The Woman in the Car

After finishing their meal, there was still a lot of food left and they ended up packing some of it to take home. They walked out of the room and down the hallway.

Just as they reached the end of the hallway and turned the corner, the door they had just passed was pushed open and Lu Yuzhe walked out, taking a deep breath as the door shut behind him.

He turned around and walked out of the hallway, past the restroom, and towards the front door of the restaurant. After being in the private room for several hours, he needed some fresh air.

As he pushed open the front entrance and stepped outside, he saw a familiar figure enter the backseat of a black car. As she sat down, he caught a glimpse of her side profile, which seemed familiar as well, but he couldn't figure out exactly who it resembled.

Then, the man who was holding the door for her also sat down in the car. After he got in, he looked out to close the car door and his eyes met with Lu Yuzhe for a moment as he reached for the door handle.

In that split second, Lu Yuzhe saw a mixture of confidence, mockery, and condescension in the man's eyes, and it made his chest tickle with anger, but then, the door was shut and the car drove off.

Why did that man look so familiar? And that woman who had gotten in before him, why did she look so familiar as well. . .

He stood there and thought about it for several seconds, closing his eyes as the quick sight of the woman's face entered his mind again. His eyes burst open right away. Wasn't that. . . Xu Anyi?!

Lu Yuzhe took a step forward as he tried to think back again, but at that moment, his phone rang. His eyebrows knit together as he pulled out his phone and saw the name: 'Yiwei' on the screen.

Once she picked it up, he heard the noise coming from the inside of the private room, and Xia Yiwei spoke, "Yuzhe, where are you?"

"I'll be back in a second."

"Okay. . . come back quickly, I think they are leaving soon," Xia Yiwei said sweetly before hanging up the phone.

Lu Yuzhe looked in the direction where the car left once more before turning around and going back into the restaurant.

—

Si Mu returned to the meeting after coming back from lunch, and this time, Xu Anyi stayed inside his office alone. She did not know for how long she was gone, because she fell asleep after a few hours, and when she woke up again, he was seated at the desk again, typing away on his computer.

She looked out the window and saw that the sky had turned dark already, and when she looked at the clock, it was already dinnertime.

She sat up straight, and a thin blanket fell off of her. She picked it up and wondered where the blanket came from, and then she looked over at Si Mu, who was still staring intently at his computer screen.

She smiled as she stood up and walked over to her. He quickly noticed her movement, and he looked up from his screen, "You're awake."

She nodded and sat down in the chair across from his large table. She leaned against the table and looked at the document on his screen, "Do you have a lot of work?"

He looked at her and then at his computer screen, and then he reached his arm out and closed his computer, standing up, "Even if I do, it can wait for tomorrow. It's dinner time already."

He grabbed his jacket and walked around the table over to her, "You must be hungry. Let's go home."

Xu Anyi smiled as she stood up and grabbed onto his hand. She did not know if this was some sort of fate or if he was just a very thoughtful person, but he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking every time.

Si Mu looked down at their interlaced fingers and a small smile appeared on his face as the two of them walked out of the room together.

Although it was past the normal work time already, everyone was still at their desks working when they walked out of the room.

When they saw the boss walk down the steps, most of the workers weren't as surprised anymore. Since a few weeks ago, their boss suddenly started to leave work very early. In the past, he would always be the last one to leave work, so they were all surprised in the beginning.

But by now, it was the norm for them to see their boss leave work once it got close to dinnertime. Today was even a little later than usual.

Xu Anyi looked at all the workers as they walked down the stairs, and she muttered, "All of your workers work so hard."

Si Mu looked at the people working and nodded. Well, that was why he paid them so much. . . But of course, he couldn't have his wife thinking that he was some heartless workaholic boss.

So. . .

"It's getting late. Everyone should go home. . . now," he announced as they reached the bottom of the steps.

All of the workers looked at him in first confusion, then shock, and then excitement as many of them began jumping up happily, "Thank you, President Si!"

Si Mu cleared his throat as he walked over to the elevator with Xu Anyi, "I don't know why they are all acting so surprised. . . It's not like I overworked them before," he explained quietly to her.

Xu Anyi couldn't help but chuckle at his nervous expression, and she nodded, "Of course, of course."

The workers all began cleaning up in excitement as this would be the first day in a long time they could go home early, and many of them began wondering why the boss is suddenly so nice today.

"Why else? Can't you tell? Of course it is because of that lady who came with the big boss today."

The other workers frowned, "Really? How do you know?"

"Isn't it obvious? The big boss has clearly been in a good mood today because she came. He even gave us a lunch break today!"

The other workers thought about it and some of them nodded in agreement.

—

Before long, it reached the day before the images from the Design shoot were planned for release. It was the last day of March, and also the day when they would receive their payment for the shoot.

Xu Anyi woke up early with excitement as she quickly got dressed and ate breakfast.

"Do you want to come to the company with me again today?" Si Mu asked hopefully. Ever since she went once, he would often ask her if she wanted to go, and she would occasionally go to work with him, but today, she had more important things to do.

"I have to go to Design today to get my money," she said excitedly, rubbing her fingers together as she smirked happily.

Si Mu chuckled softly at her animated expression and he nodded, "Okay, when do you have to go? I'll have Si Er drive you there."

Xu Anyi looked over at the clock and gasped, and quickly swallowed her remaining porridge in one gulp, "The meeting is at 10! I have to go."

She jumped up and waved goodbye to him before running out the door. Si Mu couldn't even say anything to her as he watched her slip her shoes on and disappear.

—

Half an hour later, Xu Anyi had arrived in front of the large building.

She was led by the front desk worker up to the second floor and into the manager's office. The worker knocked and then Xu Anyi entered to see two people inside the room.

The manager and Xia Yiwei.