Chapter 3
The moment her wrist was seized, Mu Wanyan’s heart nearly stopped.
Su Xingwei clamped down on the bone of her wrist with startling force.
Mu Wanyan didn’t struggle. She only frowned slightly, meeting the other woman’s clear eyes as she fought to suppress the panic rising in her chest and kept her voice steady.
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
Su Xingwei didn’t let go. Instead, she stepped closer. The distance between them vanished at once, close enough for Mu Wanyan to catch the familiar scent on her.
Her pulse quickened even more. Mu Wanyan lowered her eyes immediately, not daring to keep looking at the person right in front of her.
“Who sent you?”
Su Xingwei stared at her fixedly, her gaze sharp as a blade, as if she wanted to cut her open and see exactly what was inside.
If this was deliberate imitation, down to the habit of logging details and the latte art on the coffee, then she must have undergone long, specialized training. Whoever sent her must know everything about her and Gu Xi’s past.
Who could it be?
Countless thoughts flashed through Su Xingwei’s mind; each one made the chill in her heart deepen, and the pressure around her dropped frighteningly low.
Mu Wanyan kept her head down. Her palm was already slick with sweat, but she still gritted her teeth and held her expression together.
“No one sent me.”
She met Su Xingwei’s scrutiny again and said each word clearly and firmly.
“Why do you ask?”
Su Xingwei looked her in the eye. In those clear pupils, there was only one reflection. Mu Wanyan’s gaze was too clean, showing not the slightest trace of calculation.
She suddenly realized she had lost her composure.
Su Xingwei abruptly let go and stepped back. Turning toward the window, she drew a deep breath. When she spoke again, her voice had already returned to its usual coolness, as if her earlier loss of control had never happened.
“Get out. Sort and file the documents in the archives from the past year; you’re not allowed to leave until it’s done.”
Mu Wanyan flexed her wrist, still aching from the grip, and lowered her head. “Yes, Young Miss.”
Only after leaving the office did Mu Wanyan drop all pretense and slowly steady her breathing.
For a moment just now, she had truly thought she would be recognized. But Su Xingwei had asked, “Who sent you?” rather than, “Are you Gu Xi?”
In everyone’s eyes, Gu Xi was already dead. The dead did not come back to life, and they certainly did not return with a different face. It made sense that she would think someone was deliberately imitating Gu Xi for some ulterior motive.
Mu Wanyan rolled up her sleeve and glanced down; a faint red mark had already risen around her wrist. She rubbed it gently a couple of times, then pulled her sleeve back down to cover it and turned toward the archives.
The archives were at the end of the hallway. When she pushed the door open, the stale smell of paper and ink hit her at once. Five filing cabinets stood against the wall, packed full; most of it was contracts, reports, and meeting minutes, along with some miscellaneous odds and ends tossed in carelessly.
Mu Wanyan could only let out a bitter smile. Sorting a year’s worth of documents before getting off work was basically impossible. That person had clearly meant to make her back down.
She was far too familiar with this process. Back when she had been Su Xingwei’s assistant, she had handled all these trivial tasks herself. She knew every one of Su Xingwei’s habits; she knew which document belonged in which compartment, and which materials needed separate labels.
Mu Wanyan sat on the floor, stacks of neatly arranged files beside her, a laptop resting on her knees.
Outside, the sky darkened little by little; when she looked up again, it was already 8:30 p.m.
At last, the archives were sorted. She rolled her stiff neck a couple of times, then picked up the laptop and returned to the chairwoman’s office.
The office door was left slightly ajar, light spilling out from within. Mu Wanyan knocked a few times.
“Come in.”
Su Xingwei was still seated behind her desk, a pile of documents spread out before her, the computer screen lit with densely packed reports.
“Chairwoman Su, all of the archives’ documents have been sorted and filed. You can review them at any time.”
Mu Wanyan stood in front of the desk and reported truthfully.
Su Xingwei looked up, a flicker of surprise crossing her eyes.
That pile of disordered documents had sat there for a year. Even an old employee would need at least three or four days to sort through it. Yet this person had finished in a single day, and done it neatly besides.
She remembered how she had deliberately made things difficult at the start. She had never intended for her to complete it.
She did have some endurance.
Su Xingwei lowered her gaze and flipped through two more pages of documents before saying lightly, “Go.”
Mu Wanyan answered, “Yes,” but did not leave right away.
Su Xingwei kept her head down and returned to work, moving the mouse with a slight furrow between her brows. A boxed meal sat on the desk, barely touched.
She was like this again; once she got busy, she forgot to eat or sleep. Back when she was still Gu Xi, she had often watched over Su Xingwei, reminding her to eat on time and go to bed early; it had already become a habit.
“Young Miss isn’t getting off work?”
Su Xingwei didn’t look up, and didn’t answer, continuing to handle company affairs on the computer.
Mu Wanyan looked at the somewhat gaunt face before her, at the obvious shadows under her eyes, and felt a twist of discomfort. Without meaning to, she blurted out, “Work is important, but your health matters more. You barely ate at noon; if you keep this up, your body won’t be able to take it.”
The office went quiet for several seconds; Su Xingwei’s fingers on the keyboard suddenly stopped.
Slowly, she looked up and let her gaze fall on Mu Wanyan’s face, carrying a complicated emotion that was hard to describe.
Those clear eyes held no ingratiation, only straightforward concern.
They were far too much like someone else’s.
Mu Wanyan grew a little uncomfortable under her stare and looked away. “That was out of line.”
After a moment of stillness, Su Xingwei suddenly closed the folder and shut off the computer screen.
When Mu Wanyan looked up again, she just happened to see Su Xingwei rise to her feet, pick up the coat draped over the back of her chair, and walk straight toward the door.
Passing by Mu Wanyan, she didn’t turn back; she simply tossed out two words, “I’m leaving.”
Mu Wanyan stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly at that retreating back. Only when the elevator chime sounded did she come back to herself and hurry after her.
The next morning, the sky was heavy with clouds; before long, a light drizzle began to fall.
After arriving at the company, Mu Wanyan went first, as she always did, to check the chairwoman’s office. She lifted a hand and knocked, but there was no response from inside. She gently pushed the door open; the office was empty, and Su Xingwei hadn’t come in.
She returned to her workstation and opened her computer to check the schedule. There was a branch manager coming in that morning to report. She was wondering whether she should call Su Xingwei when the elevator doors opened, and a man in his forties stepped out; it was Branch Manager Zhang.
“Is Chairwoman Su here?”
Zhang asked. “I have an appointment to report this morning.”
Mu Wanyan hurriedly stood and politely nodded. “Chairwoman Su hasn’t arrived at the company yet. Why don’t you sit for a moment while I contact her?”
Zhang frowned, looking troubled. “This report is pretty important. Chairwoman Su... she’ll be coming today, right?”
Mu Wanyan hesitated for a moment, then still dialed Su Xingwei’s number. The phone rang several times, but no one answered. She called again and again, but still no one picked up.
“Sorry, Manager Zhang. Please wait a moment.”
Mu Wanyan put down her phone and checked the calendar.
Today was September 17.
She suddenly understood why Su Xingwei hadn’t come in.
Mu Wanyan drew a deep breath and said gently, “Chairwoman Su may arrive later today. Why don’t you leave the materials here for now? I’ll pass them on to her later.”
Zhang hesitated for a few seconds before finally nodding, placing the documents down and turning to leave.
Mu Wanyan walked to the window and looked at the glass blurred by rain; the scene outside had turned hazy.
She thought she knew where Su Xingwei was.