Volume One, Chapter 19: You Have Been Wronged by Shen Yubai

When Li Ruochu returned to her office, she opened the second-hand trading app. Her previously tired eyes widened in shock, full of surprise. The app was flooded with hundreds of messages. Eagerly, she clicked to check and discovered that half of the luxury items she’d listed were already sold.

She had been so busy these last few days that she barely had a chance to look at her phone. Now she realized that many buyers were urging her to ship their purchases as soon as possible.

Flustered, she scrolled through the messages with trembling fingers, then quickly pulled out her phone and dialed Nan Zhiyu.

The moment the call connected, she spoke rapidly, “Zhizhi, quick, help me ship the packages—so many of those things have sold!”

She recalled how, days ago, she had carefully packed each luxury item and left them all at Nan Zhiyu’s place. She’d kept two limited-edition handbags and some jewelry for herself or as gifts for Nan Zhiyu; the rest she’d decisively posted on the second-hand platform.

On the other end of the line, Nan Zhiyu’s voice shot up several pitches in delight: “No problem! By the way, after you went home last time, did Shen Yubai give you any trouble?”

Li Ruochu leaned back in her chair, her eyes momentarily unfocused. “No trouble, really. I’m back at the company now. It’s just… things seem different from before.” As she spoke, she recounted every detail of recent events to Nan Zhiyu.

After hearing it all, Nan Zhiyu’s excitement made her voice almost unrecognizable: “Chuchu, you truly astonish everyone when you finally make a move. You actually dared to pull down Feng Yizhou’s pants. He’s our big boss, a man you can barely glimpse on an ordinary day, and you managed to strip him? Girl, you have a bright future!”

Li Ruochu sighed helplessly, a wry smile on her lips as she rubbed her temples. “You think that’s a good thing? I’ve completely offended Feng Yizhou now!”

“Sis, I actually think this Mr. Feng seems pretty good to you,” Nan Zhiyu replied, her tone tinged with mystery.

Li Ruochu immediately sat up straighter, raising her voice. “Zhizhi, are you blind?”

Nan Zhiyu continued unhurriedly, “Hear me out. Feng put Gu Qiuying in charge of the project, but she keeps making mistakes. Guess why?”

Li Ruochu, remembering how she’d been cleaning up Gu Qiuying’s messes these past days, clenched her teeth in frustration. “Because she’s incompetent—a total idiot!”

She even pictured herself kicking Gu Qiuying down the stairs.

Nan Zhiyu paused, as if seeing through everything, her voice low and mysterious. “Sis, have you considered that Feng did this on purpose?”

Li Ruochu was bewildered, her brows knitted in confusion. “On purpose? Why would he?”

She truly couldn’t figure out any connection between the two; to her, they were entirely unrelated matters.

On the other end, Nan Zhiyu shook her head in exasperation, her face full of “why can’t you see this?” She said, “Chuchu, you’ve been so hurt by Shen Yubai that you’ve forgotten what sweet love feels like. But don’t worry—the project will definitely come back to you.”

Just then, urgent voices called out to Nan Zhiyu from her side. She hurriedly said, “Let’s talk later,” and hung up.

Li Ruochu stared at her phone, her face full of doubt. This was the second person who’d told her the project would come back to her. Yet to her, it all seemed like chasing mirages—too elusive to grasp.

She muttered to herself, “Why does this sound so far-fetched?”

Just as she set her phone on the desk, a knock sounded at the door.

She straightened, cleared her throat, and called out, “Come in!”

The door opened slowly, and Chu Xi’s round face peeked in, beaming with a wide smile. “Sister Chu, what are you up to?”

Li Ruochu was surprised. “Your brother finally arranged a job for you, and here you are, still bored enough to come chat with me?”

At this, Chu Xi darted into the office, flopped onto a chair beside her, and leaned forward, waving his hands dramatically as he complained, “I just can’t stand looking at Gu Qiuying’s face anymore, so I had to come see you.”

Thinking back on working with Gu Qiuying these past days, Chu Xi felt sick to his stomach. Gu Qiuying knew nothing about the job and resorted to coquettish whining at every minor problem. Every other sentence involved Shen Yubai, as if he were the Jade Emperor who could solve anything.

Li Ruochu’s expression grew solemn. She sat up straight, fixing Chu Xi with a serious gaze. “Work is important. This project involves three companies—there can’t be any mistakes.”

Chu Xi suddenly leaned close, eyes shining with mischief, and lowered his voice. “Sister Chu, do you know why my brother and Mr. Feng came here?”

Instantly, details from the project proposal flashed through Li Ruochu’s mind. “Was there a problem with the project?”

She remembered reviewing the documents in detail while cleaning up after Gu Qiuying and was sure there were no issues.

Chu Xi straightened, a hint of pride on his face, deliberately making her wait before finally saying, “My brother said he came here this time to make Shen Yubai assign someone else to the project. If Gu Qiuying stays in charge, he’d rather pull out his investment than continue to work together!”

Just imagining Gu Qiuying’s frustrated, defeated face when she lost the project filled Chu Xi with glee. If not for wanting to witness that moment, he wouldn’t have endured working around her at all.

Li Ruochu was startled, worry flickering in her eyes. “Aren’t you risking Mr. Feng’s reputation by doing this? After all, Gu Qiuying was his personal recommendation.”

As soon as she spoke, Li Ruochu felt something was off. Feng Yizhou must have known about last time, yet he had still chosen Gu Qiuying to lead the project. Could it be that his goal wasn’t revenge, but actually to help her?

But as soon as the thought surfaced, Li Ruochu began to doubt herself, asking silently: What is he really after?

“Sister Chu, Mr. Feng miscalculated this time. He’s very sorry about it. Besides, Gu Qiuying made a huge mistake—your company will probably have to bear some financial losses.”

“What happened?” Was it that thing she’d been asked to help with at lunch?

She hadn’t paid attention at the time—could it have been because of this?

“Gu Qiuying bought materials without consulting anyone and sourced them from Shen Yubai’s mother’s relatives. The materials turned out to be defective, completely unusable for construction! This time, not even Shen Yubai can bail her out.”

Chu Xi sat beside her, gloating as if recounting a joke.