The next morning, it was time to bid goodbye and after having a hearty breakfast at Zhou Yichen's house, they talked to Xie Nuying before leaving.
Ai hugged her mother. "Take care of yourself. Don't overwork."
Xie Nuying nodded and patted her head. "You too."
She glanced at Jun and softly smiled. "See you soon."
Jun bowed. "Thank you for your care yesterday. Don't hesitate to call me if you ever come to Beijing. I will return your care by ten fold. Same goes for *cough* Uncle too."
"Even if Yichen comes to Beijing, you can just leave him alone," she saltily expressed. "It's better than turning your house into a circus."
His eye slightly twitched.
Ai glanced once at Duan Ren's house. There had been no movement since their conversation yesterday.
"Mom. Keep your distance from Aunt Duan."
If Jun's theory was right and Duan Ren had tried to use her to get close to the Gu family in the past life, then she didn't want her mother to get entangled with her or in her schemes.
Xie Nuying sternly gazed at her. "Did you meet her yesterday? Don't bother with what she would have said. You know she is a troublesome person in our neighborhood. She doesn't talk nicely, especially after you have won the Summit."
"Indeed. But still. Don't talk to her much."
"I don't. Talking to people like her is a waste of brain cells anyway."
As expected from Ai's mother.
The journey from Xuanhua to Beijing took two and a half hours. They had come to meet Ai's parents, but this short trip raised questions about Duan Ren and the Gu family and her connection to Ai's life. During the ride back, they tried to think of how Duan Ren must have gotten rich without Ai's influence, but nothing substantial came to their minds.
Jun clenched the steering wheel, his heart ablaze with fury. "She dared to scheme through you in the past but this time, I won't let it happen! I will keep my eyes on her so that she never approaches you," he narrowed his eyes, "The moment she tries to do anything suspicious, we will nab her. That might also give us a clue as to who or what helped her get that money."
"You are right," Ai nodded.
If not for Jun and his background, she would have never come to know about Duan Ren's identity or about Yating's family even in this life.
With the bribery case and now Duan Ren's identity revelation, she felt an inkling that something was going to happen. The fate was changing with every step they took and the more it changed, the more difficult it would be to gauge the outcome. She wasn't sure how much the past memories and that knowledge. would be able to help them.
But as long as Jun was beside her, she had full faith that they would weather any storm.
After reaching back to the city, Jun asked, "What do you want to do?" Content originally comes from noᴠelfire.net
Ai's eyes shone. "How about going to Sky? Today is my first day after all."
"Are you sure? We have just returned. Don't you want to rest? We can go tomorrow."
"It was a short ride back, so I am not tired," she shook her head. "I cannot wait to officially join," her eyes shimmered with eagerness.
Jun pinched her nose and chuckled. "Fine. Yunru is also really excited to meet you. Let's go to Sky then."
The employees who noticed them coming gasped and gathered around the entrance.
"It's the CEO and MissImperfectlyFine! They came together!"
"They are not just that, they are boyfriend and girlfriend! Didn't you see their picture?"
"She is finally joining today?"
One of them whispered, "Hey but I don't get it. Didn't President Chen announce that the CEO would be engaged to Miss. Han Shui? So how did she become his girlfriend?"
"Well, I don't know either…"
"When did they break up?"
As soon as Jun and Ai stepped into Sky, the employees coughed and straightened up. "Sir!"
Jun threw a glance at everybody and studied their gazes.
Ai slightly bowed. "Hello. I am Zhou Ai or you might know me as MissImperfectlyFine. I will be joining Sky from today. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
Her soft and mellow voice was really pleasing to hear. She wasn't overly smiling or too eager to introduce herself. Her calmness and poise made the employees strangely feel relaxed too.
"Hello, Miss. Zhou. Welcome to Sky! We are glad to have you here."
Jun said, "Now that I am here, I will clarify this. The announcement President Chen made that day was a misunderstanding. I am not getting engaged to Han Shui. I never was. It was an unfortunate mixup. Han Shui and I have already broken up."
That gave everybody a strong urge to choke, but nobody dared to even let a syllable out in front of the CEO.
"She is Zhou Ai. She is not just MissImperfectlyFine who will be working here from today, but she is also my girlfriend," he narrowed his eyes, "So-"
"So nothing," Ai interjected and looked at everybody. "You don't have to give me any special status because of our relationship. Please just treat me as as your normal colleague."
Mam, it will be very difficult to do that, you know!
Ai scolded him. "Don't threaten them. I don't want them to be afraid of me."
Well you are my girlfriend. They should be afraid of me strangling their necks if they did anything to disrespect you!
The scene blinded the employees.
Did she just scold the CEO? And Sir seems to be really angry, but he somehow is only listening to her scolding so obediently! Is our cold CEO actually a doting boyfriend?
Going up the elevator, Ai tightly held onto Jun's hand as she felt the acrophobia set in.
Jun touched his chin and seriously pondered. "I should shift my office to the first floor. That way, it will be easy for you."
She tapped on his head. "Don't take so much trouble. I will be fine. Also, I want to overcome my fear. So, don't spoil me."
"I cannot help but spoil you," he kissed her forehead.
As the elevator doors opened and they stepped out, a figure dashed towards Ai at lightning speed and bounced to hug her. "You are finally here!"