TGSS - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Layoffs

"I know," Chu He said, winking at her slyly, "but I'm really curious about those questions too."

As she spoke she took a bite of the pastry. Rich milky flavor burst in her mouth, and the sweet, soft cake paired with fresh, sweet mango made Chu He sigh with satisfaction. As expected, miracles came from street stalls, masters hid among the common folk.

Seeing how happily she ate, Liang Zhouyi really did start to feel hungry. She carefully threaded her way toward a less crowded spot. She had only gone halfway when she felt a scalding heat on her abdomen. Looking down, she saw a child half her height holding a half-empty bowl of rice noodles burst into wails. Before Liang Zhouyi could even speak, a middle-aged woman shoved her hard.

"What's wrong with you? You knocked into my child!"

The shove sent Liang Zhouyi staggering. An arm behind her steadied her with a light support. Once she regained her footing she turned instinctively, and was startled by Chu He's dark face so close at hand.

Chu He said nothing. She just stood behind Liang Zhouyi like a silent sculpture, her face cold and exuding a frightening aura.

"You... what are you doing!" The middle-aged woman took half a step back at the sight of Chu He's unapproachable look. Glancing at her wailing child, she glared at Liang Zhouyi again, her face full of unreasonable aggression. "Pay up! My child got scalded!"

"How do you want me to pay?" Liang Zhouyi was helpless about this undeserved disaster, but her voice remained as calm as ever.

"Five hundred." Seeing that Chu He had not said a word and that Liang Zhouyi looked gentle and reasonable, the woman pressed aggressively, "Don't you watch where you're going? How old are you!"

"It was your son who ran into me." Liang Zhouyi's expression was faint, weariness almost spilling from her eyes.

"You still want to blame my son, bullying a child!" The woman's voice was extremely loud. People around gradually gathered, and the murmurs of pointing and gossip made Liang Zhouyi's face turn a little pale.

"Two hundred. Take it or we call the police."

As she spoke she was about to scan the code to transfer money to the woman. The woman seemed dissatisfied and wanted to argue further, but from the corner of her eye she caught Chu He smiling at her with an almost vicious look. Her icy eyes were like two sharp blades, and her expensive clothes from head to toe gave the woman some pause. She sheepishly pulled out her QR code, then quickly left pulling her still wailing child. Before the commotion could escalate, the crowd dispersed completely.

Chu He stood rooted to the spot, watching the farce. Liang Zhouyi saw a faint trace of disappointment in her eyes. For some reason, she had seen that same look in countless people's eyes before. She had long thought herself invulnerable, yet at this moment she still felt a sadness she could not put into words.

"What's wrong, President Chu?" Liang Zhouyi's nose stung. Her eyes were dry from the wind. Holding her breath, she asked Chu He softly.

"Nothing." Chu He's expression was indistinct in the hazy steam, as if veiled with a layer of mockery. She sighed and said, "I just think it's pretty funny."

After saying that, Chu He glanced at her phone. Her lashes trembled slightly, and a hint of fatigue showed on her exquisitely made up face. "It's getting late, I should get going. You should head home early too."

As she spoke she reached out and patted Liang Zhouyi's shoulder. Her faint perfume drifted away on the wind. Chu He's gaze was deep, but her voice carried a touch of concern. "We still have work tomorrow."

Leaving those words behind, Chu He turned without lingering. Even her tall, slender back looked lofty and unapproachable, keeping people a thousand miles away. Liang Zhouyi's hand, which had unconsciously lifted into midair, curled into a fist and quietly withdrew. She swallowed the bitterness rising in her throat. She suddenly realized that December winter could already freeze one's hands and feet. She rubbed her reddened hands and tucked them into her pockets. Though she stood in the bustling market, breathing in the fragrant food, she felt a wave of nausea.

Ding~

"Daily progress has met the target. Congratulations, Host, you have obtained one day of life."

The System's mechanical voice brought Chu He back to herself. She smiled slowly. So that was how the conversion worked. A Daily Mission could only be exchanged for one day of life. If counted from the moment she fell unconscious, then at a one to one exchange for life, she would have to complete a mission every day. If there was a day she failed to complete it, what would happen to her original self in the other world was anyone's guess.

And to truly return to her own world, she definitely could not rely on Daily Missions.

"Then what is the Main Mission?" Chu He thought for a long time before slowly asking.

The System replied almost instantly, "The Main Mission is to help the target find love and untie the knot in her heart."

A knot in her heart? That made sense. The more she interacted with Liang Zhouyi, the more she could sense the story carried in her.

Not to brag, but Chu He had once spent five hundred thousand learning fortune telling and physiognomy from a master. That was how people with money were. Paying a master to read your fortune was not enough, you had to master the technique yourself so you could read anyone, anytime.

As for Liang Zhouyi, Chu He did not even need to read her face to know she had many experiences worth digging into. She could naturally use her resources to investigate her thoroughly first. But from the bottom of her heart she did not want to treat Liang Zhouyi that way. For no other reason than that if it ever came to light, that alone would be enough to have her sentenced to death on the spot.

So no matter what, let's be friends first. If it really was her who had affected Liang Zhouyi, then she would just give that so-called luck back to her.

Liang Zhouyi, still unaware that she was about to gain a friend, sat at her workstation the next day with huge dark circles under her eyes. The rich aroma of black coffee lingering around her could not rouse her.

"Zhou Yi. You're drinking coffee on an empty stomach again without eating breakfast." Xiang Qianqian hung her bag on her chair and clicked her tongue in amazement. "Tell me, if you keep this up every day, how will your body hold up when you're older."

"My boyfriend leaves me breakfast every morning. If I ever go to work without taking it, he will nag me about it. You'll know once you get a boyfriend." Xiang Qianqian looked at Liang Zhouyi's face, cakey from lack of sleep, with a smile that was both reproachful and boastful.

"Breakfast." Suddenly a steaming bag of soup dumplings was tossed onto Liang Zhouyi's desk.

"President Chu?" Xiang Qianqian's eyes widened, as if she had heard something she shouldn't have, an auditory hallucination? She spun around quickly to look at Chu He, only to see the tall woman in a tweed-style jacket, gold-rimmed glasses on her face, wearing a mask because she had not put on makeup, looking somewhat languid.

Without giving Liang Zhouyi a chance to refuse, she strode into her office without looking sideways, still the same swift and decisive demon boss.

"What's going on? Are you two close?" Xiang Qianqian was full of confusion. She really could not think of a reason for Chu He to want to befriend Liang Zhouyi. Even if she wanted to get to know her subordinates and work her way inside, she should not have picked Liang Zhouyi, the socially anxious one.

"I don't know." Liang Zhouyi reached out and pulled open the bag. Remembering the look in the woman's eyes yesterday, her eyes, sore from a sleepless night, hurt even more. The faint aroma of the buns made Xiang Qianqian, who had already eaten breakfast, drool.

"The buns themselves aren't expensive, but with the added value they must be very expensive now." Xiang Qianqian concluded, stroking her chin. After all, Chu He had bought them.

"Ah, it's good to be the boss. She can come to the office to do her makeup and no one dares say a word. Do you know, the decoration and furnishing of her office alone cost over a hundred thousand? The company started designing it for her before she even arrived." Xiang Qianqian whispered gossip in Liang Zhouyi's ear, her tone full of envy.

Liang Zhouyi lowered her eyes and did not echo her endless chatter. She took out her phone and wanted to transfer money to Chu He. At first she typed 10, then thought better of it and silently deleted it. After hesitating for a while she reentered 15. As expected, Chu He did not accept it, returning it almost instantly. She stared blankly at the page for a long while, then finally laughed at herself quietly. Right, there was no difference to Chu He between 10 and 15 yuan.

Chu He, who had returned the transfer, found it somewhat baffling. She had not even understood at first what Liang Zhouyi meant. Her new identity was not only not short of money, her family background was even better than before. This little amount of money was really just a number to her. How could she accept money from a good friend? What was wrong with buying breakfast for a good friend?

She took off her mask, yawned, tears filling her eyes. She patted her face to wake herself up, opened a drawer and took out her cosmetics. She had to say, the identity and position the System had arranged for her were quite to her liking.

Ding~

The System was online. It seemed very busy, speaking extremely fast.

"Host, today's Daily Mission has been issued. Please complete it actively."

Chu He brushed her lashes and looked at the Daily Mission in her consciousness. It was no different from the previous day, still conversation and physical contact. Yesterday's physical contact had been solved by Liang Zhouyi hugging her waist. She would have to think again for today.

"Chu He, we need to let a few people go from your department in the next couple of days."

As she was applying the last of her lipstick, Chu He received a text from HR. Her delicate brows furrowed. She closed the lipstick cap, and her fair fingers quickly tapped on the computer.

After replying to the message, Chu He used freshly boiled hot water to brew herself a cup of tea. She did not like that coffee, and she had no idea how Liang Zhouyi's eating habits could be so different from hers.

At lunch break, Chu He passed through the walkway. Several people who had been chatting heatedly fell quiet as soon as she appeared. Knowing they were talking about the layoffs, she saw Liang Zhouyi sitting at her workstation hugging a pillow, as if completely unconcerned, but her body was tilted slightly and her hands holding the pillow were unconsciously clenched tight.

Chu He thought to herself how awkward she was, so she took the initiative to walk over and strike up a conversation.

"What are you chatting about?"

"Nothing, nothing..." Several people denied it almost in unison.

Xiang Qianqian was young and bold. She sidled up to Chu He mysteriously and asked, "President Chu, I heard a few people from our department are going to be let go?"

"There's no such thing. Just do your jobs well." Although she was answering Xiang Qianqian, her amber, glass like eyes were looking at Liang Zhouyi.

For some reason, Liang Zhouyi read something in her eyes. She breathed a sigh of relief, pursed her lips, and swiveled her chair back to face her own direction.

"How is that possible? My information is super reliable!" Xiang Qianqian's almond eyes were full of gossip. She tried to get close to Chu He, "You and our Zhou Yi are so close, give us a hint."

Chu He was getting a little impatient from being pestered. Her exquisite, cool face took on a touch of indifference. "I would dare to tell you, but would you dare to listen?"

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