Chapter 9 — Ha Ha, You're All I Want

Lily, you can hand that over to me. I will submit it to you before clocking out today.

Lily looked at Snow with undisguised approval shimmering in her eyes. Look at that, you are all the same age, yet some people are simply too foolish to understand even when things are explained to them.

I bowed my head even lower, retreating into the shadow of my desk. As soon as we stepped out of the conference room, Snow effortlessly woven herself into the social fabric of the office. Bouncing around like an eager little rabbit, she clutched a thick stack of documents and hopped from one desk to another. Sister Han, I do not quite understand this section, could you please take a look for me? Brother Hao, I heard you are an absolute expert on these elements, do you think I am heading in the right direction with this approach?

The colleagues responded to her with boundless enthusiasm and infinite patience, treating her questions with a warmth I had never experienced, even though many of her inquiries struck me as remarkably foolish basics she should have learned long before stepping into a professional environment. The atmosphere in the entire office bubbled with cheerful productivity. I stood frozen by my desk, feeling utterly out of place like a jarring, discordant note in a symphony.

Snow deliberately strolled over, flashing a brilliantly innocent smile, though the corners of her eyes betrayed a sharp, irrepressible triumph. Ha, would you mind brewing a few cups of coffee for our team? I know you are the kindest person here.

Her group consisted of at least eight people. The office pantry was equipped with an automatic coffee machine, but agreeing to her request meant abandoning the urgent tasks piling up on my own desk to serve as a barista for eight demanding individuals. Without a moment of hesitation, I refused. Why do you not go yourself?

Snow fluttered the stack of documents she had originally been assigned to handle just moments ago. It is because our team has an overwhelming amount of work right now, everyone is simply swamped and cannot spare a single second. Kindhearted Ha, you do not look all that busy anyway, can you not just accommodate us a little bit?

With a single sentence, she cornered me into an impossible dilemma. Every gaze in the room snapped toward us. The silence that fell was thick, stealthy, and dripping with malicious amusement as everyone tuned in for the show. I pressed my lips into a tight, pale line, stood up in absolute silence, and finally walked toward the pantry. Right on cue, Snow’s voice rang out brightly across the office floor, loud enough for everyone to hear. Everyone's hard work is appreciated! Just let me know your preferred coffee flavors!

Thank you, Snow! You are working so hard for us!

While the main office buzzed with harmony and laughter, a quiet female colleague who had remained completely silent throughout the morning slipped into the pantry to grab some tea bags. Out of sheer reflex, I stepped aside to clear her path. As she brushed past me, however, she abruptly halted. Her voice dropped to a mere whisper, meant solely for the two of us.

Hello there, I know you must be feeling deeply uncomfortable inside. But the intern who arrived alongside you seems to have had an unusual and unusually close relationship with our elusive big boss, who has not shown his face around here for ages. On the day of her interview, she was wearing a piece of jewelry personally designed by the boss himself, items that he has strictly never put up for sale to the general public. So, for the sake of your own career and self-preservation, you might as well just play along with her games. Everyone else in this office is already doing it anyway.

Jewelry? Driven by some dark, inexplicable intuition, my mind flashed straight to the sunflower brooch that Dong Tang had gifted me. That very brooch was still safely locked away in the depths of my dormitory wardrobe, untouched and unseen by the world.

Sister, I just wanted to ask, during her interview, was she wearing a gemstone brooch shaped like a sunflower?

The woman standing by the pantry doorway cast one quick glance at the chattering colleagues outside, then turned her eyes back to me, offering no verbal reply. Yet, that single, heavy look was more than enough for me to understand the bitter truth.

When I finally emerged from the pantry carrying a heavily loaded tray of coffees, Snow was nowhere to be seen. Growing anxious, I searched the corridors for her, only to round a corner and slam directly into a solid figure.

Can you not walk a little slower when you are inside the company building… Sister-in-law?

I instinctively clutched my throbbing forehead, staring up in absolute disbelief. Ryan?

Ryan had taken the brunt of the collision as well, wincing slightly as he rubbed his shoulder. Sister-in-law, how on earth can someone as tiny as you pack the physical strength of an ox?

I remained entirely paralyzed by the shock of encountering him here. What on earth are you doing here?

Working, obviously. Could it be that you still have no idea…

Ha!

Oh, Boss, you are here as well?

Snow’s voice suddenly echoed from right behind me, abruptly cutting off Ryan's sentence. Boss?