The puckish girl found it hard to describe her feelings right now. It reminded her of wrapping up a game character in a set of super equipment, ready to show off and have a bit of fun only to be instantly annihilated the moment she stepped out of the novice area.
The person on the other side was way to experienced for her to handle. She gazed at the screen for a while and decided to give up. She called out to Gu Yu.
"Brother, come here!"
"Why?"
"Aiya, just come here!"
"What is it?" Gu Yu came into the room, totally in the dark of Fang Qing’s deed. The girl was standing there with a smile that looked rather fawning. "I’m going home, just to let you know."
"Already? Stay for a while."
"I need to tidy up the room. See ya!"
With that, Fang Qing picked up her stationery bag and trotted out without looking back. Gu Yu was baffled. He turned around casually and noticed the screen that had lighted up.
‘Sh*t!’
He sat down at once and skimmed through the brief conversation, falling speechless over the "Who are you" part. Bloody hell, they should come up with regulations against these devilish brats, just so that the miserable adult victims could get some protection.
‘Yes, those with excess hormones are the ones that need special care!’
Xiaozhai did not say anything else after the question. Gu Yu turned things over in his head and picked up his cell phone instead, sending her a message. "I was washing dishes. That was from my neighbor, a naughty kid."
A couple of minutes later, he got a reply in bold, "Oh!" [ED/N: in bold as in typeface]
"..."
Gu Yu put on a grimace. ‘It’s over for me. I’m challenged by the ultimate quest of chatting .’
If a girl gave you a plain "Oh" as a reply, it could only mean one of the three following things:
1. What you said did not interest her at all.
2. She was unhappy, but would not name the reason. If your coaxing was not right to the point, she would be even more unhappy and aim even harsher words at you. This vicious cycle would continue until she became hungry and wanted to go out for dinner.
These two circumstances were the more common ones and the third one rarely happened, which was:
3. She was flirting with you...
Despite having had a girlfriend in the past, Gu Yu was only as experienced as a driver who had just got his driving license. He was scratching his head, trying to find a subject and managed to squeeze out a question with much effort. "Are you in the meeting now?"
"Yep."
"Reached an agreement yet?"
"Nope."
"The incense is ready. I’ll deliver them to you."
"Oh."
‘What the heck!’
He was at a loss. After racking his brain again, he came up with another question. "How could you tell it wasn’t me?"
The reply this time was finally in full sentence. "You wouldn’t take the initiative to invite me."
"How do you know?"
"Because you tend to get cold feet."
"..."
‘What?!’ Ignoring the "cold feet" part, he felt his heart skip a beat. Did she just drop a hint for him?
She did, right? Right?
He hesitated for two seconds and resolved to suggesting, "Phoenix Mountain is very picturesque and not far from Shengtian. It’s affordable with free reception and tour guide… I mean, do you want to come here?"
"Sounds nice, we’ll have to discuss it, though."
"Cool. Let me know when you’ve decided."
Sending that out, he tossed the phone aside and was going back to wash dishes. He had barely stood up when a message appeared. "All set. Going on Saturday, back on Sunday."
"Huh? I thought you were having a discussion?" He was dumbfounded.
"We did. I’ve been in charge of organizing team-building activity of my department."
"Smack!"
Gu Yu blinked and failed to control his impulse as he thwacked the mouse on the table.
‘I’m still angry!’
‘I want to lift the table and throw it aside!’
‘I can just punch you on the chest with my cute little fists! Sis, could you go easy on the flirt? My heart is too weak to handle it all at once!’
He had given up trying to come up with a retort and admitted his defeat. "Send me the staff list later and I’ll book hotel rooms for you. It’ll be cheaper than doing it as a group on a website. And the entrance tickets as well, I can probably get a 50% discount for you."
"All right."
Thirty minutes or so later, Xiaozhai sent a list. Apparently, there were a lot of people in her department. There were 26 people on the list, 14 men and 12 women--quite neat for the double room arrangement.
The list also came with a "complimentary" ID card number of Xiaozhai. Gu Yu secretively noted it down, just in case he might need it some day.
It was Monday and he had plenty of time. Procrastination was not part of his nature, though, and he grabbed his phone, starting to call people who could help. Gu Yu did not have special connections and his contacts were only old classmates from middle school and high school, who had scattered around, working in all trades and professions in Bai Town.
***
"Xiaozhai, take a look at this plan."
"Put it there. I’ll read it later."
Making a sketch with nimble movements, Jiang Xiaozhai replied without lifting her head, but then sensed that the person was not leaving. Looking up, she asked, "Anything else?"
"Tsk, you’re such a poser!"
Throwing an arm around Xiaozhai’s neck, Panpan whispered into her ears, "Taking advantage of your position to chase after a guy in broad daylight, how can you still be so calm?"
"I have no idea what you’re talking about."
She sat up, reached for a snowy-white bone china cup and sipped some tea. [1]
"Just admit it! Isn’t that Gu so-and-so in Bai Town? Why, you are for real?" If craving for gossip could set people on fire, Pan Pan would have already been in flames by now.
Xiaozhai threw her a piteous look, as if saying "you fool", and said, "I've got completely no idea what you're talking about."
"Tsk, you’re no fun at all!" She pursed her lips and wandered back to her seat.
Speaking of Tianbao, it was a big-time company here in Shengtian, which started off as a trading company and expanded its business to manufacturing industry later, and even built its own factories.
The department Xiaozhai was in mainly worked on customer demand. She was the deputy leader of the design team, one of the elites.
It was common knowledge for designers that first parties were all idiots with a perpetual discontentment over the plans—not grand enough!
At the moment, Xiaozhai was working her a*s off for certain first party. She had only started working a year ago and had already won the trust of many colleagues. One could imagine how much effort she had put into this job.
Working overtime had almost become a routine and today was no exception. It was past eight o’clock in the evening when she wrapped up and most cubes were empty by now. She stood up and stretched herself, then grabbed a box in which were two pale-yellow cakes.
They were handmade osmanthus cakes, the real deal. She picked one up and bit into it, then walked out holding the box—she seldom ate her dinner on time and this would be counted as a meal.
She exited the building and headed straight towards the subway station. Her home was not far, about a 15-minute ride.
Both of her parents were civil servants and bought her an apartment quite a few years ago. She herself also had a well-paid job and was thinking about buying a car recently. Considering the living standard of Shengtian, she was living her life as she pleased.
Adding to that were her exceptional good looks, which had attracted quite a lot of implicit and explicit affection in the company.
She got home at around nine.
Her 100-square-meter flat was exceedingly spacious. The decor of the flat was tasteful, simple and elegant. It was not excessively furnished. The only special setup was a mini-bar in the corner of the living room, where a glass shelf was lined with a variety of beverages.
Jiang Xiaozhai took a shower, changed into something comfortable and went straight into the study. One side of the room was a computer, while the other side was taken up by a tall bookshelf. Hundreds of book were stacked on the shelf--most of them had signs of having been read.
Beside the bookshelf was a small couch and a wooden table was set next to it with an incense plate and incense tube. She lay on the couch with a book in hand. Just as she was going to open the book, a message came in with a beep.
"Hotel and entrance tickets all done."
"..."
The corner of her mouth rising, she typed with her right hand, half-smiling. She casually stretched out her left hand and picked out an incense stick, fiddling with it between her fingers. The thin stick rolled and turned, but did not snap or break. As it moved around smoothly, a strange rhythm seemed to emanate from it.
[1] ED/N: Bone china—fine white porcelain made from a mix of clay and bone ash.