Chapter 40: This Melon Is Truly Big and Juicy

Bai Yuanzhi asked Chen Shuojie, “Do you know that woman?”

—After all, he couldn’t very well call his own father a scumbag, could he?

Chen Shuojie snorted and refused to answer.

Bai Yuanzhi asked him again, “Should we go over and say hello?”

Chen Shuojie just snorted again.

Bai Yuanzhi grew impatient. “Then let’s go! Don’t hold me up.”

Chen Shuojie silently maneuvered his wheelchair and left.

But as they passed the private room where Chen Shen was,

a waiter happened to push the door open,

so Chen Shuojie involuntarily slowed down.

Bai Yuanzhi also pricked up her ears—truth be told, she wanted to hear the gossip too, but due to the angle, she couldn’t see the people inside the room and could only catch snippets of their conversation.

Chen Shen didn’t speak.

The one talking was likely the woman.

“…XX has always acted so aloof, calling herself the pure and innocent jade maiden. How could she possibly agree to go to the 19th floor? Was it because you were there too? Hmph, I knew all along she was trying to seduce you!”

Bai Yuanzhi only managed to hear that one sentence before the waiter closed the door behind him.

But—

That one sentence was packed with information!

First, not only did the woman’s back look familiar to Bai Yuanzhi, but her voice sounded familiar too!

Second, when the woman mentioned the “19th floor,” was she referring to… the 19th floor of Bilanting’s Pine Crane Tower, which A Xi and Xiao Yu were later transferred to clean, and where, according to rumors, there was even feces on the ceiling?

Chen Shuojie also paused his wheelchair outside the private room for a moment.

About ten seconds later, he slowly maneuvered his wheelchair away.

Bai Yuanzhi followed.

Chen Shuojie was clearly in low spirits, and Bai Yuanzhi was racking her brains trying to figure out who that woman was and why she felt so familiar!

And so, the two sat in the car in a daze.

It wasn’t until the driver parked the car near the night school and gently reminded Bai Yuanzhi

that she snapped back to reality. “Huh? Oh… thank you, Mr. Chen. I’ll be going now, goodbye!”

After she got out of the car,

“Ah Zhi!” Chen Shuojie suddenly rolled down the window and called out to her.

Bai Yuanzhi turned around.

Sitting inside the car, Chen Shuojie’s complexion looked somewhat pale, and his expression seemed rather pitiful. “Will you… come to the company again tomorrow?”

Bai Yuanzhi eyed him suspiciously. “Is there something you need?”

To be honest, she was just a planner.

But she wasn’t very familiar with the products.

After the Chen Group adopted her proposal, they would refine it in various ways based on their own circumstances.

Aside from Qiao Yusheng’s accessories, which she would personally follow up on,

the more the Chen Group perfected the other projects, the less they had to do with Bai Yuanzhi.

So, in the Chen Group’s projects, the further along they progressed, the less work Bai Yuanzhi had.

She didn’t have to go.

Chen Shuojie lowered his eyelids. “There are many things I don’t understand… My dad said you should teach me.”

Bai Yuanzhi stared at Chen Shuojie.

Before, she would have genuinely thought Chen Shuojie was just a good-for-nothing.

But ever since he formally apologized to her in proper Chinese and English,

Bai Yuanzhi no longer thought that way.

For one, his command of both Chinese and English was quite impressive.

For another, he was genuinely taking this seriously—including preparing a script in advance and even spending time memorizing it.

Putting aside whether that apology letter was ghostwritten for him… most likely not, because it would be too embarrassing.

Just based on his sincerity and initiative like this…

He really isn’t useless.

So, does he still need to keep saying “my dad said” and use that excuse to tie her down?

If he wanted to show off, make a splash, or get involved with Chen Group’s affairs,

His father would probably be overjoyed and teach him everything, right?

Therefore,

Bai Yuanzhi understood very clearly,

Chen Shen and Anthony’s various antics were all aimed at pairing her up with Chen Shuojie.

For money, Bai Yuanzhi could accept it.

But she couldn’t truly accept it.

Since that was the case,

Then she had to handle things from two sides.

When facing Chen Shen and Anthony, she had to accept;

When facing Chen Shuojie, she couldn’t accept.

“No,” Bai Yuanzhi said frankly, “I won’t go tomorrow, and I won’t go the day after either.”

Chen Shuojie had originally looked up at her with hope in his eyes.

Hearing her say this,

The light in his eyes slowly faded away.

Bai Yuanzhi turned and walked into the night school.

The next day was payday at Bilanting Hotel.

Employees had to go to the finance department in staggered shifts to collect their salaries.

Bilanting Hotel didn’t allow employees to discuss their salaries,

So on payday, each person received an envelope sealed with wax.

Inside the envelope were cash and a small slip detailing the salary breakdown.

Once they signed the register, they could take the envelope.

If there were any questions about the salary, they had to submit a written application to the finance department within three working days. The finance department would then review the accounts and call in the person involved to explain the situation.

When it was Bai Yuanzhi’s turn,

She signed the register, took the envelope, and walked to a secluded spot. When she opened it—

Bai Yuanzhi froze.

Was she seeing things? Why did she see a thick stack of thousand-dollar bills???

After all, her salary plus various bonuses couldn’t possibly exceed three thousand.

If the finance department gave her thousand-dollar bills, there would be at most three.

But…

At a glance, the envelope contained at least ten or so thousand-dollar bills!

In that instant, Bai Yuanzhi’s heart raced with fear!

She thought:

What was going on?

Could it be that the mastermind behind Zhou Sier’s case was really someone from Bilanting Hotel?

Did that person know Bai Yuanzhi was there for Zhou Sier’s case and deliberately used this method… both as a bribe and a threat???

Bai Yuanzhi didn’t dare make a sound.

She tightly clutched the envelope and returned to the ninth-floor lounge.

Then, while her coworkers went to the finance office to collect their salaries, she opened the envelope and counted the money inside.

Thirteen thousand-dollar bills, plus some loose change,

Added up to thirteen thousand four hundred and sixty-five dollars!

Bai Yuanzhi took out the pay slip and examined it carefully.

The salary, full attendance bonus, performance bonus, and such were all normal.

Only one item, labeled “Zodiac Bonus” in the “Reason” column, amounted to ten thousand…

Bai Yuanzhi was stunned.

—Zodiac Bonus???

What was that!

Wait,

She had received a “Constellation Bonus” the month before last…

Was there any connection between the Constellation Bonus and the Zodiac Bonus?

Bai Yuanzhi didn’t dare say anything and carefully put away her salary.

Later—

She observed for the entire afternoon,

She also hadn’t noticed any coworkers discussing the “Zodiac Bonus.”

So she left a message for A Yao.

[Got paid today, company gave out Zodiac Bonus, only I got it, worried they made a mistake and will ask me to return it]

It has to be said, once she sent this message,

Bai Yuanzhi’s mood wasn’t so heavy anymore.

Just as Bai Yuanzhi had breathed a sigh of relief,

her call started beeping incessantly.

After calling the paging station to check,

she found out A Yao had replied: [Since it’s here, accept it calmly, don’t worry, see you next Friday night.]

A faint smile inexplicably appeared on Bai Yuanzhi’s face.

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since she last saw A Yao.

Almost a month!

Suddenly, A Xi and Xiao Yu came running to find Bai Yuanzhi in a huff, “Ah Zhi, come with us to the HR department!”

Bai Yuanzhi, “What for?”

A Xi was furious, “Remember when Sister Marry made us go clean up shit on the 19th floor? Turns out Sister Marry never processed our transfer paperwork! Overtime pay wasn’t counted, transfer allowance wasn’t counted! All of us! Every single one of us got over a hundred dollars less!”

Xiao Yu was also indignant, “Yeah, as soon as we got our salaries this morning, we went to find Marry. She said she’d look into it for us… but then she didn’t come in this afternoon. Just now, Jennifer went to ask around and found out Sister Marry is on annual leave! And she’s taking seven days off! Ah Zhi, you know our finance department has a rule: any questions about last month’s salary must be raised within three days of receiving it, otherwise they won’t handle it!”

Bai Yuanzhi was a bit confused.

She could understand her colleagues’ anger over something like this,

but why… were they dragging her along?

Xiao Yu pleaded with her, “Ah Zhi, please come with us!”

Bai Yuanzhi, “Why do I need to go?”

A Xi, “Because you have connections in HR!”

Bai Yuanzhi widened her eyes, “What on earth are you talking about?”

Even if everyone used to think she was close with Zhou Weihao,

Zhou Weihao hadn’t been to Bilanting in a long time!

Jennifer, a coworker who had never gotten along well with Bai Yuanzhi, chimed in sarcastically from the side, “Have you forgotten? That time we went to clean up shit on the 19th floor, you were the only one who didn’t go!”

Bai Yuanzhi, “Did you ever consider that if we all left, and a guest on the 9th floor needed room service at that exact moment?”

Jennifer: …

“It didn’t necessarily have to be you who stayed behind!” Jennifer retorted, unwilling to back down. “You’re clearly the newest here. Who among us doesn’t have more seniority than you? If anyone should have gone to clean up shit, it should have been you!”

Bai Yuanzhi, “And did you consider that the HR colleagues might have thought precisely because I have the least seniority, I wasn’t worthy of earning that overtime pay, so they sent you veterans instead?”

Jennifer: …

Xiao Yu rushed over, “Ah Zhi, Ah Zhi! Please come with us! I get terrified just seeing HR colleagues! But you’re so brave, come with me!”

Bai Yuanzhi remembered the “Zodiac Bonus” in her own salary,

so she accompanied Xiao Yu and A Xi to the HR department.

As soon as they arrived at HR,

Xiao Yu and A Xi hid behind Bai Yuanzhi.

Bai Yuanzhi: ???

A somewhat plump, middle-aged woman around her thirties asked Bai Yuanzhi, “Colleague, how can I help you?”

Bai Yuanzhi turned to look at Xiao Yu and A Xi huddled behind her.

She sighed, explained what had happened, and added, “Miss, could you please help my coworkers?”

The plump woman said, “My surname is Sui, you can call me Miss Sui. Let me check for you.”

Bai Yuanzhi, Xiao Yu, and A Xi sat aside to wait while Miss Sui flipped through the attendance records.

Xiao Yu whispered to Bai Yuanzhi, “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Mr. Zhou. Ah Zhi, do you think he won’t be coming anymore?”

A Xi, who was better informed, nudged Xiao Yu with her elbow, signaling her to stop asking.

Soon, Miss Sui told Bai Yuanzhi, “I can’t find any records, so I can’t help you log the attendance. It’s best you ask your supervisor how to handle this.”

Xiao Yu and A Xi looked disappointed. “Huh? So we cleaned up shit all day for nothing?”

Miss Sui added, “Or you could escalate it to the Inspection Team.”

—Yes, Bilanting Hotel also had a department called the Inspection Team, specifically for handling complaints.

It dealt not only with guest complaints about the hotel but also internal grievances.

Xiao Yu and A Xi glanced at each other, unsure what to do.

After all, Sister Marry had been deeply entrenched at Bilanting Hotel for a long time, with an extremely powerful network.

If Xiao Yu and the others reported to the Inspection Team,

what if Sister Marry intercepted it? Or what if the Inspection Team accepted their complaint but let Sister Marry off lightly?

Would they be targeted by Sister Marry in the future?

Would they even keep their jobs?

Bai Yuanzhi asked Xiao Yu and A Xi, “Are you going to the Inspection Team?”

Xiao Yu and A Xi were deeply conflicted.

A Xi asked Bai Yuanzhi, “Then… will you go?”

Bai Yuanzhi smiled. “If she dared treat me like that, I would. But the problem is—”

Xiao Yu and A Xi exchanged a glance, remembering that time when Sister Marry brought Duoluoxi to cause trouble for Bai Yuanzhi. Unexpectedly, Bai Yuanzhi didn’t take the bait at all and even demanded that Marry provide a transfer order, otherwise she wouldn’t speak to Duoluoxi during work hours.

Thinking about it, Xiao Yu and A Xi realized:

Even the newcomer Bai Yuanzhi dared to ask Marry for a transfer order,

and Marry actually gave it!

This proved that the kind are bullied, and the tame are ridden!

So, Xiao Yu slowly nodded. “Then… I’ll go to the Inspection Team!”

A Xi was still hesitant. “Aren’t you afraid of Marry retaliating?”

Xiao Yu took a deep breath. “I’ve been bullied by her for so long! She forces eight of us to share six beds, keeps us on standby 24/7, lectures us every morning at six, and I haven’t had a raise in three years! This isn’t right… I don’t care. If you don’t want to report to the Inspection Team, then—”

“I’ll go by myself!” Xiao Yu said firmly.

A Xi remained conflicted. “But aren’t you afraid of getting fired? If you’re fired, it’ll be hard to find another job with such high pay…”

Xiao Yu ignored A Xi and turned to Bai Yuanzhi. “Ah Zhi, come with me!”

Miss Sui chimed in from the side, “Colleague, the Inspection Group is different from our HR department. They handle cases individually. If you want to go, you might need to go yourself; your coworkers can’t help you with that.”

As she spoke, Miss Sui also said to A Xi, “Similarly, if Xiao Yu lodges a complaint herself, the Inspection Group will only handle her case. Since you haven’t filed a complaint, even if your situation is the same as hers, it won’t be addressed.”

Xiao Yu thanked Miss Sui, then gathered her courage, straightened her back, and walked toward the Inspection Group.

A Xi was both anxious and torn with indecision…

In the end, A Xi still chased after Xiao Yu, “Xiao Yu, wait for me!”

The tool person Bai Yuanzhi was thus left behind by her coworkers.

Until—

Miss Sui’s friendly voice rang out, “Miss Ah Zhi,”

Bai Yuanzhi snapped back to attention.

Miss Sui said, “…It seems Miss Ah Zhi has a bit of dark circles under her eyes. Have you not been resting well lately?”

Yes, Bai Yuanzhi hadn’t been resting well recently.

To be able to swap shifts at any time and free up time for meetings at the Chen Group,

Bai Yuanzhi had been staying in the duty room on the ninth floor lately and had worked many consecutive days.

Staying in the duty room wasn’t pleasant.

First, the lights and air conditioning were on twenty-four hours a day.

Second, the beds weren’t fixed; they were mostly rotated, which meant everyone was too afraid to undress while sleeping, so they slept fully clothed.

Finally, six people were crammed into such a small room. In the middle of the night, colleagues would get up to use the restroom, talk in their sleep, snore, and sometimes even receive calls from residents requesting service…

It wasn’t just Bai Yuanzhi who wasn’t sleeping well;

all the coworkers were sleeping poorly.

Seeing Bai Yuanzhi nod,

Miss Sui said, “Coincidentally, I have some extra vouchers for Quanyang Melatonin tablets here. Miss Ah Zhi can take them and redeem them at Ningning Department Store.”

As she spoke, Miss Sui handed over two vouchers.

Bai Yuanzhi was stunned.

This—

Quanyang Melatonin was an imported health supplement with sleep-aiding properties, and it was quite expensive.

In any case, it was something Bai Yuanzhi, who had long been poor and only recently come into some wealth, couldn’t bring herself to spend money on.

And precisely because this item wasn’t cheap,

why would Miss Sui, whom she had only met once, give her something like this?

Also, why did Miss Sui call her “Miss Ah Zhi”?

This was just too strange!

“Ah, no need, thank you, Miss Sui. I’m still on duty, so I need to return to my post. Goodbye, Miss Sui!” Bai Yuanzhi quickly blurted out a sentence and hurried away.

However, after taking a few steps, Bai Yuanzhi paused.

She turned back to look at Miss Sui and tentatively said, “Miss Sui, I was born in the Year of the Horse.”

Miss Sui’s eyes widened.

Bai Yuanzhi smiled slightly and quickly left.

When she reached the elevator, Bai Yuanzhi looked back and saw the slightly plump Miss Sui standing dumbfounded at the entrance of the HR department, still staring blankly at her.

Bai Yuanzhi stepped into the elevator.

She wondered if this Miss Sui might be… the person who had given her the zodiac prize?

If so, what was Miss Sui’s intention? She didn’t even know Miss Sui—who would be so generous as to give someone ten thousand yuan for no reason!

If not, then who could have given her such a large sum of money…

Wait!

Bai Yuanzhi suddenly remembered something else.

Last night, when she went to Jiahong Seafood Restaurant with Chen Shuojie for dinner, she happened to see Chen Shen and a rather plump woman entering another private room.

The woman’s figure bore some resemblance to Miss Sui.

But the two were completely different.

Miss Sui looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties. Bai Yuanzhi wondered if she had just given birth and hadn’t fully recovered yet.

The woman from last night, however, was simply middle-aged and gaining weight.

Moreover, their appearances and voices were also different.

If there was anything truly the same or similar between them,

it was… their surname?

One was Miss Sui,

the other was… Miss Xu?

(Note: In Cantonese, “Sui” and “Xu” sound similar.)

After a moment of stunned silence, Bai Yuanzhi finally had a sudden realization!

She knew who that woman from last night was.

—That was Mrs. Xu’s sister-in-law, Xu Wenrui!

The reason Bai Yuanzhi found her familiar

was because she had never seen Xu Wenrui’s face directly, but she had overheard conversations between Mrs. Xu and Xu Wenrui and had seen Xu Wenrui’s back…

As this thought surfaced, Bai Yuanzhi found it utterly bewildering.

Because Zhou Weihao had previously told her:

Mrs. Xu had two sisters-in-law.

One was Xu Wenli, who married Chen Shen. It was said that after struggling to give birth to Chen Shuojie, she died from complications during childbirth.

The other was Xu Wenrui, the daughter-in-law of the shipping magnate Ming Family.

So the relationship between Xu Wenrui and Chen Shen was that of sister-in-law and brother-in-law.

Bai Yuanzhi tried hard to recall what she had personally heard Xu Wenrui say to Chen Shen last night:

[“…Hasn’t XX always been so aloof, calling herself a pure and innocent jade maiden? How could she possibly agree to go to the 19th floor? Was it because you were there too? Hmph, I knew all along she was trying to seduce you!”]

So???

Is this something a sister-in-law should say to her brother-in-law?

Besides, last night, after Chen Shuojie saw his father and his aunt together, he cursed with the word “bitch.”

So, was Chen Shuojie cursing his father or his aunt?

Bai Yuanzhi suddenly felt that this piece of gossip was both huge and juicy!

However, it’s best not to pry too much into the affairs of the wealthy.

Especially when it comes to the matters of one’s benefactors.

The less you know, the safer you are.

Bai Yuanzhi had no choice but to keep this juicy gossip to herself.

Suddenly—

A beeping sound rang out.

Bai Yuanzhi’s call received a message. Judging by the number left, it should be from Aunt Huang, the landlord of Xingfu Building.

She immediately called back.

Aunt Huang told Bai Yuanzhi, “Ah Zhi, about that apartment—is Zhaoer still planning to rent it or not? I know you’ve already moved out, and before you left, the rent was paid up until last month. If Zhaoer wants to continue renting the place, she should pay this month’s rent at the beginning of the month.”

“But this month is almost over, and Zhaoer hasn’t given me a single cent for rent. So the reason I’m calling you today is to let you know: if I still don’t receive the money, I’ll deduct it from the security deposit. Once that’s used up and Zhaoer still doesn’t pay, I’ll have to rent the place to someone else, okay?”

Bai Yuanzhi agreed and then asked Aunt Huang, “Has Zhaoer been staying there recently?”

—She wanted to know if Zhou Zhaoer had already moved in with Zhou Xiangmei.

Aunt Huang replied, “Yes, she comes back to stay every day!”

Bai Yuanzhi took a deep breath and asked, “Is she still spending a lot of time with Sister Lian lately?”

Aunt Huang said, “I don’t know, but she’s being supervised by volunteers now. She has to work six hours a day at that community support station, and they provide one meal there! But whether she goes off to hang out with Ah Lian after work… I wouldn’t know about that.”

After a pause, Aunt Huang added, “They might still be together all the time! Because Zhao’er comes back very late every night… Oh, I’m getting old, I can’t stay up late, but anyway, every night when Zhao’er hasn’t come back, Ah Lian hasn’t come back either!”

Bai Yuanzhi said, “Aunt Huang, give me a few more days. I’ll go ask Zhaoer.”

Aunt Huang agreed and hung up.

Bai Yuanzhi decided to go to the Nightingale Nightclub where Zeng Lian worked to see if Zhou Zhaoer was still hanging out with her.

Around eight o’clock at night,

Bai Yuanzhi took a bus to the Causeway Bay area, then walked to find the Nightingale Nightclub.

After asking around, she learned that Zeng Lian had left the Nightingale a long time ago, and there was no waitress named Zhou Zhaoer at the Nightingale either.

Not giving up, Bai Yuanzhi went to the neighboring nightclub,

and continued asking one by one like this,

finally hearing at a nightclub called “Wild King” that—Zeng Lian worked here as a head waitress, and Zhou Zhaoer worked here as a waitress.

Bai Yuanzhi walked into the nightclub with a grim expression, wanting to drag Zhou Zhaoer out as soon as possible.

However,

as soon as she entered,

a big brother with tattooed arms inside came out to greet her with a wide, gaping mouth. Not only did he laugh heartily, but he also spread his arms wide, as if wanting to give her a warm hug…

Bai Yuanzhi was startled and quickly dodged to the side.

Then, Bai Yuanzhi heard the tattooed-arm brother’s hearty voice, “Wow! Our Hong Kong University genius, young talent, Hong Kong University Technology Award winner—Song Junshu, the great scholar, is here! Welcome! Welcome!”

Hearing this, Bai Yuanzhi’s pupils suddenly dilated.

She took two more steps back, making sure she was completely hidden in the darkness, then looked toward the tattooed-arm brother.

Sure enough—

The tattooed-arm brother had just hugged a young man briefly before letting go.

Bai Yuanzhi looked closely and recognized that the young man talking to the tattooed-arm brother was none other than Song Junshu, whom she hadn’t seen in days!

The tattooed-arm brother asked Song Junshu curiously, “I heard Jiaojiao is in the hospital. Don’t you need to take care of her? What brings you here?”

Song Junshu kept looking around, “A’xiao, just now… did you see a girl wearing jeans and a white short-sleeved shirt?”

Bai Yuanzhi froze, suddenly feeling inexplicably nervous.

Because she was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt,

so,

had Song Junshu seen her just now?

He…

was looking for her?