Twenty-Two

 "Free, very free." Su Qian replied leisurely. She was always probing Zhou Yang, but he always appeared nonchalant. Unfortunately for him, the more he acted this way, the more he revealed.

Zhou Yang placed the cup back on the bedside table, glanced at his watch, and seemed to be hinting for her to leave: "Mom, you can go now."

"Already kicking me out?"

Zhou Yang raised his eyes and looked at her, "Otherwise, should I keep you here to keep probing?"

He chuckled, threw off the blanket, got out of bed, and started unbuttoning his pajamas as he leisurely walked into the bathroom. Su Qian sighed, got up, took the cup, and muttered under her breath.

"This damned son."

Whatever she was thinking, she couldn't hide it from Zhou Yang. Seeing he had the energy to shower, Su Qian felt reassured and went downstairs.

That night, it rained continuously, even into the morning. The sky was overcast. After waking up, Su Hao stood by the window and looked outside.

Fine rain fell, and after a night's downpour, the treetops, ground, and car tops were still dripping. Su Hao watched for a while.

She went to wash up, brush her teeth, and make breakfast.

Then she grabbed an umbrella and left the house. As she reached the ground floor, a cool breeze hit her; it felt like autumn was approaching.

The underground pedestrian path was still impassable due to being in a low-lying area. It had been fine before she got off work yesterday, but now it was flooded again. Su Hao had no choice but to call a ride. She still wasn't familiar with the roads here, while others knew alternative bike routes to work.

When she arrived at the company, Su Hao got out of the car, placed her umbrella on the rack at the entrance, and tidied her hair, which was a bit messy. She hadn’t rolled up the car window, and made her way to the elevator.

She had arrived early, and there weren’t many people in the office yet.

The elevator came up from the basement level, and with a ding, the doors opened.

Su Hao looked up.

Inside the elevator was Zhou Yang, wearing a white shirt and trousers, holding a jacket over his arm, his hand casually in his pocket, squinting at her with his long, narrow eyes.

The atmosphere was awkward.

There were two other people in the elevator, Director Zeng and Assistant Lu.

Assistant Lu greeted, "Good morning, Su Hao."

Su Hao had intended to take the next elevator.

But Assistant Lu’s greeting disrupted her plan. She smiled slightly, "Good morning, Director Zhou, Assistant Lu, Director Zeng."

After greeting them, it went quiet again. Su Hao took a step back, preparing to say something. Director Zeng waved and said, "Come on in quickly, it'll get crowded later, and it'll be hard to get in."

Su Hao swallowed her words and had to step in. The three of them stood in a bit of a triangular formation, with Zhou Yang in the middle.

After entering, Su Hao moved to stand near Director Zeng. Director Zeng moved aside, leaving Su Hao a bit surprised, so she moved towards Assistant Lu instead.

Assistant Lu adjusted his glasses and silently stepped back a bit. Su Hao hesitated, as she couldn't squeeze in with them. Eventually, she and Zhou Yang stood with a noticeable gap between them, while the two men behind her were squished together.

The elevator remained silent.

For some reason, no one else entered.

Thus, they reached the sixteenth floor without interruption. When the elevator door opened, Su Hao paused, intending to let Zhou Yang go first. Zhou Yang didn’t move, and neither did Director Zeng or Assistant Lu, as they wouldn’t move before their boss. They were all at a standstill until Zhou Yang coldly snorted.

He raised an eyebrow and nonchalantly asked Su Hao, "Aren’t you going?"

Su Hao glanced at him.

His eyes were deep and calm, leaning casually against the elevator wall. Su Hao pressed her lips together, retracted her gaze, and walked out briskly.

As she walked away.

The two men behind her sighed in relief.

Zhou Yang squinted his eyes and followed her out with large strides.

This woman always had a cold war expression, which he disliked. Just from looking at her, he could tell that in an argument, Su Hao would be the type to give the silent treatment, ignoring people completely, making a point of it.

Zhou Yang thought he was going crazy.

He snorted a few times and, passing by the tea room, saw Su Hao reaching for brown sugar on tiptoe. Zhou Yang watched for a few seconds, handed his jacket to Assistant Lu, rolled up his sleeves, and walked in. Using his height advantage, he took down the packet of brown sugar. Su Hao’s hand missed, her delicate, white fingers pausing mid-air. She looked up.

The man stood behind her, holding the brown sugar packet, looking down at her, and asked in a low voice, "Is it your period?"

For the first time, Su Hao blushed.

She pressed her lips together, "The sugar!"

"You want it?" Zhou Yang waved the packet in his hand, enjoying her blushing face. Her blush wasn’t all over but spread from her neck to her ears, light and pink, making one want to kiss it.

Su Hao pressed her lips tighter.

She always took good care of herself during her period.

But these past two days, she had been so busy taking over Chen Yu's work that she forgot about it. She only realized it when her stomach felt uncomfortable after getting off the elevator.

Feijie treated its employees well, not only providing brown sugar and hand warmers but also spare sanitary pads.

"Give it to me." Su Hao reached out.

Zhou Yang moved back a bit, making her miss again. His eyes remained on her face, "Your period starts on the 28th? Is it accurate? Hmm?"

Su Hao's face turned even redder.

What is he asking!

She could give him the cold shoulder, but she really wasn’t used to talking about this with anyone.

"It’s not the 28th, and it’s none of your business," Su Hao said, and then decided not to take the brown sugar packet. Instead, she grabbed her small bag from the table and turned to leave.

After walking a couple of steps, the man caught up from behind and, in the next moment, stuffed the brown sugar and hand warmer into her arms. Zhou Yang chuckled softly, "It is the 28th."

"Probably quite accurate."

With that, he walked away.

Leaving Su Hao standing there, holding the hand warmer and brown sugar, in a daze.

Two minutes later, Su Hao returned to the tea room, stood there tearing open the brown sugar packet, and prepared the brown sugar water. Her stomach was cramping painfully, so she also heated the hand warmer. At this moment, Lu Mimi happened to come in, standing next to Su Hao while making coffee. She glanced at Su Hao and asked, "Did Director Zhou come into the tea room just now?"

Su Hao glanced at her and nodded slightly.

The pain made her too weak to speak. Lu Mimi asked again, "What did he come for?"

"Not sure." Su Hao replied, taking the brown sugar water and the hand warmer, and turned to leave, heading towards the finance office. As she sat down, she quickly placed the hand warmer on her stomach, applying pressure. She looked up and noticed there was another hand warmer on the desk. She was momentarily stunned as her phone beeped.

She picked it up.

It was from Assistant Lu.

Assistant Lu: Director Zhou asked me to give you this. It’s warmer than the ones in the tea room; those have been used up.

Su Hao: Please thank Director Zhou for me.

After editing the message, Su Hao put down her phone and moved the new hand warmer, which was indeed much warmer. She replaced it and placed it on her stomach, then opened her computer and began working. Soon after, Zhang Xian arrived at work. She came over to check Su Hao’s ledger and some documents, also reviewing the checks.

These were all prepared by Su Hao yesterday, and she had stamped them too. Today’s checks were to be submitted. Lu Mimi also came over to join in, and the two of them checked the documents. Unconsciously, they finished the check, and everything was in order. They exchanged glances but didn’t speak further.

There was a meeting in the morning.

It was a finance department meeting, and Su Hao and several others went to the large conference room.

Su Hao’s stomach still hurt badly, and her face looked a bit pale. She held a pen, concentrating hard. When Director Zeng called her name, she felt a bit disoriented. A few seconds later, she looked up and forced a smile, "Director Zeng."

"What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Seeing her pale face, Director Zeng was momentarily surprised and said, "It’s nothing. I was just complimenting you. You did a good job with the work yesterday."

Finish today’s work today.

Su Hao had done the accounting entries clearly and meticulously. Director Zeng could see it all at a glance, without having to wait until after 10 am the next day as he had with Chen Yu’s previous work. Chen Yu’s predecessors had been accustomed to having the entries organized by 10 am the next day, while Su Hao had completed it before leaving work yesterday.

This was considered ahead of others.

However, Lu Mimi’s face darkened.

The better Su Hao performed, the more it made them seem negligent.

This made her feel threatened. Even Zhang Xian couldn’t help but sit up straighter and glance at Su Hao, who was visibly in pain and somewhat dazed.

"Alright, you look so uncomfortable; let’s end the meeting." Director Zeng, concerned about Su Hao, decided not to ask directly and simply called for the meeting to end.

He then collected his documents with his assistant and left first.

Zhang Xian packed up and quietly asked Su Hao, "How are you? Are you alright?"

Su Hao nodded, "I’m fine."

"Then take care of yourself." Zhang Xian said, picked up her things, and left. Lu Mimi had already walked away in her high heels.

Su Hao sighed and slumped back into her seat.

She rarely experienced such pain, but it wasn’t unheard of. Working through this discomfort was indeed challenging. After sitting for a while and ensuring no one else needed the conference room, she packed up and left the meeting room. She then remembered she needed to apply for a business trip location.

So she turned into Director Zeng’s office.

Who knew, Zhou Yang was also inside. He lowered his head to light a cigarette, heard some movement, and glanced at her. Seeing her face turn pale, her eyes squinted, he put down the cigarette.

His narrow eyes stared at her.

Su Hao called out, "Director Zhou!" Then she went straight to Director Zeng's desk and said, "Director Zeng, I'm applying for a business trip to Kyoto."

Director Zeng hurriedly gestured for her to sit.

Su Hao smiled, "No need to sit, I'm fine."

Director Zeng's forehead started sweating. Su Hao, you call this being fine?

Didn't you notice the look in this man's eyes beside you?

Director Zeng coughed and without thinking much said, "Okay, I approve it. Things in Kyoto are indeed simpler than in Dongshi. You wouldn't manage there as a newcomer. Alright, go rest soon."

"Or should I give you half a day off?"

"No need, I'm fine, it will pass." Su Hao felt embarrassed to tell them the reason. She nodded with renewed vigor, turned, and left.

As she twisted the doorknob, a big hand grabbed her wrist, pulling her back, then wrapping around her waist, lifting her up. Su Hao instinctively struggled.

Zhou Yang turned and carried her into Director Zeng's lounge, tossing her onto the soft couch. He bent over, resting on his knees, his shirt collar carelessly open, saying, "Rest here for a bit. Do you want some painkillers?"

Su Hao reflexively sat up straight. Zhou Yang reached out, pressing down on her shoulder, suddenly leaning forward, touching her forehead, "If you don’t rest or take medicine, then I'll let everyone in the company see what you and I are doing in this room."

Su Hao was stunned.

She moved back slightly, her voice colder, "I really am fine. I know my own body."

"Is that so." Zhou Yang smiled, moving back as well, step by step approaching, breaths entangled, both looking into each other's eyes in this somewhat narrow room. The scent of each other was everywhere, no matter where they tried to hide. His smile was somewhat mischievous; Su Hao felt forced to almost lie down.

**Today she wore a tightly-buttoned shirt.

But due to her movements, there were some traces. Zhou Yang's eyes glanced down and then moved away, asking, "Will you take painkillers?"**

Su Hao shook her head.

She had taken them before, and the pain had worsened next time.

"Then you can only rest."

After saying that, the man stood up straight, looking down at her fragile posture, suddenly feeling a sense of control. Sweeping away yesterday's annoyance.

He turned off the lights in the room, smiling as he walked out. At this moment, his phone beeped. Zhou Yang picked it up and glanced at it for a moment. For some reason, he suddenly looked up and asked Director Zeng, "Where did she just apply for a business trip?"

Director Zeng, without looking at the lounge, directly replied, "Kyoto."

Zhou Yang's face darkened.

Glancing at the updated location in Shen He's moments [Kyoto..]

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