The Moon Shines on Me (GL) - Chapter 14

Gu Shiwei elegantly got into the car under the unwavering gaze of Assistant Chen.

After buckling her seatbelt, Gu Shiwei put on some light music before driving off.

The music flowed gently in the car, and Gu Shiwei’s slender, pale fingers tapped the steering wheel to the rhythm, making a crisp sound.

After a while, she suddenly said, “Actually, Assistant Chen’s professional ability is quite good, it’s just that she’s too introverted. Shen Yuan, what do you think?”

Gu Shiwei intended to groom Assistant Chen for a permanent position; she, a respectable CEO, still didn’t have a confidant. Although Assistant Chen wasn’t smooth enough, she was at least a graduate of a prestigious school, and there were no major issues with her work capability.

“A young girl fresh out of the ivory tower hasn’t been tempered by the workplace yet; it’s normal to be like that at first,” Shen Yuan said, placing her hands neatly on her lap, then turning her head to look at Gu Shiwei.

“What about you? Were you like that when you first started working?”

Gu Shiwei said this while glancing at Shen Yuan through the rear-view mirror. Shen Yuan had the very standard look of a Southerner, with long black hair, a palm-sized oval face, fair skin, red lips and white teeth, and skin as delicate as almond tofu. She looked very young, like a recent university graduate.

Shen Yuan was slightly startled. “I don’t remember. I’ve been graduated from my undergraduate program for six years already.”

Although Shen Yuan had been graduated for six full years, she actually had eight years of work experience. In her third year of university, she was cut off from all financial sources after leaving the Shen family. Later, Shen Yuan had no choice but to take on part-time errand jobs and even accept outsourced art projects for small companies.

Shen Yuan then was much more introverted than Assistant Chen. A person who was a rich young lady the day before suddenly became a pauper overnight, having to show her face and work to earn her own living expenses.

At first, Shen Yuan couldn’t bring herself to do it, but after being hungry many times, she became compliant.

Later, let alone accepting outsourcing work, she would even do work serving meals at the cafeteria without batting an eye, as long as it earned her money.

Her former university classmates didn’t know her situation. Seeing her suddenly go against her usual habits to work, they thought the young lady was just experiencing life.

Shen Yuan’s mental fortitude wasn’t as strong then as it is now. When mocked, she could only hide back in her dorm, burying herself in the blankets to silently swallow her tears.

Those two years were an agonizing time for Shen Yuan.

Fortunately, after graduation, Shen Yuan went straight into a large company. For the next three years, she could at least solve the problem of food and shelter.

If “that thing” hadn’t happened three years later, she would probably have had a good life, working at the large company until retirement.

Gu Shiwei had seen Shen Yuan’s resume, so she naturally knew she had graduated six years ago. She just wanted to use the topic of Assistant Chen to elicit other information from Shen Yuan.

“Shen Yuan, I looked at your resume and saw that you have three years of experience as a concept artist.” Gu Shiwei paused here, contemplated for a few seconds, and then continued, “What was the reason for your resignation from Qiuyu Group three years ago?”

Shen Yuan’s brow suddenly furrowed.

The moment she heard “Qiuyu Group,” Shen Yuan felt as if she had been plunged into a glacier, chilled to the bone.

Six years ago, Shen Yuan entered Qiuyu Group through campus recruitment. After a half-year internship, she was converted to a full-time game concept artist at Qiuyu Group.

Due to her outstanding ability and three years of diligent work performance, Shen Yuan was about to be promoted to Lead Artist in her fourth year of employment.

But on the eve of the promotion assessment, Shen Yuan’s artwork was exposed for plagiarizing another online blogger. Shen Yuan was taken to court with a writ of plaint. Because her computer was accidentally damaged, Shen Yuan couldn’t produce evidence to prove she hadn’t plagiarized, while the opposing side had overlapping images of all her recent artwork as evidence. Shen Yuan eventually lost the lawsuit. The court ordered her to compensate the infringed party 300,000 Chinese Yuan, plus the 600,000 Yuan in liability sought by the company, giving Shen Yuan a total debt of 900,000 Yuan to bear.

900,000 Yuan was nothing to the former Shen Mingyue, but it was a colossal amount for Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan had worked at Qiuyu Group for three years and, after deducting rent and food expenses, had saved about 600,000 Yuan in total. She sold everything valuable she owned online, and coupled with working part-time day and night—taking on outsourced projects, shaking milk tea, serving tables—doing four or five jobs a day, she finally paid off the remaining 300,000 Yuan two years later.

After paying off those debts, Shen Yuan quit all her jobs. After being homebound for a few days, Shen Yuan logged into Ask Sword Jianghu, a game she hadn’t opened for years.

Shen Yuan didn’t know what was wrong with her at the time; it seemed like after paying off the debt, she had no motivation to work anymore. She also didn’t think about picking up a pen to draw again. The lawsuit had left her with a tremendous shadow. She felt like she might never want to draw again in her life.

That night in Ask Sword, Shen Yuan chatted with Lin Qinghuan for a long time. She asked Lin Qinghuan a lot of questions about her little apprentice and was very relieved to hear that the apprentice had gone abroad for further studies.

Shen Yuan was in the mire at the time, living in a broken apartment of less than ten square meters. The screen of her computer emitted a faint green light, enveloping her gaunt face. Unconsciously, she broke down and cried.

She couldn’t remember exactly what she said that night, only that Lin Qinghuan kept messaging her, urging her to wake up the next morning and see a psychologist.

Shen Yuan had faintly realized her psychological problems a long time ago, but with a massive debt burdening her, she couldn’t afford to pay attention to it. She had to work tirelessly to make money, striving to pay off the debt and gain her freedom.

She was afraid that if she stopped, she would lose the courage to live.

Treating depression took a whole year. Although Shen Yuan tried her best to cooperate with the psychologist, terrifying thoughts still sprouted uncontrollably in the dead of night. The scars on her wrist were constantly replaced by new ones that year, never healing. The despair and pain during midnight awakenings stabbed into Shen Yuan’s chest like a sharp knife.

The stigma of plagiarism tormented her every night, making it impossible to sleep. Shen Yuan had genuinely considered ending it all countless times during that period.

In the darkness, Shen Yuan staggered toward the windowsill. If she jumped from here, she could be free.

Without family, having lost her job, and plagued by illness, there was nothing left in this world worth her lingering for.

Shen Yuan’s frail hands leaned on the windowsill. She looked down in despair at the tall buildings and scattered lights in the distance.

There were so many lights, yet not one could guide her way.

Shen Yuan, barely conscious, stepped up. The moment she closed her eyes, a massive force on her waist pulled her back.

“Shen Yuan!”

“Shen Yuan? Wake up quickly.”

“Shen Yuan, can you hear me?”

Immersed in painful memories, Shen Yuan suddenly trembled in the car seat. Her thoughts gradually returned, and the first thing her clear eyes saw was a bright, attractive face.

Gu Shiwei held Shen Yuan’s chin with one hand and used the other to take out a few tissues to wipe the cold liquid from Shen Yuan’s face. Her movements were a little frantic, and her heart was racing.

Was there an inner story to Shen Yuan’s resignation three years ago?

Why did she turn deathly pale and start crying uncontrollably right after Gu Shiwei asked that question?

After noticing Shen Yuan’s distress, Gu Shiwei quickly pulled the car over into a corner. She then patted Shen Yuan’s face repeatedly, pulling her thoughts out of the memory.

Noticing that Shen Yuan had come to, Gu Shiwei looked at her with lingering fear. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. What was wrong just now, Shen Yuan?”

Shen Yuan forced herself to blink several times, pushing back the uncontrolled tears. She stammered faintly, “I’m fine.”

Despite saying so, Shen Yuan’s voice was still choked with sobs. Her slender eyelashes fluttered rapidly, and her upper body was swaying, as if she hadn’t completely detached from that painful memory.

“Beep—”

“Low bl00d pressure detected.”

Hearing the piercing alarm, Gu Shiwei’s brow suddenly jumped. “Shen Yuan, your bl00d pressure is abnormal. I’m taking you to the hospital right now.”

“Don’t…” Shen Yuan, her face pale, used all her strength to grip Gu Shiwei’s arm.

She looked up, her dark eyes fixed on Gu Shiwei, and said urgently, “I’ll be fine in a moment. Can we not go to the hospital?”

Shen Yuan closed her eyes after speaking. She turned her head and took several deep breaths against the glass window. The protruding butterfly bones beneath her shirt rose and fell with her deep breaths. Only after her heartbeat completely calmed down did Shen Yuan finally look back at Gu Shiwei.

“I’m a little hungry… can we go home first?” Shen Yuan said with difficulty, gritting her teeth. “Gu Shiwei… believe me… I really am fine.”

Hearing this, Gu Shiwei’s gaze dropped, resting on Shen Yuan’s wrist. Upon seeing that small gleam of light, Gu Shiwei’s light-colored eyes flickered. The next moment, she abruptly turned the steering wheel and drove the car onto the road.

The black Rolls-Royce, like a wildly sprinting cheetah, quickly cut into the winding traffic, heading towards the brightly lit high-rise buildings as night fell.

Yunjin Villa

When Gu Shiwei and Shen Yuan returned home, the housekeeper had already prepared the meal. Shen Yuan went to the bathroom to wash her face before coming out to eat.

When Shen Yuan emerged, her eyes were still red. The dark, bright eyes, washed with tears, made her complexion look even paler.

Gu Shiwei worriedly held Shen Yuan’s wrist. She repeatedly checked the fitness watch several times, and only after confirming that Shen Yuan’s bl00d pressure had returned to normal did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Gu Shiwei pressed Shen Yuan into her seat and casually poured her a bowl of red mushroom chicken soup. “Didn’t you say you were hungry? Eat quickly.”

Shen Yuan was momentarily stunned, then said, “Thank you.”

Shen Yuan ate an entire bowl of rice with her head down.

Seeing this, the worry in Gu Shiwei’s heart slowly dissipated. She put down her chopsticks and looked at Shen Yuan, her gaze momentarily still.

“Shen Yuan, you haven’t exercised today.”

Shen Yuan’s hand, holding the bowl, froze. “Give me five minutes. I’ll finish this bowl of soup.”

Gu Shiwei: “No hurry.”

After dinner, Shen Yuan followed Gu Shiwei downstairs. They first walked two laps around the community lake, and then Gu Shiwei dragged Shen Yuan for a few laps of slow jogging.

When they stopped, Shen Yuan was breathing like an ox that had just plowed two acres of land.

On the long bench in the community park under the streetlights, Gu Shiwei looked at Shen Yuan and suddenly said, “Shen Yuan, if you encounter any difficulties in life or work, you can tell me. I can help you.”

“No need,” Shen Yuan pursed her lips, then added, “Thank you.”