Chapter 9

On the second to last day before I was due to leave the company, Chen Panqing pulled me into the stairwell, holding a stack of documents with a flustered expression. “I think I made a mistake with one of the accounts. Just tell Rubai that you instructed me to handle it, and I was just following orders.”

“Why should I take the blame for you?” I crossed my arms, putting distance between myself and Chen Panqing.

“I have leverage against you. If you don’t take the blame, I’ll tell Rubai everything about how you deceived him.” Chen Panqing was equally unyielding, even arrogant. “Then you won’t be able to leave.”

“Suit yourself.” I wasn’t so foolish as to let anyone bully me, nor did I believe Chen Panqing would be foolish enough to expose herself.

As expected, by closing time, Chen Panqing emerged from Shao Rubai’s office with red eyes and whispered to me, “Sister Nanlu, Rubai has already criticized me. Please stay late tonight to help revise the documents.”

Since it was work I had followed from beginning to end, I nodded, agreeing. Other colleagues finished their assigned parts and left one after another. I compiled the documents and delivered them to Shao Rubai’s office, assisting him in verifying the project information. Our three years of tacit understanding allowed us to quickly reconcile the accounts. I let out a long breath, just about to leave, when the entire room suddenly went dark.

“Power outage?” Shao Rubai’s voice came. “Lin Nanlu, turn on your phone’s flashlight. My phone isn’t with me.”

I fumbled for my phone, trembling. Due to my nervousness, the phone dropped to the floor, making a shattering sound.

“Lin Nanlu?” Shao Rubai asked softly. “What’s wrong?”

Shao Rubai reached out and touched me, feeling my unusual trembling. He said softly, “Are you afraid of the dark?”

I tried my best to control myself, not letting my fear show, but when I spoke, my shaky voice betrayed me.

“M-my father was an alcoholic. He always came home in the middle of the night, smashing things… He beat my mother severely, right in front of me, and she ended up in the hospital…”

Shao Rubai held my terrified self in his arms, gently saying, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here, Lulu.”

My mother also used to tell me, “Don’t be afraid, Lulu, Daddy is just drunk. He still loves us.” Then she was beaten again and again until she completely lost consciousness in the hospital. Dad said he loved me, so I should take care of him until he died. The man holding me also said he loved me, yet he used despicable means to force me to stay by his side.

“Clink!” The lights came back on. I wiped away my tears and broke free from Shao Rubai’s embrace.

“Thank you, CEO Shao. I think it’s time for me to go home.”

“Lin Nanlu,” Shao Rubai called out to me. “It’s too late. I’ll drive you back.”

He bent down, picked up my now black-screen phone, and handed it back to me. “You probably won’t be able to get a taxi like this.”

I hadn’t expected Shao Rubai to overcome his fear of driving so quickly, even before I had found him a driver.

“I’m not someone who dwells on the past,” Shao Rubai looked ahead. “The pain from a dysfunctional family shouldn’t be borne by the next generation. I hope you can also let go and look forward.”

“Thank you.” This time my gratitude was sincere. “Let’s both say goodbye to the past.”

The rest of the journey, we remained silent. Nearing my building, I couldn’t help but ask him, “CEO Shao, if your girlfriend no longer loves you, would you let her go?”

“It depends,” Shao Rubai said, following the GPS as he drove into the alley. “If I still love her, I’d find every way to win her back.”

“What if what she hates is your ‘every way’?”

“…” The navigation announced the destination had been reached. Shao Rubai stopped the car. I tried to push open the door, but Shao Rubai controlled the door lock.

“Lin Nanlu,” Shao Rubai turned his head and looked at me. “If everything you’ve done until now-playing hard to get, feigning pity, telling stories-has been a roundabout way of seducing me, then I can only say, you’ve succeeded.”

Shao Rubai took my hand. “Lin Nanlu, be my girlfriend.”