Chapter 180: Chapter 43 The Sixth Supporting Character Jiang Ziyan_2
Or maybe try to see if they could win the beauty’s heart. An exceptionally beautiful and wealthy girl like her was enough to make anyone drool. Although some people suspected she had a sugar daddy, what if that wasn’t the case? What if she had earned it all herself through hard work? Wouldn’t that be...
The ideal is beautiful, but reality is harsh.
Regarding the idea of a class dinner, the class belle, Jiang Ziyan, still hadn’t responded. So, someone in the group chat hatched a plan.
[Lu Qingyun, haven’t you always been Zi Yan’s best friend? And her roommate, too. Why don’t you give her a call and invite her to our class reunion?]
The one who came up with the idea was the class’s athletic representative, a handsome young man who was 1.83 meters tall. He used to dominate the basketball court and received plenty of love letters from the girls.
Lu Qingyun was once Jiang Ziyan’s roommate and best friend. However, their relationship had shattered because the boy she liked had confessed to her best friend, who then rejected him. This happened when they returned to school to take graduation photos, so the rest of the class didn’t know. They all still thought the two were very close.
[Lu Qingyun: Okay, I’ll give it a try, but I’m not sure if it’ll work.]
[She won’t turn you down.]
[Qing Yun, we’re all counting on you.]
The class group chat erupted in cheers.
Jiang Ziyan, who was busy running around her store, suddenly received a call from her ’best friend’ whom she hadn’t contacted in a long time. Although things had gotten a little unpleasant when they graduated, she hadn’t taken it to heart. But the other party had been ignoring her, so their communication gradually dwindled until they lost contact completely.
She answered the phone.
"Hello!"
"Zi Yan, it’s me, Qing Yun."
"Yeah, I know. What’s up?"
Her tone was even, neither cold nor warm, which made Lu Qingyun feel quite bitter on the other end of the line. As the saying goes: it’s painful to fail, but it’s even more heartbreaking to see a friend succeed. Seeing her ’bestie’ doing so well made her feel as if her mouth was stuffed with bitter melon—nothing but bitterness.
"Our classmates in Shanghai City are planning a reunion soon. Do you have time to come?"
"Sorry, my new store just opened, and I’ve been really busy with a lot of things. I’m not sure if I can make time. Tell me when the gathering is, and I’ll see if I’m free then."
"If I have time, I’ll definitely be there," she added at the end.
"Okay, got it."
Then, she hung up.
In a cramped cubicle, Lu Qingyun sat at a desk piled high with files, staring blankly into space. The next moment, a loud roar shattered her thoughts.
"Lu Qingyun, have you finished the reports the boss asked for? You have time to daydream? The boss needs them for a meeting! If they’re not done, you can expect a pay cut!"
The person shouting at her was her direct superior, the deputy manager of the finance department. She had graduated with the aura of a star student, looking forward to a high-paying, white-collar job at a major corporation. Yet, three years had passed, and she was still just a lowly accountant.
Three years. How many three-year periods does a person get in life?
She originally thought she could bear it, waiting for a promotion after the older staff retired. But she had been too optimistic. When the old employee left, the company hired a new deputy manager from outside, leaving no opportunity for her. Unless she was willing to trade her body for it, something the manager had already insinuated.
But to sell her body for a job that paid less than ten thousand a month? It wasn’t that she was arrogant; she had already endured plenty of harsh lessons since entering the workforce. But she couldn’t bring herself to sell her body for just a few thousand more each month.
Unless, she could get a much better price for it.
However, with her social circle, she had no such resources. And now, seeing her former roommate, her ’bestie,’ soaring to success, she could no longer stand being stuck in a corner as a mere accountant.
"Lu Qingyun, are you even listening to me? It looks like you don’t want this job anymore, do you?"
The new deputy manager was an older woman, rumored to be a relative of someone in upper management. She was menopausal and had a terrible temper. All the young women in the finance department had been scolded to tears by her at some point. This time was supposed to be no different.
Unexpectedly, the normally compliant Lu Qingyun shot to her feet.
"Old woman, I’ve put up with you for a long time! You got this deputy manager position through backdoor connections, so what’s there to be so proud of?
"You’re practically incompetent. You just dump the tasks from upper management on us and make us do your work. That alone would be fine—it’s just a bit of overtime we can handle. But you’re insatiably greedy, taking all the credit for our work and bragging to the higher-ups that you did it all yourself.
"If it were just that, we might have tolerated it, figuring we just got unlucky with a bad boss. Who knew that as soon as a problem arises with any of that work, you throw us underlings to the wolves and rip us to shreds?
"When you get results, you go groveling to the higher-ups for praise, but you won’t even toss us a bone from the rewards you get. How is our department supposed to function properly with a parasite like you around?"
All her colleagues turned to look. From their expressions, which struggled to hold back laughter, it was clear that Lu Qingyun was saying what they had all been thinking. She was speaking their minds, and they were all silently cheering for this brave woman.
"Lu Qingyun, you dare to call me an old woman?" the deputy manager shrieked. It seemed that out of everything that was said, she had only latched onto those two words.
"You’re fired! Pack your things and get out now!"
In fact, Lu Qingyun had already started clearing her desk before the woman spoke. She knew that after saying all that, there was no way she could stay at this company.
"Don’t worry, I’m leaving. But not because you’re forcing me out. It’s because I’ve long been wanting to get out of this shitty company," she retorted.
Her surrounding colleagues were gobsmacked. This woman wasn’t just brave; she was completely fearless. They all watched her leave with expressions of pure admiration.
"What are you all looking at? Get back to work! Or do you want to end up like her?" the deputy manager roared, exerting her tyrannical power. Her threats still held sway over the others, who had families and mortgages. Everyone looked down and returned to their tasks.
The office returned to its usual state. Only then did the deputy manager nod with satisfaction and head back to her office.
「A week later.」
Jiang Ziyan decided to attend the class reunion after all. But this time, she brought her man, Sun Dasheng.
When she first mentioned it, Sun Dasheng hadn’t paid it much mind and told her to go by herself. But she adamantly refused, mentioning all the jokes online about how class reunions were not a good thing. They were practically synonymous with cheating. How could she possibly go alone? Even if she did, she had to at least put on some armor first.
To welcome her, the reunion was held at a five-star hotel that looked quite classy.
The couple walked in, hand in hand. All eyes in the room immediately gathered on them.
The men at the table looked at the man beside the class belle, their faces showing flashes of disappointment.
Bad news: the class belle really has a boyfriend.
Good news: he doesn’t look like a sugar daddy.
Because the man was tall and handsome, they figured it was very likely he was a boyfriend she had found on her own. While the men were disappointed, the women’s eyes went wide.
Wow! He’s a god!
Xiao Yue, the class’s Youth League secretary, was the most enthusiastic and came forward to greet them.
"Zi Yan, is this your boyfriend? He’s so handsome," she cooed.
The classmate’s teasing brought a wide smile to Jiang Ziyan’s face. She slowly walked to the large round table and introduced him. "This is my boyfriend, Sun Dasheng."
"Hello, everyone! I’m Jiang Ziyan’s boyfriend. It’s a pleasure to meet you all," Sun Dasheng greeted the group.
His presence wasn’t out of place. Most of the attendees had brought their boyfriends or girlfriends, and a small number were already married and came with their spouses. This arrangement was necessary because most of their former classmates didn’t live in Shanghai City, so only a dozen or so could make it. If they hadn’t brought their partners, they might not have even filled the large round table in the private room.
"Zi Yan, you two find a seat. I’ll go tell the waiter to start serving the food," Xiao Yue said, bustling about.
The table was large, with several empty seats. Jiang Ziyan glanced around, looking for a place to sit.
Just then, a tall, handsome man stood up and smiled. "Zi Yan, come sit over here with me. There’s an empty spot right here."
His words instantly silenced the room, because it was a provocative statement.
Why was that? Because there was only one empty seat next to him. She had come with her boyfriend, so what was his intention in asking her to sit beside him?
Unless he was completely clueless, there was only one explanation: he had no respect for her boyfriend.
The air suddenly crackled with the whiff of gunpowder.