Chapter 8: Workplace Rookie Goes Online (Part 1)

Zhou Xiaoru spent a pleasant weekend in anticipation.

Regardless, being hired by Tengyuan Company was still something worth being happy about.

Monday was a rainy day; this city often rained. For most of the year, it was raining.

This rain was neither heavy nor light, drifting down in a fine, dense drizzle that felt very uncomfortable when it landed on one's body.

What Zhou Xiaoru disliked most was this kind of weather, just like her past personality; in order to cater to that person, she had become coy and weak.

Today was her first day on the job, and she had woken up very early. The onboarding documents that the Personnel Department assistant, Ada, had asked her to prepare last week—copies of her ID card and student ID—she still hadn't prepared.

Last weekend, she had partied a bit too hard and had actually completely forgotten about this matter.

Tengyuan Company's start time was 8:30 in the morning, so she had to hurry and get them copied first.

But after she arrived at the school's underground supermarket copy shop, she discovered the shop hadn't opened yet; she checked the time, and it was already 7:00.

There was no time left; she still had to take a bus, so she could only wait until she reached the vicinity of the company to find a copy shop.

Seven in the morning was a small peak time for commuting, and the bus was packed with people. Zhou Xiaoru didn't even bother to eat breakfast and hurriedly squeezed into the bus.

In the past, she had only seen all kinds of workplace lives on TV; starting today, she was also a member of the workplace. And at such a famous Tengyuan Company, just thinking about it made her a little excited.

At this moment, she couldn't help but fantasize in her mind about showing off her skills after entering the company, then being highly valued by the senior management, and stepping toward the pinnacle of her life step by step...

Oh, hehehehe, just thinking about it made her feel so excited.

But her excitement didn't last long; following a sudden brake by the bus and then the sound of exhaust emissions, the vehicle stalled...

Then the vehicle tried to start several times, but there was no response.

Some passengers on the bus couldn't help but start discussing, "Is the car broken?"

"No way, I'm going to be late for work."

Zhou Xiaoru also looked outside the bus with some trepidation; she couldn't be that unlucky, could she!

After a while, the driver's voice rang out over the bus's loudspeaker.

"The vehicle has broken down. Please get off the bus first and wait for the next bus to come and pick everyone up. I apologize for the inconvenience caused to everyone!"

The carriage was suddenly filled with complaints, most of them saying how unlucky they were and that they were going to be late for work.

After getting off the bus, some people stayed where they were to wait for the next bus, while others couldn't wait and left first.

Zhou Xiaoru checked the time on her phone again; it was already 7:20.

It's over; is she going to fail on her very first day of work!

She didn't want that!

Looking at the main road that was in the middle of nowhere, with cars speeding past one after another, her heart felt a bit panicked.

Could this be fate! Was she destined to be unable to go to Tengyuan?

Immediately, she shook her head; she couldn't think like that. She had already given her word in front of Xiao Lan and Jiang Bufan.

She had even spoken so righteously; how could she go back on her word? Wouldn't that be slapping her own face?

Gritting her teeth, she decided to use her phone to call a taxi. She was a poor student who usually took the bus everywhere, but the situation was special now, so she had to grit her teeth and pay for a taxi.

After opening the ride-hailing app and waiting for several more minutes, no driver accepted the order.

She looked again in the direction the bus had come from, but it was endless...

Zhou Xiaoru couldn't wait any longer and prepared to walk forward to see if she could find other bus stops and see if there were any buses that went directly to Tengyuan Building.

She slung her bag over her shoulder and started jogging. Fortunately, she was wearing sneakers today, and as she ran, she looked to see if there were any taxis on the road...

Watching the time pass second by second, her heart grew colder and colder; there wasn't even a shadow of a bus stop near this Jiangcheng Avenue.

The taxis that whizzed past on the road either wouldn't stop or already had passengers inside.

She walked for about twenty minutes, and seeing it was already almost 7:50, Zhou Xiaoru was already sweating from anxiety.

Was she really not meant to be with Tengyuan Company??

The determination she had finally made was now going to be knocked back to square one because of a broken-down bus.

Zhou Xiaoru felt a bit dejected, and her morale plummeted. Watching the ride-hailing app on her phone still spinning in little circles, she couldn't help but let out a sigh.

Sigh... this is all fate...

While she was wallowing in self-pity, a black Mercedes business sedan behind her was slowing down as it approached.

She stopped her steps and looked suspiciously at the big black Mercedes that was slowly stopping in front of her...

Her expression gradually brightened, and she immediately started daydreaming in her heart...

Could it be that her outstanding beauty had caught the eye of some corporate heir?

Very likely!

But as the window slowly rolled down, the joy she hadn't yet managed to hide instantly froze on her face.

Behind the window appeared a stunningly beautiful face, and at this moment, the owner of that beautiful face was looking at her with a smile.

And on the other side, in the passenger seat, sat a peerless handsome guy...

No, he should be a big jerk! At this moment, he was flipping through the documents in his hand.

"Zhou, Xiao, Ru, I didn't get the name wrong, right? Why are you alone on the main road?"

Zhou Xiaoru didn't expect to run into these two here. There was no help for it; this person was the Big Boss of Tengyuan and might be her direct superior in the future, so she couldn't afford to be rude.

She gave a polite "hehe" and said, "The bus I was riding just broke down."

The handsome man had an "I see" expression, "You're going to Tengyuan to report for duty today, right?"

Zhou Xiaoru was stunned. The senior management actually knew she was starting today? She thought about it for a second; he was one of the interviewers that day, so it shouldn't be strange that he knew about her starting.

"Yes, starting today." Her eyes darted back and forth, thinking to herself, since they had said so much, shouldn't he offer her a ride?

But Su Poyang's next sentence instantly shattered her worldview. Just like the interview a few days ago, the things Su Poyang said were truly enough to choke someone.

Su Poyang raised his hand to check the watch on his wrist, looking like he was kindly reminding her, "It's almost eight o'clock now. You have another half hour. Don't be late on your first day of work. Wish you a pleasant work experience in the future, goodbye!"

As the words fell, the window glass closed, and the black Mercedes whizzed past the person whose jaw had already dropped to the floor...

Zhou Xiaoru simply could not believe it; how could such a person exist!

As expected, people who hang out with trash are also trash!!

Inside the black Mercedes that had already driven away, Su Poyang amusedly looked again and again at the person who had already disappeared in the rearview mirror.

"Sigh, I say, this ex-girlfriend of yours is quite interesting."

Gu Liyan was still earnestly flipping through the documents in his hands, looking completely indifferent, and replied.

"Are you addicted to teasing people? You didn't tease her enough at the interview last time, and now you've recruited her into the company just to tease her again."

Su Poyang glanced at the person beside him, "I didn't do it for anyone but you; you've always felt you owed this girl, so I specifically opened a back door and made an exception to hire her."

Who would have thought that the one who went easy on Zhou Xiaoru was not Gu Liyan, but Su Poyang.

The man gave a cold snort, "If you want to pick up girls yourself, don't pin it on me."

Hearing him say this, a flash of interest crossed Su Poyang's eyes, "If I really pursued her, you wouldn't mind?"

The person beside him showed no reaction at all, "Why would I mind?"

Su Poyang said with a gossipy look, "Didn't you say this girl has liked you since middle school? You haven't been moved at all? I bet it's ten to one that she came to apply at Tengyuan because she knew you were here."

This marathon-style battle for love made him somewhat admire her; in this day and age, dating is like eating fast food, and changing partners is as fast as flipping a book. Such a long-lasting, devoted girl is truly rare.

At this moment, Gu Liyan finally raised his head, which had been lowered the whole time, closed the file in his hand, and squinted at the person beside him.

"Is your imagination too rich, or have you been watching too many soap operas?" If she had really come for him, she wouldn't have looked like that when she saw him on the day of the interview.

"Sigh... you really are ruthless. I was watching your reaction just now, and I thought you would ask me to give her a ride."

He hadn't expected that from beginning to end, Gu Liyan hadn't even looked at the girl once; he had truly underestimated his coldness.

"This car is yours; whether you give someone a ride or not is entirely up to you."

Su Poyang couldn't help but shake his head, feeling sorry for that girl. To fall for such an unromantic, giant iceberg—he really didn't know how she had persisted for so many years.

But what Su Poyang did not know was that Zhou Xiaoru's journey of pursuing love had already stopped two years ago...

That beautiful, Cinderella-like, fairy-tale love story had long since been defeated by many things in reality.

The Cinderella in the fairy tale finally waited for the prince who came to find her with the crystal shoe, but in the end, all Zhou Xiaoru waited for was herself...

A version of herself that had been hurt beyond recognition...

Deep down, Zhou Xiaoru was not a very strong-willed person, but after experiencing that ordeal, she realized that if she wasn't strong, she could only be led by the nose by others.

Just like how she had always liked Gu Liyan, given everything for him, and changed everything for him, but in the end, it still couldn't overcome that age-old saying...

The falling flower has the intention to love the flowing water, but the flowing water has no heart to love the falling flower; the falling flower follows the current, while the flowing water goes its own way to the east...

Their beginning was spoken of casually, their ending was also casual, and everything that happened afterward made Zhou Xiaoru see through it all.

Gu Liyan had been certain at the time that she liked him, which was why he could hurt her so fearlessly...

How could a single "sorry" make up for everything!

Perhaps only after being hurt can a person add a thick shackle to their own heart.

She must become strong, both in body and mind!