After Transmigrating Into a Book, I Was Played by the Black Lotus – Chapter 23

A Huge Loss of Face.

Since Lin Xingzhu was fully in charge of this matter, which only required Sun Li’s signature to finalize the last step, she dispatched someone to handle the contract negotiations right after leaving Sun Li’s office.

On Wednesday, the relevant personnel came to report on the contract’s progress; it only needed the final signature from the person in charge.

Lin Xingzhu pondered for a moment and asked, “Has President Mu’s side scheduled a time?”

The person replied, “They said everything will be arranged according to President Lin’s schedule.”

Lin Xingzhu nodded in understanding, told her about her available time slots, and had her go negotiate with the other party before dismissing her.

After the person left, she leaned back in her chair, relaxing, and couldn’t help but sigh. So this is the joy of being Party A¹?

She hadn’t experienced this in a long time.

After relaxing for a moment, Lin Xingzhu called her assistant in again.

Special Assistant Lin: “President Lin, is there anything you need?”

Lin Xingzhu pinched the bridge of her nose, looking at the silent assistant before her, whose head was slightly bowed. She didn’t speak.

The air instantly fell silent.

As time passed, Special Assistant Lin couldn’t help but feel her heart begin to pound. The muscles on her face twitched imperceptibly, and she remained in the same posture she had entered with, not daring to make a move.

Realizing the silence had stretched on for too long, Lin Xingzhu looked at the woman before her, who was as taut as an iron wire, and slowly said, “Don’t be nervous. You did a very good job with the task I gave you previously.”

Special Assistant Lin smiled cautiously.

Lin Xingzhu said gently, “I just wanted to ask, have you heard anything about the recent rumors in the company regarding a Miss Bai?”

In that instant, Special Assistant Lin had a stroke of insight².

For the past few days, there had indeed been rumors in the company about President Lin flying into a rage for a beauty. After all, many people had attended the banquet that night, so it was inevitable that someone would have noticed.

However, it was only a matter of employees joking about it in small circles. As for the parties involved, besides Lin Xingzhu, the other one was completely unaware.

She said after some deliberation, “It seems there is such a matter, but I haven’t heard anything related to a Miss Bai.”

They were both intelligent people; she already knew why President Lin had called her in.

“I haven’t mentioned this to anyone else either. I don’t think anyone knows about Miss Bai,” Special Assistant Lin said.

The coldness in Lin Xingzhu’s eyes softened a little. She nodded, “I see.”

It seems Sun Li found out about Bai Xiying through other channels.

That’s good.

Her slender, pale fingers moved lightly as she raised her eyes to reassure the assistant before her. “Alright, you may go. You’ve worked hard with all the overtime recently. Just let your subordinates handle the unimportant tasks.”

Special Assistant Lin’s expression relaxed. It seemed President Lin hadn’t forgotten about the salary-doubling matter she had mentioned before.

She breathed a sigh of relief and said sincerely, “Thank you for your consideration, President Lin.”

After leaving the office, Special Assistant Lin touched her chest, where her heart had been pounding.

President Lin’s aura was too imposing, like someone who had been in a position of power for many years. Every expression of displeasure or anger carried a certain gravitas, capable of making one break out in a cold sweat without a single word.

It seemed that no matter how much she had indulged in a life of pleasure before, the foundation from her years of elite grooming was still there; it all just depended on whether she wanted to use it.

The corners of Special Assistant Lin’s eyes crinkled with a smile. Being a bit serious is fine, as long as she’s generous.

Inside the office, Lin Xingzhu poured herself a cup of hot tea. Steam rose in wisps, blurring her vision.

Some traces seemed to be carved into her very bones, branded onto her soul. The years of education from the Qin family could still allow her to make an impact in this different world, even after so many years had passed.

Lin Xingzhu detested having people with ulterior motives around her; it made her unable to control her suspicions and led her to speculate.

Even worse, it could make her lose control of her emotions.

But this undoubtedly contradicted the bottom line she had drawn for herself, leading to uncontrollable consequences.

The Qin family’s curated curriculum included lessons on combat and self-defense, but never on how to kill and take a life.

Lin Xingzhu closed her eyes, burying all her emotions deep within them until not a trace remained.

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After signing the contract with Mu Muqing on Thursday afternoon, Lin Xingzhu declined her invitation to stay.

“There are still things to attend to at the company; I’m unable to be in two places at once³,” Lin Xingzhu said with a helpless tone.

Mu Muqing chuckled lightly. “In that case, I won’t keep you, President Lin. I’ll treat you some other time when there’s an opportunity.”

Lin Xingzhu nodded. She and Mu Muqing exchanged a look, and both could see the pretense in each other’s eyes.

Mu Muqing looked at the noble and radiant⁴ Lin Xingzhu and couldn’t help but feel a pang of annoyance. She’s gotten all the advantages.

Thinking of Bai Xiying, whom she had deliberately sent out today, her eyes darkened slightly. She still hadn’t gotten anywhere.

Suppressing her impatience, she saw the person off. Mu Muqing then returned to her office, her expression cold.

Bai Xiying had been busy with work at the company every day recently. Mu Muqing had wanted to ask her out after work, but she always left in a hurry. The one time she did manage to ask, the other party looked reluctant and declined.

At this thought, her brow furrowed with increasing irritation.

Ever since she was young, even if it wasn’t by her own design, she had always been successful thanks to her stunning looks. Not to mention, she wasn’t some airhead with nothing but a pretty face like Lin Xingzhu. Successful in her career and beautiful, she had never lacked for admirers!

She had never failed to get what she wanted.

Since Bai Xiying didn’t appreciate her advances, it was time for her to change her approach.

This Friday night was the Xingyuan Company’s routine departmental dinner.

As their direct superior, and having only recently arrived, Lin Xingzhu didn’t decline and went with everyone to the reserved restaurant for dinner.

After dinner, as expected, came the routine relaxation session: singing at a KTV⁵. Lin Xingzhu had wanted to refuse, but she couldn’t withstand everyone’s insistent requests and decided to go just this once, resolving to leave the relaxation time to them in the future.

“President Lin, you should sing a song too!” someone suddenly called out playfully after a while.

“Yeah, yeah! President Lin, is there a song you want to sing? I’ll queue it up for you!”

The person next to her secretly prodded, “President Lin, it must be so boring for you to just sit here and listen to us. Come and have some fun with us!”

The private room was full of young people. Faced with their usually gentle and refined superior, they had been a bit reserved at first, but were now gradually loosening up under the influence of alcohol.

Lin Xingzhu: “…”

No, I’m not bored at all.

She refused, “You don’t need to worry about me. Just enjoy yourselves.”

What no one knew was that Lin Xingzhu had a huge weakness: she was completely tone-deaf⁶.

This was also why she had tried every excuse to refuse when she heard they were going to a KTV.

But no one believed her; they just thought she was being modest.

Seeing that the microphone was about to be shoved in her face, Lin Xingzhu really couldn’t stay seated any longer.

She really couldn’t afford that kind of embarrassment.

Lin Xingzhu stood up and said, “You guys sing first, I’m going to the restroom.”

With that, she pushed open the door to the private room and went out.

An employee who had been sitting closest to her said doubtfully, “President Lin isn’t deliberately trying to get out of it, is she? There’s a restroom in the private room.”

The others exchanged a look. “Forget it, let’s just have fun.”

While they genuinely didn’t want President Lin to feel bored, the main reason they had asked her to sing was that they felt it would be bad to ignore their top boss while everyone else was having fun.

Outside the private room, her vision instantly brightened.

Lin Xingzhu didn’t have a smoking habit, so naturally, she wouldn’t be like some people who came out specifically to find a corner to shroud themselves in smoke.

She found a spot by a window to stand, planning to go back in after a little while.

Someone carrying a large cake passed by. Lin Xingzhu glanced at it subconsciously but paid it no mind. She pushed the window open a little wider, and a cool breeze immediately rushed to her face.

“Hey, beauty. How lonely to be here all by yourself.”

Suddenly, a flirtatious voice sounded from behind her.

Lin Xingzhu subconsciously frowned and turned around. A man, his face flushed red from drinking, was leaning against the wall, staring at her without blinking. When he saw her look back, he even flashed a smile he thought was handsome.

He was quite tall and somewhat handsome, but the smile made him look a bit sleazy.

The somewhat handsome man touched his bangs, revealing the expensive and exquisite watch on his wrist. The smile on his lips widened.

How could this not charm someone to death?

He was an expert when it came to beautiful women.

Lin Xingzhu frowned and gave him a cold glance.

“So? Beauty, let me buy you a drink? I see you’re just standing here all alone, must be pretty boring.”

The man whistled. “The night is hazy, and your pose, looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, is very shang⁷.”

Lin Xingzhu’s expression was indescribable. “…”

Shang?

This person must be sick in the head.

Looking at the man’s messy, yellowed hair, she wondered which hole this non-mainstream⁸ had crawled out of.

Seeing that she wasn’t responding, the man moved closer and gave a wink. “How about it? Wanna come with ge?”

Lin Xingzhu suddenly averted her eyes. Gag, she felt like she was going to throw up.

If not for the fact that, despite sounding like an idiot, the man’s eyes were still passably clear, she really would have been unable to stop herself from resorting to violence.

The young man didn’t know any better. He thought Lin Xingzhu was just being shy and embarrassed, so he was delighted and his hand started to reach out to grab her.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” a female voice suddenly berated.

This was followed by the sound of wheels rolling across the smooth, polished floor.

Lin Xingzhu looked toward the source of the voice and saw it was an acquaintance.

Xie Yunya recognized her too.

“…Lin Xingzhu?” Xie Yunya’s expression suddenly turned a little strange and awkward.

She gave the young man a complicated look. “What are you doing!”

He even dared to hit on Lin Xingzhu? Back in the day, it would have been hard to say who was hitting on whom.

The man flinched and quickly retracted his hand. “I wasn’t doing anything! Just chatting with this young lady about life and ideals.”

Lin Xingzhu coughed, looking at the two people before her who obviously knew each other.

Xie Yunya ignored him, wheeling her wheelchair closer. She said apologetically, “I’m so sorry, junior. This cousin of mine has something wrong with his head. If he offended you, I apologize on his behalf.”

Since they were acquaintances and the man hadn’t behaved too outrageously, Lin Xingzhu nodded, her expression a little odd. “…It’s nothing. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”

To run into a suspected non-mainstream street loiterer just by stepping out for some air… Lin Xingzhu felt a bit helpless. And this man, his demeanor was so completely different from Xie Yunya’s; it was hard to imagine the two were related.

Just as she turned to head back to the private room, the man hurriedly said, “Hey, miss, don’t go! The night is bleak and desolate, I…”

Lin Xingzhu could no longer hear what he was saying, because she had just spotted another acquaintance.

Meeting those smiling eyes, in that instant, only one thought remained in Lin Xingzhu’s mind—I’d rather be back in that room, making a huge fool of myself by singing!

…At least there were no acquaintances in there. At least there was no one in there who would dare to so brazenly watch the spectacle she was making of herself.

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