Chapter 31: The Aftermath of April Fools' Day

April Fools' Day.

Also known as All Fools' Day, the Festival of Humor, April Fools' Day.

It is a folk festival that emerged and became popular in the West starting in the 19th century.

On this day, people deceive and prank each other in various ways, often only revealing the truth and declaring the target of the prank a "fool" at the very end of the joke.

And those conservatives who are taken in by the deception are called "April fools" or "hooked fish."

Zhou Xiaoru felt that she, this April fool, was a fish that wanted to hang itself! And she wouldn't even be able to rest in peace!

Today's rooftop showdown ended under the tyrannical power of a certain man, and Zhou Xiaoru had no choice but to compromise.

And those two hundred million kept echoing until she got off work, never fading away.

As soon as she returned to the office in the afternoon, she hurriedly went to look for that astronomical contract.

Harboring a glimmer of hope, she thought that perhaps the signature page of the contract hadn't been destroyed; if that were the case, it wouldn't be so troublesome to resolve.

But when she flipped through the entire document, she discovered that the only things missing were the last few pages!

A certain Xiaoru wanted to cry but had no tears, and was even more powerless to ask the heavens! Could she be any more unlucky!

How could it be such a coincidence that it was just those few pages of the signature sheet? What was she thinking at the time? Even if she had made a mistake and misheard the printing instructions, how could it have started from the last page...

She no longer had the energy to think about her state of mind at that time; all of this was caused by that goddamn Su Poyang!

Immediately, a certain Ru began rummaging through the shredder bin in the Personnel Department.

Fortunately, those shredded documents were all there.

Under the strange gazes of the crowd, she dumped all those paper scraps out.

She even treated them like treasures, carefully and cautiously sorting them out.

But this pile of scraps was like a tangled ball of thread with no beginning or end, all mixed together, making one want to cry but having no tears.

Looking at those documents that had turned into curved strips, all tangled together.

Zhou Xiaoru felt like she was looking at instant noodles!

Who could take a pack of instant noodles, pull them apart one by one, and straighten them out?

The answer is, it's simply impossible!

Once straightened, are instant noodles still instant noodles? Even if they are, they are soulless.

At this moment, in the Personnel Department, accompanying Zhou Xiaoru with the same bitter expression was Zhang Yao.

While Zhang Yao was frowning and thinking about how to resolve the contract matter, she was also recalling the content of that document.

In the morning, when she first got the document, she seemed to have glanced at it.

If she remembered correctly, the signature page only had the President's name signed; the partner hadn't signed yet.

Could it be that she was so busy she was dizzy and saw it wrong?!

But whether she saw it right or wrong, now it could only be treated as if it were wrong.

Zhou Xiaoru had already risked her life to go see the President, so could it be wrong?

It's just that Zhou Xiaoru didn't tell Zhang Yao that President Gu had told her before leaving to come to work an hour early tomorrow and go to the President's Office to handle the contract matter.

But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't figure out how to solve it. Could it be that just going to the President's Office would solve it?!

The answer was affirmative; as long as she went, it could be solved.

It's just that a certain Ru didn't know that yet.

To appease the equally frightened Zhang Yao, Zhou Xiaoru decided to take responsibility for this matter. After all, she was the one who destroyed the contract, and she couldn't harm this kind-hearted girl.

After getting off work, she packed up that pile of paper scraps, which were worth ten thousand gold in her eyes, and brought them back to school.

The only way to remedy it now was perhaps to piece these paper scraps back together.

She had looked at the contract file in the afternoon; only the last three pages were missing, which wasn't too many, so it could still be remedied.

It looked like she would have to pull an all-nighter tonight.

This day had been so heart-stopping, trembling, thrilling, and stimulating.

Zhou Xiaoru decided that after this incident was resolved, she would go burn incense and worship Buddha.

She felt that recently, her luck had simply been so bad it had gone all the way to South America!

She was going to the temple to pray for a peace talisman to hang in her bed curtain.

She even once thought that she had encountered something dirty, which was why she had been so unlucky lately.

But regardless of which one it was, she still hadn't solved the two-hundred-million matter.

After returning to the Dormitory, she was eager to find a trash can to vent her grievances.

At this point, Jiang Bufan and Xiao Lan once again witnessed the process of a normal person turning into a mental patient.

But no matter what, as soon as they heard about Gu the Scum's current attitude toward a certain Ru, they all exchanged knowing, eerie smiles.

They unanimously agreed that Gu Liyan's current behavior was somewhat abnormal.

They even clearly smelled a hint of the stench of old flames being rekindled and a past relationship being renewed.

Looking at it this way, they were going to patch things up.

But the person involved, Zhou Xiaoru, didn't think so. What old flames being rekindled or patching things up—in her view, it was all bullshit of the highest order!

It was absolutely impossible for Gu Liyan to be interested in her!

Unless the sun rose from the west and pigs could climb trees.

Everyone discussed it, but they didn't forget the pile of messy paper strips currently piled on a certain Ru's desk, which made people frown involuntarily when they looked at them.

Day after day, watching Zhou Xiaoru work from dawn till dusk, the few of them couldn't help but feel that this person wasn't going to work, but was selling her labor—she was almost selling herself.

And in the face of a certain person's double frustration, her few bad friends also played their part.

That night, in the 601 Dormitory, the lights were bright, and everyone stayed up all night just to help Zhou Xiaoru piece together the shredded document.

With their respective tasks clearly defined, they had long since developed a mutual understanding during their nearly four years of university life.

It was already the middle of the night, and Zhou Xiaoru couldn't help but stretch, rub her sore arms, and look at the other three in the dormitory.

On everyone's desk, a desk lamp was lit; everyone was reviewing earnestly, just as if they were about to take an exam.

Zhou Xiaoru, who had felt heartbroken all day, couldn't help but feel a warmth in her heart at this sight.

Fortunately, she still had these lovely friends to shield her from the wind and rain...

Just as she was about to be moved to tears and was reaching the climax of her sentimentality.

Diagonally opposite, Jiang Bufan suddenly turned around, meeting someone's "tears of emotion" head-on.

In fact, she had only turned around because she felt a chill on her back, and sure enough, she saw that person staring back and forth at them.

She threw out a single sentence, instantly ruining the cozy scene someone had just created.

"What are you staring at like a fool? Why don't you hurry up and finish your two hundred million? Can you get two hundred million by looking at us?"

Hearing this, the person in question could only grit her teeth in secret; this damn woman had such a sharp tongue.

The dormitory returned to silence, with someone occasionally coming over to exchange paper strips from different documents.

Just like that, the four of them worked together until after four in the morning, and the last three pages of the contract were all pieced together, bit by bit, with transparent tape.

But just as they were about to cheer for victory, a question from Yao Xiang instantly drew everyone's attention.

Yao Xiang held the last page of the contract, looked at it again and again, and asked in confusion.

"Xiaoru, didn't you say that this contract had already been signed?"

After she finished speaking, the other three all leaned in...

They saw that on the last page, which they hadn't yet looked at.

In the Party A column, there was a dashing signature; it was not hard to see that this was the signature of Big Boss Gu.

But in the Party B column, there was no signature at all!

Although it was a bit uneven from being taped, anyone who wasn't blind could see that it was a big, blank space!

In this still-chilly April morning, Zhou Xiaoru once again felt as if she had been struck by lightning.

Had she been played for a fool again, gloriously, once more?!

A great fire in her chest instantly began to burn fiercely, and it even spread directly to the sparks!

She was so angry that her whole body felt bloated...

The other three looked on with some "fear" at the woman who was now pacing back and forth in a rage.

But at this moment, Miss Zhou was so angry she was almost jumping up and down, unable to think of anything else.

The other three, however, exchanged glances, communicating with their panda eyes.

Xiao Lan: "Is Gu Liyan the kind of person who would play such a joke?" She expressed great doubt.

Jiang Bufan: "I feel like this person Xiaoru must still be hiding other things from us."

Because Zhou Xiaoru hadn't told them at all that Gu Liyan had told her to come to work an hour early this morning.

As for Yao Xiang, she was very calm; she had already seen through everything.

"Let's just wash up and sleep; there are no classes this morning, so we can sleep until noon."

After communicating, she couldn't help but look with sympathy at the person still pacing back and forth...

They could go back to sleep, but after pulling an all-nighter, that person still had to go to work on time!

Truly pitiful, sad, lamentable, and moving!

At this time, Xiao Lan became a bit unhappy and glared at the two people who looked so sympathetic.

"You two are too heartless! It's not just that person who has to work; I have to work too, okay!"

Jiang Bufan and Yao Xiang received that fierce glare and were so scared their nostrils flared.

How could they have forgotten that this person had also started her internship...

The three of them were still performing their little drama in private.

Meanwhile, the person who had been spinning like a top for a long time grew more and more furious the more she thought about it!

After not sleeping all night, being on edge, and racking her brains, she finally felt the dawn of victory, only to be completely covered by a dark cloud that had drifted in from nowhere!

This is truly unbearable!! A scholar can be killed, but not humiliated!!

It really made her so angry!!!

With a whoosh, the person in question suddenly stopped her endless pacing, and then, under the horrified gazes of the other three, she rushed to her desk.

She picked up her phone, her hands trembling with rage, and dialed a string of numbers directly.

Jiang Bufan and the other two exchanged glances once again, knowing what the other was thinking.

Why did they feel like they were watching a couple flirting...

On the other end, the phone was ringing, and just as Zhou Xiaoru thought it wouldn't be answered, the phone vibrated, and a hoarse voice came from the other side.

"Hello..."

Hearing this voice now, to Zhou Xiaoru, was like pouring a bucket of gasoline onto a raging fire!

Zhou Xiaoru shouted directly into the phone, "Gu Liyan! You are simply a bastard! A turtle's egg! A stinky salted fish, a stinky egg! You're not human!!"

Faced with this barrage, there was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by an incredulous voice.

"Xiaoru? Did you... did you call the wrong number..."

As the words fell, Miss Zhou's face went numb, and then it burned!

This voice is...

A bit dazed, she moved the phone away and looked at the number on the screen...

Immediately, her eyes widened, and she was nearly in shock on the spot.

The number displayed on the phone screen was...

Du Feng!

It is already April 2nd, but the heat from April 1st, it seems, has not yet faded...

The aftereffects of April Fools' Day are somewhat difficult to cure...