“Give me one year of your life and I’ll give you the money you need.” Feng Mian is a normal and down to earth modern woman. She just wanted an ordinary life, an ordinary job and find an ordinary man to marry in the future. (Yes, all should be ordinary). But when family matters took a turn for the worst, she faced a huge dilemma called shortage of money. Suddenly, a contract came due to a series of coincidences. Zhang Liang was fed up with his father's (yes, father not mother) matchmaking schemes for him. He wanted to have a peaceful year because this was his chance to expand his business overseas, yet his father didn’t seem to get the message. When an ordinary fresh graduate employee in his company accidentally saw a scene, he decided to take the chance. “Since she has a normal background with nothing remarkable, nothing should go wrong, right?” Browsing through the contract, Feng Mian gritted her teeth. 'Fine. It was just one year of my life anyway. I wouldn't lose a lot.' But was it true? Or would that one year turn out to be a ride full of ups and down for both of them? ... Story set in modern era in fictional country. This story is purely fiction, any similarities with real life's event is purely coincidence. Special thanks for CatarinaM2811 for making the cover Word count: 900-1800 words/chapter Discord: https://discord.gg/pBy2wGB ... Thorough the Years' Series: 1. 1 Year of Beginning [complete] 2. 2 Years of Restarting [complete] 3. -Work in Progress- 4. -Work in Progress- 5. -Work in Progress- 6. -Work in Progress- 7. -Work in Progress- The series are all STANDALONE, meaning you don't have to read the other series in order to be able to follow this story. You can just read one and you still didn't lose anything. Each of the series have different main leads but they all happen in the same universe (and similar timeline, some are overlapping but mostly not) ... Other novels: -Flowers Bloom from Battlefield [complete] - Under the Veil of Night [complete] - 7 Path of the Lilies [on long hiatus] - Villain Lady [complete] - Science and Fantasy [complete] - Forgotten Legend of the Bloodied Flower [on going] - The Quiet Empress [on going] ... Note for those who read Sorahana's other novels: This novel took a different approach compared to my other novels because it focused heavily on romance and also in main lead's perspective. follow me on IG: @sora100518
Yu Yan stretched her body after she had finished revising the proposal. They didn't have much time, but thankfully Su Han and the other team member managed to work fast. If they were not fast enough…
They would better be prepared for a harsh lecture and overnight work.
"It's time for lunch. I'll treat you for a meal, Mian'er."
"Ah, there's no need for that," Feng Mian declined. She didn't think that Yu Yan should pay anything for her.
Yu Yan pursed her lips. "Don't say that. You have helped me by taking my place last night and end up getting in trouble because of that."
"If you're talking about Su Han, there's no need to worry about that man."
"I insist."
Feng Mian smiled when she saw Yu Yan put her hand on her hips. She knew that this meant Yu Yan would not take no as the answer. With no other choice, she followed Yu Yan to the canteen.
"There's chicken drumstick today, let's buy that."
"Woah, thank you!"
"Heh, I know you like it." Yu Yan pushed her finger on Feng Mian's forehead. Yu Yan was a few inches taller than Feng Mian, giving Feng Mian little chances to escape from her fingers.
Feng Mian just grinned. She waited until Yu Yan finished ordering before selecting a seat and started eating. Yu Yan also started eating and filled her belly with the food before she started to speak.
"You should just let me explain to him."
"About what?" Feng Mian raised her head. Her hand was holding the chopstick with a small ball of rice at the end. She shrugged and placed the rice into her mouth, not caring about her etiquette in the slightest.
Yu Yan frowned. "I mean you keep on giving people the wrong impression about yourself."
"Even if you speak, will he listen?"
"What?"
"People like him will never listen to other people's explanation," Feng Mian replied calmly. "He'll just stick to his impression of me, so it's useless to talk to him."
"But others…"
"What makes you think they'll believe my words over his?"
Yu Yan opened her mouth then closed it again. She knew what Feng Mian said was correct. As a relatively new designer, Feng Mian's words never held much importance in the team. She was at the bottom of the orders, and aside from her friends, no one bothered with her as they were also busy with their own work.
Insults and mockery were something that Feng Mian had to face from time to time because of her family condition. She had long gotten used to them and could see that some people just didn't want to listen.
"I just don't want you to be insulted. You're a great designer."
"I will not let myself be insulted too. I know what to say in that situation. Besides, the one in disadvantages is Su Han, right?"
Yu Yan nodded. She recalled that Su Han's face was grim once Feng Mian finished countering. Still, she still thought that it would be better to explain things.
"But what if it affects your mood and work?" Yu Yan asked worriedly.
Feng Mian grinned. "Don't worry, I know my worth. Do you think I'll bail my eyes out just because someone badmouths me? I'm not a kid."
"You're really." Yu Yan was helpless. She poked Feng Mian's forehead playfully as she shook her head lightly. "I'm glad you can still be cheerful like this. I don't know what to do if you suddenly cry."
"Oh? Then you should comfort me by helping me do my work."
"And do all those research of colors aside from my own work? Dream on!" Yu Yan rolled her eyes. She already had enough work from her supervisor and as the team leader, she had more responsibility.
Feng Mian just grinned and resumed her eating. She had long known that people always liked to see other people do worse than them. Even in school, bullying happened to those children who didn't have any power and their background was not something worth talking about.
People liked to gossip without caring whether the person in question cared for that or not. Rumors are more often than not, wrong, but people easily believed lies than the truth.
Why?
Because lies are more interesting than the truth.
When they saw a strong person fall, they just laughed, watching from the sides as nothing more than 'bystander.'
But there was no one who was truly strong. Facing insults thrown to their faces and berated heavily, no one could stay truly calm. When one is cornered, they just have two choices either to surrender or stay strong. And those standing firm were the ones who didn't have any other choice but to stay strong.
"Well, I'm sure that things will get better in the future," Yu Yan said as she returned the plate. "Those people just assume things because you used to be an intern here, and they have seen your bad performance."
Feng Mian shrugged. She didn't care about them at all. Back when she was just an intern, she did have some bad record because she was late for countless days. It was fortunate that they allowed her to stay and then gave her a position to work in the company afterwards even if it was just a small one.
The reason she was late was simply because she had part-time work and also classes. But many of them didn't know that and often gossiped about things that were not true. Still, Feng Mian decided to ignore those gossips as she just focused on making sure she did her work.
As long as she could do her work well and earned enough money for her living, that was enough.
After eating, the two of them returned back to their desks and focused on their work once more.
"Feng Mian," a man called as he walked over to her direction. "President Zhang is looking for you."
Plop!
The documents on Feng Mian's hand fell on the table. Her face contorted slightly as she turned her head to look at Yu Yan. "I haven't made any mistakes lately, right?"
"Uhm… I think no?" Yu Yan forced a smile out.
"I'll be right back..."
"Good luck."