Qiu YiBai went on a business trip again for the next several days. It was said that she was going to discuss the follow-up matters of a cooperation with a South Korean company and was gone for quite a while.
She even took Manager Liu and Assistant Han with her.
As soon as they left, sunlight immediately shone through the atmosphere that had been dull for a long time.
Zhao Jie was the first to set an example.
“As you grow older, your back just can’t keep up anymore. You need to take a break from time to time.”
As she spoke, she waved her hand to let Shen NingXin do whatever she wanted. She then closed her eyes, laid back, and fell asleep soon after.
It was so fast that Shen NingXin didn’t even finish checking over one customs form.
What an expert.
“. . . . . .”
Shen NingXin smiled helplessly and raised her eyes to look around. In the office, there were quite a few people like Zhao Jie. The rest of them were eating the melon seeds Wang Xi had brought this morning.
The atmosphere was peaceful.
So peaceful that Shen NingXin felt as though if she herself didn’t play for a while, she’d be sorry to the atmosphere at this moment.
There were a total of two customs forms in her hand. After checking each one over, she had no more work to do for now. She found a comfortable position and laid down on the back of her chair, and then turned on her phone.
She wanted to check out what her friends were talking about in the group chat, what news there was recently, and . . . if that crybaby President Qiu updated her Weibo.
Although Shen NingXin was still shocked about this discovery, it wasn’t as though she was unable to accept this stark contrast.
Since arriving at the Foreign Trade Department a week or so ago, she’s heard too many rumors about Qiu YiBai. She was excellent at her job, was good-looking, had a high-level education, and was rumored to be from a well-off family.
With each of these powerful sounding adjectives combined, they placed her on a high pedestal, forming the incredible President Qiu in everybody’s minds.
But it seemed that many people have forgotten that Qiu YiBai was still a girl. After tearing away that hard exterior, all that’s left on the inside was an ordinary person.
Having the tendency to cry really wasn’t a big deal.
Shen NingXin coughed slightly, suddenly realizing she was thinking a bit too much today.
Exiting out of Qiu YiBai’s Weibo in a panic, Shen NingXin decided to look at something else to calm down.
Then, after she started, she only did that for the rest of the day . . .
The second and third days passed by basically in the same way.
It wasn’t until the fourth day that she couldn’t remain idle anymore.
When the Foreign Trade Department interacted with customers, it was usually through email. Difficult sentences could be directly converted through translation software, which saved time and effort.
But occasionally, some foreign customers would contact sales members by phone, and this required those who had high-level English speaking skills.
Although Shen NingXin’s English was always good in school, she still had many shortcomings in communicating with people. She had no choice but to try and make up for it.
After flipping through the book she brought, Shen NingXin felt as though it wasn’t helping all that much and turned her attention to the computer instead.
She remembered seeing it in a certain folder. There was a video of Qiu YiBai’s speech at the company’s year-end party, where she apparently spoke in English the entire time.
As she thought, she quickly found it.
Shen NingXin hurriedly put on her headset and clicked on the video. The way she listened intently was like a well-behaved elementary school student.
The video was recorded a year ago, and when it first began playing, loud noises poured into her ears. The noise lasted for more than a minute until Qiu YiBai stepped on the stage and silence quickly returned.
She wore a black dress that night.
The skirt was very long, with an exquisite small design made on it, which was illuminated by the light above, shining brightly.
With her long hair that cascaded down like a waterfall, her beautifully shaped eyes and eyebrows, and her delicate white collarbone, her beauty tugged every viewer’s heartstrings.
After only one look, Shen NingXin’s breathing instantly stopped, and her heart even missed half a beat.
As expected of Qiu YiBai.
Shen NingXin silently turned up the volume again. With her reddened ears, she listened to the speech, noting down the professional terms used.
As she studied, the office suddenly became noisy.
She didn’t know what happened and didn’t pay any attention to it. She dragged the video’s progress bar back to listen to the sentence Qiu YiBai said again, but even after several tries, she still couldn’t quite catch it.
Tch.
She was a little irritated, and just as she was about to drag it back to listen again, someone suddenly reached out their hand and took off her headset.
Their fingertips accidentally touched her earlobe. It felt cold and tingly.
Shen NingXin was taken aback and subconsciously raised her head. Suddenly, she saw Qiu YiBai, who had been on a business trip for the past few days, standing right next to her and putting the headset on herself.
After listening for a few seconds, she uttered a few words of clearly pronounced English.
“Our glass beads will eventually spread to the world.“
Our glass beads will eventually spread to the world.
It was clearer than the video, resounding in her ears like a super stereo.
Shen NingXin’s face immediately reddened.
“President Qiu!” She was startled and quickly turned off the video. “You’re back already?”
“Do I need to consult you before I return?” Qiu YiBai answered and glanced at her, taking off the headset and returning it to her.
“Continue studying,” she said, and without waiting for Shen NingXin’s response, she turned around to leave with the files in her hand, her hair forming into an attractive arc. “There’s still a lot for you to learn.”
Her tone held a sense of pride that was almost imperceptible.
—
Before work ended, Wang Xi went to Manager Liu’s office to send a document, and when she came back, she brought good news with her.
“If you guys don’t have any plans for the evening, then don’t hurry to leave,” she said, “Manager Liu said that the matter was handled well this time. President Qiu is happy and wants to invite all of us to stay for a meal.”
As soon as her voice fell, cheers rang throughout the office.
“. . . . . .”
Soon, work ended.
There were a lot of people who owned cars in the office, and every seat was occupied, just enough to accommodate everyone.
Shen NingXin had just arrived and had a good relationship with everyone, but there was no one in particular she was close with. Her coworkers all gathered into different groups, and only she was left out.
As she contemplated thickening her skin and find a car to ride on, a low-key and luxurious black Maserati suddenly drove up behind her.
Afterward, the car window gently rolled down, revealing Qiu YiBai’s face.
Shen NingXin and her made eye contact for half a second before she finally said politely, “President Qiu.”
“En.” Qiu YiBai nodded, not speaking nor moving, staring at her motionlessly like before.
The atmosphere was silent for a few moments.
Any human would be able to tell that she was left out, and Qiu YiBai must have some sort of intention behind sitting in the car and staring at her like that.
It couldn’t be that she wanted her to open her mouth and ask for a ride, right?
No way, President Qiu! Do you need to be this prideful!
Shen NingXin was silent, and after hesitating for a while, she opened her mouth tentatively. Just as she was about to say something, she caught a glimpse of Pei Qing running toward her.
“Shen NingXin, why are you just standing here dumbly?” She quickly walked over, greeted Qiu YiBai, then grabbed Shen NingXin’s arm and tugged her. “Let’s go and get in a car.”
Before she could speak, she pulled her away.
Leaving Qiu YiBai to sit in the Maserati all alone.
After a moment, Qiu YiBai let out a cold “Hmph” and started the car ruthlessly.
—
After a few glasses of alcohol, the atmosphere quickly became lively.
President Qiu was wealthy and generous and was never stingy when it came to treating others to meals. At every dinner party, she always chose a high-end place with quality decorations and the best ingredients.
Everyone ate happily, and one after another, they raised their drinks and toasted President Qiu. It was one drink after another.
After several rounds, it became obvious Qiu YiBai was a little drunk.
“Don’t toast anymore . . .” Shen NingXin was a little worried, fearing that Qiu YiBai would be unwell after drinking so much, so she tried blocking for her. “I think President Qiu is already drunk.”
“It’s alright.” The coworker next to her glanced at her. “We’re having fun.”
“Besides, you just came here so you don’t really know,” she said, getting closer to Shen NingXin before whispering in her ear, “The drunk President Qiu is different from normal.”
“The her that’s usually so fierce becomes really docile when she gets drunk. She sits there without moving or talking and just eats vegetables obediently.”
“How should I say it.” She was silent for a moment before finally coming up with an adjective.
“She’s kinda . . . cute?”
“Cough!” Shen Ningxin choked upon hearing this, tears forming in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” The colleague was taken aback and quickly patted her back to help normalize her breathing.
“I’m okay.” Shen NingXin shook her head, finally evening her breathing, then quickly asked, “What else does she do after she gets drunk?”
Oh my god, she wouldn’t start crying all of a sudden, right?
“Nothing else really.” The colleague shook her head and soon said, “Xiao Shen, you’re really terrible. You want to see President Qiu make a fool of herself?”
Of course not!
Shen NingXin didn’t answer and took a sip from the drink to hide her embarrassment.
I’m actually afraid that she’ll make a fool of herself . . .
As she thought, Wang Xi suddenly reached past that female colleague and poked her. “The atmosphere is nice right now, go and toast President Qiu a drink.”
Forget it.
Shen NingXin’s eyes were full of refusal, for fear that if Qiu YiBai drank any more, she’d start crying in front of everyone.
“Ay, don’t be shy!” Seeing her hesitate, Wang Xi soon laughed, “Don’t worry, President Qiu happens to be really easy to talk to right now. She won’t be aggressive, go, go.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Qiu YiBai, who was originally silently eating her food, suddenly put down her chopsticks.
Then she raised her head, looked in the direction of Shen NingXin, lifted her index finger slightly, and tapped the table a few times.
At this moment, Shen NingXin felt as though Wang Xi’s jaw was about to drop to the ground.
Her heart began to beat frantically, and she finally summoned the courage to raise her head and meet Qiu YiBai’s gaze.
“Shen NingXin,” Qiu YiBai said. In her drunken state, the light in her eyes flickered slightly, and her voice was obviously softer than usual, but she was still deliberately maintaining a stern look.
A paper tiger.
Such a presumptuous word suddenly flashed in Shen NingXin’s mind.
“Come here with your glass.” Qiu YiBai didn’t care what she thought and if she was willing or not as she furrowed her eyebrows.
There was a hint of complaint in her voice. “Why are you trying to hide.”
“It’s just toasting your boss a drink, would it kill you?”
Her cheeks were red, and the ending sound of her words was deliberately stressed, giving off the feeling that she’s being wronged.
How deadly.
“. . . . .”
Qiu YiBai went on a business trip again for the next several days. It was said that she was going to discuss the follow-up matters of a cooperation with a South Korean company and was gone for quite a while.
She even took Manager Liu and Assistant Han with her.
As soon as they left, sunlight immediately shone through the atmosphere that had been dull for a long time.
Zhao Jie was the first to set an example.
“As you grow older, your back just can’t keep up anymore. You need to take a break from time to time.”
As she spoke, she waved her hand to let Shen NingXin do whatever she wanted. She then closed her eyes, laid back, and fell asleep soon after.
It was so fast that Shen NingXin didn’t even finish checking over one customs form.
What an expert.
“. . . . . .”
Shen NingXin smiled helplessly and raised her eyes to look around. In the office, there were quite a few people like Zhao Jie. The rest of them were eating the melon seeds Wang Xi had brought this morning.
The atmosphere was peaceful.
So peaceful that Shen NingXin felt as though if she herself didn’t play for a while, she’d be sorry to the atmosphere at this moment.
There were a total of two customs forms in her hand. After checking each one over, she had no more work to do for now. She found a comfortable position and laid down on the back of her chair, and then turned on her phone.
She wanted to check out what her friends were talking about in the group chat, what news there was recently, and . . . if that crybaby President Qiu updated her Weibo.
Although Shen NingXin was still shocked about this discovery, it wasn’t as though she was unable to accept this stark contrast.
Since arriving at the Foreign Trade Department a week or so ago, she’s heard too many rumors about Qiu YiBai. She was excellent at her job, was good-looking, had a high-level education, and was rumored to be from a well-off family.
With each of these powerful sounding adjectives combined, they placed her on a high pedestal, forming the incredible President Qiu in everybody’s minds.
But it seemed that many people have forgotten that Qiu YiBai was still a girl. After tearing away that hard exterior, all that’s left on the inside was an ordinary person.
Having the tendency to cry really wasn’t a big deal.
Shen NingXin coughed slightly, suddenly realizing she was thinking a bit too much today.
Exiting out of Qiu YiBai’s Weibo in a panic, Shen NingXin decided to look at something else to calm down.
Then, after she started, she only did that for the rest of the day . . .
The second and third days passed by basically in the same way.
It wasn’t until the fourth day that she couldn’t remain idle anymore.
When the Foreign Trade Department interacted with customers, it was usually through email. Difficult sentences could be directly converted through translation software, which saved time and effort.
But occasionally, some foreign customers would contact sales members by phone, and this required those who had high-level English speaking skills.
Although Shen NingXin’s English was always good in school, she still had many shortcomings in communicating with people. She had no choice but to try and make up for it.
After flipping through the book she brought, Shen NingXin felt as though it wasn’t helping all that much and turned her attention to the computer instead.
She remembered seeing it in a certain folder. There was a video of Qiu YiBai’s speech at the company’s year-end party, where she apparently spoke in English the entire time.
As she thought, she quickly found it.
Shen NingXin hurriedly put on her headset and clicked on the video. The way she listened intently was like a well-behaved elementary school student.
The video was recorded a year ago, and when it first began playing, loud noises poured into her ears. The noise lasted for more than a minute until Qiu YiBai stepped on the stage and silence quickly returned.
She wore a black dress that night.
The skirt was very long, with an exquisite small design made on it, which was illuminated by the light above, shining brightly.
With her long hair that cascaded down like a waterfall, her beautifully shaped eyes and eyebrows, and her delicate white collarbone, her beauty tugged every viewer’s heartstrings.
After only one look, Shen NingXin’s breathing instantly stopped, and her heart even missed half a beat.
As expected of Qiu YiBai.
Shen NingXin silently turned up the volume again. With her reddened ears, she listened to the speech, noting down the professional terms used.
As she studied, the office suddenly became noisy.
She didn’t know what happened and didn’t pay any attention to it. She dragged the video’s progress bar back to listen to the sentence Qiu YiBai said again, but even after several tries, she still couldn’t quite catch it.
Tch.
She was a little irritated, and just as she was about to drag it back to listen again, someone suddenly reached out their hand and took off her headset.
Their fingertips accidentally touched her earlobe. It felt cold and tingly.
Shen NingXin was taken aback and subconsciously raised her head. Suddenly, she saw Qiu YiBai, who had been on a business trip for the past few days, standing right next to her and putting the headset on herself.
After listening for a few seconds, she uttered a few words of clearly pronounced English.
“Our glass beads will eventually spread to the world.“
Our glass beads will eventually spread to the world.
It was clearer than the video, resounding in her ears like a super stereo.
Shen NingXin’s face immediately reddened.
“President Qiu!” She was startled and quickly turned off the video. “You’re back already?”
“Do I need to consult you before I return?” Qiu YiBai answered and glanced at her, taking off the headset and returning it to her.
“Continue studying,” she said, and without waiting for Shen NingXin’s response, she turned around to leave with the files in her hand, her hair forming into an attractive arc. “There’s still a lot for you to learn.”
Her tone held a sense of pride that was almost imperceptible.
—
Before work ended, Wang Xi went to Manager Liu’s office to send a document, and when she came back, she brought good news with her.
“If you guys don’t have any plans for the evening, then don’t hurry to leave,” she said, “Manager Liu said that the matter was handled well this time. President Qiu is happy and wants to invite all of us to stay for a meal.”
As soon as her voice fell, cheers rang throughout the office.
“. . . . . .”
Soon, work ended.
There were a lot of people who owned cars in the office, and every seat was occupied, just enough to accommodate everyone.
Shen NingXin had just arrived and had a good relationship with everyone, but there was no one in particular she was close with. Her coworkers all gathered into different groups, and only she was left out.
As she contemplated thickening her skin and find a car to ride on, a low-key and luxurious black Maserati suddenly drove up behind her.
Afterward, the car window gently rolled down, revealing Qiu YiBai’s face.
Shen NingXin and her made eye contact for half a second before she finally said politely, “President Qiu.”
“En.” Qiu YiBai nodded, not speaking nor moving, staring at her motionlessly like before.
The atmosphere was silent for a few moments.
Any human would be able to tell that she was left out, and Qiu YiBai must have some sort of intention behind sitting in the car and staring at her like that.
It couldn’t be that she wanted her to open her mouth and ask for a ride, right?
No way, President Qiu! Do you need to be this prideful!
Shen NingXin was silent, and after hesitating for a while, she opened her mouth tentatively. Just as she was about to say something, she caught a glimpse of Pei Qing running toward her.
“Shen NingXin, why are you just standing here dumbly?” She quickly walked over, greeted Qiu YiBai, then grabbed Shen NingXin’s arm and tugged her. “Let’s go and get in a car.”
Before she could speak, she pulled her away.
Leaving Qiu YiBai to sit in the Maserati all alone.
After a moment, Qiu YiBai let out a cold “Hmph” and started the car ruthlessly.
—
After a few glasses of alcohol, the atmosphere quickly became lively.
President Qiu was wealthy and generous and was never stingy when it came to treating others to meals. At every dinner party, she always chose a high-end place with quality decorations and the best ingredients.
Everyone ate happily, and one after another, they raised their drinks and toasted President Qiu. It was one drink after another.
After several rounds, it became obvious Qiu YiBai was a little drunk.
“Don’t toast anymore . . .” Shen NingXin was a little worried, fearing that Qiu YiBai would be unwell after drinking so much, so she tried blocking for her. “I think President Qiu is already drunk.”
“It’s alright.” The coworker next to her glanced at her. “We’re having fun.”
“Besides, you just came here so you don’t really know,” she said, getting closer to Shen NingXin before whispering in her ear, “The drunk President Qiu is different from normal.”
“The her that’s usually so fierce becomes really docile when she gets drunk. She sits there without moving or talking and just eats vegetables obediently.”
“How should I say it.” She was silent for a moment before finally coming up with an adjective.
“She’s kinda . . . cute?”
“Cough!” Shen Ningxin choked upon hearing this, tears forming in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” The colleague was taken aback and quickly patted her back to help normalize her breathing.
“I’m okay.” Shen NingXin shook her head, finally evening her breathing, then quickly asked, “What else does she do after she gets drunk?”
Oh my god, she wouldn’t start crying all of a sudden, right?
“Nothing else really.” The colleague shook her head and soon said, “Xiao Shen, you’re really terrible. You want to see President Qiu make a fool of herself?”
Of course not!
Shen NingXin didn’t answer and took a sip from the drink to hide her embarrassment.
I’m actually afraid that she’ll make a fool of herself . . .
As she thought, Wang Xi suddenly reached past that female colleague and poked her. “The atmosphere is nice right now, go and toast President Qiu a drink.”
Forget it.
Shen NingXin’s eyes were full of refusal, for fear that if Qiu YiBai drank any more, she’d start crying in front of everyone.
“Ay, don’t be shy!” Seeing her hesitate, Wang Xi soon laughed, “Don’t worry, President Qiu happens to be really easy to talk to right now. She won’t be aggressive, go, go.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Qiu YiBai, who was originally silently eating her food, suddenly put down her chopsticks.
Then she raised her head, looked in the direction of Shen NingXin, lifted her index finger slightly, and tapped the table a few times.
At this moment, Shen NingXin felt as though Wang Xi’s jaw was about to drop to the ground.
Her heart began to beat frantically, and she finally summoned the courage to raise her head and meet Qiu YiBai’s gaze.
“Shen NingXin,” Qiu YiBai said. In her drunken state, the light in her eyes flickered slightly, and her voice was obviously softer than usual, but she was still deliberately maintaining a stern look.
A paper tiger.
Such a presumptuous word suddenly flashed in Shen NingXin’s mind.
“Come here with your glass.” Qiu YiBai didn’t care what she thought and if she was willing or not as she furrowed her eyebrows.
There was a hint of complaint in her voice. “Why are you trying to hide.”
“It’s just toasting your boss a drink, would it kill you?”
Her cheeks were red, and the ending sound of her words was deliberately stressed, giving off the feeling that she’s being wronged.
How deadly.
“. . . . .”
