To avoid implicating the innocent, Qin Zhao quickly pulled Nan Yue to the side.
Ye Chenxi and Xu Yiyang were punching each other fiercely while cursing at one another, quickly attracting a crowd to watch.
"You dare to snatch my woman, don't you want to live anymore!"
"If you really loved her, you wouldn't have said those hurtful words about breaking up!!"
"It's not for you to judge whether I love her or not!!!"
Seeing that things were getting out of hand, Nan Yue said to Qin Zhao, "Come take a walk with me."
Qin Zhao glanced at the two men still passionately dueling and asked, "Aren't you worried about them?"
Nan Yue shook her head. "They're both adults, they should know not to take things too far."
The two of them walked to the villa's swimming pool and sat down on the lounge chairs.
After a period of silence, Qin Zhao spoke first, "Did you really break up with Ye Chenxi?"
Nan Yue looked towards Qin Zhao's profile. Sensing her gaze, Qin Zhao turned her head to meet her eyes.
Qin Zhao noticed Nan Yue seemed to be searching for something in her expression, with obvious inquisitiveness in her eyes.
After a long pause, Nan Yue said, "I had suspected you had feelings for Ye Chenxi, so I called to confront him about it. But just now I confirmed you don't have any feelings for him at all.
So as long as he apologizes to me and promises he won't be ambiguous with you again, I'll forgive him."
At this point, Qin Zhao didn't have much affection towards Nan Yue. Her intention was to pursue Nan Yue simply to complete her mission, not out of true feelings.
Therefore, hearing this didn't make her feel disappointed at all. On the contrary, she was rather intrigued to ask, "How did you know?"
"From the way you looked at him. Even though you tried hard to appear concerned, the coldness in your eyes, and even a hint of enjoying the spectacle, couldn't be concealed at all."
Nan Yue paused briefly before continuing, "Compared to when I first met you, you've really changed a lot now."
No kidding, even her core personality had been swapped.
Qin Zhao neither confirmed nor denied it, only saying, "Actually I quite dislike Ye Chenxi. His inappropriate behaviors have caused disturbances to my life."
Nan Yue was somewhat surprised. "Then why don't you switch to a different position? With your qualifications, staying by his side is a waste of your talents."
Nan Yue said this half out of sincere belief, and half hoping Qin Zhao would keep some distance from Ye Chenxi, so she wouldn't have to constantly worry about him cheating.
Qin Zhao smiled. "I wanted to, but if I voluntarily applied for a transfer, it likely wouldn't be approved, and might even anger Chairman Ye."
Before her voice had even faded away, Nan Yue said, "I'll help you."
Three days later, Nan Yue appeared at the company again. This signified she and Ye Chenxi had made up.
Nan Yue was holding a bag, likely containing gifts for Ye Chenxi. As she walked past Qin Zhao, she even winked at her.
At some point, Nan Yue's hostility towards Qin Zhao had completely vanished. Now when she saw Qin Zhao, she even felt a sense of closeness.
After Nan Yue spent half an hour in Ye Chenxi's office, not long after she left, Ye Chenxi called Qin Zhao over to talk.
Qin Zhao stood in front of Ye Chenxi's desk. Seeing the bruises still evident on his face made him look somewhat comical.
She held back her laughter and asked, "Chairman Ye, did you need me for something?"
Ye Chenxi looked at Qin Zhao. His mood seemed great, making his entire being appear radiant.
Recalling what Nan Yue had said to him, he was even more reluctant to part with Qin Zhao. But he had no choice, for the sake of his relationship with Nan Yue.
As long as things with Nan Yue progressed smoothly, he was sure there would still be opportunities with Qin Zhao.
"Qin Zhao, how has it been working as my assistant?" He finally asked aloud.
Qin Zhao said, "The work is light, the pay is high, it's a good job."
Then her tone shifted, "But for a new college graduate like me, this job doesn't provide much experience for a professional career."
Ye Chenxi nodded. "A very objective assessment. I have an even better position here, would you like to give it a try?"
He hoped Qin Zhao would refuse, or at least hesitate a little.
But Qin Zhao replied decisively, "Thank you Chairman Ye, I'm willing to try any position."
Ye Chenxi paused for a long while, still unwilling to give up. "If you want to continue as my assistant, I can double your salary."
But Qin Zhao persisted in her choice.
Ye Chenxi's slightly furrowed brows showed his disappointment, but he didn't try to keep her any further.
Qin Zhao was transferred to the design department.
The first thing she did was send Nan Yue a message: Miss Nan, I've successfully switched positions. She added a smiling cat emoji after that.
Nan Yue was boredly looking at the scenery in the car. She immediately took out her phone when she heard the message alert.
She simply started chatting with Qin Zhao directly.
The two hadn't properly talked after adding each other on WeChat.
Nan Yue: Congrats! [Throwing flowers emoji]
Qin Zhao: To thank you, let me treat you to a meal!
Nan Yue: No need, you've helped me before too.
Qin Zhao: Those are two different things. If you feel it's unfair, you can also treat me to a meal. We'll just take turns treating each other, problem solved.
Nan Yue: ...Alright, go ahead and decide on the time and restaurant, just let me know and I'll be there on time.
Nan Yue: I forgot to tell you, tomorrow night doesn't work. I have plans with Chenxi.
Qin Zhao: Got it [Happy cat emoji]
After putting her phone down, the system's voice suddenly sounded in her mind: "Host, I have a piece of good news, do you want to hear it?"
"Speak."
"Your comic has caught the attention of a well-known industry editor. If you can collaborate with her, it should bring in quite a bit of income for you. So host, you'd better speed up your comic production."
"Got it."
On her way home from work, Qin Zhao kept feeling like someone was following her. She asked the system, "Help me see who it is?"
After scanning the surroundings, 502 gave its answer: "It's Zhao Feibai."
Qin Zhao understood. "Where did he go after leaving the company?"
502: "He hasn't found another job. These past few days he's been staking out around the company, probably harboring resentment towards you."
Qin Zhao thought for a moment, then said, "How about beating him up again?"
As a civilized system, it would not encourage this kind of behavior, but also had no grounds to refute her, so 502 chose to remain silent.
No sooner said than done, Qin Zhao turned into a remote alleyway.
Yet after waiting for quite a while, Zhao Feibai still hadn't followed her in.
502 reminded her, "Host, he won't come. After being beaten by you, Zhao Feibai certainly doesn't dare confront you directly anymore."
Qin Zhao quietly cursed: Coward.
She then took a winding path back to her rented place.
People like Zhao Feibai who only dared to follow her from afar were quickly forgotten from her mind.
Qin Zhao first looked at the comments under her comic. Most were positive, interspersed with some discussions and summaries of the plotlines.
As well as negative feedback from those who felt the storyline was progressing too slowly.
As a learning type of author, Qin Zhao's attitude towards criticism was to make amendments wherever needed and take notes.
But the overall direction would still follow her own wishes.
The comic's update speed was a back-breaking two chapters daily, working late into the night each day.
The next evening after work, Qin Zhao lay at home watching the date footage between the male and female leads streamed to her by the system.
After making up from their last fight, the relationship between the two was even more awkward than before, which Qin Zhao hadn't expected.
Nan Yue tried hard to find conversation topics, and Ye Chenxi also made an effort to engage, but the interaction seemed forced from every angle.
Clinging to Ye Chenxi's arm coquettishly, Nan Yue pleaded, "Chenxi, my dad wants me to bring you home for a meal together. You haven't been to my house for so long now."
Ye Chenxi tapped Nan Yue lightly on the forehead and smiled. "Work has been busy lately, the company just started developing a new game project. I'll let you know when I have time opened up."
In their interactions, Ye Chenxi was clearly the more passive party. If Nan Yue didn't initiate conversation, they would lapse into silence.
After trying several topics and feeling tired from the effort, Nan Yue said, "Chenxi, I'm hungry. Let's go find a restaurant."
Ye Chenxi nodded. "Okay, what do you feel like eating?"
Nan Yue picked a Japanese restaurant. Sitting in the private room surrounded by appetizing food aromas instantly put her in a much better mood.
She excitedly ordered dish after dish from the menu, recounting to Ye Chenxi her encounters with the foods in Japan as she did so.
Ye Chenxi only felt it was noisy on his ears, but maintained an appearance of great interest.
Seeing his impatience, Qin Zhao tutted in criticism: "A flower stuck in cow dung."
The dishes had just been served up when Ye Chenxi's mobile phone started ringing in his pocket.
He gestured at his phone towards Nan Yue to indicate he was stepping out to take the call.
Nan Yue smiled and nodded gently.
Satisfied by her accommodating response, Ye Chenxi got up and left the room to answer the call.
Qin Zhao suddenly saw that after Ye Chenxi turned around, Nan Yue's face immediately turned cold.
This face-changing speed, faster than flipping pages in a book, sent chills down Qin Zhao's spine.
She jumped up from the sofa and said to the system, "Time to get to work!"
502 didn't understand: "What work is there to do? Host, what are you going to do?!"
