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Meeting He Jingxiu again was not something Bo Ying expected, especially under such an awkward situation.
Her ruined makeup accidentally left a mark on his dark suit.
A few minutes earlier, Bo Ying had argued with her mother Pei Wanyu in the private room and left with tearful eyes.
With her head down, she didn’t expect to bump into someone at the corner.
After colliding, Bo Ying endured the pain on her forehead and took two steps back.
Her throat was dry, and with a hoarse voice, she said, “I’m sorry.”
After a brief moment, there was no response from the other party.
Bo Ying frowned and instinctively raised her head.
As soon as she looked up, He Jingxiu’s familiar yet strange face unexpectedly came into her view.
The Japanese restaurant had bright but not glaring lighting. The decoration and lights created a cozy and comfortable atmosphere.
The warm yellow light fell from above, outlining He Jingxiu’s handsome facial features, making it hard to look away.
Bo Ying froze, her eyes fixed on his face, even her tears stopped.
Her lips parted slightly, and she instinctively started, “He—”
Before she could finish, He Jingxiu suddenly lowered his eyes to meet her gaze.
The man’s deep pupils held a faint look.
In just a few seconds, He Jingxiu withdrew his gaze and said lightly, “It’s fine.”
Bo Ying was stunned.
Did he recognize her or not?
For a moment, Bo Ying wasn’t so sure.
Shortly after, He Jingxiu dispelled her doubts with his actions.
He looked at the woman still standing in front of him and asked indifferently, “Anything else?”
His voice was cold and distant, like he was talking to a stranger.
Bo Ying snapped out of it, blinked her eyelashes lightly, moved aside considerately, and softly said, “Sorry.”
He Jingxiu responded and passed by her side.
A gust of wind brushed past her ears, making her feel cool even in the well-air-conditioned store.
Bo Ying watched the man’s disappearing figure for a moment before composing herself and leaving.
...
Turning into the corner, He Jingxiu stopped his steps.
After pondering for a few seconds, just as he was about to turn around, a familiar voice came from not far away.
“President He is here.”
He Jingxiu nodded and walked over.
There was a job interview at the company in the afternoon. The managers of several departments would always set screening criteria beforehand for each interview. But recently, everyone was busy and didn’t have time to hold meetings during work hours. So they decided to use lunchtime to discuss while eating.
He Jingxiu happened to have some free time today, so he agreed to come and listen.
As soon as he entered, the company’s general manager Zhao Xuzhi noticed the marks on He Jingxiu’s clothes. Having known He Jingxiu for a long time, Zhao spoke quite casually.
He raised an eyebrow and teased, “What’s that on President He’s clothes?”
He chuckled, “This isn’t why you were late, is it?”
Upon hearing this, the other managers in the room all turned their heads simultaneously.
He Jingxiu: “...”
He glanced at the foundation smeared on his shoulder, lightly tugged his lips, and said with a good mood, “Does General Manager Zhao want to switch careers and become a detective?”
Zhao Xuzhi choked, and just as he was about to say something, the waiter knocked on the door.
After ordering the dishes, the group of men chatted leisurely.
The HR manager, while eating, said, “I’ve looked at the profiles of the candidates we’re interviewing this afternoon; there are several good ones.”
Manager Lü from the Legal Department was surprised, “Really?”
“Mm.” The HR manager smiled and said, “Especially one girl who left a deep impression on me. Although she studied linguistics in university, her grades were astonishing. For graduate school, she switched to law and earned a double degree.”
Upon hearing this, Manager Lü’s eyes lit up, “Which school?”
The HR manager named the school, one that ranked high internationally.
Zhao Xuzhi: “That’s indeed impressive. What’s her name?”
“Bo Ying,” replied the HR manager. “This surname is quite rare, and according to her application, her high school was also good—it’s City Seventh High School.”
Zhao Xuzhi was taken aback and blurted out, “Isn’t that the rival school of our President He’s alma mater? Which year was she in?”
He Jingxiu attended City First High School, which had been competing openly with City Seventh High School where Bo Ying studied, often described as ‘battling until heads bleed.’
Every year, these two high schools compared the number of students they sent to prestigious universities, a somewhat childish competition that never ceased.
Hearing this, the group instinctively looked at He Jingxiu.
He Jingxiu had just picked up his teacup. His hand paused slightly, and with his eyes lowered, he sipped the warm tea, saying nonchalantly, “Is that so.”
The HR manager was momentarily stunned and responded, “Yeah.”
“...”
After leaving the Japanese restaurant, Bo Ying found a nearby café to rest.
She had a job interview at a nearby company in the afternoon and couldn’t go home just yet.
Sitting down in the café, she first asked the server for a glass of warm water and drank it.
After drinking, Bo Ying finally felt her skyrocketing adrenaline slowly coming down. Recalling the dreamlike scene from earlier, she pinched her arm.
It hurt.
It was real.
She really met He Jingxiu just now.
Before returning to the country, Bo Ying hadn’t thought about encountering him again. But North City was vast, so vast that some people might live here their entire lives without ever having the chance to meet by chance.
Even if she had the opportunity to meet him again, it wouldn’t be so soon and certainly not in such a disheveled state.
Thinking of this, Bo Ying felt like crying but had no tears left.
Suddenly, she remembered an important detail she had overlooked.
He Jingxiu hadn’t recognized her.
But thinking about it, it was normal. They hadn’t seen each other for seven years. To He Jingxiu, she was just a junior from the neighboring school who occasionally sought attention in front of him, not anyone important.
Though she told herself it was alright, she still felt a bit sad.
Though she wasn’t significant, objectively speaking, she had added a lot of color to He Jingxiu’s high school life, and they had shared some memorable moments. How could he forget so heartlessly?
Bo Ying thought for more than half an hour, sometimes feeling it was best that He Jingxiu didn’t recognize her, other times feeling frustrated, with a heavy cloud pressing on her chest.
The reason for this pent-up frustration was simple: she remembered He Jingxiu, but he had forgotten her. This made her feel as if she were performing a one-person show, which made her extremely upset.
Could it be that she had become less attractive?
When her friend Chi Lü called, Bo Ying was contemplating this question while holding her makeup compact.
“Have you eaten?”
Bo Ying hummed in response, skipping over the details of her meeting with Pei Wanyu, and earnestly asked, “Chi Lü, let me ask you a question.”
Chi Lü: “What?”
Bo Ying was still looking in the mirror, carefully examining her round face, “Compared to high school, have I changed a lot?”
“? “
Chi Lü paused for a few seconds, then responded without hesitation, “Of course.”
Upon hearing this, Bo Ying felt a wave of panic, “Have I really become ugly?”
“...” Chi Lü choked, torn between laughter and tears, “No, of course you’ve become prettier.”
She was curious, “Why are you suddenly asking this?”
Hearing this, Bo Ying breathed a sigh of relief and muttered softly, “It’s fine as long as I haven’t become ugly.”
She cleared her throat and said guiltily, “I... just ran into a high school friend earlier, and he said he didn’t recognize me.”
Chi Lü raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, “Who?”
Bo Ying usually didn’t hide much from her, but she didn’t know where to start. After hesitating for a while, she vaguely said, “Just someone unimportant, you probably don’t remember him.”
Hearing her evasive tone, Chi Lü tactfully refrained from asking further questions.
She changed the subject, mentioning something related to Bo Ying’s afternoon interview and calming her nervousness.
After hanging up, Bo Ying leaned back on her chair, thinking about He Jingxiu from earlier. After so many years, not only had he not aged poorly, but he had even become more charming. The youthful vibe hadn’t disappeared; instead, it was now mixed with a mature man’s aura.
Even his physique had gained some strength.
Bo Ying reached up to touch her forehead, which had bumped into his shoulder. The hard muscles reminded her that He Jingxiu must have worked out.
Thinking of this, a long-forgotten image flashed through Bo Ying’s mind—He Jingxiu after playing basketball, alone with her.
A few seconds later, the alarm on her phone rang.
Blushing, Bo Ying pulled herself out of the memory, finished the cold coffee on the table to clear her mind, and then headed towards the company for her interview.
The company Bo Ying was interviewing with this time was a listed group. Engaging in finance, technology, real estate, and more, it had a good reputation in the industry and was very well-known.
More importantly, the company offered excellent employee benefits, which made Bo Ying eager to apply.
Of course, with a high-profile company offering great benefits, competition was naturally fierce.
When Bo Ying arrived at the interview location twenty minutes early, there were already more than ten well-dressed candidates waiting inside.
Her steps faltered slightly as she quietly walked to a corner and sat down.
Originally, Bo Ying wasn’t nervous about this interview at all.
But now, everyone around her was murmuring their self-introductions, creating an overwhelming sense of urgency. It felt like if she didn’t do something, she wouldn’t belong here.
After serious contemplation for half a minute, she took out her phone and started playing Happy Elements, a game she had only been playing for a few days.
In the blink of an eye, the interviews began.
Bo Ying was near the end of the list, so she wasn’t too anxious.
However, watching those who entered confidently and came out sighing made her slightly worried.
Equally concerned was the man sitting next to her.
“Friend.”
The man stopped the person who had just come out looking pale and curiously asked, “Why does everyone look like this after the interview? Are the interviewers tough?”
The man who had just finished his interview pushed his glasses up, feeling utterly defeated, “Tough? That’s an understatement.”
He complained bitterly, “I was applying for an assistant position in the legal department, and they conversed with me entirely in English. I understood only three sentences throughout.”
Hello.
Please begin your self-introduction, and, you may leave.
Bo Ying: “...”
The questioning man fell silent for a moment and patted his shoulder in consolation.
The waiting room became quiet for a while. After observing Bo Ying for a bit, the man next to her initiated conversation, “Hello, I’m Fang Boyu.”
Bo Ying nodded slightly, “Bo Ying.”
Fang Boyu raised an eyebrow, “Surname Bo?”
Bo Ying hummed in response.
Fang Boyu familiarly said, “Then we can roughly consider ourselves part of the same family, right?”
“…?”
Bo Ying was momentarily speechless, thought for a moment, and said, “Probably not.”
Fang Boyu: “...”
They awkwardly chatted for a few sentences before it was Fang Boyu’s turn.
Bo Ying was next. At this point, Bo Ying suddenly became nervous.
After several deep breaths with no effect, she got up to go to the restroom.
When she came out, Fang Boyu’s interview had just ended.
Bo Ying walked to the door and met him.
Seeing her, Fang Boyu winked at her, showing off his bright white teeth with a smile, “There’s a handsome interviewer inside. Good luck.”
“…”
What did the handsomeness of the interviewer have to do with her?
Bo Ying awkwardly smiled but politely replied, “Thank you.”
Half a minute later, Bo Ying found herself facing a man directly across from her. Her heart skipped a beat, her brain froze, and she stood there like a wooden chicken.
He Jingxiu was one of the interviewers.
He had changed into another suit. The navy blue made his features more pronounced, his eyes deeper. Of course, the way he looked at her remained as indifferent and distant as it was at noon.
“Miss Bo.”
The HR manager sitting next to He Jingxiu lightly coughed, reminding the woman who was staring at their boss. Such situations were common in their company, and they were used to it.
Bo Ying uttered an “Ah,” and upon meeting the HR manager’s gaze, abruptly snapped back to reality.
The manager smiled slightly and reminded her, “Please, Miss Bo, give us a self-introduction.”
“...”
For nearly half an hour, Bo Ying felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles.
When she walked out of that office, her steps were unsteady. She forgot what she had said inside and didn’t have time to think about whether she had messed up the interview.
After Bo Ying left, the HR manager couldn’t help but teasingly comment, “Manager Lü, how many young ladies today have been distracted by our President He?”
Lü Xiuxian chuckled and joked, “Who can blame them when our President He has such a face that attracts young ladies.”
The HR manager teased He Jingxiu a couple of times without getting a response and then said, “But this girl has good communication skills.”
Lü Xiuxian nodded, “She studied languages in college, then got into law school for her graduate studies, and has internship experience at a well-known law firm. She is a rare talent.”
The HR manager nodded in agreement but also expressed regret, “Her resume ranks among the top today, but her performance just now makes me question her professionalism.”
She initially had high hopes for Bo Ying but didn’t expect her to be distracted by He Jingxiu during the interview. Such an attitude would make anyone question whether she might have ulterior motives once she joined the company.
Listening to their conversation, He Jingxiu lowered his eyes to examine the resume spread out in front of him.
On the upper right corner of the resume was a two-inch ID photo. The person in the picture had her hair tied in a high ponytail, her eyes curved like crescent moons when she smiled, and her lips slightly upturned, making one feel comfortable just by looking at her.
Further down were her past educational and internship experiences, along with a brief personal introduction.
...
He remained silent for a moment, his fingers lightly tapping on the resume in front of him, and indifferently said, “Her knowledge base is solid.”
This statement left the managers exchanging glances, unable to gauge He Jingxiu’s thoughts.
Suddenly, Zhao Xuzhi boldly guessed, “President He, do you know this Miss Bo?”
Upon reflection, they vaguely sensed something amiss. From lunchtime to He Jingxiu’s appearance during the afternoon interviews, it all seemed a bit suspicious.
Under normal circumstances, He Jingxiu wouldn’t appear during the interviews.
He Jingxiu narrowed his eyes, closed the resume in front of him, and hummed in response, offering no further explanation, “I have other matters to attend to. Leave the rest to you.”
After He Jingxiu left, the managers exchanged knowing smiles and unanimously made a decision.
Bo Ying must stay. Such an outstanding talent could not be let go under any circumstances.
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