Chased by My Heartless Ex - Chapter 13

“I truly admire President Zhou’s management philosophy…”

Xu You clasped her hands over her knees. Before the stunned crowd could recover from their dropped jaws, she had already rephrased her words and began speaking eloquently.

She hadn’t intended to confess anything about Zhou Siyu, nor did she mean to cause such a misunderstanding. It was just that Zhou Siyu’s act of toying with her lipstick in such a serious setting, in front of so many people, was utterly inappropriate.

Under different circumstances and in a different place, it might have been charming, but here and now, it severely disrupted her interview focus and distracted her.

Zhou Siyu paid no attention to the reactions. After Xu You answered the third question from the design department, she gripped the lipstick, curled her index finger, and lightly tapped her knuckle against the table.

The dull thud of bone against wood echoed sharply in the quiet conference room.

Xu You instinctively glanced at her hand, thankfully, she hadn’t used much force, and only a faint pink flush colored her fair skin. Memories surfaced of their early days together, their first explorations of each other. In moments of passion, driven by instinct, she had clutched and responded, leaving marks on Zhou Siyu that lingered far too long. Since then, Zhou Siyu had become particularly attentive to her well-being, both in and out of bed.

Pulling her gaze back, Xu You waited with everyone else for Zhou Siyu’s next instruction.

Zhou Siyu tapped the resume Xu You had submitted earlier. “Ask something that’s not on here, or we’ll wrap this up.”

The HR director and design director exchanged a furtive glance. Throughout the previous interviews, Zhou Siyu had never interrupted, often closing her eyes to rest or occasionally flipping through portfolios while others posed questions.

Now, her attitude toward Xu You was hard to decipher.

“N-No more questions,” the design director hurriedly replied.

The HR director shot her a sidelong glance and chimed in, “None from me either.”

The heads of marketing and technology, having noticed the national competition awards listed on her resume, had formed a favorable first impression and shook their heads in turn.

Zhou Siyu slipped the lipstick into her coat pocket. As she stood, the wheels of her chair slid back slightly.

“Then the interview ends here.”

The sharp click of her hard-soled heels punctuated each step as she left. With the boss gone, the department heads huddled together, murmuring about her attitude toward Xu You.

As the footsteps faded, the volume of their discussions rose.

“About this morning’s incident, come to my office to brief me.”

At the doorway, Zhou Siyu suddenly halted and turned, tossing out a statement that left everyone bewildered. They exchanged confused looks, frantically retracing every moment since they’d stepped into the company that morning.

It took Xu You a moment to realize she was the one being addressed. Behind her, the interviewers shot her meaningful glances.

The marketing director paled, steeling himself to confess his mistake. He took two resolute steps forward, but before he could speak, Zhou Siyu’s impatient voice cut through the room again.

“Not you.”

“Xu You.”

Some breathed sighs of relief; others grew tense.

Under a mix of puzzled and grateful stares, Xu You followed Zhou Siyu out. They walked side by side through the long corridor, stood silently before the elevator, and vanished together.

Inside the elevator, Zhou Siyu cornered Xu You.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She plucked a stray eyelash from Xu You’s cheek.

They both knew what she meant without saying it.

Xu You batted her wide, innocent eyes, playing coy. “That kind of person only talks big, he wouldn’t dare actually do anything to me. Besides, Assistant Zheng already handled it.”

“From now on, wherever you are, if you encounter such people, smash whatever they have in their hands,” Zhou Siyu said with a serious expression, earnestly teaching the child.

“What if they get hurt?” Xu You tilted her head and asked.

There was another half of the question she wanted to ask, whether she could use the same approach if Zhou Siyu’s friends disrespected her. But after a moment’s thought, she held back.

In Zhou Siyu’s heart, her status probably wasn’t as high as theirs. She didn’t want to hear Zhou Siyu tell her to endure it or defend her friends.

“If they get hurt, I’ll handle it for you.” The elevator slowed its ascent, but Zhou Siyu remained motionless. “The company’s legal team isn’t just for show.”

The elevator doors slid open unnoticed. Zheng Ran, seeing Zhou Siyu shielding Xu You, assumed they were engaged in some elevator play. He coughed lightly, consciously stepped aside, and bit his lip, keeping his eyes downcast and his mind focused.

Zhou Siyu’s expression darkened, but she held back her irritation for Xu You’s sake. She gently ruffled Xu You’s hair and said softly, “Follow me.”

Though Zheng Ran kept his head lowered, he could feel the scorching gaze briefly linger on him as his boss’s pure black leather boots flashed past in his line of sight.

“We weren’t doing anything. You misunderstood,” Xu You hurriedly explained as she tried to keep up with Zhou Siyu.

“Oh, okay.” Zheng Ran still didn’t look up, too afraid of seeing something he shouldn’t and losing his job.

“And what if we were?”

Zhou Siyu’s casual remark, tossed over her shoulder without a glance, rendered all of Xu You’s efforts futile.

Carrying her bag, Xu You stumbled over her words, stammering “you” and “I” for a while before being pulled into the office and falling silent.

Zheng Ran, clutching his chest, took the elevator downstairs and ran into the interviewers who had just finished the session. They immediately started asking him about the most unpredictable candidate, Xu You.

“Was anyone more outstanding than her?” Zheng Ran didn’t even realize his tone had a hint of pride.

The four shook their heads.

He rubbed the tip of his nose. “Then that settles it.”

They seemed to understand but not quite. The four watched as Zheng Ran, puffing out his chest like a proud rooster, took a few steps before quickly pulling out his phone. After glancing at it, he dashed out of the company.

Two minutes later, a man with disheveled hair and panting heavily stood in the only milk tea shop in the office park. “Hot milk tea, no toppings, 30% sugar.”

The shop assistant smiled. “Sir, we have Oolong milk tea, Earl Grey milk tea, fresh milk tea… Which one would you like?”

Zheng Ran froze, then took out his phone and typed away.

[Zheng Ran, Executive Office: Boss, the shop has Oolong milk tea, Earl Grey milk tea, fresh milk tea… Which one do you want?]

A line of small text appeared above the chat box, followed quickly by a voice message. He tapped to play it.

“I want fresh milk tea, with pearls.”

“No!”

“Fine, then just fresh milk tea. By the way, we really weren’t…”

The sweet, soft voice cut off abruptly. Zheng Ran and the shop assistant stared at each other in silence.

The shop assistant maintained her smile and placed the order for him.

When the milk tea arrived, Zhou Siyu was on a voice call with the team responsible for the new game’s promotional slogans. Xu You sat on the sofa, doodling aimlessly on office printer paper.

Taking the hot milk tea, Xu You smiled sweetly. “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. If you need anything else, just let me know.” Zheng Ran glanced at the drawings and then at Zhou Siyu, thinking to himself, “It’s true, love is blind. There’s not a trace of a smile on Zhou Siyu’s lips.”

“I’m heading home at 2:30, Assistant Zheng. Handle the company matters as you see fit.”

Zhou Siyu’s call had ended at some unknown time, and a sinister voice came from behind. Zheng Ran shuddered, replying with a trembling voice, “Okay.”

No more than five minutes after returning to his workstation, the boss passed by with a beauty on his arm.

Zheng Ran glanced at the time in the lower right corner of his computer screen and clenched his fist.

It was only 1:58!