Dawn of Life

Su Ling was furious: "Xiao Feng, are you fucking crazy? I'm only warning you as Lin Yue's best friend. If you harass her again as her ex-boyfriend, I'll make you regret it."

After saying that, he hung up the phone and handed it back to Lin Yue. Lin Yue took the phone, opened Xiao Feng's WeChat profile picture, and gently tapped the block button.

Su Ling tentatively suggested, "How about I take the afternoon off and go out with you to clear your head?"

Lin Yue bit her lip and pondered for several seconds. When she looked up again, her eyes were filled with determination: "No need. I don't know how many people are watching me right now. If I take another day off, who knows what people will say behind my back. Besides, I've been an HR professional for over ten years and have plenty of experience dealing with people I don't like. A mere ex-boyfriend is nothing."

Su Ling nodded: "You're right, you're not the one who feels guilty and in the wrong. Let's go back to the company."

Back at the company, Lin Yue went straight to the colleague in charge of onboarding procedures and said, "Could you process Mr. Xiao's onboarding procedures and create his personal file?"

Her colleague looked up, eyes wide, mouth agape in disbelief. Lin Yue had only taken a few steps when she impatiently moved her chair next to Xiao Yu and asked in a low voice, "Did you just see? Sister Lin's face looked really bad. What's her relationship with President Xiao now? Will I run into trouble if I go to complete my onboarding procedures?"

The voice wasn't loud, but just loud enough for Lin Yue to hear. Lin Yue stopped in her tracks, stood still for several seconds, then turned back to the girl and said in a firm tone, "Mr. Xiao and I have broken up amicably. We are now just in a superior-subordinate relationship. You will still report to me; just focus on doing your jobs well."

Xiaoyu gently pinched the girl's arm to remind her to shut up, then nodded repeatedly to Lin Yue, saying, "Don't worry, Sister Lin, we will definitely work hard."

Lin Yue knew that with this girl's personality, it wouldn't take more than two days before the whole company knew that she and Xiao Feng had broken up!

After returning to her workstation, she opened Xiao Feng's Feishu (a messaging app) and sent a message: "Mr. Xiao, I have already assigned your onboarding to a colleague. She will come to see you later."

A few minutes after Su Ling finished her voice call to Xiao Feng, he edited a WeChat message for Lin Yue, only to find that he had been blocked. Now, staring at the Lark message, he felt a mix of emotions.

Sitting next to Xiao Feng, Sheng Xing noticed Xiao Feng staring at his phone with a serious expression and asked, "A message from Lin Yue? What did she say?"

Xiao Feng's lips curled into a bitter smile as he said, "She blocked me."

Sheng Xing couldn't help but laugh out loud. He picked up the fairness cup and filled Xiao Feng's cup with tea, then said seriously, "You have an ex-girlfriend who is currently working as the HRD at Dasheng. It will soon reach the upper management of Wenxing. You originally represented the interests of headquarters, but now that a woman is involved, things have become a bit complicated. Therefore, I'm afraid Lin Yue can't stay in the company."

Xiao Feng didn't reply, quietly drinking his tea with a complicated expression.

As soon as it was time to leave work, Lin Yue grabbed her bag and went home. She didn't want to stay at the company for even a second longer because of the current atmosphere. When she got home, her parents and Xiao Yu were having dinner. Liu Cuiying got up and went to the kitchen to serve her a bowl of rice.

Lin Yue didn't want her family to see her sadness, so she buried her head in her bowl and stiffly shoveled rice into her mouth. Just then, Liu Cuiying's voice rang in her ears: "Didn't you say you'd invite your boyfriend over for dinner? Why haven't you said anything since?"

Lin Yue's hand holding the chopsticks paused noticeably for a moment, and she tried to reply in a calm voice, "We... have broken up."

Liu Cuiying was taken aback, then a hint of disappointment flashed in her eyes. After a long while, she sighed deeply: "I told you, it didn't sound reliable. He's such a good catch, how could he possibly be interested in a divorced woman with a child like you?"

Lin Haifeng glanced at Lin Yue's less-than-pleasant expression and quickly interrupted, "Alright, alright, say no more."

Lin Yue had felt nauseous all afternoon, and after listening to Liu Cuiying's words, she lost her appetite even more, managing only to drink two sips of soup.

She stood up and said, "Dad, Mom. I had afternoon tea at the company this afternoon, so I'm not hungry right now. I'll go to my room and work for a while."

Lin Haifeng and Liu Cuiying stared at Lin Yue's retreating figure, their expressions showing concern.

Lin Yue leaned against the headboard, staring blankly at a white wall, Xiao Feng and Sheng Xing's faces vying to fill her mind. A heavy weight pressed on her chest, making her feel uncomfortable.

Suddenly, her phone, which was on the bedside table, vibrated. She answered it reflexively. Su Ling's anxious voice came through, tinged with a sob: "Lin Yue, my mother's condition has worsened. I have to go back right away. I was worried about you before I left, so I'm calling to let you know. Don't worry about those people bullying you at work; I'll deal with them when I get back."

Lin Yue suddenly felt a lump in her throat. She heard Su Ling talking to her on the phone while also discussing with the Didi driver whether taking the airport expressway would be faster. She could only manage a brief moment of reassurance: "Don't worry, Auntie's health hasn't been very good, but she'll pull through this time, just like before."

Su Ling: "Don't worry about me. I'll go back first. Wang Yu will come to help in a couple of days."

Wang Yu is Su Ling's boyfriend, and they have been together for four years. Wang Yu is five years older than Su Ling and treats her very well. In Su Ling's words, he is like a father and brother to her, but he just doesn't want to get married. His reason is always that he can't give her a good life right now and wants to work hard for a few more years.

Wang Yu works in project management at a five-star chain hotel, earning an annual salary of over 30 yuan. He also owns an apartment in Hangzhou.

Lin Yue once suggested that they sell the apartment to make a down payment on a new home, and then they could share the mortgage payments. This way, they could solve the problems of a wedding home, household registration, and their child's schooling. However, Su Ling felt that she was a burden to Wang Yu. If she had some savings, she could help out, and Wang Yu wouldn't have to work so hard.

This time, Wang Yu's willingness to accompany Su Ling home can be seen as an opportunity to push their relationship forward, which is a good thing in a way.

Lin Yue and Su Ling encouraged each other on the phone for a while before hanging up.

These days, Xiao Feng hasn't specifically looked for Lin Yue. A few days ago, when she occasionally bumped into Xiao Feng in the company's tea room, meeting room, or rest area, he would always take a detour, as if avoiding her.

Lin Yue was also struggling with whether to quit her job. She'd been browsing job postings on Boss Zhipin (a job search platform), but almost none met her requirements. Besides, she was unwilling to give up; she'd endured so much hardship at Dasheng to secure her position. Now, she was going to quit because of a man, and she didn't even know how to explain her reasons for leaving during interviews.

So she decided to keep her job. She originally planned to act as if she was cooperating well with Xiao Feng in front of Sheng Xing to put Sheng Xing at ease, but Xiao Feng kept refusing to face her.

That day, Sheng Xing called Lin Yue to his office alone. Lin Yue saw that Sheng Xing seemed hesitant to speak and understood what was going on, so she stared straight into Sheng Xing's eyes and asked, "Mr. Sheng, just say what you have to say."

Shengxing didn't hesitate at all regarding Lin Yue's decision to stay or leave. However, Xiao Feng hadn't made up his mind yet. He couldn't tell whether Xiao Feng was reluctant to leave or didn't want to be a bad guy, so he planned to test Lin Yue first. If Lin Yue was willing to resign voluntarily, that would be even better.

"Lin Yue, I am truly grateful for your contributions to the company and your support during this time. Right now, the company is full of gossip about you and President Xiao. Yesterday, on my short walk from my office to the conference room, I overheard several groups of people talking about you two. I'm worried that if this continues, it won't be good for you, for President Xiao, or for the company. So, I personally suggest that you look for new opportunities outside. With your work ability, I believe you can have a good career anywhere."

Lin Yue replied calmly, "President Sheng, is today's meeting a formal discussion to persuade me to resign, or are you testing my attitude? Also, President Xiao is now my direct boss and also the person involved in the rumors. What is his view on this matter?"

Lin Yue knew that things had developed to this point, and no matter what her attitude was today, Sheng Xing's desire for her to leave wouldn't change. She might as well be frank. Moreover, she could deduce from Sheng Xing's hesitant attitude before the conversation that Sheng Xing and Xiao Feng hadn't yet reached a consensus on this matter.

As expected, Shengxing was taken aback by Lin Yue's direct question and was momentarily speechless, unsure how to answer.

Lin Yue said firmly, "President Sheng, Xiao Feng and I have already broken up. We haven't violated the company's rules regarding relationships between superiors and subordinates. Furthermore, I'm very satisfied with my job, so I won't leave the company voluntarily because of anyone or anything."