I Secretly Read My Boss' Diary (GL) - Chapter 7

August 15th, Silly’s birthday

Today is Silly’s birthday. I bought her favorite doll as a gift, but after much deliberation, I couldn’t come up with a plausible reason to give it to her. In her mind, we’re just friends of friends, barely acquaintances. I want to confess my feelings, but I’m afraid that if I do, we won’t even be able to nod to each other anymore.

I went to Silly’s birthday party. Since we’re all students, we couldn’t afford anything fancy, so we pooled our money and went to a hotpot restaurant near the school to satisfy our cravings.

As someone who can’t handle spicy food, I was initially reluctant when I saw the fiery red broth before me. But then I thought about how I’d be eating food cooked in the same pot as Silly, our chopsticks occasionally brushing against each other as we reached for ingredients. Suddenly, it didn’t seem so bad.

Others might see this as pathetic, but I’m willing to bury myself in the dust just for her to glance at me as she passes by. Even a single glance would be enough to satisfy me…

*******

When Yan Zhao woke up from her dream, she found her underwear completely soaked and couldn’t help but feel speechless. Recalling the diary entry she had seen in her dream, she silently pulled the blanket over her face.

While it was perfectly normal for adults to have suggestive dreams, who could have imagined that she would react so strongly to a diary entry that might not even be real?

How embarrassing! Utterly humiliating!

After silently berating herself in bed, Yan Zhao slowly got up, changed her embarrassingly wet underwear, and quickly washed it to destroy the evidence.

Looking at her flushed reflection in the mirror, the image of two naked bodies entwined flashed through her mind again. Yan Zhao frowned in annoyance and hastily splashed cold water on her face.

Feeling the heat subside, she straightened up and took a deep breath.

By the time Yan Zhao reached the company building, there were only three minutes left until her shift started. As usual, she shifted into running mode. But this time, as she sprinted toward the entrance, she saw a tall, slender woman in a long blue dress calmly turn into the building. Yan Zhao, moving too fast, nearly lost control and crashed into her while rounding the corner.

Yan Zhao inwardly cursed, “Damn it!” She lowered her head, ready to apologize, when she caught Zhang Sheng approaching with a folder in his hand.

“Good morning, General Manager Mu,” Zhang Sheng greeted Gong Muyu with a smile. His expression immediately soured when he spotted Yan Zhao, looking like a little quail with her backpack.

“Yan Zhao, you’re late again?! Go to the Finance Office and pay your fine immediately. There’s a stack of project plans waiting for you to process.”

Zhang Sheng’s scolding sounded like heavenly music to Yan Zhao’s ears. She nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at grain. Turning to Gong Muyu, she apologized again before slinging her backpack over her shoulder and heading toward the Finance Office.

Only Lisa was working in the Finance Office that day. When she saw Yan Zhao enter with her little backpack and a gloomy expression, Lisa glanced at herself in her compact mirror and asked, “What do you want? It’s not payday.”

“To pay my fine,” Yan Zhao replied with a sigh, setting down her backpack. She slowly pulled out her pink wallet, extracted a fifty-yuan note, and reluctantly pushed it across the desk to Lisa.

“Here, keep the change from thirty yuan,” Yan Zhao said, pushing the fifty-yuan note across the desk.

Lisa glanced at the note, then casually said, “Keep the change? Just leave it here. You’re always late anyway. Next time, just tell me, and I’ll mark it down.”

She glanced at her computer and noticed it was only three minutes past her shift’s start time. “Only three minutes late?” she exclaimed in surprise. “Chief Administrator Zhang finally decided to come down hard on you.”

Yan Zhao slumped across the desk opposite Lisa, shaking her head weakly. “It wasn’t Chief Administrator Zhang. I bumped into General Manager Mu…”

Recalling the incident and staring at the endearing green Mao Zedong portrait on the bill, Yan Zhao felt her heart bleed.

Her salary was already meager. With penalties like this, she wouldn’t even have enough left for her novels by the end of the month…

General Manager Mu had only been at the company for a few days, but her reputation for coldness and ruthlessness had already spread throughout the entire organization. Hearing that Yan Zhao had run into her, Lisa clicked her tongue with a mixture of sympathy and schadenfreude.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You really have terrible luck.”

Before Lisa could finish speaking, another person walked into the Finance Office. Lisa straightened up immediately, secretly kicking Yan Zhao under the table.

The oblivious Yan Zhao noticed the kick and looked up at Lisa, complaining in a disgruntled tone, “It’s already bad enough that I ran into that black-faced Terror first thing this morning, and now you’re kicking me too? Lisa-jie, doesn’t your conscience hurt treating me like this?”

Lisa frowned, ignoring Yan Zhao as she turned to the person behind her, her face breaking into a wide smile. “General Manager Mu, is there anything I can assist you with?”

Gong Muyu glanced at the now-rigid Yan Zhao, pulled a twenty-yuan bill from her wallet, and gently placed it on the table. “Paying a fine,” she replied.

Yan Zhao: “……”

Yan Zhao couldn’t remember how she had left the Finance Office. All that echoed in her mind were Gong Muyu’s three indifferent words and Lisa’s pitying gaze.

Clutching her backpack, she stumbled back to her desk, her eyes vacant and expression blank as she stared at the tabletop. When Sister V leaned in, Yan Zhao, her face crumpled in distress, reached out and hugged her.

“What’s wrong? Did that bitch Lisa bully you again?” Sister V asked.

Yan Zhao shook her head, too ashamed to admit she had brought this on herself. “No, I’m just so tired. I can’t do this anymore.”

Sister V’s daughter was only a few years younger than Yan Zhao, perhaps explaining why she treated her with unusual kindness. Hearing Yan Zhao speak with such world-weary resignation, Sister V couldn’t help but chuckle. She pinched Yan Zhao’s nose affectionately and teased, “Stop talking like an old woman at your age! Hurry up and get those documents done for me. I need them ASAP.”

With that, Sister V stood up, switched on Yan Zhao’s computer, and added, “The email’s already forwarded to your inbox. Get it done quickly and stop dawdling.”

“Understood,” Yan Zhao replied.

Anxious and uneasy, Yan Zhao finalized all the plans, printed out the documents, and neatly arranged them on Sister V’s desk. She glanced up at the tightly closed door of the General Manager’s Office. Through the slits in the blinds, she saw Gong Muyu staring intently at her computer screen, her expression grave. Yan Zhao sighed softly.

She could only hope that General Manager Mu wasn’t petty or vindictive. Despite her many grievances with the company, she had joined right after graduation and had been working there for four or five years. The camaraderie among her colleagues was strong, and the thought of being suddenly dismissed filled her with reluctance.

Seeing Yan Zhao’s dejected mood, Dong Wan and Liu Yiyang assumed she had been reprimanded by General Manager Mu in the Finance Office earlier. They suggested treating themselves to a nice lunch to lift her spirits. But just as they decided where to go, thunder rumbled outside, followed by a torrential downpour.

The three exchanged glances, speechless. With simultaneous sighs, they slumped back in their chairs.

In the General Manager’s Office, Gong Muyu, who had just emerged from the restroom, dried her hands with a tissue and picked up her phone from the desk, gazing out at the torrential rain.

Recalling the Silly’s earlier, unintentional suggestion to eat maocai, Gong Muyu opened a specific app on her phone, searched for the restaurant, and placed an order in the Silly’s name, customizing it according to her remembered preferences.

Seeing that the delivery time coincided perfectly with the lunch break, Gong Muyu set down her phone, crossed her arms, and stood by the window, watching the rain fall. Imagining the Silly’s surprised and delighted expression upon receiving the meal, Gong Muyu couldn’t help but smile.

An hour later, the rain gradually subsided. Gong Muyu looked up to see the dark clouds slowly dispersing, revealing the sun once more. Yet her expression gradually darkened.

As the clock slowly ticked past 11:30 AM, Gong Muyu looked up to see Yan Zhao already pulling Dong Wan and Liu Yiyang out of the office.

Watching their retreating figures, Gong Muyu’s brow gradually furrowed. Just then, the delivery rider arrived downstairs. Gong Muyu hurried down to intercept him before he could come up.

After verifying the order number, Gong Muyu carried the takeout back to the office under the curious gazes of her colleagues.

Opening the container, she expressionlessly ate every bite of the food, its spiciness far beyond her tolerance…

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