Transmigrating Into the Beautiful CEO’s Doomed Substitute - Chapter 81

Shen Zhibing has gradually gotten used to her regular follow-up visits to the psychological clinic, and she has also adapted to expressing the emotions and even confusions that she never would have revealed before. Under the professional guidance of the psychiatrist, she gradually saw the true self within her heart and learned to converse with her real self.

“I’m becoming increasingly obsessed with the feeling of being with her, especially when we are intimate. I feel like I am being warmed, and I am no longer alone.”

Shen Zhibing stated her feelings on the recliner. She had openly accepted the fact of having an intimate relationship with Qi Zheng, but she felt more and more at a loss.

“But I don’t know how to face her. It seems like aside from being intimate with her, I don’t know how we can interact in private.”

In the past, their private conversations mostly revolved around work. Aside from work, they had few common topics.

The psychiatrist looked serious and calmly commented, “Miss Shen, are you planning to maintain the current relationship without further development?”

Shen Zhibing shook her head hesitantly: “I know that’s impossible. If she were the former Qi Zheng, maybe it could work, but the way she is now, she won’t accept it.”

“Since Miss Shen is aware of the current situation, why don’t you talk to her?”

The doctor had suggested she talk to the other person last time.

Shen Zhibing frowned, a hint of sadness and confusion showing on her gloomy face: “I can’t guess her attitude or her thoughts, and I don’t have the confidence to know what the outcome will be after a talk. Of course, I hope she can stay by my side, but our gender, our age, and her changes over these past few days all make me feel difficult.”

The psychiatrist looked at her state and slowly said, “Are you afraid?”

“I just lack confidence.”

Shen Zhibing would never easily take a risk on something she lacked confidence in. That night was an exception; she couldn’t resist her body’s signals and made an enticing invitation. But a relationship is different; it’s not something that can be easily started with just a few words and a happy mood.

A relationship is much harder to handle than physical pleasure.

The psychiatrist didn’t offer guidance but asked Shen Zhibing to get up and sit at the desk. She looked no different from usual today, but Shen Zhibing acutely sensed that what the doctor was about to say was not good news.

Sure enough, the psychiatrist took out a report and handed it to her.

“This is your treatment report from the previous stage. It includes the preliminary conclusion and consultation suggestions for the next stage.”

Shen Zhibing opened it, read it once, and closed it with a snap, throwing it back onto the desk.

“I don’t accept this conclusion.” She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, exactly like she did when she was dissatisfied after hearing a report.

“Miss Shen, I understand how you feel. But based on your previous behavior and statements, this is indeed the phased conclusion.” She emphasized again with an even more serious, formal, and professional attitude, “Miss Shen, you are ill.”

Shen Zhibing frowned deeply, took the report, and ended today’s consultation early.

On the way back to the company, the report lay in her bag. Shen Zhibing’s memory was excellent; she had memorized it after reading it once. The report clearly stated that she had severe emotional distress and lacked normal coping abilities in handling intimate relationships.

To her, this was simply an insult.

**

Company matters haven’t decreased recently. The Miancheng side has been under investigation, and business has almost completely stalled. To ensure Shen’s Group wasn’t affected, Shen Zhibing had to transfer Miancheng’s business to other branch companies.

Even so, some core businesses, deeply rooted in the area for many years, still couldn’t be transferred, and she could only watch them go down the drain. Director Hao and the others were relatively easy to talk to. After a few dinners, they finally started helping to lobby and plead, but it hadn’t achieved the effect Shen Zhibing wanted.

Since that night, Shen Zhibing hasn’t been back to the villa for a long time. When she saw Qi Zheng at the company, she treated her no differently than anyone else. Qi Zheng would occasionally steal a few glances at her when she wasn’t paying attention, but she never expected Shen Zhibing to respond.

She was sometimes conflicted. If CEO Shen was only impulsive for a moment, why did she repeat those intimate acts again and again? She could clearly feel that Shen Zhibing was happy and relaxed when they were together, that she enjoyed that kind of interaction.

But Shen Zhibing’s other behaviors confused Qi Zheng. They still hadn’t found a suitable opportunity to properly talk about this matter. Neither of them was a casual person, so how did they suddenly become so casual?

Xin Jia just came out of the pantry with a cup of coffee and lightly nudged Qi Zheng next to her: “You’ve been spacing out all morning. What are you thinking about so intently?”

Qi Zheng adjusted her thoughts and laughed: “Nothing, I’m just relaxing a bit.”

Xin Jia held the cup radiating the rich aroma of coffee and took a sip: “CEO Shen and Sister Yun Fei will probably be in meetings all day today. She probably won’t have time to look at those reports you have. If you’re really tired, leave early after work.”

Qi Zheng was the youngest and least experienced in the secretarial office, and everyone usually took good care of her. Qi Zheng worked diligently, never slacking off, learned quickly, and had a good temper, so her seniors adored her even more.

Qi Zheng still smiled and shook her head: “It has to be done sooner or later. I feel more at ease if I finish it early.”

Seeing that her state had returned to normal, Xin Jia didn’t press her further, holding her coffee and returning to her seat. With CEO Shen absent, the workload in the secretarial office didn’t decrease. They were all self-disciplined and earnest, and wouldn’t actively slack off.

Just before lunchtime, the person in charge of the logistics office suddenly brought a few people in work uniforms, jogging over.

Xin Jia stood up and asked, “Manager Chen, what happened?”

“Secretary Xin, during the circuit pipe maintenance last night, somehow the area above CEO Shen’s office got damaged. It’s leaking water now!”

Xin Jia panicked upon hearing this and led them into Shen Zhibing’s office.

“Everything was normal this morning, how could this happen!”

Xin Jia stared at the scene, which looked like indoor rain, and was stunned.

Qi Zheng followed, standing by the door. The leaked area wasn’t too large, but it was almost entirely concentrated right above Shen Zhibing’s desk.

Xin Jia stepped aside and waved urgently: “Manager Chen, hurry up and have them deal with it!”

CEO Shen would definitely be angry about this when she returned. There was no time to assign blame now; stopping the water was the priority.

The workers entered the CEO’s office under Manager Chen’s command and began working. The ladder was placed next to the desk, and as the ceiling was about to be peeled back, the column of water instantly shocked everyone present.

Qi Zheng rushed over, got close to the desk, and nervously looked at the documents on it.

Shen Zhibing had a lot of matters to handle every day, and many documents to review. There should still be a few unread reports on the adjustment of the acquisition plan on the desk, which were considered commercial secrets.

Many of the calculated data inside were confidential. Since there were many eyes, and not everyone among the internal staff necessarily had bright intentions—especially after what happened last time where even the internal network could be hacked—Qi Zheng had learned a lesson.

She was now more cautious at the company than before, but what she was most concerned about was these data reports.

“Move the desk away, don’t rush to take down the panel!” Qi Zheng spoke up, stopping the workers’ movements.

So two or three people moved the CEO’s heavy oak desk away, and only then was the entire ceiling panel in the leaking area removed. Qi Zheng and Xin Jia organized the items on the desk on the side, but Xin Jia occasionally had to communicate with Manager Chen about the situation, so most of the time it was Qi Zheng handling it.

She saw the water stains flowing from the desktop into the drawers, and she was afraid of soaking the items inside the drawers. After a brief hesitation, she borrowed a tool from a worker and pried open the drawers. She had no intention of prying into anything; she just wanted to minimize the loss as much as possible.

Generally, things put into drawers were more important.

She first took out the items in the right column of drawers one by one, sorting them into plastic boxes according to the degree of immersion. Then she moved to the left side and opened the drawers.

The top drawer was pulled open, and the sight inside was completely different from the four drawers on the right. This drawer didn’t look like what should be in a CEO’s office; it contained all sorts of miscellaneous items, with nothing related to work.

Qi Zheng quickly glanced and saw a bar coaster that was already half-wet, with smudged handwriting on it. Connecting it to the plot, she immediately guessed that this must have been left by Lian Ao when he was with Shen Zhibing before.

These were the traces and evidence of their past relationship.

Qi Zheng couldn’t spare the time to look closely at each one. She still used the same method as before to organize the items in the four drawers in the left column. The only difference was that she put the items from the top drawer into a small box and immediately put the lid on.

This was CEO Shen’s secret, and absolutely couldn’t be seen by anyone. The consequence of this being exposed would be even more serious than commercial data being spied upon. Qi Zheng suppressed the faint discomfort in her heart and finished the task with a calm expression.

Everyone’s attention was focused on the ceiling. Xin Jia occasionally looked over at Qi Zheng, and seeing that she had calmly and meticulously sorted and organized everything, she was completely relieved and concentrated on the maintenance issue with Manager Chen.

When Shen Zhibing returned after the afternoon meeting, her expression worsened upon hearing Xin Jia’s report about the leak.

“Let the office side investigate this matter thoroughly first.”

Shen Zhibing temporarily didn’t have the extra energy to manage this, but the matter of accountability couldn’t be ignored.

Yun Fei took the items from Qi Zheng. Seeing the small box with a lid, she was a little surprised: “Why does this one need to be placed separately?”

Qi Zheng spoke vaguely: “The items in this box are quite special. I guess they are CEO Shen’s private possessions, so I didn’t mix them with the other work documents.”

Yun Fei nodded approvingly: “You are very careful and thoughtful. We were lucky to have you today.”

Yun Fei took the items into the office, which was mostly restored to its original state. However, the carpet was still soaked, and it felt strange to walk on.

“Manager Chen said he would arrange for someone to come and replace the carpet after work tonight.”

Shen Zhibing was looking at the documents discussed in today’s meeting and hummed in acknowledgment.

Yun Fei placed the items on the corner of the desk and asked, “CEO Shen, should these documents be processed first, or put back now?”

Shen Zhibing thought for a moment: “I’ll trouble you to air-dry all the documents. Restore what can be restored, and for those that can’t, make copies and shred the originals.”

Yun Fei had planned this earlier, just waiting for CEO Shen’s official instruction.

Shen Zhibing picked up the topmost small box, opened it, glanced inside, and was momentarily stunned.

She slowly closed the lid and handed it to Yun Fei: “Keep this with the other things I told you to store, and be absolutely careful.”

Author’s Note:

Psychiatrist: Miss Shen, you are ill. CEO Shen: I’m not ill, I’m perfectly fine. Author: No, CEO Shen, you are ill. You have a condition called ‘Qi Zheng Addiction,’ and you’re about to have a flare-up soon. Qi Zheng: … PS: There will be an extra chapter added in an hour. muah