Chapter 072: A New Week
Originally, Lin Luyao had already made plans for the weekend, determined to make up for all the fun she missed during the National Day holiday.
But when Saturday morning arrived, she realized she only wanted to sprawl out in bed and enjoy the heavenly days where clothes appeared at a touch and meals came without effort. In contrast, Jiang Xiaohan was up early, ready and prepared, gently tapping the bed frame beside her.
“Hey, didn’t you say last night you wanted to go out and have fun?”
Luyao just rubbed her eyes, rolled over, and managed to mumble, “So tired.”
By the time she finally woke and got up, the sun was already high in the sky.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I wonder who it was that insisted last night she’d definitely not sleep in today.” Jiang Xiaohan, hearing the movement, didn’t even bother to look up as she continued her teasing. “Well, are you ready to head out now?”
After a week at work, Luyao realized her own stamina wasn’t quite up to the task. Nine-to-six days, and just one week had left her exhausted. She couldn’t fathom how Jiang Xiaohan managed to stay so enthusiastic for months on end.
The two went straight to the commercial district, wandered through the hottest food street of the moment, and didn’t return to campus until after dinner, each carrying two bags of snacks.
Luyao swore that from now on, she’d never go out on weekends again; staying holed up in the dorm was truly the best choice.
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She spent Sunday recuperating in the dorm. On Monday morning, without the need for an alarm, Luyao woke up on her own, feeling as if she’d been fully restored.
After breakfast, she returned to her workstation, glanced around, and found herself, as always, the earliest to arrive.
What should she do today?
While waiting for her computer to boot up, Luyao pondered. In the end, she decided to keep digging into the bottomless pit that was the company’s intranet.
Chen Xujia had an early department meeting; Luyao saw her rush in, drop her bag, grab her laptop, and rush out again. The other team members still had projects to deal with, and once the clock struck half past nine, they all picked up their laptops and went off to coordinate with their respective supervisors.
And so Luyao was left behind, sitting alone at her desk. Even Cheng Li had vanished, though she hadn’t noticed when.
“Hey… where’s Tang Xiao from your team?”
Just as Luyao was spacing out, focusing again on the intranet’s collection of experience posts, a girl in high heels clicked over.
Where is Tang Xiao? Luyao had no idea.
She shook her head and replied, “She went to a meeting with her laptop, I think.”
“Alright, when she gets back, tell her to come find me in user operations.” With that, the girl hurried off.
Luyao suddenly felt as if she were the only idle person on the entire floor.
Taking advantage of a trip to the restroom, she wandered about the seventh floor. Everyone was at their desks, heads down, working hard, and she quietly took back her earlier thought:
Well, maybe it really isn’t an illusion—looks like I really am the most free…
So Luyao returned to her workstation, continuing to browse posts while keeping her ears perked, waiting to hear when Xujia and the others might return.
After a while, Cheng Li was the first to come back. Luyao watched her for a while, then scooted over and couldn’t help but ask,
“Hey, Lili, where did you go just now?”
“Me? I went to a meeting.”
Cheng Li’s answer made Luyao wonder if she’d missed some memo and inadvertently skipped a meeting herself. Yet no matter how she searched her memory, she couldn’t recall any colleague mentioning a meeting she should attend.
“So… what kind of meeting was it? What did they talk about?”
“Well… the contents of the meeting aren’t allowed to leave the conference room.”