Chapter 6

  The day before yesterday, it rained too much, and even with an umbrella, I got soaked on my way home. The next morning when I woke up, my head felt like a pot of congee, all blurry and unclear, so I had to call the company to ask for a sick leave.

  Took a few tablets of cold medicine and swallowed them, fell on the bed just thinking about sleeping for a while, when Fan Andong's phone call came in.

  "What's wrong with you?"

  Wanting to speak, his throat was so dry it hurt, "I'm sick."

  "Is it urgent? Otherwise I'll go take a look at you?"

  Fu An Dong, this investment director seems to be rich and idle, looking very happy.

  "It doesn't matter."

  He hesitated for a moment and asked in a low voice: "Xu Shenshen, has your depression relapsed?"

  I really didn't want to speak, my throat was as dry as smoke, "It's not, it's just a common cold. No need to come over, I'll be fine after a nap."

  "I'd better come over anyway, I'm worried about you like this. What if you die of illness at home? Which building and floor are you on?"

  What bad luck! I sighed and hung up the phone.

  After a few seconds, Fu Andong changed the office number and called again: "Don't hang up on me, tell me which room your family is in?"

  "Fu An Dong, don't think that just because I've lost my dad, you can develop paternal feelings towards me. I'm 26 this year, if I were with someone else, I'd be a mother by now. I won't die from living alone." After finishing speaking, I hung up the phone, turned it off and covered myself with the quilt to take a nap.

  I slept so soundly that I didn't wake up until someone was banging on the door, and even then I only barely managed to rouse myself. As expected, Fu Andong appeared at the door with Liu Xi, his face gloomy as he stood outside.

  "How did you find this place?" I looked at him in puzzlement.

  Fu An Dong brushed it off with one sentence: "It's written in the company files."

  I propped myself against the door and emphasized to him: "I'm really fine. You two go ahead and do what you need to do."

  He went into the house and put a plastic bag on the tea table, "Take some medicine, don't be stubborn. Your body is not good to begin with." After finishing speaking, he took Liu Xi away.

  Throughout the whole process, Liu Xi didn't say a word. Even an idiot could tell that they had a fight because of me.

  I had long warned Fu Andong that he was a married man and couldn't be the way he used to be, but some people, even with a face that looks like they have a wife, lack a heart that has a wife. The word "family" is synonymous with "floating clouds" for Fu Andong.

  He has had several girlfriends, and the reason for breaking up with them all is that he doesn't want to get married. Some men, no matter how mature they are in terms of money, career, age, or physical condition, are unwilling to take responsibility for their commitments. Pei Andong is just such an irresponsible man. He only falls in love but never gets married, and whoever falls in love with him will be unlucky.

  I feel guilty towards Liu Xi in my heart, so I sent a text message to Fu Andong: Do you want me to help you explain things to Liu Xi?

  After a long time he still didn't come back, I had no choice but to swallow another pill and continue sleeping.

  This cold was more severe and lasted longer than I had imagined, and it took me two whole days at home to recover before I could make my way back to the office. In the afternoon, Zhang Qiu came to find me: "Manager Xu, both Sun Zong and Ren Zong have already spoken with Lu You about this. Do you think we should discuss the price with him?"

  "So soon?" I was a bit surprised.

  "Yes," Zhang Qiu said in a low voice, "he probably knows President Sun."

  "Alright, I'll go talk to him." The company adopted a confidential salary system, and the HR assistant couldn't access the salary data, so it was no use hoping that Zhang Qiu would discuss terms with him.

  My mood started to worsen, and I irritably stared at the phone number of Lu You on the documents. Things have come to this point, and it's all going to be one outcome anyway.

  "Hello."

  "Hello Mr. Lu, I am the recruitment manager of XX Securities Company. You met with several colleagues from our company two days ago, and I'm calling today to verify some information with you."

  The person on the other end of the phone hesitated for a moment, "Go ahead and speak."

  "May I ask what your current salary level is?"

  Even knowing that this industry is highly profitable, the numbers spoken by Lu You still slightly shocked me.

  "So what is your expected salary?"

  He thought for a moment, "Let's raise it by 40%."

  "Is this your bottom line? I don't know if we have any more room for discussion."

  "After a moment of silence, he said: 'Alright, let's talk.'"

  "Okay, thank you. I will feedback the interview result to you as soon as possible, if there is anything else you can call me." I don't know if it's a cold or not, but my voice has changed, but fortunately Lu You didn't notice that it was actually me.

  "Ah, it was Zhang Qiu who contacted me before."

  "Oh, I see. I was on sick leave for the past two days, so I didn't get a chance to communicate with you in person."

  He slowly asked: "Then who are you?"

  "You can call me Shei."

  "Alright, Shei, contact me again if there's any news." He hung up the phone first.