Fighting For My Wife With Myself After Being Reborn - Chapter 5

“Let’s hear it,” Jiang Rui said.

Shen Huaixu rested her arm on the back of the sofa, her long fingers gripping the brim of her baseball cap and swinging it back and forth as her silver-gray eyes stared directly at Jiang Rui.

“It’s not an overly demanding request,” she said. “I need a seven-day break next week. During those seven days, I won’t reply to messages from any of you, and you are not allowed to disturb me. How about it?”

“That’s… it?” Jiang Rui had thought Shen Huaixu would take advantage of the situation to force her to cancel more than half of her upcoming workload. She hadn’t expected her to make such a simple request.

Jiang Rui began to second-guess herself. Had she been thinking too poorly of Shen Huaixu? Was she actually a decent person?

Maybe next time she could cut back on the little reports she sent to Gu Yinghuai?

“What?” Shen Huaixu said with a half-smile. “Did you think I was going to shake you down?”

Jiang Rui wanted to say, ‘Didn’t you?’ but she held her tongue.

“Fine. But you have to behave and finish all of this week’s work.”

“Whatever. Just don’t bother me next week.”

Jiang Rui ignored Shen Huaixu’s poor attitude. Turning toward the spider plant in the corner, she said, “Xiao Xu, you’ll be following Huaixu’s schedule today. I have some matters to handle, so I won’t be going with you.”

Xu Le, the little assistant who had been spacing out, wore an expression of “Huh? Me?”—clearly stunned by Jiang Rui’s bold decision.

“Would that be… inappropriate?” Xu Le gave a dry, nervous laugh.

Please. I’ve only been here a few days! How could I possibly handle this? Besides, I hardly know any of the staff; I’ll definitely make a fool of myself.

Furthermore, if even Sister Jiang couldn’t control this person, what chance did a little assistant have? She’d just end up as the scapegoat. The more Xu Le thought about it, the darker her future looked.

Perhaps this was Sister Jiang’s way of hinting that she should quit?

Jiang Rui comforted her: “It won’t be a problem. Today’s work is simple; just stay with her.”

“But…” Xu Le wanted to say that her big mouth might accidentally offend someone, but Jiang Rui cut her off. “If I tell you to go, you go. Stop dawdling.”

Xu Le flinched, replying reflexively, “Yes!”

Jiang Rui was satisfied. “Good. That’s the kind of awareness and proactive attitude you should have.”

The person at the center of the storm—Shen Huaixu—waved at Xu Le. “Xiao Xu, right? I’ll be in your care today.”

Confronted with Shen Huaixu’s beautiful face, the anxious Xu Le blushed helplessly. “Um…”

For the sake of a beauty, I can briefly forgive the world, Xu Le thought dotingly.

“It’s about time. You two should head out,” Jiang Rui said, waving them away.

Before putting on her cap, Shen Huaixu gave Jiang Rui a deep look, then turned and left the office. Before exiting, she tilted her chin toward the dazed assistant in the corner, signaling her to follow.

“By the way, Sister Huaixu, why did you agree to Sister Jiang’s deal? Weren’t you really resistant before?” Sitting in the van, Xu Le finally couldn’t suppress her curiosity and cautiously asked the question that had been bugging her.

Shen Huaixu didn’t answer. She offered a dismissive “It’s a secret” before tapping on the messages Gu Yinghuai had sent her earlier, reading them over and over.

Refusing Overtime: 【Ahhhh! I was in such a rush this morning that I didn’t have time for a morning kiss. Sending one now! (A big smooch)】

Refusing Overtime: 【I miss you so much too. I hate working qaq】

Refusing Overtime: 【Oh! Right! Good news—once I’m done with this week, I have a one-week mini-vacation. Let’s go out and play!】

Refusing Overtime: 【(Twiddling thumbs) You should be free, right?】

Without a hint of hesitation, Shen Huaixu replied directly to Gu Yinghuai saying she was free. At that time, she was still refusing to appear on the variety show and hadn’t even begun negotiating with Jiang Rui.

But so what? Even if Jiang Rui hadn’t agreed, Shen Huaixu would have given herself the time off anyway.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t done it before.

Besides, she knew Jiang Rui would definitely agree to her terms. That woman was desperate for her to join the variety show to boost her fame so that Shen Huaixu could become a cornerstone of her career and rise to the next level.

“Wake me up when we arrive. I’m going to sleep.” Snapping out of her thoughts, Shen Huaixu pulled her cap down over the top half of her face. Without waiting for Xu Le’s reply, she leaned back and fell asleep.

“Okay…” Xu Le looked enviously at the person resting, then turned back to simulate how she would greet the staff, how to handle emergencies, and how to react if Shen Huaixu lost her temper…

In short, she was very busy.

Thus, when the car reached the destination, it was no surprise that Xu Le forgot to wake Shen Huaixu up.

She stood by the car, continuing her mental simulations. The driver, Xiao Lin, thought everyone had already gotten out, so he adjusted his seat and reclined to scroll through short videos.

OK, just greet them the way I planned. After simulating the scenarios hundreds of times, Xu Le nodded in satisfaction, believing she was up to the task.

Wait.

It felt like she forgot something—

Crap! She forgot to wake up Shen Huaixu!

When Xu Le frantically scrambled to open the car door, Shen Huaixu was already propping up her chin, watching her as if waiting to see how long it would take for her to notice someone was still in the car.

Xu Le had a meltdown: “I’m so sorry, ahhhh…”

Shen Huaixu stepped out with her long legs. “Don’t let it happen again.”

Xu Le trembled: “Yes, ma’am!”

Fortunately, aside from that incident, the morning work went smoothly. The greetings and emergencies Xu Le had imagined never happened. Upon seeing Shen Huaixu, the staff almost entirely ignored Xu Le, warmly receiving the cool-faced model instead.

Her role was mostly to ensure Shen Huaixu didn’t look lonely and to occasionally bring tea, water, or run errands.

Xu Le wiped her sweat, feeling a bit terrified by how smoothly things were going.

When things are weirdly normal, there’s a catch, Xu Le! Don’t let your guard down!

Just as Xu Le was giving herself a pep talk, Shen Huaixu—who had just finished removing her makeup and changing back into her own clothes—had her eyes darting around as if she were plotting something naughty.

So cold. Xu Le shivered. Thinking the dressing room air conditioning was too low, she pulled her jacket tighter.

Tsk, capitalists are something else—even their AC works harder than everyone else’s.

Seeing that everyone was too busy to notice her, Shen Huaixu lightly opened the dressing room door, slipped out, and exited via the emergency stairwell.

Thank the Goddess of Luck.

Today’s workplace was a spot she frequented. Shen Huaixu effortlessly avoided the “respawn points” where staff might appear in the hallways, reached the main entrance perfectly, and nonchalantly hailed a taxi.

The driver was an older man who loved scrolling through short videos and almost never followed entertainment news. This was incredibly convenient for the fugitive Shen Huaixu.

“Where to?” the driver asked. Although the passenger who opened the door was dressed strangely, with her face hidden behind a mask and a low cap, the driver just assumed it was some modern youth fashion.

Like… what was it called? Chunibyo? Whatever it was, it wasn’t something a man his age could appreciate.

Shen Huaixu quickly rattled off an address. The driver said, “Hold on tight,” and hit the gas.

“Have I seen you somewhere before?” The driver finally couldn’t help but ask the person in the back seat who looked vaguely familiar.

He felt like he’d seen those silver-gray eyes somewhere, but he couldn’t place them. That feeling of being unable to remember was truly frustrating.

Beneath the shadow of her cap, Shen Huaixu blinked slowly. “Probably.”

Sensing the coldness in her tone, the driver realized she didn’t want to talk and stopped pushing.

The cabin fell silent.

After a while, the phone in Shen Huaixu’s pocket rang. She glanced at the caller ID and decisively hung up.

It rang again; she hung up again.

After several times, the driver couldn’t help but ask, “Not taking that?”

“Harassment call,” Shen Huaixu said as she rejected the final call, then sent a message to Jiang Rui.

Don’t Want to Work: 【I will be on time this afternoon.】

After sending it, Shen Huaixu pulled out her work SIM card and logged out of her work WeChat.

About ten minutes later, the taxi stopped at the address Shen Huaixu had provided earlier. However, the driver didn’t leave immediately. He waited by the curb for his passenger to pick up her item before stepping on the gas to head to the next destination.

Meanwhile, looking at the repeatedly rejected calls, Xu Le had already figured out how she was going to write her resignation letter.

But before that, she had to report to her boss.

With a heart full of dread, Xu Le dialed Jiang Rui’s number. She hoped Jiang Rui would take a smaller cut of her salary in exchange for her sincere apology.

“Hello, Sister Jiang, it’s me…”

“It’s like this… there’s something I have to report.”

“Sister Huaixu, she… she…” Xu Le gritted her teeth and blurted everything out. “She took advantage of us not paying attention, finished her makeup removal, and ran off. All my calls were rejected, and she hasn’t replied to my messages.”

“But we still have one small interview to finish…”

“Then cancel it.”

“Eh? We aren’t going to do anything?”

“If you have the ability to give birth to a Shen Huaixu to do the interview, then you can do something. Fine, just come back. I’ll handle the rest.”

After hanging up, Xu Le walked to the parking lot in a daze. The driver asked why she was coming down alone. Xu Le replied blankly, “Oh, she had something to do and left first. Let’s head back to the company.”

The driver saw her face was pale and thought she was unwell, so he didn’t ask further and drove her back.

Company Building — Office Window

Jiang Rui looked at the message from Shen Huaixu and rubbed her throbbing forehead.

Why did I sign this impulsive woman back then? Was it because of that face?

Jiang Rui sighed deeply and resigned herself to making a phone call, explaining the reason for the interview’s cancellation.

Yes—a tactful, subtle explanation.

The culprit herself was blissfully unaware of the chaos she had caused by skipping out (though she would have done it anyway). She was currently carrying an exquisite box into an office building.

At this hour, most people entering and exiting the building were delivery riders.

She blended in with the couriers in the elevator, pressing the floor number etched into her memory.

The elevator reached the desired floor quickly. The glass doors at the entrance sensed a visitor and opened automatically. She walked into the company with total composure, showing none of the awkwardness one might expect from someone who wasn’t an employee.

The receptionist stood up to greet the visitor.

“Hello, who are you looking for? Do you have an appointment?” She looked at the person whose face was almost entirely hidden by a cap, silently wondering if this was some kind of weirdo.

Shen Huaixu lowered her cap even further to hide her silver-gray eyes. She deliberately lowered her voice and spoke:

“Please inform Ms. Gu Yinghuai that her takeout has arrived.”