Which 'Me' Is the One You Love? [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The one-month deadline arrived quickly. The target had been set by Xia Shang based on the upper limits of Lu Shen’s capabilities. In other words, unless Lu Shen devoted himself entirely to his work, the Marketing Department’s performance would never reach the expected goal.

As it stood, Lu Shen had not only failed to manage the department with care, but he had also shoehorned Bai Xiaorou into the team, resulting in performance figures even uglier than the previous month’s. Xia Shang didn’t even need to say much; the other executives present had already begun to question Lu Shen’s competence.

“I won’t say much else. A new Marketing Manager will arrive tomorrow.” During the high-level routine meeting, Xia Shang gave Lu Shen no face at all and directly announced the replacement.

“President Xia, this month…” Lu Shen didn’t want his confidant dismissed and frowned, attempting to explain.

“This month’s performance is even worse than last month’s, and we are currently in peak season. Do you have any other excuses?” Xia Shang countered.

Lu Shen remained silent, but his gaze became profoundly dark, hiding a deep-seated resentment.

This is a textbook setup for a revenge plot, Jiang Zhou thought, slowly tapping on her keyboard and occasionally taking a sip from the cup beside her.

Sss—it’s a bit cold, but the taste is still so good~

Perhaps because they had suffered during the last meeting, the other departments performed well this time, except for Lu Shen and the Marketing Manager. A few individuals were even praised by Xia Shang, and their bonuses for the month were doubled on the spot.

Lu Shen’s dignity was once again trampled into the dirt. After the meeting adjourned, his face was incredibly dark. Once the other employees had left, he walked straight up to Xia Shang.

“Xia Shang, are you targeting me?” Lu Shen gritted his teeth, his voice turning hoarse. “Are you trying to drive me out of the company?”

“You’re overthinking it. I am simply conducting business in an official capacity.” Xia Shang gave Lu Shen a cool, sideways glance. “If I wanted to kick you out of the company, it would only take a single sentence.”

Lu Shen said nothing, his expression turning even more hideous. It was undeniable that as the majority shareholder and CEO, Xia Shang truly could make him get lost with one word.

After an unknown amount of time—long enough for Jiang Zhou to finish her now room-temperature milk tea—Lu Shen finally moved. He took a step back, turned to walk to the door, then looked back at Xia Shang. “Xia Shang, we’ll see about this.”

“Was he threatening you?” Jiang Zhou rubbed her stomach. She had spent the last two hours focused on drinking milk tea and felt a bit bloated.

“He can’t threaten me,” Xia Shang said flatly, flicking an imaginary speck of dust off her shoulder. “He’s just a mediocre amateur. He doesn’t have half the means his father had. He won’t amount to anything.”

Jiang Zhou remained noncommittal. Lu Shen might seem useless, but she hadn’t forgotten Xia Shang’s future fate. A person who was the richest in the country getting stabbed by an employee’s wife in a mall and dying after failed resuscitation sounded as ridiculous as it could get.

Putting aside what would happen in three years, Xia Shang might be cold, but it was a “business is business” kind of cold. Oppressing people into overtime wasn’t her style; she was needed to coordinate the company’s strategic direction, not to pick on individual employees.

As for being a bystander to death without helping? Even more impossible. If Xia Shang were that kind of person, Jiang Zhou would jump off the company roof herself!

“Xia Shang, do you have abs?” Jiang Zhou suddenly asked.

“Why ask that?” Xia Shang arched an eyebrow, her mind wandering. “Do you want to feel them?”

Jiang Zhou let out a playful whistle and replied half-jokingly, “To be honest, I kind of do.”

“Then feel free to try,” Xia Shang’s lips curled slightly. “No one else will come in here.”

Jiang Zhou arched an eyebrow and began to calculate the feasibility of this. After her thoughts wandered for less than three seconds, she quickly snapped them back. She had serious business to attend to! What was she doing thinking about abs!

“Xia Shang, how many people can you take on at once?” Jiang Zhou pulled the straying topic back.

Xia Shang sat up straight. “You mean in a fight?”

“Yes.” Given Xia Shang’s height and body fat ratio, let alone women, even average adult males might not be a match for her.

“If both sides are unarmed, maybe two or three ordinary people,” Xia Shang estimated her strength. “I only go to boxing classes on weekends. My level is average.”

As expected, there must be a catch to Xia Shang’s death.

Based on existing information, the only person with a significant conflict with Xia Shang was Lu Shen. If there was a mastermind behind those future events, it was almost certainly related to him.

“Why the sudden question?” Seeing Jiang Zhou spacing out, Xia Shang squeezed her hand. “Do you want to learn boxing? Or were you bullied?”

Jiang Zhou snapped back to reality and shook her head. “I just thought of some news I saw recently. A few friends went shopping together, and someone suddenly rushed out on the street and stabbed them. The victim died after failed resuscitation.”

Xia Shang fell silent for a moment. She stood up, walked to Jiang Zhou’s side, leaned down, and embraced her. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything like that happen to you. Don’t be afraid.”

Jiang Zhou blinked and looked up at Xia Shang. Meeting her serious and focused gaze, the corners of Jiang Zhou’s mouth couldn’t help but rise.

Silley, I’m not the one who’s afraid.

…

When two people share a bed, will things “spark”?

To this question, Jiang Zhou could give a definitive answer.

No. Nothing happened; they just slept under the same quilt.

As long as Jiang Zhou didn’t take the lead, Xia Shang wouldn’t make any transgressive moves. Their contact was limited to the physical—holding hands and hugging were routine—but kissing… it seemed they hadn’t reached that stage yet.

If it were just to complete the mission, Jiang Zhou should have been more proactive. But when she remembered that this world was real, she hesitated. Xia Shang was a living person, after all; she couldn’t just use her and toss her away.

“Goodnight.” After the lights were out, Jiang Zhou proactively hugged Xia Shang, brushed her lips against Xia Shang’s cheek, and then pretended to fall asleep.

Since she’s a living person, she must have needs. I should be more proactive.

“Good… night.” Xia Shang couldn’t help but touch the spot where she had been kissed. She then mimicked Jiang Zhou and gave her a kiss in return.

Jiang Zhou steadied her expression and silently nudged her head further into Xia Shang’s embrace.

Indeed, Xia Shang has desires too, doesn’t she? It looks like I can implement the final step in a few days!

…

After the Marketing Manager was replaced, the frequency of Lu Shen’s appearances at the company dropped significantly. He had no reaction to Bai Xiaorou being fired, either. He just suddenly went quiet, as if he were brewing something.

Xia Shang didn’t care about Lu Shen’s situation at all. She went to work and came home as usual, controlling the company’s direction and steadily building up its market value.

Xia Shang’s indifference stemmed from her self-confidence; she didn’t believe a mere Lu Shen could affect her. But Jiang Zhou was different. Through the system, she knew Xia Shang’s ending—an ending she could not accept.

Looking at the Restoration Progress, which was still stuck at 10%, Jiang Zhou couldn’t help but rub her temples. How was she supposed to change this? These were clearly baseless accusations. With her around, Xia Shang would never do those things anyway.

[Ding! Restoration Progress +1. Current Restoration: 11/100.] Just as Jiang Zhou was considering whether to “take out” Lu Shen ahead of time, the system notification arrived.

“Why did the progress go up?” Jiang Zhou asked about the system. She hadn’t done anything yet.

[Please explore on your own, Host.] The system gave no hints and quickly went offline.

Jiang Zhou stroked her chin. Could it be because I just considered whether I could take Lu Shen out? So the progress rose?

Should I give it a try? Like… driving a car to break Lu Shen’s leg?

[Ding! Restoration Progress +5. Current Restoration: 16/100.] The system chimed again.

Alright, it was confirmed: Lu Shen was the stumbling block for her restoration progress! Just casually thinking about it added 1%, and thinking seriously about it added 5%. If she actually went and did it, wouldn’t she just finish the mission immediately?!

No sooner said than done. Jiang Zhou immediately opened her laptop, her fingers flying across the keys so fast they left afterimages.

Before long, a series of codes appeared on the screen, scrolling rapidly.

After about ten minutes, a window popped up on Jiang Zhou’s screen. If Lu Shen were present, he would definitely recognize it as his own computer desktop.

Jiang Zhou browsed through the files, copied everything useful, and even discovered a password-protected file.

When she opened it, it was a business proposal. Upon seeing the company name on the documents, the expression on Jiang Zhou’s face became subtle.

Lu-Bai Technology Co., Ltd. At first glance, this was a combination of Lu Shen and Bai Xiaorou. Had those two “achieved their fruit” so quickly?

Seeing the company’s relevant data, Jiang Zhou’s expression grew serious. This newly registered company’s business overlapped nearly 90% with Xia Shang’s company.

As the Assistant to the President, although Jiang Zhou occasionally slacked off on the forums, she never missed a single task she was supposed to do. When she saw the enterprises Lu-Bai was collaborating with, a flash of realization crossed her face.

No wonder Lu Shen hadn’t been coming to the office lately. He was busy trying to steal Xia Shang’s clients. If these clients switched to Lu-Bai, it would be a significant loss for Xia Shang.

Jiang Zhou carefully checked the content on the computer. Once sure she hadn’t missed anything, she dropped a tiny virus inside.

The next time Lu Shen turned on his computer, it would freeze within three minutes, followed by a frantic pop-up storm of “inappropriate” websites. This way, even if it were trashed, Lu Shen would only think it happened because he looked at things he wasn’t supposed to.

Things turned out much more interesting than Jiang Zhou had imagined. The second time Lu Shen turned on his computer, he happened to be at his new company. He had just called a general staff meeting and was about to give a speech to establish his authority when the virus took effect.

Seeing the “content-rich” images on the big screen, the employees below tried desperately to hold it in, some even covering their mouths to keep from laughing out loud.

“What’s wrong with you? We are in a meeting!” Lu Shen’s back was to the screen. Seeing his employees like this, he felt his authority was being challenged.

“Um, President… look at the screen…” the assistant whispered a reminder.

Lu Shen turned around. Seeing the images on the big screen, his face turned terrifyingly dark.

[Ding! Restoration Progress +10. Current Restoration: 26/100.]