An Zi Yan picked up the office landline. A few seconds after Feng Fei Meng answered outside, she called to Mai Ding. “Hey, Mai Ding, Yan wants you in his office.” It was only a few steps. Would it kill him to come out himself? Mai Ding stood unhappily while his coworkers continued gloating. “You’re not far from getting fired.”
“You definitely screwed something up again and you’re about to get scolded.”
“Goodbye, former coworker.” Mai Ding spun around and shouted, “What former coworker?! I haven’t been fired yet!” He entered An Zi Yan’s office. An Zi Yan moved one finger, signaling for him to shut the door. Mai Ding closed it and complained, “You’d better call me into your office no more than twice a week. Otherwise people might start thinking there’s something between us.” Only someone guilty would worry this much. Guo Ping and the others entered the office all the time too. Everyone had different responsibilities. Who would bother paying attention?
“If people found out I had something to do with an idiot, I’d be the biggest victim.”
“I… you…” If those were the only two words he could manage, he might as well have stayed silent.
“You’ve always wanted to help me, haven’t you?”
“What is it this time?” Mai Ding’s attitude changed immediately and he grew serious. An Zi Yan idly played with his phone, sounding completely casual. “Nothing important. During lunch, go down to Marketing and find Bi Sheng Lin.” Mai Ding nodded cautiously. “Then what? What am I supposed to tell him?”
“Tell him I still have a copy of what was on the USB drive. If he doesn’t want me to make it public, he should resign on his own.” Mai Ding automatically nodded, then a few seconds later actually processed the sentence and started shaking his head frantically. “No matter what, this is not something I should be saying!! What am I? A completely unknown little employee. What right do I have to say that to Bi Sheng Lin? He’s still a manager!”
“At least you understand your own value.”
“Don’t change the subject. Why don’t you go tell him yourself?”
“Aren’t you desperate to help me? I was trying to be considerate…” Mai Ding cut him off rudely. “I’m not that desperate! I don’t believe you. Liar. You think I don’t know you? The moment you feel like something is mostly handled, you lose interest, or you get lazy after a few days and decide it’s too troublesome, so you dump it on me. This isn’t the kind of thing I can help you with!” Even Cao Cheng Yi understood An Zi Yan’s personality, much less Mai Ding.
“It’s rare for me to try being considerate.”
“Stop using the word ‘considerate.’ You don’t deserve it!”
“Why are you shouting? You’re annoying.”
“Go downstairs and deal with it yourself. I can go with you.”
“You’ll come with me?”
“D-don’t make that contemptuous face.”
An Zi Yan flicked his hand as though shooing away a fly. “Nothing else for you to do here.” Mai Ding clenched his fists and turned out of the office, comforting himself as he went. Do not get angry over someone who had nothing to do with him. At work they were strangers. Don’t get mad, don’t get mad. When he got home, he was taking An Zi Yan’s piano apart.
At lunchtime, everyone was surprised to see An Zi Yan enter the elevator. Normally, he did not go down to eat when lots of people were around. What was different today? Everyone except Mai Ding stared at him. An Zi Yan asked irritably, “What are you looking at?”
“N-nothing.”
An Zi Yan pressed the button for the fourth floor. Everyone’s eyes followed his hand, full of speculation. Mai Ding thought An Zi Yan should be keeping a lower profile. He should take the stairs, or wait until everyone else had gone down. He was far too conspicuous. Young people really did lack experience. Mai Ding, who knew nothing except how to lecture people, could be pretty irritating himself. When the elevator reached the fourth floor, An Zi Yan stepped out. The moment the doors closed, excited discussion erupted. Fan Shao Jun was the most enthusiastic. “It’s lunchtime. Most of Marketing will be out too. There’s no reason Yan would go down there for work right now.”
“Marketing does have a few beautiful women. Could it be…”
Mai Ding could not stand listening anymore and cut in. “Impossible, right? Didn’t all of you say An Zi Yan already has a girlfriend? Why would he get involved with a woman from Marketing?”
“So what? People get tired after being together a long time. Wildflowers always smell better than flowers at home. Maybe Yan thinks his girlfriend is just some worn-out old wife now.” Liu Wei spoke as though he were an expert. Guo Ping looked deeply envious. “As expected of our boss. First Manager Ji, now a beauty from Marketing. If he gets a girlfriend in every department, he can even use them as inside contacts. Brilliant.”
“Shifu, you’re encouraging unhealthy behavior. What’s wrong with the flower at home? The flower at home is hardworking, does housework, keeps everything in order. Having someone like that is the blessing of a lifetime.”
“Oh please. With your filthy private life, you still have the nerve to pretend you’re righteous? Who are you trying to fool?”
“All you people do is criticize me. If he gets a girlfriend in every department, how is he any better than I am?”
Feng Fei Meng immediately pushed back. “At least we women would willingly join Yan’s harem. No regrets. Unfortunately we’re in the same department, otherwise I’d try to squeeze into the harem too.”
“Your values are completely warped. What is so great about him? He’s a little handsome. Can you eat a handsome face?”
“He’s still better than you. Every woman who gets involved with you ends up calling you a scumbag. That says plenty about what kind of person you are.” His coworkers surrounded Mai Ding with criticism inside the elevator. Mai Ding was deeply unconvinced. Why did everyone think An Zi Yan, whose personality was clearly terrible, was better than Mai Ding? Were they all blind? Could they not tell good from bad? Compared with them, Mai Ding’s eyes were probably even more blind. If An Zi Yan’s personality was so awful, why had Mai Ding married him?
Bi Sheng Lin returned from lunch with a toothpick between his teeth and found someone sitting in his office chair. The chair slowly turned around. The moment he saw the face, Bi Sheng Lin looked surprised, but quickly covered it. “Manager An, you’re awfully young to be losing your memory already. This is the fourth floor, not the seventh.”
“Can’t be helped. The seventh floor doesn’t have anywhere to dump garbage.”
“I don’t have time to trade nonsense with you. Say what you came to say.”
“You have one week to submit your resignation to the company, then recommend Cao Cheng Yi for your position.” Bi Sheng Lin forced down his anger and planted both hands on the desk, looking as though they might launch forward and seize An Zi Yan at any moment. “You’re joking, right? Why would I do that?” An Zi Yan merely lifted one corner of his mouth in an unreadable smile. “Why do you think?”
“Bluffing won’t work on me. I already got the USB drive back.”
“You think Cao Cheng Yi would be stupid enough to keep only one copy?” Keeping his agreement with Ji Meng, An Zi Yan did not drag her into the matter. Bi Sheng Lin’s face changed, but he still refused to believe it. “I’m not a three-year-old. You say you have a copy, so I’m supposed to believe you?”
“How could I treat you like a three-year-old? A three-year-old couldn’t have done the things you did.”