Arriving in Yuzhou at 7:00 PM.
The driver arranged by Jiang Mu was already waiting at the high-speed rail station.
She dropped Chu Xu off at home first before heading back.
...
In the blink of an eye, another week passed.
During this time, Chu Xu and Jiang Mu grew increasingly close.
Previously, they might have exchanged six or seven messages a day, but now they could chat twenty or thirty times a day.
They still hadn't met in person, mainly because Chu Xu was also busy, working overtime every day and not getting home until 10:00 PM, when he had zero energy to move.
"You didn't come over again today." Speaking over a voice call, Jiang Mu's voice was icy cold, and Chu Xu could feel her anger right through the phone.
Chu Xu explained, "I wasn't supposed to work overtime tonight, but then my boss suddenly had me go do corporate research. It really wasn't intentional that I couldn't come."
Working overtime was one thing, but sudden overtime—Chu Xu truly detested this kind of behavior.
If it weren't for the fact that he was scraping by financially, he would have fucking quit this job long ago.
How was he supposed to survive probation at this rate? Things were already this insanely crazy with the overtime; wouldn't he be pulling all-nighters later on?
At that moment, Chu Xu suddenly felt he needed to look for an escape route; this industry was hard to stay in for long.
Hearing that the other end remained silent, Chu Xu rubbed the bridge of his nose and said, "How about the weekend? I'll come over this weekend."
Only after he said this did Jiang Mu's expression soften slightly, and she said coldly, "You'd better remember that."
"Beep."
With that, she hung up the phone.
Chu Xu sighed. He didn't want to work overtime either...
Meanwhile.
Jiang Mu was sitting on the balcony in a black uniform, handling documents.
Her look was even more striking when she was focused, the glow from the laptop screen illuminating her face and making her distinct facial features clearly visible.
If Goddess Nnut's creation of humanity was graded, she was definitely a painstaking masterpiece.
Her phone suddenly rang beside her. It was her mother calling, and Jiang Mu answered.
"Mumu, what are you doing? Are you off work yet..."
The two of them chatted about everyday family matters, though mostly Wang Suxin did the talking, with Jiang Mu responding.
Then, the conversation suddenly shifted to Chu Xu.
"Mumu, how are things between you and Xiao Xu? Are you still keeping in touch?"
"Yes, I am. What's wrong, Mom?"
"Well, you know Aunt Wang. Her son also just came back from abroad, about your age, and he's not married either. I just wanted to ask if you were still in touch with Chu Xu. If not, you should go give a try with him.
Since you two are still seeing each other, I'll turn down Aunt Wang. But Mumu, you're not that young anymore; it's time to consider marriage. Mom thinks very highly of Chu Xu, so you two need to hurry up."
Jiang Mu frowned at first, but when she heard her mother say that she also thought highly of Chu Xu, her expression relaxed, and she said softly, "I think highly of him too."
Hearing this, Wang Suxin was over the moon and said "good" three times in a row.
Out of all the people she had introduced, not a single one had ever made her daughter show this much interest, let alone say something like that.
She knew her daughter's heart had been stirred.
As expected, they were cut from the same cloth; the boy she fancied was also the one her daughter would like.
Barring any accidents, she wouldn't have to worry about Mumu's marriage affairs anymore. Wang Suxin suddenly felt a huge burden lift off her shoulders.
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Mu walked over to the balcony railing to catch the breeze.
June was just around the corner, and Yuzhou was getting hot.
She frowned at times and relaxed at others.
Clearly, she was pondering something—or rather, feeling conflicted.
She couldn't quite make up her mind, feeling that doing it wasn't right, yet really wanting to go through with it.
After hesitating for a long time, she finally made a call.
"Director Liu, this is Jiang Mu. Does your company have someone named..."
...
Sunday at 10:00 AM.
Chu Xu jogged slightly while apologizing:
"Trust me, it wasn't that I intentionally avoided seeing you—it was our boss's fault. I was already planning to come over, but then a single phone call told me to get my ass back to the company. There was nothing I could do."
Without needing to think or guess, Chu Xu could feel just how angry Jiang Mu was right now. Being stood up twice in a row was more than anyone with even the best temper could take.
So much so that even after he finished speaking, Jiang Mu didn't show the slightest inclination to talk to him.
Chu Xu continued to comfort her: "Don't be mad. If I get off work early tonight, I'll come over, okay?"
He had no idea whether he could get off work early, but he was definitely going over tonight no matter what.
Even if he didn't get off work until 10:00 PM, he would still go.
Chu Xu thought this would work, but instead he was met with the "beep, beep, beep" of a dropped call.
Damn it, she didn't even speak and just hung up straight away.
He felt pretty aggrieved too. Work was just like this; it wasn't like he was blowing her off for some other reason—what could he possibly do?
Weren't women in their thirties supposed to be understanding? How come it seemed... wait, no...
Arriving at his desk, Xie Youxue walked over holding a cup of coffee and asked curiously, "Aren't you off today? Why did you come to work?"
Chu Xu sighed, pointed at the documents his supervisor had sent him, and said helplessly, "I don't want to either, but just look at this."
It was all client data.
Trust business was like this—working overtime was as normal as could be.
Xie Youxue silently patted his arm and sighed, "Hang in there, strive to make an annual income of a million soon."
An annual income of a million...
Was there really a chance? Compared to those talents who went straight through from undergraduate to postgraduate studies, he was just a graduate of a tier-two university.
If he really wanted to make big money, he had to start a business.
"Chu Xu, Manager Wu is looking for you," a colleague called out.
"Got it."
What would the HR manager want with him? The probation period wasn't even up yet.
Unable to guess the reason, Chu Xu hurriedly ran over to the HR department.
Manager Wu was sitting in his office still working on things, and only after finishing did he say, "Chu Xu, right? You don't need to come in tomorrow."
Hearing this, Chu Xu froze, wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him.
He paused for a moment, frowned, and said, "Why, Manager Wu? I haven't even made any mistakes."
Among the new batch of interns, he had the strongest abilities.
And he got along very well with his colleagues.
No matter how he looked at it, there was no way he should be the one cut.
Without even raising his head, Manager Wu said, "I don't know either. This is an order issued by Director Liu, and I'm only responsible for executing it."
"Director Liu?" Chu Xu frowned.
He had heard of him—seemingly one of the very top figures in the company.
Why would he want him out? They didn't even cross paths normally.
Chu Xu felt completely baffled.
He wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come.
Seeing this, Manager Wu reminded him, "Think about whether you've offended anyone these past few months."
He didn't know the reason himself anyway; he was only responsible for delivering the order.
Chu Xu pondered for a while, but truly couldn't think of a reason. He was certain he hadn't offended anyone.
However, since the company chose to eliminate him, he would just accept it. At least he'd get this month's salary.
He had already felt that this job was getting increasingly tiring, so it was a good excuse to find another one.
Still, he was so damn unlucky—getting fired without even knowing who he had offended.
There was nothing much to pack at his desk; within a few minutes, Chu Xu had everything sorted out.
Xie Youxue asked curiously, "Are you heading back?"
"I got fired."
"Stop joking, who's going to believe that?"
Chu Xu smiled, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and said, "You'll find out in a minute. Catch you later, Xie Youxue!"
Xie Youxue watched with her own eyes as Chu Xu left the company.
Then, the news that Chu Xu had been canned came out, leaving her even more bewildered. Why?
How could he suddenly get fired?
In Xie Youxue's mind, Chu Xu passing probation was a done deal.
She knew his capabilities.
So why was he suddenly fired?
Xie Youxue suddenly felt a bit restless, unable to continue her work either. She turned around and left the office to get some fresh air downstairs.
...