She picked up the folder and opened it, somewhat surprised. "Mr. Li, weren't you the one who's been in contact with him all along? Such an important client..."
"So what?" Wen Mubai finally deigned to look up at her, his gaze indifferent. "You failed to complete the task I assigned you. Is that what you're implying now?"
"No, no, no, that's not it." Du Fei immediately adjusted her mindset and said seriously, "I will try my best, editor-in-chief, please don't worry."
Wen Mubai turned his gaze back to the screen. "If you understand, then go out. Hurry up, Mr. Li's flight to Country C is on Sunday."
"Okay, I understand."
Anna's desk was right outside Wen Mubai's office. If you were attentive, you could hear the conversation inside. When she saw Du Fei come out of the office looking excited, she quietly changed her sitting position and sent a message under the desk. As soon as Du Fei walked past her, she immediately stood up and ran to the break room.
Her gossipy girlfriends were already waiting there.
“I knew the editor-in-chief favored Dufy the most, taking care of her in everything, and now he’s handing over such an important client with both hands.” Anna shook her head, holding her cup. “If this deal goes through, the gap between Dufy and the others will be widened completely.”
"You mean... those two wouldn't be..." The two girls' words were loaded with meaning, their eyes and tone ambiguous.
Anna chuckled, "I think so too!"
...
The three little ones all did well and were admitted to Q University, but they were all majoring in different fields. On the first day of school, Xu Chacha refused her parents' request to see her off and instead dragged her suitcase to meet up with the other two.
"Is this what you meant by 'treating us well another day'?" This was their first meeting with Xu Chacha since that day.
"That's great! Once school starts and we get to know each other better, we can visit each other more often. We're all in the same school anyway, so we'll have plenty of time to get together." Xu Chacha didn't see any problem with it at all.
Xue Miaomiao couldn't help but interject, "Do you know how far your college is from us? It takes more than half an hour to get there by bicycle."
Xu Chacha touched her forehead, pretending she hadn't heard. She really didn't mean to avoid having dinner with the two of them. She had a lot on her plate. Online, she was constantly being urged to submit her manuscripts by her editors. Offline, she also had to consider personal relationships, help Lang Shuhua and Jing with some internal page shooting, and occasionally walk in a few fashion shows. Whenever she had a break, she would devote it to Wen Mubai.
She could swear that, apart from that, she devoted all her remaining time to these two little ones.
Because the colleges were different and the reporting locations were also different, the driver dropped off the other two people last before stopping at the College of Arts.
Xu Chacha got out of the car and went around to the back door. The driver hurriedly chased after her, saying, "Miss, let me help you carry it. It's too heavy."
"No need, I can lift it." Xu Chacha grabbed the lever with both hands and pulled it upwards.
Good heavens, the box didn't budge an inch.
But it would be too humiliating to be slapped in the face right after saying something so confident.
Xu Chacha gritted her teeth and tried again, but it still didn't work, so she gave up.
"Come on, Uncle."
The driver quickly helped her with her suitcase and put an umbrella over her, saying, "I'll take you to the classroom; the sun is too strong outside."
"You really don't need this. I may not have grown strong legs, but I have grown strong ones." Xu Chacha handed the umbrella back to him. "Go back quickly and remember to tell my parents that I'm doing very well at school so they don't worry."
...
9:00 AM, Teaching Building 1 Hall
The hall was packed with freshmen. The male-to-female ratio in the School of Arts has always been exaggerated. At a glance, it was almost all girls, with only a few boys mixed in, who were either ugly or short.
The student union's welcoming staff are sitting behind a table, pens in hand, registering new students.
Chairman Jiang Miao sat at the innermost table, surrounded by small groups of people gossiping.
She has big, wavy hair parted in a 3/7 ratio, and her eyes are slightly upturned like fox eyes. However, her bone structure is rather strong, giving her an aura of authority without being angry.
"This year's freshmen are really bad, there isn't a single one worth looking at. Is that junior going to be the most handsome guy in the department again this year?"
"To be honest, a lot of them are just photoshopped images." The girl in shorts leaned against the table. "These days, men are much better at Photoshop than women."
"Forget it, we can't count on the juniors, let's look at the female juniors instead."
"Are you crazy? You're trying to get your hands on young girls."
"What's wrong with a little girl? She's a little girl too~"
"Ugh, get away from me, don't use that tone to disgust me."
The people around her were laughing and joking, but Jiang Miao seemed uninterested. She lazily propped her chin up and glanced around the crowded hall before slowly looking away.
"What's so interesting about them? Aren't they all just two eyes and a nose?"
The vice president joked with her, "President, you can see beautiful women every day when you look in the mirror. We're different. We rely on this to refresh our eyes during our boring college life."
Jiang Miao turned his head away dismissively, "Then starting next week, you'll be responsible for compiling the statistics from the Discipline Inspection Department. That should keep things interesting."
"No! I was wrong, I was wrong!"
Jiang Miao ignored them, looked down and took out his phone to scroll, "You guys stop crowding around, go help out, finish this quickly and get some rest."
"Alright, got it." The vice president waved to a few gossipy girls, "Let's go, beauties, let's get to work."
After wandering around for a while, Xu Chacha finally found the first teaching building, but as soon as she entered, she was driven back by the smell of sweat from the crowd. She covered her nose and took a deep breath outside to calm herself before quickly walking inside.
The row of tables was packed with people, except for the one at the very back, which was mostly empty. The girl behind the table was wearing a light purple cropped T-shirt and black denim shorts, her long, white legs crossed over her right. She was looking at her phone with a cold expression, and she seemed rather unapproachable.
Xu Chacha glanced at the queue next to her, sighed, and walked up to the long-haired girl with her head down, just to give it a try.
"Um, senior," Xu Chacha walked up to Jiang Miao and tentatively asked in a low voice, "Excuse me, can I sign in here?"
Upon hearing the sound, Jiang Miao raised his head, his indifferent expression momentarily stunned after seeing Xu Chacha's face.
"newborn?"
Xu Chacha nodded and gave Jiang Miao a friendly smile, "Yes, hello senior."
She has an inexplicable sense of approachability. Her smooth facial features and beautiful almond-shaped eyes make her seem harmless, and her sweet voice is like a clear spring flowing straight into people's hearts.
Jiang Miao felt he might be proven wrong. Both have two noses and one eye, but some people's appearances are so superior that just looking at them can make you feel good.
"No registration here. There are signs at the table next to you; line up in front of them, register, and then go get your dorm supplies." The boy sitting next to Jiang Miao said to Xu Chacha, "Did you come alone? I'll help you carry your things later; they're quite heavy."
“Who said we don’t need to register?” Jiang Miao slapped his hand away and beckoned to Xu Chacha with her finger, “Come here, your senior will help you register.”
Seeing this, Xu Chacha breathed a sigh of relief. As if worried that Jiang Miao might change his mind, she quickly grabbed a pen and filled in the information. "Thank you, senior, you're so kind!"
The boy next to him stared at Jiang Miao as if he'd seen a ghost, but the latter remained calm, cleared his throat, and sat up straight. "It's nothing. Our student council is here today to help you register."
As she spoke, she leaned forward unintentionally and pulled her hand to reveal her name tag, which read "Student Council President".
Xu Chacha saw it, of course, and said to her with a smile, "Senior is the student council president? How cool! I'm so lucky to have met you today."
This shower of praise made Jiang Miao a little smug, and the phrase "I'm so lucky to have met you" made her feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility.
"It's nothing. Your parents aren't here, right? I'll walk you to your dorm later; the way is hard to find."
The boy couldn't hold back any longer and turned to her, mouthing, "No way?"
Usually, if they have their eye on a female student, they'll use the excuse of taking her to her dorm to ask for her contact information. But this time, Jiang Miao snatched her away.
The key point is that this person just said something like "What's so interesting about this?"
Then why don't you give the opportunity to someone else? Also, when did you become interested in female students?
"No need to trouble you, senior. I can manage on my own." Xu Chacha shook her head.
Jiang Miao stood up and led her to the classroom, pointing to the half-person-high burlap sack inside, "Are you sure you can move it yourself?"
Xu Chacha stood there speechless, her pupils dilating in shock, betraying her inner emotions. This bag, not counting the suitcase in her hand, was not enough for her to even get out of the classroom, let alone into the dormitory.
"Senior, are you very strong?" Xu Chacha asked, looking at Jiang Miao, who had thin arms and legs.
“Senior, you have a car.” Jiang Miao walked up to the girl distributing dormitory supplies. “Xiao Li, can I use your cart to pick up a freshman? I’ll return it later.”
"Oh, okay, take it."
After borrowing the trolley, Jiang Miao instructed the boy who had spoken to Xu Chacha earlier to lift her bag onto it, and then she pulled the trolley herself and walked forward with ease.
"Come on, junior, let me see you off."
Xu Chacha followed, "Let me push, senior."
"No need, just take your suitcase."
"Then I'll hold the umbrella for you. It would be such a waste if you got tanned with such good skin, senior." Xu Chacha opened the parasol and shielded her head with it.
She is less than 1.7 meters tall, so Xu Chacha held the umbrella for her just right, without having to raise her hand too high.
Sensing Xu Chacha's approach, Jiang Miao unconsciously tightened her grip on the stroller. She had a faint scent of gardenia on her, not sweet or cloying but rather a refreshing aftertaste. She held her breath and took small breaths, afraid that her breathing would be too loud and Xu Chacha would hear her.
Xu Chacha wondered if it was just her imagination, but when she looked down, she thought she saw that the senior student surnamed Jiang had red ears, and assumed it was because she was hot.
"Are you hot, senior?" Xu Chacha approached her. "Could you take this umbrella?"
"Huh?" Jiang Miao stopped in his tracks, and for some reason, his hand did as Xu Chacha had told him, and he stupidly grabbed the umbrella.
"Here, take this." Xu Chacha smiled and hung her handheld fan around her neck. "It'll keep you cool."
Jiang Miao blinked rapidly twice, turned her head away, and her voice sounded a little off, "Th-thank you."
"Not at all, I'm the one who should thank you, senior. It's so hot, and you've gone to so much trouble to show me the way." Xu Chacha smiled brightly. "The student council president should be very busy, yet she still has to take care of someone like me who has no sense of direction."
Jiang Miao felt a little embarrassed after she said that. He was the one who was bewitched and took the initiative to bring her the gift, but the junior was so considerate that she not only held an umbrella for her but also brought her a fan and thanked him profusely.
Jiang Miao, you're a real scoundrel, she muttered to herself.
"Actually, it's alright. I'll retire next semester when the leadership changes. By the way, are you interested in the student council? Would you like to come for an interview?"
"The student council," Xu Chacha shook her head weakly, "I'm too lazy to join."
She's really a traitor, because she attended A Middle School for elementary, middle and high school, and inexplicably became the class monitor for many years. She's had enough of managing people, and now that she's finally in college, she doesn't want to repeat the same mistakes and fall into the same quagmire again.
"Senior, your shoelaces are untied," Xu Chacha noticed with her sharp eyes.
Before Jiang Miao could react, she saw Xu Chacha squat down beside her, her head lowered, revealing her long, white nape.
"Don't move, I'll help you tie it." Her voice was still gentle, but it carried a sense of reliability that made people want to rely on her.
Jiang Miao froze, remaining completely still. Judging from her appearance alone, no one would guess that she was already panicking terribly inside, and she felt that something was really wrong with her.
Her ex-boyfriend tied her shoelaces and she wasn't this nervous. Is it because it's the first time a girl has taken care of her like this, so she's not used to it?
"Alright." Xu Chacha stood up. "Be more careful next time."
Jiang Miao nodded. "Okay."
All the dormitories at Q University have elevators, so Jiang Miao escorted the person all the way to the door.
"We've arrived, 2602."
Xu Chacha closed her umbrella, took off her bag, and thanked Jiang Miao, "Thank you for your hard work, senior."