TGSS - Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Daily Mission
Liang Zhouyi felt at a loss under Chu He's strangely intent gaze. She gripped her chair tightly, her heart thumping hard, not knowing what to do with her hands and feet. Fortunately Chu He said nothing and left with her usual aloof smile as always.
Once Chu He left, her colleague Xiang Qianqian nudged her hard with an elbow to show her excitement.
After all, that was Chu He! The beautiful new demon boss who had just joined the company, from a good family and holding plenty of resources, who looked down on everyone equally. That she would actually stand up for Liang Zhouyi today, had the sun risen in the west?
Liang Zhouyi, who should have been flattered, very calmly smoothed the documents scattered across her desk, gathered them, shook them out, and put them away.
"What are you doing?" Xiang Qianqian exclaimed in a low voice, almost reaching out to stop her. "Chu He just stood up for you against him, and you are still doing this extra work!"
"What did President Chu do for me?" Liang Zhouyi smiled calmly. "She only spoke up for me once. My direct supervisor is still Xu Lu. She might help me on a whim today and forget me completely tomorrow."
Xiang Qianqian felt a little ashamed at Liang Zhouyi's realistic words, then thought they made perfect sense. At this, she could not help sighing that her colleague was truly a realist without a single romantic bone in her body.
"Then... do you need my help?" Almost as soon as she said it, Xiang Qianqian regretted it. If Liang Zhouyi actually agreed, she would have to stay and work overtime with her.
"No need." Liang Zhouyi looked at her with dark eyes. From that expression alone, how could Liang Zhouyi not know what she was thinking. She showed a smile. "Thank you, but you should head home early, so your boyfriend does not worry."
"Ah, okay then." Xiang Qianqian pulled her chair awkwardly, then looked Liang Zhouyi over carefully. Honestly, Liang Zhouyi had delicate features and nothing aggressive about her. By rights she should be the very popular girl next door type, but her Romantic Luck seemed utterly ordinary, and she did not even have many close friends.
Equally puzzled by this was Chu He. She tugged at the sheer curtain and peered through the gap at Liang Zhouyi, thinking to herself that although ordinary, she was far from ugly.
Chu He, an extrovert who had been popular since childhood, could not understand why the System said Liang Zhouyi was completely insulated from Romantic Luck, and was even socially anxious.
She recalled the black and gold hourglass in her mind. Its upper chamber was filled with silver gray sand, while only a few grains lay scattered below, looking quite pitiful.
According to the System, she could only return home after completing all the tasks assigned by the System, and this hourglass was the measure of her progress.
Those few scattered grains weighed on Chu He's heart, making her sigh that her next life self was doing rather poorly.
Chu He found an excuse to quietly ask HR for Liang Zhouyi's file. What puzzled her greatly was that Liang Zhouyi had actually dropped out of university. She also looked up Liang Zhouyi's high school, which was a famous key high school locally, with over seventy percent admission to top tier universities and a near perfect undergraduate admission rate, yet Liang Zhouyi's university was only a junior college, and she had even dropped out midway.
She joined this company two years after dropping out and had been here for three years, with only one raise, and that amount was not even enough for two meals in Chu He's previous life.
She closed the document almost in disbelief. This was not merely doing poorly; this was downright destitute. Wait, could it really be because she had wished too harshly? At that thought, Chu He felt puzzled with a faint trace of guilt.
Ding!
The System suddenly appeared: "Host has now connected with the target. The System will now issue Daily Missions and Main Missions. Daily Mission is as follows: maintain daily intimate contact with the target for five minutes, and exchange at least thirty lines of dialogue."
Chu He: "?" What was this supposed to be?
"What do you mean? What mission? Did you not say you brought me here to change her fortune, why do I have to do this?"
The System was silent for a good while before replying: "At present you need to compensate her with that portion of fortune, and physical contact and verbal communication both count as mediums."
"Mediums." Chu He repeated sarcastically. "Are you not the System? You took my fortune and gave it to her, just do it directly. Do you not even have that level of competence?"
System: "...If I could just take it directly, I would not have brought you here."
Fine, Chu He reluctantly accepted the explanation.
Although she had only just arrived in this new world, work still had to be done. Chu He spent a day sorting out her business. The technological development here was identical to that of her original world, but the celebrities and influencers were not the ones she knew. Rather than calling this her next life, it felt more like a parallel world.
Stretching, Chu He, who had been absorbed in work, suddenly stiffened as she remembered she was not working for her own company now, and should be clear about her goal.
Fortunately her target was still working overtime. Suddenly Chu He saw Liang Zhouyi stand up to shut down her computer. The lights in the hall had long been turned off, and as Liang Zhouyi's screen went dark, Chu He could not see outside at all. She hurriedly threw on her cashmere coat, grabbed the bag hanging nearby, and rushed out.
In her haste her knee banged against the side table with a thud, and Chu He gave it a perfunctory rub before limping after her.
Liang Zhouyi had just pressed the elevator button when Chu He came stumbling out. Seeing Liang Zhouyi clearly, she gave a light cough. The black coat draped over her made her look even taller, and she nodded reservedly at Liang Zhouyi with her cool expression.
"President Chu." Liang Zhouyi had no way to avoid her and could only offer a greeting.
"Mm. Why are you working so late? Is your work very difficult?" Chu He's tone carried a habitual note of reproach.
Liang Zhouyi stepped into the elevator first and held the door for Chu He, a little bewildered by the eagerness in Chu He's words.
"I... It isn't that it's difficult; my abilities still need improvement."
Chu He raised an eyebrow as if letting the matter drop, then asked casually, "It is so late, how will you get home?"
"I will ride my bike." Liang Zhouyi's voice was muffled by her scarf.
Chu He's eyes lit up and she seized the chance. "Then Zhou Yi, give me a ride. My car was rear ended a few days ago and is in the shop."
Liang Zhouyi was taken aback by her sudden familiarity. If she remembered correctly Chu He drove a Cayenne, and someone had said just yesterday they saw her in it, so how had it been hit a few days ago? But not exposing one's boss was a basic survival rule for a working stiff.
"I might not find it convenient..." Liang Zhouyi waved her hand to decline politely.
"What's inconvenient about it? It's perfectly convenient." Chu He decided on the spot, right up until she saw Liang Zhouyi's little electric scooter.
"What is wrong, President Chu?" Liang Zhouyi looked at the dumbfounded woman before her, unable to suppress a flicker of amusement.
Chu He said woodenly, "This is your... car?"
Her tone made it sound as if she were saying this could even be called a car?
Seeing Liang Zhouyi's composed look, Chu He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. A hint of awkwardness showed on her exquisite, elegant face, which actually made her seem less unapproachable.
Feeling a little reluctant to make things so difficult for her, Liang Zhouyi offered a way out. "I want to go to the west side of the city to buy a late night snack. President Chu, why do you not just take a taxi home first?"
A late night snack? Chu He's long eyes lit up at once. Right, riding a little scooter, having a snack and chatting, that would cover the Daily Mission. It seemed she had to get on this scooter today no matter what.
"I am going!" Chu He shouted, pumping her fist.
Liang Zhouyi fell silent, momentarily unsure whether Chu He was swearing or saying she wanted to go too.
Chu He took the initiative to swing onto the back seat of Liang Zhouyi's scooter. Her brown leather skirt rode up to reveal pale skin, the movement not exactly graceful, and she patted the seat obediently to signal Liang Zhouyi to set off quickly.
As if spellbound, Liang Zhouyi instinctively touched the back of Chu He's knee, looking at the woman before her in disbelief and asking, "Are you not cold?"
December in H City was already cold enough for down jackets, yet Chu He wore only thin stockings, embodying the choice of style over warmth to the fullest.
"No." Chu He, who in winter always went from garage to garage, truly did not feel cold.
Liang Zhouyi looked at Chu He with her long legs folded on the back seat and sighed. "Why do you not ride instead... you do know how, right?"
"Of course." Chu He's delicate brows lifted. She might not ride, but of course she knew how.
With that she stood up, stepped back from the rear seat, circled around, took the pink helmet from Liang Zhouyi's hands, weighed it in her hand, and then buckled it onto Liang Zhouyi's head.
Her vision darkened as the helmet was fastened. Liang Zhouyi reached up to straighten it and tried to take it off. "President Chu, if you are going to ride, you wear it."
Chu He only smiled without speaking. Given the current situation, in this world Liang Zhouyi's life was far more important than her own.
Even as she held Chu He's slender waist, Liang Zhouyi was still dazed as to how things had come to this. She told herself it was repayment for Chu He speaking up for her during the day. She rarely was this close to anyone, and for some reason actually wrapping her hands around Chu He's waist did not feel as resistant as she had imagined. Liang Zhouyi closed her eyes tiredly, and the biting cold wind slipped through the gaps in her sleeves, making her shiver.
"If you are cold, hold me tighter." The wind scattered Chu He's voice, making it hard to hear.
After a long moment, Liang Zhouyi answered silently in her heart, but her hands did not move. Some boundaries in interpersonal relationships were something she should learn to keep on her own.
The night market in the west of the city was near a school and in a very bustling area. Liang Zhouyi often chose to come here for a very simple reason: it was cheap, a good choice for someone as short on money as she was.
Although it was already eleven at night, the hawkers calling out on both sides of the street and the bustle of people coming and going still gave the place a lively, lived-in atmosphere.
Amid the bustling crowd, Chu He stood out strikingly beautiful, her long narrow eyes bright, her brown hair a little tousled by the wind but not at all diminishing her refinement, every strand well conditioned and glossy, and she followed closely behind Liang Zhouyi, pointing with great interest at every roadside stall.
"I want to eat this." Chu He pointed at the wheel cake stall crowded with people and licked her lips.
Although somewhat reluctant, Liang Zhouyi helplessly scanned the code and ordered a milk mango flavor for her. Because the stall was especially popular, Liang Zhouyi and Chu He were squeezed tightly together by the crowd, and Chu He naturally slipped an arm around Liang Zhouyi's waist, resting her head on her shoulder, her gaze fixed eagerly on the wheel cakes.
"Hey? How does the owner remember which number she is on, how can she tell which flavor is which?" Chu He was amazed watching the vendor distribute the wheel cakes in orderly fashion by flavor to different people.
"Practice makes perfect." Liang Zhouyi replied perfunctorily.
"It is really amazing, after closing them the nine cakes look exactly the same. Boss, did you count in your head, or do you have some unique trick?" Chu He persisted, even asking the hard working vendor directly.
Liang Zhouyi and the vendor: ...
"And her costs should not be high, mass production on an assembly line, then leveraging influencer buzz, after deducting costs..."
"Miss! Here is yours, all done, all done." The vendor broke into a cold sweat at Chu He's analysis and quickly packed the wheel cakes and handed them over.
After taking them, Chu He was still puzzled. "That can't be right. We're number 135, and this is only in the nineties... Hey, why are you pulling me?"
For the first time in her life, Liang Zhouyi, who had always gone unnoticed in a crowd, experienced what it felt like to be found annoying. Helpless, she said slowly, "President Chu, can't you tell they just wanted to get rid of us?"
Comments
Post a Comment