The afternoon was spent in busyness.
Nearing the end of work, Shen NingXin finally completed all the tasks Zhao Jie had directed to her.
She verified the form, informed the Documentation Department about the certificate of origin, and supervised the freight team’s moving process . . .
Although it wasn’t complicated, it took time and patience to watch over them, so it was impossible to relax even a bit.
This kind of job was indeed suitable for a newbie like her. Clearly, Zhao Jie kept that in mind when she made the arrangements.
Shen NingXin sighed, typed the last words on the chat screen, and suddenly felt relieved.
“Want a piece of chocolate?” Seeing that she had stopped working, Pei Qing, who had been idle the entire day, peered over and stuffed a piece of chocolate into Shen NingXin’s hand. “You’ve been working for so long, take a break.”
“Thank you.” Seeing her insist, Shen NingXin didn’t refuse and accepted it with a nod.
“It’s tiring, right?” Pei Qing smiled and looked at her. “Speaking of that, if Zhao Jie already knew she couldn’t come to work today, she should’ve finished everything yesterday. Instead, she just had to leave the rest to you.”
“If you had the background, you really could do whatever you wanted . . .”
Although her voice was low, the attitude she wanted to express was obvious.
She’s talking behind someone’s back and was even . . . looking forward to her response.
Shen NingXin raised her eyes and, as expected, she caught a glimpse of expectation in Pei Qing’s eyes, as though waiting for her to ask about the so-called background she mentioned.
Ah, what’s the matter with this girl.
Shen NingXin paused, ate the rest of the chocolate, and then smiled lightly.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” she said, “I am a newcomer, so it makes sense I should train more.”
Probably not having expected such a response, Pei Qing was taken aback for a moment, and then laughed awkwardly. “That’s true, haha.”
“But still, be careful to not overwork, because there won’t be any place for you to cry.”
Her tone held the same hint of cynicism as before.
Shen NingXin could not be bothered by her and simply responded, “Thank you for the chocolate.”
Without waiting for Pei Qing to say anything else, she turned around.
Before long, a small sound of “Tch” came from behind her.
Pei Qing rolled her eyes and soon turned around to continue chatting with others.
Shen NingXin caught a few words. They seemed to be talking about so-and-so from the Domestic Trade Department. She couldn’t help but shake her head.
There were still more than ten minutes before work ended. Shen NingXin already completed her job for the day, so she found a comfortable position, leaned back in her chair, and scrolled through her phone, checking out what Meng Yao and the others had planned for the evening.
Unlike her, her best friends were born with a silver spoon. Their daily life consisted of sleeping, traveling, more traveling, eating, and more eating.
They seemed to have a new hobby lately—chasing after young ladies.
As soon as Shen NingXin opened the group chat, she saw Jiang Yue send out a series of exclamation marks, followed by screenshots of steps, asking them to help vote for her favorite idols.
Shen NingXin quickly agreed, promising to look over the steps and vote after returning home from work.
Jiang Yue replied with an ok emoji and began advertising the same thing to Meng Yao and the others. The group chat was noisy and peaceful at the same time.
Shen NingXin stared at the group chat for a moment, then smiled and returned to the main screen, wanting to see if there were any other messages.
Then, she saw Qiu YiBai’s name.
When she added Qiu YiBai earlier in the afternoon, she changed her nickname. At that time, she thought nothing of it, but looking at it again, her heart slowed a beat for some reason.
She subconsciously opened her profile and stared at her WeChat account for a while.
This should be Qiu YiBai’s phone number.
She was silent for a moment and finally opened her contacts, typed in a series of numbers, and then noted her name.
Looking up again, it happened to be time to get off work.
“Let’s go!” The office quickly regained its vitality. Everyone clocked out and ran quickly toward the elevator.
Shen NingXin was a step too slow, and by the time she arrived at the elevator, the first wave of people had already gone down.
Their office was on the middle floor of the building, so taking the stairs didn’t actually take that long, but Shen NingXin was really tired today, so she didn’t even consider it.
Time quickly passed by as she chatted with her colleagues while waiting, and the elevator soon returned to their floor.
Upon opening, there was a person inside.
A familiar suit, a familiar face, and a familiar light fragrance.
It’s Qiu YiBai again!
Shen NingXin almost couldn’t catch her breath.
The elevator was about to become their special meeting spot!
At the moment, Qiu YiBai was carrying a stack of documents in her hand. It seemed as though she just returned from working overtime outside.
Having learned the lesson from last time, Shen NingXin immediately grabbed the colleague next to her and greeted, “Hello, President Qiu!”
“En.” Qiu YiBai nodded, glancing across Shen NingXin’s face before quickly stopping and said, “Shen NingXin.”
Suddenly having her name called, Shen NingXin was taken aback for a moment, and then began to reflect on whether she had done something wrong and provoked her.
Fortunately, it didn’t seemed as though Qiu YiBai wanted to scold her, and simply asked in a gentle tone, “Do you have any plans after work?”
No way, did she want to keep her overtime?
Shen NingXin lightly coughed and wanted to refuse, but before she could speak, Qiu YiBai added, “I’ll only need a few minutes of your time to help me sort out some files.”
Shen NingXin couldn’t say any words of refusal at this point. She raised her gaze and nodded slowly.
It was unclear it was an illusion or not, but she felt as though the light within Qiu YiBai’s eyes softened a bit and that her straight lips soothed out.
“. . . . . .”
—
Qiu YiBai did indeed not use up much of her time.
In fact, there wasn’t even any small talk. She simply told her how to organize the files before walking toward the window to make a call.
Summer had just begun, and the days were long. The sun that was hanging above the treetops finally showed signs of descending, and rays of light shone through the window.
They happened to cage Qiu YiBai within the light, elongating her slender body’s shadow.
There was a hint of inexplicable loneliness.
Shen NingXin finished organizing the documents, and seeing that Qui YuBai still wasn’t done with the phone call, she didn’t move and sat in place, staring at her back in a daze.
It wasn’t until now that she realized not only was Qiu YiBai good-looking, she also had a pleasant voice. It was as clear as a spring, and she felt at ease just listening to it in silence.
As Shen NingXin listened to her, she couldn’t help but feel sleepy, and so she sat there and secretly took a small nap.
The next time she opened her eyes, Qiu YiBai had finished the call and was standing before her, staring at her.
“. . . . . .”
Her eyes were born to be good looking, but because she always had a stern look on her face at the office, no one dared to meet her in the eyes.
But it was different now. That fierce energy was gone, and a gentleness returned to her field of vision.
It made her unconsciously recall that night at the supermarket.
Shen NingXin was taken aback, and half of her desire to sleep disappeared as her cheeks turned red.
“I finished organizing the documents,” she said, “I didn’t want to bother you earlier since you were still on the phone call.”
“En.” Qiu YiBai nodded and didn’t say anything else. She took the organized files and looked through them for a few moments before speaking, “Not bad.”
Is she complimenting me?
Shen NingXin widened her eyes, almost thinking that she may still be in a dream.
Not noticing her change in emotions, Qiu YiBai finished flipping through the documents, then returned to the desk and sat down. Without looking at her again, she said, “There’s nothing else, you may go home now.”
“Alright.” Shen NingXin nodded and hurriedly packed her things to leave. “Goodbye, President Qiu.”
Before she finished her words, Qiu YiBai seemed to have just remembered something and beckoned her over.
Now what?
Shen NingXin could only walk back toward her and stand in front of the computer, staring at her.
“Do you have any interests in Izakaya1?” Qiu YiBai suddenly asked.
Ah?
Shen NingXin was taken aback, and her thoughts scrambled all over the place. Then she soon remembered the photos of food Qiu YiBai sent her that afternoon.
It seemed that the name of the restaurant was Izakaya.
Shen NingXin felt speechless at the moment.
You obviously sent those photos on your own initiative, how come I’m now the one who’s interested in it.
But she could only think that way internally, and didn’t dare express it on the surface in any way. She merely nodded in response to Qiu YiBai’s words said a few words of agreement.
As soon as her voice fell, she saw Qiu YiBai take out an exquisite small box and place it on the table.
“This is the souvenir they gifted me. It’s useless for me, so I’ll give it to you instead,” she said in a serious manner.
After speaking, she opened the box, and the contents appeared in their field of vision.
It was a . . . large and black conch shell.
—
Work just ended, so a lot of people were on the bus.
Shen NingXin got on, squeezed through the crowd of people, and found an empty seat in the back. She finally could breathe again.
She slightly adjusted the bag she was carrying, moved around until she felt comfortable in her seat, and then took the conch shell out of the box to observe it.
It really was ugly.
She sighed and examined it over and over again. She refused to believe this was given as a souvenir.
It couldn’t possibly be that Qiu YiBai deliberately took the conch shell back after roasting its insides to joke with her?
She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then quickly rejected this guess.
She’s the dignified President Qiu, how could she have the time and thought to play around with her.
Unless there’s really something special about it . . .
Shen NingXin had no choice but to look at the conch shell over and over again, but she couldn’t find anything outstanding.
Just as she was about to put it back in, her thoughts suddenly took a turn, as though realizing something.
She took a deep breath and carefully picked up the foam sheet from the bottom of the box. And there it was, just as she expected. She discovered a VIP card for the Izakaya at the bottom layer.
A feeling of disbelief rose in her heart, and Shen NingXin opened her WeChat, wanting to confirm with Qiu YiBai if she, perhaps, accidentally left it there.
Then, she quickly obtained her answer.
“It actually wasn’t all that delicious, and since you’re interested, I’ll gift it to you.”
“Help me get rid of it.”
So . . . it’s really for her, but did she really need to use such a method . . .
Shen NingXin quickly sent “Thank you, President” over, then turned off her phone and sat in her seat, staring at the dark conch shell in a daze.
Their President Qiu, turned out to be such an awkward person?
“Izakaya” or “居酒屋“ is a type of informal Japanese bar that serves alcoholic drinks and snacks.
The afternoon was spent in busyness.
Nearing the end of work, Shen NingXin finally completed all the tasks Zhao Jie had directed to her.
She verified the form, informed the Documentation Department about the certificate of origin, and supervised the freight team’s moving process . . .
Although it wasn’t complicated, it took time and patience to watch over them, so it was impossible to relax even a bit.
This kind of job was indeed suitable for a newbie like her. Clearly, Zhao Jie kept that in mind when she made the arrangements.
Shen NingXin sighed, typed the last words on the chat screen, and suddenly felt relieved.
“Want a piece of chocolate?” Seeing that she had stopped working, Pei Qing, who had been idle the entire day, peered over and stuffed a piece of chocolate into Shen NingXin’s hand. “You’ve been working for so long, take a break.”
“Thank you.” Seeing her insist, Shen NingXin didn’t refuse and accepted it with a nod.
“It’s tiring, right?” Pei Qing smiled and looked at her. “Speaking of that, if Zhao Jie already knew she couldn’t come to work today, she should’ve finished everything yesterday. Instead, she just had to leave the rest to you.”
“If you had the background, you really could do whatever you wanted . . .”
Although her voice was low, the attitude she wanted to express was obvious.
She’s talking behind someone’s back and was even . . . looking forward to her response.
Shen NingXin raised her eyes and, as expected, she caught a glimpse of expectation in Pei Qing’s eyes, as though waiting for her to ask about the so-called background she mentioned.
Ah, what’s the matter with this girl.
Shen NingXin paused, ate the rest of the chocolate, and then smiled lightly.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” she said, “I am a newcomer, so it makes sense I should train more.”
Probably not having expected such a response, Pei Qing was taken aback for a moment, and then laughed awkwardly. “That’s true, haha.”
“But still, be careful to not overwork, because there won’t be any place for you to cry.”
Her tone held the same hint of cynicism as before.
Shen NingXin could not be bothered by her and simply responded, “Thank you for the chocolate.”
Without waiting for Pei Qing to say anything else, she turned around.
Before long, a small sound of “Tch” came from behind her.
Pei Qing rolled her eyes and soon turned around to continue chatting with others.
Shen NingXin caught a few words. They seemed to be talking about so-and-so from the Domestic Trade Department. She couldn’t help but shake her head.
There were still more than ten minutes before work ended. Shen NingXin already completed her job for the day, so she found a comfortable position, leaned back in her chair, and scrolled through her phone, checking out what Meng Yao and the others had planned for the evening.
Unlike her, her best friends were born with a silver spoon. Their daily life consisted of sleeping, traveling, more traveling, eating, and more eating.
They seemed to have a new hobby lately—chasing after young ladies.
As soon as Shen NingXin opened the group chat, she saw Jiang Yue send out a series of exclamation marks, followed by screenshots of steps, asking them to help vote for her favorite idols.
Shen NingXin quickly agreed, promising to look over the steps and vote after returning home from work.
Jiang Yue replied with an ok emoji and began advertising the same thing to Meng Yao and the others. The group chat was noisy and peaceful at the same time.
Shen NingXin stared at the group chat for a moment, then smiled and returned to the main screen, wanting to see if there were any other messages.
Then, she saw Qiu YiBai’s name.
When she added Qiu YiBai earlier in the afternoon, she changed her nickname. At that time, she thought nothing of it, but looking at it again, her heart slowed a beat for some reason.
She subconsciously opened her profile and stared at her WeChat account for a while.
This should be Qiu YiBai’s phone number.
She was silent for a moment and finally opened her contacts, typed in a series of numbers, and then noted her name.
Looking up again, it happened to be time to get off work.
“Let’s go!” The office quickly regained its vitality. Everyone clocked out and ran quickly toward the elevator.
Shen NingXin was a step too slow, and by the time she arrived at the elevator, the first wave of people had already gone down.
Their office was on the middle floor of the building, so taking the stairs didn’t actually take that long, but Shen NingXin was really tired today, so she didn’t even consider it.
Time quickly passed by as she chatted with her colleagues while waiting, and the elevator soon returned to their floor.
Upon opening, there was a person inside.
A familiar suit, a familiar face, and a familiar light fragrance.
It’s Qiu YiBai again!
Shen NingXin almost couldn’t catch her breath.
The elevator was about to become their special meeting spot!
At the moment, Qiu YiBai was carrying a stack of documents in her hand. It seemed as though she just returned from working overtime outside.
Having learned the lesson from last time, Shen NingXin immediately grabbed the colleague next to her and greeted, “Hello, President Qiu!”
“En.” Qiu YiBai nodded, glancing across Shen NingXin’s face before quickly stopping and said, “Shen NingXin.”
Suddenly having her name called, Shen NingXin was taken aback for a moment, and then began to reflect on whether she had done something wrong and provoked her.
Fortunately, it didn’t seemed as though Qiu YiBai wanted to scold her, and simply asked in a gentle tone, “Do you have any plans after work?”
No way, did she want to keep her overtime?
Shen NingXin lightly coughed and wanted to refuse, but before she could speak, Qiu YiBai added, “I’ll only need a few minutes of your time to help me sort out some files.”
Shen NingXin couldn’t say any words of refusal at this point. She raised her gaze and nodded slowly.
It was unclear it was an illusion or not, but she felt as though the light within Qiu YiBai’s eyes softened a bit and that her straight lips soothed out.
“. . . . . .”
—
Qiu YiBai did indeed not use up much of her time.
In fact, there wasn’t even any small talk. She simply told her how to organize the files before walking toward the window to make a call.
Summer had just begun, and the days were long. The sun that was hanging above the treetops finally showed signs of descending, and rays of light shone through the window.
They happened to cage Qiu YiBai within the light, elongating her slender body’s shadow.
There was a hint of inexplicable loneliness.
Shen NingXin finished organizing the documents, and seeing that Qui YuBai still wasn’t done with the phone call, she didn’t move and sat in place, staring at her back in a daze.
It wasn’t until now that she realized not only was Qiu YiBai good-looking, she also had a pleasant voice. It was as clear as a spring, and she felt at ease just listening to it in silence.
As Shen NingXin listened to her, she couldn’t help but feel sleepy, and so she sat there and secretly took a small nap.
The next time she opened her eyes, Qiu YiBai had finished the call and was standing before her, staring at her.
“. . . . . .”
Her eyes were born to be good looking, but because she always had a stern look on her face at the office, no one dared to meet her in the eyes.
But it was different now. That fierce energy was gone, and a gentleness returned to her field of vision.
It made her unconsciously recall that night at the supermarket.
Shen NingXin was taken aback, and half of her desire to sleep disappeared as her cheeks turned red.
“I finished organizing the documents,” she said, “I didn’t want to bother you earlier since you were still on the phone call.”
“En.” Qiu YiBai nodded and didn’t say anything else. She took the organized files and looked through them for a few moments before speaking, “Not bad.”
Is she complimenting me?
Shen NingXin widened her eyes, almost thinking that she may still be in a dream.
Not noticing her change in emotions, Qiu YiBai finished flipping through the documents, then returned to the desk and sat down. Without looking at her again, she said, “There’s nothing else, you may go home now.”
“Alright.” Shen NingXin nodded and hurriedly packed her things to leave. “Goodbye, President Qiu.”
Before she finished her words, Qiu YiBai seemed to have just remembered something and beckoned her over.
Now what?
Shen NingXin could only walk back toward her and stand in front of the computer, staring at her.
“Do you have any interests in Izakaya1?” Qiu YiBai suddenly asked.
Ah?
Shen NingXin was taken aback, and her thoughts scrambled all over the place. Then she soon remembered the photos of food Qiu YiBai sent her that afternoon.
It seemed that the name of the restaurant was Izakaya.
Shen NingXin felt speechless at the moment.
You obviously sent those photos on your own initiative, how come I’m now the one who’s interested in it.
But she could only think that way internally, and didn’t dare express it on the surface in any way. She merely nodded in response to Qiu YiBai’s words said a few words of agreement.
As soon as her voice fell, she saw Qiu YiBai take out an exquisite small box and place it on the table.
“This is the souvenir they gifted me. It’s useless for me, so I’ll give it to you instead,” she said in a serious manner.
After speaking, she opened the box, and the contents appeared in their field of vision.
It was a . . . large and black conch shell.
—
Work just ended, so a lot of people were on the bus.
Shen NingXin got on, squeezed through the crowd of people, and found an empty seat in the back. She finally could breathe again.
She slightly adjusted the bag she was carrying, moved around until she felt comfortable in her seat, and then took the conch shell out of the box to observe it.
It really was ugly.
She sighed and examined it over and over again. She refused to believe this was given as a souvenir.
It couldn’t possibly be that Qiu YiBai deliberately took the conch shell back after roasting its insides to joke with her?
She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then quickly rejected this guess.
She’s the dignified President Qiu, how could she have the time and thought to play around with her.
Unless there’s really something special about it . . .
Shen NingXin had no choice but to look at the conch shell over and over again, but she couldn’t find anything outstanding.
Just as she was about to put it back in, her thoughts suddenly took a turn, as though realizing something.
She took a deep breath and carefully picked up the foam sheet from the bottom of the box. And there it was, just as she expected. She discovered a VIP card for the Izakaya at the bottom layer.
A feeling of disbelief rose in her heart, and Shen NingXin opened her WeChat, wanting to confirm with Qiu YiBai if she, perhaps, accidentally left it there.
Then, she quickly obtained her answer.
“It actually wasn’t all that delicious, and since you’re interested, I’ll gift it to you.”
“Help me get rid of it.”
So . . . it’s really for her, but did she really need to use such a method . . .
Shen NingXin quickly sent “Thank you, President” over, then turned off her phone and sat in her seat, staring at the dark conch shell in a daze.
Their President Qiu, turned out to be such an awkward person?
“Izakaya” or “居酒屋“ is a type of informal Japanese bar that serves alcoholic drinks and snacks.