Chased by My Heartless Ex - Chapter 74

Lu Ang was baffled, following Zhou Siyu’s gaze downward to the white porcelain bowl on the tray, where the congee he had painstakingly cooked sat. His face turned pale, then flushed red, and the veins at his temples twitched. Clenching his teeth, he forced out the words, “You’re sick and your eyes aren’t working right, I’ll let it slide.”

“Are you this upset because you made it?”

Zhou Siyu truly couldn’t give a positive review of this bowl of porridge. It was wetter than rice but thicker than congee, a substance that would be criticized no matter which category it fell into. No wonder she had to ask.

Frustrated that his hard work wasn’t appreciated, Lu Ang had nowhere to vent his irritation. Just as he was about to argue, Zhou Siyu, leaning against the headboard, suddenly coughed. Forgetting his displeasure, he grabbed a cup of water and handed it to her.

Her chest trembled with each cough, and Zhou Siyu pressed a fist to her lips. “Th-thank you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why thank me?” Lu Ang couldn’t muster a smile, his expression stern as he watched Zhou Siyu take a sip of water to steady her breathing before reluctantly offering the despised congee. “Eat first, then take your medicine.”

Zhou Siyu didn’t take it, her dark, misty eyes fixed on him. “That thing you mentioned earlier, what exactly is it-”

“I won’t give it to you until you finish the congee and take the medicine,” Lu Ang interrupted, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Seeing no point in further back-and-forth, Zhou Siyu sighed at the bowl in his hand, set down her water cup, and bravely faced the “battlefield.” With a pained expression, she scooped up the congee, shoved it into her mouth, and swallowed without chewing. Lu Ang, watching this, crossed his arms in frustration, dark lines practically shooting from his forehead.

The bland, watery rice slid down her esophagus into her empty stomach. Having not eaten for over a day, her delicate digestive system reacted immediately. Soon, Zhou Siyu’s complexion worsened drastically. She quickly put down the utensils, looking as if she might vomit.

“I really can’t eat anymore.” Struggling to suppress the surge rising in her throat, Zhou Siyu’s already pale face grew even whiter. She waved a hand in surrender.

“Fine, stop eating. If you end up in the hospital with food poisoning, it’ll tarnish my reputation,” Lu Ang said, handing her the pills. He watched as she swallowed them, then quietly passed her the folder and USB drive from the tray.

The blue folder seemed incredibly mysterious. Zhou Siyu had reviewed and signed countless documents, but rarely had her hands trembled so much while opening one, though her physical weakness was partly to blame.

She opened the plastic cover, skimmed the contents, and then fixed a skeptical gaze on Lu Ang.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Lu Ang said, pulling a chair to the bedside and sitting with his long legs sprawled casually. “The text is a transcript of the video on the USB drive, but I didn’t obtain it by any underhanded means. The old surveillance from the rented apartment was sent to me after being dismantled, and I watched a bit out of boredom.”

He raised an eyebrow, urging Zhou Siyu to focus. “I had no idea until I saw it, it’s shocking. If you hadn’t pulled this ‘suffering for a greater cause’ act, I would’ve given it to you last night.”

Zhou Siyu remained silent, her deep eyes unblinking. Feeling the pressure, Lu Ang pursed his lips, straightened his legs, and behaved more meekly. “You didn’t pull any act, I was talking nonsense.” He tilted his chin, urging her, “Hurry up and read it.”

She had only glanced at it earlier without examining it closely. Lowering her gaze, Zhou Siyu studied the two or three thin pages, a mix of Chinese and French, flipping through them four or five times.

[Is there really no chance for Youyou and Zhou?]

[She can handle her own affairs. All we need to do is cooperate with her, listen to her, and help her.]

[You agreed to pretend to be Youyou’s girlfriend. As a friend, take the initiative to care for her more. I know she’s having a hard time.]

Holding the folder in her hands, Zhou Siyu’s emotions were indescribable when she saw the words “pretend to be a couple.” She couldn’t articulate the complexity of what she felt.

The fact that Xu You was willing to go through the trouble of finding someone to brush her off and push her away, didn’t that mean she held some kind of place in Xu You’s heart, whether significant or trivial?

The deliberate distance, the cruel rejections, now they seemed like stimulants injected into Zhou Siyu’s veins. The dejection she’d felt after her gifts were rejected vanished completely, replaced by a surge of energy.

“What do you plan to do?”

Lu Ang witnessed the calm in Zhou Siyu’s eyes ripple and sparkle with light. To be honest, at first, he could understand how love could make someone lose their senses and forget themselves. But after seeing Zhou Siyu get hurt repeatedly, especially after what happened that morning, he was no longer willing to play matchmaker for the two of them. If he had to intervene now, he thought, he would likely become the force that stood in their way.

He couldn’t just stand by and watch Zhou Siyu hurt herself.

Lost in her own excitement, Zhou Siyu completely missed the faint edge of ruthlessness in Lu Ang’s calm tone. After a moment’s thought, she closed the folder, her eyes slightly lowered but gleaming with unmistakable determination.

“Keep this confidential for now. I’ll think about the next step,” she said, clutching the USB drive, its metal corner pressing into her fingertip and leaving a faint mark. “We absolutely cannot alert the enemy.”

“Alright,” Lu Ang replied, his enthusiasm still noticeably low.

He rubbed his temples, stood up from the chair, and said, “Think it over carefully, and make sure to rest. If you’re hungry, order something to eat. I’ll head out now.”

Zhou Siyu belatedly noticed something off about Lu Ang and was about to ask, but he had already turned his back to her, walked to the door, and slipped out.

A vague sense of unease inexplicably stirred within her. She stared at the door for a long, long time.

Out of her sight, Lu Ang slowly descended the stairs, crossed the living room, circled the front yard, and got into his flashy sports car.

Parked by the roadside, the car hadn’t drawn any complaints about obstructing traffic, thanks to the ample spacing between the standalone houses and the wide roads in the community. Closing the car door, he irritably ruffled his hair, then leaned back against the leather seat and closed his eyes.

His agitated and restless state lasted for quite some time, until it was abruptly interrupted by a sudden burst of notification sounds from his phone, which had been lying quietly on the passenger seat.

Lu Ang slowly opened his eyes. Tiny red veins had crept across his clear irises. Without moving, he glanced over and realized he couldn’t make out a single word. Annoyed, he reached out, picked up the phone, and held it between his fingers.

[Tenant Xu You’s Partner: Hello, did you happen to open the package I sent you a couple of days ago?]

[Tenant Xu You’s Partner: It seems the workers mistakenly included some of our renovation materials in it. They’re quite important. If you haven’t opened the box yet, could you please check? If they’re with you, let’s arrange a time for me to pick them up. If not, I’ll place an order right away.]

After reading Yu Yao’s messages, Lu Ang let out a cold laugh from the depths of his throat.

A test. If he hadn’t opened the package and discovered the surveillance memory card, he might have rushed back to look for it. Now, he couldn’t help but feel that everything might very well be a trap they had set.

Beside him, Zhou Siyu’s villa stood as it always had, but beneath the surface, turmoil churned in his eyes. His fingers hovered over the screen.

[Lu Ang: Sorry, I disposed of the items you sent as trash. If you can’t find them on your end, you’d better place a new order.]

Since no one was being truthful, he saw no need to bare his heart either.

On the other end, Yu Yao replied with a simple “Thanks.” He switched the conversation to another contact.

[Lu Ang: Xu You, are you really determined to cut ties with Zhou Siyu?]

When Xu You returned to the office after lunch and saw this unread message, she was momentarily speechless, unsure whether to curse him out and block him or just block him outright.

She reflected on every action she had taken since returning to the country, all aimed at distancing herself from Zhou Siyu. She had enlisted her best friend to act as her lover, even participated in a three-person dynamic, repeatedly rejected him through words and actions, and only added his contact information out of professional necessity.

Yet, stepping outside her own perspective, the reality was that they were still entangled.

The landlord of Yu Yao’s company was Zhou Siyu’s close friend, the newly hired employees were connected through Zhou Siyu’s referrals, Zhou Siyu had stepped in to handle the situation when Yu Yao was assaulted, Xu You had rejoined YUYOO, and she had even taken a sick Zhou Siyu to the hospital…

Thinking it over carefully, Xu You realized that many of her actions had contradicted her original intentions, yet they had all happened one after another.

Back in college, she would have considered these occurrences as fate tying them inextricably together, and she would have been overjoyed by such coincidences. But now, at twenty-seven, sitting in front of her computer, her reflection staring back from the darkened screen, she felt drained and exhausted. A suffocating wave suddenly washed over her.

A toxic bond, it had to be severed!

After reiterating her stance on Zhou Siyu to Lu Ang, he vanished from the chat window. She rolled her eyes dramatically and returned to her work.

In the one-week deadline given by the department head, the entire office fell into a synchronized rhythm. Especially as the final two days approached, the second floor of the YUYOO building, where the design department was located, remained brightly lit late into the night, with silhouettes of people hunched over their desks visible through the windows.

Xu You had four character designs to complete. The two minor characters assigned by the department were already finished. Of the confidential designs she had started first, she had only completed Daji. Based on the collected materials and public perception of Daji, a seductive and enchanting woman now resided in her confidential folder. The remaining character, however, left her completely stumped.

Having suffered from the toll of late nights and overtime in previous years, her fragile health could no longer withstand such intense, non-stop work. She had already finished her tasks ahead of schedule and left punctually at the end of the workday in the following days. She even thoughtfully checked in before bed to see how many team members were still in the office, sending them late-night snacks as a gesture of care.

A small expense to buy peace, it was a win-win.

Time marched on relentlessly. On the day before the initial draft submission, just as she was about to leave work, Professor Liu called to inform her that the final date for the art exhibition had been set. Xu You, who was packing her bag at her desk, paused and checked the calendar, only to find that the date coincided with the day before YUYOO’s official announcement of their collaboration with her, the very day the illustrations were due.

Originally scheduled for a later date, she would have had to stay in Beicheng for several extra days. With Professor Liu’s new update, she cheerfully used an app to change her flight back to Australia while heading to the parking garage.

Little did she know whether it was a coincidence or a scheme, she was still in the dark.

As the seven-day deadline arrived, the YUYOO design department held its second meeting for the “Otherworld: Investiture of the Gods” project.

Xu You still remembered the bizarre plagiarism incident from the last preliminary review meeting. This time, she arrived with both curiosity and anticipation, curious about what design Li Rui would present and whether she would repeat her past mistakes, while also looking forward to seeing the skill level of her other colleagues. Most of the colleagues she had previously worked with had been laid off after the company went public, so now they were all essentially starting fresh.

At exactly 9:30, the department head took his seat, and the meeting room fell into complete silence.

A serious meeting naturally called for a serious atmosphere. After a grueling week, everyone looked far from the energetic and proactive individuals they had been just days before. Dark circles under their eyes, unshaven stubble, and faces etched with exhaustion were the norm. Even Li Rui seemed off her game, and the usual provocations and nitpicking that tended to occur didn’t happen this time.

The department head’s assistant adjusted the projector and then stepped aside, waiting with everyone else for the meeting to officially begin.

The central air conditioning hummed as it blew warm air, filling the room with a stifling heat that only amplified the restlessness in the air.

“The order of presentations will follow the reverse order of your email submissions. First up,” the department head cut straight to the chase, skipping any lengthy and meaningless opening remarks as he clicked on the top email in his work inbox. “Yu Miao.”

Xu You hadn’t experienced this before, but judging by the surprised expressions around her, she guessed the department head was trying something new. She had submitted her work three days ago, so she would likely be toward the end of the lineup. Silently, she pulled up her materials on her laptop, preparing her presentation while listening to the others.

As she multitasked below, her colleague Yu Miao stepped up between the projector and the department head to explain her design inspiration and concept.

With a room full of people, the total meeting time divided among each person meant no one had more than three minutes to present.

As soon as Yu Miao finished speaking, the meeting room fell into a dead silence. Xu You’s eyes darted around the room, her mischievous gaze finally settling on the department head.

A few seconds later, the department head at the front spoke with a stern expression, “Does your design concept even match your sketches?”

The temperature in the room seemed to plummet, and Xu You broke out in goosebumps.

“Redo it,” the department head said without waiting for Yu Miao’s response, closing her file and clicking on the next one. “Qian Doudou.”

Xu You was sitting close to Qian Doudou. Having just witnessed the merciless storm of criticism, she clenched her fist under the table to cheer her on. Qian Doudou noticed the gesture as she stood up and gave Xu You a reassuring pat in response.

“Not bad. Consider adding two more hair accessories, it looks a bit too plain on the head.”

After a clear and fluent presentation, Qian Doudou received the first positive feedback. Xu You’s anxious heart finally settled, and the two secretly exchanged a high-five under the table once Qian Doudou returned to her seat.

One by one, the team members took their turns. The department head’s critiques were brief and sharp. Drafts that passed to the next round were saved to the desktop, while the ones that didn’t meet the mark were all met with the same fate, a terse “redo it,” followed by their hard work being ruthlessly tossed into the trash.

Li Rui’s turn came somewhere in the middle. Her two designs were neither impressive nor flawed, earning a few seconds of silence from the department head.

“Do you think this is your best work?”

Xu You had studied the designs carefully. Compared to four years ago, Li Rui had shown some improvement, she now paid attention to details and considered the character’s practicality. However, the progress was indeed minimal.

She shifted her gaze from the designs to Li Rui’s face. Li Rui pressed her lips together, looking visibly embarrassed.

“I don’t think so. I only want the best,” the department head paused slightly, scanned the room, and said coldly, “Redo it.”

Everyone was brought forward for judgment equally, with uniform standards. There was no intention to embarrass anyone, but Li Rui, having lost face in front of Xu You and seeing her efforts go to waste, was seething with anger. With no outlet for her frustration, she glared fiercely at Xu You, who remained calm and unruffled.

As the meeting progressed, the department head spoke less and less, and the atmosphere in the room noticeably grew heavier.

Xu You was the last to be called. The others, relieved that the meeting was nearing its end and their own judgments were over, felt a sense of ease despite the lingering tension.

The department head, having seen too many subpar submissions, held no expectations for Xu You, who had joined the team as an external hire. But when Xu You’s email was opened and two design drafts appeared, the department head’s sharp, dark eyes instantly fixed on them.

Young, capable, and gifted… a rare find.

Over an hour had passed, and Xu You’s initial nervousness had long faded. She stepped forward composedly and spoke with ease, detailing everything from the characters’ appearances and body proportions down to the accessories and clothing patterns. In just a few minutes, she won over colleagues who had privately doubted her.

“Excellent,” the department head remarked, offering the highest praise of the day without further elaboration.

Xu You smiled. It was exactly as she had expected.

After all, she was what everyone called a “natural talent,” though she alone knew how much effort lay behind that reputation.

After the department head assigned tasks for the next meeting and the session concluded, Xu You noted that her team had the highest approval rate. As she was about to leave with Qian Doudou, the usually reserved department head suddenly spoke.

“Xu You, stay for a moment.”