Chapter 26: Even Feel Like Throwing Up

Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5310224
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com

Lu Fan walked in front, but when he noticed Ji Lianxing had not followed, he turned around and saw her still standing there in a daze. “Xiao Ji, what are you spacing out for?”

“Nothing.” Ji Lianxing snapped out of it. “Let’s go.”

The two of them walked to their desks together. Ji Lianxing put down her bag and sat down.

Her desk was very tidy. There was not much on it—just a cup, a pack of tissues, a computer, and a few documents that everyone had.

She was thinking. Lu Fan said Mia was interested in her desk. What exactly was Mia interested in?

Ji Lianxing did not think too much. She turned on her computer, entered the password, and started checking Monday’s emails.

This was something that had to be done before starting work every day. Monday’s emails were a bit more than usual. She had to go through them one by one and found that there were actually two meetings today—one at ten in the morning and one at two in the afternoon.

Meetings, meetings. As an analyst, she had to attend meetings almost every day. The morning one was a team meeting. The afternoon one was a department meeting. They mainly focused on buy-side analysis reports, and the results of the reports directly affected everyone’s performance for the month.

Ji Lianxing finished reading the emails one by one and started arranging the day’s work.

Mia arrived at the last minute. She had a strong perfume scent on her, matched with her big wavy curls and a Luxurious outfit, giving off the feeling that she was going to afternoon tea.

An LV bag was placed on the desk. Ji Lianxing glanced at it, then looked away.

“Xiao Ji, good morning~” Mia gave a bright smile.

Ji Lianxing nodded. “Good morning.” Her gaze stayed on the computer screen, pretending not to notice Mia’s new bag.

Mia moved her bag a little, letting it sit closer to Ji Lianxing. She sat down, took a sip of coffee, and seemed to be in the mood to chat.

“How was your weekend?”

"Not bad." Ji Lianxing sounded a bit perfunctory.

"Oh oh~" Mia’s eyes landed on Ji Lianxing’s face, then turned to her own bag. She finally could not hold it in. She reached out, opened the bag, took out a small candy, and handed it to Ji Lianxing. "Xiao Ji, want some candy?"

"Thank you." Ji Lianxing took the candy and placed it beside her computer. She felt like Mia still had more to say. It looked like if she did not bring the topic to the bag, it really would not end.

Left with no choice, Ji Lianxing had to say, "Ah, you bought a new bag?"

Mia showed a satisfied smile. "Yes, I just bought it over the weekend. Women, you know, should treat ourselves better. If we want to buy it, then buy it."

"Mm, mm, it looks pretty good." Ji Lianxing was afraid Mia would bother her again later, so she added another line, "It suits you well. Very pretty."

The hidden meaning was: it looks good, really good, very nice, mm mm mm mm, you are the most beautiful, so please stop bothering me.

"Aiya, then thank you~ Looks like I did not buy wrong."

Mia seemed to really enjoy this kind of thing. She placed her bag in a more visible spot, then opened her computer and started checking her emails too.

After working for a while, ten o’clock arrived quickly. The people in the team walked toward the meeting room. They were about to have a team meeting.

In the large meeting room, only the ten people from Team 01 were seated.

The team leader did not waste time and got straight to the point:

"Let me introduce—this meeting is mainly to welcome our new member Mia. You all probably already know her."

This is the company’s rule. When a new member joins, there has to be a team meeting. It’s mainly for everyone to get familiar and to inform about the handover.

Mia stood up, tucked the hair by her ear, bent forward and bowed. She smiled and said, “I really like our team. Everyone’s so warm, the atmosphere’s honestly just great. Seeing how excellent everyone is, I realized I still have a lot to learn. Please take care of me from now on!”

“Mm, in the team, everyone helping each other is a given. According to the rules, Ji Lianxing will be the one guiding you. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask her. Got it?” The team leader was going over some repeated things—actually, he had already told Mia all this in private, so this was just going through the motions again.

But Mia smiled and said, “Does it have to be her who guides me?”

As soon as Mia said that, Ji Lianxing lifted her head and looked at her, but didn’t say anything.

The team leader clearly froze for a moment too. After realizing what was said, he added, “That’s how the rule goes. Look, during her probation, it was Lu Fan guiding her. This way, you can learn something, and she can learn something too.”

“I’m afraid the questions I ask, Xiao Ji might not be able to answer, or might not be able to answer in time.” Mia kept smiling the whole time. Her tone wasn’t aggressive, but what she said smelled a bit of tea*.

*pretentious/backhanded

She probably thought that Ji Lianxing, being a fellow newcomer, wasn’t qualified to guide her.

The team leader also smiled and replied to her: "We’re a team, don’t overthink things. When we were hiring, we also saw that your professional abilities aren’t weak. Actually, it’s easy to get started. If you really can’t manage, if Xiao Ji can’t answer your questions, you can also ask us."

The team leader thought this would be the end of it, but Mia seemed to want to keep going. She said again, "Xiao Ji, she’s too efficient and leaves work too early. Sometimes when I have questions, she’s already gone."

Insinuating that someone leaves work early?

Lu Fan coughed, trying to swallow his words. But seeing Mia’s smiling face, he really couldn’t hold back: "She leaves work legally, and her high efficiency means she leaves early, which is perfectly reasonable. You can try hard, and your efficiency will be even higher than hers later." The last part, "you can try hard," Lu Fan clearly said with a sarcastic tone.

Faced with Lu Fan's bluntness, Ji Lianxing shook her head at him, signaling him to stop talking. This is the workplace, not a casual conversation. Making enemies doesn’t help, and being too bLunt will only lead to trouble with people who hold grudges.

Lu Fan received the signal and seemed to realize something. He closed his mouth and didn’t say anything more.

Ji Lianxing looked at Mia, returned the courtesy, and responded with a polite smile. She said to Mia, "Sister Mia, actually, I don't think I should say that I 'guide' you. I don't deserve to because your abilities are indeed quite good. As for work, I hope we can help each other and progress together. What do you think?"

Her tone was very polite, very humble, which made Mia feel a bit unsure of how to respond.

The others in the group remained silent because everyone understood that although Ji Lianxing had just officially become a full-time employee, her work abilities were unquestionable. If they were to compare, Mia was still a step behind.

In fact, everyone knew the truth — this newcomer was being a little presumptuous.

Mia froze for two seconds, then smiled and said, "Of course, no problem at all~"

The team leader sighed with relief, glad that the matter could finally be settled.

"Alright, the meeting ends here. Let's not waste anyone's time. Remember, we have the departmental meeting at 2 PM this afternoon~"

For most people, it was just an ordinary meeting, but Ji Lianxing kept her guard up.

Sometimes, when you're just walking through life, things don't go as planned. You don't bother others, but they seem to want to start trouble with you. It's one of those things you can't predict.

Plus, with what Lu Fan said this morning, Ji Lianxing was more wary of Mia. Even though she didn't understand Mia's reasons, the best choice was to keep her distance from people like that.

After the meeting, Lu Fan followed Ji Lianxing out, quietly asking, "Are you okay?"

Ji Lianxing shook her head, "What could be wrong?"

"That's good," Lu Fan lowered his voice, "Don't listen to her nonsense. You're the best."

Lu Fan looked at Ji Lianxing, his eyes shimmering with something strange, and upon closer inspection, he seemed a little flushed?

Ji Lianxing seemed to sense something, frowning, hoping it wasn't what she feared.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Ji Lianxing said, leaving Lu Fan behind as she walked off alone.

On her way, she thought about why Lu Fan was helping her. Every human action has a reason behind it, and she recalled that Lu Fan had been the most enthusiastic toward her in the group over the past few months. He often reached out to chat with her on WeChat, even though she never responded.

Oh, damn, the one thing she didn't want to happen had happened. Ji Lianxing felt a headache coming on. She feared that she wouldn't be able to handle this relationship properly, which might lead to negative consequences.

And then there's Mia, another headache-inducing person.

It seems Yu Meng was right— the workplace is like the dating world. One must always have high emotional intelligence and be cautious, walking on thin ice. Otherwise, one day you might suddenly get a "breakup," and before you know it, your reputation might be ruined.

When Ji Lianxing returned from the restroom, she found everyone in the "waiting for lunch" mode. She quickly grabbed the opportunity to organize her data, hoping to leave work early in the afternoon.

Although she was working seriously, she couldn't help but glance at her phone now and then, mainly to see if Jiang Shu had sent her a message.

There was no news from her all morning, and Ji Lianxing felt a slight disappointment in her secret anticipation. But then she thought to herself, it’s probably nothing. Jiang Shu must be very busy.

As adults, love isn't everything in life.

Thinking this, Ji Lianxing threw herself back into work. If someone as outstanding as Jiang Shu was still working hard, she had no reason not to work hard too.

Time passed quickly, and as lunchtime approached, Lu Fan started organizing everyone to order takeout. Even though Ji Lianxing almost never ate takeout, he still asked her:

"Xiao Ji, are you ordering?"

"No, thanks." Ji Lianxing's fingers were flying over the keyboard. Lu Fan leaned in closer to her, staring at her screen. He noticed she was analyzing data on a particular company.

"Why are you still looking at this company?" Lu Fan asked in confusion.

"Looking at the reports, I feel like there’s something off with this company," Ji Lianxing said, then realized Mia was still nearby. She quickly closed the page and added, "Maybe not, maybe I’m just overthinking. You guys order the takeout, I’m going downstairs to eat."

Ji Lianxing checked her phone—there were only five minutes left until off work.

She opened WeChat, debating whether to send Jiang Shu a message. Just then, Jiang Shu’s message popped up, brief and to the point, with just two words:  

[Come up.]

Before Ji Lianxing could even feel happy about it, she sensed a gaze. She glanced sideways and saw Mia peeking at her screen.

Ji Lianxing quickly turned off her screen, frowning as she asked, "What’s wrong? Did you see something on my phone?"

Mia’s expression was calm as she smiled, "Nothing. How about we have lunch together? Let’s go to the cafeteria downstairs."

Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5310224
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com

Her tone was so casual, as if she hadn’t been trying to peek at Ji Lianxing’s phone, but Ji Lianxing knew what she saw. Mia had definitely intended to sneak a look.

She absolutely hated this behavior, so rude. Did peeking at others really bring her any pleasure?

Ji Lianxing tucked her phone into her pocket, her brow furrowed tightly. "I’m not hungry today, I actually feel like throwing up. You go eat by yourself."

Whether Mia truly didn’t understand or was just pretending, she fake-heartedly asked, "What’s wrong with you? Are you okay? Why would you feel like throwing up?"

Disgusted by you.

Ji Lianxing swallowed those words, offering Mia a smile that seemed to say, "If you don’t understand, there’s nothing I can do." She didn’t answer Mia’s question and got up to leave.

Author's Note:

Here's the update, I laid it down, bye~