The next morning, Lu Jiaying was awakened punctually by her biological clock. As she got up to wash her face in the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror, seeing her messy clothes and hair, she remembered what had happened last night.
She seemed to have been sent back by Jiang Jingyu.
This guy was in the prime of his vanity, yet he didn't put on airs of being born into wealth.
Not only was he compliant with her, but he also knew to accompany her to a dinner party and act as a driver. Not bad.
She just didn't know if she had said anything nonsensical while drunk last night; her behavior when drinking wasn't very good.
Thinking this, she felt a little guilty, as if she owed Jiang Jingyu a favor. When buying breakfast, she specifically bought an extra portion, planning to repay him quickly.
She arrived a little late today. Upon entering the marketing department, she found that Jiang Jingyu had arrived before her and was chatting with everyone at someone else's desk.
As she entered the office, he quickly followed her.
"General Manager Lu, good morning."
Lu Jiaying put down the breakfast, turned on her computer, hesitated, and then called him somewhat awkwardly.
"Xiao Jiang, come here for a moment."
Jiang Jingyu acted no differently than usual and obediently walked up to her.
"Have you had breakfast?"
She figured it was a redundant question.
The Zhan family had a nanny and a housekeeper, so it was impossible for him to leave without eating breakfast.
Jiang Jingyu's gaze fell on the packed food bag she was holding. The packaging was quite cute, and he couldn't resist lying, "Not yet."
"Then that's perfect. The boss gave me an extra portion and I can't be bothered to return it, so I'll give this to you."
Lu Jiaying handed him the breakfast.
Their meals were identical. Jiang Jingyu happily accepted, "Thank you, General Manager Lu."
They each sat at their respective workstations, eating sushi and drinking milk. After eating half of it, Lu Jiaying couldn't help but ask him.
"What time did you get back last night?"
Knowing she had been completely drunk last night and had forgotten everything, Jiang Jingyu told the truth.
"A little past eleven."
"Did I cause you a lot of trouble?"
He recalled her dazed and cute appearance from last night, and then looked at her now, her hair tied up, looking capable and serious. Jiang Jingyu inexplicably felt like laughing.
Seeing his expression, Lu Jiaying inwardly cursed herself for being done for.
She must have made a fool of herself. He couldn't bring himself to say it, and she felt mortified.
"You know, when people drink too much, their words and actions are beyond their control. That's not really me. If I said or did anything, please don't take it to heart. And definitely don't dwell on it."
Aside from taking off her coat, she actually behaved quite well when drunk and didn't do anything out of line.
Seeing her nervousness, Jiang Jingyu couldn't help but want to tease her.
"Is that so?"
"..." It seemed she had truly embarrassed herself last night.
She decided not to drink anymore when she didn't have to. Alcohol was truly a harmful thing.
With a slight sense of awkwardness, Lu Jiaying began her new day of work.
By around nine in the morning, her phone rang. She casually picked it up, and it was her best friend, Mo Xiaoqi.
"There's a gathering tonight, and all the attendees are rich and handsome. Old Qin asked me to find ten girls to go. Many people are desperately trying to sign up, and I managed to secure a spot for you. No overtime today. I'll send you the address later. Get yourself all dolled up, and I'll see you after work."
Mo Xiaoqi was Lu Jiaying's college classmate. Because she was very beautiful, she had a rich second-generation boyfriend.
After graduation, she didn't work seriously and spent her days with her boyfriend, eating, drinking, and having fun.
From time to time, she would organize gatherings for unknown purposes and invite Lu Jiaying to attend, always trying to help her find a partner.
In the past, Lu Jiaying was naive and had attended twice, but each time she was disappointed.
It was just a group of young men and women without any life pressures, holding wine glasses and chatting and laughing. Although the average appearance of everyone was very high, Lu Jiaying felt that she couldn't resonate with them on a spiritual level, so she refused to go again.
She hadn't expected Mo Xiaoqi to call her again today.
"Don't you know my personality? You're asking me to go to that kind of place again. It's not suitable."
Mo Xiaoqi hated hearing her refuse.
"Oh, this time it's different from before. All the attendees are high-quality men from the finance and legal circles. Otherwise, why would others be scrambling to get in? Why are you so unconcerned? Do you know how old you are this year?"
"A woman's golden age only lasts for a few years. You spend your golden age working overtime and don't even have anyone to talk to. What's the point of earning so much money?"
"When your advantages are gone, you'll look back with nothing but regret."
Mo Xiaoqi would feed her this kind of "chicken soup" every few days. Lu Jiaying wasn't unlistening, but how to put it, everyone has their own aspirations.
Her background was different from theirs. Her parents and brother had passed away early, and she was supported by kind older brothers and sisters to go to college. She couldn't possibly think of eating, drinking, and having fun as the first thing to do after graduation, could she?
Melody and Lu Qingxu were both successful individuals, and the people around them were also successful. She didn't want to shame them.
Not to mention earning as much money to repay them, but at least she wanted to let everyone who knew them know that accepting her, Lu Jiaying, was the right choice.
"Whether there's regret or not, we'll talk about it later. I really don't have time today."
Mo Xiaoqi insisted, "Oh, come on, I knew you'd say that, which is why I called you so early. I don't believe you're so busy that you can't schedule your time in advance."
"I don't care, you have to participate today no matter what. You're so beautiful, with such good education and job, people would think you've had many boyfriends. But you're a 26-year-old virgin. It's laughable if word gets out."
"It's settled then. I'll call you again after work."
Mo Xiaoqi did care about her.
During their four years of college, she had only made this one friend. Lu Jiaying was usually immersed in her work and didn't contact her much.
When the other person actively reached out, it would be impolite for her to keep making excuses.
So, after thinking about it, she told Jiang Jingyu.
She would rush her current work and finish all the business before five o'clock and send it to her.
Jiang Jingyu clearly heard the phone call. He could guess what it was about with his toes.
She was going out to find a boyfriend.
He wondered what kind of man would like a workaholic like her.
Closing time arrived quickly. Lu Jiaying met her best friend punctually, changed into an evening gown, tidied herself up, and went to the party.
Nothing noteworthy happened that night. The next day, when Jiang Jingyu came to work, he found that Lu Jiaying, who should have been drunk again last night, was surprisingly energetic and already at her desk.
He was a little surprised, "Why are you here so early?"
"I had some work left over from yesterday, so I came to catch up. You're quite early too, have you eaten?"
Jiang Jingyu took a detour and asked instead of answering, "Have you eaten?"
Lu Jiaying took out two more sushi and milk and pushed one towards him.
"I was just about to eat. The boss said that sushi is on promotion these two days, buy one get one free, so this one is for you."
Jiang Jingyu sat by the coffee table, eating sushi and secretly observing her.
Seeing that her expression was normal, with neither the joy of meeting a new romantic interest nor the dispiritedness after a hangover,
He thought to himself, "Did she even go yesterday?"