Unable to Fall in Love Syndrome - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Tricky Client 09

Zuo Yi raised an eyebrow casually and said indifferently, “I believe someone else would be more suited for this job than you.”

Qiao Shan pointed a finger at him, but the words caught in her throat and she swallowed them back. She retracted her hand and forced a smile. “Fine, I’ll pick it up. Hmph.” With a flick of her ponytail, she turned to face the trash bin.

As she bent down, a sour stench hit her full force. Pinching her nose, she steeled herself and reached in to grope around. After a while, she finally felt something soft and squishy. Pulling it out, she saw it wasn’t the bun, but half a burger smeared with some unidentified liquid mixture.

Suppressing her nausea, Qiao Shan reached in again and finally fished out the bun she’d thrown away earlier. Zuo Yi was still standing behind her, not leaving. She pinched her nose and held out her filthy hand for him to see. “Here, the bun. I’ll go hand it over to the cafeteria auntie right now. Happy?”

Zuo Yi frowned and stepped back, saying nothing as he strode toward the breakfast area.

After delivering the bun to the back office, Qiao Shan cursed Zuo Yi a thousand times in front of the bathroom mirror, scrubbing her hands red with soap before stopping. She had a bit of a cleanliness obsession and never dreamed she’d end up digging through a trash bin.

She stormed back to the office in a huff, not even in the mood to eat lunch.

That afternoon, Qiao Shan received a work assignment to review a company inquiry document headed to the government. She spent the whole afternoon eyeing the pretty women in the office, pondering what kind of girl a guy like Zuo Yi would like, so her mind wasn’t on her work.

At quitting time, Supervisor Chen Li stormed back into the office with a document in hand, roaring, “Who reviewed this inquiry file?!”

Her lioness-like bellow shook the room, as if the whole building trembled with it.

Dozens of eyes in the office shot toward Qiao Shan. She was humming a little tune, packing up her small backpack to head home. Her movements froze as she looked at the supervisor, who was radiating fury, and asked blankly, “I did. What’s wrong?”

The supervisor slammed her palm on the desk, barely containing her rage. “Take this file and explain it yourself in the general manager’s office!”

Qiao Shan took the file, mumbling “Oh” obediently. At the door, she turned back to ask Chen Li, “Um, Supervisor… is the general manager Zuo Yi?”

Chen Li’s legs nearly buckled, and she almost fainted from anger. “Sister Shan, who else would it be?”

Qiao Shan’s heart skipped a beat. “Alright, got it.”

Tong Xiaoli gave her a sympathetic look and patted her shoulder gravely. “Hang in there, sis. Get through this, and you’re a hero!”

Qiao Shan hugged the file and left the office, glancing back every three steps.

In that moment, she suddenly understood how Jing Ke must have felt back then…

When she arrived at the general manager’s office, Zuo Yi took the file from her hand and asked pleasantly, “You reviewed this inquiry file?”

“Yes, General Manager.” Seeing his mild expression, Qiao Shan relaxed instantly.

In a flash, Zuo Yi’s face darkened, the temperature in the room plummeting. He hurled the thick stack of file copies right at her.

The papers flew past her cheek, scattering across the floor.

She watched in shock as he transformed from “sunny skies” to “raging storm.”

Zuo Yi exploded, grabbing the original file and flipping to the quote page. “Forty million RMB turned into four hundred RMB—can’t you see such a huge discrepancy? Can’t even handle something as simple as reviewing a quote? Is your brain just for holding water? Your eyes for venting air? Hmm?”

His tone rose at the end, the question laced with uncontainable fury.

Qiao Shan saw the mistaken amount and her chest tightened.

“Miss Cheng, please answer my question.”

Qiao Shan gathered her emotions but couldn’t say a word for a long moment. The mistake was made—what could she do? Just take the scolding silently and figure out how to fix it…

Zuo Yi’s rage had nowhere to go, so he punched the desk, venting on himself.

Qiao Shan stood there quietly watching him. “General Manager, don’t get so angry. Rage hurts the liver.”

She might as well have stayed silent—her words only fueled his fire. “Tell me, how low is your IQ?”

“About 110, I guess,” Qiao Shan said.

Zuo Yi said, “Heh, I thought it was the same as that.” His sharp gaze landed on a cartoon pig figurine on the bookshelf.

Whether she was dazed from the scolding or not, she blurted out, “It’s… really cute.”

Zuo Yi’s mouth twitched, fury surging through his chest before reason suppressed it.

…

When Qiao Shan returned to the office, she found all the pretty women still there. Puzzled, she asked, “You guys haven’t left yet?”

Tong Xiaoli said, “Waiting for you, to comfort you. You… okay?”

Qiao Shan went to her seat to grab her bag and smiled. “I’m fine.”

Everyone thought this was unbelievable—she hadn’t been crushed by the general manager? That didn’t make sense…

Not only was she not upset, she felt oddly happy. She’d finally figured out the type of person who’d suit Zuo Yi.

He seemed normal on the surface, but his temper was explosive. Someone with his personality needed a sunny, thick-skinned woman to save him.

With such a big work blunder, Qiao Shan couldn’t possibly leave early. She took her supervisor’s advice, re-reviewed the file, double-checking numbers at least three times.

That night, the spacious office was empty except for her. The printer sat by the floor-to-ceiling window, and after printing the file, she looked up to see the pleasant night view outside. Beyond was a bamboo grove bathed in colorful light beams, the water trickling from the rock crevices shimmering in a rainbow of hues.

Upstairs, someone else was like Qiao Shan, gazing at the scene below in a daze, standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, holding a freshly copied document, admiring the same view.

Zuo Yi sat back at his desk. When he opened the drawer for a pen, a silver-framed photo caught his eye.

In it, a little girl in a white dress with two braids beamed brightly. Zuo Yi took it out, studying the child, his stern brows finally softening.

This photo had been sent by his older brother recently.

He’d said he’d found Zuo Yi’s childhood girlfriend for him and asked if he wanted to meet her. Zuo Yi had to admire his brother’s grave-digging skills—if not for the photo, he wouldn’t have remembered this elementary school classmate at all.

He had a strong impression of this girl.

She’d once pointed at his nose and said that a snot-nosed kid like him was doomed to never become a successful adult or find a girlfriend.

Zuo Yi had been sensitive since childhood and took those words to heart, turning them into years of motivation.

Didn’t believe he’d succeed? He’d prove her wrong. Often, he wasn’t sure if he was competing with himself or with what that girl had said back then.

Zuo Yi put the photo back in the drawer and took out the pen to start writing.

Qiao Shan reviewed the file until 11 p.m., finally verifying all the technical specs and numbers.

She stretched lazily, her stomach growling with hunger. She’d only had half a bite of bun in the morning, skipped lunch out of anger, and now after all that work, she was starving, her front practically sticking to her back.

Rubbing her belly, she slung on her bag to leave, but paused at the door, turning back to scan the empty office.

All the girls in this office were single—each one excellent, but with narrow social circles, unable to find boyfriends.

Qiao Shan got the idea to play matchmaker for her colleagues, placing a business card on each desk.

Supervisor Chen Li was a divorced single woman—not a hot commodity in the marriage pool, but a potential client worth tapping. Since she couldn’t be a resource, she could be cultivated as a client, so Qiao Shan slipped extra business cards onto her desk, in her drawer, in her books, in her folders…

Yawning, she left the office and strode into the elevator.

The company’s elevator had mirrors on three sides. In the enclosed space, Qiao Shan inexplicably started imagining elevator horror scenarios, fearing her reflection would step out and drag her to hell.

The elevator descended two floors and dinged open, letting Qiao Shan breathe a sigh of relief.

She hadn’t expected anyone else at this hour.

But seeing the person outside, her heart clenched again. Because as soon as he saw her, his face darkened, snapping her wide awake from any drowsiness.

Qiao Shan couldn’t remember how many times she’d shared an elevator with Zuo Yi.

As the automatic doors closed, she instinctively shuffled to the corner. Zuo Yi’s eyes held a chill as he glanced her way, then looked away nonchalantly.

When they reached the first floor, Qiao Shan hurried out. Zuo Yi didn’t follow—his destination was the basement parking lot.

Taxis were scarce outside. Qiao Shan vaguely spotted a sedan coming around the street corner. The streetlights on both sides were dim, so she couldn’t make out the license plate or model. Desperate and unable to flag a cab, she boldly dashed into the road to stop what looked like an unlicensed taxi.

The black Phaeton came to a halt.

Realizing the model, Qiao Shan still mustered her courage, bent down, and peered through the half-open window to greet the driver.

The first “Hello” was barely out when she saw it was Zuo Yi. Her enthusiastic little wave froze mid-air, but she thickened her skin and said, “Mr. Zuo, since we’re going the same way, how about…”

Zuo Yi glanced at her, and the half-open window slowly rose. Qiao Shan had no choice but to pull her hand back, watching helplessly as the heartless guy drove off.

Staring at the black Phaeton vanishing around the corner, Qiao Shan rolled her eyes, kicked a stone step, and gazed at the hazy yellow streets under the lamps, feeling utterly dejected.

But heaven doesn’t abandon the determined—her luck wasn’t all bad, and she soon flagged down an unlicensed cab.

Settling into the car, the driver asked, “Just getting off work, miss? This office area is in the first ring, but it’s tough to get a ride. If I hadn’t been passing by, you might’ve been standing there till 1 a.m.”

“Yeah, overtime. The working class always gets squeezed. You’re my savior, big bro!” Qiao Shan leaned back in the seat, her mind souring at the thought of Zuo Yi’s face. She glanced at the bustling night streets flashing by outside and turned to ask the driver, “Any places to eat around here?”

The driver thought for a moment. “Yeah, there’s an all-night snack street behind Jinyang University of Science and Technology. Easy to catch a cab there too. Want me to drop you off?”

“Sure, let’s go.” Qiao Shan had gone to university out of province and barely had any days off since starting work, so she had no clue about the best spots in Jinyang for food, drinks, or fun.

Behind Jinyang University of Science and Technology was a quaint old alley, brightly lit with lanterns. The streets buzzed with vendors hawking snacks, crowds shoulder-to-shoulder, as lively as daytime.

Qiao Shan squeezed in and entered a small shop for crossing-the-bridge rice noodles.

The place was tiny, its white walls turned gray with age. There were four square tables, and at the innermost one sat a man in a white shirt, his suit jacket and briefcase on the empty chair beside him—utterly out of place in this dingy noodle shop.

At that moment, Qiao Shan’s phone vibrated in her pocket.

It was a WeChat from Ying Shengnan.

“Little matchmaker, today’s my little brother’s birthday! I’m on a business trip out of town—could you deliver a cake for me?”

Attached was an emoji of a dashing Shiba Inu.