TGSS - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Blind Date

Xiang Qianqian gave two dry laughs, thinking to herself, since you put it that way, even if I heard the answer I would not dare to believe it.

As a media company that had gained strong momentum in recent years, Dark Color Culture had signed quite a few influencers and creators, but its staff turnover was actually very high, and decisions from the upper levels often trickled down to affect the rank and file.

When Chu He thought of how nervous Liang Zhouyi had looked, a smile rose in her eyes. She would lay off anyone but her, a hardworking old workhorse who never complained, who could work overtime without extra pay, the kind you could not find even if you searched with a lantern.

In contrast, although Xiang Qianqian had decent credentials and passable ability, her love of gossip and youthful brashness had offended quite a few people.

Of course, Chu He would not comment on whether this person stayed or left. She only needed to make sure Liang Zhouyi remained right under her nose.

But even though Chu He did not care and did not want to get involved, someone was unwilling to let her off the hook.

"Zhou Yi, why don't you ask Chu He," Xiang Qianqian said, draped over the back of Liang Zhouyi's chair, her legs pressing down slightly, her lively eyes darting quickly.

Liang Zhouyi put down the work in her hands and replied, "Ask what? She would not tell me anyway."

"Don't say that," Xiang Qianqian said with a teasing smile. "The way President Chu looks at you is off. I am a little love expert who has had twenty boyfriends..."

"Give me a break," Liang Zhouyi said, closing her eyes, quite speechless. "You said before that Xu Lu kept coming to me because he liked me."

Xiang Qianqian fell silent. She had indeed misunderstood like that. Who would have known that the reason he kept seeking out Liang Zhouyi was just to pile work on her, picking on the softest target. She was about to retort when she heard Liang Zhouyi's phone ring. The tired look on Liang Zhouyi's face suddenly straightened, and she grabbed her phone and strode outside.

"Hello, Mom," Liang Zhouyi said, sitting on the stairs in the dim stairwell, her tone very gentle.

"Oh... okay, sure. But didn't I just transfer five thousand to you last month? ... I see, okay, then I will figure something out."

Liang Zhouyi's brows gradually knitted together as the call continued intermittently. She gave a bitter smile. "That previous one probably was not very suitable. Let's talk about it later, Mom."

Even after hanging up, Liang Zhouyi remained in the same posture. She reached out and pulled out a cigarette. A small scarlet glow appeared at her fingertip. The scent of nicotine rushed into her lungs. Smoke curled quietly, and the restlessness in her heart was gradually soothed.

She looked up at the dim light in the stairwell, twirling the cigarette with practiced ease. Her delicate, pale face relaxed as she huddled in this corner, enjoying a moment of peace.

Liang Zhouyi only smoked half the cigarette, stubbed it out, and walked back to her workstation right on time. From a distance she saw Xiang Qianqian standing at her desk looking at her computer screen, with Chu He standing beside her. The two seemed to be looking at the screen and talking about something.

She took a deep breath, walked quickly back to her desk, and said in a somewhat cold voice, "What are you doing?"

"Whoa, you scared me," Xiang Qianqian said, her whole body trembling, the hand holding the mouse shaking violently.

"What are you doing?" Liang Zhouyi repeated the question.

Xiang Qianqian pulled out Liang Zhouyi's chair and steadied her shoulders to signal her to sit. Her tone held a bit of apology. "I saw your computer screen was on so I took a couple of glances. I did not mean to look at your blind date's photo."

Liang Zhouyi pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth and glanced at Chu He.

"I was just passing by. She pulled me over and insisted I look," Chu He said, raising her hands to show her innocence, pushing almost all the blame onto Xiang Qianqian.

At this moment Chu He felt very wronged. She really had just been passing by, plus a little curiosity. She absolutely had not intended to pry into Liang Zhouyi's privacy.

Xiang Qianqian stared at Chu He with her mouth half open. Come on, even if she had been a bit out of line, Chu He was distancing herself too quickly, as if afraid that being a second late would make Liang Zhouyi misunderstand her.

"Sorry, Zhou Yi," Xiang Qianqian said, shaking her arm, biting her lip and looking very pitiful.

"Don't do this again. I don't like it," Liang Zhouyi said, her left hand gripping the edge of the chair tightly. In the end she did not make a fuss about it. What could she do? They had already looked. Was she supposed to fall out with her just because they glanced at her computer?

Seeing that she did not seem angry, Xiang Qianqian breathed a sigh of relief and perked up, gossiping again. "Zhou Yi, so that... are you going to meet him?"

Chu He saw Liang Zhouyi's brows clearly furrow. After several seconds of silence, she finally squeezed out a single word, "Yes."

Hearing this answer, Chu He became displeased. She sneered inwardly, placed a hand on Liang Zhouyi's shoulder, leaned close to the side of Liang Zhouyi's face, and said in a somewhat disdainful tone, "Someone like that, you still want to go see?"

Xiang Qianqian clamped her mouth shut, marveling that Chu He was truly fearless. When it came to calling people out, she had none of the tact that social interaction was supposed to have.

"What do you mean, someone like that? You don't need to worry about my private affairs, President Chu," Liang Zhouyi said, her tone a little sarcastic. Were she and Chu He that close? What right did she have to mock her like that?

Chu He clicked her tongue lightly, pressing a little harder on Liang Zhouyi's shoulder, her voice very serious. "I'm telling you, this person's physiognomy is no good."

Xiang Qianqian's foot wobbled and she almost fell over. She was startled by the words coming from Chu He with that cool, aloof, and elegant face. The words physiognomy did not seem to match Chu He at all.

Liang Zhouyi frowned and twisted her shoulder but did not shake off Chu He's hand. She turned and met Chu He's calm eyes.

Seeing her speechless expression, Chu He could not help but smile. She kept her hand on Liang Zhouyi. "What, that look makes me think you think I'm making things up? I'm very serious. Let's not talk about looks. Don't you think that person gives a very mediocre first impression?"

"Yes, yes, yes," Xiang Qianqian nodded excitedly. "He just gives off an uncomfortable feeling."

"His eyes clearly show too much white below the irises, and his jutting mouth suggests an impatient, bad-tempered nature. Even the traditional proportions of his three facial sections and five eye-widths are badly off. His ears seem to be different sizes, which means trouble in love, and his short chin shows..."

Xiang Qianqian stared in shock as Chu He delivered her sharp critique. The key point was that she actually thought it made a lot of sense.

"Enough," Liang Zhouyi cut in. "Is President Chu saying so much because she wants to change careers and become a charlatan?"

Chu He obediently closed her mouth, just smiling at Liang Zhouyi.

"President Chu, President Chu! Quickly take a look for me, take a look for me!" Xiang Qianqian looked at Chu He with starry eyes.

Chu He's eyes narrowed behind her gold-rimmed glasses and she smiled mysteriously. "That won't do. I charge for this."

Liang Zhouyi watched the two talk as if no one else were there, her expression a little numb. "You two, enough... it's time to work."

Chased away, Chu He glanced at the mission countdown. Just one more minute. If she stayed a little longer, just a little while.

"President Chu, you're holding my shoulder... what are you doing?" Liang Zhouyi finally could not help squeezing out this sentence. Mainly Chu He's behavior was so nonsensical that she could not find any logic in it at all.

Chu He straightened her slightly leaning body. That delicate, fair hand stroked slowly down Liang Zhouyi's shoulder, fingertips gently kneading along Liang Zhouyi's light gray sweater, her expression languid and unconcerned. She clasped Liang Zhouyi's wrist and said in an ambiguous tone, "Do you want me to read your palm?"

Xiang Qianqian, watching this scene from the side, suddenly flushed bright red. Clearly nothing had happened, but the atmosphere at this moment made her feel as if she were sitting on pins and needles. She wanted to say something but could not get the words out.

Liang Zhouyi felt the back of her hand held in Chu He's soft, delicate palm. She thought Chu He at this moment looked very much like a sleazy fortune teller taking advantage of her. She tugged hard, and to her surprise, she pulled her hand out quite easily.

Chu He hooked her palm lightly and smiled with a rippling sweetness, sighing inwardly that she had finally clocked a full five minutes. She gave a light cough, reined in her expression, and her cool, distant aura returned.

In the blink of an eye, Chu He was again that aloof figure, glancing around before finally giving Liang Zhouyi a deep look.

In Liang Zhouyi's chat window, Chu He had only managed a rough glimpse that Liang Zhouyi was probably going to meet that man from a decent family for a blind date this weekend, but she did not know the exact location or the exact time.

She called out to the System in her mind and questioned it. "Didn't you say Liang Zhouyi is completely hopeless in love? How come someone is still setting her up?"

The more Chu He spoke, the more uneasy she felt. Liang Zhouyi might be ordinary, but seeing her reduced to going on blind dates, on top of her mother's commanding tone, made Chu He's skin crawl.

She planned to go meet this blind date herself. In any case, she did not think this person would be Liang Zhouyi's final choice.

The System sounded rather helpless. "Host, if you put it that way, by your standards she indeed cannot be considered completely immune. It's just that even if someone sets her up, it does not stop her from ruining every blind date or every potential prospect."

Chu He's knuckles trembled as she tapped unconsciously on the desktop, a trace of worry gathering between her brows. "Then she might as well let me arrange her blind dates..."

Huh? That actually sounded pretty good. Among her contacts there were probably a few presentable candidates. She recalled and compared the photo she had just seen. She immediately settled on the idea.

Fortunately the weekend was almost here. With a plan in mind, Chu He put on a black windbreaker and lightweight sneakers, tied her waist-length hair into a bun, put on the black-rimmed glasses she never usually wore, and added a face mask and a canvas bag. She looked youthful and bright, very much like a college student.

So that day, the security guard downstairs at Liang Zhouyi's apartment watched this woman in black pretend to pass by for the twentieth time. If it were not for the fact that Chu He looked slender and almost completely powerless, he would have really called the police based on her sneaky appearance alone.

Fortunately, heaven rewards the diligent. After drifting past the revolving door for the twenty-eighth time, Chu He finally caught sight of that familiar figure. She quietly hid behind a pillar waiting for Liang Zhouyi to call a car, only to watch Liang Zhouyi walk toward the subway station instead.

Chu He's hand, half braced against the pillar, trembled. Shadowing someone on the subway seemed a bit difficult. It was true she had learned many things in her previous life, but tailing someone was really not her specialty.

Bracing herself, she followed from a distance behind Liang Zhouyi, who was wearing a khaki padded jacket, blue jeans, and a high ponytail. Chu He could not help feeling a pang of self-pity. She, a president worth over a hundred million, was actually tailing a young girl to a blind date.

She followed Liang Zhouyi onto the subway, focusing intently on her from several cars away, afraid of losing her. Fortunately she still managed to follow Liang Zhouyi smoothly to a Cantonese restaurant.

With her hands in her pockets and her eyes fixed on Liang Zhouyi behind her black-rimmed glasses, she watched Liang Zhouyi go up to the second floor and sit at the table by the stair corner. The man sitting opposite her smiled at her very warmly.

Chu He gritted her molars and sat down at the table right behind Liang Zhouyi without looking sideways, glaring at that man with deep resentment.

To be fair, this man could not be called ugly, but every detail about him irritated Chu He. The subtle discomfort in her heart had almost reached its peak. If she had to describe it, it felt like her future self betraying her original intentions to get married.

She picked up the black tea in front of her and took a fierce gulp, only to be scalded by the tea and flush red in the face.

Her eyes brimmed with reflexive tears as she stared fixedly ahead. The server holding the menu saw the anger and sorrow in Chu He's eyes, seemed to make some association, and instantly drew a sharp breath. Had she stumbled onto a scene of catching a cheater? But what virtue did that man across the way have to be favored by such a beautiful woman?

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