Chapter 76: The Love Rival? Only I Can Bully Him
The next morning, Lin Yibai got up early.
Mainly, it was to grab the free breakfast at the hotel, same food the staff ate.
Pickled vegetables, plain rice porridge, and eggs.
She wanted to get a few more buns or steamed rolls. But now that she had a girl’s body, her stomach really was getting tiny like a little bird’s.
Whew~~
She took a deep breath.
After fixing up her appearance a little, Lin Yibai headed off to the student startup area at the business university.
First, she messaged Xia Changyu on WeChat.
She typed: [Where should we meet later?]
Ding-dong~
The message showed “typing…” for a moment, then it disappeared.
Xia Changyu thought about it for a second, deleted what he wrote, and typed again:
[At the entrance of the park. I’ll come pick you up?]
[No need.]
[Let me come pick you up anyway!]
[I said no need, that means I don’t need it. Just tell me which building it is.]
[Building 5, Room 708.]
[Got it!]
[Are you almost here?]
[About ten more minutes. Have you had breakfast? Want me to bring you something?]
“……”
Xia Changyu scratched his head, a little frustrated.
Another chance to impress her has been missed. And to make it worse, someone nearby laughed at him for it.
It was a very beautiful woman who looked to be around 27 or 28 years old. She looked at him and said with a disgusted tone.
“Son, is that how you try to win over a girl? That’s all you’ve got?”
Xia Zhilian had taken the early morning bus and arrived a bit after 8 a.m.
She had expected her son might be a bit dense, maybe even a little slow.
But she didn’t think he’d be this clueless. No wonder a girl like Gu Xiaoxue could trick him.
When she saw her son about to reply “I already ate,” Xia Zhilan quickly grabbed his phone and typed instead:
[Not yet! How about when you get here, we go to the cafeteria together and eat?]
Lin Yibai quickly typed back: [That’s too much trouble and too expensive. I’ll bring you a rice ball, okay? Or maybe a bun, steamed roll, or dumplings?]
Xia Zhilan typed: [As long as you packed it for me, anything is fine.]
Lin Yibai: [OK.JPG]
Xia Changyu: ???
Who am I? Where am I?
What the heck is going on!?
What kind of message was that!? His mom was crushing him at this whole texting game!
“Mom, you—?”
“Pay attention and learn, son!”
“……”
Xia Changyu felt very conflicted. And because he had some worries, he reminded his mom seriously.
“Mom, this is a workplace, okay? Please don’t make any kind of… scene?”
“Just treat me like one of your employees.”
“Employee?”
“Yeah. I just saw you carrying some musical instruments, like a keyboard. What are those for?”
“Well, short videos are super popular right now. I hired a few people and plan to shoot some videos with ancient-style themes.”
“Perfect! The music school’s closed on weekends anyway, so starting now, I’ll be your pianist.”
“……”
Wasn’t this a bit overqualified?
But since it was something his mom decided, Xia Changyu didn’t argue.
Not long after that, Lin Yibai arrived, carrying a small food bag.
As soon as she stepped into Room 708, she saw Xia Changyu chatting with a mature and very elegant older woman.
She couldn’t help but quietly think to herself, ‘Wow… didn’t expect this. So this is the type he likes?’
Of course, she wouldn’t say it out loud. Being polite was still important.
While she was watching Xia Zhilan, Xia Zhilan was also carefully watching this girl her son liked.
She had a calm and graceful look. And she was very beautiful.
Her overall vibe was pretty good, elegant enough. But Xia Zhilan still didn’t know how smart or kind she really was.
And then—
“Good morning, Xia Changyu!”
“Good morning, Sister!”
Xia Zhilan’s eyes lit up. “Morning, morning, morning! Uh-hum… Do I really look that young?”
Just calling her “sister” was better than a hundred compliments.
If the full score was 10, that first sentence on their first meeting scored a solid 9 in her mind.
The last point? She held back, didn’t want the girl to get too proud.
Xia Changyu took the rice ball she brought and swallowed nervously. “I… I don’t think I can eat anymore…”
But his mother gave him a sharp glare, like saying, ‘Can’t eat? The girl you like bought this for you! Even if you’re full, you better eat every last bite!’
A little later, Xia Changyu arranged a work desk for Lin Yibai.
She looked around the office. The different work zones were messy, wires from computers were all over the floor, and boxes of porcelain products were stacked up in the corner.
At that moment, Xia Zhilan leaned over and asked, “So, what do you think? Doesn’t it look like this place is falling apart? It doesn’t even feel like a proper company. Looks like it’s about to shut down!”
She said it like a joke, but she was actually testing the girl’s way of seeing things.
Her son had told her about the company’s finances. Nothing amazing, but doing okay, slowly improving.
She thought Lin Yibai would agree. But instead, Lin Yibai shook her head and said,
“Actually, I think this is pretty normal. If Xia Changyu was super strict about people showing up on time and also focused on office cleaning, that would mean the company’s really in trouble. But since things are moving forward steadily, the messy office just isn’t the top thing to worry about right now.”
“So, you believe in him?”
“I’m just telling it like it is.”
“You said it.” Xia Zhilan nodded, satisfied. Then she smiled and said, “Alright! I’ll go start my work now, bye-bye!”
“Sister, what do you do?”
“Pianist.”
“Oh wow! Sister, good luck!”
“Same to you!”
Being called "sister" over and over had completely made Xia Zhilan feel great.
She went to the place where she films short videos, playing the piano while secretly observing Lin Yibai.
Since the internal business had just started, there really wasn’t much work for Lin Yibai to do.
The so-called customer service job was only for a not-even-finished Taobao store.
Half an hour passed. Not even one single ding-dong sound (from a message or order)!
“This money...” Lin Yibai muttered, “I feel kind of guilty taking it, it feels hot in my hands!”
She picked up a few planning documents. These were proposals from the so-called industry experts, the ones who asked for high salaries and even shares in the company.
Funny enough, Lin Yibai had also studied planning and marketing.
After just a quick look, her brows furrowed. She couldn’t help but grumble, “What the heck? These are the so-called top-level professionals? This is complete nonsense!”
Plans? Strategies?
Operational ideas?
She didn’t see any of that! Just a bunch of empty talk in fancy-looking printed PowerPoints.
Lin Yibai sighed, “In today’s world, the ones who do well are really just the ones good at talking big!”
A guy sitting at the desk across from her quickly told her. “Shh! Keep your voice down. Don’t let those so-called experts hear you. I heard they’ve got bad tempers.”
Lin Yibai replied, “You don’t think Xia Changyu really believes in those ridiculous plans, do you?”
The guy said, “I don’t know if he believes them or not, but he’s actually arguing with one of those experts right now because of it.”
Lin Yibai: Haa!
The guy added, “But it looks like he’s losing… almost getting scolded instead.”
Lin Yibai: Damn it!
Even though part of her wanted to laugh at her “annoying rival,” seeing him get yelled at by someone else didn’t sit right with her.
That kind of ‘expert’ doesn’t have the right to scold him.
Only I am allowed to bully him, hmph!