Chapter Eight: Me, Hopelessly in Love

“President Su! So, during the time you’re participating in the variety show, you won’t be at the company at all?” Sweetie, Su Zitan’s secretary, nervously twisted the hem of her clothes, her eyes full of worry.

“The company’s under constant attack right now. If you leave, what should we do…”

Su Zitan continued writing without even looking up. “What do you mean, what should you do?”

“Clarify what needs to be clarified, sue who needs to be sued. Do I really have to teach you how to handle such trivial matters? If you can’t deal with this, you might as well resign yourself.”

“But… but…” Sweetie tried to say more.

“No buts. I’m in love—got it?” Su Zitan put down her pen and handed a sheet of paper to Sweetie. “This month, I’m going out to have fun, on my honeymoon. Nothing anyone says will change that.”

“…”

Sweetie looked down at the paper in silence. It was Zitan’s clothing designs: a total of seven sets, each with matching men’s and women’s pieces, all with similar styles.

Worn together, they were couple’s outfits.

“Actually, this is for work too,” Su Zitan said, standing up and giving Sweetie’s cheek a playful pinch. “Alright, I’ll leave it to you these few days. When I get back, I’ll give you a raise.”

Having explained everything that needed explaining, Su Zitan grabbed her bag and left the office with a light, cheerful step.

The employees watched as their usually icy, aloof boss left, humming a tune, mouths agape in disbelief.

…

Lin Ze had just finished recording seven songs. He took a sip of water, his throat a little hoarse.

“You finished really quickly today. Going on a date this afternoon?” Wang Xue teased.

“I’ll go home later, pack up, and rest for a bit,” Lin Ze replied, stretching lazily. “Teacher, thanks for your help today.”

“It’s no trouble, it’s my job.” The recording engineer smiled kindly at him as they walked out of the studio together.

“I’m heading over to arrangements. If you’re not busy, wait a bit and I’ll give you a ride home,” Wang Xue offered.

“No need, don’t worry about me. My wife’s picking me up,” Lin Ze waved with a big grin.

Wang Xue’s face darkened and she turned away abruptly.

This guy is so annoying—every other sentence is about Su Zitan.

Lin Ze went to the restroom, not noticing that someone was watching him from the corridor’s corner.

As he entered the restroom, his phone rang.

“All done recording?” Su Zitan’s sweet voice came through. “I miss you~”

“All done, all done. I’m just in the restroom right now,” Lin Ze replied as he closed the stall door.

“Okay, I’m waiting for you in the underground garage. When you get out of the elevator, turn right. My car’s at the end.”

After finishing, Lin Ze washed his hands at the sink. Just as he turned off the faucet and turned around, someone rushed in from outside.

He’d barely turned when he collided full force with the person.

The restroom floor was slippery. Lin Ze was fine, but the other guy fell straight to the ground.

“Hey, are you alright?”

Lin Ze was about to help him up but hesitated, noticing his wet hands.

“My hands are still wet, so I won’t help you up…”

Looking down, he realized who it was—the same Wang Lei he’d met in the elevator earlier.

“Brother Lin? I’m so sorry, Brother Lin!”

The floor was wet, but Wang Lei quickly scrambled up, reaching out with wet hands to grab Lin Ze’s arm.

Lin Ze instinctively stepped back.

Wang Lei froze, then stepped back himself and gave Lin Ze a deep bow.

“No need, it’s fine…” Lin Ze hastily moved aside.

“No, I must. This is to apologize for the post I made before,” Wang Lei said, slapping himself across the face. “It’s all my fault. I posted those things without knowing the truth.”

“Wait, you…”

A chill ran down Lin Ze’s spine. Was this guy all right in the head? His actions were so practiced, as if rehearsed.

Did he come to the restroom just for this?

After slapping himself so hard his face turned red, Wang Lei, still in a frenzy, suddenly grabbed Lin Ze’s right hand with both of his.

“Why don’t you hit me back a couple of times…”

Lin Ze shook off his hands in disgust and pulled a couple of tissues from the wall dispenser to wipe himself.

That floor was obviously filthy—why grab me with those hands?

Lin Ze didn’t want to say anything more to Wang Lei and left the restroom.

As Lin Ze’s footsteps faded away, Wang Lei slowly straightened up, a strange smile creeping onto his face.

He calmly washed his hands and face at the sink, dried them with paper towels, then looked toward the innermost stall.

…

Su Zitan was watching a live replay on her phone when she heard the car door open. She turned to see Lin Ze climbing in.

He sat in the passenger seat, frowning.

“What’s wrong? Constipation?” Su Zitan asked, puzzled.

“I…” Lin Ze was interrupted, then resignedly buckled his seatbelt and recounted what had happened.

Su Zitan immediately sensed something was wrong. “Do you think Wang Lei planted a camera in the restroom?”

“That’s exactly what I thought. I realized it as soon as I got in the elevator.”

“Should we go back and check?”

“Forget it, it’s too late now. Let’s go eat!” Lin Ze shook his head. “This guy’s an idiot—not worth the attention.”

…

“Hello, Brother Yang!”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Wang Lei, a singer from Xinghang Media.”

“Never heard of you. Delete this contact,” Zhang Yang rolled his eyes.

Where did this D-list singer even get my contact info? I thought it was someone wanting to add my sister.

“Wait! Teacher Zhang Yang, I have a video of Lin Ze hitting someone!”

Zhang Yang’s finger hovered over ‘delete’ but stopped at that sentence.

“Oh?” Zhang Yang replied.

Soon, a video came through.

It was very clear: Wang Lei sitting on the floor, Lin Ze standing nearby. Then Wang Lei slapped himself, Lin Ze shook off his hand with a look of disgust.

Excellent! Wonderful!

Zhang Yang grew excited.

Nicely filmed!

“How much do you want for this video?”

“Brother Yang, I don’t want money. I have a grudge against Lin Ze too! He’s suppressed me in the company so much I’ll never lift my head again,” Wang Lei said, suppressing his excitement as he typed. “But once this video is out, I won’t be able to stay at Xinghang Media…”

“No problem! Once Lin Ze’s brought down, you can come work for me,” Zhang Yang replied generously.

“Thank you, Brother Yang!”

Zhang Yang saved the video and watched it over and over, growing more delighted each time.

Just this morning, his father had called to scold him, saying Jiang Dasheng’s post was idiotic, and told him to stay out of it, that he had arrangements in place for Lin Ze.

Now, holding the video, Zhang Yang was elated.

“They always call me brainless, say I’m an idiot. Well, do I not have a backup plan now? Hmph…”