Chapter 5

Shi Song quieted down for a while, and Shao Rubai was discharged from the hospital. Although he had forgotten many things, upon returning to the company, he handled his work with natural ease, leaving almost no room for me to make mistakes. I also didn’t want my own errors to affect the hard work of other employees, so things reached a stalemate.

Chen Panqing couldn’t stand it. To replace me, she had swapped phone numbers and residences with me, even changed her hairstyle and clothes. Bearing the pressure of being a “substitute” by Shao Rubai’s side, she naturally didn’t want me, the “original,” to be lingering around her boyfriend and expose the truth.

“Actually, I don’t owe you anything,” Chen Panqing was even more impatient than I expected, speaking aggressively. “Rubai doesn’t remember you anymore. He’s dating me now, and it has nothing to do with you. Although you gave me an opportunity, Rubai’s heart was entirely won by me, so let’s just pretend we don’t know each other.”

I nodded in agreement, having already found a new temporary residence. However, before I left, I still wanted to advise her, “Never lose yourself for love. If Shao Rubai asks you to quit your job and work at his company, you’d better refuse.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not you,” Chen Panqing rolled her eyes. “My dream is to be cherished by my loving husband, a stay-at-home mom raising children. I don’t want to work.”

Since Chen Panqing was willing to be a canary in Shao Rubai’s cage, there was nothing more for me to say.

Even if I didn’t want to interact with Shao Rubai, work still had to be done. Because there was an important meeting to attend out of town, as Shao Rubai’s special assistant, I sat next to him on the same regular train.

It all started when I began to slack off. Shao Rubai developed PTSD from driving and hadn’t hired a driver yet, while I had been slow to post the driver recruitment information. I deliberately didn’t buy a high-speed rail ticket, falsely claiming I only got a hard-seat ticket on a regular train. I even deliberately failed to hail a taxi, forcing Shao Rubai, dressed in an expensive suit, to squeeze onto a public bus with me.

“Lin-Nan-lu!” Shao Rubai, forced to stand in the crowded bus next to me, gnashed his teeth. “When we get back, you’re submitting your resignation!”

“Unless the company fires me, I won’t resign.”

I held onto the overhead strap and was abruptly thrown forward with the bus’s sudden brake, bumping right into Shao Rubai’s arms. I awkwardly looked up, meeting Shao Rubai’s “idiot” gaze, and quickly recited the lines I had prepared.

“If I resign voluntarily, I won’t get unemployment benefits.”

“…” Shao Rubai spoke coldly, “As you wish. When we get back, you can pack your bags and leave.”

Bingo! My premature celebratory smile froze on my face, drawing Shao Rubai’s suspicion.

“Being fired by me makes you that happy?”

“I just…” I was still trying to come up with a reason that fit the mindset of a normal working-class person when we arrived at the train station. Shao Rubai wasn’t interested in a small employee’s psychological analysis and got off to catch his train.

Even though it wasn’t a holiday, the train was packed. Shao Rubai, naturally a germaphobe, had a face as dark as a pot, but he still gentlemanly gave up his seat to a woman holding a baby, only returning to his seat after they got off at their stop.

Shao Rubai took out his portable laptop, opened it, and paused at the login screen. He tried a few passwords, but none worked. After a moment, Shao Rubai closed the laptop again, took a deep, frustrated breath, annoyed by the work problems caused by his amnesia.

“The password should be xx0317.” Annoying Shao Rubai was one thing, completing work tasks was another. As his special assistant, remembering my boss’s work computer password was part of my job. And I had already deleted and blocked all information related to him and me on my phone calls and chat apps. I was confident I hadn’t left anything behind…

However…

The computer’s desktop, after booting up, was actually a personal artistic photo of me. Shao Rubai was stunned, and so was I.