Chapter 40: Pt.1

After Fang Qin left, Xu Chuanchuan got called into the office.

Looking at the shorter woman, Murong Shi flatly said, "Something happened in Linda's family, so she's taking a leave to visit home. Unfortunately, I lack hands on my side, so I had no choice but to transfer you over temporarily. I hope you can understand this."

Lowering her gaze, Xu Chuanchuan said, "As long as it is something I can do, feel free to order me around."

"Linda normally has a huge workload."

Xu Chuanchuan revealed a terrified look at these words.

Murong Shi chuckled at Xu Chuanchuan's reaction. She then added, "She is mainly responsible for the Business Department's work. This job involves a lot of work, so I had her pass it over to the Business Department's assistant for the time being. Your job is comparatively simple and trivial. I'll call you when I have work for you, so standby and be ready to take orders."

Sighing in relief, Xu Chuanchuan said, "I understand."

…

As Murong Shi said, she only gave Xu Chuanchuan miscellaneous jobs such as delivering documents and sending emails. None of the jobs were complicated.

Xu Chuanchuan still spent most of her time in the Engineering Department, and she had more than enough time to finish her work in the Engineering Department. If not for Murong Shi occasionally calling for her, she would've even forgotten that she was upholding another position.

Xu Chuanchuan initially worried that she would have difficulty coping with Murong Shi. However, she later discovered that Murong Shi wasn't a difficult person at all. On the contrary, it was relatively easy to speak to her.

One time, Xu Chuanchuan was delivering documents to Murong Shi after work. Murong Shi appeared to be busy at the time, and she didn't even look away from the computer when Xu Chuanchuan entered the room.

Seeing this, Xu Chuanchuan softly asked, "Do you need me for anything else?"

Murong Shi was impervious to outside interference when she was focused on work. Only after Xu Chuanchuan had asked several times did she snap out of her focus and said, "This is the afternoon meeting's minutes. Organize it and email it to me."

Xu Chuanchuan accepted the notebook and saw a bunch of words cramped onto the front piece of paper.

Apart from signatures, this was the first time Xu Chuanchuan had seen Murong Shi's handwriting. Murong Shi wrote her words with powerful strokes and slender fonts. And although she had written the notes carefreely, her words were still neat and clear. Overall, Murong Shi's handwriting was just like herself, pleasing to the eyes.

"If you don't know how to organize it, you can reference the emails Linda sent to me previously. I'll give you half an hour. It's now…" Murong Shi glanced at the bottom right corner of her computer.

After waiting for some time and not hearing a reply, Xu Chuanchuan thought Murong Shi's computer did not show the time. She then looked at her phone and said, "It's now six-thirty. Please rest assured. I'll sort it out and send it to you before seven."

However, Murong Shi suddenly took away the notebook and said, "No need. You can leave now."

Confused, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "Why?"

"Aren't you hungry?"

"I am."

"Go have dinner, then. You aren't needed here."

When Xu Chuanchuan walked out of the office, she felt as if she was dreaming. In the past, she used to think that Murong Shi was an unapproachable person. When she saw Linda crying not long ago, she even suspected that Murong Shi was the culprit… However, in that last moment, she could sense the care Murong Shi had for her subordinates in her words.

When Xu Chuanchuan thought back to how she had previously badmouthed Murong Shi, she couldn't help but feel a deep sense of guilt.

The second time Xu Chuanchuan had a change in opinion toward Murong Shi was during a weekend dinner party with the Business Department.

The Business Department's manager decided to treat his subordinates to a meal, and when he came to invite Murong Shi, Xu Chuanchuan just so happened to be in the office. So, the manager said to her, "Little Xu, you join as well."

Typically, Xu Chuanchuan would refuse invites to such dinner parties if possible. However, she was currently standing in for Linda. Since Murong Shi was going to attend the gathering, she couldn't avoid attending it as well.

The dinner venue was a restaurant close to the company. When the food arrived, the Business Department's manager held up a glass of beer and said, "Come, come, let us toast to Miss Murong."

Smiling, Murong Shi said, "I'm driving, so I'll have to use juice as a replacement."

When Xu Chuanchuan saw Murong Shi pouring juice into her glass, she, too, poured herself juice instead of beer. However, the Business Department's manager noticed her actions and pointed it out, saying, "Little Xu, you're not driving, so how can you drink juice? Change it to beer! Beer, I say!"

With no way out of this situation, Xu Chuanchuan had no choice but to get herself a new glass and fill it with beer. She then finished the beer with a painful expression on her face.

Halfway through the meal, Murong Shi left to answer a call. When she returned, she wore a gloomy expression on her face. She then leaned into Xu Chuanchuan's ear and said, "If you don't wish to stay here, you can come with me."

Xu Chuanchuan had long since been wishing to leave, so she nodded her head in a hurry.

Murong Shi then put on a smile and said to everyone else, " Sorry, everyone, but I have something to do, so I'll be taking my leave first. You guys have fun."

Murong Shi then left the room with Xu Chuanchuan following behind her.

Turning around, Murong Shi said, "I won't be sending you, so be careful on your way back."

Xu Chuanchuan felt flattered. Seeing that Murong Shi was in quite a hurry, she said, "You, too. Drive safely."

Murong Shi did not waste even a moment. As soon as she drove her car onto the main road, her phone suddenly rang.

Several minutes ago, her father had given her a call and said, "Hurry back."

Although Sun An had spoken in a very calm tone, Murong Shi had smelled the scent of gunpowder in his words.

Now, when she saw the words "Jiang Shaohua" displayed on her ringing phone, the ominous feeling Murong Shi felt grew stronger and stronger. Finally, after pausing for a moment, she picked up the call.

After the call connected, Jiang Shaohua said in a suppressed but anxious tone, "Murong, you best prepare yourself. Our fathers found out about our affair."

The cause of this incident originated from a promiscuous party Jiang Shaohua and his friends held. The venue of the party was a hot spring hotel owned by the Jiang family. When the men were having a fun time with a large group of beautiful women, Jiang Shaohua's father and Sun An suddenly crashed the party. The two of them then dragged the then-naked Jiang Shaohua off the bed.

Afterward, Jiang Shaohua's father was so enraged by his son's actions that he had given Jiang Shaohua two big slaps on the face in front of three trembling and naked women.

Meanwhile, Sun And then sternly questioned, "Shaohua, how can you do this to Little Shi?"

Faced with the two elders' accusations and scolding, Jiang Shaohua covered his hurting face and had no choice but to confess. "Uncle, Murong and I aren't together anymore."

Murong Shi's right eyelid twitched when she heard Jiang Shaohua's account. Then, while faking calmness, she said, "I got it."

Half an hour later, Murong Shi arrived back home. As soon as she walked through the front door, Sun An had called her to his study.

Sun An's body stank of alcohol, his face was flushed, and his eyes were bloodshot. He also wore a very fierce expression on his face. As soon as Murong Shi closed the door behind her, he got straight to the point and asked, "What's going on with you and Shaohua?"

At this point, there was no longer any meaning in hiding the truth. Even Murong Shi did not expect Jiang Shaohua to slip up to such an extent. However, since the situation had already developed to this extent, there was no longer any need for her to continue acting. Sighing, she said, "We broke up a long time ago."

"When did it happen?"

Looking at Sun An with a straight face, Murong Shi said, "It's been a while."

Unhappy with the reply, Sun An asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was too busy with work and forgot."

"This is nothing but an excuse!" Sun An slammed his palm on the desk in front of him, creating a loud bang. "You refused to get engaged before, and you even secretly broke up without telling us! You are clearly trying to oppose me!"

Without blinking, Murong Shi steadily said, "This isn't an excuse. He and I are not a good match. We would've separated sooner or later."

Angrily, Sun An said, "You kept such an important matter hidden from me! Do you even think of me as your father?!"

Murong Shi stayed silent for a moment. She then said, "Dad, let me ask you a question. If the person I got together with back then wasn't Jiang Shaohua but some other man instead, would you get as excited as you are now?"

"What do you mean?"

"In your eyes, money and reputation are the most important, right? If my partner wasn't Jiang Shaohua, or if Uncle Jiang wasn't so wealthy, you would've long been eager for us to break up, wouldn't you?"

The fat on Sun An's face twitched. Then, while pointing at his daughter's nose, he shouted, "Watch who you're talking to! I'm your father!"

Murong Shi stopped speaking.

Seeing that his daughter's carefree attitude, Sun An grew even more incensed as he said, "I am truly disappointed in you."

However, instead of getting angry, Murong Shi sneered and said, "To be honest, I'm disappointed in you too."

"What did you say?"

"You aren't a competent husband, much less a competent father. Apart from money and profit, what else do you have in your eyes?"

Exploding in rage, Sun An bellowed, "Bastard!"

A crisp sound echoed throughout the room as Murong Shi received a heavy slap to the face.

When this slap came down, both occupants of the room froze.

A red mark in the shape of a palm immediately appeared on Murong Shi's white cheek, and her bangs had become a mess. While her head was buzzing incessantly, Murong Shi looked at the person in front of her in disbelief. She also found the man foreign.

At this time, Sun An snapped out of his daze and tried to touch Murong Shi's face while saying, "Little Shi, dad didn't—"

Murong Shi avoided his touch in disgust.

…

It was a dark evening, and dark clouds covered the sky like a gigantic net. Murong Shi had run away from home out of impulse, but she was now at a loss on where to go.

She had turned off her phone already, so apart from the engine's sound, there was only an eerie silence and the scorching heat inside the car.

Because of the coldness overflowing from her heart, she had forgotten that she hadn't turned on the car's air conditioning. Right now, the only thing her body could feel was the stinging pain coming from her right cheek.

Murong Shi had never been close to Sun An since childhood. Originally, she thought that she had long since gotten used to this situation. However, when Sun An's palm landed on her face, although she didn't feel any physical pain, she felt her heart seizing.

After aimlessly wandering the streets for some time, Murong Shi eventually drove her car to the company.

The company had long since become deserted at this time, and the dark offices looked no different from graveyards. As the sound of Murong Shi's high heels hitting the floor reverberated throughout the building's interior, the sound-activated lights came on one by one. Eventually, she arrived before the familiar wooden door and opened it.

When the blue light radiating from Murong Shi's desktop reflected on her face, half of her face had already become swollen.

At this point, only by working could she shut out all distractions from her mind. Murong Shi also brewed herself a strong cup of coffee. As she did not add any sugar or milk, the coffee was so bitter that she nearly spat it out.