I Quit Being This Female Lead (GL) - Chapter 41

The moment she opened her eyes, Mang Ke was still pondering what kind of world this was, but when she saw her own home with bare walls, she almost thought for a moment that she had arrived in a slum.

However, saying it was a slum didn’t seem entirely wrong.

Here, Mang Ke, striving as a hard-working office employee, was crammed into a two-room dwelling with her parents, elder sister, and younger brother—a family of five.

This room was not only small and cramped, but the main issue was that all four sides were drafty and had been patched up with thick layers of newspaper.

Looking at this poverty-stricken room, Mang Ke finally understood why she had to work so hard!

Just then, the door was pushed open, and an older girl said to Mang Ke, “Stop standing there spacing out. Aren’t you going to work?”

“Work?” Mang Ke was stunned. She was worth two hundred million now; did she still need to work?

The girl glanced at her and said helplessly, “I’m taking our little brother to school first. Don’t be late! The city bus only comes once every half hour, and you’ll have your wages docked if you’re late.”

With that, the girl left with a little boy who looked to be in the fifth or sixth grade, leaving only Mang Ke in the entire room.

After briefly reviewing the plot’s context, Mang Ke decided to go to work first.

The worker, the worker’s soul, workers are superior people!

Mang Ke’s working spirit was about to burn fiercely!

As she rode the bumpy bus into the city, Mang Ke couldn’t help but grab the nearest pole and throw up immediately after getting off. Meanwhile, the culprit—the bus—sprayed exhaust fumes and nonchalantly drove away.

Watching the bus disappear in the distance, Mang Ke felt that if she rode it twice a day like this, she would either die from overwork or die from vomiting.

Looking up, Mang Ke saw the bright, clean, high-rise building in front of her. She knew this was where she would be working, and the company’s General Manager was likely Xun Fangyun (note: the name in the text is 荀妨藴, which is translated using Pinyin’s recommended structure).

She had been the female lead in the previous two worlds, so she believed it would be the same this time!

Secretly making a small fist in her heart, Mang Ke resolutely walked inside.

She waited in line for the elevator, went upstairs, found her cubicle, and sat down. Picking up her mug to brew a cup of warm floral tea, Mang Ke inhaled the familiar aroma and suddenly felt alive again.

Finally, a normal world.

The white ceramic mug was imprinted with an orange sunflower. White steam slowly rose, emitting the fresh, sweet fragrance of the floral tea.

Mang Ke loved this cup. She held it up for a look, gently blew away the few petals floating on the rim, and took a sip.

The sensation of the floral fragrance blooming on her tongue was wonderful. Mang Ke set the teacup down, content, and prepared for the day’s work.

Opening the drawer, Mang Ke instantly felt her scalp tingle with fear. She ‘whooshed’ out of her chair and backed up more than ten paces, leaning against the wall.

Inside the drawer was a cloth doll painted with red oil paint. Worse yet, its hands and feet were bound with tape, its clothes were shredded with scissors, and it gave off a damp, earthy smell.

The dirty, messy doll looked both innocent and terrifying, lying there silently, seemingly narrating something unspoken.

Her surrounding colleagues looked over at Mang Ke’s unusual behavior, glanced into the drawer, and then turned back to whisper among themselves. It seemed no one intended to comfort Mang Ke.

She was being targeted.

The hairs on Mang Ke’s body, which had been standing on end, slowly relaxed. She rubbed her arms and looked up at the people in the office. She truly didn’t understand why adults still played such childish games.

Perhaps because the smell was too unpleasant, the people at the desks near Mang Ke’s cubicle grabbed their files and left. The supervisor walked over and said to Mang Ke, “The meeting is about to start. Why are you still standing here? Hurry up and get ready for the conference room.”

After speaking, she turned around, saw the contents of Mang Ke’s drawer, rolled her eyes helplessly, and scolded, “Who is playing this kind of prank? Are you children?!”

Seeing that no one responded, she didn’t say anything more. She lifted her foot, kicked the drawer shut, and left the office.

“Let’s go quickly,” a troubled-looking girl said to Mang Ke. “If you make another mistake, you might be kicked out.”

Mang Ke watched everyone leave, then sighed in resignation. She reopened the drawer, put the doll into a garbage bag, and carried it out of the office.

Arriving at the trash bin, Mang Ke threw the bag inside and turned to head back to the office.

Just as she reached the elevator door, she heard a ‘ding—’ and the elevator opened.

Xun Fangyun, currently dressed in a black professional long skirt and a white shirt that accentuated her figure, stepped out. The two women made eye contact at the elevator door and froze.

Mang Ke stared at her blankly and subconsciously called out, “Yun Yun…”

But before she could say anything more, Xun Fangyun stepped out of the elevator, walked toward the office without even glancing at Mang Ke.

“Wait a moment!”

Mang Ke quickly jogged to catch up, saying to Xun Fangyun, “Why are you ignoring me? Are you angry with me? Angry that I came back to…”

“I don’t know you.”

Xun Fangyun stood in front of Mang Ke and said coldly, “Since you are an employee of this company, you should know not to block the General Manager’s path.”

Mang Ke was dumbfounded. She knew her arrival this time would definitely anger Xun Fangyun, but wasn’t pretending not to know her going a little too far?!

Mang Ke’s eyes widened, she stamped her small foot, pointed at Xun Fangyun, and said, “Why are you being mean to me? When you lived with me, you were never mean to me!”

Xun Fangyun: “…”

The assistants and supervisors nearby: “…Wow!”

Mang Ke’s face turned red with anger: “What’s wrong with me coming to find you? Do you know how I’ve spent this past month? Xun Fangyun, I want to take you out too. If there was even a sliver of hope, I wouldn’t give up on you, I…”

“Have you said enough?” Xun Fangyun looked at her coldly. “I told you, I don’t know you. Furthermore, my name is Yu Xinping, and you should politely call me ‘General Manager Yu.'”

Mang Ke: “…What?”

Xun Fangyun took a step forward in her black high heels, closing the distance between them: “I said my name is Yu Xinping. I am your boss. The next time you see me, you should lower your head and greet me as ‘General Manager Yu,’ not point your finger at me and shout.”

Mang Ke: “…???”

Xun Fangyun continued, “Moreover, I have never been involved with you. If you continue to talk nonsense, I don’t mind letting my lawyer speak with you.”

Mang Ke: “…You!”

Looking at the girl in front of her who was nearly in tears, Xun Fangyun’s heart suddenly clenched in pain, and she instinctively covered her chest.

This cursed setting.

Xun Fangyun’s face was pale. Fortunately, the color of her lipstick was bright, preventing anyone from noticing her anomaly. After taking a moment to recover, she forced herself to say, “Ditching work during working hours—full attendance bonus is docked. Go write a self-criticism report at the HR department.”

After speaking, she walked around Mang Ke and entered the company. The group of assistants and supervisors behind her also scurried in. A few people who passed Mang Ke couldn’t help but look at her sympathetically, yet no one dared to comfort her.

Once everyone had left, Mang Ke’s eyes immediately reddened. She felt that Xun Fangyun was being excessively cruel.

Even in the past, no matter how cold and ruthless she was, she was at least gentle with Mang Ke.

The kind and gentle Xun Fangyun was a side only she was allowed to see, and now, to be scolded in front of so many people—how could she not feel wronged?

Her nose involuntarily started to feel sore. Mang Ke rubbed the corner of her eyes, wanting to cry but unable to.

She was here to rescue Xun Fangyun, and now that she was pretending not to know her, what was she supposed to do?

Before she could react, a colleague quickly came out of the office, patted Mang Ke’s shoulder, and whispered reproachfully, “How could the General Manager catch you ditching work? The meeting is starting right away, hurry up and come in.”

Mang Ke nodded and dazedly walked into the conference room.

In the room for a hundred-odd people, Xun Fangyun sat in the center. She only looked up at Mang Ke when she entered, and never raised her head again after that.

The first day passed in a daze. Mang Ke sat on the swaying bus, returned blankly to her small, dilapidated home.

In the plot, her parents worked during the day and ran a street stall at night, and her elder sister was still working outside, so the house was temporarily occupied only by the youngest brother.

The young boy looked up when he saw Mang Ke return, pouted, and said, “You’re back. I’m hungry; hurry up and make dinner.”

Mang Ke: “…”

This brat!

However, seeing as she was also hungry, Mang Ke decided not to fuss over the little brat. She turned to the communal kitchen in the hallway and cooked a simple meal. After the two ate, the brat ran off to do his homework.

Mang Ke knew her younger brother was named Xiao Zhe. His academic performance was excellent, and he was quite good-looking. Even at such a young age, he was cute and handsome; he was sure to be a fine young man when he grew up.

“Why have you been staring at me all the time today?” Xiao Zhe looked back at Mang Ke and said with distaste, “Have you been traumatized by something?”

Mang Ke: “…No, I just think you’re quite cute when you keep quiet.”

Xiao Zhe: “Hmph, are you heartbroken?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Weren’t you very close with that fierce-looking older sister before? You’ve been unhappy ever since she was hospitalized, and you don’t even fight back when I tease you.”

Mang Ke: “…”

Is this child beyond saving?

However, what he said was true. If Xun Fangyun continued to ignore her, she would definitely feel heartbroken.

Today when they met, she was like this, unwilling to even look at Mang Ke, and was even mean to her, completely acting like a different person.

Mang Ke didn’t understand why she was so irritating.

Xiao Zhe saw Mang Ke sitting beside him with her eyes downcast. He sighed like a tiny adult, raised his arm, and laboriously rubbed Mang Ke’s head, comforting her: “If you’re heartbroken, just find another one. There are so many good-looking women; she’s not the only one.”

Mang Ke sighed: “You don’t understand. I only like that one.”

Xiao Zhe withdrew his hand and said dismissively, “Second Sister, your vision is too narrow. If you were just a bit bolder, you could have a woman on each arm right now.”

Mang Ke: “…You child, there’s something wrong with you.”