After staying in Country C for a week and failing to find Han Junyan, Meng Jingwei and Chu Xue had to return to Lancheng.
"I'm sorry to have wasted a week of your time," Chu Xue said guiltily to Meng Jingwei upon their arrival in Lancheng. "Are you really not considering working with me?"
Meng Jingwei had been doing very well at Huayu Media, but she had since terminated her contract and was now facing pressure from Qing Muyue. Chu Xue couldn't help but worry about her future.
Meng Jingwei shook her head. "It's alright, I can handle it." She had great confidence in herself.
"Alright then." Seeing Meng Jingwei so confident, Chu Xue didn't press further and waved goodbye. "Take care."
After waving goodbye to Chu Xue, Meng Jingwei drove home. Due to jet lag, Meng Jingwei felt quite sleepy and ended up sleeping for a whole day. The next day, she woke up and trained with Old Chen. Old Chen never interfered with her personal life, and he hadn't said anything when she took a week off to go to Country C.
After her morning training and breakfast, Meng Jingwei started opening job application software and began submitting resumes. Qing Muyue had turned on her mercilessly for Yun Shasha, and she wanted to see if Qing Muyue was truly as ruthless and heartless as he acted.
Throughout the morning, Meng Jingwei submitted over ten resumes and made numerous job calls, but as expected, she was rejected every time.
"I'm sorry, you don't meet our company's recruitment requirements."
"Apologies, our company has already filled all positions."
"Heh, Miss Meng, this is Master Qing's command. I can't afford to fall out with Master Qing for you, hehehe."
"Meng Jingwei? Hmph, don't bother our company anymore."
...
On the phone, people either politely or directly rejected her, and some even treated Meng Jingwei like a jinx, eager to distance themselves from her.
Unable to find a job, Meng Jingwei stood on the balcony, looking out the window, lost in thought. Finally, her gaze settled on a particular person...
With that, she tidied herself up and drove directly to her destination. Half an hour later, she arrived at Luming Group. Luming Group was Lu Yanming's company. In Lancheng, the Qing family was the foremost of the four major families, while the Lu family ranked last.
Meng Jingwei entered the Luming Building and informed the receptionist of her identity. "Hello, I'm Meng Jingwei, and I have an appointment with your President Lu." Of course, she hadn't made an appointment with Lu Yanming, but that wasn't the main point. "My brother asked me to deliver something to President Lu," Meng Jingwei added.
The receptionist found Meng Jingwei's name somewhat familiar. "Your... brother, who is it?"
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My brother is President Qing Muyue, and I am the adopted granddaughter of the Qing family's matriarch." This incident had caused quite a stir in Lancheng at the time. Meng Jingwei deliberately said this to ensure the receptionist wouldn't turn her away and would take her upstairs.
Indeed, upon hearing Meng Jingwei introduce herself, the receptionist immediately became very enthusiastic. "Oh, it's Miss Meng! I know you, I really do. You're here to deliver something to our President Lu? Come, I'll take you up." No mere receptionist dared to offend someone from the Qing family. Especially since everyone at Luming Group knew that Qing Muyue and Lu Yanming had a close relationship; how could they dare to turn away Qing Muyue's sister?
Meng Jingwei followed the receptionist into the elevator, heading directly to the President's office.
Knock, knock, knock—
As they reached the door of the President's office, the receptionist knocked and was about to announce Meng Jingwei's identity to Lu Yanming when Meng Jingwei made a shushing gesture and whispered, "Don't make a sound. I want to give Brother Yanming a surprise. You can go back to work now."
"Okay, okay," the receptionist nodded and immediately turned away.
Seeing her get into the elevator, Meng Jingwei then pushed open the office door and walked in. Inside the office, Lu Yanming wasn't sitting at his desk. Meng Jingwei mumbled to herself, wondering if Lu Yanming wasn't here. She took a few steps inside and then saw Lu Yanming leaning back on the sofa in the lounge area, his legs crossed on the coffee table, holding a document and looking at it lazily. She couldn't help but freeze, standing there blankly.
The man on the sofa sensed someone entering and turned his head to look, only to discover it was Meng Jingwei.
"You... why are you here?" Lu Yanming was flustered. He closed the document, placed it on the table, and as he prepared to get up from the sofa, he slipped due to excessive nervousness and fell onto the floor, sitting on the carpet in a rather pathetic state.
"Pfft... haha..." Meng Jingwei was amused by Lu Yanming's appearance. "Brother Yanming, am I a devil? You don't have to be so nervous when you see me." This guy always acted as if he had seen a ghost whenever he saw her, which was quite amusing.
Lu Yanming got up from the floor, brushed off the non-existent dust from his clothes, straightened his suit, and adopted a polite, gentlemanly posture. "You, why are you here?"
"Why shouldn't I be here? I just came to visit you." Meng Jingwei walked directly to the sofa and sat down, not bothering to ask Lu Yanming's permission. Looking up at Lu Yanming, she could clearly sense his awkwardness and helplessness, which made Meng Jingwei both amused and speechless.
"What are you looking at me for? I'm fine." Lu Yanming reached up to adjust his glasses, then scratched his head. "If you have something to say, just say it." While dealing with Meng Jingwei, he walked to his desk and played with his phone.
When Lu Yanming was holding his phone, Meng Jingwei remained silent. However, when he put the phone down, Meng Jingwei asked, "Did you send the message?"
"What?" Lu Yanming looked bewildered.
"The message you sent to Qing Muyue, what are you asking me?" Meng Jingwei found it ironic and laughable. She knew Lu Yanming would call Qing Muyue. However, it didn't matter. Because she intended to meet Qing Muyue today.
"That... I... I was just asking Muyue what he was doing," Lu Yanming's eyes darted, appearing increasingly guilty.
"To be frank, Brother Yanming, I do have something to discuss with you today," Meng Jingwei said directly, disliking beating around the bush.
"What is it?"
"I'm unemployed now and can't find a job. You know Qing Muyue is targeting me. I'm dirt poor and utterly down on my luck, so I've come to seek refuge with you. Would you consider taking me in?" The thought of Qing Muyue and Yun Shasha's interactions made Meng Jingwei feel immense anger and disappointment. She was looking for Lu Yanming today, confident that Lu Yanming would contact Qing Muyue, and she planned to confront Qing Muyue face-to-face.
"Take... take me in?" Meng Jingwei meant it literally, wanting to find a job at Luming Group to support herself. But in Lu Yanming's ears, the words took on a different meaning.