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After weighing my options, I decided to find Gu Xiang and casually ask him about something. Spending day after day idly in the house was boring, so it was better to find something to do. Before going to find Gu Xiang, I didn't inform him and headed to the address on the business card he had once given me, where only his assistant Lily was present.
She smiled and informed me, "Mr. Gu is meeting with a client. Miss Zhuang, if you have nothing else to do, you might as well wait."
I was quite bored and nodded in agreement. Sitting on the seventeenth floor, I looked out at the tall buildings and distant scenery through the floor-to-ceiling windows. My mind grew quieter as I waited for Gu Xiang to come out of his office.
When Gu Xiang first saw me, he seemed surprised. "What brings you here today?"
I smiled slightly, feeling awkward about directly stating my reason for visiting him. I could only brush it off: "I happened to be passing by and thought I'd drop in."
"Oh right, you haven't started working yet," Gu Xiang said thoughtfully, as if he suddenly remembered something. "Are you looking for a job?"
I nodded; of course I wanted to work. This had become a pressing issue I needed to face soon. Without any income or inheritance, I was struggling to support myself. I couldn't bear the thought of being a freeloader; that was my bottom line.
"Then why don't you come work for me? I'm actually in need of an assistant," Gu Xiang said unexpectedly.
I glanced awkwardly at Lily, who had been observing us. Was it really appropriate for Gu Xiang to say this in front of her?
Lily seemed to notice my discomfort and quickly reassured me, "I'm pregnant."
I looked at her in surprise as she continued, "My husband wants me to quit my job and rest at home, so I probably won't be taking on any work after this."
So that's how it was. Looking at Lily's flat stomach, she must not have been pregnant for long. Her husband must care for her a lot; such gestures seemed familiar yet different. Others at least appeared happy, didn't they?
"This works out perfectly! You want a job, and I'm in need of an assistant. You won't have to look for work, and I won't have to post a job listing," Gu Xiang seemed pleased with this coincidence that saved him quite a bit of trouble.
However, I remained skeptical. "But I don't know how to be an assistant to a psychologist."
Before meeting Gu Xiang, I had never interacted with a psychologist nor considered that such a situation could arise.
"Don't worry, Miss Zhuang. It's quite simple. You'll help Mr. Gu arrange clients' schedules and organize the time statistics, prepare plans, and patiently receive clients. It's very easy; when Mr. Gu is meeting clients, I'm usually just sitting around bored," Lily spoke about the job with ease and joy, showing no signs of being overwhelmed by work.
"Cough, cough." Gu Xiang lightly cleared his throat, "I just realized how easy my assistant's job is. It seems I need to consider deducting a portion of your salary and benefits that doesn't match your work content before you resign."
Lily feigned surprise, covering her mouth with her hand, "If you deduct so much money from me at once, Mr. Gu, I will report you."
It seems that one of the advantages of Lily's job is having a humorous and charming boss.
After chatting for a while longer, Lily reminded Gu Xiang that the next client would arrive soon and handed him a detailed file about the client.
Gu Xiang took the file and shrugged, "If you leave, Lily, it might take me some time to adjust to the days without your meticulous preparations."
Lily smirked, her eyes filled with laughter. Seeing her like this made me genuinely envious; her job seemed worlds apart from the one I had before. During my working hours, not only was there no room for smiles, but even maintaining a good mental state was difficult.
Lily appeared to truly enjoy her work, which was another reason I wanted to work for Gu Xiang. It seemed really quite nice.
Gu Xiang told me not to leave and to wait for him after he finished his busy afternoon. He casually tossed me a laptop and suggested I watch videos online to pass the time, pointing at Lily: "Get used to the kind of work my assistant usually does, like watching Korean dramas."
After Gu Xiang left, I found myself pondering his enticing words about staying here as his assistant.
I was indeed looking for a job. Aside from my previous time at Luming Company, I hadn't been in touch with society for a long time. I wasn't sure what kind of experiences I would encounter when applying for jobs elsewhere. Now that Gu Xiang was extending an olive branch to me during such a crucial period in my life, having more opportunities to interact with him seemed beneficial.
The temptation was too great. I planned to tell Miao Miao about it when I got back and discuss it with her. If she thought it was a good idea too, then I could really give it a try. Besides, I had my own issues in this area; perhaps getting more exposure would have its benefits. If there were any negative impacts, Gu Xiang probably wouldn't have made such a suggestion.
As I was engrossed in watching a Korean drama on the laptop, I suddenly sensed that the atmosphere had changed. When I looked up, I met Lu Ming's gaze and felt slightly startled—how did he come over?
Lu Ming silently sat down next to me. After briefly averting my gaze back to the computer screen, I found it impossible to concentrate anymore, so I asked him.
"What brings you here?"
"Just passing by."
"..." That response sounded very familiar.
I thought it was Gu Xiang who called him over, but when Gu Xiang came out and saw Lu Ming, he looked surprised as well. He glanced at Lu Ming and then at me, his gaze meaningful.
"Were you not the one who called him over?" I pointed at Lu Ming.
Gu Xiang shook his head and replied playfully, "I assure you I never said that. I just mentioned that you were coming over."
"..." My face must have turned red.
"Alright, alright, I still need to prepare for my next appointment. Lu Ming, since you're here, why don't you wait a bit? Let's have dinner together tonight." Gu Xiang took the folder from Lily with one hand, holding it loosely between his fingers.
Lu Ming surprisingly agreed. Gu Xiang smiled at me, turned sideways, and left me and Lu Ming staring at each other.
After waiting for Gu Xiang to finish his work, the three of us took Gu Xiang's car to pick up Miao Miao downstairs. After Miao Miao came down, the four of us headed to the restaurant. As soon as we walked in, we spotted Wang Nan sitting at a table. He seemed a bit excited when he saw us approaching.
I glanced at Miao Miao; her expression was calm, as if she was used to it. I didn't want to say much and followed them to sit down. I ended up sitting between Miao Miao and Wang Nan, making it hard for me to ignore the affectionate glances Wang Nan was sending Miao Miao over my shoulder.
I felt very out of place and thought about switching seats with someone. However, Miao Miao lightly tapped her fingers on the table, calmly dispelling my thoughts: "Try moving."
Reluctantly, I sat back down and could only apologize to Wang Nan, feeling quite embarrassed that I couldn't be of any help. Although I knew deep down that Miao Miao wanted to get closer to Wang Nan.
After dinner, we were heading outside when Wang Nan suggested taking a walk in a nearby park as a post-meal joke. Gu Xiang mocked Wang Nan for acting old-fashioned and turned his gaze to Lu Ming, who said, "I think it's a good idea."
Aside from Gu Xiang nearly dropping his jaw in surprise, everyone else accepted the idea of a walk. If I had known I would run into Wang Xu at this moment, even if given a thousand chances or ten thousand chances to choose again, I would have preferred to go home and get a good night's sleep instead of feeling this exhausted now.
S City is neither too big nor too small, yet here I was running into Wang Xu in such a setting. He was the one who called out to me first, frowning with an unhappy expression as he sized me up and then looked at the people around me.
"What are you..."
Before Wang Xu could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Miao Miao: "Oh! Who is this? It's Wang Xu! Long time no see! I didn't even know what you've been up to. Why aren't you staying home with your mom? How much can you get from Zhuang Jun?"
I didn't want to discuss our not-so-pleasant past with Wang Xu at this moment. In such a crowded environment, seeing Wang Xu only made me uncomfortable; I hadn't thought about using this opportunity to get back at him through those around me. But Miao Miao seemed to have anticipated this; perhaps she was worried I'd go soft on him and continued her verbal assault on Wang Xu.
"Why aren't you speaking? You must have made at least a couple of million by now, are you so happy that you can't even talk? Well, with your current wealth, it should be more than enough to harm a couple of young girls. But Wang Xu, you need to be careful. After all, you've been through this before. What if it's the same as last time? You find a woman and end up with a child that's not yours? That would be a huge scandal, wouldn't it?"
Lu Ming and the others had been silent; it was Miao Miao who kept talking. Wang Xu's face grew paler, and he seemed to be holding back something. In the end, he cast a confused look in my direction.
"You haven't even officially divorced me, and you're already fooling around?" Wang Xu said with a pained expression.
But his words only made my heart ache more; he really was overestimating me!
"I don't have as much time to think about this as you do. You're getting better at playing the victim. But you've taken all the assets; even if I did cheat, the court could only rule that way—nothing heavier than that."
I really wanted to ask Wang Xu how he, a grown man, could shamelessly take all the assets during the divorce and feel no shame about it. Yet he disdainfully replied to me.
"I know why you're willing to divorce; it's because you don't care about that little bit. No wonder you agreed."
Wang Xu spoke these words softly, almost too faint to hear unless one was paying close attention. But the room was so quiet, and I was definitely watching Wang Xu's every move, so I understood the hurt in his words clearly.
This was how he thought of me; this was how he viewed me. I couldn't imagine anyone else's marriage being more of a failure than mine.
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