Chapter 2. Crossing the road, with a clear goal in mind, heading straight for...

Chapter 2

Wen Yining's face turned pale, and she instantly remembered her former colleague Liu Yuxin, whom she had forgotten for a long time.

A student from T University, no more than two years older than her, was noticed by a big shot while working there, and then left the company and disappeared without a trace.

Wen Yining overheard someone whispering that she was forced into a room by the manager, and after being ordered to deliver wine without her understanding what was happening, she was never able to come out.

The girl, weak and powerless, was completely helpless in the face of these powerful and wealthy people.

Darkness breeds most easily in environments of dazzling lights and decadent indulgence, whether voluntary or forced; such situations are actually quite common in such environments.

That's why many people want to work in the front office, not only because the salary is high, but also because there are many opportunities to take shortcuts...

But she had only ever heard about such things; Wen Yining had almost never been to the front hall. As she stood in the dark and quiet garden, listening to the gossip about the wealthy, extravagant, and brightly lit front hall, she felt it was very, very far removed from her own life. Little did she know…

The guests here are not someone someone of her social standing can afford to offend, especially those in Room 9. If her intuition is correct, if this person really wants to do something to her, can she escape...?

The night air seemed to grow even colder, and Wen Yining felt icy and tight all over. She wanted to turn around and avoid that gaze, but turning around at this moment would be too abrupt, and besides, there was only one way back, right under that window.

I closed my eyes and had no choice but to grit my teeth and walk that way.

The warm yellow light shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a small patch of yellow light on the cold, hard bluestone path outside.

As she drew closer, nearing the window, separated by a transparent floor-to-ceiling window, she was now only two meters away from the person. His gaze seemed clearer and more unrestrained, as if it carried a force upon her.

She felt that gaze was like a knife, slowly slicing through her flesh, revealing her veins and bare bones with a "whoosh".

Then he slowly devoured her.

She was afraid that her behavior would provoke his next move, afraid that he would suddenly call out to her.

Wen Yining dug her fingers into her palms, desperately suppressing the urge to look up. Pretending not to have noticed anything, she stiffened her neck and walked forward, her body rigid. She could almost hear her bones cracking.

She walked a long way along the narrow bluestone path, and she could still feel that gaze on her back.

The chilling gaze didn't disappear until she turned and entered the woods.

The reception staff required one male and one female member, and the male colleague who worked with Wen Yining at the Garden Post was also a part-time worker.

He looked at Wen Yining with surprise as she returned, "What's wrong? You've been in the kitchen for so long, why do you look so pale?"

Although they were colleagues, Wen Yining was aloof and quiet, so they weren't familiar with each other. She shook her head and didn't answer, only tugging at the corners of her mouth and forcing out a stiff, pale smile.

—

The garden was hazy and quiet, completely different from the ostentatious and wealthy atmosphere of the building in front. It was like a forgotten place. Standing here and looking up into the distance, one could vaguely glimpse the magnificent and decadent old Beijing.

Back in her familiar surroundings, Wen Yining gradually calmed down. There were people coming and going in Hall 9, and with everyone watching, that person wouldn't do anything to her.

Besides, important people have seen too many people, so they probably wouldn't do anything to a mere greeter like her.

Or perhaps she was mistaken.

Yes, definitely.

She tried to comfort herself, her mind in turmoil.

After standing there for a long time without anything happening, Wen Yining's tense heart gradually relaxed.

The garden was open-air and unheated. Although it was springtime, the temperature was still very low at night. Since people couldn't move, it was still quite cold to stand there all night.

But it's much better than before. Back then, she was wearing a thin woolen coat at this station, and she almost froze into an ice sculpture in less than an hour.

For aesthetic reasons, their uniforms were very thin. Taking advantage of her slim figure, Wen Yining secretly stuffed a sweater under her shirt, a sweater that her mother had bought for her during the Chinese New Year.

It was said to be pure wool, and it was 50% off. It was very warm, so her mother reluctantly spent 399 yuan to buy it for her. Wen Yining wore it very carefully, but after washing it a few times, it shrank several sizes. It was too tight and constricting on her body, and the sleeves were also too short. She couldn't bear to throw it away, and now she could secretly wear it under her shirt.

As night deepened, the night grew quiet, and the temperature dropped lower and lower.

After standing there for an unknown amount of time, a group of more than a dozen people came from the other side. They looked quite impressive, with a bunch of secretaries and bodyguards, and at first glance, the whole group was dressed in solemn black.

Wen Yining's drowsy mind jolted, and she immediately stood up straighter.

She learned a lot here. For example, the group of people in front of her, whose seemingly casual positioning was actually very orderly. The bodyguards were clearing the way on the front and side, the secretary was on the far side, and in the middle were four or five middle-aged people who looked powerful. They were half a step behind, and the person they were surrounding at the front was a tall man who looked very young and was wearing a long black coat.

The man wore gold-rimmed glasses and looked very refined and modest. He had an extremely reserved and low-key demeanor, appearing unassuming, but his aura made people unconsciously hold their breath.

Just a casual glance was enough to make Wen Yining inexplicably stop looking. She quickly looked away and quietly lowered her eyes.

As the group approached, talking, Wen Yining and the boy opposite her immediately prepared to bend down. Just before bending down, Wen Yining's eyelids twitched, and she inexplicably looked up subconsciously. Without warning, her clear gaze met the young man's eyes.

He wore a gentle, refined smile, tilting his head slightly to look at her, as if he were merely glancing at her unintentionally while talking to someone else.

That glance seemed casual and shallow, but upon closer inspection it was profound and powerful, carrying a hidden and deep emotion that Wen Yining could not understand.

In a fleeting moment, she seemed to glimpse the unfathomable depths hidden beneath that gentle facade.

Wen Yining's heart skipped a beat, pounding uncontrollably. Before she could think, she instinctively looked down, her vision filled only with the tips of her shoes and the crisscrossing patterns of the stone bricks beneath her feet, and then, as it drew closer, came into view the hem of a well-tailored, expensive black coat. But then, the hem seemed to stop right in front of her…

From her perspective, all she could see were the black toes of her shoes and the hem of her black, structured coat.

They were so close that it felt as if the hem of his clothes might touch them at any moment; they were almost touching!

There seemed to be a faint, cool scent emanating from the tip of my nose.

Wen Yining's breath hitched, and her fingers clenched so tightly they turned white.

The girl was wearing a very fitted black uniform. Her back looked thin and slender, and the fitted waist made her waist look so thin that it could be grasped in one hand.

Amidst the completely covered, minimalist black outfit, a slender and beautiful neck peeks out, as bright as snow, the only bright spot in the solemn black, making her skin appear astonishingly fair and delicate.

Wen Yining remained bent over, and whether it was an illusion caused by her nervousness or not, a gaze that was hot and tangible seemed to have fixed on her head for a moment.

Before she could react, his gaze swept over her, following the movement of her hem of clothing.

What should have been less than half a second felt like an eternity, and her palms were already sweating.

The two didn't straighten up until the footsteps had long since disappeared.

As if she had been hit hard, Wen Yining's brain was buzzing. She turned her stiff neck and looked around. The group had already reached the end, and she could only see the dark shadows of the bodyguards crowding behind them.

Is it...him?

*

I've never felt that a night shift was as difficult as today's.

Wen Yining was completely frozen.

At midnight, when her colleagues came to take over her shift, her legs were so stiff that they felt like they didn't belong to her anymore. When she walked, her legs were stiff like an unbendable stick.

The cold and exhaustion left her numb with fear and anxiety.

Back in the dressing room, Wen Yining, exhausted, changed into her own clothes. As she zipped up her down jacket, she groggily thought that she would have to secretly wear something thicker next day.

Remembering that Sister Zhang said the side gate was always open, and thinking of the blooming magnolia tree outside the gate, plus the fact that the side gate was indeed one street shorter than the back gate, Wen Yining turned and headed towards the side gate.

Surprisingly, the side door, which is usually empty, was full of colleagues coming off their night shift this time, probably because they had heard about the back door being opened.

People on the street were in small groups, but she was all alone. Occasionally she would see a familiar face, but she was unsure whether to greet them. It would be impolite not to speak, but if she did speak, she was not sure if the other person recognized her.

Wen Yining wasn't exactly socially awkward, but she wasn't good at socializing either. So she simply lowered her head, slowed her pace, took out her phone from her pocket, and looked down at it.

She habitually opened WeChat to check her messages, but no one was looking for her. However, in their reception team's work group, the manager had specifically tagged her.

For a moment, Wen Yining doubted that she had seen correctly.

The manager, who is usually elusive, actually tagged her in a message!

Puzzled, I clicked on it, and the screen automatically popped up with the message that tagged her.

[Xiao Wen, starting tomorrow, you'll be transferred to a VIP position in the restaurant team. Come early tomorrow and go to HR first.]

Wen Yining stood there, holding her phone, stunned.

She remembered clearly that their job positions and promotion system had always been extremely strict, and employees who had not been with the company for more than six months were not eligible to go to the VIP room.

Moreover, for a part-time worker like her who has less than two months of service, according to regulations, she cannot be directly transferred to the VIP area in the east.

Of course, the salary in the VIP room is completely different from that of other positions.

Scrolling down through the chat history, I saw other colleagues also raising questions.

I remember she was working part-time, right? And she was a newbie. When did part-time workers get promoted to VIP positions so easily?

[I've worked here for two years and haven't passed the assessment to get into the VIP room. How come she, a newcomer, gets there? Does she have connections?]

A barrage of criticism rained down on her face, even through the screen.

Wen Yining gripped her phone so tightly her fingers turned white, and her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly.

In a panic, she suddenly remembered that, according to the job assignments, her assigned area was the courtyard of Hall 9...

My heart skipped a beat, and I felt a wavering, uneasy feeling that was floating around and couldn't quite settle down.

The image of that figure at the window of Hall 9 flashed uncontrollably into her mind, along with the meaningful glance that man gave her when he turned his head to look at her.

She slowly typed a line of text on the screen, hesitated for a moment, then deleted it one by one. She looked up and took a breath of the night air, put her phone in her pocket, and walked towards the small door ahead with the few remaining people, her mind in turmoil.

As soon as I crossed the threshold, I saw a row of identical cars parked quietly under the tall magnolia tree in full bloom on the usually empty and quiet roadside in the dead of night.

Outside the side gate is a clean and quiet alley, lined with tall and sturdy locust trees. There is almost no traffic during the day, but now, in the dead of night, several identical black sedans have suddenly stopped.

Several black sedans with red taillights were parked on the side of the road. The black windows were tightly closed, and no one could see inside. The bright, black bodies reflected a cold, eerie light under the streetlights, and a sense of cold, oppressive force was palpable.

Wen Yining felt a sudden weight lift in her heart, a strong sense of foreboding washing over her, and her steps unconsciously slowed.

Turning my gaze, I saw a bespectacled, refined-looking young man standing by the car, and another young man dressed in a black down jacket and black pants, with a tall and neat demeanor.

The two looked around in the crowd, seemingly searching for someone.

Wen Yining's heart pounded wildly in her chest, and she subconsciously lowered her head and took a step back into the shadows beside her.

Please, whatever you do, don't look for her...

The next second, the young man in black suddenly turned his head and looked at her.

In the dim light, her face paled, her eyes fixed on the two men's movements.

The young man in black said something, and the young man with glasses also looked at her.

Then, the two crossed the road and walked straight towards her with a clear purpose...

A note from the author: