She took her time showering, and by the time she came out, it was nearly eleven o’clock. She poured herself a cup of hot water, glanced at her phone, and saw a message from Ning Wei on WeChat.
Ning Wei: I’m staying near Shuangcheng Plaza. You can come over and hang out anytime.
Sang Zhi: Sure!
Ning Wei: By the way, have you found an internship yet?
Sang Zhi: I had an interview this morning. I think it went well.
Ning Wei: I’m planning to look for something around here. It makes commuting easier.
Sang Zhi: Makes sense.
After a moment’s thought, Sang Zhi decided to tell this ‘Relationship Expert’ about her day.
Sang Zhi: Today, I told Duan Jiaxu to be ready, that I was planning to kiss him.
Ning Wei: …
Ning Wei: What???
Seeing her reaction, Sang Zhi began to feel a bit uncertain.
Sang Zhi: Isn’t this the first time I’m taking the initiative? I thought I should check with him as a sign of respect. I won’t ask next time. After all, he also asked before we held hands… I was just following his lead.
Sang Zhi: Isn’t dating supposed to be a learning experience?
After a while…
Ning Wei: True, that’s pretty good.
Seeing this, Sang Zhi felt relieved.
Then Ning Wei added another message.
Ning Wei: “But maybe avoid asking next time.”
”…”
After her final exam, Sang Zhi received a call from the company where she interviewed, informing her that she could start work the next day. After hanging up, she opened WeChat and told Duan Jiaxu the good news.
Then, hesitantly, she opened her chat with Sang Yan and sent a message.
Sang Zhi: Brother, I found an internship!
She hit send.
As usual, the red exclamation mark appeared next to the message bubble.
”…” It had been days, and he still wasn’t over it.
She stared at the screen, her frustration reaching its peak.
With no outlet for her feelings, she let out a cold laugh, clicked on his profile, and added him to her blacklist.
The next day, she arrived at the company early.
The company seemed genuinely short-staffed, and the pay was quite low. She mainly wanted to learn something since she felt that it was difficult to find an internship as a freshman, and she wasn’t too concerned about the salary.
The guy who had interviewed with her last time, Wan Zhe, was also hired.
They were both given an induction training by another intern, He Pengxing, who then assigned them their positions. Sang Zhi’s role was a design assistant, sitting directly across from the woman she found familiar before.
That was her mentor, named Shi Xiaoyu.
She followed her to learn and assist her. She thought she might feel a bit lost when she first started working, but instead, there was so much to do that it felt overwhelming, with tasks piling up on her.
The company had a policy of no overtime on the first day, and at six o’clock in the afternoon, Sang Zhi watched Wan Zhe leave on time.
But Shi Xiaoyu didn’t let her go.
Whether it was Sang Zhi’s illusion or not, she always felt that Shi Xiaoyu wasn’t very friendly towards her.
However, it seemed that whenever Shi Xiaoyu spoke harshly, she was criticizing her drawings or saying that she wasn’t doing other tasks well. Since it was Sang Zhi’s first job, she had little experience, and after being scolded, she obediently redid her work.
Overtime was common in marketing companies.
Since Shi Xiaoyu didn’t let her leave, she didn’t dare to leave on her own either. She stayed at her desk, diligently working on her drafts.
After an unknown amount of time, Shi Xiaoyu stood up and looked her over: “I’m leaving work now. You can finish your drawing and then go.”
”…” Sang Zhi nodded.
After she left, He Pengxing leaned over: “Sister Xiaoyu was in such a bad mood today.”
Sang Zhi continued drawing, responding very formally, “I indeed didn’t do well.”
He Pengxing, who hadn’t been at the company much longer than her and had also been scolded badly by his mentor, seemed to sympathize: “But Sister Xiaoyu isn’t usually like this. Did you do something to annoy her?”
What did she do to annoy her?
This was her first time meeting Shi Xiaoyu, and she didn’t know her well. Moreover, her attitude throughout the day had been extremely humble and good.
What could she have done to annoy her?
Sang Zhi continued her official response: “Sister Xiaoyu is just strict; she wants me to do better.”
Though that’s what she said.
In reality…
She was extremely displeased.
By the time she left the office, it was already past eight o’clock.
She hadn’t eaten much for dinner, just a packet of cookies. She went to a nearby shop to buy a meat bun and found a chair by the roadside to sit down and slowly nibble on it.
It was at this moment that Duan Jiaxu called.
Sang Zhi answered the phone.
Duan Jiaxu: “Are you still working overtime?”
Sang Zhi replied, feeling downcast: “No, I’m off work now.”
”Are you busy already?” Duan Jiaxu said, “Working overtime on your first day?”
”When I interviewed, the boss said there wouldn’t be overtime, and the other intern who started the same day got off on time too,” Sang Zhi complained, feeling somewhat wronged. “I was scolded all day.”
Duan Jiaxu fell silent for a few seconds: “Where are you? I’ll come find you.”
When Duan Jiaxu arrived, Sang Zhi hadn’t finished her meat bun yet. She was feeling a bit full and was sipping on some fruit tea. When she saw him, she didn’t get up and remained seated in her original spot.
He walked over and half-squatted in front of her: “Sit there and eat your bun.”
Sang Zhi didn’t say a word.
Duan Jiaxu smiled: “Why do you look so pitiful?”
She continued to nibble on her bun.
Duan Jiaxu held her wrist, his tone a bit coaxing: “Stop eating that. Brother will take you to eat something good.”
”I’m not hungry.” She shook her head. “I just want to go back, wash up, and sleep.”
Duan Jiaxu asked, “Is this all you had for dinner?”
Sang Zhi answered honestly: “I also had a cookie.”
”Let’s go have a bowl of congee,” Duan Jiaxu frowned. “Even if you’re working overtime, you need to eat something.”
”Oh.”
He stood up and pulled her up with him, casually asking, “Not happy at work?”
”In my entire life, the number of times I’ve been scolded,” Sang Zhi sighed and mumbled, “doesn’t even add up to how much I was scolded today.”
”If you’re not happy, then don’t go. You’re just a freshman; there’s no rush.”
Sang Zhi felt that her negative energy was a bit heavy, so she reined it in a little: “No, I’m just complaining a bit. I’ve only been there for one day, and it’s actually not too bad. It wasn’t excessively scolding.”
Duan Jiaxu said, “If it doesn’t work out, you can come work at my company.”
Sang Zhi, being led forward by him, replied, “It seems your company isn’t hiring interns.”
He chuckled lightly: “I’ll let you in through the back door.”
Sang Zhi thought he was just teasing her and went along with it: “Then save me a spot as an intern boss.”
”Okay.”
After saying that, Sang Zhi’s mood improved a lot, and she began talking to herself: “Forget it, I’ll confront her. I just don’t believe I can’t make her satisfied.”
Duan Jiaxu: “What exactly is she dissatisfied with you?”
Sang Zhi thought for a moment and replied earnestly, “She’s not satisfied with everything.”
”…”
”I always feel like she’s hostile toward me.” Sang Zhi hesitated and looked at him. “Are you sure you’ve never had a girlfriend?”
”Huh?”
I suspect she might be your ex-girlfriend.”
”…” Duan Jiaxu laughed in disbelief, “What are you talking about?”
”Oh.” Sang Zhi stared at him, “Now that I think about it, it seems like you’ve never posted a picture of me on your social media.”
Duan Jiaxu raised an eyebrow and handed her his phone: “What do you mean I haven’t posted?”
Sang Zhi took it: “I’ve really never seen it.”
She opened his social media and found that he had never posted anything before. However, during this period, he had posted several times, and most of the content was pictures of her, with quite a few people obscured: “Who did you block?”
Duan Jiaxu replied, “College classmates.”
Sang Zhi exclaimed, “Oh,” and took out her own phone to take a look: “I really have never seen you post anything…”
She clicked on Duan Jiaxu’s profile and suddenly noticed a ‘Do not See His Moments’ tag in the upper right corner. Her gaze swept over, and she immediately realized.
”…”
Sang Zhi suddenly remembered that after returning from Yihe, fearing that she would be unhappy seeing his messages, she had blocked his social media posts. After that, she didn’t really remember the matter.
She didn’t notice it after changing the notes a few times.
Duan Jiaxu shifted his gaze to her and said lightly, “Care to explain?”
Peek-Aboo 
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