SCHS - Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Zhu Ziming's voice drifted down, and Wen Shixue lifted her eyelids to glance at him. The surroundings suddenly fell silent.
Of course, she knew she had a fiancé, and she also knew he was sitting right across from her, working hard and making money for her at this company.
As luck would have it, in the original plot, the two of them tacitly resisted the marriage, never having met, not even knowing each other's names. It was precisely this that led to various subsequent plot points, giving her, the original villainous side character, a reason to further entangle herself with the male lead, and creating new obstacles for the main couple's love.
But now that the villainous side character held the script, it was naturally impossible for her to obediently follow the original plot. Before, she was the one being arranged; now, it was her turn to arrange others! That's why she dared to trick the male lead into working for her here, even though he didn't know who she was.
Even having reached this point, she didn't feel she had done anything wrong. She made money, he achieved his dream; they both got what they needed. What was wrong with that? However, paper can't wrap fire forever. She knew the male lead would find out eventually, but she didn't expect it to happen so quickly. Was it a plot change? Had someone leaked the information to him early?
She sat perfectly still, her fair, rosy fingertips lightly resting on her temple, calmly and collectedly watching Zhu Ziming across from her. This was clearly not the issue she should be pondering now. The urgent matter was what kind of answer she should give the male lead, and what kind of answer the male lead wanted.
Zhu Ziming's gaze was heavy, his thin lips pressed together.
He was very conflicted; even the decision to come here for an answer had taken him a long time to wrestle with.
Tao Wanwan, who had become a Wen Shixue fan, encouraged him to boldly seek help from President Wen and Vice President Qin if he couldn't solve work problems. But she couldn't have predicted that the source of his unsolvable problem happened to be President Wen herself.
He had once wondered which family's young lady his fiancée would be, but he had never imagined it would be his own boss, Wen Shixue!
He couldn't describe his feelings after learning this; it was a complexity he had never experienced before, a mix of shock and confusion. He couldn't help but think a lot—Did Wen Shixue know about this? If she didn't, then it was nothing, but if she did, then why did she recruit him? Was she deliberately deceiving him?
No one liked being deceived, including him.
He preferred to believe that Wen Shixue knew nothing, that she had simply read his fortune and seen through his obsession with being a jewelry designer before extending an olive branch. It was only after the Tao Wanwan incident that he had built a bridge of trust with her and was fully ready to stay at the gentle Chenfeng for the long term. But before twenty-four hours had even passed, was that bridge about to collapse here?
This shouldn't be happening. Therefore, he needed Wen Shixue to be honest with him, yet he worried she wouldn't be, because their relationship until now had been purely that of superior and subordinate. They had never once acknowledged each other as friends, so Wen Shixue was simply an unpredictable, unstable factor to him.
Thinking of this, a wave of vexation surged over him like a tidal wave, leaving him momentarily unsure of what to do.
Should he leave? Before Wen Shixue completely turned against him, before she exposed him to his parents, should he change his identity, change locations, and start over? But he had already built up something here; it wouldn't be easy to simply walk away. Or should he confront Wen Shixue directly, ask her clearly what her intentions were, and avoid misunderstanding her?
He couldn't make up his mind, caught between two difficult choices. In the end, it was Du Xianyu, the design department assistant, who persuaded him.
Du Xianyu saw him fretting alone and came over to ask. He smiled helplessly and said, "It's nothing... just a small misunderstanding."
Probably. He hoped it was a misunderstanding; he didn't want to misunderstand Wen Shixue.
"If it's a misunderstanding, then clear it up," Du Xianyu said. "If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, everyone keeps it bottled up, and the misunderstanding will only snowball, potentially leading to an avalanche. Nobody is a mind-reader. Isn't it better to just say what you need to say and get it out?"
Du Xianyu was someone who hated beating around the bush the most. Even the words "Don't bother me" were clearly written on his face; he was incredibly straightforward.
"And many things aren't really misunderstandings at all," Du Xianyu said. "It's just that no one is willing to speak up."
Zhu Ziming was startled by his words and was suddenly convinced.
Yes, many things were far from misunderstandings; it was just because the parties involved weren't willing to speak. If Wen Shixue knew nothing, or if she was at ease and had never intended to harm him from the beginning, then his current wild thoughts were just prejudice against her, a misunderstanding of her, and also a harm to her. To draw a conclusion about her, he should at least wait until everything was clear.
So now he sat across from Wen Shixue, waiting for her to give him an answer—Did she know, or not?
A few seconds later, Wen Shixue calmly lifted her lips: "I know."
Before Zhu Ziming could be surprised, he heard her say lightly, "It's you."
"Xu Jianfan."
This was the answer she would give. Thinking too much was pointless; it was better to tell him everything openly, calmly, and without concealment.
Zhu Ziming was stunned by her words. A complex mix of emotions, carrying a thousand unspoken words, rushed to his throat. He desperately wanted to question what everything she was doing now meant—was she treating him like a fool?!
Wen Shixue propped her head up and said calmly, "Xu Jianfan, you think I'm deceiving you, right?"
Zhu Ziming, no, he should be called Xu Jianfan. Xu Jianfan asked back in surprise, "Isn't that the case?"
"No," Wen Shixue corrected him seriously. "That's called concealing, not deceiving."
Xu Jianfan: "???"
What's the difference?!
Xu Jianfan: "So? Since you knew who I was all along, why didn't you tell me?"
Why?
Wen Shixue answered in her heart: Of course, it's because I was afraid you'd find out the truth and run away with the train station overnight, leaving me without money!
Fear that he would refuse to work at Chenfeng was one reason. Another reason was that people's trust in someone they meet for the first time is always weak. Think about it, if a fiancée you've never met suddenly appears, confesses she knows your identity, and invites you to work at the same company, who wouldn't speculate about this fiancée's true intentions? Who wouldn't suspect whether she might expose you?
With such a poor superior-subordinate relationship, constantly trapped in an environment of suspicion, how could he fully dedicate himself to creation? And how could she expect him to make money for her? Teacher Qin Zhen said to pay attention to the employees' working environment; she hadn't forgotten that!
She swept her long hair back coolly and said with a serious face, "Of course, it's because I had your best interests at heart. Think about it yourself. If I had told you who I knew you were right from the start, before you had any understanding of me, could you have sat peacefully at Chenfeng designing what you wanted? Wouldn't you have suspected every day whether I was going to report you to your parents?"
Xu Jianfan was left dumbfounded by her words.
Wen Shixue took a sip of cola and continued, "So, letting you come to work first, slowly getting to know that I am an upright, considerate, and kind good boss, it wouldn't be too late to be honest with you then."
Xu Jianfan: "..."
Xu Jianfan: For some reason, he always felt these adjectives sounded strange when applied to her?
After playing the emotional card, Wen Shixue switched to reasoning: "Xu Jianfan, I know you want to cancel the engagement, and I do too, which is why I came to Chenfeng. To be frank with you, Chenfeng is an agreement between me and my dad. If I can make a name for Chenfeng on my own within two years, he will step forward and help me cancel the engagement. If you don't believe me, you can ask my old man, Wen."
Xu Jianfan gazed deeply into the sincerity in her eyes to discern if she was lying. The answer was obvious, which made him think of his own parents, his eyes filled with deep melancholy.
"Is that so... My parents wouldn't be like that," he said with a helpless smile. "They don't believe in my choices and are always afraid I'll fail."
Wen Shixue propped her cheek and said, "So, Xu Jianfan, stay well at Chenfeng and prove it to them. I need you, so I definitely won't betray you, and you don't need to be on edge, afraid your identity will be discovered. If I could get you in, I can definitely hide you well."
"Besides, we both have leverage over each other. I hide you, and you ran away from home and concealed your identity. If we report each other to our parents, neither of us will get off easy, right?"
"How about it?" she smiled slyly. "Want to join forces with me?"
In this situation, only if both of them succeeded could they extinguish the elders' anger; otherwise, it would all be for nothing. And such a big protagonist halo shouldn't go to waste. If the male lead was proactive himself, even better – it would save time and effort!
Xu Jianfan stared at her steadily for a few seconds, then smiled after a moment. "You are truly suited to be a businesswoman."
Calculating and scheming, with a quick mind. Not doing business would probably be a waste of talent.
Xu Jianfan extended his hand: "Pleasure working with you."
Seeing this, Wen Shixue's eyes showed satisfaction. Just as she was about to shake his hand for a formal agreement, he suddenly pulled his hand back and said solemnly, "You have to promise that only the two of us know about this." He added, "You can't tell Vice President Qin either."
Qin Zhen was Wen Lianchang's person. She might protect Wen Shixue, but she wouldn't necessarily protect him, an outsider. At this point, it was difficult for him to place trust in anyone other than Qin Zhen and Wen Shixue.
Wen Shixue raised an eyebrow: "Then can you guarantee that no one else knows?"
Xu Jianfan said confidently, "Don't worry, no one knows where I am, not even my best friend. Before I achieve my goal, I won't tell anyone."
The more people who knew, the greater the risk of exposure. He wasn't so foolish as to not understand this.
Wen Shixue nodded in satisfaction and agreed not to tell Qin Zhen. This was also to keep Qin Zhen out of it. If the matter was exposed and Wen Lianchang knew Qin Zhen was aware, it would definitely implicate Qin Zhen. Qin Zhen had been dedicated to her; she couldn't turn around and harm her.
The two successfully formed a united front and became allies. Wen Shixue casually asked Xu Jianfan how he knew she was his fiancée. Xu Jianfan didn't hide it and truthfully said he got the news from his childhood friend.
Wen Shixue paused, startled to realize that the plotline had indeed changed. In the original plot, the male lead only found out she was his fiancée when his parents forced them to meet. But now, a childhood friend had intervened in the plotline, and everything was happening earlier.
This meant that anyone's plotline could change, either by events happening earlier or by new plot points emerging. In other words... a ghost story like the male lead falling for her was also possible!
Wen Shixue was shocked. She had no interest in the male lead. She, Wen Shixue, would be the first to refuse such a thing, and she absolutely had to extinguish that little spark in the male lead. At worst, she'd apologize profusely after he and the female lead confirmed their relationship!
"Xu Jianfan." She held her forehead deeply. "Whatever you do, don't fall in love with me. I like women, you know."
Xu Jianfan nodded lightly and smiled, "So, how are things going with Vice President Qin? Have you decided to pursue her?"
Wen Shixue: "?"
Wen Shixue: I never thought you were such a gossipy male lead!
She cleared her throat. "It's going okay, I'm working on it, working on it."
Xu Jianfan cheered her on, "Although Vice President Qin seems very hard to pursue, I believe you can definitely do it. Go for it!"
Setting aside the latter part of the sentence, Wen Shixue felt he was right. Qin Zhen did seem very hard to pursue. She wondered how her previous girlfriends managed to win her over, or perhaps... she was the one who pursued them?
Thinking this, Wen Shixue's curiosity was piqued again. She couldn't help but sigh inwardly that sure enough, the proper Vice President Qin was a source of curiosity from head to toe.
Having resolved a matter on his mind, Xu Jianfan left happily. Seeing the vast difference in his expression before and after, Qin Zhen casually asked Wen Shixue, "What did you two talk about?"
Wen Shixue looked up at her, and after a moment, said slowly, "We talked about the progress of me pursuing you."
Qin Zhen: "..."
Qin Zhen said, utterly speechless, "Why do you two always talk about this?"
It was this last time, and it's this time too. Do the two of them have no other topics when they're together?!
Vice President Qin: If the superior isn't proper, the subordinate goes astray?
Wen Shixue smiled with curved eyes and said adorably, "Because our Vice President Qin is worth it!"
Qin Zhen politely refused: "Thank you, but there's no need."
...
After work, Wen Shixue originally wanted to go to the night market with Qin Zhen, but the sudden heavy rain disrupted her plans. As someone who disliked going out in the rain, she decisively chose to go home, take a bath, and sleep. Today was her first day living with Qin Zhen. Qin Zhen had already tidied up the side bedroom for her; she just needed to move in with her bag.
She took out the large plush rabbit Meng Yuezhu had made for her, placed it on the bedside table, and turned back to give Qin Zhen, who was standing at the doorway, a brilliant smile: "Thanks, Qin Zhen."
She was completely like a child. Qin Zhen thought this as she said, "President Wen, you're too kind. If there's nothing else, I'll go take a bath first."
Wen Shixue felt the address was too distant, so she said, "There is something."
Qin Zhen stopped and looked at her. She said, "Why are you still calling me President Wen?"
Qin Zhen's clear black and white eyes shifted slightly, her expression clearly saying: What else?
Wen Shixue stood up, crossed her arms, and slowly walked over to lean against the doorway, looking at her. "Since we're friends, we should call each other by name. I've called you by your name, how can you not call me by mine?"
"Come on," Wen Shixue encouraged, "Try calling me."
Qin Zhen met her bright, sparkling eyes and couldn't help but purse her lips. She suddenly felt inexplicably unable to say it, so she avoided her beautiful eyes, turned around, and said, "Maybe next time."
Wen Shixue stood rooted to the spot, watching her retreating back with a look of novelty. For some reason, she just felt that her slightly awkward appearance... was quite cute.
People who were good-looking were indeed likable no matter what they did. Wen Shixue thought this and turned back to continue tidying her things.
After Wen Shixue moved in, Qin Zhen's heart had been on edge, because no one could say what kind of things this fearless little devil would do while living together. Fortunately, Wen Shixue did nothing, being obedient and well-behaved, which finally allowed Qin Zhen to relax. However, she had been relaxed for less than a week when the unexpected happened.
It was a night of thunder and rain. The next day was the weekend, so Qin Zhen stayed up a little later, turning on her bedside lamp to read. The surroundings were silent, as if all the sounds in the world had been swallowed by the noisy rain and rolling thunder, leaving no third sound to be found.
While her years were peaceful and quiet, Wen Shixue was not doing so well—she was afraid of thunder. To be precise, she was afraid of hearing the incessant rumbling thunder in an unfamiliar environment. Whenever this happened, her sense of security would plummet to its lowest point, becoming so fragile it felt nonexistent.
She had been living in Qin Zhen's home for less than a week. She hadn't fully familiarized herself with everything here yet, so this peculiar fear-of-thunder rule could still be applied to her.
She shrank into the covers, tightly hugging the plush rabbit in her arms. When the thunder outside struck one after another, her body would tremble slightly, and her arms would unconsciously tighten their grip on the rabbit, attempting to draw a sense of security from a lifeless doll.
It was useless.
She blinked in the darkness. Before the next clap of thunder struck, her thoughts drifted to the person sleeping in the master bedroom.
Qin Zhen...
She silently repeated the name in her heart. The thunder outside suddenly stopped, as if waiting for her to make a decision.
She was a bit conflicted, wondering if she should really disturb Qin Zhen at this hour. She was afraid she might already be asleep, and disturbing someone's peaceful dream was asking for divine retribution by lightning. Besides, being so old and still afraid of thunder was quite embarrassing to admit...
"Rumble——" A violent clap of thunder suddenly exploded beside her ear, rudely cutting off her thoughts. It was so close it felt like it would strike her in the next second.
Her face turned pale. She immediately sprang out of bed, not even bothering to put on her shoes, and dashed towards Qin Zhen's room, hugging the rabbit—Sorry, Lao Qin, you can settle the score with me tomorrow!
Qin Zhen didn't understand why Wen Shixue would knock on her door at this hour. Couldn't she sleep and wanted someone to talk to, or was she too bored and wanted to play a prank?
She didn't dwell on it and opened the door with a calm expression. She saw Wen Shixue wearing a simple and cute dark blue nightgown, her fair, jade-like feet bare, her soft long hair spread out, holding a rabbit doll in her arms. She stood at her doorway like an innocent and harmless little white rabbit, her clear, bright eyes fixed intently on her.
She was indescribably obedient and cute, completely different from her usual self.
The thunder outside considerately paused for a moment, as if, like Qin Zhen, it was also waiting for Wen Shixue to speak.
The moment Wen Shixue saw Qin Zhen, her tense body instantly relaxed. Then she said with a serious face, "Lao Qin, I just observed the celestial phenomena tonight and calculated something big."
Qin Zhen: "?"
Wen Shixue: "Your bed can sleep two people."
Qin Zhen: "..."
What on earth was I expecting her to say that was serious...
Without the disturbance of the thunder, Wen Shixue was clearly much more relaxed. She even took a step closer to her, hugging the rabbit, and smiled again, "So, share half with me."
Just as Qin Zhen was about to ask why, the thunder outside seemed unable to hold back any longer. It suddenly tore through the thick, rolling clouds, crashing with a rumble right beside her ear. The sky instantly lit up like daytime. Immediately after, her body swayed slightly, her waist suddenly tightened, and she found a startled little white rabbit in her arms.
Wen Shixue wailed miserably in her arms, "Save the child, the child is afraid of thunder—"
Qin Zhen had a look of understanding.
—The little devil of chaos had come running for her life.
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