Not a Scummy Alpha, But a Sweet Puppy (Transmigration Into A Novel) - Chapter 17

Gu Zhibai’s gaze, though light as a feather, landed on Su Qiwen with the weight of a thousand pounds. He forced himself to maintain a composed facade, standing with his colleagues as if nothing had happened.

Once the pair had left, the group erupted into a flurry of speculation.

“CEO Gu personally came to pick up Xiao Jiang? What’s their relationship?”

“I asked Xiao Jiang, and she said she doesn’t have any relatives at Gu Corporation.”

Someone turned to Wang Lin, who seemed closest to Jiang Zhenmian. “Sister Lin, you two are pretty close. Do you know anything?”

A peculiar glint flashed in Wang Lin’s eyes as she glanced at Su Qiwen, whose face had turned pale. She waved her hand dismissively. “I’m not sure either. She told me she usually lives at the school dormitory and never mentioned CEO Gu.”

“Wow, she’s been hiding this all along!”

The dinner, now punctuated by this unexpected incident, dissolved into wild speculation. Convinced they had uncovered a major scandal, the group lost their appetite for drinking and decided to call it a night early.

No one dared to ask Jiang Zhenmian directly about the situation. When it involved their top boss, it was best to avoid questioning the parties involved, lest they say something wrong. All that mattered was maintaining good relations with Xiao Jiang.

As for Su Qiwen, who had previously ostracized Jiang Zhenmian, he must have been regretting his actions to the core.

Yet no one anticipated that Su Qiwen wouldn’t show up for work on Monday. Had he taken a leave of absence out of guilt?

After returning from dinner, Su Qiwen immediately called his uncle, Su Zhen. The moment the call connected, he began to plead desperately, “Second Uncle, I’m done for! You have to save me!”

Su Zhen, a portly, balding man in his fifties, held a cigar in one hand and replied dismissively, “Slow down, Qiwen. What’s happened now? Honestly, you’re old enough to know better. Stop causing trouble and making me clean up your messes. Try to be more careful.”

Su Qiwen stammered nervously, “It’s… it’s CEO Gu. She said she’s going to fire me.”
Su Zhen’s hand jerked, and he demanded loudly, “What did you say?”

Su Qiwen had no choice but to explain everything, including how he’d harassed Jiang Zhenmian and been caught red-handed. He finished in a panic, “What am I going to do, Second Uncle? Can I still work at Gu Corporation?”

He’d been coasting at work, taking advantage of his uncle’s shareholder status to slack off and even pocket kickbacks. He had no intention of leaving.

Su Zhen snapped, “You’ve really messed up this time! Caught in the act? How am I supposed to help you now? Didn’t you bother to check who you were messing with before causing trouble?”

His face twisted with resentment as he added, “Gu Zhibai isn’t exactly a saint either. She treats us minority shareholders like dirt and has been trying to buy back our shares for ages.”

After a moment’s thought, he said impatiently, “I’ll see what I can do, but you can’t stay in the Art Department. I’ll try to get you transferred to another department. Just keep your head down and don’t cause any more trouble. If you do, even I won’t be able to save you!”

“Thank you, Second Uncle! Thank you, Second Uncle! I’ll be good as gold, I promise! I won’t lift a finger!” Su Qiwen’s spirits soared instantly. He showered his uncle with flattery before hanging up.

Human Resources had already received instructions to fire Su Qiwen, but before the notice could be issued, they received a new order to transfer him to the Marketing and Publicity Department. This put them in a bind.

The CEO’s orders couldn’t be ignored, but Su Qiwen was a shareholder. Even if he had no real power at shareholder meetings, he still outranked a mere employee like her and could easily influence her job security.

She didn’t want to offend both sides and end up losing her job.

After agonizing over the decision, Human Resources gritted her teeth and decided to side with the CEO. After all, it was her company. However, she covered her bases by reporting the matter and submitting the recorded phone call.

Gu Zhibai loathed these corporate parasites who relied on nepotism and contributed nothing. Having caught Su Qiwen red-handed, she publicly fired him and the messenger who relayed his message during Monday’s morning meeting.

The managers sitting here were all seasoned veterans, their minds as intricate as the holes in a lotus root. They kept their eyes down, noses to their hearts, determined not to get involved.

When Gu Zhibai went to pick up Jiang Zhenmian that day, she hadn’t explicitly told her employees to keep it quiet. By the next day, nearly everyone knew: Xiao Jiang, the new girl in the Art Department, had a special connection with CEO Gu. Su Qiwen’s subsequent dismissal only confirmed their suspicions.

The exact nature of their relationship remained a mystery.

CEO Gu’s assistant, ever composed, had been the first to notice. But with her high salary and strong professional ethics, she never breathed a word of her boss’s private affairs.

In her mind, CEO Gu was like a tragic second lead, hopelessly in love and forced to steal glances to ease her longing. Xiao Jiang, meanwhile, was the oblivious, naturally naive heroine, unaware of the secret admirer in her midst.

Yes, the assistant, ever on the cutting edge of gossip, had already started shipping the couple in her mind.

Su Qiwen’s dismissal sent the Art Department into a frenzy of celebration, with talk of another celebratory gathering. Only the remaining sycophants wore sour expressions.

The next day at work, Wang Lin pulled Jiang Zhenmian into the stairwell and handed her a small box containing a dessert. Lowering her voice, she said, “I think I know why Su Qiwen was fired. Did he… did he try to touch you?”

“To be honest, I’ve been harassed too. Half the women in our department have been taken advantage of by him in some way or another. A touch here, a pat there. If we made a fuss, it would seem like we were overreacting, but keeping it bottled up felt suffocating and disgusting.”

“He has connections, so we all just had to endure it. Anyway, thank you so much. This is a matcha cake I made myself, just a small token of my gratitude.”

No wonder she hesitated when I mentioned the gathering earlier… Jiang Zhenmian accepted the box, her expression sincere. “He just got unlucky. I should be thanking you, Sister Lin, for always helping me out of those awkward situations.”

Wang Lin smiled. “It was nothing, really. Come on, let’s head back.”

After this incident, Jiang Zhenmian’s popularity in the department skyrocketed. The girls gathered in groups, chatting and laughing. Gu Zhibai watched them from the security monitors, a familiar discomfort stirring within her.

I need to calm down, she told herself. It’s normal to feel possessive when someone you like gets close to other women. Now that I understand this, I should just relax and not dwell on it so much.
But even as she reasoned with herself, her eyes remained fixed on the screen. The documents spread out on her desk hadn’t been turned for quite some time.

Jiang Zhenmian’s life suddenly settled into a routine: dorm, company, weekly elective class. Everything was peaceful. On weekends, she sometimes went out with Gu Zhibai to wander around or catch a movie.

In Jiang Zhenmian’s mind, this was what she called “a date.”

One day, she pushed open the door, and snowflakes swirled into her arms on the wind. Winter had arrived.

The temperature seemed to have plummeted overnight. Just a few days ago, she could wear a short-sleeved shirt with a light jacket; now she needed a sweater.

Every pedestrian’s face was wreathed in vapor, exhaling puffs of white breath. Jiang Zhenmian rubbed her cheeks and stepped into the snowy wind.

Thanks to her music appreciation videos, she now had over four hundred thousand followers.

After repeated trials and tribulations, Jiang Zhenmian finally abandoned her remaining shred of pride. She had evolved from a “broken pot” mentality to a fearless, even slightly amused, state of mind.

If I can’t resist, I might as well enjoy it.

It’s worth mentioning that she had also earned a substantial side income from this.

Her fans jokingly called her the “Most Beautiful Songstress,” which was another way of saying she was just pretty.

The snow fell thickly, quickly covering her head and shoulders. Even after careful shaking, many flakes lingered. When she entered the subway, the warm air steamed them into tiny droplets, leaving her clothes and hair damp.

The walk from the subway station to the office left Jiang Zhenmian covered in snow again. Resigned, she stomped the snow off her shoes at the entrance, her cheeks and ears burning red from the cold. I should have worn a hat, she thought.

It was the first snowfall of the year, yet it was surprisingly heavy. Everyone was bundled up like winter bears emerging from hibernation, shedding their bulky coats in their office dens and clutching mugs of hot water to warm their hands.
As evening approached and everyone left for the day, Jiang Zhenmian remained behind, claiming she had a bit more work to finish. Soon, she was the only one left in the Marketing and Publicity Department.

Jiang Zhenmian pulled out her phone and, feeling like a thief, secretly texted Gu Zhibai: “Sister, are you off work yet?”

“Not yet,” Gu Zhibai replied.

“Can I come up to see you? I have a surprise for you,” Jiang Zhenmian said.

After receiving permission, Jiang Zhenmian immediately shut down her computer, put on her coat, and took the elevator downstairs.

By now, it was an hour and a half past the official quitting time. The company didn’t encourage overtime, so most employees left promptly at the end of the day, leaving the building eerily empty and quiet.

Jiang Zhenmian stepped out of the main entrance and scooped up a large handful of snow from the snow-covered flowerbed beside her. She rolled it around in her palms, shaping it into a round ball, then kept adding more snow until the ball grew so large she needed both hands to support it. She set it aside and began rolling a smaller one.

The two stacked together formed the basic snowman shape. A small strip of red cloth served as its scarf, two chocolate chips became its eyes, and twigs snapped from a nearby bush formed its arms. For the nose, she rolled a piece of red-painted rice paper into a cone.

Gu Zhibai’s office was on the top floor. Jiang Zhenmian carried the snowman in her coat, careful not to melt the snow with her hands, and waited anxiously in the elevator until it finally reached the top floor.

The top floor had only one office, with a small assistant’s room next to it. The assistant glanced up at her but said nothing, immediately returning to her computer screen.

Jiang Zhenmian knocked on the door, and a voice called out, “Come in.” Her face lit up with a smile as she pushed the door open. Before it closed completely, the assistant heard a faint “Sister” from inside.

Oh my.

“Sister, look! Ta-da! A snowman!”

This wasn’t her first time visiting the office. Sometimes they made plans to have dinner together, and Jiang Zhenmian would come upstairs after work to wait for Gu Zhibai to finish up.
“Did you make this just now?”

The snowman, about twenty centimeters tall, sat nestled in Jiang Zhenmian’s arms, its round belly and petite frame utterly charming.

It was the first time Gu Zhibai had ever received a real snowman.

“Yeah, the snow today is so sticky, and the flakes are huge perfect for building a snowman,” Jiang Zhenmian said with a smug grin, as if seeking praise. “Not bad for my first attempt, right?”

Gu Zhibai cherished such thoughtful gestures. She wasn’t lacking in material possessions; to her, a hand-knitted scarf meant more than ten gemstone necklaces.

She reached out to pick up the snowman, but Jiang Zhenmian deftly sidestepped her. “The snow’s freezing, Sister. Your hands will get too cold. Better not touch it.”

“Alright,” Gu Zhibai replied, a hint of disappointment in her voice. After admiring the snowman for a moment, she suddenly stood up and began rummaging through a nearby cabinet, muttering, “I remember there was a box here… where did it go? Ah, here it is.”

She hurried back, opened the box, and said gently, “Put the snowman in here. I’ll put it in the freezer so it can last longer.”

Support Not a Scummy Alpha, But a Sweet Puppy (Transmigration Into A Novel)