CH 3

“Shen Tiantian, do you have any idea who that woman was just now?” Lu Xiaochun asked in a hushed tone as she led her into the tea room, scanning the surroundings before leaning in closer.

Intrigued, Shen Tiantian leaned in as well and asked,  “Who?”

When Shen Tiantian was pulled out of the elevator by Lu Xiaochun, she was already thinking about who the woman was, and had already formed a vague idea of who it might be. After all, she had been working in the company for so long and had never seen this person before. If she had encountered someone so stunningly beautiful, she would surely remember them.

“It’s the new CEO.”

As expected.

Although she had already guessed it, Shen Tiantian was still a little surprised when her thoughts were confirmed. She never expected the new CEO to be so young…and so good-looking.

“…I only took a quick glance this morning, I didn’t expect her to be so pretty up close, and so young,” sighed Lu Xiaochun. “It’s great to have a rich dad.”

It was almost the end of their lunch break, and people were coming in and out of the tea room to make tea. Lu Xiaochun got lost in her emotions and spoke way too loudly, immediately attracting the attention of her colleagues.

Shen Tiantian felt embarrassed and quickly pulled Lu Xiaochun out of the room.

Lu Xiaochun seemed to realize that she had spoken too loudly and covered her mouth in regret. “Did everyone hear what I just said? I heard that the CEO is very strict and even scolded Manager Tian until she was covered in dog blood.1Idiom that means to scold someone severely Why am I so unlucky today?”

“Is it not appropriate to gossip today?” Lu Xiaochun asked with a dejected expression.

Shen Tiantian: …

‘Who gossips this loudly?!’

“Well, it’s almost time to start work. Let’s try to rest a little.” Shen Tiantian whispered.

Lu Xiaochun nodded and quietly returned to her seat, her face sinking into the desk with her hands hanging between her legs. Though crestfallen just a moment ago, she now appeared to have drifted into a peaceful slumber without a care in the world. 

Shen Tiantian shook her head helplessly and opened WeChat.

Apart from seven messages from the three-person group chat, no one had contacted her today. She opened them and saw that they were all honeymoon photos sent by Liu Wanjun. Kang Jiaya was still sleeping and hadn’t appeared yet.

Shen Tiantian sent a spinning emoji into the group chat, but received no response from Liu Wanjun. Shen Tiantian assumed she was still outside, so she left the chat. It was almost time to start work and people in the office were gradually returning to their workstations.

Everyone was well aware that Manager Tian was in a bad mood and was being very cautious in their behavior. The office was filled with the sound of keyboards clacking.

After a long day, there were only a few people left in the office. As Lu Xiaochun walked past her with her bag, she said, “I’m leaving, see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” Shen Tiantian smiled and calmly packed up her things. Just as she was about to leave, Tian Jing came out of the office and called her over.

Shen Tiantian turned around and looked at her in confusion. Seeing the empty office, Tian Jing’s face looked a bit unnatural. She said, “Come in.”

Shen Tiantian was taken aback when she saw the bloodstains on Tian Jing’s skirt and immediately understood the situation. She quickly retrieved a spare sanitary pad from her bag, realizing that this was the reason for Tian Jing’s irritability over the past few days. Everyone in the office thought she was going through early menopause, but now it seemed that her period had come ‘early’.

“Thank you,” Tian Jing said.

Shen Tiantian smiled and shook her head. “Then I’ll go back first. The blood on your skirt isn’t that much, why don’t you try wiping it with a wet tissue?”

Tian Jing nodded with a stiff face and turned back to the office.

Shen Tiantian shrugged and calculated that her own period still had some time left, then left the office.

The bus stop during rush hour was crowded with people. Shen Tiantian put on her earbuds and slowly walked home on the sidewalk. 

Her place was not too far from the company, about a half-hour walk, so she usually walked home after work at night, and only took the bus in the morning for fear of being late. As Shen Tiantian was walking on the sidewalk, a red Jaguar2Car brand pulled over to the side of the road, and the window rolled down. To her surprise, It was Tian Jing who had just left the office, and waved at her. 

Shen Tiantian was stunned, removed one of her earbuds, and walked over to the car.

“Where are you going? Get in the car, I’ll give you a ride,” Tian Jing saw Shen Tiantian from afar and thought of how she had helped her, so she pulled over.

Shen Tiantian hurriedly said, “No need, Manager Tian. My house is very close, so I can walk.”

“Don’t be silly, get in.”

Shen Tiantian: …

Tian Jing was insistent, and so in the end, Shen Tiantian got into the car and quietly gave her home address.

“My house is also nearby,” said Tian Jing softly, after hearing Shen Tiantian’s address.

Shen Tiantian raised an eyebrow and turned her head to look at Tian Jing’s profile. She had never realized that Tian Jing was so easy to talk to, and had always felt a certain distance between them.

Sensing Shen Tiantian’s gaze, Tian Jing didn’t say anything, and the atmosphere became awkwardly silent.

Shen Tiantian felt a bit embarrassed and took out her phone, hoping to ease the tension. She opened WeChat and saw that the group chat with Kang Jiaya and Liu Wanjun had over 99+ unread messages, with someone having mentioned her.

After casually scrolling through the chat history and seeing what they were talking about, Shen Tiantian sent a message to the group.

As soon as Shen Tiantian appeared, Kang Jiaya joined the chat and began to vent about her boss. Shen Tiantian briefly mentioned what had happened on her end, leaving out the strange and tense feeling she had when she saw Shan Yi.

During rush hour, the road was jammed, and the journey that should have taken just over ten minutes ended up taking more than half an hour.

The car came to a stop at the entrance of the community, and Tian Jing’s voice was heard saying, “You’ve arrived at your house.”

Shen Tiantian was engrossed in her conversation with her friend, but she immediately snapped back to reality when she heard Tian Jing’s words. “Thank you, Manager Tian,” she said.

Tian Jing glanced at her, nodded, and then drove away.

As she watched the car disappear into the night, Shen Tiantian breathed a sigh of relief and turned to enter the community.

In the following days, there was a subtle change in Tian Jing’s attitude towards Shen Tiantian. Although it was very subtle, the news of this incident quickly spread throughout the office.

Lu Xiaochun held back for a few days before quietly asking Shen Tiantian about the matter. Shen Tiantian only then realized the seriousness of the situation and explained it to her, putting an end to her further speculations.

After work, Shen Tiantian hesitantly brought up the matter in the group chat.

Kang Jiaya: Could it be that she likes you?!

Liu Wanjun: LOL, is this what they call a “sanitary pad love”??

Shen Tiantian: ………

‘These two are really annoying.’

Kang Jiaya: But on another note, do you like women?!

Shen Tiantian’s hand paused as she was about to type, and Shan Yi’s face came to her mind.

She was startled by her own thoughts and suddenly felt a strange sense of guilt. When she finally came to her senses, she realized that she had been feeling strange lately.

Since that incident, she seemed to have stronger feelings towards girls. When her friend asked her, she realized that she had no aversion to the idea of having romantic feelings towards women.

Kang Jiaya: Did I hit the mark?!

Liu Wanjun: This eerie silence, LOL.

Shen Tiantian: I don’t know…

Kang Jiaya: I think we need to analyze this.

Liu Wanjun: Let’s do it.

Kang Jiaya: Since Tiantian has already discovered that she likes girls, she must have someone in mind.

Shen Tiantian subconsciously thought of Shan Yi again and couldn’t help muttering to herself, “Why do you have to be so good-looking for no reason?”

However, she hadn’t seen Shan Yi again in the past few days, probably because she had just arrived and was busy with handover matters.

For some reason, Shen Tiantian felt a little sad.

‘Wait a minute, why was she feeling sad?!!’

Shen Tiantian rubbed her face. It was all Kang Jiaya’s fault for bringing up this topic, making her think that she liked Shan Yi.

When she looked back at the screen, Kang Jiaya had already sent two messages.

Kang Jiaya: Do you feel your heart racing when you look at her? Do you want to know more about her?

Shen Tiantian thought for a moment and replied that besides her heart racing, she did want to know more about her.

Kang Jiaya: Do you have the urge to kiss her or sleep with her?

Shen Tiantian: ………

Liu Wanjun: Hahahahahaha!

Kang Jiaya: Yes or no?!

Shen Tiantian: Not at the moment.

Kang Jiaya: Then it means you don’t like her enough.

Shen Tiantian thought to herself, ‘We’ve only met twice, even if she’s really good-looking, it’s impossible to reach that kind of level, right?!’

Mini excerpt:

CEO Shan pushed someone onto the bed, “Don’t you want to sleep with me?”

Shen Tiantian nervously replied, “We’ve only met twice…”

Shan Yi kissed her, “Don’t you want to kiss me?”

Shen Tiantian smiled and kissed her back.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh