As the middle-aged man approached, he suddenly realized something was off. He glanced at Zhao Yijun and noticed that while she looked similar to the woman Liu Yizhou had brought out a few days ago, there were subtle differences.
Seeing the dark expression on Liu Yizhou’s face, the man knew he had made a mistake. His heart sank.
“President Liu, I must have had too much to drink tonight. I actually mistook someone else for you. My apologies!” Seeing Liu Yizhou’s unpredictable mood, the man quickly disappeared from sight.
Yi Xian and Yu Zhehan seemed to notice the situation as well and hurried over to smooth things over.
“Newly minted financial elite, double master’s degree holder. Look at the title they gave you in Global Finance,” Yi Xian said, holding Zhao Yijun’s arm and exaggerating her praise. “Yijun, you’re still the top student you’ve always been. I can’t even compare to you. Yizhou, you always say we don’t understand your ideas, but didn’t you just have a great conversation with Yijun? I’ve never met a woman more impressive than her.”
Hearing this, Zhao Yijun smiled, a hint of pride in her expression.
Achieving such accomplishments was indeed rare.
Zhao Yijun had always been the “other people’s child” that parents compared their kids to. Those who grew up with her, including Yu Zhehan, held a certain level of admiration for her.
Liu Yizhou, ever the gentleman, escorted Zhao Yijun back to her place. After she closed the door behind her, she received a call from her family. “Yijun, make sure to get along well with President Liu. I remember you two were classmates. Bring him home for dinner sometime.”
Even her father, who had always looked down on Liu Yizhou in the past, was now addressing him as “President Liu.” Zhao Yijun’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
However, the smile she had maintained in front of Liu Yizhou finally faded.
Her fingers clenched tightly.
So, Liu Yizhou had already taken that substitute to meet people in the business world.
Even though it was just a substitute, she couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable.
But after all, a substitute was just a substitute. Zhao Yijun composed herself. Now that the real deal was back, it was time for the substitute to step down.
Meanwhile, Liu Yizhou returned home. He had thought that seeing Zhao Yijun, the woman he had been longing for, would leave him too excited to sleep. But that wasn’t the case.
Zhao Yijun was no longer the naive girl from his memories. Her every word and action seemed calculated. While familiar, they also felt distant.
Liu Yizhou looked at the documents in front of him, which detailed a recent financial case involving a collaboration with Fenghua Group. He had discussed it with Zhao Yijun earlier.
But Zhao Yijun had made a mistake in her analysis.
He had grown accustomed to Ye Shaohua occasionally pointing out issues for him—sharp and accurate. He couldn’t help but think that if Ye Shaohua were here now, she would have caught that mistake, and probably faster than he did.
The thought startled him. Why was he thinking about Ye Shaohua?
Now that Zhao Yijun was back, he shouldn’t be thinking about her anymore. It wasn’t fair to Zhao Yijun.
He couldn’t help but recall the warnings from Yi Xian and the others. It seemed he couldn’t delay any longer.
…
“Ye Shaohua, didn’t I tell you to hand this case over to Manager Zhao? Why didn’t you do it? Ugh, I shouldn’t have bothered asking you!” A senior colleague complained, giving Ye Shaohua a reproachful look before quickly grabbing the documents and heading to the elevator to deliver them to Zhao Yijun herself.
Another incident like this. The dorm leader watched with a heavy heart. Interns like them had no rights.
She quietly suggested to Ye Shaohua that she should go pray to the Bodhisattva, wondering if she had offended someone recently.
“It’s fine,” Ye Shaohua smiled, unbothered. She had encountered similar situations before.
It was only after she became famous that people stopped treating her this way.
She found it somewhat amusing to experience such things again in this world.
“What are you doing?” The dorm leader, reassured by Ye Shaohua’s calm demeanor, turned her attention to the computer screen filled with strings of numbers she couldn’t understand. “What is this?”
It was hacker code, of course, something the dorm leader wouldn’t recognize.
Ye Shaohua pressed a finger to her lips and hit the enter key with her other hand. A person’s profile appeared on the screen.
Before the dorm leader could get a clear look, Ye Shaohua closed the page.
She glanced at the time on her phone. It was almost time for her meeting with the investor from Fenghua Group. She packed up and headed out.
Just as she was about to leave for the coffee shop, she received a call from Liu Yizhou’s assistant.
The male assistant hadn’t paid much attention at first when he heard that a friend of the president was looking for him. Yu Zhehan and his group often came by to see the president.
But he was taken aback when he saw the friend. This Miss Zhao… why did she look so much like Miss Ye?
“Is something wrong?” Zhao Yijun smiled at the assistant.
The assistant, noticing the necklace around her neck that matched the one Liu Yizhou often wore, instinctively realized he had stumbled upon a significant secret. “No, Miss Zhao. Please go in. The president said you can go straight to his office.”
He watched Zhao Yijun enter and stood outside for a moment. He wasn’t a simple man, and after connecting the dots—especially since Liu Yizhou hadn’t brought Ye Shaohua around recently—he guessed the truth.
The assistant wasn’t one to judge others, but he had initially viewed Ye Shaohua with some prejudice.
However, after spending some time with her, he realized she was a decent person. She hadn’t asked Liu Yizhou for any favors, not even an internship, and she hadn’t accepted any luxury bags.
Now, seeing Zhao Yijun, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for Ye Shaohua.
Especially since Liu Yizhou had given him a card to pass on to her.
He knew where Ye Shaohua worked and called her after checking her usual下班时间.
“Miss Ye, how have you been lately?” He glanced at Ye Shaohua across the table, noticing she had lost some weight.
He sighed inwardly, his gaze tinged with pity.
Ye Shaohua glanced at her phone: 18:42. She had less than 20 minutes.
“I’ve been fine. What can I do for you?” She tapped the table lightly, calculating the time.
The assistant sat across from her, feeling somewhat awkward but ultimately pushed the card toward her. “Miss Ye, the president asked me to give this to you.”
What he couldn’t bring himself to say was that now that the real deal was back, the president had kicked her to the curb. This was the breakup fee.
