Princess Syndrome - Chapter 63

Chapter 63: Liking

Su Lingyue couldn't remember the last time she felt moved. Was it when Chu Yi picked her up and took her home?

At that time, she had called Chu Yi with a nonchalant attitude, having already prepared herself for rejection. But to her surprise, Chu Yi came to pick her up without hesitation. She remembered watching Chu Yi busying herself, helping her pack her luggage, and a pang of emotion hit her.

And then there was today.

She rarely, very rarely, felt touched anymore.

She had long grown accustomed to others' distrust, and she didn't think it was necessary to explain the misunderstandings. In the beginning, Chu Yi would be indignant, wanting to scold those friends who were outwardly affectionate but would stab her in the back, but Su Lingyue would dismiss it, saying, "Don't waste your time."

Chu Yi often said she was too calm, so calm it was unnerving.

Su Lingyue also felt that she was a bit abnormal.

But after becoming Ji Zhiyi's assistant, she realized she was actually quite normal.

She felt apprehensive, expectant, waiting for Ji Zhiyi's response.

She felt happy, even tearful.

She bit her lip, looking at Ji Zhiyi, her ears still ringing with the words, "I never said I didn't believe you."

So from beginning to end, Ji Zhiyi had trusted her.

This realization filled Su Lingyue with a surge of excitement. She walked a few steps to stand in front of Ji Zhiyi, her eyes still red-rimmed. Ji Zhiyi was about to speak when her phone rang. She glanced at it and hung up.

It rang again two seconds later.

Su Lingyue composed herself and said to Ji Zhiyi, "I'll head out first."

Ji Zhiyi nodded.

She answered the phone after Su Lingyue left.

The secretaries swarmed around Su Lingyue, seeing her red eyes and assuming she had been scolded inside. They tried to comfort her. "It's okay, Assistant Su, it's not entirely your fault."

Zhang Ting also came over, handing her a tissue. "Yeah, Assistant Su, I'm sorry for having you help me with the list."

"If you ask me, Chen Zhiyao was deliberately setting a trap! Luckily, our President Ji didn't fall for it."

"President Ji is so fair and impartial. I thought she would..."

They all looked at Su Lingyue.

They had all thought Ji Zhiyi would deliberately use this incident to make things difficult for Su Lingyue.

Su Lingyue didn't know what to say. She wasn't in a good mood, feeling a bit listless. Wu Meiyan came out of her office and saw their expressions. "Alright, everyone, back to work. Zhang Ting, is the announcement drafted?"

Zhang Ting said, "Yes, I'll send it to you!"

The others were also eager to get back to work, as if they were ready to avenge themselves for being bullied by the design department earlier.

Wu Meiyan said, "Everyone, keep it in check. We also share some responsibility in this."

The others exchanged glances.

Wu Meiyan added, "But what needs to be clarified, we still need to make it clear."

Zhang Ting understood. "Of course! We know what to do, Sister Wu!"

The others laughed. "Don't worry, Sister Wu, we're not Chen Zhiyao."

They certainly weren't Chen Zhiyao.

But they knew how to handle things subtly.

Chen Zhiyao had made this incident a big deal, and now everyone in the company knew it had reached Ji Zhiyi, and the entire design department had been called in. Many people were waiting to see Su Lingyue get the boot.

Then they saw the new announcement.

Due to internal statistical issues within the design department, the team-building event was canceled.

Everyone was dumbfounded by the announcement, and then started to express their dissatisfaction. They reread the announcement repeatedly.

[The design department had internal statistical issues, so why were they blaming Su Lingyue earlier?]

[Weren't they saying Su Lingyue deliberately omitted them?]

[Are you stupid? Internal statistical issues mean it hadn't even reached Su Lingyue's stage yet. How could it be a deliberate omission?]

[Hilarious, so we were all being used as pawns this morning?]

[The design department is something else, causing this problem and then shifting the blame, making others take the fall!]

[Wasn't it said that Chen Zhiyao always disliked Su Lingyue? My friend used to be in the design department, she said Chen Zhiyao was always targeting Su Lingyue.]

[I don't care who's targeting who, and I don't care who's right or wrong in this. I just want to know who's the real culprit behind the cancellation of the team-building event!]

Of course, no one in the design department dared to claim responsibility.

But someone anonymously posted using a secondary account: [It's Chen Zhiyao!]

This caused an uproar.

Chen Zhiyao was now experiencing exactly what it felt like for Su Lingyue to be criticized by the entire company that morning.

She didn't even need to open the group chats. The private messages alone were full of sarcasm. Not to mention her social media feed, which was practically naming and shaming her, even spreading the news to other companies.

She had completely lost face!

She just didn't understand. Ji Zhiyi also disliked Su Lingyue, so she thought she was helping Ji Zhiyi. How did she end up in this mess?

Chen Zhiyao was both angry and anxious. When she tried to talk to her colleagues, they were indifferent. In the past, Chen Zhiyao could command everyone in the design department, but she had never been treated like this before. However, the design department had been quietly reshuffling since Xie Lan's arrival. These people were now closer to Xie Lan. Chen Zhiyao was only relying on her seniority and status as a veteran employee to keep others from speaking out. After this incident, those with foresight sensed that Xie Lan might be the future pillar of the design department, so they were also keeping their distance from Chen Zhiyao.

Chen Zhiyao was grinding her teeth in annoyance.

Just then, the punishment came.

Chen Zhiyao was demoted, and the position of supervisor was left vacant. While people in other departments were still complaining about the design department causing trouble and canceling the team-building event, there was a palpable sense of tension within the design department.

With the supervisor position vacant, who would be the new supervisor?

Xie Lan?

But she had only been with the company for a short time, and it wouldn't be justified for her to become the new supervisor. Although her design was good this time and she was about to attend the autumn exhibition with Ji Zhiyi, she didn't have a track record yet, at least not since joining Yilin.

So when they heard Xie Lan's name being suggested, they just gave a cold smile.

There were many others with more seniority and accomplishments than Xie Lan.

Why her?

With the internal discord, no one paid attention to Chen Zhiyao. Having lost face and being criticized by people from other departments, Chen Zhiyao took a leave of absence in anger and left the company.

Zhang Xian was a bit surprised when she received her call.

She was surprised that the matter had been resolved so quickly, and even more surprised that Ji Zhiyi had personally handled it.

It didn't seem like something she would do.

In the past, when something like this happened, the parties involved would handle it themselves. Ji Zhiyi would say, "If you can't even handle this little thing, how are you going to handle company matters?"

She was ruthless, but no one could argue with her.

So her assistants and secretaries fell into two categories: those who stayed longer and became as capable as her, with high work efficiency, and those who couldn't keep up with her pace and were eliminated.

However, when it came to work, Zhang Xian also believed in survival of the fittest. Otherwise, constantly falling behind would only cause more pain for oneself. So even though she often complained about Ji Zhiyi's cold-bloodedness, she didn't really think she was that bad.

But this time, Ji Zhiyi had personally intervened.

That was quite something.

The secretaries' office was also discussing the matter.

"Hey, why do you think President Ji handled it personally?" Secretary Li asked in a low voice. The others turned around. "What's wrong with her handling it personally?"

Secretary Li rolled her eyes. "You're so slow. When has President Ji ever handled something like this at Yilin before?"

The others understood.

Perhaps it was because Ji Zhiyi had been too easygoing lately, lacking her usual pressure, that everyone had forgotten her old ways at Yilin. Now that Secretary Li mentioned it, everyone remembered that Ji Zhiyi wasn't this approachable at Yilin.

Or rather, she didn't have time to care about these things.

But this time, not only did she intervene, she even called the entire design department to her office to deal with it!

It was unbelievable.

Su Lingyue sat among them, listening to "President Ji this" and "President Ji that," her hand pausing on the report from time to time as she tilted her head to look at Ji Zhiyi's office.

Ji Zhiyi was inside, making a phone call.

She sure had a lot of calls.

Was she still on the same call she had received when she came out?

Just as Su Lingyue was lost in thought, Ji Zhiyi looked up, still holding her phone. Hearing the person on the other end reporting the situation, she caught Su Lingyue's gaze and smiled.

Su Lingyue lowered her head.

She even subconsciously looked around.

Did Ji Zhiyi have radar installed on her? Not only was she called to the office every time she sat down, but Ji Zhiyi could also immediately look back at her whenever she glanced over.

No, that wasn't right.

It seemed to be because whenever Su Lingyue came out, Ji Zhiyi would open the blinds, revealing a bright glass wall. So Su Lingyue could always see Ji Zhiyi when she looked up.

Of course, Ji Zhiyi could also see her whenever she looked up.

So was this Ji Zhiyi's invisible radar?

Su Lingyue lowered her head and smiled.

The secretaries around her were chatting animatedly. Zhang Ting came out of Wu Meiyan's office and said, "Okay, lunch is on me, everyone! We're eating across the street, no one's allowed to miss out!"

Secretary Li chuckled. "Secretary Zhang, you're in a good mood."

Zhang Ting said, "Of course! But I'm still annoyed that the team building is canceled!"

Speaking of which, she looked at Su Lingyue. "Assistant Su, does President Ji have a lunch appointment?"

Su Lingyue shook her head.

Zhang Ting said, "Then let's have lunch together? Sister Wu said it's to ward off bad luck for you."

Su Lingyue was silent for a couple of seconds before nodding. "Okay." She asked, "Lunch is on you?"

Zhang Ting said, "Yeah, it is."

Su Lingyue said, "Let's split it."

She wasn't very good at social niceties, but she wasn't so clueless that she didn't understand anything. Zhang Ting's face lit up. "Sure."

Su Lingyue also smiled.

Zhang Ting then told everyone that Su Lingyue was also treating for lunch. Wu Meiyan breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving Zhang Ting's message. Good, Su Lingyue wasn't completely unreasonable. She sent Su Lingyue a smiling emoticon.

Su Lingyue looked at the screen and thought of Ji Zhiyi saying they would have lunch together. She bit her lip, her gaze constantly drifting towards Ji Zhiyi's office. She noticed Ji Zhiyi put down her phone and quickly sent her a message: [I won't have lunch with you.]

Ji Zhiyi frowned and quickly replied: [Huh?]

Su Lingyue: [I'm having lunch with my colleagues.]

Ji Zhiyi understood. The secretaries' office had strongly supported Su Lingyue, and the announcement had been issued promptly, clearing the secretaries' office of any blame. It was only right for Su Lingyue to have lunch with them.

But still—

She replied: [Oh.]

Su Lingyue bit her finger. Usually, that was the word she used to reply to others. Now that Ji Zhiyi used it to reply to her, Su Lingyue felt for a couple of seconds that Ji Zhiyi might be unhappy.

She took advantage of everyone being busy with work to quickly look up at Ji Zhiyi.

Ji Zhiyi was propping her chin on her hand, looking at the screen.

Her fingers were on the mouse, slender and elegant.

"Assistant Su." A voice broke her focus. Su Lingyue turned around. A secretary behind her asked, "Could you give me a copy of last month's raw material purchase price list?"

She snapped back to reality. "Sure."

She sent the colleague a copy.

Ji Zhiyi waited for Su Lingyue's reply, but it didn't come for a long time. When she looked up again, Su Lingyue wasn't at her desk, her figure weaving through the office, going in and out. She pursed her lips.

In the end, Su Lingyue did have lunch with her colleagues.

As soon as the lunch break started, everyone filed out of the office. Wu Meiyan told everyone to go ahead and order, she would join them after finishing a call. Su Lingyue and Zhang Ting walked in the front. Just as they were about to leave the company building, Su Lingyue's phone rang. Zhang Ting, who was close by, saw the caller ID: President Ji.

She shushed everyone.

Signaling them to be quiet.

Su Lingyue felt a blush creep up her neck and ears. Her phone's soundproofing wasn't that great, and she didn't want everyone to hear. With that thought, she said, "I need to take this call."

She walked to the side as she spoke.

Her movements were cautious.

The others felt sympathy for her. "Assistant Su is so afraid of President Ji."

Secretary Li said, "Nonsense, aren't you afraid?"

The others swallowed nervously.

Zhang Ting said, "I'm not afraid!"

She added, "I think President Ji is pretty good. She even helped us resolve the design department issue this time."

"It's strange, though," another secretary said. "With President Ji's temper in the past, she definitely wouldn't have bothered with these things. Why did she handle it personally this time?"

A topic that had been discussed in the office without any conclusion was brought up again before lunch.

One of the secretaries said, "Don't you guys think she was protecting the secretaries' office this time?"

"You noticed it too?" Secretary Li said. "I was telling Secretary Zhao this morning, President Ji clearly trusts us, the secretaries' office."

The secretary next to her said, "Who's in charge of the team building?"

Secretary Li said, "Zhang Ting."

The secretary next to her said, "Then it's simple. It means President Ji values Zhang Ting."

Zhang Ting blinked at everyone's words. "Really?"

"Of course!" The other secretaries whispered. "Speaking of which, I think President Ji is very gentle with you!"

Zhang Ting tried hard to recall.

But she couldn't remember any instance where Ji Zhiyi had been gentle with her.

However, it was undeniable that she had protected the secretaries' office during this incident.

And since she was in charge of the team building,

It made sense for everyone to say that President Ji valued her.

Just as she was thinking this,

Su Lingyue finished her call and walked back.

The others pulled her into the restaurant. As they sat down and started ordering, they asked her, "Assistant Su, what did President Ji want?"

Su Lingyue looked a bit unnatural, and after a moment of silence, she said, "Just some work stuff."

The others assumed she had been scolded and patted her shoulder, sighing softly.

Su Lingyue lowered her head to look at the menu, holding a pen, ready to order.

Secretary Li said, "It's okay, if you have any difficulties, just ask Secretary Zhang for help. President Ji definitely won't make things difficult for her."

Su Lingyue's pen stopped moving. She turned to look at Secretary Li. "Why?"

Secretary Li leaned closer to her and whispered, "We've noticed that President Ji really values Secretary Zhang. I think she really likes her."

Su Lingyue: ...

Her pen slipped, drawing a black line across the menu.

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