The Moon Shines on Me (GL) - Chapter 3

After Shen Yuan gave the address, the car fell silent. Gu Shiwei opened the car’s tablet and played Stefanie Sun’s “Encounter.”

The beautiful melody poured out of the speakers. Gu Shiwei suddenly asked, “Shen Yuan, are you from the south?”

Shen Yuan’s eyes had been fixed straight ahead. When she heard Gu Shiwei’s question, she nodded lightly: “Mhm.”

Gu Shiwei tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. During the song’s interlude, she asked another question: “Why did you come to Jinghai?”

“I got tired of the south, so I changed to a new environment.”

Shen Yuan’s calm thoughts were disrupted by Gu Shiwei’s question. She was suddenly plunged into the memory of that stormy night eight years ago.

“Mingyue, you are my daughter, not the Shen family’s daughter.” The hysterical voice echoed in her mind.

Jiang Yi, the Shen family’s nanny, had told her a cruel secret on Shen Mingyue’s twentieth birthday.

Jiang Yi told her that she was the fake daughter who had been mistakenly taken in, and the girl Jiang Yi had raised was the Shen family’s true bloodline.

The nanny was terminally ill. The reason she chose to tell Shen Mingyue this secret before she died was so she could hear Shen Mingyue call her “Mother” once.

At that moment, Shen Mingyue was instantly enveloped by immense fear.

She wasn’t the Shen family’s daughter after all. Her parents weren’t her biological parents. And this pale, defeated-looking nanny was her only relative in the world.

The nanny was about to die, and she hoped to hear Shen Mingyue call her “Mama.”

But Shen Mingyue couldn’t say it. Even her name was given by the Shen parents. For twenty years, Shen Mingyue had been the Shen family’s young miss, enjoying the best in food and clothes. Now the nanny was telling her that she had been living a stolen life.

Shen Mingyue couldn’t accept it. She watched in despair as the nanny died in her arms.

She watched her last relative pass away with her own eyes.

When the nanny’s daughter, Xie Tingxin, returned later, Shen Mingyue tearfully confessed the truth about their identities being swapped. In that moment, fifteen years of friendship suddenly shattered, and Shen Mingyue was driven out of the Shen family that very night.

Later, she changed her name. The day Shen Mingyue left the Shen family, she became Shen Yuan.

From then on, she was no longer the bright moon in the sky.

“Shen Yuan, what are you thinking about? You look completely spaced out.”

They had arrived at the address Shen Yuan gave. Gu Shiwei unbuckled her seatbelt, but even though Shen Yuan’s eyes were open, her pupils couldn’t focus.

She seemed to be in a daze.

Gu Shiwei patted Shen Yuan’s shoulder, and Shen Yuan finally broke free from her memories.

Shen Yuan looked at the nearby Gu Shiwei and saw her own pale face reflected in her glasses.

“I’m fine. Are we there?”

“We’re here. Do you want me to walk you up?” Gu Shiwei said, worried, looking at Shen Yuan’s white lips.

“No need, thank you.”

Shen Yuan opened the door and got out in one swift motion.

It was as if the person who had just been immersed in despairing memories wasn’t her.

The song cycling on the car’s stereo happened to be at the lyric: [One day, my mystery will be revealed.]

Gu Shiwei watched Shen Yuan’s retreating figure, sharply turned the steering wheel, and drove away.

Zhaoyang

Shen Yuan sat at her desk, drawing, while listening to Lu Qingwan and her colleagues discussing the newly arrived CEO.

“I heard the new CEO is an overseas returnee, a Ph.D. too.”

“Have you seen her?”

“No, I can’t get into the CEO’s office.”

“I also heard she’s exceptionally beautiful.”

“The daughter of Jinghai’s richest man, of course she’s good-looking! Do you know her name?”

“I don’t. It was kept confidential before. It only got out after she returned to the country a few days ago.”

“I heard this subsidiary, Zhaoyang, was established when the ‘Little Miss Gu’ was born and named after her. The Chairman really loves the Little Miss Gu.”

“So she must be surnamed Gu, then.”

Zhaoyang is a subsidiary of Qingfeng Group, which is also called Gu Group. It was founded and developed by the current Chairwoman, Ms. Gu Qingfeng. Before this, the Little Miss Gu had been abroad doing research with her foreign father and had no interest in managing the company. If Ms. Gu hadn’t forcefully demanded her return recently, she probably would have continued her studies overseas.

Shen Yuan looked up from her digital tablet when she heard that the new CEO was also surnamed Gu.

Seeing her reaction, Lu Qingwan thought she was joining the discussion and quickly said, “Sister Yuan, have you met the Little Miss Gu?”

Shen Yuan held her stylus and shook her head: “No, I haven’t.”

It must be a coincidence. Gu Shiwei said she was just an intern.

Shen Yuan’s phone suddenly rang. She picked it up and saw two unread WeChat messages.

The sender’s profile picture was a sun, and the nickname was just one character—Zhao .

Zhao: Transfer 20.00 Zhao: I’m Gu Shiwei. Please take note.

Y: It’s work hours now.

Besides, this was Shen Yuan’s private WeChat and she didn’t add colleagues.

Shen Yuan’s finger hovered over the delete button, but she didn’t press it.

Given Gu Shiwei’s personality, if Shen Yuan deleted her, she would probably find an excuse to add her again the next time they met.

Forget it.

Shen Yuan twirled her pen, then decisively turned off the screen.

She’d just ignore her.

Because Shen Yuan had just joined, and Lu Qingwan was looking out for her, her workload wasn’t heavy. With an hour left before closing time, she grabbed her thermos and went to the pantry for a cup of hot water.

Shen Yuan had a stomach condition caused by long-term irregular eating habits. A year ago, she was also diagnosed with depression, but she had powered through it. Since then, she had been very mindful of her health.

Passing by the corridor restroom, Shen Yuan suddenly heard strange noises inside.

It sounded like someone was crying.

Shen Yuan walked in, holding her thermos. A person was standing by the sink, bent over and sobbing.

Seemingly hearing Shen Yuan enter, the person turned and looked at her.

Their eyes were red; they had clearly been crying.

Shen Yuan had seen her before. She seemed to be an intern who joined around the same time as Shen Yuan.

Her name was Luo Luo, she thought.

“Are you okay?” Shen Yuan asked her.

“I’m fine.”

Luo Luo wiped the water off her face, then pulled out some tissue to dry her hands and face and came over to Shen Yuan.

“Let’s walk together, Senior.”

“You can just call me Shen Yuan.”

Luo Luo still stubbornly called Shen Yuan “Senior.” A smile appeared on her face, making her completely different from the little girl who had been suppressing her sobs just now.

Employment has been difficult in recent years. There are many young interns like Luo Luo. Their wages are low, the work is plentiful, and stress is normal. Furthermore, some haven’t even graduated yet; they are naive and inexperienced. It’s understandable that they might not adapt to the work intensity at Zhaoyang. Shen Yuan didn’t ask her why she was secretly crying in the bathroom. After returning to the office, she parted ways with Luo Luo.

“Shen Yuan, why are you away from your desk again? This one-month probation period has an assessment. You left early yesterday. What if you fail the assessment and can’t become a regular employee?”

The speaker was a short-haired woman in her thirties, dressed in an office elite style.

Her name was Bai Yu. Like Lu Qingwan, she was a concept artist, but the Lead Artist only assigned Lu Qingwan to mentor Shen Yuan. Bai Yu couldn’t stand how lenient Lu Qingwan was with Shen Yuan, so she often came over to lecture them.

She was older than Lu Qingwan and considered a senior. Lu Qingwan lowered her head, hesitant to say anything.

Shen Yuan didn’t want to argue with her either. The company closes at 6:00 PM sharp. She was very clear that her clock-in records were always on time and that she hadn’t been late or left early.

“But Sister Bai, the company policy is to clock out at 6:00 PM sharp. Sister Yuan didn’t leave early yesterday. If you say she left early, are you more powerful than the company? Did you set closing time for 11:00 PM?”

Lu Qingwan’s timid voice suddenly sounded, and everyone in the office stared at her in shock. Their expressions seemed to say, Are you crazy?

Bai Yu was notoriously bad-tempered and meddlesome. No one in the office dared to provoke her. Lu Qingwan had only been here for a few months and dared to contradict her like this—she truly was a recent graduate, a newborn calf unafraid of the tiger.

Shen Yuan was also surprised. Lu Qingwan had always been mild-mannered. She didn’t expect her to openly clash with Bai Yu to defend herself. Afraid that the two would escalate, she quickly raised her hand and pulled Lu Qingwan behind her.

Shen Yuan: “Sister Bai, if you’re very busy tonight, I can stay and work overtime.”

Shen Yuan blocked the words Bai Yu was about to use to lecture them. Her face looked unhappy, but she ultimately glanced at the onlookers and decided against having a public conflict with Lu Qingwan in the office.

“Then you stay and work overtime.”

After Bai Yu left in her high heels, Lu Qingwan apologized to Shen Yuan, feeling very embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Sister Yuan. I caused you to have to stay and work overtime too.”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. I asked to do it myself.”

Shen Yuan was no stranger to overtime. She worked as a concept artist in a major company for three years, where staying up all night to rush drafts was routine. However, it was because she pushed herself so hard back then that she ruined her health. Only then did she start focusing on self-care.

Shen Yuan left the Shen family in her sophomore year of college. She left with nothing—her clothes, wallet, and cards were all left behind. During her junior and senior years, she worked hard to pay her way, often juggling three or four jobs a day. She finally graduated and entered a big company. To be promoted to Lead Artist, Shen Yuan worked even harder than everyone else. She was truly selling her life for money back then.

Unfortunately, some things happened later, and she ultimately didn’t get the promotion to Lead Artist.

As Shen Yuan recalled that difficult time, she was suddenly startled to realize that it was a long time ago.

“Sister Yuan, let’s go eat first. We’ll come back and continue working after dinner.”

Lu Qingwan linked arms with Shen Yuan and led her toward the company cafeteria.

Shen Yuan had never eaten dinner at the company cafeteria before. She used to have to rush to her part-time job at the bubble tea shop by 7 PM, so she usually bought something to eat on the way home.

“The cafeteria is on the first and second floors of the building in the back. Let’s just take the elevator down.”

As Lu Qingwan pulled Shen Yuan into the elevator, she suddenly saw a tall figure facing them at the end of the corridor. The figure was backlit, so Lu Qingwan couldn’t see her face clearly, but judging by her figure, she must be a great beauty.

“Do you two know each other?”

Lu Qingwan’s gaze shifted between Shen Yuan and the woman.

“Not well.”

Shen Yuan only looked for a second before withdrawing her gaze.

Lu Qingwan: “So you do know each other? Do you want to invite her to eat with—”

“Let’s go. She doesn’t eat at the cafeteria.”

Shen Yuan suddenly interrupted Lu Qingwan. A rich young miss like Gu Shiwei, whose clothes and watches were always different and always designer brands, how could she eat the same cafeteria food as them?