“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
Feng Mian listened to Zhang Liang's explanation's carefully. She looked at her phone in her hand. "Can you try?"
"Sending a message? Sure," Zhang Liang took his phone out and began to type. He naturally had his own social media account, but he never used it. His followers were a lot, mostly from the business circle because he was quite an important figure.
As he clicked like on Feng Mian's account, he thought about the number of followers she would get from this. A playful smirk appeared on the corner of his lips. Even though they would not ask for any request, it would show that she had a lot of followers.
Demanding Demon: Hello
Seeing the sender, Feng Mian nearly burst out laughing. She had completely forgotten that she gave Zhang Liang that nickname. Wait, he didn't see her contact list, right?
Peeking a glance at Zhang Liang, he was still as calm as ever. Feng Mian also didn't think there was anything wrong. It was also her phone, so it would be up to her how she wanted to give a nickname to her friends in her contact list.
Feng Mian: Hello
She looked at Zhang Liang and smiled. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Right now, Zhang Liang didn't tell Feng Mian that his followers would try to follow what he did. After all, those people liked to curry favor with people like him. He would just tell her in the morning. Right now, he had something else he needed to talk to her about.
"Feng Mian, after showing your proposal to the directors, they want you to be an independent team."
Feng Mian blinked her eyes in surprise. "What's that mean, Brother Liang?"
"It means that you're going to work alone from now on. You're no longer in Yu Yan's team. There'll be a newcomer assigned to her next month after we have finished with the problems on hand," Zhang Liang explained calmly.
Hearing that, it took Feng Mian a few seconds to process everything. Her face turned strange. "Isn't that the same as promotion?"
"Yes."
"Can't I just be a normal team member?"
"With your skill, it'll be just a waste."
Feng Mian: "…" this is called forced promotion, alright!
Many people would love to have a promotion because it would mean that they got an increase in their income. However, Feng Mian knew that becoming team leader meant that she needed to start meeting people. That was one of the things that she disliked. She loved to stay behind the screen and just do her work as a normal employee. After all, she was not that good at talking to others.
Zhang Liang looked at Feng Mian and smiled. "Your salary will be doubled. Also, I'll be the one assigning work directly to you."
Feng Mian felt that this man would just make it harder for her to live this lifestyle. With her keeping contact with him, wouldn't it just make it awkward when they returned to their separate lifestyles?
However, Zhang Liang didn't seem to be bothered in the slightest. Feng Mian truly didn't have any idea how Zhang Liang's brain worked if she had to be honest. He always acted so nonchalant yet at the same time, he would give her a heart attack from time to time.
"…Fine."
Zhang Liang showed her a document. "For now, you need to fix some things. We decided to make a modification."
Feng Mian sighed, knowing that this demon wouldn't let her off from work too. Well, at least she had something else to do aside from painting all day. She also needed to keep her work after all.
For the night, Feng Mian was too busy checking on her document and headed to bed.
It was only morning she realized that her notification had exploded. There were more than 999+ notifications of people following her. She could only turn to Zhang Liang, asking for an explanation.
Zhang Liang smiled lightly. "I have a lot of followers. They just follow what I do."
Feng Mian's face darkened. For the next hour, she tried to sort on her social media. Looking at the influential people who followed her, Feng Mian felt really tense. She had completely forgotten that Zhang Liang is the president of the largest sweet company in this country. Those who follow him would surely include those important people.
…
Time passed swiftly. Feng Mian got used to social media and finished her work. For the past few days, she spent her days to finish her work. There was no commission order yet, but she was not in a hurry. She knew that it would take some time before the account would be noticed by those who needed it.
'Finally it's finished.'
The design was done. She only had to wait for the release of the sweet during valentine day. Of course, she would be able to hear the report faster if Zhang Liang told her.
It was then her phone vibrated, showing her that a message had come.
Yu Yan: Yo! How's our promoted team leader's condition today?
Feng Mian: Tired. I want to relax all day long.
Yu Yan: (snickering emoji) Finally finished with your work? Tsk, you got a promotion and then they handed you an important project. I wonder how you do that?
Feng Mian laughed bitterly. She barely did anything aside from doing her work and going home late because she replaced a certain team leader who went on a date. Oh wait, she was too impatient to wait for the lift to go down, so she went in and accidentally saw a scene.
It was then that Zhang Liang began to speak to her. At first, it was just a small concern a boss would have then he asked her to have a contract with her.
Feng Mian: Long story. I'll tell you in the future.
Yu Yan: Heh, you bet! Tomorrow is Saturday, I'm going to visit your mother. Will you be there?
Feng Mian: I will.
Yu Yan: Good, then I'll bring some snacks for us to eat. Oh wait, send me the list of food that Madam Lin can eat. I don't want to bring anything that can harm her.
Feng Mian: Wait a minute.
As Feng Mian browsed in her phone for the document, she thought about what she could tell Yu Yan. Certainly, she couldn't tell her yet that Zhang Liang had married her. It would be for the future when it was the time.
Feng Mian sent the list and chatted more with Yu Yan before she headed to her studio.
Time to paint again~!