The next morning, for some unknown reason, Xu Qingqiu and the others had not come to the company. Chu Tian wasn't in a hurry; he pretended everything was normal, slacking off as usual, occasionally wandering around, making comments here and there, only to be met with eye-rolls.
In the afternoon, Xu Qingqiu finally returned, her hands carrying two bags.
Accompanying her was another girl who looked utterly adorable, dragging a large suitcase.
"Sister Qiu, we're at the company now. Give them to me; I can handle it myself."
"We're already here. Let me carry them over for you; it's no trouble."
"No, Sister Qiu. Sister Hua will scold me if she finds out."
"Don't worry, she's not here. What are you afraid of?"
"But there are so many people in the company... It was already a big imposition for you to pick me up, let alone carry my things..."
"Alright, alright. Just be careful with them, don't hurt yourself."
Seeing her insistence, Xu Qingqiu could only nod helplessly.
After entering the company, she first glanced towards Chu Tian's desk but didn't see him. Looking again, she spotted him behind two female colleagues, leaning back in his chair with his head tilted and neck craned, completely engrossed in their conversation.
Xu Qingqiu watched for a while. She felt somewhat uncomfortable but said nothing, pretending not to see as she headed straight to her office.
"President Xu is back!"
"Hello, President Xu!"
Xu Qingqiu smiled and nodded as she walked past, never once glancing in Chu Tian's direction. Everything appeared perfectly natural.
"Ah, Yiyi, you're back?"
"How's everything at home?"
"Did you bring us some goodies, Yiyi?"
He had known the boss was back as soon as he heard the series of "President Xu" greetings. He was furtively heading back to his seat with his head down when he heard a familiar name. Looking up, he saw a petite girl dragging a large suitcase, cheerfully greeting everyone as she followed Xu Qingqiu towards the office.
Oh, it's her? No wonder the name sounded so familiar. Zhou Yiyi.
Seeing a familiar face, his memories immediately clicked into place.
Zhou Yiyi was Xu Qingqiu's assistant. She had been with her for two years and had recently taken leave to go back to her hometown for a while. He hadn't expected her to return so soon.
It's good she's back. She's the real professional. She's been with Xu Qingqiu for over two years and manages all aspects of her life meticulously. Not like me. I'm fine with others waiting on me, but me waiting on others? Dream on.
And with this, his tenure as a temporary assistant could finally come to a glorious end. Otherwise, being constantly dragged around by the boss was exhausting—nowhere near as comfortable as slacking off in the company.
"Yiyi, put your things here and rest a bit. I won't get you water."
"That's okay, Sister Qiu, I can get it myself."
Xu Qingqiu spoke casually as she sat down at her desk. She then noticed her desk had been tidied by someone. Before she could get a clear look, two iridescent USB drives caught her eye.
Seeing their familiar shape, Xu Qingqiu's heart skipped a beat.
This scene felt all too familiar. Wasn't this how 'The Original Dream' appeared not too long ago?
Could these be new songs? But why two of them? Surely it couldn't be two separate songs?
Flustered, she put down her bag. Just as she picked up a USB drive and was about to plug it into her computer, she suddenly remembered something.
"Yiyi, close the door."
Zhou Yiyi didn't know what was going on, but she obediently closed the door. Turning back, she efficiently placed her belongings in a corner. Forgetting about her thirst and noticing the office was a bit messy, she immediately began tidying up.
Xu Qingqiu wasn't paying attention to these things; her focus was entirely on the computer.
She clicked open the first USB drive. Just like last time, it contained sheet music, a demo, and the arrangement—nothing was missing.
She opened the other, and it was the same. The only differences were the song titles and that this time, the sheet music bore a name that hadn't appeared before.
The lyricist, composer, and arranger are all Youmeng? Who is this Youmeng?
With a heart full of questions, Xu Qingqiu took out her phone and dialed Li Chunhua's number.
"Hey, Sister Hua, come back to the company now."
"What's wrong, Qingqiu? I'm in the middle of something. What happened over there? Is it urgent?" Li Chunhua, who was out discussing a collaboration, asked curiously from her car.
"Do you remember that song from before? I have two more here."
"What? Wait for me, I'm coming back right now!"
The moment she heard there were two more songs, Li Chunhua forgot all about the collaboration. She immediately told the driver to turn around while simultaneously taking out her phone to apologize to her business partner and reschedule.
Right now, nothing was more important than these two songs.
The first song had already made Xu Qingqiu explosively popular again, marking a major comeback. This time, there were two. It was obvious they had to be taken very seriously.
After hanging up, Xu Qingqiu stood up, opened her office door, and asked outside, "Who was the first one to come in this morning?"
"Huh? It was probably Ju. You can ask her."
"Ju, were you the first one here today?"
"Yes, President Xu. What's up?"
"Then did you go into my office?"
"No, Cheng arrived right after I sat down. You can ask him if you don't believe me."
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. Let me ask you then, did you see anyone else go into my office?"
"No, I didn't. It seemed like no one went in."
"That's right, no one went in," another colleague chimed in. "I've been sitting here the whole time and didn't see anyone come this way."
After asking around, it turned out no one had seen anything, nor had anyone gone near her office.
As for the previous night, she had been practicing for the recording of her next show for the past few days and was the last one to leave, so it definitely wasn't last night.
It seemed her questions yielded no answers. Xu Qingqiu sighed in disappointment, turned back into her office, and sat down in her chair to wait for Li Chunhua.
"Sister Qiu, has something happened?"
"Ah? Nothing. Oh, by the way, Yiyi, does anyone else know the password to my office besides you?"
"Besides me? No one. I haven't told anyone else." Yiyi shook her head, indicating she didn't know.
Then that's strange...
"Is something missing, Sister Qiu? Should we call the police?"
"Nothing's missing, but something extra has appeared."
Zhou Yiyi was completely baffled. What on earth does 'something extra' mean? Did someone sneak in to leave Sister Qiu a gift? It couldn't be an admirer, could it?
Wow! I've only been gone a few days, and a new admirer has already shown up? This one is really something, managing to sneak into the office! Isn't he afraid Sister Qiu will call the police and have him arrested? The previous admirers didn't seem to have much luck—they were either ignored or scolded away by Sister Hua. Which brave soul is it this time?
Completely unaware that her young assistant's train of thought had long since gone off the rails, Xu Qingqiu's mind was still focused on the two songs.
Although she was thrilled to have received the songs, she wouldn't feel at ease until she knew who this person was.
Who are they? Male or female? How did they get in? Why give me songs? Do they have an ulterior motive?
A string of questions swirled in her mind, making it impossible for her not to worry.