After Zhang Xiyue returned to her place, she slept straight through until nightfall.
Her stomach was already growling. She sat on the bed in a daze for a while before turning on the light.
Dinner was instant noodles with three sausages. The noodles were neither too hard nor too soft, their texture as fashionably wavy as the perm beloved by middle-aged and elderly women.
Zhang Xiyue sat cross-legged in front of the coffee table. Under the light, the uneven walls condensed into patches of shifting shadows.
She had rented this place five days ago.
When she first transmigrated here, all she had on her were her ID and her phone. The phone had no signal, making it no more useful than a brick.
Still, although the phone itself was useless, its components were worth a little money. After thinking it over for a long time, she had eventually found a street-side phone shop and sold the camera for two hundred yuan.
With that two hundred yuan, she had taken the subway and then a bus to Yunxi Temple, where she temporarily found a place to eat and sleep for free.
But it was only temporary.
Whether in a novel’s world or the real world, it was impossible to get by without money.
So when she discovered that her ID was also valid in this world, her first reaction had been to apply for online loans—small loans, large loans, she had planned to take them all.
After all, if she completed her mission successfully, she would be able to return home. Why not take a shortcut and make her life a little more comfortable?
But the moment that thought appeared, she had suppressed it.
First of all, the risks of taking out online loans were too great. If debt collectors came knocking one day, they could easily interfere with her mission.
Secondly, although she would do everything in her power to return to the real world, she couldn’t guarantee that she would actually succeed. What if she failed to go back and ended up saddled with a mountain of high-interest debt? That would be utterly miserable.
And finally—the most important point—the online-lending system in this novel’s world was strict. To get a loan, she first had to provide proof of assets or a record of consumer spending.
Well, she had neither.
Since shortcuts were out of the question, she could only keep her feet on the ground.
Fortunately, her double major in economics and law was still valid in this world. Only the name of her alma mater had been changed to that of a university in the novel with a similar ranking.
Using the temple’s communal computer, she registered an account on a paid-knowledge website and began making money by reviewing contracts and helping people avoid legal risks.
As luck would have it, she gained a regular client not long after registering.
The client was taciturn but generous. Every day or two, he would send her another assignment, allowing her to quickly save up enough money to comfortably support herself after leaving Yunxi Temple.
Come to think of it, she hadn’t contacted the client in two days.
After finishing her instant noodles, Zhang Xiyue took out a secondhand laptop and skillfully logged on to the website.
Sure enough, the backend showed that a new file was waiting to be received.
She clicked on the client’s profile and replied, “I’ll take a look now,” then opened the contract he had sent her.
It was a procurement contract this time.
In just half a month, she had already reviewed more than a dozen different types of contracts for him. She still hadn’t figured out what exactly he did.
If he was a boss, then the contracts he sent her were always for trivial matters. If he was an employee, then no employee could possibly be in charge of business from so many different departments at once.
He seemed almost as if he were being bullied.
But the speed at which he paid proved that he either had a very high income or came from a very good family.
Someone like that probably wouldn’t let others bully him.
She couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
Zhang Xiyue pinched the bridge of her nose and began reading the contract.
As with many of the previous contracts, the details were mostly trivial, but among the dozens of clauses, there were always one or two that were unreasonable.
She highlighted the problematic sections in red and checked them twice more. Once she was certain there were no mistakes, she sent the contract back to the client.
A minute later, the backend notified her that eight hundred yuan had been deposited.
The corners of Zhang Xiyue’s lips lifted. After withdrawing the money, she glanced at the client’s profile picture again—
A gray-white background, a thin, solitary wrist, and a bright red cord tied around it. At thumbnail size, it looked almost like blood.
One look at the profile picture made it clear that the client wasn’t very old. He was also extremely chuunibyou, gloomy, and… yandere.
The moment the word “yandere” popped into Zhang Xiyue’s head, she couldn’t help laughing. She felt she was becoming a little obsessed, seeing yandere traits in everyone.
After finishing the contract and taking a shower, she finally welcomed a relaxing evening.
Over the next two days, the client didn’t contact her again. Cheng Mingjiao’s company didn’t get in touch with her either, and her volunteer work had ended.
Zhang Xiyue enjoyed the most leisurely forty-eight hours she had experienced since transmigrating into the novel—until five o’clock on Friday afternoon, when she received a text confirming her employment.
The message asked her to report to work at nine on Monday morning. Since she still had time, she went shopping for a few clothes the next day.
Although the client she had met online paid generously, she had only just arrived in this world and had too many expenses to cover. When it came to clothes, she bought only discounted items.
Still, she felt that as long as the clothes fit well, whether they were on sale or not didn’t really matter.
Monday morning arrived in no time.
She got out of bed as soon as seven o’clock passed, put on light makeup, slipped into a skirt and five-centimeter heels, and tied her hair into a high ponytail.
Looking at her neat and capable reflection in the mirror, Zhang Xiyue sighed. She couldn’t understand how anyone could be this unfortunate. Even after transmigrating into a novel, she still had to go to work.
The unfortunate woman arrived at the office precisely at nine.
Unlike the cold, deserted atmosphere she had encountered during her last visit, this time the office was as lively as a marketplace.
But the marketplace fell silent the moment she entered. Three people holding coffee and milk tea turned to look at her in perfect unison, like meerkats.
Zhang Xiyue gave them a poised smile and waved. “Good morning.”
The three meerkats remained speechless for a moment. Finally, a short, round-faced woman broke the silence.
“You scared me! I thought the Emperor had arrived.”
Once one person spoke, the others quickly joined in.
“My heart nearly stopped…”
“No, I need to take some quick-acting heart-saving pills. That was terrifying.”
“Thank goodness, thank goodness…”
After expressing their lingering fear in a flurry of chatter, the three of them enthusiastically greeted Zhang Xiyue.
“You’re the new assistant, right? Welcome, welcome! We’re colleagues from now on.”
“How are you so pretty? How old are you? Are you a fresh graduate?”
“How’s your heart? Your blood pressure? How do you sleep? And mentally—are you all right?”
They surrounded Zhang Xiyue, firing off questions one after another.
She could only answer each question as it came.
“I’m twenty-eight.”
“No, I’m not a fresh graduate.”
“My health should be… pretty good.”
Zhang Xiyue had always been good at socializing, and she was easygoing and generous. It didn’t take long for her to become familiar with the three of them.
The short, round-faced woman who had spoken to her first was Fangfang, one of the office secretaries Zhou Ce had mentioned before.
The only man in the office was Li Dong. The other woman, tall and slender, was Sun Nian. Like Zhang Xiyue, both of them were assistants.
“It’s just the three of us and Assistant Zhou at the company right now. Secretary Wu and the others are away on a business trip and won’t be back until next month.” Fangfang patted Zhang Xiyue on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’re all very easy to get along with.”
Sensing her goodwill, Zhang Xiyue returned her a friendly smile.
After the greetings, Fangfang pulled her into a work group called “Yu Huang Intelligent Secretary Office.”
Including her, the group had nine members. As the newcomer who had just joined that day, Zhang Xiyue politely introduced herself and said that she would work hard in the future.
The moment the message was sent, Fangfang and the others started going, “Hey, hey, hey!”
“Quick, withdraw it!” Li Dong shouted.
Zhang Xiyue had no idea what was going on, but she did as she was told. Unfortunately, just as she pressed and held the message, Cheng Mingjiao replied: Are you that bored?
Zhang Xiyue: “?”
She wasn’t friends with Cheng Mingjiao on WeChat. She was certain it was him only because his username was “Cheng Mingjiao,” and his profile picture was a photo of him in a suit.
“Don’t withdraw it, don’t withdraw it! Apologize!” Fangfang rushed over in her high heels, snatched the phone from her, and quickly sent a message: Sorry.
The few people who had just returned to their desks had somehow gathered around again. With their hands on their hips and their heads bowed, they all stared at Zhang Xiyue’s phone.
Their intense attention made Zhang Xiyue a little nervous. Just as she was about to ask what had happened, Sun Nian’s phone suddenly rang.
“It’s Zhou Ce.” She glanced at the screen and relaxed. “Someone submitted the wrong project proposal. The Emperor should be too busy to bother with the group chat now.”
Fangfang and Li Dong immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
After a moment of silence, Zhang Xiyue ventured, “The Emperor you’re talking about… is Mr. Cheng?”
“Exactly. That’s what we call him in private,” Fangfang reminded her. “In private, okay?”
Zhang Xiyue understood. Then she asked, “Was there something wrong with what I said just now?”
“Not really. It’s just that the Emperor doesn’t like people chatting in work groups, and he hates stickers too. Keep that in mind next time.” Fangfang stretched lazily as she offered the reminder.
Zhang Xiyue indicated that she would remember.
Fangfang was about to say more when Li Dong suddenly shouted, “The Emperor’s downstairs!”
The moment he said it, the three veteran employees sprang into action. Fangfang hurried back to her desk, calling out, “Why is he so early today?” She quickly pulled out a document and began flipping through it.
The office fell silent in an instant. The only sound was the rustling of turning pages.
Even while she was busy, Fangfang didn’t forget to tell Zhang Xiyue that the desk in the corner belonged to her and that there was an employee handbook on it.
“It’s your first day, so familiarize yourself with the company rules and regulations first,” she said. “I’ll assign you some work tomorrow.”
Zhang Xiyue thanked her. The moment she sat down at her desk, the office phone let out a shrill ring.
The veteran employees looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy. After exchanging glances, Sun Nian picked up the phone.
“Hello… Yes… Yes.”
After hanging up, Sun Nian gave Fangfang a sympathetic look. “Fang, Mr. Cheng is already in his office. He wants you to bring him a cup of coffee.”
Fangfang took a deep breath, set down the document, and went out.
She didn’t close the door behind her. From where Zhang Xiyue sat, she had a clear view of the president’s office across from them, its door tightly shut, as well as the pantry diagonally opposite.
She watched Fangfang make a cup of coffee in the pantry, carry it into the office, and then bring it back out untouched.
She poured it away, made another cup, and repeated the process.
After this happened two or three more times, Zhang Xiyue glanced at Li Dong beside her.
Li Dong seemed completely used to it. “Mr. Cheng is very particular about his coffee.”
“…Does this happen every day?” Zhang Xiyue asked.
Li Dong nodded. Seeing the puzzled expression on her face, he asked, “Are you wondering why we don’t just follow the proportions exactly and recreate the flavor he likes?”
Zhang Xiyue had a strong sense of professional boundaries. At that, she merely gave him a gentle smile and didn’t ask the question aloud.
Li Dong explained anyway. “Because what Mr. Cheng likes changes every day.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…Huh?”
Li Dong continued, “Yesterday he liked it sweet. Today he might like it bitter. Tomorrow he might want it hot, and the day after tomorrow, cold. Until it’s time to make his coffee, nobody knows what he’ll want.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
What a difficult man to please.
As they spoke, Fangfang emerged from the president’s office for the fourth time. When she realized all her colleagues were watching her, she gave them a helpless smile.
“The meeting starts in half an hour, and I haven’t even finished familiarizing myself with the materials,” she sighed. “Now I’m going to get scolded over the coffee, and soon I’ll get scolded for not knowing the meeting procedures.”
Li Dong and Sun Nian both expressed their sympathy.
Zhang Xiyue thought for two seconds before standing up. “Fang, keep going over the materials. I’ll make the coffee.”
The three veteran employees all turned to look at her.
Zhang Xiyue asked pleasantly, “Is that okay?”
Fangfang was tempted, but quickly regained her composure. “Forget it. I’m afraid you’ll come running out in tears.”
Zhang Xiyue considered her words. “I… have a pretty good tolerance for stress. And I’m fairly good at making coffee too.”
There was an unwritten rule in the workplace: if someone offered to help once, it might just be politeness. If they offered twice, they genuinely wanted to help.
Fangfang didn’t want to foist a difficult task on a colleague, especially not a new one.
But reviewing the materials was urgent too. After much hesitation, she finally handed Zhang Xiyue the coffee cup.
“Xiyue, I’m truly so grateful. From today onward, you’re my best friend at Yuhuang. But if you can’t handle it, remember to come get me at any time. Don’t force yourself to tough it out. Thank you, thank you…”
Zhang Xiyue didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. After carefully asking about Cheng Mingjiao’s requirements, she headed to the pantry with a coffee cup and a whole bundle of gratitude.
A minute later, someone knocked on the door of the president’s office.
“Come in,” Zhou Ce said.
The door slowly swung open, revealing a magnificent Chinese-style office gilded in gold.
Before coming to the president’s office, Zhang Xiyue had thought the assistants’ office was already luxurious enough. Compared with this place, however, it looked practically like a slum.
The Emperor.
Thinking of the nickname the assistants had given Cheng Mingjiao, Zhang Xiyue felt it suited him perfectly.
When he saw her enter, a flicker of surprise crossed Zhou Ce’s eyes. Cheng Mingjiao, however, remained calm. He glanced at her before continuing to look at his tablet.
He seemed to be in a particularly bad mood.
Zhang Xiyue walked over and gently set the coffee beside Cheng Mingjiao’s hand. “Mr. Cheng, your coffee.”
Cheng Mingjiao picked it up and took a sip. After a pause, he raised his eyes in displeasure.
“Is something wrong with the flavor?” Zhang Xiyue asked first.
She was pleasant, gentle, and patient. Faced with someone like her, most people would feel embarrassed to complain even if they weren’t satisfied.
But Cheng Mingjiao was clearly not most people. He put the coffee down on the desk and said coldly, “It’s awful.”
“All right. I’ll make another cup right now.”
Zhang Xiyue picked up the cup and walked out. On her way, she casually lowered the air-conditioning by two degrees.
As soon as she stepped out, Fangfang came over with a folder. “What did Mr. Cheng say?”
Zhang Xiyue repeated, “He said it was awful.”
Fangfang continued waiting.
Zhang Xiyue looked at her.
Fangfang finally realized. “That’s all he said? Just that it was awful?”
Zhang Xiyue nodded.
Fangfang let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness… Looks like your coffee-making skills really are better than mine. The gentlest thing he said to me just now was asking where I’d dug up the dirt from a grave mound to make his coffee.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
What a vicious mouth.
Another minute later, Zhang Xiyue entered the president’s office with another cup of coffee.
Cheng Mingjiao took two sips and set it down, but this time he said nothing.
Zhou Ce gave her a discreet nod, indicating that she could leave.
Zhang Xiyue turned to go.
“Wait.”
Cheng Mingjiao’s sudden voice stopped her.
Zhang Xiyue halted.
“Last Wednesday, did you happen to take a taxi along Wenyuan Avenue?”
“What?” Zhang Xiyue blinked.
Cheng Mingjiao narrowed his long eyes and silently scrutinized her.
The office was so quiet that the only sound was their breathing. Zhou Ce, sitting off to the side with his eyes lowered and his nose practically aligned with his heart, was sweating bullets over the unusually tense silence when Cheng Mingjiao suddenly told Zhang Xiyue to leave.
Zhang Xiyue nodded and went out. Before she left, she didn’t forget to turn the air-conditioning temperature back up. The three people in the assistant’s office pulled her inside with a cheer once they learned she had passed the test.
“How did you do it?” Fangfang asked curiously.
Zhang Xiyue gave a light cough. “I used a few tricks that aren’t exactly fit for public display.”
Before transmigrating into the novel, she had also worked as an executive assistant. Her boss had been the sort of person who came up with a new whim every other minute, and after working under him for several years, she had advanced at rocket speed.
Before that job, her grandmother had spent two years in a nursing home. Zhang Xiyue had gone there every weekend to work part-time and lend a hand, so she had met plenty of elderly people with dementia. Every single one of them had been difficult in their own special way.
To put it simply, she was exceptionally good at dealing with people who had something wrong with their heads.
The moment she entered the president’s office, she had seen that Cheng Mingjiao was in a bad mood. That was why she had deliberately lowered the temperature before leaving, physically cooling down his emotions.
The coffee hadn’t been freshly brewed, either. She had simply added extra sugar before taking it back in.
Low temperatures and sugar— even a bad-tempered wild boar would calm down again.
And Cheng Mingjiao was merely a yandere.
In an excellent mood, Zhang Xiyue shared a few workplace tips with her new colleagues before continuing to read the employee handbook.
She spent the entire day with nothing to do. By the time quitting time approached, she was the only one left in the office.
After tidying up, she was just about to clock out and leave when the office door suddenly opened.
Zhang Xiyue instinctively looked up. When her eyes met Cheng Mingjiao’s, she froze for a moment before immediately standing. “Mr. Cheng.”
Seeing that she was the only person in the room, Cheng Mingjiao knitted his striking brows. “Where is everyone else?”
“Sis Fang went to deliver some documents. Li Dong and Sun Nian are coordinating with a client.”
Cheng Mingjiao pressed his thin lips together and stared at her for several seconds before asking, somewhat reluctantly, “Can you drive?”
Zhang Xiyue nodded.
“Let’s go. We’re heading to the R&D base.”
Zhang Xiyue was startled. “N-now?”
It was already quitting time!
Although she had taken the job to get close to the male supporting character, that didn’t mean the male supporting character could keep her from getting off work!
Unfortunately, Cheng Mingjiao had already left. Zhang Xiyue took a deep breath and ran after him.
Five minutes later, Zhang Xiyue sat in the business van for the second time, this time in the role of driver.
The moment Cheng Mingjiao got in, he closed his eyes. Zhang Xiyue drove on, stealing two glances at him through the rearview mirror.
Even after an entire day, his hair remained perfectly in place, and there wasn’t a wrinkle in his shirt. Only the top button had been undone. As he breathed, his collarbone and firm muscles could be seen faintly.
What a healthy yandere.
The R&D base was in the suburbs, and it took over an hour just to drive there. By the time they arrived, the sky had already begun to darken.
Cheng Mingjiao slept the entire way. When he woke up and saw Zhang Xiyue about to drive into the base, he immediately reminded her, “Don’t go in. Park in the little plaza ahead.”
Zhang Xiyue glanced at him through the rearview mirror.
The well-rested yandere male supporting character was full of energy. “I’m going to sneak in and conduct a surprise inspection.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
She silently mourned for her colleagues whom she had never met—and for herself, forced into working overtime.
Whether in the real world or the world of novels, Zhang Xiyue could only ever be a wage earner. She quietly parked in the little plaza, then followed Cheng Mingjiao toward the base.
It was late May. Phoenix City hadn’t fully entered summer yet, but the air had already grown warm and dry. Although the sun had sunk below the horizon, the heat still left people feeling sticky.
The two residential communities near the base were both employee housing for Yuhuang. Every evening, plenty of employees brought their children and elderly relatives out to stroll and get some fresh air in the little plaza.
People came and went amid laughter and playful chatter.
With her bag slung over her shoulder, Zhang Xiyue hurried after Cheng Mingjiao through the noisy crowd. Just as she was quickening her steps, a girl suddenly shouted from behind them, “Qing Tian!”
Qing Tian?!
The female lead’s name?!
The female lead was here too?!
Zhang Xiyue immediately turned around. Just in time, she saw a girl with delicate features running toward another young woman.
Shoulder-length short hair, a fondness for wearing hair clips, and a purple heart-shaped birthmark on her arm…
There was no mistake. It was the female lead!
In the novel, the female lead and the male supporting character were clearly supposed to meet for the first time in autumn. So how had they run into each other in May?!
…Speaking of which, what would happen if they met now? Would the male supporting character fall in love with her at first sight, just like in the original story? Would he then pester her endlessly, just as he had in the original? Would the male lead crush him so thoroughly that he could never recover?
Could she still complete her mission?
Could she still take the hundred-million-yuan bonus home?
Countless thoughts flashed through Zhang Xiyue’s mind. At the same time, Cheng Mingjiao also heard that shrill voice.
Everyone reacted instinctively, and yanderes were no exception.
He followed the sound and turned his head. Just as he had turned about sixty degrees, Zhang Xiyue’s right hand suddenly pressed against his left cheek and gently, yet firmly, turned his face back.
Cheng Mingjiao: “?”
