Chapter 5: Very Wild At Heart
This translation is originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
T/N: Changing Wen Ruoxian's title from Miss Wen to President Wen, since CSR is the founder, she must be the CEO but they are both called "zong". Also, Yisheng is divided into two: Technology and Language if I remember it correctly, so they might be the heads of each and have similar titles (?) I don't know much about how corporate hierarchy works, usually, they just get addressed as Mr./Ms./Mr./Ma'am/Sir so forgive me if I'm wrong. This is to not get all the 'Misses' confusing, Miss Song means young miss, Ms. Song Yulan means Madam but she still carries her maiden name so it stays Ms., and she's also President Song. That's all. 🙏
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Thinking of who provided her phone number.
Wen Ruoxian only wondered for two seconds about how the young miss had her mobile phone number and then came to the conclusion: President Song gave it to her.
She only has a WeChat account, which is the same number for work and personal use.
The friends who are listed on her contacts all have a "label", either work or personal relationship, and are grouped layer by layer with clear boundaries. However, there's Song Qingluo, and she doesn't know what label to give her.
They are separated by more than one level at work and have no direct contact. Personally, they are not familiar with each other at all and cannot even be called friends.
But she is the client's daughter after all.
Thinking of this, Wen Ruoxian verified and set up a separate group for her: ancestors*.
*祖宗 (Zǔzōng) honorific title usually used for ancestors/elders, they are treated with utmost respect and have control over the younger generation, in colloquial terms, if used on someone younger (jokingly/mockingly) it can refer to someone troublesome whom you can only treat as an ancestor
"Ancestors" cannot be ignored.
The profile picture is the silhouette of sunlight on the ground, with the nickname being the surname in pinyin* "SONG," easy to recognize. Wen Ruoxian clicked into her Moments**, and the prominent feature was a bright red motorcycle on the cover photo. Scrolling down, there were just over a dozen posts, all within the past month.
*romanization of Chinese characters
**A feature on WeChat where you can post social updates
Motorcycles, game tables, gyms, various selfies...
It’s all about Song Qingluo’s recent life.
After two interactions, although she saw Song Qingluo as well-educated, sensible, and had a good impression, she always had an intuition in her heart that the other party was not as well-behaved as she seemed on the surface.
In a darker thought, Wen Ruoxian wondered if Song Qingluo's entry into the company wasn't for "freedom" but had another purpose, possibly even involving business secrets.
The last guess was so ridiculous that it only flashed through her mind.
Just then, a message pops up.
SONG: [President Wen, are you home?]
Wen Ruoxian stopped thinking and replied to her: [Just arrived.]
SONG: [I'm sorry to cause you trouble today. I'll treat you to dinner this weekend.]
Wen Ruoxian: [It's okay, no need.]
The other party showed "typing" but never replied.
Wen Ruoxian thought she was being too cold and considered saying something else, but she felt there was nothing more to say and gave up the idea.
Before getting off the car, a bright light caught her eye. It was that golden doll.
She stared at it for a while, took off the doll, and stuffed it into her bag.
Stepping into the door, the light illuminated the empty living room, and the warm colors fell on the furniture with a cold feeling. It was cold without life and fireworks.
Wen Ruoxian and her friend shared this house, a five-bedroom, two-living-room place. Originally, each of them had their own room and study. Since March of this year, all the spaces had belonged to her alone. On the entrance cabinet, there were two people's photos, a memory from a summer years ago when they went on vacation together to a botanical garden.
It's all over now.
They were always just "friends".
She couldn't remember how many times she had placed that photo frame in the bottom of a box, but this time, she included the golden doll as well.
She didn't eat dinner. She originally planned to cook when she got home, but something unexpected happened. It's already late at night and eating too much is not conducive to sleep. She took a short cucumber and half a bag of shrimp from the refrigerator, boiled them, put them into a small bowl, and sprinkled some black pepper.
There are thousands of lights outside the window.
Wen Ruoxian sat down at the dining table with a tray, picked up her mobile phone, and browsed various news while eating.
A message suddenly popped up on WeChat——
SONG:[picture]
Tender and juicy chicken wings grilled.
Late-night poison.
Wen Ruoxian couldn't laugh or cry, and Song Qingluo sent another message: [This time I finally succeeded. Does it look good?]
She replied: [It looks good.]
SONG: [It's also delicious, my late-night snack.]
The cucumber and shrimp suddenly lost their flavor.
Wen Ruoxian found it interesting but didn't know what to reply. She opened the emoticon bar and chose an original emoticon of "sticking out tongue and winking" and sent it.
SONG: [...]
"?"
Suddenly, the message was retracted, and it showed "typing."
After a long, long time, Wen Ruoxian finished eating the tasteless boiled vegetables, took a bath, brushed her teeth, turned off the light, and lay down, she slept without any dreams until dawn.
Song Qingluo never replied.
The next day was cloudy.
The company clocks in at nine o'clock every morning. Wen Ruoxian was not restricted and did not arrive until half past nine. When she passed the door of the administrative department office, she turned her head and glanced. Only Song Qingluo's desk was empty.
Late for work on the second day?
She thought again, considering that Song Qingluo lived far away, had a long commute, and could understand why she might be late.
The Young Miss probably didn't care about getting her salary deducted.
As soon as she entered the office, Wen Ruoxian made some chrysanthemum tea. Her throat has been feeling a little uncomfortable since yesterday, it got worse this morning. She's not sure if it's because of fatigue or cold. Drinking hot tea makes her feel better.
This translation is originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
She drank tea while approving the documents Xu Man sent.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
Thinking it was her assistant, she didn't even raise her eyes: "Come in."
The person who entered remained silent, with heavy footsteps on the carpet. Wen Ruoxian raised her head.
A strand of silver hair came into her view.
Song Qingluo had her hands behind her back and smiled at her. "Good morning."
Wen Ruoxian was slightly puzzled. "You've been late for so long?"
"Late?" Song Qingluo frowned, "I'm not, who told you I was late."
Wen Ruoxian closed the document and said, "When I came in earlier, I passed by the administrative office, and I saw that your desk was empty.
She paused for a moment after saying this. "So, it seems there was a misunderstanding."
"I went to the bathroom." Song Qingluo explained, the corners of her mouth raised.
"So President Wen cares about me so much?"
Wen Ruoxian saw the mischief in her eyes and knew that she was teasing her. Helpless and a little amused, she turned to ask: "Do you need something?"
"Yes..."
Song Qingluo was interrupted before she could finish her words.
"If it's a work-related matter, you should talk to your immediate supervisor."
She assumed it was work-related.
It can only be business, they have no personal matters to talk about. Wen Ruoxian thought so.
She didn't know how serious she looked when emphasizing rules.
Song Qingluo smiled and had a calm expression. In the past, when someone said something, she would have said something back. But facing Wen Ruoxian, she wanted to see if she was genuinely "serious" or just pretending to be."
Wild beasts lie dormant while hunting and then wait for an opportunity to strike fatally.
She is the hunting beast.
Although pretending to be nice is tiring.
"So, what President Wen means is for me to check with Manager Cao if today's attire is suitable for work?" Song Qingluo blinked innocently.
So it's about that.
"..."
Wen Ruoxian picked up the teacup, took a sip slowly, and looked at her carefully: "The company does not enforce the dress code of its employees. I only made a suggestion last night. You can choose to follow it or not. In principle, what you wear is up to you."
Compared with yesterday's exaggerated catwalk style, today's Song Qingluo is a bit too plain.
An apricot-colored turtleneck sweater, an "H" necklace hanging around the neck, pants of the same color but darker, and her belt matched, adding depth to the outfit, and creating a layered look.
Her makeup was light, and her features were radiant.
But the exposed earrings betrayed her - the crystal skull showed a hazy blue color and flashed under the light.
She is cute on the surface, but very wild at heart.
"So President Wen, what do you think of my outfit today?" Song Qingluo kicked the ball to her again.
Wen Ruoxian kicked back easily: "As long as you feel comfortable."
Song Qingluo smiled innocently, saying, "I heard President Wen's voice, so I knew you were here and came to see you immediately."
Thinking of her teasing just now, Wen Ruoxian raised her eyebrows and said quickly: "Miss Song cares a lot about me. She even knows I've arrived when she's in the restroom."
Song Qingluo was lost in her smile.
Like the strong wind blowing in the summer night, her heart was uprooted and fluttered in the sky.
"Yes, I care about you very much, otherwise how could I..." Before she could say the second half of the sentence, she woke up in time and shut her mouth.
Wen Ruoxian didn't hear clearly, "What?"
Song Qingluo lowered her gaze, moved her hands behind her back, and put the paper bag on the table, "This is for you."
She took out a box from the paper bag.
"This is?"
"I heard you speak a little loudly yesterday…This medicine can be used to treat colds, fever, or excessive voice use. You can use it if your throat is uncomfortable, and the effect is pretty good. "Song Qingluo pushed the thing over.
Gray rectangular box, the trademark is in capital letters, and the country of origin is Germany.
The outer packaging had a Chinese label.
Wen Ruoxian found it familiar. With a background in German studies, she had studied in Germany and had used this medicine before. It indeed worked well without side effects, but it was hard to find in China. Even in large cities like Jiangcheng, there were only two pharmacies that stocked it.
The two spare boxes at home had long been used up, and she never thought of buying them.
Someone else used to buy it for her.
Because she always forgets, that person remembers everything.
Memories surged out of control. She quickly stopped and pushed the distracting thoughts out of her mind. When she raised her head, she found Song Qingluo staring at her.
"Are you here specifically to deliver medicine?"
"Mm.
"Thank you, this is just what I need." Wen Ruoxian put away the things, brushing aside the subtle strangeness in her heart, considering it a favor from someone she had given a ride to yesterday.
Song Qingluo whispered: "I'm going back to work."
After saying that, she quickly left without waiting for Wen Ruoxian to respond.
The administrative department office is not big, with a total of seven workstations, the two most spacious positions belonged to Manager Cao and Manager Chen, divided by their ranks. One primarily handled office affairs, while the other dealt with logistics.
A separate office opposite the department belongs to the administrative manager.
Song Qingluo is a clerk under Manager Cao.
Although she had never worked before, Secretary Yao briefed her before coming to the interview:
"Many small and medium-sized companies have confusing departmental functions and unclear division of labor. For example, in the administrative department you mentioned, a clerk may need to do front desk work, handle recruitment, take attendance, maybe clean, and be responsible for administration, human resources, finance, cleaning, etc. but only give you a salary for one position. Of course, salary is not important to you...
"..."
Song Qingluo didn't care at all.
Even if there is no salary, she will come.
A little over 5,000 yuan per month wasn't enough for her to buy clothes. She didn't pay much attention to things like social insurance, provident fund, or year-end bonuses.
Today is Song Qingluo's second day on the job.
From what she has seen and felt, the company is currently fairly standardized in all aspects, and there is no obvious chaos.
The front desk is the front desk, which is under the management of the logistics group of the administration department. Recruitment and attendance have their own specialists and are under the management of the personnel department. The finance department manages finance, and the cleaning team is the cleaning team. The division of labor is meticulous and each performs their duties.
Her main job included managing various documents, meeting minutes, and maintaining common equipment.
It's almost like doing odd jobs.
The autumn rain fell, bringing a chill to the air.
During the probation period of one month, Song Qingluo quickly became familiar with the company's business and became familiar with her colleagues. Everyone had afternoon tea, and within a week, she successfully broke into the internal gossip group.
It is human nature to eat melons*.
*to gossip
The two beautiful bosses were at the center of the gossip, and with the "enlightenment" from her colleagues, Song Qingluo learned some interesting things.
The company had two major business divisions, with Wen Ruoxian and Cheng Suran each overseeing one of them. However, in terms of final decision-making authority, Cheng Suran had slightly more power than Wen Ruoxian. It was said that their relationship was extremely close, and if you found one of them in a crowd, you were likely to find the other.
T/N: what timing, it gets mentioned here
In March of this year, everyone noticed that CEO Cheng had a new diamond ring on her ring finger. It sparkled and shone, and its meaning was self-evident.
But no one had ever seen CEO Cheng's marriage partner.
"Ever since CEO Cheng secretly got married, she and President Wen have become estranged. They are often here and there. Now, when they meet occasionally, they barely say a few words..." During the pleasant afternoon tea time, Song Qingluo and her colleagues came out of the tea room with hot drinks in hand. Instead of going back to the office directly, they took a stroll along the corridor, stopping at the fire exit door.
Taking a walk, chatting, and listening to gossip.
This colleague is known as "Zhou-jie" and has been with the company the longest in the department.
No gossip could escape her lips.
Hearing this, Song Qingluo felt strange, "Why?"
"It's quite normal. After getting married, you have to take care of your family, and you don't have as much time to spend with your girl friends. So we just joke around and say that CEO Cheng is 'prioritizing love over friendship.' We actually understand it; balancing career and family is really tough for women."
Song Qingluo nodded carelessly.
She just wanted to know about Wen Ruoxian and was not interested in the other person.
Cheng Suran always appears in the gossip about Wen Ruoxian.
Best friends.
Just like her and Shi Chuning.
Zhou-jie continued: "Privately, we still prefer to have contact with CEO Cheng, for team building, dinner parties, etc. CEO Cheng is very gentle, easy to talk to, and good at joking, while President Wen... is quite serious."
"Besides, CEO Cheng has a great resume. She used to work in the foreign affairs department, and people from that kind of organization have seen it all. Privately, she's willing to have fun with us little shrimps." She talked about Cheng Suran with her eyes seemingly shining.
When it comes to Wen Ruoxian, only a few words are mentioned.
Song Qingluo frowned slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable.
Like the treasure held at the top of her heart, regarded by others as worn-out shoes, dismissed with disdain.
She felt overprotective, but she couldn't show it too much. She laughed angrily: "President Wen is not bad, I like a boss like President Wen who is down-to-earth and reliable."
Zhou-jie's phone suddenly vibrated. She answered the call and became hurried: "I have a report to make. I'll go back to the office first."
"..."
Song Qingluo lowered her face and muttered to herself:
That's because you've never seen her debate in English. She single-handedly turned the tide and made those black and white people speechless, and it was such a sensitive religious topic.
So what if she's serious?
I like her and that's enough. The rest don't matter.
After taking a few sips of the hot drink, Song Qingluo calmed down and the cup was almost bottomed out.
She was about to go back to the office, took two steps forward, and then remembered the crumpled tissue in her hand. She turned back and headed to the trash bin. As she rounded the corner, she was about to toss the paper inside when she saw Wen Ruoxian standing there…
Author's Note:
Song: (I will be fired from the company tomorrow for entering with my left foot first*.jpg)
After yesterday, our Xiao Qingluo got a new nickname "Luobotou"**, which is really nice (laughs
*a meme/satire on how uneducated bosses fire employees for ridiculous reasons.
**means radish head, most likely because of her hair color