Classmate Li Zhuangsheng doesn’t want to be reborn

Chapter 687 Disillusionment
"The company's accounts are showing extremely serious losses."

After the National Day holiday, Yi Xiaoqian went directly to the school to report to Li Zhuangsheng. Her expression was complicated, as if she had a lot to say.

“I know…” Li Zhuangsheng sat on a bench, blinking his eyes.

“I’ve been doing some research these past few days, and I’ve found that our company’s employees earn significantly more than those at similar companies,” Yi Xiaoqian continued.

Li Zhuangsheng shrugged: "I know that too... Actually, although our company's employees are young, they are all quite skilled. If we didn't offer higher salaries, why would they join our small company?"

"Oh...is that so?" A hint of surprise flashed in Yi Xiaoqian's eyes. "I really didn't notice that. But even so, I've noticed that our company has a lot of unnecessary expenses, like those massage chairs, and those snack cabinets and tea stations..."

Li Zhuangsheng waved his hand: "It's alright, it's alright. Whether we make a loss or not is not important, as long as the mission can be completed."

"But I did the calculations, and if we can cut costs appropriately, the company can save tens of thousands of yuan every month, at least four or five hundred thousand yuan a year."

"Really? Can you send it to me?"

Yi Xiaoqian didn't think much of it; she had already saved the document on her phone, so she quickly sent it to Li Zhuangsheng.

Li Zhuangsheng glanced at it a few times. Yi Xiaoqian's plan was to cut some company benefits, even overtime pay. According to her investigation, overtime pay on normal workdays was only 1.5 times the regular wage, while Li Zhuangsheng was paying double.

“Your plan is good, but I don’t think it’s necessary to save this little bit of money…” Li Zhuangsheng scratched his head after reading it, and said with a smile, “Alright, there’s no need to talk about cutting benefits anymore. Let the employees live a better life. It’s okay if the company loses money for ten or eight years.”

"Oh, you don't want to make a profit?"

"Actually, it's not that urgent. Let's leave it to fate. The main thing is to maintain the quality of the animation."

Yi Xiaoqian was a little confused. Who exactly was he, the young master of a family, who didn't even blink an eye at the cost of several million a year?
"...Alright then, if you don't care about this little bit of money, then I'm just worrying about it for no reason."

Yi Xiaoqian sat down next to Li Zhuangsheng with a sullen expression, but showed no sign of leaving.

"Is there anything else you want to say?" Li Zhuangsheng asked again.

After a long silence, Yi Xiaoqian couldn't help but ask, "What is your relationship with Hu Mengdie?"

On her very first day at work, she heard people talking about Hu Mengdie. They said that Li Zhuangsheng had a girlfriend named Xiaodie, who was incredibly beautiful.

Bai Min also spoke to her in a rather veiled way, telling her how good the relationship was between Li Zhuangsheng and Xiaodie, that Xiaodie was the proprietress here, and how beautiful Xiaodie was... In short, she was implying that she shouldn't be a toad trying to eat swan meat and should behave herself.

This made Yi Xiaoqian even more annoyed, but that wasn't what she cared about at the time, especially since she was still a newcomer. Aside from mentally cursing Bai Min, Yi Xiaoqian didn't say anything.

Later, when Hu Mengdie came to the company, she greeted her and found that the company's old employees were not exaggerating. This Xiaodie was truly stunningly beautiful, the most beautiful girl she had ever seen.

The problem is, Yi Xiaoqian knows that Li Zhuangsheng has a girlfriend at school. She has even met that girl named Zhu Zhixue.

Therefore, based on the information she had, she could only draw one conclusion: Li Zhuangsheng cheated on her, with one woman outside the school and another inside.

However, even with overwhelming evidence, Yi Xiaoqian still couldn't believe that Li Zhuangsheng, such a gentle and considerate person, would do such a shameless thing.

Could there be some hidden story behind this?

For example, Hu Mengdie is actually Li Zhuangsheng's father's illegitimate daughter, but due to various family feuds, she cannot be made public, so he pretends to be her boyfriend and takes care of her.
Or perhaps Hu Mengdie found some leverage over Li Zhuangsheng and used it to blackmail him into submission? Or maybe... during the summer vacation, Li Zhuangsheng had a fight with his girlfriend, and then that green tea Hu Mengdie took advantage of the situation and hooked up with this rich and handsome guy?
Yi Xiaoqian had many wild guesses in her mind and had long wanted to find Li Zhuangsheng and ask him the truth.

The problem is that Li Zhuangsheng is no longer the junior she could boss around, even though he still greets her with a smile and calls her "senior sister" just like before.

However, Yi Xiaoqian was still self-aware enough to know that the other party was her boss who had taken good care of her, so her mindset underwent a subtle change, which prevented her from finding an opportunity to ask.

It was somewhat unexpected that she asked the question; she blurted it out on the spur of the moment.

"Hu Mengdie and I?" Li Zhuangsheng had already expected this when he heard Yi Xiaoqian's words, so he wasn't surprised. "That's the kind of relationship we have."

"What relationship?" Yi Xiaoqian hadn't even realized what was going on and asked stupidly.

“It’s a romantic relationship,” Li Zhuangsheng said seriously.

Yi Xiaoqian was taken aback, then asked again, "Then what about you and that Zhu Zhixue...?"

"They're in a romantic relationship," Li Zhuangsheng said with a smile. "But they don't know each other yet, so don't let it slip when you're at work, senior!"

Yi Xiaoqian was stunned for a while before she realized what Li Zhuangsheng meant. Her expression instantly became incredibly interesting; she stared blankly at Li Zhuangsheng, her eyes filled with confusion.

She even suspected that Hu Mengdie was a vixen, never expecting that a guy like Li Zhuangsheng would be a two-timing scumbag!
"So, so, you're... having your cake and eat it too?" Yi Xiaoqian stammered, feeling a sense of disillusionment.

“Strictly speaking, I’ve been involved with more than two people.” Li Zhuangsheng blinked. “But what you’re saying isn’t entirely wrong, is it?”

"How could you do this?"

Yi Xiaoqian was truly heartbroken. She had observed Li Zhuangsheng for a whole school year and thought he was a gentle, considerate, thoughtful, and shy pure-hearted boy. She never expected him to do such a thing!
She suddenly felt that the other person was a stranger, and she was even a little scared.

Li Zhuangsheng coughed and put his hands together: "I admit that what I did was somewhat immoral, but this is my private matter, so please keep it a secret from me, senior."

……

"Why are you sitting here all by yourself?" Li Xiuyu sat down next to Li Zhuangsheng.

"You saw it?" Li Zhuangsheng leaned back on the bench, gazing wistfully at the vast blue sky.

"I saw it. Her expression was terrible when she left," Li Xiuyu said.

“Is that so…” Li Zhuangsheng’s expression was complicated.

"You know she likes you, do you think that saying this will make her dislike you?"

"I think this is fine too."

"If you think it's all good, why do you still look so melancholy?"

"Perhaps it's because being disliked by someone who once liked you is a really painful feeling."

(End of this chapter)