Chapter 13: The Performance

“How is that possible?” Miss Jiang couldn’t control her emotions and shouted out.

This must be a lie!

She quickly drew a conclusion in her heart and spoke plainly, “You could have just rejected me, but there’s no need to come up with such a clumsy excuse. If you have a girlfriend, why does no one at the store know about her?”

“That’s because she’s very busy with work and usually doesn’t have time to meet me. I’m working here to earn money so she won’t have to struggle so much, so I...”

As he spoke, he glanced over at her again.

That look made Zhou Zhuofei’s eyelids twitch uncontrollably. Why did she suddenly have a bad feeling?

Friend, while I sympathize with you dealing with difficult customers at work, you really shouldn’t drag innocent bystanders into this!

Zhou Zhuofei almost instinctively pulled out her phone and pretended to reply to a voice message, pinching her throat and feigning shyness as she said, “Honey, don’t rush, don’t rush. I’ll be right back.”

At the same time, she quickened her pace. If it weren’t for her inconvenient shoes, she might have already started running.

All her actions were seamless; she didn’t even glance at the two people, and naturally, they didn’t have time to react.

Even after she had walked far away, she could still hear Miss Jiang pressing the man about his girlfriend.

“If that’s the case, then bring your girlfriend here. I’d like to meet her.”

Only when she was too far to hear any more did Zhou Zhuofei stop at the intersection, breathing a sigh of relief.

That was close; she almost ended up with a boyfriend.

If she guessed right, that man was probably trying to get her to pretend to be his girlfriend to make Miss Jiang back off.

This plot has been used since she was in elementary school reading shoujo manga—why is it still the same now?

But he didn’t think carefully. If Miss Jiang had such a strong sense of morality, she wouldn’t have told him to resign outright.

Although she didn’t know Miss Jiang well, just from that statement, she could tell the woman didn’t respect the man’s career choice much. It sounded like a spoiled heiress who habitually solved problems with money.

By contrast, Zhan Zilang’s worth seemed even higher. He drove a multi-million luxury car but never spoke arrogantly to colleagues; on the contrary, he was very humble.

Zhou Zhuofei walked on, lost in thought, but before she had gone far, a voice called out, “Xiao Zhou.”

She had thought it was a colleague who had come to the restroom, and was pleased, ready to greet them, but when she turned, she saw it was Xiao Wang standing at the end of the corridor waving to her.

“Secretary Xiao? What are you doing here?” Zhou Zhuofei was both surprised and happy to see a familiar face, immediately turning around to approach him.

However, when she was still a few meters away, he made a ‘stop’ gesture, signaling her not to come closer.

Though puzzled, Zhou Zhuofei cooperated and stopped.

Secretary Xiao spoke softly, “Don’t come too close, you might choke.”

Only then did Zhou Zhuofei notice he was wearing just a shirt, his tie removed, the top two buttons undone, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Though it was a plain white shirt, he somehow made it look stylish.

His one hand was behind his back. Although she couldn’t see clearly, the faint smell of smoke lingering in the air gave her a clue.

Especially since she had seen a smoking area sign on the wall ahead.

Seeing Xiao Wang smoking was even more shocking than running into him here.

She had known him for three years and had never seen or heard of him smoking. Colleagues always said he neither drank nor smoked and had no bad habits.

Apparently, their knowledge of him was too shallow.

“I came here to hang out with a friend and chat,” Xiao Wang said, extinguishing the cigarette butt in the trash but not hurrying to leave the smoking area.

“Oh, I’m here with my department,” Zhou Zhuofei replied.

“I know, I saw you when you came in,” Xiao Wang smiled. “Your seats are quite prominent.”

“Xiao Zhan arranged them for us.”

“I guessed so.” Xiao Wang, sensing the smoke smell faded, stepped out of the smoking area but kept some distance from Zhou Zhuofei. “Why did you come this way? Lost your way?”

“Yes, the signs here are too subtle. I followed the directions coming in, but I couldn’t find my way out.”

“This place is hard to navigate. I’ll take you out.”

“Great!” Zhou Zhuofei followed Xiao Wang, deliberately ignoring the smoking revelation and told him about what had just happened.

She thought her wrong turn was partly related to those two people. If she didn’t explain, she’d seem foolish.

Besides, the incident was good material for conversation; she would definitely tell Du Yu about it later.

Halfway through, Xiao Wang suddenly asked, “You said the girl’s surname was Jiang?”

“Yes. At least that’s what the man called her. But I don’t know which Jiang she is.”

“Most likely Jiang Meiluo, the second daughter of Jianghai Real Estate,” Xiao Wang described her appearance, and Zhou Zhuofei realized it matched perfectly.

“That really does sound like her! Secretary Xiao, you know so much!”

Hearing the praise, Xiao Wang smiled faintly. Was this really worth complimenting?

“It’s nothing. I met Miss Jiang a few times when I accompanied Director Ling to events, so I know a bit.”

Zhou Zhuofei suddenly remembered and exclaimed, “Right! You often attend events with Director Ling, so you must know many people. What kind of person is that Miss Jiang?”

“I don’t know much about her,” Xiao Wang said vaguely. The main reason was he couldn’t speak carelessly.

As Director Ling’s secretary, he was practically half his spokesperson. Even casual conversations required careful wording, especially when commenting on others.

Of course, Xiao Wang understood Zhou Zhuofei was just casually asking. For ordinary people, that so-called high society was indeed mysterious and alluring, and curiosity was natural.

Even his friends joked about whether he had any juicy gossip at their gatherings.

For example, the situation Zhou Zhuofei just encountered was something he had seen countless times.

At first, he was just as surprised and disgusted as Zhou Zhuofei, but after seeing it so often, he got used to it.

When there is an imbalance of power, the side with more resources often offers to resolve issues through resource exchange, as it’s the simplest and least taxing method.

Those in power do not consider the thoughts of those beneath them; they only require obedience and cooperation.

Hearing this, Zhou Zhuofei didn’t press further but continued her story.

Xiao Wang thought he was just hearing another ordinary tale, but the plot twist at the end made him laugh out loud.

Hearing his laughter, Zhou Zhuofei immediately stopped and anxiously asked, “What’s wrong, Secretary Xiao? Did I mess up?”

She had never experienced such things and wasn’t sure if she acted correctly, so she was very sensitive to his reaction.

“No, you did very well,” Xiao Wang reassured her, seeing her features scrunch with nervousness. “Stay away from this kind of thing. Once you get involved, you’ll definitely be the one who suffers.”

“That’s what I thought, which is why I ran away. But then I got lost,” Zhou Zhuofei shrugged helplessly, pointing to the topic.

He joked, “Next time plan your escape route before running.”

Zhou Zhuofei replied exaggeratedly, “Next time I’ll definitely take a detour. Who’d expect something so ridiculous on the way?”

Xiao Wang smiled without a word, but seeing Zhou Zhuofei’s pure and genuine expression, he felt a hint of envy.

When he first entered the workplace, he was much like her, but somewhere along the way, he got used to silence, no longer reacting to these things.

Maybe in a few years, Zhou Zhuofei would become like him, or maybe she wouldn’t change, and he alone would be disciplined by the workplace.

Under Xiao Wang’s guidance, they soon exited the labyrinthine corridor.

Zhou Zhuofei asked, “Secretary Xiao, are you coming over to say hello?”