Chapter 427 Are you still worried about your reputation?
To be honest, she couldn't see anything that needed to be changed; it was perfect, like a finished product that had already been modified.
The next second, Cui Xiao seemed to understand something.
A slight smile played on her thin lips. She glanced out the window and muttered under her breath, "Childish."
The next day, Cui Xiao went to work as usual.
Around 11 a.m., the receptionist called her and said, "Vice President Cui, there is a young woman downstairs who wants to see you. She says she is Zhou Mubin's friend."
Zhou Mubin's friend?
female?
Cui Xiao frowned slightly and said coldly, "Tell her that I am no longer Attorney Zhou's assistant and will not handle his cleanup work."
Cui Xiao thought that Zhou Mubin was probably playing around with women again, dumping them, and that's why the women had no choice but to come to her.
She used to help him with these clean-up matters, but now she has no obligation to do so.
The receptionist relayed Cui Xiao's words to the woman, but the woman said, "I'm not here to cause trouble for Miss Cui. I just want to see Miss Cui and ask her for a favor."
Upon hearing this, Cui Xiao became more curious about her.
"Tell her to wait for me for half an hour."
After hanging up the phone, Cui Xiao tapped her fingertips lightly twice on the glass surface of her desk, lost in thought.
Half an hour later, Cui Xiao appeared in the company lobby carrying a bag.
A girl in a white dress stood outside the door. She was slender and had her hair tied in a simple ponytail. As soon as she saw her come out, she straightened up awkwardly, clutching the straps of her canvas bag with both hands, her eyes full of nervousness and anticipation.
Cui Xiao didn't stop walking and said calmly, "There's a quiet Western restaurant nearby, let's go."
The girl quickly followed, not daring to say much along the way, only whispering "thank you" when Cui Xiao pulled out the dining chair.
The waiter brought over the menu, and Cui Xiao casually pushed it across the table, saying, "Take a look and see what you'd like to eat. It's on me."
"No, no, I'll just have a glass of lemonade."
The girl hurriedly waved her hand, and only after Cui Xiao looked up at her did she timidly turn two pages and order the cheapest pasta.
After the waiter left, Cui Xiao slowly leaned back in his chair, his gaze calmly falling on the girl's face.
This face startled her slightly, because the curve of her eyebrows and the outline of her nose were three-tenths similar to her own in the mirror. However, the girl's face still had a touch of childishness and lacked the coldness and hardness she possessed.
Cui Xiao didn't beat around the bush; her tone remained calm, revealing no emotion. "Speak, what do you want?"
The girl gripped her chopsticks tightly, took a deep breath before speaking, her voice trembling slightly, "My name is Miao Miao, I'm a law student at the University of Hong Kong... I, I'm a student sponsored by Attorney Zhou."
Cui Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly.
Sponsorship? This was quite different from the man she remembered who frequented brothels. She didn't interrupt, gesturing for Miaomiao to continue.
“Attorney Zhou has been supporting me through school for a while now.” Miao Miao’s voice trailed off, and her eyes reddened. “But a couple of days ago he suddenly said he wouldn’t continue to sponsor me. Attorney Zhou said he was afraid his girlfriend would get angry. That’s when I found out about you. I’m here today to ask you something. I have no other intention than to tell you that I have no relationship with Attorney Zhou. Could you please ask him to continue sponsoring me?”
At this point, Miao Miao suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with urgency and pleading, and her speech quickened, "Ms. Cui, I know I shouldn't be bothering you, but my family is really struggling. Without Attorney Zhou's help, I'd have to work part-time to earn a living..."
She became increasingly anxious as she spoke, tears welling up in her eyes. "Miss Cui, please don't worry, I have absolutely no ulterior motives towards Lawyer Zhou. I just want to finish my studies and pay him back once I graduate and find a job. Please, could you please talk to Lawyer Zhou and ask him to continue sponsoring me? I really can't lose this opportunity..."
Cui Xiao paused, the coolness of the glass passing through her fingertips instantly sobering her up.
Looking at the girl with tears streaming down her face, she suddenly felt it was absurd that Zhou Mubin had suddenly stopped providing financial assistance, and this girl actually thought that she was the one who was sabotaging things behind the scenes.
She put down her water glass, tapped the table lightly with her fingertips, and said in a calm but undeniably clear voice, "Zhou Mubin and I have no personal relationship now, and I have no say in his decisions. So, it's no use begging me."
Miao Miao froze, tears still clinging to her eyelashes, "But...but they all say...you're the most important person to Zhou Lu, he'll definitely listen..."
Cui Xiao twitched the corners of her mouth, revealing a very faint smile, "You're overthinking it. How could I possibly be the most important person to Attorney Zhou?"
She looked into Miao Miao's eyes, paused, and then said, "Besides, sponsoring you is a favor, not sponsoring you is his right. Miss Miao, a small favor is appreciated, but an excessive one will breed resentment. He has no obligation to support your education."
Miao Miao's smile froze, her grip on the fork tightened, and her voice lowered, "Miss Cui, are you misunderstanding something...?"
Cui Xiao interrupted her, raised her hand to beckon the waiter to pay the bill, and said, "Whether I misunderstood or not is not important. What is important is that this is none of your business, and I have no right to meddle in other people's affairs."
After saying that, Cui Xiao picked up her bag and stood up. "I've already paid the bill. You can eat slowly. I'll be leaving now."
Miao Miao watched Cui Xiao leave, and the tears in her eyes disappeared.
Yesterday, after following Zhou Mubin all day, she finally found out who the woman he liked was. She thought Zhou Mubin had won her over, but it seems this woman hasn't agreed to be with him.
For some reason, Miao Miao felt a sense of joy.
——
Back in her office, Cui Xiao found Zhou Mubin's number.
My fingertip hovered over the dial button for two seconds before I finally pressed it.
The phone was answered after three rings, and Zhou Mubin's somewhat lazy voice came from the other end, "What a rare guest. Vice President Cui is calling me on business or personal matters?"
Ignoring the teasing in his tone, Cui Xiao got straight to the point, "Miao Miao from the HKU Law Department, the student you sponsor, she came to see me today."
The person on the other end of the phone seemed to pause for a moment, and Zhou Mubin was dumbfounded.
He never expected that Miao Miao would come to Cui Xiao.
Zhou Mubin asked warily, "What did she say to you?"
Cui Xiao sat in her office chair and asked softly, "What are you nervous about?"
How could he not be nervous?
Zhou Mubin knew perfectly well what those women had sought out Cui Xiao for in the past, and he was afraid that Cui Xiao would misunderstand him and Miao Miao.
Zhou Mubin hurriedly explained, "How can I not be nervous? What if she talks nonsense? My reputation will be ruined!"
Cui Xiao sneered, "You're worried about your reputation?"
Zhou Mubin leaned back in his office chair. "It doesn't matter if others misunderstand me, but if you misunderstand me, I'll suffer a great loss. Cui Xiao, Miao Miao and I really have no relationship whatsoever. It was just that I was drinking with Xu Chenghao and the others that day, and I saw that she looked somewhat like you, so I took pity on her and planned to sponsor her to graduate from university. However, I changed my mind a couple of days ago. So, now even the sponsorship relationship is over."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com