Gu Susu no longer struggled or begged. She stared at him with cold eyes, as if she had finally seen him clearly. She kept telling herself that enduring one more humiliation from him would make her completely give up on him.
Qin Tianyi was jolted awake by her desperate and terrifying gaze. He controlled himself and did not continue. He punched the floor beside her and then abruptly broke the bracelet on her left wrist. He stood up, adjusted his clothes, and left decisively.
Gu Susu froze, still lying on the cold floor. Only when she heard the heavy slam of the door as Qin Tianyi left did she sit up as if waking from a nightmare.
She carefully picked up the broken bracelet and clutched it tightly. Qin Tianyi's words echoed in her ears.
It was just as Xiao Anjing had told her: compared to Qin Tianyi, Shu Yan was the better choice.
She had been too naive. Both Qin Tianyi and Yang Sijie were men who possessed the world, holding positions of immense power.
Their attitudes towards her were nothing more than those of the strong towards the weak. Whether it was Qin Tianyi's dominance and arrogance, or Yang Sijie's pity and adoration, they were merely different ways they treated those weaker than themselves.
Why should she get entangled in their emotions? She should focus on herself, gradually become stronger, and stop being a weakling who was bullied or needed protection.
She no longer wanted to be caught up in the emotions of either of them!
...
The next day, Gu Susu went to Trend as usual.
Lu Zhiming assigned her the task of finding design materials. Seeing the bandage on her wrist, he only asked if she could work normally and if she needed to take leave.
Gu Susu calmly replied that she was fine. Lu Zhiming didn't ask any further questions and let her resume her work.
She was busy until noon when her colleagues invited her to lunch. She readily agreed.
A few female colleagues took her to a fast-food restaurant near the company. After they sat down, the other colleagues began to chat about celebrity gossip.
Gu Susu ate quietly, unable to join the conversation. She had only been at the company for two days and hadn't interacted with many celebrities.
These female colleagues seemed to have designed outfits for celebrities. They were either fantasizing about currently popular male stars or talking about how handsome young idols were.
Seeing them getting more excited and carried away, Gu Susu interrupted, "Keep your voices down. People eating around us are looking."
They finally realized they were in a public place and lowered their voices.
One female colleague glanced at Gu Susu's inconvenient left hand and asked, "You seemed fine yesterday. What happened to your wrist?" wap.kanshu伍.net
Gu Susu smiled faintly and said, "I accidentally twisted it while doing chores at home. It's nothing serious; the doctor said it would heal in a week."
"That's good. Will you be following Director Lu to design the gown for the big star Sasha?" the colleague asked curiously.
Gu Susu shook her head. She really didn't know which star she would be designing for. The materials Lu Zhiming had asked her to find these past two days were indeed for women's gowns.
Another female colleague, seeing that she seemed clueless about celebrities, wanted to enlighten her. "Among female celebrities, Sasha is the most popular right now. Have you watched her drama 'Youthful Ambition'?"
Gu Susu shook her head again. She couldn't remember the last time she had watched a TV drama. When she had free time, she only watched classic movies online.
Current dramas were too long, and she had no time to follow them. She preferred to use that time to do her own design work.
"Oh my, you haven't even watched this drama?" The few female colleagues looked at her as if she were an alien.
She asked, confused, "What's wrong? Is there a compelling reason to watch it?"
"Not really, but the plot is very engaging, and the female lead played by Sasha is very likable. She became famous overnight."
Gu Susu said, "Oh, that's probably due to a combination of her talent and luck."
"Wrong. It's because she has a mysterious man behind her. She's likely being supported. Without that person backing her, she wouldn't be where she is today."
The other two female colleagues immediately asked, "Do you know who the man behind her is?"
The gossipy female colleague said, "Even the sharpest paparazzi haven't figured it out, so how would I know? That's why he's called mysterious."
The others were disappointed and continued eating. The gossipy female colleague leaned towards Gu Susu and said, "When you go to Sasha's place with Director Lu, you might have a chance to see her mysterious man. Remember to tell us."
Gu Susu just smiled and didn't agree. She remembered Director Lu reminding her yesterday that for designers like them, discretion was paramount. If they were caught casually revealing client information, they would be immediately fired and could face legal action from the celebrities.
After they finished lunch and returned to the company, the most gossipy female colleague intentionally walked behind and pulled Gu Susu aside, whispering, "If you discover any inside information about Sasha, tell me, and there will be benefits. I won't let you reveal information for nothing."
Gu Susu didn't understand for a moment and asked, "What benefits?"
The gossipy female colleague made a gesture of counting money and said, "We can sell it to entertainment reporters, and we'll split the profits."
Gu Susu understood. It seemed her love for gossip was for financial gain. She calmly said, "Thank you, but I don't do things that violate professional ethics." She then quickly put distance between herself and the colleague.
The gossipy female colleague muttered disdainfully at her retreating back, "What's with the act? Who doesn't love money?"
Gu Susu pretended not to hear. As she entered the office, a colleague told her that a very handsome man had come looking for her earlier, saying he had made a lunch appointment with her.
She responded with a few "ohs," feigning forgetfulness and saying she had forgotten and had made plans to eat with a friend.
Returning to her desk, she took out her phone and discovered three missed calls, all from Yang Sijie, and unread text messages, also from Yang Sijie.
It had been too noisy at the fast-food restaurant, and she had truly forgotten to check her phone. She also hadn't heard her phone ring.
She stared at the text messages from Yang Sijie. She had intended to find him after work today anyway. After thinking for a moment, she replied, "Sorry, I forgot to check my phone during lunch with colleagues. Let's meet downstairs at the company after work today."
Yang Sijie quickly replied with a "good."
When work ended, Gu Susu packed her things and took out the broken bracelet from her bag, looking at it. She took a deep breath, wondering how to return the bracelet to Yang Sijie without hurting him.
As soon as she walked downstairs, she saw Yang Sijie waiting with a bouquet of flowers.
Gu Susu felt he was too conspicuous and didn't walk towards him immediately. However, he had already spotted her and walked over quickly, holding the flowers.
"These are for you. Do you like them?"
Other colleagues leaving work saw this scene and cast envious glances her way.