Three

 The corridor was similar to the neighborhood, somewhat old-fashioned but not completely run-down. The floor was gray mud, and Su Hao ascended the stairs step by step, reaching the third floor. There were two units on each floor; she found the key inserted in the door of 301, which wasn't properly closed. She took out the key, opened the door, and entered. The lighting inside was decent, although it was darker near the kitchen and dining area.

It was an old-fashioned suite with just two rooms across from each other.

After closing the iron door and then the wooden door, Su Hao pushed her suitcase into the master bedroom and began cleaning. It was quite clean already, so there wasn't much to do. After finishing, nearing noon, she wasn't very hungry. She sat on the sofa, browsing her phone. First, she let her sister, Su Si, know she arrived safely, then took photos of her new place and sent them to her mother and Liao Yun. Afterward, she opened her contacts and typed "Zhou Yang."

Zhou Yang's WeChat was at the top.

She didn't remember when she added him; they hadn't spoken after connecting. Those years she had been too busy for WeChat.

She clicked into his profile and went straight to the point.

Su Hao: How much did you advance? I'll transfer it back to you.

After sending, she waited.

About five minutes later.

Zhou Yang: XXXX

Su Hao transferred the money.

It took another seven to eight minutes for him to confirm.

Zhou Yang: Here's the lease contract.

Su Hao: Okay.

She opened the contract. It was for six months, one month's deposit and rent in advance, no property management fees. Adding up the water and electricity bills, it seemed quite affordable, and most importantly, something she could manage.

Su Hao breathed a sigh of relief and saved the photos.

The chat fell silent. She hesitated for a moment, then clicked on his profile picture and entered his Moments.

Displayed were posts from the last three days.

The first was about an aviation thesis.

Below that was a post from a racetrack, with many nice cars and attractive men and women in the distance; he was smoking.

Wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, he stood out in the crowd.

Su Hao looked for a while, then quietly exited.

His life was quite different from hers to begin with.

Liao Yun didn't have much work experience, so she couldn't offer Su Hao much advice. Su Hao could only study more and hope her skills would be useful. Early the next morning, Su Hao left with a small bag. Unfamiliar with the traffic, she took a taxi directly to Fei Jie. The Fei Jie logo was easy to spot. Arriving after rush hour, the lobby was sparsely populated.

Su Hao walked over with her resume to find the front desk.

The receptionist was very pretty, with delicate makeup. She took the resume, glanced at it, then lowered her head to check her notes before saying, "Go directly to the 16th floor and look for Director Zeng."

Su Hao took back her resume and smiled, saying, "Thank you."

The receptionist nodded and turned her attention elsewhere.

Su Hao headed for the elevator and pressed the button for the 16th floor.

Here, everything was overly bright, with shadows of people clearly visible. She felt somewhat uncomfortable and found herself glancing at the shadows instinctively.

Ding— the elevator door opened.

Su Hao stepped out and asked for directions. She turned and went to the office of the CFO, Director Zeng. Director Zeng was on the phone and raised his head upon hearing his assistant's voice, looking at the woman standing beside his assistant, Director Zeng paused for a second before realizing that this seemed to be the financial assistant arranged by Assistant Lu yesterday.

Assistant Lu hadn't explained who she was, but Assistant Lu dared to arrange this, maybe she had some relationship with General Zhou, although she hadn't confirmed it yet.

After saying a few more words, Director Zeng hung up the phone and nodded to Su Hao, "Come in."

Su Hao took out her resume and walked in, placing her resume on Director Zeng's desk.

"I've seen this before. Your name is Su Hao?" Director Zeng glanced at the resume, tapped his desk with his fingertips, and asked.

"Yes, Director Zeng." Su Hao replied politely.

Director Zeng raised his hand, "Have a seat."

Su Hao took a seat.

Director Zeng said, "Let's chat briefly to get to know each other better."

"Sure." Su Hao felt a bit nervous inside, but her face remained calm and gentle. Director Zeng asked questions while appraising Su Hao.

No makeup?

Just lipstick?

But the skin is good.

But she looks too much like a housewife.

This type... probably doesn't match General Zhou.

Director Zeng relaxed a lot, as long as she wasn't someone's girlfriend or boss's wife, the pressure wasn't that great.

After a brief chat, Director Zeng was quite satisfied with Su Hao, and she felt a stone in her heart finally drop. Director Zeng's assistant came in and took Su Hao away, leading her to the finance department.

There were already three people in the finance department, one cashier and two accountants.

The cashier's name was Chen Yu, a bit younger, and quite delicate.

The two accountants were called Lu Mi Mi, a bit older than Chen Yu, but still young-looking, quite glamorous, wearing high heels, and looked a bit arrogant.

The other accountant was calm and called Zhang Xian, the oldest of the three, three years older than Su Hao, and a bit stern.

After entering, Zhang Xian pointed to the desk and asked Su Hao to tidy it up first.

Lu Mi Mi saw Su Hao and clicked her tongue, turning away to continue her work.

Only Chen Yu blinked at Su Hao and greeted her.

Su Hao smiled back at her and stood beside the desk, starting to organize the receipts, expense forms, and so on.

Around ten in the morning, the elevator doors on the 16th floor opened again. Assistant Lu followed behind Zhou Yang with documents. Zhou Yang was scrolling on his phone, chuckling softly. After a while of editing with long, slender fingers, he passed by the finance department. He happened to lift his head, his narrow eyes casually sweeping past.

And there stood a woman in a black A-line skirt and white blouse, her suit skirt highlighting her figure, curvaceous and slender-waisted, with black hair like ink.

Just her back view sparked imagination.

Zhou Yang's steps slightly faltered, taking a few more glances.

Who's that?

He turned his head slightly, about to ask Assistant Lu.

The woman turned around, revealing her profile, then lifted her head and looked at Zhou Yang. Their eyes met, and Zhou Yang clearly saw her naturally clear face.

He paused for a moment, raised an eyebrow half a second later.

Then, he briskly walked away.

"Su Hao also turned her gaze back and continued with her own tasks.

Assistant Lu hurried to catch up with Zhou Yang. Before leaving, she glanced at Su Hao several times. This was the new financial assistant, Su Hao.

The desk was already cleaned up. Su Hao organized the receipts neatly. Then she heard Lu Mi Mi stand up and take Chen Yu's ledger, saying, 'I'll help you deliver this to Zhou Yang.'

Chen Yu pursed her lips but seemed resigned. She watched Lu Mi Mi's high heels click away angrily, then turned to complain to Zhang Xian.

'Relying on General Zhou's favor, she even calls him by his name directly! Hmph.'

Zhang Xian seemed disdainful of their squabbles. 'Hurry and finish the accounts. Count the cash in the safe. You can't handle it alone; ask Su Hao to help you.'

Upon hearing her name, Su Hao immediately turned around, waiting to be called.

Chen Yu glanced at Su Hao and smiled, 'Come over and help me.'

'Okay.' Su Hao was eager; she couldn't keep organizing the desk forever. She walked over, pulled a chair, and sat beside Chen Yu.

Chen Yu picked up the ledger with various entries and pointed to the computer screen. 'Enter each item and let me know when you're done.'

'Alright.'

They were busy with this until a little past eleven forty in the morning. Su Hao, being new, didn't know where the dining area was. Chen Yu took her downstairs to the second-floor cafeteria. The whole place was stylishly decorated, and since Fei Jie's entire building was here, many employees crowded the second floor for lunch.

Most were young, from the development and engineering departments. Each greeted Chen Yu and asked who was beside her.

Chen Yu smiled and introduced Su Hao.

Initially a bit awkward, Su Hao gradually felt more comfortable. When people greeted her, she nodded and smiled in return.

After getting their food—dishes and soup—they sat at a high table by the window. The air conditioning was cool here, and once seated, Chen Yu sighed, 'Nice and cool.'

Su Hao took a sip of soup.

Through the floor-to-ceiling glass, she could see the environment of the first floor. Just then, a bright red Maserati pulled up in front of the building.

The sunroof opened, revealing a woman in a short-sleeved top, her waist exposed, holding a phone and looking up. Her face was stunning, beautiful, like a vibrant rose, extremely striking.

Everyone at the high tables eating turned to look at her.

She even stretched her long legs to step onto the floor, as if she was about to get up.

'Coming to see General Zhou again, but too bad he's in a meeting,' Chen Yu chuckled twice, tapping the glass with her fingertip, making a clinking sound.

As they left, the meeting room door was closed, the lights on. Zhang Xian had been called in for the meeting as well. Su Hao scooped her food, and while eating, she noticed a woman nearby who seemed a bit impatient on the phone. Not far away, Lu Mi Mi clicked her tongue. 'They say if a woman pursues a man, there's always a way. Miss Li is relentless.'

'It's been quite a while.'

Hearing this, Chen Yu leaned towards Su Hao and retorted to Lu Mi Mi, 'At least General Zhou responds to her. It'll happen sooner or later; just watch.'

Lu Mi Mi rolled her eyes at Chen Yu. 'You're so naive!'

'Do you think being gentle and refined can make General Zhou like you? Pah, he's not into your type.' Lu Mi Mi's hand, with red nail polish, pointed at Chen Yu, sliding up and down, full of disdain. Su Hao silently moved back a bit, avoiding being caught in their crossfire.

She bowed her head quietly and continued eating.

'I'm not gentle and refined.' Chen Yu was about to retort.

Lu Mi Mi snorted. Then she happened to see Su Hao and said, 'Also, seeing Assistant Su, I realize you can't even measure up to being gentle and refined.'

Chen Yu was furious.

She almost rushed over to slap Lu Mi Mi.

Just then, downstairs, the car door slammed shut.

Miss Li, in high heels, held her phone and walked up the steps. The red Maserati stood arrogantly at the entrance.

A few people watched her disappear up the stairs.

Chen Yu stopped arguing with Lu Mi Mi, looked down, and quietly ate her meal, saying, 'What's wrong with being gentle and refined? General Zhou has no taste.'

'He just likes roses with thorns, hmph.'

The voice was small, muttered.

It sounded a bit resentful.

Su Hao glanced at Chen Yu.

Chen Yu was delicate, but her makeup was heavy. It seemed she was pursuing him.

When she initially pursued him, she didn't know what type he liked.

A natural face.

Always doing gentle things.

She smiled, lifted her soup, and continued to drink.

After lunch, there were fruit deliveries. Each person had a lunchbox. Su Hao and Chen Yu each took one upstairs. They ate slowly, and there weren't as many people in the elevator now; it was a bit empty.

Arriving on the 16th floor, the elevator doors beeped. As they walked out, they looked up and saw Miss Li standing outside the meeting room door, her long legs swinging a bit impatiently.

At this moment, the meeting room door opened, and Zhou Yang walked out, pulling at his collar. He met Miss Li. 'I have another meeting this afternoon. You've come to eat at our cafeteria?'

'Well, that's not unacceptable.' Miss Li stood straight, her tone sweet.

'Alright.' Zhou Yang took the cigarette that Assistant Lu handed over and was about to light it. He glanced at Su Hao and Chen Yu. Chen Yu quickly greeted, 'Good afternoon, General Zhou.'

Zhou Yang smiled, 'Good.'

Su Hao also nodded to him, 'Good afternoon, General Zhou.'

Zhou Yang nodded back.

Su Hao pushed open the office door and walked in with Chen Yu.

The door closed.

Blocking the view of Miss Li's scrutiny, Su Hao sat down on the office chair, opened the lunchbox, and then saw a WeChat message notification on her phone.

She reached out and picked it up.

It was from Zhou Yang.

She hesitated for a moment, selected one, and forwarded it to him.

Su Hao: This one.

A few minutes later, her WeChat beeped.

Zhou Yang: Quite a good choice.

Su Hao: You picked well.

..................................................................................................................

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