TGSS - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Hitting Someone

On Monday morning the sun rose slowly, and the tallest office building in the CBD of H City gleamed with a metallic luster under the sunlight. At the bustling entrance, whether they were office workers in business attire or streamers dressed to the nines, everyone wore the same expression, exhaustion.

Liang Zhouyi was squeezed into the packed elevator and could hardly breathe. She struggled to keep the lunchbox in her hand level so it would not spill. After parting on bad terms with Chu He a couple of days earlier, she had frozen the leftover dishes to bring today. Liang Zhouyi found her own thrift faintly amusing. Over the weekend she had turned down Gao Mingchen and transferred back all the money he had spent.

Tugging at her scarf, Liang Zhouyi arrived at her workstation. Xiang Qianqian, usually the social butterfly, did not greet her. Instead her face was tight and her body language seemed to strongly resist Liang Zhouyi's arrival.

"Morning." Liang Zhouyi offered a greeting on her own initiative, only to receive a cold scoff in return. She was a little baffled and simply assumed Xiang Qianqian was in a bad mood.

"Some people, who usually keep a low profile, are actually pretty impressive," Xiang Qianqian said, loud enough that the colleagues around Liang Zhouyi asked in surprised whispers what was going on. Liang Zhouyi shook her head to show she was just as confused.

"Who is she talking about?" the colleague to Liang Zhouyi's right whispered to her. "Xiang Qianqian came in this morning with a long face, like a powder keg."

Liang Zhouyi was bewildered. If she was not mistaken, Xiang Qianqian's hostility seemed directed at her. There was no other explanation; she was just too familiar with that kind of look.

"Don't you know? She got laid off... HR just sent her the email," the colleague at the desk in front of Liang Zhouyi said upon overhearing their whispers, clicking her tongue in amazement. "Who would have thought, Xiang Qianqian actually got let go."

At those words, another colleague's gaze turned subtle. It really was unexpected, and now she knew who Xiang Qianqian was talking about. Thinking it over, Liang Zhouyi had not been laid off? The others she knew who had been let go all had average educational backgrounds. Although ability mattered most in the workplace, often when those at the top made a snap decision, those below could only carry it out.

She had heard that the company's chairman had visited another company and picked up some ideas from peers, insisting on recruiting more people with excellent academic credentials but limited experience to train up. Correspondingly, a number of veteran employees with weaker credentials had to be let go. But when it came to credentials... the colleague shot a sidelong glance at Liang Zhouyi. She could only be considered to have a high school education. Their industry did not really value such things, but Liang Zhouyi was indeed vulnerable to criticism on that front.

Receiving all kinds of looks, Liang Zhouyi opened her computer and began to work as if nothing had happened. That indifferent attitude sent Xiang Qianqian's anger straight to the boiling point.

"Liang Zhouyi!"

"What is it?" Liang Zhouyi's tone was very calm.

"Don't you think you owe me an explanation?" Xiang Qianqian pointed at her, agitated.

"An explanation?" Liang Zhouyi did not look up. "What explanation?"

In the past, Liang Zhouyi's calm and placid temperament had made Xiang Qianqian quite fond of her, but now it felt like punching cotton, leaving her stifled and frustrated. "Ha, do you want me to say it here?"

Liang Zhouyi stopped typing, leaned back against her chair, and turned around. "Go ahead. There is nothing between us that others cannot hear."

"Ha." Xiang Qianqian was so angry at Liang Zhouyi's clear conscience that she laughed. "You said it. Then let me ask you, did you pull some trick behind the scenes to get me fired? Why me? You should be the first one to get out!"

"First, I do not have that kind of power to get you fired, and what does your being laid off have to do with me? On this matter you can go to the managers or HR. In any case you should not be coming at me," Liang Zhouyi said, hands clasped, her voice clear and distant as she looked at Xiang Qianqian, who was being held back by others in her agitation.

"You... ha, you are just relying on your good relationship with Chu He. Who knows what tricks you used to bewitch her? Who knows what your relationship really is in private? You know what dirty things you have done!" Xiang Qianqian spoke without thinking, her expression twisted as she lunged and grabbed her, seizing Liang Zhouyi's hair. Liang Zhouyi was yanked to her feet from her workstation, and her cheek was scratched and left bleeding by Xiang Qianqian's almond-shaped nails. Several colleagues rushed forward in a flurry to pull them apart.

"Say that again." Liang Zhouyi let down her ponytail that had been pulled into a mess, her delicate and gentle face clouded over. "Go on, tell me what my relationship with Chu He is?"

"You are in cahoots, in private..."

Smack.

A bright red handprint appeared on Xiang Qianqian's face. Everyone around was so shocked by the scene that they could not speak. In their whole lives they had never imagined they would see Liang Zhouyi hit someone. The odds were almost as impossible as an alien invasion. ... For a moment, no one said a word. Only Liang Zhouyi, after striking her, clenched her fist tightly, her hanging hand trembling, her loose long hair falling by her neck, and with her deathly pale face she looked like a female ghost.

"You fucking... damn it," Xiang Qianqian finally came to her senses, the shock of that instant even outweighing her fury. "You dare hit me? Who do you think you are? My parents have never even hit me, what the hell are you! Damn it... I am going to sue you!"

A stream of curses burst from Xiang Qianqian's mouth as two colleagues dragged her away, her legs kicking wildly.

Liang Zhouyi opened her reddened palm, her expression vacant. Trembling, she clenched her hand again, forced herself to sit down, and carefully tied her hair back up. Fine beads of cold sweat covered her forehead.

"No sense of propriety..."

"Seduced someone else's partner, so shameless!"

"What a piece of trash!"

Countless voices flooded Liang Zhouyi's ears. Her vision began to whiten, turning into a blurry white haze below. As her consciousness grew hazy, she gripped the desk tightly with both hands and used what little strength she had left to bite her tongue. The salty, metallic taste of blood helped clear her head a little.

---

"What did you say? Liang Zhouyi hit someone? With that pushover personality of hers, are you joking with me?" When Chu He heard HR complaining to her, she burst out laughing, which made the HR person across from her darken visibly.

Chu He quickly raised her hands in surrender and gestured for HR to continue. Chen Xinluo rubbed her temples and said, "Yes. She slapped Xiang Qianqian right across the face. Now the girl wants to sue not only her but also the company. Personally I do not want to make a big deal out of this. Both of them are in your department, so why don't you step in first?"

"Sure," Chu He said, looking as if she had no sense of how serious the matter was, a hint of amusement even showing on her fair face.

"I heard this matter seems to involve you as well. Be careful when you handle it, and don't go too far unless you absolutely have to," Chen Xinluo said as she stood up and patted Chu He on the shoulder, adding the words as if still not quite at ease.

Chu He gazed quietly at Chen Xinluo, a faint smile on her face, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned as she waved Chen Xinluo off, signaling her to go.

As if looking at her for one more second would make her lose her temper on the spot, Chen Xinluo's eyes ached terribly. She clicked her high heels in disdain and quickly left Chu He's office. Day after day, they really knew how to cause trouble for her. She had heard something about Liang Zhouyi's wooden personality, so how had she turned into a troublemaker under Chu He?

"Hahahahaha..." As soon as Chen Xinluo closed the door, Chu He leaned on the desk and laughed until tears came out. Her stomach convulsed with laughter before she collapsed into her chair.

Liang Zhouyi was really too interesting. She felt a pang of regret at having missed that scene.

Having calmed her laughter, Chu He adjusted her glasses and sent Liang Zhouyi a message telling her to come to the office.

When Chu He saw Liang Zhouyi with her face tight, a wound on her cheek and her hair in disarray, she almost could not hold back her laughter. She coughed lightly twice and said sternly, "Liang Zhouyi, what is going on with you, hitting someone openly in the company? Do you not want to keep this job?"

Liang Zhouyi looked at her without nodding or shaking her head, and simply said, "I will cooperate with whatever decision the company makes."

"Alright, HR should have told you. According to the employee handbook you will be penalized with a pay deduction and you will need to apologize to Xiang Qianqian and reach a settlement. Any objections?" Chu He tapped the desk, her expression cold and stern.

"Mm." The word seemed squeezed from Liang Zhouyi's throat. She clenched her fists so tightly her nails nearly dug into her flesh, every part of her body straining, her entire body taut like a fully drawn bow.

Seeing her like that, Chu He did not want to tease her further and only sighed, "Zhou Yi, as a friend, let me ask you, do you need my help?"

"No need. I will go apologize," Liang Zhouyi said. Although her voice still trembled slightly, the difference was no longer very obvious.

"You can go," Chu He said helplessly. She always felt Liang Zhouyi was not the type to lash out without reason, but clearly she would not get anything out of her today.

Chu He clicked her tongue lightly and called Xiang Qianqian in. She herself had no particular opinion of the girl. Being young and having a family to fall back on were reasons she could act without restraint in the workplace, and those were advantages she possessed in her own right.

"Xiang Qianqian. Why do you think you were let go?" Chu He said, her long brown curls draped over her chest, giving her an intellectual beauty. She spoke with a smile, but her eyes were icy.

"Ha. You are asking me?" Xiang Qianqian winced as the corner of her sore mouth twitched, her tone disdainful. "Isn't it because you wanted to protect Liang Zhouyi?"

"Protect Liang Zhouyi?" Chu He repeated. "I can do more than protect her. If I wanted to promote her, wouldn't that be easy? But you need to understand, I do not need to trade you away to do any of that."

Xiang Qianqian froze, as if she had not yet processed the meaning.

Chu He leaned closer to her. "With my methods, helping someone does not require me to pay a price. You should think about who you have actually offended, and who gave you the information that made you misunderstand me? If you make a scene, who ultimately benefits?"

Those words shook Xiang Qianqian to the core. She recalled that the person who had cozied up to her yesterday was precisely the one who had always been at odds with Chu He.

"Of course I am not here to pursue who egged you on," Chu He paused, her voice softening. "A friend's company has an opening right now. I think you are quite capable, Xiang Qianqian, and I would like to refer you. I wonder if you are interested?"

Xiang Qianqian's eyes lit up as she stared intently at Chu He.

"Then you know what to do. I believe you are a smart person, Xiang Qianqian. You should not need me to teach you which is more important, empty formalities or something tangible you can actually hold in your hand, right?"

Xiang Qianqian touched her slightly swollen cheek and understood that Chu He was completely going to stand up for Liang Zhouyi. Once her reason returned, she had no desire to offend Chu He. This woman's connections in their current circle were too extensive.

Meeting Chu He's eyes, which held a veiled threat, Xiang Qianqian smiled. "Then thank you, President Chu."

Seeing that she had accepted the olive branch, Chu He broke into a smile and her aura suddenly relaxed. "You're welcome, we are all on the same side."

On the same side? Xiang Qianqian sneered inwardly. She only treated Liang Zhouyi as one of her own, right? To say such polite words so sincerely, that was truly Chu He for you.

Thanks to Chu He, Xiang Qianqian took the initiative to go to HR and say the incident had been a misunderstanding and that she did not mind at all that Liang Zhouyi had hit her, hoping to turn a big matter into a small one and a small matter into nothing.

Chen Xinluo was very satisfied with that outcome, but the company had its rules and still had to punish Liang Zhouyi slightly, with a symbolic fine.

As Xiang Qianqian returned to her workstation to pack her things, she looked at Liang Zhouyi, who was still working like a machine, and suddenly felt a weariness she could not put into words. She frowned. "Liang Zhouyi. We have known each other so long, have you ever considered me a friend?"

In fact, what she found hardest to accept was that Liang Zhouyi had known she was going to be laid off and had not told her, and that was what had completely enraged her.

"No," Liang Zhouyi answered honestly.

"Ha. Thanks for at least answering honestly," Xiang Qianqian said, amused despite herself, her tone a little dejected. "We have known each other for half a year, but no matter how much I tried to be friends with you, you kept pushing me away."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. It doesn't matter anymore," Xiang Qianqian said, sniffing, her voice very hoarse, her hands not stopping as she packed.

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