A Woman Who Hates Women (GL) - Chapter 4

It felt like Li Jia had only slept for a little while when she vaguely heard someone calling her name.

“Team Leader Li, Li Jia…”

“Where are the keys?”

Keys?

Standing in front of her own door, Li Jia looked down at the bag Lu Qing was holding.

Were they inside the bag?

Seeing this, Lu Qing planned to rummage through Li Jia’s bag.

“Don’t move…” Even though Lu Qing was much taller than Li Jia, supporting the drunk woman was still a bit difficult. She had one arm around Li Jia’s waist, while also holding her coat, and her other hand searched through the bag. After a while, she finally found the keys.

The door to apartment 501 was opened.

Lu Qing helped Li Jia inside.

…

The next day.

Li Jia woke up groggily to the incessant ringing of her alarm clock.

Her head hurt so much!

Li Jia frowned in pain, fumbled around on the bed for a long time before finally turning off the alarm, and sat up holding her head.

Could the new cocktail Da Hua made last night have used cheap flavoring?

Li Jia’s throbbing headache made her suspect there was something wrong with the drink she had last night.

After a while, Li Jia finally got out of bed and walked towards the bathroom like a ghost, her eyes half-closed in a daze. After using the toilet in a half-awake state, Li Jia stood in front of the sink to brush her teeth.

While brushing, Li Jia suddenly realized something was wrong.

She did go to the bar to drink yesterday, that’s right, but who brought her back…?!!!

Some fragmented images flashed through her mind. Li Jia’s last memory was of being helped back to her door.

She remembered now. She had gotten drunk last night, and it was Lu Qing who called a driver to take her home. On the way back, she seemed to have said she was dizzy and that she had turned into a cup of bubble tea. Of course, the final result was… she threw up…

Looking at the pajamas she was now wearing, Li Jia, with bloodshot eyes, blankly spat out the toothpaste foam.

It was over. This was truly embarrassing all the way to her doorstep…

What kind of drunken nonsense had she spouted?

Li Jia washed her face and walked to the living room with a wooden expression, sitting on the soft sofa to gather her thoughts.

After sitting for several minutes, the dazed Li Jia finally remembered that she had to go to work today.

She was almost late!

Her car was still parked in front of the restaurant where she had eaten last night. Li Jia took a taxi and rushed to the company. Fortunately, she wasn’t late and successfully kept her full attendance bonus for the month.

Li Jia sat down in her office chair and started working. Only five minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

“Team Leader Li, there’s a document that needs your signature!” The voice sounded like Xiao Zhang, the new employee who had just joined.

After Li Jia finished reading the document and signed it, Xiao Zhang then said, “I just ran into Supervisor Lu, and she said to have you bring something to her office.”

Li Jia was puzzled, “What thing?”

“I don’t know about that. Supervisor Lu said she told you about it yesterday. You know what it is.”

Li Jia was even more confused, “I know?”

A new boss makes three fires. Could it be that the first fire was going to…? Xiao Zhang looked at Li Jia with a hint of sympathy and put away the folder. “Team Leader, if there’s nothing else, I’ll go out first.”

After Xiao Zhang left, Li Jia was still thinking about last night.

What had she said last night? She had said so many things last night, and drunk so much wine, how could she remember?!

Li Jia put down her work and, with a hangover-addled brain, pondered for a long time. Finally, she remembered that Lu Qing had said last night that she wanted the South City project’s schedule today.

“The thing she wants! The thing she wants!”

Li Jia sorted through the documents while sighing and complaining, “You’d think it was a contraband deal! Couldn’t she just say it directly?!”

Ten minutes later, Li Jia knocked on Lu Qing’s office door, holding a thick stack of folders.

“Please come in.” A light, clear female voice, the tone cold and distant.

The moment Li Jia pushed open the door and saw Lu Qing’s face, she couldn’t help but recall the embarrassing scene of her drunken antics in front of her last night. It was a truly mortifying situation…

What was she even thinking about now! It was work time!

Feeling a bit guilty, Li Jia walked over and placed the stack of folders on Lu Qing’s desk, saying, “This is the South City project’s schedule.”

When Lu Qing saw that it was Li Jia who had come in, her expression softened, and she even slightly smiled at Li Jia. Then, looking at the thick stack of documents, she frowned and asked, “So much?”

So scary!!!

Why was she smiling??!!!

Startled by the smile, Li Jia’s heart tightened. She lowered her head and quickly picked up the top two folders, pointing to the remaining pile and saying, “These are the related materials for the South City project. There are too many. Some are also on a USB drive, but this project…”

This was a project that had been suddenly halted some time ago.

Seeing Li Jia hesitate to speak, Lu Qing pointed to the chair opposite her. “Sit down and talk.”

The plan for the super mall construction project in the South City had been completely stopped.

Li Jia sat down and continued, “This project has indeed been followed up by me all along. Currently, the project is progressing smoothly. Seventy percent of the schedule has been completed, and it is expected to enter the final stage in another six months.”

This sounded very smooth.

Lu Qing’s expression became serious. Her gaze fixed on Li Jia’s slightly worried face, and she asked keenly, “Has there been any problem?”

“Its design doesn’t meet expectations and also violates local building codes. Modifying the drawings might increase the project budget. And there’s even worse news…” Li Jia said, her eyes lowered, her fingers lightly tapping on the table.

“The main raw materials for the project are constantly increasing in price, so…” At this point, she looked at Lu Qing opposite her and gave a bitter smile.

Lu Qing took over her words, “So, the headquarters thinks the budget is over the limit and simply abandoned it.”

“That’s how it is.” Li Jia nodded helplessly. She wasn’t surprised by the headquarters’ decision, but she had been following this project for over a year, and now suddenly having to watch it fall apart was inevitably upsetting.

Lu Qing picked up the South City project’s schedule and flipped through it page by page. While looking, Lu Qing asked, “Have you calculated it? How much exactly is the budget over?”

Li Jia recalled the number and mentally calculated for a moment, then replied, “It’s about two hundred percent over the original plan.”

What?

The action of flipping through the project schedule stopped, and Lu Qing’s brow furrowed even deeper. “So much?”

No wonder it was called to a halt.

“There’s no way around it. If the project continues, the risks are too great.”

This project was going to fail completely, like a cold cucumber salad – yellow, like a vegetable, and cold.

Li Jia looked at the pile of documents she had worked so hard on day and night and couldn’t help but feel a little regretful.

Lu Qing continued to look at the schedule in her hand. Li Jia waited for a while and became a little restless. She hadn’t finished her work for the day.

Li Jia stood up to leave. “Supervisor Lu, since the materials have been delivered, I’ll go back to work first.”

“Wait a moment.”

Lu Qing stopped her. She finished reading the schedule in her hand and picked up another one to continue reading. While looking, she said, “In a few days, take our people to South City to set up an evaluation team to re-evaluate this project.”

“You mean!” Li Jia was a little surprised, unable to hide the excitement in her heart.

Lu Qing said seriously, “Whether this project can be restarted needs to be investigated on-site to see if the evaluation can pass. At the same time, we need to find other alternative material suppliers to see if we can find a way to lower the price.”

“Team Leader Li, please also trouble you to notify everyone about a meeting later to confirm the personnel who will continue to follow up on the project.”

The meeting regarding the restart of the South City project lasted the entire day.

It was time to get off work.

Li Jia was almost the last one to leave the company gate.

Everything went smoothly, except…

Recalling Lu Qing’s gentle and tender gaze towards her from time to time during the meeting…

Li Jia couldn’t help but shiver. Was this a new type of management tactic?

Although her body was very tired, the thought that the South City project might have a chance to restart…

Standing at the company gate, Li Jia rubbed her neck, feeling quite good.

A low-key black Porsche slid out of the company’s underground garage and slowly stopped in front of Li Jia.

Li Jia: “?”

The front car window quickly rolled down, and Lu Qing, wearing sunglasses in the driver’s seat, asked Li Jia, “Didn’t drive today?”

“My car is still parked in front of the restaurant where we ate yesterday.” So shiny! Li Jia replied, looking at the gleaming luxury car.

“Oh right, I haven’t thanked you yet.”

Today’s work had made Li Jia dizzy. She had actually forgotten to thank Lu Qing. After all, the other person had gone to the trouble of taking her home. It was really wrong of her, so impolite.

Knowing full well what Li Jia was thanking her for, Lu Qing still asked, “What are you thanking me for?”

Li Jia became serious and leaned closer, lowering her head to the car window and saying to Lu Qing, “Supervisor Lu, thank you very much for taking me home yesterday. It was really troublesome for you.”

Lu Qing raised an eyebrow. “Anything else?”

Lu Qing was wearing sunglasses, and Li Jia couldn’t see her expression clearly, but from her slightly upturned lips, she could roughly tell that she seemed to be in a good mood. So, she invited, “Um… also, if you have time later, I’d like to treat you to a meal.”

Lu Qing’s lips curved upwards as she asked softly, “Do you only remember that I took you home? What else?”

Anything else?

“What else?” Li Jia was a bit confused. She really didn’t remember.

“What else?” Lu Qing repeated Li Jia’s words, and her smile instantly disappeared, her tone dropping into a cold winter.

Lu Qing looked like she was a bit unhappy. She gritted her teeth and asked, “You don’t remember what happened last night?”

“Supervisor Lu, you took me home…” Li Jia suddenly thought of something, and her face flushed red. She thanked her awkwardly, “…Ah, thank you for helping me change my clothes last night!”

She had thrown up all over herself yesterday, so Lu Qing must have helped her change.

“No, you changed your own clothes.”

Lu Qing quickly denied this answer. She took off her sunglasses and stared at Li Jia with a strange and unfriendly gaze.

Here it comes again, that look!

What an unpredictable person, she was clearly fine just now.

Li Jia felt a bit creeped out by her stare.

Could it be that something else happened last night that she didn’t know about?

Li Jia tried hard to recall, but nothing came to mind.

All her memories stopped at the scene of Lu Qing taking her to the door and taking out the keys to enter… So what happened after that?

Something had felt off since this morning. Why was Lu Qing’s attitude towards her so gentle?

Lu Qing saw Li Jia’s dazed look and sneered, “It seems you really have forgotten?”

Li Jia stopped thinking and looked at Lu Qing with an innocent and bewildered expression, asking, “What did I forget?”