Chapter 3
I walked out of the company and released a long breath.
That battle had won me nearly eighty thousand yuan in compensation. With that money as a cushion, I could take my time finding another job.
Whatever happened, I would not meet the miserable death the novel had prepared for me.
A deep voice came unexpectedly from the shadows.
“Satisfied now?”
It was Qin Si.
He lit a cigarette. The light caught his face and the elegant, taut line of his jaw. Heaven had favored this man with looks capable of making people fall in love and walk through fire for him.
Even after regaining my senses, that face could still make my heart skip.
I glanced at him and pressed the elevator button.
“Smoking is forbidden on this entire floor. The fine is two hundred yuan per offense. Pay it voluntarily tomorrow. Being president doesn’t give you the right to do whatever you please.”
Qin Si went still. Then he crushed out the cigarette and walked away without looking back.
For the next several days, I took my medicine on schedule and carefully protected my eyes.
Whenever the medicine made my stomach ache, or the eye drops left my eyes burning, regret would rise inside me.
I should have let Qin Si get hit by that car.
Compared with physical and mental health, love was worthless.
I wrote down every detail I remembered from the novel and arranged them into a timeline, searching for chances to escape my fate.
Qin Si’s untouchable first love, Song Ruo’an, was a famous dancer. Onstage, she moved with the grace of a woodland spirit. In the original novel, she deserved to be called an untouchable first love: pure, beautiful, and kindhearted.
She knew nothing of what Qin Si did for her.
But she was undeniably the beneficiary.
Her safety and happiness were built upon the steady destruction of my body and mind.
So when the news reported that Song Ruo’an had fallen from the stage and been hospitalized, I immediately arranged to leave the country.
Only after my plane landed in Thailand did I switch on my phone. Calls from home flooded the screen. I answered one without concern.
Qin Si’s furious voice came through the line.
“Why was your phone off? You have thirty minutes to get to this hospital—”
I cut him off. “Who is this?”
“Zhao Mange, this is a matter of life and death. Ruo’an urgently needs blood. Stop playing games to make me chase you. Whatever you want, I can compensate you afterward. Come to the hospital immediately.”
Ruo’an. Always Ruo’an.
If she was safe, I would never know a day of peace.
After I died in the previous storyline, she had not shed a single tear for me.
I said calmly, “Mr. Qin, China’s Blood Donation Law states that donation is voluntary and that no individual or organization may use any means to coerce a person into giving blood. Donors must also be healthy and must not have undergone major surgery in the previous six months. I left the hospital less than a month ago. You remember your Ruo’an, but do you remember the woman who saved your life? Are you even human?”
Silence answered me.
I ended the call.
Under the brilliant blue sky, I tried very hard to smile.
I could not.
There was simply nothing to smile about.
I stayed in Thailand for half a month and returned only after hearing that Song Ruo’an was out of danger.
The trip had been expensive, so finding work became a priority.
I sent out many résumés and attended several interviews. More than once, I reached the third round and then heard nothing.
When I called to ask why, someone finally gave me an honest answer.
“Ms. Zhao, you are exceptionally qualified. We were preparing to offer you the position when someone above us abruptly changed the decision. You may want to consider whether something has happened on your end. I’m only telling you because your record is so impressive. That is all I can say. I hope things go well for you.”
I thanked them and hung up.
Soon afterward, another message arrived.
“You obediently ran overseas a while ago, so I couldn’t be bothered with you. I didn’t expect you to come back. Let me be clear: there is no place for you here. If you’re smart, you know what to do.”
The tone belonged to Lin Xueqin.
She did not want me to live well.
I intended to live very well indeed.
I promptly applied to a company owned by one of Qin Si’s former competitors and passed the interview without difficulty.
Three months later, I won another design competition.
Standing high on the stage in a magnificent evening gown, trophy raised in my hands, I felt an indescribable sense of achievement.
Building myself was far more satisfying than building up a worthless man.
At the banquet after the ceremony, I accompanied my boss, Guo Yun, as he toasted business partners around the room.
When we reached Qin Si, Guo Yun smiled like a man concealing a knife.
“Thank you for letting her go, Mr. Qin. I would never have gained such a capable general otherwise. Your generosity is remarkable.”
Qin Si ignored him and stared coldly at me.
“Ms. Zhao, have you forgotten your noncompete agreement? You may not work for another company in the industry for one year. You are in breach, and I can hold you liable.”
How unusual.
The legally illiterate domineering CEO had finally decided to discuss the law with me.
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“I must thank you for hiring such a considerate HR manager. In her eagerness to save you money, she never calculated any noncompete compensation and never asked me to sign a noncompete agreement. Otherwise, how could a mere eighty thousand yuan have sent me on my way?”
“Eighty thousand? A mere eighty thousand?” Guo Yun burst into wild laughter and gave Qin Si a thumbs-up. “What a wonderful HR department you have. No wonder Mange jumped ship. Mange, stay with me from now on. If a monthly salary of one hundred thousand isn’t enough, I’ll raise it again.”
I lifted my glass to Qin Si with a smile, then followed Guo Yun elsewhere.
Guo Yun proceeded to tell everyone we met how I had received only eighty thousand yuan in compensation from Qin Si’s company. Laughter followed us through the hall.
People asked whether it was true. I smiled, nodded, and let the helpless expression of an oppressed worker appear on my face.
When I casually revealed that I had saved Qin Si’s life shortly before being forced out, their astonishment reached its peak.
For years, Guo Yun had lost contracts and design competitions to Qin Si. Today, he finally washed away that humiliation and broadcast Qin Si’s glorious deeds to the entire room.
Before long, nearly everyone knew.
Even Qin Si, oblivious as he was, could sense the change in their gazes.
He had always been heaven’s favored son, surrounded by flattery and eager agreement. This was his first taste of public ridicule.
His face darkened with resentment.
When Guo Yun noticed me looking his way, he asked meaningfully, “Still can’t let him go?”
I shook my head. “I’m only curious.”
I was curious because Qin Si’s fortune was draining so rapidly. Once, it had towered above him in imperial violet. Now it had faded to red.
But that no longer had anything to do with me.
That evening, when the elevator opened on my floor, I sensed at once that something was wrong.
Qin Si leaned against the wall. Smoke curled from the cigarette in his hand, and defeat hung around him with a strange, disheveled charm.
“Did things between us have to come to this?” he asked.
“No. We should be strangers, so would you please leave?” I looked at him earnestly.
His face turned completely black.
“You were never like this before.”
“You, on the other hand, are wonderfully consistent. You weren’t human before, and you still refuse to act like one.”
“Zhao! Mange!”
“Mr. Qin, why exactly are you here? To reminisce, or to pick a fight?”
He fell silent.
“Coming here was a mistake.”
He stormed down the stairs so quickly that he did not even wait for the elevator, fleeing in utter disarray.