She hastily apologized, "I'm sorry."
Then she squatted down to pick up the fragments on the floor.
It's over, it's over...
This teacup must be very expensive!
She already owed Li Hanxian five million, and now...
It was like adding frost to snow.
Moreover, she had been tiptoeing around, afraid of giving people a handle, but she had made a mistake on the very first day...
Now Li Hanxian certainly had a reason and excuse to fire her!!
Her job was not secure...
What would she and her two children do?
Perhaps because she was distracted, the sharp fragment cut her finger, sending a sting of pain through her. She frowned slightly but thought nothing of it and continued cleaning up.
Seeing this, Li Hanxian scolded impatiently, "Stop picking them up! Go treat your wound first!"
"I'm fine."
To Rong Shengsheng, this was all too familiar. Her skin was tough, and she was not afraid of pain.
As Rong Shengsheng continued picking up the pieces, blood dripped onto the floor. Li Hanxian could no longer tolerate it, strode over, grabbed her wrist, and yanked her up from the ground.
"Can't you understand what I am saying?"
"I..." Rong Shengsheng's eyes widened in fear, and she began to sob quietly, her voice low, "President Li, I... I promise I'll be more careful next time."
Li Hanxian was on the verge of exploding but, upon hearing the woman's aggrieved crying, the irritation in his heart instantly disappeared. Instead, he involuntarily recalled that night five years ago.
Back then, he had been drugged and was extremely rough with that woman, making her cry throughout the ordeal.
Even after so many years, he still felt very guilty, and now hearing that voice made his heart ache.
He scrutinized Rong Shengsheng seriously, and no matter how he looked, she didn't resemble that woman.
But why did she feel so familiar to him??
"Hanxian! I'm here."
The door to the office was pushed open once again, and a woman's cheerful voice, like that of a bird, rang out.
Rong Wanwan stood at the doorway, stunned as she witnessed the scene unfold.
Li Hanxian immediately released Rong Shengsheng's hand and settled back into the sofa with composure.
Rong Wanwan glared with wide eyes, staring intently at Rong Shengsheng, her sweet and gentle voice now turning angry, "Are you seducing my fiancé??"
After not seeing her for five years, Rong Shengsheng once again faced Rong Wanwan, once again confronted with a face identical to her own. Her thoughts completely froze, and memories unfolded like the pages of a book.
Her breathing became unsteady, her throat felt clogged with cotton, making speech impossible, and her eyes reddened slightly, filled with hatred.
"Speak up!" Rong Wanwan grabbed the collar of Rong Shengsheng's clothes, "With your freakish ugliness, you still want to climb up the social ladder? Why don't you take a good look at yourself in the mirror first!"
As she spoke, she raised her hand, ready to teach Rong Shengsheng a lesson, but she was stopped by Li Hanxian.
"Wanwan, stop making a scene!" Li Hanxian said, giving Rong Shengsheng a look, signaling her to get out quickly.
Rong Shengsheng came back to her senses, took her cleaning tools, and hurriedly left.
Rong Wanwan glared viciously at Rong Shengsheng, then sat fuming on the sofa, "Hanxian, you owe me an explanation."
"There's nothing between her and me."
"If there's nothing, why did you hold her hand?"
"Can you stop making a fuss?"
Rong Wanwan grew infuriated, her eyes reddening, on the verge of tears.
For five full years, she had awaited the day she would marry Li Hanxian, but... he always found excuses to postpone it.
She worried he didn't want her anymore. Every time a woman appeared by his side, she would kick up a fuss, causing Li Hanxian much displeasure.
As a result, he hadn't paid attention to her for a month.
Her mother, Zhong Chunyu, told her to tone down her temper, to stop being unreasonable, or else Li Hanxian would call off the engagement.
Thinking back, she realized she had indeed made a mountain out of a molehill. Looking at that woman just now—with a face full of freckles, sallow skin, and a thin, frail figure—how could she possibly catch Li Hanxian's eye with such a ghastly appearance?
She immediately forced a tearful smile and cooed, "Hanxian, I was wrong. Please don't be angry. Okay?"
She leaned in, resting her head on Li Hanxian's shoulder, "I'm just too in love with you, so I worry about you being taken by someone else."
There was a strange flicker in Li Hanxian's eyes, his jaw tensed, and he softened his tone significantly, "What did you come to see me for?"
"Hanxian, you haven't paid attention to me for a month. Can you have dinner with me tonight?"
Li Hanxian's first impulse was to refuse. He didn't know why, but he had no interest in Rong Wanwan, nothing like the infatuation he had felt on that night five years ago.
This was also why he had dragged his feet for five years without marrying Rong Wanwan.
But Rong Wanwan did indeed look exactly like the woman from that night.
He had promised to take responsibility and couldn't drag this out any longer.
"I'm not free tonight, let's do tomorrow night."
Although Rong Wanwan was unhappy at heart, she still put on a sweet smile, "Okay, keep your word, you must come!"
She had to take advantage of this opportunity to turn the raw rice into cooked rice with Li Hanxian as soon as possible, otherwise she felt uneasy.
Even though Rong Shengsheng was already dead, and her impersonation would not be exposed, she was always worried—the nights were long, and dreams aplenty.
"Bang bang bang—"
The office door was knocked on.
"Come in!"
Zheng Yan carefully pushed the door and entered, greeted Rong Wanwan with a flattering tone upon seeing her: "Miss Rong."
He then looked around, not seeing Rong Sheng anywhere.
The woman, she didn't come?
Li Hanxian casually picked up a document from the desk to peruse, his brows furrowed, his eyes a deep abyss, "What's the matter?"
"President Li, I had the new intern clean the office before the meeting ended, and now I've come to check, but she hasn't arrived, and I'm going to fire her immediately!"
Zheng Yan spoke with rising fury, finally having caught something to hold against her.
Upon hearing this, Li Hanxian's mind conjured the image of Rong Sheng's pitiful appearance and her heart-wrenching crying; his brow slightly furrowed, and he put down the document, his thin lips parting slightly, "She has already cleaned here, no need to fire her for now."
"This…" Zheng Yan was dumbfounded, as he had not expected Li Hanxian to speak up for Rong Sheng, especially since at the beginning, Li Hanxian had wanted to fire Rong Sheng.
At this moment, with a reason to fire Rong Sheng, Li Hanxian could have completely kept silent.
Zheng Yan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, "In that case, I won't bother President Li and Miss Rong anymore."
After saying this, he hurriedly left.
Rong Wanwan lifted her pretty almond eyes, her delicate face full of displeasure, "Hanxian, she's just a cleaning lady, if she's fired, she's fired, why do you have to speak for her?"
Although that cleaning lady was ugly, she couldn't tolerate her having any thoughts about her man!
Li Hanxian frowned displeasedly, retorting, "Why do you lower yourself to a cleaning lady?"
Rong Wanwan pouted, her dense eyelashes drooping down, looking aggrieved, "I was wrong, Hanxian, I'll be more magnanimous in the future."
Magnanimous?
She could never be magnanimous!
After leaving the president's office, wearing high heels, she found Rong Sheng who was mopping the floor and stepped on the mop with a cold and extreme gaze in her eyes.
"At Feast Group, you'd better behave! Otherwise, I have a thousand ways to torment you!"
Rong Sheng looked up, her clear eyes filled with disgust. Rong Wanwan's relentless persecution from five years ago was a debt she had always remembered.
But for now, since Rong Wanwan was Li Hanxian's fiancee, it was better not to confront her directly, "Miss Rong, rest assured, I'm just a cleaning lady, and I'm so ugly, I can't compare with you at all."
"That's more like it! At least you have some self-awareness!"
Rong Wanwan lifted her head proudly, looking disdainfully at Rong Sheng's face full of freckles, flipping an eye-roll at her.
Compared to other heiresses, this kind of monstrosity posed practically zero threats to her.
No need to take her seriously, a few warnings would suffice.
Watching Rong Wanwan's retreating figure, Rong Sheng clenched the mop tightly, took a deep breath, and bowed her head to continue mopping the floor.
The whole afternoon, she had been anxious, extremely worried that Li Hanxian would fire her.
Until the end of the workday, no one came looking for her, not even Zheng Yan who had been specifically targeting her.
She secretly breathed a sigh of relief, sure that President Li, being a man with much on his mind, had forgotten about her.
That's good…
She just wanted to get through the internship quietly, to be invisible.
As she changed out of her work clothes, ready to pick up her child from school, Zhou Kuan blocked her path.
Her face as pale as dead ash, her beautiful eyes filled with terror, her heart leapt to her throat—the inevitable had finally arrived.
Rong Sheng's teeth chattered, her speech stuttered, "Zhou… Assistant Zhou… Did President Li decide to fire me?"
Zhou Kuan saw Rong Sheng's nervous demeanor and couldn't help but think of those two adorable children, feeling a surge of sympathy and kindness, "Don't panic. Today, President Li said not to fire you for the time being, but he asked you to repay the five million within this month."
"Ah?"
Rong Sheng's heart, after its ups and downs, ultimately plummeted into the abyss as her slender body swayed, nearly losing balance.
Even if she lasted through the month to receive her salary, she had no way to pay back the five million.