After Trying To Pursue The Cold, Elegant Beauty. I Ended Up Being Flirted With Instead - Chapter 44.1

What was wrong with this Secretary Sun?

Did her work ability decline as soon as Wen Zhu left?

She was asked to get rid of one person, and she couldn’t even handle such a small task?

A surge of irritation went through her. She strode over and immediately crouched down in front of Jiang Xinxin.

She saw the bloody mark on the back of Jiang Xinxin’s hand and glared with icy eyes at Secretary Sun, who was still stunned. “Did you push her?”

Secretary Sun flinched from the glare, her cheeks flushed bright red. She quickly defended herself, “I didn’t! President Pei, she fell by herself!”

“President Pei,” Jiang Xinxin didn’t even question why Pei Xiubai had suddenly appeared.

She simply leaned weakly into Pei Xiubai’s embrace, tears streaming down her face. “Please don’t blame Secretary Sun. She… she might just have been too close with Sister Wen Zhu and is angry that I drove Sister Wen Zhu away…”

She sobbed, her voice full of grievance. “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have made such suggestions…”

These words were like an awl, accurately piercing Pei Xiubai’s heart.

Wasn’t Xinxin’s statement also aimed at her?

She had clearly been taking out her anger over Wen Zhu’s departure on Xinxin, even refusing to see her…

The guilt towards Xinxin and the anger over Wen Zhu’s departure found an outlet, all of it transferring onto Secretary Sun.

Pei Xiubai’s grip tightened on Jiang Xinxin’s arm. Her gaze towards Secretary Sun was ice-cold. “You can’t even handle this small task, and you dare to physically assault someone. Secretary Sun, starting tomorrow, you don’t need to come in anymore.”

Secretary Sun couldn’t believe her ears.

She was being fired over this petty incident? She had worked for Yupei for so many years!

“I didn’t push her!” Her voice trembled with injustice. “Jiang Xinxin is lying!”

“Are you suggesting that Xinxin hurt herself like this just to frame you?” Pei Xiubai was so angry that she laughed instead. “Do you even believe that yourself? Now, immediately, disappear from my sight!”

Secretary Sun looked at Pei Xiubai’s furious face, then at Jiang Xinxin, who was crying beautifully in her arms, and stumbled.

In that moment, she suddenly understood all of Wen Zhu’s feelings during those days.

She and Pei Xiubai merely had a pure superior-subordinate relationship, and being accused so unjustly made her heart ache with injustice.

How much more painful must it have been for Wen Zhu, who held Pei Xiubai so dearly in her heart?

Years of loyalty and affection now felt like a joke.

Secretary Sun’s face was pale. She didn’t say another word.

She reached up, forcefully ripped off the employee badge hanging from her chest, and slammed it onto the nearby desk.

Then, covering her face, she left Yu pei.

Pei Xiubai watched her receding figure. The fire in her chest didn’t subside instead, it burned even hotter.

She yelled at the surrounding employees who were still peeking out: “What are you looking at! Don’t you all have work to do?”

At her command, the crowd instantly dispersed.

Pei Xiubai withdrew her gaze, lifted the still trembling Jiang Xinxin into her arms, and rushed her to the hospital as fast as possible.

After the doctor finished bandaging her, Pei Xiubai looked at the thick gauze on her hand with a touch of pity, and took the initiative to explain for once:

“I’ve been very busy with company matters lately, and I was afraid you’d be disappointed if you came and I didn’t have time to spend with you, so I told Secretary Sun to say I wasn’t here. Who knew she would do such a thing.”

“It’s okay,” Jiang Xinxin shook her head. “As long as I can be by President Pei’s side, even if we don’t do anything, I feel very happy.”

Pei Xiubai’s heart was warmed by these words.

Wasn’t this exactly the kind of thoughtfulness she liked about Jiang Xinxin? Clingy when it mattered, and exceptionally worry free when she was being sensible.

She pinched Jiang Xinxin’s cheek. “That won’t do. You have to work too. Is your current drama finished filming? When it is, I’ll find you an even better production crew.”

Jiang Xinxin, however, didn’t seem to want to hear it and nestled into her arms. “President Pei, I don’t want to film anymore.”

She looked up, her eyes red. “Everyone in the crew is talking badly about me behind my back because of the previous scandal… I don’t want to stay there anymore.”

“Besides, Secretary Sun is gone now. President Pei, you need someone to take care of you.”

Her voice was light and soft, carrying a desperate plea. “Just let me stay by your side and take care of you, okay?”

Pei Xiubai’s eyes paused. She looked down at her, slightly disapproving. “You can’t do that, Xinxin. You can’t neglect your work.”

She gave a slightly indulgent smile. “If you don’t like the current crew, I’ll fire them all and get you a new team. You are someone I favor; you have that confidence, you know? No one is allowed to bully my Xinxin.”

Jiang Xinxin’s cheeks flushed from the coaxing, but she still shook her head, shrinking further into Pei Xiubai’s embrace. “I really don’t want to film. I just want to stay with you. After that day, I have nightmares every night. I can only fall asleep when I think of you, President Pei.”

The smile on Pei Xiubai’s face faded slightly.

“What about the crew then?” she asked. “Are hundreds of people just supposed to wait for you?”

“Why can’t they wait?” Jiang Xinxin wheedled. “Didn’t President Pei just say that I am the person you favor and have that confidence?”

The tone was airy.

Pei Xiubai, however, was stunned.

In an inexplicable moment, she thought of Wen Zhu again.

Once, when Wen Zhu was still her secretary, she accompanied her to Russia for a business deal. The client suggested going to a ski resort.

The winter in that northern country was cold enough to freeze bones.

Several employees who went along couldn’t stand the cold, and Wen Zhu herself developed a high fever the night they returned to the hotel.

Pei Xiubai told her to rest, but she still stubbornly climbed out of bed the next day.

Pei Xiubai was furious, gritting her teeth, but Wen Zhu looked at her very seriously and said, “This client is very important to Yu pei. I can’t rest. Only by signing this client quickly can we and the employees go home sooner.”

In the end, Wen Zhu endured the high fever, fell countless times in the snow, but managed to learn how to ski, and helped her sign that major client.

Wen Zhu was too good to everyone.

Even when she was so ill she could barely stand, she was still concerned about the company’s cooperation and the employees who were enduring the cold alongside her.

It was precisely because she was so good to everyone that Pei Xiubai often felt she wasn’t special in Wen Zhu’s heart.

What she needed was a wholehearted love, a love that saw only her and no one else.

So, when she saw the look in Jiang Xinxin’s eyes that treated her as the entire world, she lost control and fell for it.

But why…

Why, now that she had this kind of love, was she still not satisfied?

A sudden dull ache appeared in her chest when she thought of Wen Zhu.

There it was again.

That feeling, since Wen Zhu left, that something important was missing from her life and even her soul, had returned.

Pei Xiubai clutched her chest, looked up at Jiang Xinxin, and her tone became much more serious.

“Xinxin, be sensible. Go back and film properly. You can’t delay everyone else’s progress. Once you finish this drama, I will definitely make time to spend with you.”

Having said that, she stood up and grabbed her coat. “I have matters at the company. I’m going back first.”

The hospital room door closed with a “click,” leaving the room eerily quiet.

Jiang Xinxin lowered her head, her expression unreadable.

It wasn’t until the outside was completely silent that she suddenly grabbed the water glass and flower vase from the bedside table and violently smashed them onto the floor.

“Bang!”

Utter chaos lay everywhere.

Night, An City.

Wen Zhu and Li Zhiyun returned to the hotel after an afternoon of sightseeing.

Wen Zhu was in a great mood after a fun afternoon. She looked at the various popular tourist spots on her phone map and realized she had only visited two or three of them today, still feeling a little unsatisfied.

Li Zhiyun noticed her thoughts and said softly, “We couldn’t get a reservation for the museum today. Shall we go again tomorrow?”

“Yes, yes!” Wen Zhu’s eyes lit up, and she nodded happily right away.

The two chatted until they reached their respective room doors.

Just as Wen Zhu was about to push the door open, Li Zhiyun’s fingers twitched, and she suddenly called out to her.

“Wait.”

Wen Zhu turned back, only to see Li Zhiyun looking down. Her usual cool composure was gone.

“I haven’t competed in a long time,” Li Zhiyun’s voice was a little low. “Now… I’m a bit nervous.”

Huh?

Wen Zhu was stunned for a moment.

So sudden?

Weren’t they just happily discussing tomorrow’s travel itinerary?

Was this change in attitude a little too fast?

Li Zhiyun looked up at Wen Zhu, her beautiful eyes reflecting Wen Zhu’s face.

She sighed. “What if… I lose badly?”

Wen Zhu’s heart sank upon hearing this.

Goodness, this was serious!

She had been entrusted by Sister Zhishu to take good care of Li Zhiyun!

Thinking about how kind Sister Zhishu had been to her, not only inviting her for meals but also covering all the costs of this trip, a strong sense of responsibility instantly welled up in her heart.

Li Zhiyun’s mindset for the competition could not be compromised!

“Then wait for me.”

Wen Zhu’s expression became serious. She told Li Zhiyun, “I’m going back to take a shower first, and then I’ll come to your room to find you!”