Anna watched her graceful figure from behind and shook her head. "She's beautiful, has a successful career, and is even noticed by such a perfect editor-in-chief. When will I ever have such good fortune?"
"Come in." Wen Mubai looked up when he heard the knock.
"Editor-in-chief, you called me." Before Wen Mubai could speak, Du Fei sat down on the sofa, pen in hand, looking as if to say, "Please give me your orders."
"I called you here to tell you that I will be handing over the reins next month, and you will temporarily take over as editor-in-chief."
"Handover?" Du Fei seemed surprised because there had been no prior warning. "Why? When will you be back?"
Wen Mubai automatically skipped her earlier question and answered the later one, "If you don't come back, then either you'll go to jail for this position, or someone from above will be sent in."
"Is it because HN's conditions are bad, or is it because your rivals are trying to poach you?" Du Fei couldn't think of any other reason.
Wen Mubai was doing well in HN, so why did he want to leave? And what she cared about most was, "Where are you going?"
"Go back to China." Wen Mubai closed his laptop. "I've sent the handover documents to your email. Remember to check them."
Chapter 38 Back Home
University military training can be incredibly tough; after more than half a month, almost everyone is a shade darker.
Xu Chacha was alright; she's the type whose skin gets red and peels after being in the sun but doesn't darken. However, the military training was so tiring that she developed a lot of blisters on her toes, and they hurt whenever she wore shoes. She had never felt this tired before, even when she was rushing to three or four shows a day.
"If I train for a few more days, I'll die on the spot." Zhu Zhu leaned on Xu Chacha's shoulder like she had no bones, and walked with her arm around her.
Jiang Shu grabbed her by the collar and pulled her away, saying, "She can barely stand on her own, and you still pressed down on her."
Xu Chacha gave Jiang Shu a grateful look, opened her water bottle, and took a sip.
After so many days, she had gotten used to Zhu Zhu's constant ramblings and intimate gestures; after all, she wasn't the only one doing this with herself.
"Then Shushu, lean on me." Zhu Zhu leaned to the side and hugged her shoulder again. "I just can't stand up straight."
Su Qing pretended to laugh and patted Xu Chacha's shoulder, "Let's hurry up, or there won't be any seats in the cafeteria."
"Wait for me." Jiang Shu pulled away from Zhu Zhu's hand and quickly followed.
"You guys are so heartless." Zhu Zhu, who had lost her support, miraculously regained her ability to walk and jogged over. "I'm so tired of eating in the cafeteria. Let's go out to eat tonight."
"We'll talk about tonight's business later. All I know is that I'm very hungry right now and want to eat as soon as possible," Jiang Shu said.
"Hmph, Shushu, you're so cold."
Xu Chacha shook off the goosebumps on her body, pretended to be deaf, and ran hand in hand with Su Qing toward the cafeteria.
The first floor of the cafeteria is a similar food serving area to that of a middle school cafeteria, while the second and third floors offer different kinds of snacks and main dishes.
Without a second thought, the four rushed up to the third floor and ordered two large bowls of spicy hot pot from the stall.
"Junior?" Jiang Miao, who happened to be eating ramen next door, saw Xu Chacha walk over and struck up a conversation.
Behind her were several girls whom Xu Chacha had met during the orientation that day, who were now staring at the two of them with very meaningful smiles.
"Senior Jiang Miao." Xu Chacha raised her hand to greet her.
"Military training is over, right? These past few days must have been especially tough." Jiang Miao handed Xu Chacha the mung bean soup he had just bought. "When are you planning to go out and have dinner with your senior, the one we talked about last time?"
Xu Chacha took the mung bean paste with both hands. It must have just been taken out of the refrigerator, as it was very cool to the touch.
"Anytime is fine, senior."
Zhu Zhu leaned closer curiously, "We were just about to go out for a meal tonight, senior, are you coming?"
"Okay." Jiang Miao agreed without thinking.
Xu Chacha looked troubled, "But I..."
"What do you mean 'what do you mean 'what do you mean 'what do you mean ''? It's settled then.'" Zhu Zhu blinked and gave her a thumbs up.
Actually, Xu Chacha didn't want to go out because she had to talk to Wen Mubai on the phone that night, but with so many people around, it wouldn't be easy to explain. She thought she'd just go back and tell Jiang Miao privately.
"Number 16, your spicy hot pot is ready."
"Number 16 is our sign." Zhu Zhu turned around, and the next second she was completely stunned.
The food was enough for four people, and the restaurant staff used the largest bowls they could call rice buckets to serve it to them. The food was piled up in such a big bowl that it formed a small hill.
Zhu Zhu pushed the "bowl" away, pretending it had nothing to do with her, while Jiang Shu shook her head and picked it up.
"Let's go eat."
Xu Chacha went over and washed four bowls of rice, picked up her chopsticks, and said goodbye to Jiang Miao, "Bye-bye, senior."
"Bye-Bye."
Because they were so hungry, they picked up food with the confidence that they could eat a whole pig in one bite. Now that they sat down to eat, they realized that they couldn't possibly eat that much.
Everyone stuffed themselves until their stomachs were almost bursting, but there was still more than half a bowl left. Su Qing went to ask for a takeout box and put the rest in it.
"I can reheat it in the microwave tonight and it'll still be edible."
As a result, before evening even arrived, Zhu Zhu, who was complaining of being hungry, devoured the entire thing by herself that afternoon. While eating, she tempted the others, saying, "Come on, sisters, I think it tastes even better after being microwaved than freshly cooked."
Xu Chacha was so full from lunch that she burped all afternoon from the smell of spicy hot pot. When she was invited to the dinner, she shook her head and buried her head under the covers. "No, no, I don't want to see spicy hot pot for a month."
Jiang Shu and Su Qing, who were watching a movie on the lower bunk, silently raised their hands, "Me too."
...
Y Country at 2 PM
Wen Mubai took advantage of his lunch break to call Xu Chacha. It was about nine o'clock in the evening in China, so she probably wasn't asleep yet.
"Auntie!" The person on the other end answered the phone quickly, as if they had timed it perfectly. "I'll turn on the camera for a moment, just wait a minute."
The girl's voice sounded more energetic, the familiar baby voice transformed into a young girl's voice, but it was still clear and pleasant, as melodious as the song of the oriole.
"Okay." Xu Chacha pulled the blackout curtain closed and pointed the camera at her face.
Wen Mubai saw the background behind her and asked, "Going to sleep so early?"
"Not yet, I'll wait a bit." She went to bed simply so that it would be easier to turn on the video call.
Currently, everyone's schedule is different, but the other three people almost always go to sleep after midnight. Xu Chacha has gradually been influenced to get used to staying up late, but she has never stopped drinking her health tea.
Now, she considers going to bed after 2 a.m. as late.
"Did you receive your birthday present from last time? This time, I added several layers of bubble wrap to the perfume, so it shouldn't break, right?" Xu Chacha complained. "The courier service is really too rough."
Every year, she would send Wen Mubai a new perfume, using the same formula as when she was a child. She would also use it occasionally herself, and after all these years, she never felt tired of it.
"Received it. What are your plans for your birthday this year?"
Their birthdays are not far apart, one in September and the other in December, so Xu Chacha's birthday is coming soon.
"Whatever, I'll like whatever Auntie gives me."
As they were talking, Zhu Zhu reached into Xu Chacha's blackout curtain and pulled her blanket. "Chacha, come with your sister, let's go get some late-night snacks. Your senior Jiang Miao said she's treating."
“I told her I wasn’t going, you guys go ahead,” Xu Chacha replied.
"What? Everyone goes, but you never go. Come on, come on!"
Hearing her start to whine in that sweet, coquettish tone again, Xu Chacha rubbed her forehead in exasperation. "I really'm not going. You guys enjoy your meal. Send me the payment code later, and I'll treat you, okay?"
"Really?" Zhu Zhu jumped up. "Rich woman tea, ahhh, I love you to death! Mua!"
Xu Chacha quickly pulled the blackout curtain back, worried that it would frighten Wen Mubai.
"That's just my roommate's personality, don't mind her." Xu Chacha put her headphones back on.
Wen Mubai tapped the table with his pen, his gaze fixed on his hand, seemingly lost in thought. He only snapped out of his reverie when he heard Xu Chacha's voice and gave a soft "hmm."
"Senior Jiang Miao?" This was the first time she had heard this name. Usually, Xu Chacha would mention it to people she knew.
"Oh, Jiang Miao is the senior who helped me with my luggage when school started. I forgot to tell you her name." Xu Chacha took a sip of water. "I ran into her at the cafeteria at noon today, and my roommate invited her to have a late-night snack together."
"Why aren't you going?" Wen Mubai asked again.
"I don't really want to go," Xu Chacha pouted.
She dared not admit that she didn't go to eat so she could stay and video chat with her.
“Your roommate said you haven’t been out much. How can you integrate into the group if you don’t socialize?”
When Xu Chacha heard her start lecturing her in an elder's tone again, her expression immediately fell. "I know, then."
"Go eat, I'm hanging up," Wen Mubai said.
Xu Chacha lowered her eyes, looking very disappointed, "Because I'll miss you..."
"What did you say?" Her voice was too soft for Wen Mubai to hear.
"It's nothing." Xu Chacha pursed her lips and sat up straight. "You can hang up now. I'm going to have some late-night snacks with them."
"Mmm, good girl."
"oh."
Xu Chacha felt that Wen Mubai's use of the word "good girl" was not at all intended to soothe her, but rather to turn her into a cat with frizzy fur in no time.
The last second of the video froze on Xu Chacha's sullen expression, and Wen Mubai stared at the screen for a long time after hanging up.
She certainly wanted to fly back immediately, but at this crucial handover point, it would be irresponsible of her to just walk away now.
...
Jiang Miao's text message said to meet at the back gate of the school at 9:30, and they had more than 20 minutes to prepare.
Zhu Zhu and the others were touching up their makeup and curling their hair, while Xu Chacha was more casual. She casually put on a pair of shorts that she had left on the chair yesterday, put on a loose t-shirt, and sat down to wait in slippers.
She might be the legendary type who learns bad habits but not good ones. After knowing Wen Mubai for so long, she hasn't learned any of his other good qualities, but she has learned his unrestrained way of dressing.
Oh, no, she doesn't dress like that anymore, Xu Chacha suddenly realized.
These days, Wen Mubai is so meticulous about his outfit every day before going to work that he even carefully selects the smallest earrings.
Xu Chacha played two rounds of Candy Crush before the three beauties finally finished getting ready. She glanced at her phone and said, "Twenty-five. We'll be at the back door around thirty when we go downstairs. You guys really know how to time it."
"Oh dear, I heard some upperclassmen from the student council are coming along too, so of course I have to dress up." Zhu Zhu took her arm. "Why did you suddenly decide to go? Is it... because you've got your eye on some upperclassman too?"
Xu Chacha pushed away her face, which was getting closer. "I'm not interested in you, senior."
"Oh, I see. So you're interested in your senior, right?" Zhu Zhu chuckled, looking like she knew everything.