The man stopped walking. Manager Liu was surprised by his question.
The president never concerned himself with these matters. Why had he suddenly appeared and inquired about them?
"President, this year's new recruits are all outstanding. They are either graduates from prestigious universities or possess exceptional abilities. They are all top-tier, so you can rest assured," Manager Liu declared, patting his chest to guarantee it.
"That's good." The man's gaze swept over all the new colleagues present, finally landing on Zhao Shuyao.
Upon hearing the man's voice, Zhao Shuyao found it increasingly familiar.
This voice...
It sounded like she had heard it somewhere before.
Why was it so familiar!
"Is this new colleague shy? Why is she wearing a mask?"
The man said this, his eyes curving into crescent moons with a smile.
Zhao Shuyao coughed, covered her mouth, and lowered her head, preventing the man from seeing her. "I'm just a bit unwell, nothing serious. Thank you for your concern, President. I'm afraid of infecting everyone, so I won't take off my mask."
"That's fine. Take care of yourself."
The man's gaze shifted away blandly. His voice, tinged with a smile, he gave Manager Liu a couple of instructions and then walked out of the conference room at leisure.
Manager Liu watched the man leave before turning around. "That man just now was the renowned Sheng Jing, our president, the founder of Shengshi Group. He's young and promising, and most importantly, he's single! So many beautiful women in our company can't capture his heart. Perhaps the next lucky one will be one of you girls!"
As he spoke, Manager Liu looked at Zhao Shuyao. "Zhao Shuyao, you're so cute. You could try. If you become the president's wife, you won't have to carry bricks anymore."
As expected from someone in the internet industry, he loved to joke.
She had just gotten divorced, and now she was trying to hook up with another man to get married?
She had barely gotten close to Xiang Liang, and Qin Yusheng had almost berated her with his finger pointing at her back.
Zhao Shuyao's computer skills were excellent, but because she had just joined Shengshi and was not yet familiar with Shengshi Group's business, she was assigned to the computer maintenance service department, primarily responsible for the operation of several software programs developed by Shengshi Group.
In simple terms, she was a programmer.
The allergy shot only took effect at the end of the workday, reducing the swelling. Although still a bit swollen, it wasn't as bad as it was in the morning, when it had transformed her from a skinny girl weighing eighty pounds into someone over a hundred pounds.
Zhao Shuyao sighed silently, stood in front of her car, removed the mask from her face, and then bent down to get inside.
The next day at work, Zhao Shuyao wore a simple suit skirt. As she walked into the company, everyone was looking at her.
Zhao Shuyao swiped her card and entered the elevator. She saw a few colleagues from yesterday in the elevator and greeted them with a smile. To her surprise, the colleagues widened their eyes and looked at her, not one of them greeting her back.
"It's me, don't you recognize me?" Zhao Shuyao was startled by her colleagues' reaction as she entered the elevator.
Could she have been fired?
She had only started working yesterday and had taken an hour off. Was she fired just for taking time off?
Or was there something on her face? Why were they looking at her as if she were a stranger?
Zhao Shuyao muttered to herself and touched her face.
No, there was nothing on it. Then why were they looking at her like that?
"Are you...? Someone's girlfriend?"
Several new colleagues looked at her with unfamiliar eyes, as if they had no idea who she was.
Zhao Shuyao was also confused. "I'm Zhao Shuyao!"
"What?! You're Zhao Shuyao? How is that possible? Zhao Shuyao is a bit plump, but you're not fat at all. You have such a slim figure, and your face doesn't look like Zhao Shuyao's!" The colleagues recalled that yesterday, although Zhao Shuyao's face was obscured by the mask, it looked very fat due to the swelling, nothing like how slim she looked now.
No wonder they didn't recognize her.
Zhao Shuyao, wanting to cry but unable to, pointed at herself. "It's me, Zhao Shuyao. I had a seafood allergy yesterday. I really am Zhao Shuyao. If you don't believe me, look at my employee ID."
Zhao Shuyao held up her employee ID, which was hanging around her neck, and handed it to them to look at.
Seeing the name and photo on it, they finally confirmed that the person in front of them was indeed Zhao Shuyao.
"No wonder Manager Liu said you were a beauty yesterday. We were wondering how you could be a beauty when you were so swollen. So you were swollen from a seafood allergy!"
The few people stared intently at Zhao Shuyao.
"Wow, Zhao Shuyao, you're not wearing any makeup, and your skin looks so good like this."
"Manager Liu wasn't exaggerating at all yesterday! Oh my goodness! Zhao Shuyao, you're too beautiful!"
The few engineering girls were so eager to get close to Zhao Shuyao's face to examine it.
Zhao Shuyao's lips twitched twice, and she swallowed. "Uh, I'm going to work now. Remember to eat breakfast!"
The elevator arrived, and Zhao Shuyao walked out without even looking at which floor it was.
Not watching where she was going, she bumped into someone with her back.
"I'm so sorry, so sorry." Zhao Shuyao apologized repeatedly and looked up, only to see Sheng Jing's charming face.
"President?"
Zhao Shuyao froze for a moment, then immediately jumped back a step and bowed respectfully. "Good morning, President!"
Sheng Jing looked down at her. Although Sheng Jing wasn't as breathtakingly handsome as Xiang Liang, he possessed a very unique temperament, a noble aura that permeated the surroundings.
"It looks like your swelling has subsided. You look quite normal now."
Zhao Shuyao was startled. Didn't Sheng Jing know her? Why was he paying so much attention to her?
"This... cough, cough, have you seen me before, President?"
Zhao Shuyao coughed and began to recall where she might have seen Sheng Jing.
Sheng Jing's eyes were filled with a smile, his voice light and pleasant. "Yesterday morning, in the elevator."
Zhao Shuyao froze on the spot.
Yesterday morning, in the elevator?
That man wasn't anyone else but her direct superior, Sheng Jing?!
And also her idol!
Zhao Shuyao's knees weakened, and she almost fell.
Sheng Jing smiled slightly and steadied Zhao Shuyao.
"Are you alright? I really couldn't recognize you as you are now when you looked like that yesterday."
Zhao Shuyao's mind was reeling; she wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
"I'm fine, President. That... I... please don't fire me. I know I was embarrassing and ridiculous, but I'm very capable at my job. I..." Zhao Shuyao was on the verge of tears.
Sheng Jing's smile grew more pronounced. "Zhao Shuyao, you can go and get to work. As for what happened yesterday, if you treat me to a meal, I'll pretend I didn't see anything."
"Okay!" Zhao Shuyao readily agreed.
After returning to her office, Zhao Shuyao suddenly remembered.
She no longer had the Qin family's financial support, and she didn't have much money on hand, so she had to spend frugally.
Her idol, Sheng Jing, was a second-generation rich heir and owned such a large company. He must eat delicacies all the time. Visiting those restaurants would cost thousands upon thousands, which she couldn't afford.
Zhao Shuyao was anxious and paced frantically. No, no, perhaps...