The driver had already gotten off work, so Zhou Congli was driving. Lin Zhi sat in the passenger seat and found the ride surprisingly smooth. The car soon drove out of the villa district, and the hustle and bustle of the city greeted them.
"My younger brother," Zhou Congli said, looking straight ahead. "He has been close to Li Ruoyao since they were kids, so it's inevitable that his words might have been a bit harsh. Please don't mind him." He turned his head and glanced at Lin Zhi.
Lin Zhi forced a smile. "Is that so? Are they really that close?"
Zhou Congli thought about how wherever Li Ruoyao was, Zhou Ye was sure to follow. "When he was little, he always chased after Li Ruoyao to play with her, and it's the same now that they've grown up. They have a very good relationship."
Lin Zhi's lips twitched in a stiff smile. "That's really nice," she said, her expression dimming. "But I feel like he doesn't like me all that much.
"A few days ago, he told me he wanted to take me to meet his parents. I was so happy for days, looking forward to it. But today..." Her voice choked up slightly. "I feel like he doesn't like me at all."
Zhou Congli was speechless. In truth, he hadn't expected her to be Zhou Ye's girlfriend either. Because of that jeweled cufflink, he had suspected for the past few days that she was trying to get close to him. But now that he knew she was his brother's girlfriend, all those suspicions were completely overturned.
Thinking back on how he had impulsively lost his temper at her just now, he felt a pang of self-ridicule.
"I'll have a talk with him later." That was all he could say; he wasn't good at comforting people. Remembering the cufflink, he wanted to ask why it was in her possession. "That day in the elevator—"
Lin Zhi looked over with red eyes. "What?"
"Nothing." Zhou Congli reconsidered and decided it was best to wait for news from Assistant Zhang. Since she was so heartbroken right now, she probably wasn't in the mood to discuss this with him anyway.
Lin Zhi wiped her tears and looked at him with a smile. "Mr. Zhou, thank you for today. Thank you for not telling Ah Ye about my internship at the company."
Regarding this, Zhou Congli was also a bit puzzled. "Why wouldn't he let you go?" Lin Zhi had graduated from a prestigious university. As long as she entered the company through standard procedures, there would be no issue, and knowing this, he wouldn't have stopped her.
Thinking of Zhou Ye's behavior tonight, Lin Zhi paled. "Maybe he just didn't want me to meet everyone so soon." Sensing she shouldn't say too much, she vaguely brushed past it. "Anyway, thank you, Mr. Zhou. I will definitely work hard."
Zhou Congli nodded, understanding her unspoken meaning. It was likely that Zhou Ye hadn't wanted her to meet his family, yet he had ultimately brought her home anyway—the entire situation was fraught with contradictions. He simply didn't want to interfere in his brother's romantic affairs, so he said nothing more.
They soon arrived at the university. Lin Zhi said her goodbyes and walked toward the campus, her retreating figure radiating sorrow as she raised a hand to wipe away more tears.
Zhou Congli withdrew his gaze and drove straight to the company. On the way, he sent a text message to Assistant Zhang: "No need to look into Lin Zhi anymore." Since she was Zhou Ye's girlfriend, it couldn't possibly have been her that night.
Assistant Zhang was utterly bewildered, but he obeyed his boss's orders. After some thought, he asked if he should still investigate the cufflink, as it was highly likely taken by the person from that night.
Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, Zhou Congli replied, "Look into the hotel staff. See if there has been any recent turnover, anyone who resigned recently, or anyone who has received a large deposit into their account."
Just thinking about it made Assistant Zhang realize what a massive undertaking it would be. "Understood, Mr. Zhou." He felt he was inching closer and closer to becoming one of those all-knowing executive assistants from a novel. Aside from his actual job, he was moonlighting as a detective.
Zhou Congli gave a faint sound of acknowledgment and hung up. He had just arrived at the company. Pushing aside all distracting thoughts, he dove into his work. It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that he finally got up, quickly washed up, and fell into a deep sleep in the inner breakroom.
Meanwhile, Lin Zhi bought milk tea and fried rice at the university gates to bring back to her two starving roommates in the dorm, earning herself a shower of flattering praises.
She shook her head, went into the bathroom, and soaked a towel in water to compress her red, swollen eyes. When she took it off, they were still puffy, so she ignored them, sat down at her computer, and started writing her thesis.
She had been so busy with her tasks these past few days that she had completely forgotten about it. It wasn't until she saw her two roommates working away that she remembered she hadn't written hers either.
Fortunately, the original owner of this body had been a diligent student. The outline was already drafted, and even the references were clearly annotated. Because of this, it wasn't too difficult for her to pick up where it left off. She worked until midnight before finally climbing into bed to rest.
The next day, as soon as she arrived at her cubicle at the company, her supervisor called her over, instructing her to carry some documents to the conference room.
Lin Zhi didn't even have time to notice Sister Mei's expression before she hurriedly gathered the materials and followed along. After she entered the conference room, heads of other departments trickled in. Zhou Congli arrived last and took the seat at the head of the table.
Lin Zhi stole a glance at him, only to find him sweeping a look in her direction as well. He immediately averted his gaze and commenced the meeting.
It seemed every company loved holding weekly meetings, and Dongning was no exception. Zhou Congli usually appeared to be a man of few words, yet he led the meeting for a solid two hours.
Lin Zhi's legs went completely numb from standing, and when the meeting adjourned, she couldn't wait to leave.
Back in the office, she had barely thought about taking a breather when Sister Mei came over with a cold face, scolding her not to slack off and urging her to get to work. She was kept busy for several consecutive hours without a break.
"She really is mad!" Lin Zhi sighed inwardly. Sister Mei was a senior employee at the company. Rumor had it that she was the older cousin of a certain department head, and having a supervisor for a cousin meant she had always enjoyed a comfortable, smug existence in the finance department. The supervisor and the other staff were all willing to give her face. In the past, high-visibility tasks like going to the conference room had always been hers to handle. This time, the supervisor had asked Lin Zhi to tag along. Even though it might have just been a casual request, it was enough to displease Sister Mei.
Though Lin Zhi knew perfectly well she was being targeted, there was nothing she could do about it. All she could do was run up and down delivering things, and she even had to cross the street to buy afternoon tea. Yet, when she brought it back, it was Sister Mei who handed it out to everyone with a beaming smile.
Lin Zhi didn't have the energy to get angry. She took advantage of a brief lull to rest at her desk.
Sister Mei, however, didn't seem to think this was enough. She called Lin Zhi into her office. "Tomorrow, take a trip to the C City branch and bring back their financial report for the first half of the year."
Lin Zhi was a bit surprised. "A business trip?" A look of hesitation crossed her face. "But I haven't been with the company for long, and I'm still an intern. Is that really appropriate?"
Sister Mei's face fell. "Everyone else is busy; you're the only one with free time. If you don't go, who will? Unless you want to quit—we can just hire someone else, and I'll have them go get it."
"All right... I'll go," Lin Zhi conceded. She felt utterly helpless against this classic case where a superior Level 1 higher could crush you to death, but what could she do? She was just an intern. Afraid of making a mistake, she asked carefully, "Has the original report not been sent over yet? When I get there, should I speak directly to their manager..."
"You're just going to pick up a document! Can't you even do that? Stop asking so many questions. Do I have work to do or not? If you delay things, who's going to take responsibility? I don't know why the company hired someone like you!"
Sister Mei exploded in anger. Left with no choice, Lin Zhi could only apologize as she backed out of the office.
The glances her colleagues threw her way were full of sympathy. Everyone knew about Sister Mei's explosive temper, and no one dared to provoke her. Unfortunately for Lin Zhi, she had ended up directly in her line of fire, and they were in no position to help.
Lin Zhi asked a veteran employee who liaised with the C City branch. After getting the company's name and address, she got off work, bought a ticket on her phone, and took the high-speed rail to C City the next day.