The Tracker

A person's capacity for excitement had its limits, after all. Lin Sangyu failed to wake up on time today.

Half-awake, she felt a large, heavy hand shaking her shoulder. She forced her heavy eyelids open and only snapped fully awake after registering who it was.

Lin Sangyu pushed herself up at lightning speed. "What time is it?"

"Seven forty-five," Jiang Wenzhe said, glancing at his watch. "Your circadian rhythm hasn't fully formed yet. You should set an alarm from now on."

Lin Sangyu drew in a sharp breath, her gaze resolute. "Then I'll get up right now, go early, and apply with the utmost sincerity!"

"I'm making breakfast downstairs. Get yourself ready and come down. The weather's warmed up quickly today—around twenty-five degrees. Your clothes are in the dressing room, first cabinet on the left."

Jiang Wenzhe had just reached the door of the room when a bright, pleasant voice sounded from behind him. "Thank you, Jiang Wenzhe."

Jiang Wenzhe turned around to look at her. "You don't need to thank me from now on."

Lin Sangyu shook her head like a rattle. "No, no, I have to. Because you're a super, super good person."

Jiang Wenzhe's grip on the door handle paused for a moment. "Suit yourself."

Then he left the room in a hurry.

After breakfast, the two of them headed out side by side. When they were about to get into the car, the driver was visibly taken aback for a second, his gaze involuntarily lingering on Lin Sangyu.

Was this the boss's wife?!

Holy crap.

Jolted by the sudden icy glare from Jiang Wenzhe, the driver suppressed his urge to blurt out the NPC line, "Miss, you're the first woman the young master has ever brought home." He gave the two of them an awkward smile instead. "Good morning, Mr. Jiang... and miss."

Lin Sangyu waved at the driver very politely, her smile radiant. "Good morning!"

Once in the car, Lin Sangyu was also very self-aware, acting purely on instinct. She pressed herself flush against Jiang Wenzhe without any gap, tilting her head up to look at him. "Where are you taking me to find a job?"

Jiang Wenzhe acted as if he hadn't heard, his hands resting casually at his sides, eyes closed in quiet contemplation.

Seeing that Jiang Wenzhe had his eyes shut and wasn't acknowledging her, Lin Sangyu pressed on. "How much do you think I can earn in a month?"

At the mention of money, Lin Sangyu suddenly remembered that she still didn't know how much Jiang Wenzhe owed.

Although the partition blocked the front compartment from the back, sound could still pass through. Lin Sangyu didn't want the driver to overhear such an embarrassing matter about his bankruptcy and embarrass Jiang Wenzhe, so she lowered her voice and whispered into his ear. "Exactly how much do you owe?"

Warm, moist air swirled around his ear. Jiang Wenzhe finally opened his eyes. "You're so noisy. Shut up."

Lin Sangyu looked at Jiang Wenzhe's sour expression and sighed inwardly. So this really was a blow to his pride.

Jiang Wenzhe had such a thin skin.

Looks like he owed a lot.

"Oh." Lin Sangyu considerately decided not to expose his weakness any further and turned her face away. Whatever the amount, she would work hard to earn money and support Jiang Wenzhe.

"Mr. Jiang, we've arrived."

Lin Sangyu looked out the car window and found they had stopped by a river. The water-white surface shimmered with light. Glancing back, she saw neat rows of small street-side shops, with a few large restaurants towering prominently in the distance.

"Get out. Find a job on your own."

Jiang Wenzhe's cool voice hung above her head, and only then did Lin Sangyu feel a surge of unexplained nervousness. She swallowed hard, got out of the car with visibly stiff movements, but still managed to squeeze out a smile for Jiang Wenzhe. "Bye! Wait for my good news."

Jiang Wenzhe instinctively prepared not to reply, but gave a nod instead and ruthlessly rolled up the window. Yet his peripheral vision happened to catch Lin Sangyu's tightly pressed lips, pale with nervousness—her usually rosy lips had taken on an unhealthy pallor.

The kid's first day of work. She probably needed some encouragement.

So Jiang Wenzhe rolled the window back down and forced out an awkward but genuine, "Good luck. I'll pick you up after work."

"Okay, I'll send you my location then."

Jiang Wenzhe's brows lowered, and a rare, unmistakable smile tugged at his lips. "Mm."

The car started moving again, and Jiang Wenzhe's smile gradually grew sinister. His well-defined fingers propped up his head as his dark pupils fixed on the small dot slowly moving across his phone screen.

Lin Sangyu would probably never know that no matter when, Jiang Wenzhe didn't need her so-called location sharing to know where she was.

Because small tracking devices were planted on her phone and in all her shoes, transmitting her location in real time to the obsessive, brooding man before her.

Every step she took in ignorance could well be called a lamb walking into the tiger's den.

Only at this moment,

one was completely unaware,

and the other was in love without knowing it.

[Mr. Jiang, Miss Lin has just entered a small restaurant.]

[Image.jpg]

Jiang Wenzhe tapped on the picture and stared at Lin Sangyu's slender back for a moment before typing back: [Keep following. Report at all times.]

Lin Sangyu was new to the world, naive and ignorant. He was only protecting her by doing this—there was nothing wrong with it.

That was what Jiang Wenzhe told himself.

Lin Sangyu pep-talked herself for a good while, then mentally blocked out the lavishly decorated grand hotel a few hundred meters away—there was no way she could compete with that place.

Turning a corner, she walked straight into a restaurant that sold both noodles and fried rice. Seeing someone at the front counter, she asked politely, "Excuse me, are you hiring dishwashers?"

A middle-aged man in plain clothes was bent over the front counter doing his bookkeeping. He looked up at the sound, took one glance at Lin Sangyu, and immediately beamed, wrinkles piling up at the corners of his eyes as if he'd heard something hilarious.

Lin Sangyu had picked out her outfit carefully before leaving today. Based on her previous experience wandering the human world, she wore a silk white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, paired with a simple black A-line skirt.

The clothes had no logos, but it wasn't hard to see their fine craftsmanship. Combined with Lin Sangyu's tall, slender figure, they made her look elegant, bright, and striking.

So naturally, the man thought she was some rich young lady out to experience life.

His was just a small shop—he couldn't afford that kind of trouble.

"Little miss, you want to wash dishes? Full-time?"

"Yes, yes." Lin Sangyu answered eagerly.

"Look, our customer volume is pretty high," the man said, pointing into the shop, being very understanding. "You can't handle this work—it's tough. Young people like you should go out and explore the world. You're wasted in a small place like mine."

Even after being rejected, Lin Sangyu insisted on selling herself. "Boss, I'm very capable. Please trust me—I can really, really endure hardship."

"Alright, just go. I don't need anyone here anyway," the man gave his final dismissal. "Don't just stand there—you're blocking my business."

"Okay, thank you, boss," Lin Sangyu handed him a business card she had made the night before. She didn't frown at the rejection but said amiably, "If you ever need someone, feel free to call me anytime."

Letting out a deep sigh, Lin Sangyu walked out of the restaurant and mustered up the courage to ask at shop after shop.

Unsurprisingly, every time she was turned away, and the reasons were all much the same—either they weren't hiring, or they thought someone like Lin Sangyu couldn't handle the physical labor.

Damn it. Why was the job market so harsh?

Feeling frustrated, Lin Sangyu leaned against a big tree by the roadside. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting patches of soft light. In the classic melancholy pose of staring up at a forty-five-degree angle, she dialed Jiang Wenzhe's number.

The first call went unanswered.

The second call went unanswered.

Before the third call even rang for two seconds, it was hung up on her, with the message "The number you have dialed is busy. Please try again later."

But Lin Sangyu didn't know that meant Jiang Wenzhe had hung up on her. She just thought he was really on another call.

Well, if she couldn't get through, she couldn't get through.

Busy. Everyone was busy, and that was good.

Knowing she couldn't dwell on the present, Lin Sangyu pulled herself together. She gave her legs, which had gone slightly numb from leaning, a little shake, then shook off the sadness and got up to continue her job hunt.

This time, the only option left seemed to be that towering restaurant not far away—the tallest tree in the concrete jungle. The four characters "Jinglan Huaxi" reflected the harsh cold light of the sun, luxurious and grand.

Stepping into the hall paved with porcelain-white flooring, with crystal chandeliers hanging overhead, Lin Sangyu approached the front desk again and asked politely, "Excuse me, are you hiring dishwashers here?"

A good-looking receptionist with a black-framed glasses and hair tied up in a bun replied enthusiastically, "We're probably not hiring for that, but we are about to recruit for front desk. We were even planning to post the job ad tomorrow. What a coincidence! My name's Zhao Ran. Want to be colleagues?"

"Front desk?" Lin Sangyu blinked. "What does that do?"

"The main job is greeting guests, registering and checking reservation info, that kind of thing," Zhao Ran said. "The only downside is standing for long periods."

Lin Sangyu got excited. "I want to! I want to!"

The scene was like a successful marriage proposal. Zhao Ran couldn't help but laugh, then lowered her voice to Lin Sangyu. "Then I'll call the manager for you now—he should be around here."

Under Lin Sangyu's watchful eye, Zhao Ran picked up the front desk landline and made a call. Soon, a man in a suit walked over gracefully from the other side of the hotel lobby.

"So this is the girl you mentioned on the phone," Manager Wang nodded at Zhao Ran, then turned and swept his eyes over Lin Sangyu. "Looks-wise, she's very presentable. Perfect—we were just short of a good-looking front desk person."

Then Manager Wang led Lin Sangyu into his office and, in a businesslike manner, asked a few routine questions—

"Any experience in front desk or service industry?"

"No, but I catch on fast. I'll work hard to learn."

"Can you handle shift work or working on holidays?"

"Yes."

"Can you accept overtime and one day off a week?"

"Also yes."

...

He'd found himself a willing workhorse. The manager grew happier with each question, a smile creeping into his expression.

"Then that settles it. Someone will take you to complete your onboarding..."

Before Manager Wang could finish, he was interrupted by Lin Sangyu's abruptly ringing phone, and the smile on his face dimmed a notch.

Lin Sangyu scrambled to pull the phone out of her pocket and caught a glimpse of the caller ID: "AAA Jiang Wenzhe."

But the next second, without a second thought, she hung up and switched her phone to silent.

Lin Sangyu apologized briefly. "Sorry, Manager Wang. Please continue."

Jiang Wenzhe thought Lin Sangyu had accidentally hung up.

Considering himself very patient and considerate, he called again—but the call went unanswered until the ringing stopped.

"..."

For the first time in his life, Jiang Wenzhe had his call hung up on for no reason. His temples throbbed, and the joints gripping his phone slowly turned white.

Was she learning from me and not looking at her phone at work?