Tempt Flirting/Camp With Love - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Just as Zheng Shuyi stepped out of the restroom, Xu Yuling followed closely behind.

The two walked back toward the finance department office area, one in front and the other just three meters behind.

On a normal day, if two colleagues from the same team came out together, they might not be arm-in-arm, but at the very least they’d walk side by side and chat a bit.

But at that moment, the two looked like strangers—one had a smile on her face, the other looked ashen. A silent wave of gossip-worthy tension slowly spread around them.

Under the scrutinizing or subtle glances of surrounding colleagues, Zheng Shuyi calmly checked her phone, then got up and walked toward Tang Yi’s office.

The matter had already been settled. Tang Yi no longer had to worry about handling the kind of internal disputes she hated most. The morning frustration and irritation brought on by Xu Yuling’s draft had completely dissipated. Now she was leisurely spinning her pen in her fingers, smiling as she looked at Zheng Shuyi sitting across from her.

“That thing Xu Yuling did was really underhanded. I already warned her just now—gave her a black mark, and her performance review and year-end bonus evaluation are being postponed. I’ll definitely make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.”

Seeing Zheng Shuyi unmoved, Tang Yi added, “You’re in the same team—always bumping into each other. It’s not like we can fire her over this, right?”

Having worked under Tang Yi for several years, Zheng Shuyi knew well that this was her usual style—smoothing things over without taking strong action. She hadn’t expected a clear, decisive outcome anyway.

Still, nearly falling victim to someone’s scheme, even if it didn’t succeed in the end, left a sense of indignation that was hard to shake off.

Zheng Shuyi said nothing, simply studying her fingernails.

From Tang Yi’s perspective, she could see Zheng Shuyi with her eyes downcast. Her curled eyelashes hid her gaze, but her slightly pouting lips betrayed her displeasure.

Tang Yi suddenly felt a little helpless. Even as a woman herself, she couldn’t help but feel soft seeing Zheng Shuyi like this—naturally cute, a little petulant, like a child throwing a tantrum. It made her impossible to turn down harshly.

Her mind wandered, and she found herself thinking about Zheng Shuyi’s ex-boyfriend.

What kind of otherworldly beauty must that guy have fallen for, to be willing to leave someone like her?

Or maybe it was just the deep-rooted flaws of men in general?

A strange silence settled in the office.

Tang Yi was deeply lost in this unsolvable philosophical question, until a meeting reminder popped up on her screen and brought her back to reality. As she checked the message, she said, “Let’s just leave it at that, okay? Her draft is scrapped anyway. Yours will definitely be the highlight feature in Q4.”

Zheng Shuyi gave a lazy “mm” and stood up. As she did, she heard Tang Yi coaxing again: “This isn’t compensation—your content simply has much more substance than hers. Same interview subject, similar outlines—some people just do better than others.”

“Oh?” Zheng Shuyi raised an eyebrow, a hint of pride in her eyes. “Can’t help it—I guess Shi Yan just likes me better.”

“Enough.” Tang Yi shot her a side glance while flipping through the meeting documents.

That glance clearly said: Did you drink something weird? What kind of fantasy nonsense are you spouting?

“I know you’re the strongest in the team when it comes to in-depth research. You don’t need to be humble.”

Zheng Shuyi: “……”

She wasn’t being humble.

Why can’t I be someone who gets by on looks?

—

“What did the chief editor say?”

That afternoon, there was a finance summit at the financial center. The company had assigned Zheng Shuyi and Kong Nan to attend together. On the way, naturally, they talked about the situation with Xu Yuling.

Kong Nan noticed Zheng Shuyi seemed in good spirits and figured she hadn’t suffered any real loss. “So she got dealt with, right?”

“What kind of punishment?” Zheng Shuyi touched up her makeup with a hand mirror, speaking casually. “You know what Tang Yi’s like—makes big things small, makes small things disappear. What’s she gonna do, make Xu Yuling write a public apology under the flagpole?”

“Ugh…”

Kong Nan made a gagging gesture. “Back in school when I joined the campus journalism club, there was a situation just like this. That person is now the star reporter of a major TV station, doing great. We can’t do anything about people like that—being petty is just their passport through life.”

Zheng Shuyi didn’t respond, but she pressed her powder puff a little harder.

She held grudges and didn’t let things go easily.

Twenty minutes later, the taxi reached their destination and was pulling over.

Zheng Shuyi, sitting on the right, got out first. Kong Nan was just about to follow when Zheng Shuyi suddenly shoved her back into the car and slammed the door shut.

“What are you doing?!” Kong Nan nearly collapsed backward into the seat, half her body sprawled across it, staring at Zheng Shuyi in shock. “Is the ground outside too hot to stand on?”

“Shh!” Zheng Shuyi motioned for her to hush and took a breath.

Damn it—she had just seen Yue Xingzhou.

Seeing him there wasn’t surprising—it was his workplace after all.

But he had gotten out of a Mercedes.

He’d already bought a new car?!

In that instant, Zheng Shuyi felt like her head was about to explode.

Normally, she wouldn’t be afraid of bumping into Yue Xingzhou.

But in this situation, he’s driving a Mercedes, and she’s stepping out of a taxi. Brutally realistic.

Since Zheng Shuyi didn’t say anything, Kong Nan peeked out, eyes shifting ahead—and spotted Yue Xingzhou.

He walked to the trunk, pulled something out, and then left.

Kong Nan blinked. “Isn’t that your boyfriend?”

“……”

“Let me guess… you broke up?”

“……”

“And you were the one who got dumped.”

“……”

“And if I’m right… you not only got dumped, but you got cheated on.”

“……”

“Wow. Looks like the new girlfriend is rich. New car and everything.”

Zheng Shuyi sighed. Watching Yue Xingzhou walk farther away, she finally relaxed, slumping her shoulders and turning to Kong Nan with a deadpan look.

“You really didn’t have to guess that accurately.”

Kong Nan looked proud. “Gathering context and drawing insight—that’s basic journalistic instinct. If I couldn’t catch that, I’d be failing at my job.”

Zheng Shuyi: “……”

Once Yue Xingzhou entered a coffee shop, Zheng Shuyi finally got out of the car, with Kong Nan right behind.

“Honestly, it’s not even that big a deal,” Kong Nan said, catching up and looking back at the parked Mercedes. “It’s just a C-Class—around three hundred grand tops. Not exactly luxury. Real rich people wouldn’t even look at that. Besides, if we hustle, we can afford one too.”

At those words, Zheng Shuyi also looked back at the car—but what popped into her mind was Shi Yan’s face.

She, who rode around in Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, gave her niece a Mercedes worth around 300,000 yuan.

That man isn’t just stingy—he’s tacky.

Thinking of Shi Yan, Zheng Shuyi subconsciously touched her empty earlobe, thoughtful.

—

As evening fell, Jiangcheng’s first wave of rush hour began. Pedestrians hurried along, traffic moved in an orderly flow.

A black Rolls-Royce quietly merged into the stream.

Shi Yan sat in the back, took off his glasses, and rubbed his brow, a meeting memo on the seat beside him.

When he opened his eyes again, he noticed something small and shiny in the seat next to him.

He put his glasses back on and looked more closely—it was a pearl earring.

Shi Yan picked it up, wondering who had left it behind. Just then, Chen Sheng’s phone rang in the front seat.

After a couple of “mm”s, Chen Sheng hesitated, then turned around and handed the phone back.

“Mr. Shi, it’s Zheng Shuyi from Finance Weekly. She’s asking for you.”

Shi Yan lowered his eyes, closed his hand around the earring, and accepted the phone with his other hand.

He answered calmly. On the other end, the voice immediately spoke up.

“Mr. Shi,” the tail note dipped low, sounding a bit flustered. “I think I left my earring in your car. Did you see it? It’s a pearl one.”

Shi Yan opened his palm again.

Dusk was falling, and the sky had darkened from amber to navy. The car’s interior light glowed faintly, illuminating the pearl in his hand with a soft, lustrous gleam.

“No, I haven’t seen it.”

“……” Zheng Shuyi paused, then asked, “Could you please take another look? It’s really important to me.”

“How important?”

“……” Another pause.

Is that really the point?

Fine.

“It was my grandmother’s,” she said. “She gave it to my mother, and my mother passed it down to me.”

There was silence on the other end.

Zheng Shuyi choked up slightly. “It’s our family heirloom.”

Still no reply.

She took a deep breath, her voice already trembling. “It’s my dowry. I was going to wear it on my wedding day. Every time I see it, I think of my grandma. I haven’t seen her in a long, long time.”

The performance—emotional, heartfelt, pitiful.

After a pause, Shi Yan’s normally cool voice came through, now slightly hoarse.

“Mm. Just saw it.”

Zheng Shuyi squinted and smiled, her whole body relaxed, twirling in a half-spin with her toe.

Using the earring as an excuse to get a meeting—mission accomplished.

“So…”

She trailed off, waiting to see Shi Yan’s next move.

Then his voice came through flatly.

“Your dowry is made of plastic.”

Zheng Shuyi: “……”