After Accidentally Sending a Text Message to My Cold Boss - Chapter 1

6:50 AM.

“Ding-ding-dong, ding-ding-dong…”

Amidst that heart-pounding alarm ringtone, Mai Suisui sat up from her bed, clutching her forehead.

Her eyes, slightly bloodshot and bleary, instinctively drifted toward the phone on the bedside table, which shone exceptionally bright in the darkness.

She entertained a few wicked thoughts.

After thinking it over, she let out a sigh filled with regret.

Forget it. She had already taken a day off this month; taking another would just be impolite.

Swish—

She silenced the alarm, climbed out of bed, stepped into her slippers, and walked to the window to pull open the heavy curtains.

In an instant, a familiar sight that seemed never to change leaped into her field of vision—

Under the pitch-black canopy of the sky, various parts of the massive city were still dotted with lights scattered like stars.

The brilliant, shining streets resembled the intersecting trajectories of comets—possessing the same dazzling radiance, yet marked by distinct boundaries.

The streetlights downstairs remained as bright as ever, their glow spilling onto the ground like a sheet of white snow, but the road conditions appeared much lonelier, and the surroundings were silent.

Only occasionally, accompanied by the gradually echoing sound of an approaching vehicle, a few red specks of taillights would flash past the intersection ahead. Without even thinking, one knew those belonged to people either returning home late or waking up even earlier than herself.

Compared to the clamor of the day, Suzhou at this hour felt somewhat like “all the prosperity has faded away.” Of course, this was merely an illusion; though the lights had grown sparse, they had not, after all, been extinguished.

Looking out at the vast, thick fog that rendered everything invisible, she couldn’t help but squint her eyes.

Sometimes, she felt this city was like a giant submarine.

Even when the light receded and it dived into the deep, dark seabed, it still never stopped working; the internal “parts” continued to play their respective roles.

Big cities have big-city survival rules: no matter how late you work, there will always be someone later; no matter how early you rise, the world is always one step ahead of you.

When the concept of time begins to blur, there isn’t much difference between day and night anymore.

Just like herself—this “diligent little part”—who had been spinning like a top every day since graduation because of work.

Yet, she remained the little pride of her family’s eyes.

This was the reason why, no matter how tired she was, she gritted her teeth wanting to take root in this city.

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but curl her lips in self-mockery. Finally, she took a deep breath of the freezing air and turned to go wash up.

…

More than an hour later, when she emerged from the subway gasping for breath and ran to the bottom of the office building, she looked back at the “fish-belly white” light slowly appearing on the horizon, and a faint smile once again surfaced on her lips.

The “submarine” was beginning to surface.

Upon arriving at the company, what puzzled Mai Suisui was that it wasn’t yet time to clock in, but the atmosphere inside was tense to the extreme.

Without a word, Mai Suisui sat at her workstation. After turning on her computer, she feigned typing on the keyboard for a while, then quietly poked her head up from behind the monitor to glance around. She didn’t see anything wrong.

“Ahem, ahem.”

At that moment, her “office buddy” in the workstation to her right coughed twice.

Mai Suisui immediately slid her chair to the right and whispered, “What’s the situation?”

Her office buddy, Shen Qingqing, also typed while lowering her voice, speaking in a mysterious tone: “According to a reliable source, I’ve obtained important intel regarding this year’s year-end summary meeting!”

“Wait a second, your ‘reliable source’ wouldn’t happen to be from the ninth floor again, would it?”

The ninth floor was the Secretary’s Office, the birthplace of all the company’s gossip and scandals. From the trivial family matters of the CEO to the romantic entanglements of a tiny intern, nothing was excluded.

The overall male-to-female ratio of the company’s secretaries was 1:9. This meant that in this information age, the convenience of communication tools had, in a sense, fully encouraged the gossiping spirit of over 90% of the little secretaries, who were constantly worried for the people and concerned for the organization.

“Don’t you worry about where my news comes from; anyway, this news is absolutely solid.”

Mai Suisui followed up nonchalantly, “So, what do you know now?”

Shen Qingqing to her right immediately gave a “hehe” laugh. “Did you forget the rumors circulating in the company a while ago?”

Mai Suisui started, and for an instant, a spark of insight flashed through her mind. Realization dawned as she asked, “Are you talking about the ‘parachuting’ CEO?”

“Exactly,” Shen Qingqing nodded. “I heard that in the head office’s year-end report, our branch really stood out. That fellow Old Li is getting promoted; he’ll probably be transferred to the head office after the New Year. Doesn’t that leave the CEO position here vacant?”

“That fellow Old An wanted to fight for it, but the head office directly decided to parachute someone in. Can Old An feel good about that?”

Mai Suisui caught on and asked with a frown, “Is this news certain? I saw Old An looking pretty smug these past few days.”

“That’s because you didn’t see Old An slamming his office door with a dark face just now.”

Shen Qingqing curled her lip in disdain. “Anyway, I’ve figured it out. The head office reached its hand over here long ago. I say, classmate Mai Suisui, haven’t you thought about the issue of taking sides in the future?”

“Your words sound more like groundless worrying.”

After hearing this, Mai Suisui’s previously knitted brows smoothed out.

“Taking sides is a certainty, but that’s something for middle management and above to worry about. It has nothing to do with us little employees.”

Shen Qingqing was clearly unsatisfied with this reaction and couldn’t help but continue her intimidation: “Don’t you dare ignore it. With things like this, when the higher-ups fight, aren’t you afraid of us small fry getting caught in the crossfire?”

“My relationship with Old An hasn’t deteriorated to that point,” Mai Suisui laughed.

“You and Old An haven’t reached that point. But don’t forget, that kid Xu Wenliang hasn’t reached that point with Old An either—and there’s one more thing: the whole company knows that you and Xu Wenliang have already reached that point of bad blood.”

A rather tongue-twisting sentence came out of Shen Qingqing’s mouth. Mai Suisui’s face still showed no major emotional fluctuations as she asked further, “And so?”

“And so, don’t forget, the position of Group One leader has been vacant all year. After this general meeting, one of you or Xu Wenliang will definitely go up. But a problem arises: given how you and Xu Wenliang can’t stand the sight of each other, no matter which one of you goes up, do you think Old An would dare let you work in the same place?”

“Being told this by you, I actually feel like the possibility of me getting promoted is higher. Since transferring Xu Wenliang to Group One has such obvious drawbacks, would Old An still insist on dragging him in?”

“Get out of here!”

Shen Qingqing shot back at her unceremoniously.

“Who doesn’t know Old An’s temperament? He believes in the ‘Wolf Pack Effect’! That old man thinks that under his management, everyone in the company is harmonious—one big, loving family. But who in the whole company doesn’t know that Sales Group One and Group Two fight to the death every year for that top performance spot? Yet Old An chooses to be a ‘blind man with his eyes open.’ I’m telling you, if Xu Wenliang goes up this time, knowing Old An’s personality, he’ll definitely help him suppress your Group One!”

“Listening to all this, I feel like you just have a serious lack of confidence in me. Are you so sure I’ll lose to Xu Wenliang?”

As the conversation reached this point, a faint, lingering smile touched the corners of Mai Suisui’s mouth. She propped one hand on her desk, her expression leisurely and relaxed.

“Then do you have 100% confidence that you will definitely beat Xu Wenliang?” Shen Qingqing countered.

Mai Suisui fell silent.

After a moment, she picked up her water cup to go to the pantry. “I don’t.”

“So you have to prepare,” Shen Qingqing followed her, nagging. “I advise you to check your documents again. Lest Old An finds some flaw, and your lifelong reputation is ruined in an instant.”

“I don’t need you to remind me of that.”

Returning from getting hot water, Mai Suisui stared at the bright computer screen and said, “I’ll double-check the data. You help me call the client to confirm.”

“No time,” Shen Qingqing replied crossly. “My own work isn’t done yet!”

“Give me a break. When has your Group Three ever been busy?”

“Fine, fine, I’ll ask for you. Are you taking me to the bar tonight?”

“Deal.”

…

Around 12:00 PM.

“Whew…”

Mai Suisui, who had spent the entire morning at her desk, rubbed her neck and let out a light breath.

She saw a small note left on the adjacent seat.

[Didn’t want to disturb you, so I went to eat first. If you want me to bring you anything, remember to call.]

With a faint smile, Mai Suisui took her phone, planning to go get something to eat.

While waiting for the elevator, she sent a message to Shen Qingqing.

[Suisui Is Safe: No need to bring me anything. I’m coming to find you. Wait for me.]

Before she could wait for Shen Qingqing’s reply, the elevator doors opened. Without looking up, Mai Suisui went to enter the elevator and was suddenly bumped by the person in front.

Mai Suisui quickly looked up, and the moment she did, she froze.

Simply because the person in front of her was far too beautiful. Her height was approximately 170cm. She wore a light brown striped shirt tucked into cream-white trousers, with one hand in her pocket and the other carrying a suit jacket. It was simple yet exquisite, without excessive decoration, yet fully displaying her taste and temperament.

“Sorry, did I hit you?”

The woman gave her a cold glance, and without answering, she stepped past her shoulder and left without looking back.

Mai Suisui didn’t mind. Due to the delay just now, she had already missed that elevator. While waiting for the next one, she couldn’t wait to pick up her phone and share with her buddy.

[Suisui Is Safe: I just ran into a huge beauty in the company! Today I finally know what a ‘Lesbian Heaven’ masterpiece looks like!]

[Qingqing Grassland Is The Craziest: !!! A newcomer in the company? Did you take a photo?]

[Suisui Is Safe: No. I accidentally bumped into her, and she gave me a look like she was looking at trash. How would I dare sneak a photo?]

[Qingqing Grassland Is The Craziest: Bonus points!!!]

Mai Suisui burst out laughing. It was no wonder they were the best of buddies.

Before she could even reply with “I agree,” she heard the sound of high heels again from behind.

Mai Suisui turned her head to peek—the woman from just now had come back.

She hurriedly tucked her phone away. The two of them stood there stiffly, one behind the other, waiting for the elevator.

After the elevator arrived, they again stood one behind the other in the cramped space, waiting for their floors.

Suddenly, her phone’s ringtone went off. To avoid the awkwardness, Mai Suisui saw it was a call from Shen Qingqing and, without thinking, quickly answered it.

“Hey, Suisui, quick, look at the company group chat! The candidate for the company CEO was just announced! As expected, it’s a parachute hire, apparently named Yu Nian! You said you saw a beauty; could it be her? Wow, an ice-mountain boss looking at you like trash—don’t you feel so satisfied? I wonder if you’ll dream about her stepping on you with her high heels tonight…”

“Beep, beep, beep…”

The busy signal from the hung-up call echoed in the small elevator.

Darn you, Shen Qingqing! Do you ever pause when you talk?!

Mai Suisui’s hand trembled. She carefully looked up at the woman standing in front.

Yu Nian didn’t have any reaction, as if she hadn’t heard anything just now.

Ding.

The elevator reached the first floor. Yu Nian was the first to walk out.

Just as Mai Suisui let out a sigh of relief, she saw Yu Nian suddenly turn back and give her a deep, lingering look.

Mai Suisui: “…”

Weak, helpless, and afraid to move.

When she looked up again, she could only see Yu Nian’s retreating back. It was like seeing the departure of light, like seeing a tragic future…

I, Suisui, am totally doomed!