Chapter 26 Because she finally saw the person she had been longing for day and night, she finally...
The audio software remained silent, which was exactly what Zhu Liushuang had expected. Her busy work during the day had distracted her, leaving her no time to dwell on the inexplicable emotions that were frantically growing within her.
Once home, she either tries to make new desserts or spends her time taking online classes.
During the summer sales, Zhu Liushuang splurged on a CPA course from a certain company, forcing herself to work hard and improve. She naively thought that as long as she was busy enough, she wouldn't let He Ming occupy her mind.
She usually pretends to be nonchalant, but a colleague's casual remark of concern immediately exposes her pretense.
"Liu Shuang, you look even thinner these past few days. You can't lose any more weight, your face is even smaller than my niece who's in elementary school..."
If Zhuang Xiaoqian hadn't reminded her, she wouldn't have known that her chin had become pointed again.
Zhu Liushuang stroked her chin and answered casually, "I've been studying late into the night lately, which has indeed taken a toll on my energy."
What followed was a long, rambling lecture from Zhuang Xiaoqian, mostly about how young people should take good care of their health and pay attention to wellness. She spoke as if she were some kind of old woman.
Zhu Liushuang pressed her forehead and accepted her colleague's kindness. Just as she was pondering how to get Zhuang Xiaoqian to end the conversation, there was a knock on the door of the finance office.
The person who rescued her from her "rambling" was Li Jingjia from the company's human resources department.
"Oh, you two are both here!" Li Jingjia was dressed in a Chanel-style business suit and high heels. She stood by the door, looking like a proud and elegant white swan. Even her greeting exuded an air of haughty arrogance.
Zhuang Xiaoqian wasn't going to pay her any attention, so she simply turned her head and fumbled for the keyboard, pretending to be busy with work.
Zhu Liushuang covered her mouth to hide her embarrassment and looked up to ask, "Jingjia, what brings you here at this hour?"
Li Jingjia tossed her long, wavy brown hair and said in a relatively warm tone, "Oh, Liu Shuang, President Guo asked me to inform you that people from Zhonghe are coming tomorrow. He wants you to have all the necessary materials ready before you leave work."
The hand that had been covering half of her mouth slammed onto the table, and her previously slouching body instantly sat up straight. Zhu Liushuang responded with a heavy "Okay." Seeing Li Jingjia turn to leave, she pressed on, "Is there anything else President Guo wants to tell you?"
Li Jingjia turned around and looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"Regarding... neutralization... is there anything else I should be aware of?" Even she herself didn't realize the incoherence in her words. Guo Yang had already given her some pointers last time. Asking again now seemed redundant.
"I just had the meeting room cleaned for you. I'll put coffee, tea, and pastries in there tomorrow morning... As for anything else, you should have more experience than I do." Li Jingjia shrugged, indicating that she had nothing more to say.
Zhu Liushuang nodded her thanks and watched Li Jingjia leave. While pondering her thoughts, she listened to the clattering sound of her high heels, completely unaware of Zhuang Xiaoqian's slightly inquisitive gaze.
"Wait a minute... Liu Shuang, why were you so nervous just now?" Zhuang Xiaoqian complained. "She's Li Jiajing, not President Guo."
"Really?" Zhu Liushuang asked, adjusting her emotions.
"Or... are you still worried about accidentally 'offending' He Ming last time?" Zhuang Xiaoqian voiced her guess.
The person across the desk was still making wild guesses, and Zhu Liushuang couldn't answer, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Sis! You must have misread it... I'm perfectly normal." Zhu Liushuang changed the subject, "I noticed you didn't even greet her, the atmosphere was kind of awkward, so I replied a little hastily..."
The shift in firepower was timely. Zhuang Xiaoqian snorted, expressing her dissatisfaction with Li Jingjia.
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The next morning, Zhu Liushuang was the first to clock in at the company.
She wore a pale yellow, fitted dress with a few small white flowers adorning the knee-length hem. Below her long, slender, fair legs were a pair of off-white low-heeled sandals.
If you look closely, you can notice subtle changes on her face. Her eyebrows are carefully drawn, and her lipstick is a fresh peach pink. There's a thin layer of blush on her cheekbones, giving her nose and chin a touch of pink.
She first went to the water dispenser to get a kettle of hot water, then returned to her office to recheck the materials she had prepared in her notebook.
It was still early, and she was the only one in the finance office. Zhu Liushuang couldn't stay there any longer, so she strolled over to the conference room.
The meeting room door was locked, and Li Jiajing had the key. Zhu Liushuang stood by the door for a few minutes before going to the company's front desk.
She walked back and forth five or six times before finally stepping back into the finance office with a restless heart.
At 8:15, the sound of footsteps in the corridor outside gradually increased, followed by the sound of a group of people talking and laughing.
Zhu Liushuang's gaze lingered on the empty workstation opposite her, and she felt fortunate. Zhuang Xiaoqian had to go to the bank this morning and wouldn't be back until the afternoon. Otherwise, if Zhuang Xiaoqian saw her fidgeting like this, she might find something out.
Around 8:30, Zhu Liushuang went to the conference room and bumped into Li Jingjia, who was preparing tea.
"Good morning, Liu Shuang..." Li Jingjia greeted her, but her gaze lingered on her. "Your dress is really pretty, do you have a link?"
Zhu Liushuang looked at the expensive outfit Li Jingjia was wearing, turned her face away and said embarrassedly, "I bought it at a vintage store. It was the only one there."
Yes, she bought this dress last year when she went shopping with Tian Xingyu. Originally, she was just giving her friend advice, but as they shopped, Tian Xingyu persuaded her to open her wallet.
The dress cost six or seven hundred yuan, and could only be worn in summer, which stung her wallet. But she couldn't resist her friend's barrage of compliments, and finally gritted her teeth and bought it.
Which girl doesn't love to be pretty?
Therefore, she didn't buy any other new clothes last summer. Thinking of this, Zhu Liushuang chuckled to herself: wearing them a few more times would at least recoup her investment.
Li Jiajing, who was making tea with her head down, did not notice Zhu Liushuang's expression. Instead, she said to herself, "This dress makes your skin look even whiter. When you first walked in, just by looking at your figure, I thought our company had hired a new intern... You looked like a young girl who hadn't graduated yet."
In fact, Li Jiajing is only two years older than Zhu Liushuang, but their styles are completely different.
Zhu Liushuang wasn't sure if she was genuinely praising her or implying something, so she could only chuckle awkwardly in response. She placed the laptop she was carrying on the long table, plugged it in, and then picked up a rag to wipe down the table and chairs.
She hasn't sat down since she entered the company this morning, afraid that if she does, her skirt will get more wrinkles.
Even though my feet were aching, I had no choice but to endure it.
"You go ahead with your work, I'll go to the front desk to see if Zhonghe's people have arrived yet." Zhu Liushuang picked up the thermos on the table and quickly walked out of the conference room.
Behind her, Li Jingjia looked up and watched the graceful figure disappear into the doorway, a contemptuous smile on her face.
At this moment, Zhu Liushuang didn't care about what was behind her; all she wanted to do was go to the front desk to see if Zhonghe's people had arrived.
Upon arriving at the front desk, the only thing in sight was the cleaning lady.
Zhu Liushuang's gaze swept disappointedly over the empty reception area and then turned to the elevator entrance outside the company.
The watch on her wrist told her it was 8:35.
With a "ding," the elevator doors opened. A stranger stepped out.
Zhu Liushuang rushed forward, a polite smile on her face: "Excuse me, are you from Zhonghe Accounting Firm?"
After receiving an affirmative reply, her smile faded, almost disappearing. It was as if a bucket of water had been poured over her head; all the anxiety and joy she had felt that morning vanished instantly.
"Hello, I'm Lin Hui from Zhonghe Audit Department. I'm happy to be in charge of your company's application project... And you are?"
Zhu Liushuang listened to every word the stranger in front of her said, but not a single word really stuck in her mind.
Seeing that she was staring straight at his face without responding, Lin Hui asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Is there something dirty on my face?"
Looking away blankly, Zhu Liushuang realized her lapse in composure and immediately put on a smiling face, saying, "Excuse me, I am Zhu Liushuang from Ruixin's finance department. It's a pleasure to work with you, Teacher Lin."
Lin Hui blushed when someone called him "teacher" for the first time. Especially under the gaze of Zhu Liushuang's bright, moist almond-shaped eyes, he became even more incoherent.
"No, no, I'm just our team leader's assistant. You can call me Lin Hui or Xiao Lin."
So... is their project too simple, requiring only an assistant? Zhu Liushuang thought to herself.
Lin Hui seemed to have read her mind, scratched his head and explained, "Our team leader worked too late last night and probably won't be here until later. So he asked me to come and coordinate with you first..."
Zhu Liushuang asked knowingly, "Who is your team leader?"
“Our team leader is called He Ming. You can call him Teacher He, just like I do. Just a heads up, Teacher He is quite serious when he’s working, and he doesn’t really like… well, he doesn’t really like girls getting too close.” Lin Hui kindly reminded Zhu Liushuang, who looked quite young.
So it turns out—he still came, just a little later.
My mood was like riding a roller coaster, going up and down, and then being thrown high into the clouds.
Zhu Liushuang immediately perked up. She led Lin Hui inside, talking about the company's situation as they walked.
The two entered the conference room one after the other. Zhu Liushuang opened her laptop and asked Lin Hui, "Last time, Jiang Shuting from your group sent me a document, and I filed all the necessary materials according to the requirements in the document. Do you want to check it now? Or wait for... Teacher He to come over?"
She never sat down in the chair, leaning slightly forward, and when she entered her password on the computer screen, the hem of her clothes didn't even touch the edge of the table.
Zhu Liushuang gestured "please," pointing to the chair beside her, inviting Lin Hui to come over. She then turned to fetch the tea tray from the other end of the long table.
"We have freshly brewed white tea and Americano here. Which would you like?"
"White tea, please. Drinking Americano first thing in the morning gives me a stomachache." Lin Hui sat down at the computer and began to check. "I'll go through the application materials first. We'll discuss other issues with ticketing data and product development when Professor He arrives."
Zhu Liushuang served Lin Hui a cup of tea and then tactfully stepped aside. The only sound in the conference room was the faint clicking of a mouse.
Looking down from the conference room window, you can see a row of neatly arranged low trees. The lush green branches spread out, and the tops and sides are covered with pink flower balls.
That was the pink crape myrtle that Zhu Liushuang had mentioned to He Ming on the radio. One day, while strolling downstairs after lunch, she did indeed reach out and scratch the tree trunk. Perhaps her touch was too light, for the tree didn't shake as rumored.
After gazing at the flowers downstairs for a while, Zhu Liushuang turned her head and saw Lin Hui answering the phone. Judging from his tone, the person on the other end of the line should be He Ming.
"Teacher He... is he coming?" She wasn't used to calling him "Teacher He".
Lin Hui nodded in agreement: "Yes, he said he's already downstairs and will be up soon."
"Then I'll go meet him at the company entrance." Zhu Liushuang said calmly, but her steps became hurried.
With a "click," the conference room door closed. She touched her chest, trying to calm the butterfly in her heart that was about to take flight.
"Hey, is Accountant Zhu going on a date after work today? You're dressed so nicely!" Someone timely extinguished the flames of excitement in her heart. The speaker was a young man from the technical department.
Although it was meant as a compliment, it sounded overly slick and vulgar. Zhu Liushuang gave a forced smile and said politely, "You flatter me." Only then did she notice that Wang Yizheng was standing next to the young man.
Out of politeness, she forced a smile at Wang Yizheng. Taking a step, she softly said "Excuse me," turned sideways past them, and walked straight to the front desk.
As she walked to the elevator, the elevator stopped right at her feet.
"We've arrived at the twelfth floor. Please be careful when opening the door."
As the elevator doors slowly opened, the person she had been longing for finally appeared in her sight.
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Author's Note: To avoid even a single wrinkle in their skirts, Shuangshuang didn't dare sit down. Who understands?! Waaaaah, my daughter's little schemes are really...
Senior He finally has a role!
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