Gu Xiaoer looked steadily at Principal Wang for a long time until she made him so uncomfortable that she slowly curved her lips into a smirk that was not quite a smile, "Principal Wang, are you disciplining me... or expelling me? You can try and see..."
Those large eyes were clear and bright, without any impurity, calm yet bright enough to see directly into one's soul.
Principal Wang, feeling choked up and in the wrong, could no longer unleash his anger, and stuttered pointing at Gu Xiaoer: "You!"
Gu Xiaoer took Ai Le and walked away straight away.
On the not-so-delicate asphalt road, the pale beige streetlights cast a soft glow, where two girls' figures walked, leaning on each other.
The bushes on both sides of the road occasionally housed the chirping of small insects, adding a bit of solitude to the night.
At this time, there were not many people left on campus.
Ai Le tried to let Gu Xiaoer lean all her strength on her, not knowing what had happened to the girl who wasn't even wearing shoes.
While supporting Gu Xiaoer, she ranted, "It's so annoying what Principal Wang did—asking you for help only to blame it all on you in the end."
"The principal was also frantic, with more than a billion in investment at stake! He himself can't bear that responsibility," Gu Xiaoer said casually, truly indifferent to Principal Wang's sudden change in attitude.
She had seen too much of the world's coldness lately.
All her thoughts were on Han Luoli now, and her mind was flashing through every bit of their past...
"You're still making excuses for him—what if he makes you take responsibility? What in the world happened to you today, causing such a mess just delivering documents?" Ai Le lifted Gu Xiaoer up a bit more, her small frame barely reaching 166cm and weighing less than 90 pounds.
Supporting her felt as light as picking up a small dog.
"They shouldn't make me take the blame," Gu Xiaoer hesitated, bit her lip, and after a long pause finally spoke, "Lele, I don't want to work at Shenghan Group anymore..."
"What? The CEO fired you from your job?"
"No... it's me who doesn't want to go."
As they talked, they had returned to their dormitory.
In the familiar small room, it was just the two of them, the other two roommates with boyfriends hardly ever seemed to be around.
Ai Le let Gu Xiaoer down, sighed deeply, and hurried to get a footbath and a warm towel to soak her feet.
When she returned from the restroom, she found that the silly girl had fallen asleep while soaking her feet.
Her palm-sized face was full of exhaustion, her little brows tightly furrowed, and under her closed eyes were traces of tears.
Her mouth moved slightly, as if she was muttering: impossible... it can't be...
Ai Le felt so heartbroken, she carefully laid her flat on the bed.
He shook his head and sighed—what on earth had this girl encountered on her trip out? Was it really as she said, having offended the CEO of Shenghan, and that's why she didn't want to work there anymore?
If that was the case, then she wouldn't go to work at Shenghan Group either.
After so many years as good sisters, she would never leave her at a time like this...
Yanhuang.
The same private room on the eighth floor.
The scraps of paper on the floor had not yet been cleaned up, lying around untidily, incongruously disrupting the room's elegant ambiance.
A pair of women's shallow flats lay quietly, reminding the room's only man: she had truly walked away.
He didn't pursue her—she said she wanted peace...
When Shen Minghan entered, the thick smell of smoke was so choking he immediately turned on the exhaust fan and opened the windows.
"What are you going off about in the middle of the night!" He walked over and snatched the cigarette from the hands of the dispirited man on the couch.
Han Luoli brushed off his hand, his brow marked with impatience and a release of aggression, his gaze cold yet steady as he stared at Shen Minghan who stood before him, his voice husky, "Smoking is like loving someone—can you stop just because you say you will?"