’t sure how to proceed. She fumbled over her words before briefly explaining her intentions.
Though surprised, He Jiameng didn’t react strongly. She asked Yun Li to send her resume and posed a few questions. Soon after, she notified Yun Li of the official interview time.
After wrapping up the process, He Jiameng left her with a teaser: [You might run into someone familiar that day.]
He Jiameng: [See you then!]
Yun Li was puzzled but didn’t press further.
She figured that since she’d seen quite a few staff members during her previous visit to EAW, it was natural she might recognize someone. But as for "someone familiar," there shouldn’t be anyone.
……After interviewing with several companies one after another, it wasn't until the day of her EAW interview that Yun Li finally understood the meaning behind those words.
It turned out that "acquaintance" didn't refer to "someone familiar" but rather to "someone in the same industry." Besides her, two other candidates arrived for interviews during the same time slot—one man and one woman.
The woman was none other than Du Gefe, who had previously tried and failed to get Fu Shize's WeChat from Xu Qingsong at the KTV.
They were arranged to wait in one of the office rooms.
Du Gefe recognized her too and greeted her first, "Hi, here for the interview as well?"
Yun Li nodded awkwardly.
Seeing this, the man next to them asked curiously, "Do you two know each other?"
Du Gefe didn't tell the truth and casually made up an excuse to brush it off.
Then, the two of them started chatting back and forth. At one point, the man mentioned Yun Li a few times, trying to draw her into the conversation, but seeing her lack of interest, he eventually gave up.
Later, Du Gefe half-jokingly teased, "She doesn't want to talk to you, so stop bothering her."
"..."
Ever since the interview date was confirmed, Yun Li had been scouring the internet daily for potential interview questions and seeking advice from Deng Chuqi. Her mood had been stuck in a state of uneasy anxiety.
This was always how Yun Li reacted to situations like this.
Even after accepting EAW's invitation for a store visit earlier, she had been anxious for a while.
Yun Li's on-the-spot reactions were poor, especially under the gaze of strangers. Often, she couldn't think straight, and even the simplest questions would stump her in the moment.
During her graduate school re-examination, she ranked at the very bottom.
This was also why many people found her hard to get along with upon first meeting her.
She wasn't good at handling small talk with strangers, and her sharp, striking eyebrows made her seem aloof and unapproachable when she wasn't actively expressing emotion. Her short, dismissive replies only reinforced the impression that she was overly cold.
Yun Li lowered her head and didn't explain.
But because of that remark, the courage she had mustered earlier deflated a little more.
For no reason, she began to feel like backing out.
Yun Li was scheduled for the last interview slot.
The interviewer was a woman in her thirties named Fang Yuning. With neatly trimmed short hair, thin-framed glasses, and lips that naturally curved downward, she looked efficient and authoritative without even trying.
However, the fact that there was only one interviewer eased Yun Li's tension somewhat.
Back when she went for her re-examination at South Wu University of Technology, there had been five or six professors sitting inside. The moment she walked in and saw that setup, her mind went completely blank. At that instant, the only thought she had was that the trip had been a waste.
The interview lasted about twenty minutes.
Fang Yuning nodded as she organized her materials. "That's about it. Do you have any questions for me?"
Among the questions Yun Li had researched earlier, this was one of them—and most answers suggested that it was best not to say "no questions" or ask anything so profound that the interviewer couldn't answer.
Yun Li pretended to think for a moment before asking a few generic, standard questions.
When it was over, Fang Yuning said the results of the second-round interviews would be announced within three days and told her to wait for the notification.
Yun Li's mood didn't lighten because of this; she still felt heavy. After murmuring a quiet thanks, she left.
Outside, as she walked down the hallway, she saw He Jiameng chatting and laughing with a colleague in the work area. Noticing Yun Li out of the corner of her eye, He Jiameng turned and greeted her, "All done?"
Yun Li nodded.He Jiameng asked curiously, "Teacher Xian Yun, I noticed on your resume that you just started school this year. What made you suddenly want to work at EAW?"
Yun Li hesitated for a long time before answering slowly, "Well... our advisor is pretty hands-off and doesn’t really supervise us. Graduate courses aren’t that intensive either."
A few days before enrollment, her senior classmates had pulled her into a small group chat and warned her about the pitfalls of their lab—like how their advisor was extremely laissez-faire with students. They advised her to cozy up to other professors as soon as she started school, attend their group meetings, and only then might she have a shot at graduating.
Yun Li felt she had already used up a lifetime’s worth of luck just to pass the entrance exam and get into Nanjing University. The idea of having to network with other professors and shamelessly crash their meetings was daunting.
Logically, she knew she should do it, but in practice, Yun Li kept procrastinating. Instead, she repeatedly emailed her own advisor, hoping to awaken some semblance of conscience and professional ethics in him.
Over a month into the semester, she had only met her advisor once—two weeks after classes started.
After sending numerous emails that went unanswered to her advisor—Zhang Tianqi, a man who had once made waves in both academia and industry—he finally invited her to his lab for a chat about her academic progress.
Thinking she had finally weathered the storm, Yun Li carefully prepared a research proposal to bring along.
Though it was called a lab, Zhang Tianqi’s office had been transformed into a leisurely retirement-style entertainment space.
The room was spotless, with shelves filled entirely with calligraphy supplies—ink, brushes, paper, and inkstones. The desk was strewn with various paintings and calligraphy works, leaving only a small corner for a laptop to maintain communication with the outside world.
Yun Li handed him the research proposal. Zhang Tianqi skimmed it in five seconds, showered her with exaggerated praise, then cut straight to the chase: "You’re quite impressive, young lady. I have a friend at Cambridge—how about you go work in his lab?"
She hadn’t expected Zhang Tianqi to offer her such a golden opportunity. She’d heard of many graduate students going abroad for half a year before returning, so Yun Li smiled gratefully but worried Zhang Tianqi might think half a year was too long.
"Professor, I’ll apply for the exchange program with the department later. I’ve heard it’s possible to go for six months—do you think that’s…"
"Six months?" Zhang Tianqi interrupted, looking puzzled. "Why not stay for the full three years?"
Three years?
Yun Li’s mind went blank. Her lips moved numbly: "Oh, but what about my thesis here…"
Zhang Tianqi: "You’ll write your thesis there." He paused. "Just translate it into Chinese, and that’ll be your thesis here."
Yun Li’s smile froze. "But my research topic…"
Zhang Tianqi: "Oh, just discuss that with Cambridge. No need to involve me."
Yun Li: "..."
The whole thing sounded sketchy, and Zhang Tianqi himself seemed to have forgotten about it afterward, never reaching out to her again.
During enrollment, her advisor had seemed kind and approachable. Yun Li never imagined it would turn out to be such a disaster. While her classmates settled into their routines, she remained adrift, worrying every single day.
Left with no choice, she followed her seniors’ advice and started looking for internships early.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Yun Li added a pre-prepared reason: "Besides, I don’t have great self-discipline. When I’m filming videos, my schedule gets completely messed up. An internship would help me maintain a more regular routine.""Oh, I see." He Jiameng nodded in understanding before launching into gossip. "Did Du Gefe say anything to you inside just now?"
"No."
"A while back, she somehow found out Fu Shize works here and went straight to my boss, saying she wanted to interview." He Jiameng complained, "Her intentions were clearly not about the job. My boss just dumped this trouble on me, but I couldn't very well refuse her the interview outright."
Yun Li let out an "Ah."
"She just came out and asked me where Fu Shize was. I told her I didn't know," He Jiameng continued. "Then she asked if he hadn't come to work today. I said he had. So she left."
Yun Li instinctively glanced around but didn't spot Fu Shize anywhere. Feeling she ought to say something, she forced out a remark: "Sounds like she came to supervise the work."
He Jiameng laughed at that. "Now that you mention it, it does seem that way."
Not wanting to linger, Yun Li excused herself, claiming she didn't want to disturb their work. As soon as she stepped out of the office and pulled out her phone, it rang.
It was her mother, Yang Fang.
Finding a quiet corner on the basement level, Yun Li answered, "Hi Mom."
A couple days earlier, Yun Li had casually mentioned her upcoming interview during a call home. As expected, Yang Fang was calling to check how it went.
Yun Li's mood was low. "Not great, I think. I'm not sure."
"It's alright. These are all life experiences that take time to accumulate," Yang Fang comforted. "No matter the outcome this time, you've gained something from it."
Before Yun Li could respond, Yun Yongchang's voice suddenly cut in from the other end: "This stubborn girl was already introverted to begin with, can't even hold a proper conversation with strangers. Had to go running off alone to faraway Nanwu, thought it'd be fun, did she? Regretting it now, aren't you?"
The words stung Yun Li.
In an instant.
A surge of inexplicable anger rose within her.
At some point, "introverted" had become a derogatory term.
Though it was originally a neutral descriptor, hearing it from others made her feel they were implying she was socially awkward, inarticulate, withdrawn and uncooperative. Whenever someone used this word to describe her, Yun Li would feel resistant, unable to accept it calmly.
It had become a flaw she didn't want others to notice or mention.
This attitude from Yun Yongchang was his usual tactic. Stubborn to the core, getting him to admit fault was harder than reaching heaven, whether with his wife or children. His words might sound like criticism, but were actually his way of forcing her to yield and take the out he offered.
In the past, Yun Li never wanted prolonged arguments with him, always giving in to his wishes.
But this time she had no such intention.
Keeping her tone measured, Yun Li said, "Well, it's not that big a deal. If this company doesn't want me, I'll just apply to the next one."
Yun Yongchang's voice grew harsher: "What kind of talk is that! Is West Fuling not good enough for your highness now?"
Yun Li: "I didn't say that."
Yun Yongchang: "Then book a flight home right now!"
Yun Li: "No."
The line went tense with silence.
After a moment, Yun Yongchang said coldly, "Fine. If you won't come back now, then don't ever come back."
This only fueled Yun Li's anger: "What's wrong with me doing grad school and work in another city?"
Yun Yongchang didn't respond."I never said I wouldn't go back forever. I've always been trying to discuss it properly with you, but when have you ever listened?" Yun Li's eyes reddened, her voice choked with emotion. "What else can you say besides things like this?"
Then, Yang Fang's voice came through the phone, trying to mediate: "Why do you two always end up arguing whenever you talk..."
Yun Li pressed the back of her hand against her eyes and quickly said, "I'm going to eat," before hanging up.
...
After calming herself down, Yun Li took out a powder puff from her bag to touch up her makeup, then put on a mask. Making sure no other emotions were visible, she finally left the fire exit and returned to the first floor.
The moment she stepped out, she was right in front of EAW's entrance.
Glancing casually in that direction, she noticed Fu Shize and Du Gefe standing ahead, seemingly in conversation. In her current state of distress, she had no energy to spare for anything else and turned to head toward the exit.
Just then, Du Gefe suddenly called out to her, "Hey—Hey, Yun Li! Where are you going? Why aren't you coming over?"
Yun Li was baffled. "What?"
"Didn't you just ask me to get this handsome guy's WeChat for you?" Du Gefe grabbed her arm affectionately. "He thought it was for me, and it was so awkward."
"..."
Yun Li understood.
So Du Gefe had failed to get his contact and was now trying to shift the blame onto her.
Before she could respond, Fu Shize asked calmly, "You wanted it?"
Yun Li turned her gaze to him.
Fu Shize was wearing a light-colored shirt and black dress pants, with a work ID hanging around his neck. He looked like he had just finished fixing something—his hands were slightly dusty, and he was holding a toolbox.
He stood there quietly, waiting for her answer.
Du Gefe cut in for her, "Yeah, she was just too shy to ask."
Fu Shize lowered his eyes, seemingly in thought, without any unnecessary movements. After a few seconds, he met her gaze again and asked nonchalantly, "Didn't I already give it to you?"
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