Chapter 12

The administrative and finance departments don’t usually interact much. Apart from occasionally bumping into Zong Ming in the pantry, Su Yao rarely had any contact with him.

One day, it was announced that the departments were going to have a dinner gathering, with special emphasis on Zong Ming’s attendance.

As soon as the announcement was made, Su Yao noticed that the expressions of several single women in the department changed.

Huang Wan, munching on a cookie, glanced at Su Yao and asked, “Su Sister, are you coming to the dinner tonight?”

“Depends on the situation,” Su Yao replied.

Su Yao wasn’t keen on wasting her time on such gatherings. Initially, when she first joined the company, department dinners were held every other week. But after a few times, they ended up with everyone playing with their phones and talking to themselves. It was boring. She’d rather go home and do yoga, especially since her neck had been bothering her lately.

“Don’t be like that. The finance director will be there. It’s a great opportunity,” Huang Wan insisted.

Su Yao raised her eyebrows in surprise, sensing a deliberate provocation from Huang Wan. But she wasn’t easily provoked.

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After ending the call, she reluctantly pressed a button. “My friend’s in trouble, I have to go help out. I won’t be able to make it to the dinner.”

“But the finance team is already waiting in the parking lot,” the other person insisted.

“They’re not waiting for me,” Su Yao replied as the elevator doors opened. “Have fun, bye.”

The elevator doors closed, pushed by Huang Wan.

Su Yao stepped out of the office building and immediately spotted Guan Ting’s car.

“Be careful parking here, you might get fined for a photo,” Su Yao warned.

Recently, there was a young woman in the department who had taken a liking to reporting illegally parked cars by taking photos of their license plates. With all the reports she made, she could earn hundreds of yuan in rewards in a single day. Su Yao marveled at how lucrative it was.

“It’s okay, just for a moment,” Guan Ting said as she handed Su Yao a piece of cookie. “It’s a new product from our shop, give it a try.”

Su Yao took a bite and commented, “It’s delicious.”

“You have good taste!” Guan Ting snapped her fingers, and smoothly continued, “Let’s go home!”

*

“Oh my, why did you buy so many snacks, for me?”

Two years ago, Su Yao watched a video titled “The Dangers of Eating Puffed Food”. After watching it, she impulsively decided to quit snacks. Guan Ting initially took it as a joke, but Su Yao actually stuck with it and quit snacks for two years.

Looking over, Su Yao saw the two bags of snacks Liang Chuyuan bought for her half a month ago— they hadn’t seen each other for two weeks.

At the end of the year, everyone was busy.

Not knowing what else to say, Su Yao crouched down to open the shoe cabinet. “Yeah, you can take them.”

She didn’t mention it to Liang Chuyuan at the time, partly because it wasn’t the right moment, but mainly because she couldn’t resist his eyes.

She couldn’t refuse him, even breaking her own vow.

Now that Liang Chuyuan wasn’t around, it was okay to let Guan Ting take the snacks.

Guan Ting burst into tears. “Yao Yao, I thought you were upset with me eating snacks for a long time. I didn’t expect you to be so thoughtful.”

“Enough,” Su Yao noticed her phone screen light up. “Your phone is ringing.”

After Guan Ting hung up the phone, Su Yao saw her face turn sour. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s my brother, he wants me to come back to West Tong. Probably got scolded and wants to drag me into it.”

West Tong was a famous wealthy area in Wencheng, and the Guan family’s house was there.

“What did he offer you?”

Guan Ting was found out, she pouted and shook Su Yao’s hand, acting cute: “Oh, my dear, forgive me this time, okay?”

“I knew it.” Su Yao sighed, feeling helpless, “Let’s go out together. It’s a good time to go to the supermarket since there’s nothing to eat at home.”

“I’ll drive you there.”

“No need to say.”

After dropping Su Yao off at the supermarket, Guan Ting made a gesture of making a phone call beside her ear: “Let me know when you’re heading home.”

“I know.”

Watching Guan Ting’s car disappear, Su Yao turned and entered the supermarket. She wore a discontented expression on her face, but seeing the rows of products on the shelves made her feel slightly better. The arrival of Zong Ming during this period restrained Tian Lijun from many borderline behaviors. Tian Lijun wasn’t happy, but Su Yao wasn’t necessarily in a better position either. Just when she found a new driver, Tian Lijun drove him away with scolding. Now, she had to find a new driver again.

When trouble arises from above, it’s always the person at the bottom who gets unlucky.

Picking up a box of cherries that looked good in color, Su Yao moved to the condiment section. She wanted to buy hot pot base ingredients to have a hot pot at home.

However, problems always arise.

Su Yao hesitated between tomato and spicy flavors for a long time but still couldn’t make up her mind.

Suddenly, a hand reached out, fair and beautiful, and pointed to the tomatoes.

Su Yao turned around and met the person’s eyes.

Tomatoes are delicious.