Chapter 11 Some people, you can't beat _1

That night, Yin Ci stayed at the Lu Family home and told Lu Anping a bedtime story, lulling him to sleep.

She also lulled herself to sleep.

By the time she woke up, it was already seven thirty in the morning of the next day.

She needed to report to her new company today, so she had to get up early.

Without disturbing Lu Anping, she tidied up and took a taxi to the secret design company.

The Secret Design Company was the one arranged by Lu Jianshen for her.

Yin Ci went to the human resources office to complete the onboarding process before heading to her desk.

As soon as she sat down, she heard someone say, "As expected of a privileged newcomer, it's already ten o'clock and she hasn't started her work."

The voice sounded particularly snarky and acerbic.

Yin Ci turned around and saw a woman standing behind her.

The woman had loose chestnut waves, heavy makeup, a red professional outfit, and high heels.

"Hello, who are you?"

"My name is Jiang Ya, the chief designer at Secret and the designer recommended by the company to participate in the LS Design Competition."

Jiang Ya squinted at Yin Ci, her tone arrogant.

Yin Ci knew that this person was probably here to give her trouble.

Still, she introduced herself briefly.

"My name is Yin Ci, a newly hired designer at Secret."

A look of disdain flashed in Jiang Ya's eyes.

"Since you're a designer, you'll answer to me, here - organize these documents for me, I'll need them for my afternoon meeting."

A stack of files landed on Yin Ci's desk with a 'thud'.

Jiang Ya was anything but polite.

Yin Ci skimmed through the files; they were all old materials with no substantial content.

She was indeed here to stir up trouble.

Yin Ci shook her head calmly, "Miss Jiang, I think you've misunderstood. I came to the company with only one purpose - to participate in the LS Design Competition and win the championship. I don't need to worry about anything else."

This was what she and Lu Jianshen had agreed upon, so Yin Ci was quite sure.

"Win the championship of the LS Design Competition? With your skills? Are you trying to make me laugh?" Jiang Ya immediately burst into laughter, her voice loud enough to draw the attention of those around them.

"This woman sure talks big."

"No choice, her backing is strong, do you have any?"

"So arrogant."

Everyone was pointing fingers at Yin Ci.

Yin Ci scanned the room and spoke plainly, "Whether I can win the championship or not is my business."

Jiang Ya laughed.

"You're competing on behalf of our company. If you perform poorly and tarnish our corporate reputation, will you be held responsible?"

"Is the company yours?" Yin Ci frowned.

She couldn't possibly stay in the company all the time; Jiang Ya's harassment was inexplicable.

If she continued to cause trouble, her plans might change.

Jiang Ya's face turned red; she was left speechless.

"You..."

"It seems that the company isn't yours." Yin Ci nodded as expected, "Since the boss isn't worried about these things, why are you? Shouldn't you just go back to work and prepare the materials for the competition, aim for a good result? That's what you should be doing right now."

Yin Ci advised sincerely.

The colleagues around her burst into laughter.

For some reason, they felt like Yin Ci was lecturing a child, with a weighty gravity to her words that also carried an underlying guiding intent.

Jiang Ya was so angry that she shuddered, losing all her rationality.

As the chief designer, she had been teased by a newbie in front of so many colleagues.

What authority would she have left then?

"Yin Ci, you've exhausted my patience." She lifted her hand to slap Yin Ci's face.

However, the slap didn't connect, as her hand was intercepted by Yin Ci.

Yin Ci looked at her coldly.

"Let me give you one more piece of advice, don't resort to violence whenever you like. Some people are not your punching bags."

With force, Yin Ci pulled her hand away.

"What's going on? Don't you have work to do?"

The turmoil finally alarmed the manager who scolded everyone and sent them back to work. Only Jiang Ya stubbornly glared at Yin Ci, her eyes burning with fury as if ready to consume her.

"Yin Ci, you wait for me." She declared before storming off.

Yin Ci didn't bother arguing with such a person as she had more important things to attend to.

She collected a pile of reference materials to stimulate her creativity, and only left in the afternoon after switching off her computer

The moment she left, the office immediately came alive with discussion.

"What's Yin Ci's background? How dare she confront Jiang Ya?"

"She was brought in from the outside, she must be someone important. Better be careful."

"It seems she didn't do anything troublesome today, but Jiang Ya complained several times."

Everyone shrugged off the news; it was not unusual for Jiang Ya to behave arrogantly, she did have her own powerful backing.

...

After work, Yin Ci took a taxi to the Lu Family's house. She was to provide psychological counseling for Lu Anping.

When Yin Ci arrived, Lu Anping was still occupied with Sudoku.

He seemed to have found a knack for it, solving the puzzles at an impressive speed.

"Anping, you're doing great. Can you teach me?" Yin Ci watched him for a while before bending down to chat with him.

Lu Anping seemed to not hear her, fully absorbed in his own world.

Yin Ci didn't take it to heart. It's already a huge improvement for him to accept other people's toys.

Lu Jianshen came to see Lu Anping and happened to see the two together playing Sudoku. He did not interrupt, but leaned against the door to quietly watch, a smile that he didn't even notice himself forming appeared on his face.

Yin Ci praised Lu Anping for being a gifted child. This time, Lu Anping gave some response and looked at Yin Ci. His eyes were gentle and clear.

When it was about time, Yin Ci got up to cook. As she turned her head, she saw Lu Jianshen leaning against the door frame, causing her to pause.

Lu Jianshen had a tall and straight posture, quite different from before. In his casual home clothes, his relaxed state brought a slight, breezy smile to his lips.

She had to admit, this man was one in a million. He had the perfect 'husband vibe', anyone who saw him would be enchanted.

Seeing that she didn't move, Lu Jianshen casually asked, "Why did you suddenly stop?"

Yin Ci silently reproached herself for three seconds for being infatuated with Lu Jianshen, then she coughed awkwardly.

"I… I was thinking about what to have for dinner."

Before Lu Jianshen could say anything, she quickly slipped away.

She had noticed Lu Anping breathing a little harshly yesterday, so she decided to prepare a lung-nourishing soup of white fungus and pig liver.

She was quick and efficient at cooking, with a wide range of dishes, yet she didn't need much time.

Soon, four dishes and a soup were served. Lu Jianshen brought Lu Anping out for dinner.

For some reason, other than when playing Sudoku, Lu Anping would become extremely enthusiastic whenever Yin Ci was around.

So much so that Lu Jianshen began to suspect if the boy had somehow been charmed.

After dinner, Lu Anping tugged on Yin Ci, wanting her to tell him a story. Yin Ci complied.

At nine o'clock, Lu Anping yawned, and Yin Ci took him off to bed.

Although this child didn't seem to be comfortable around others, he fell asleep while still holding Yin Ci's hand.

Yin Ci gently freed her hand and left the room.

She owned an apartment in the city center, which she had bought with her own savings. The Yin Family had no idea about it.

She had arranged for a cleaning service yesterday, so it was ready to move in today.

As Yin Ci was about to leave, she saw Lu Jianshen examining some documents on the couch. On noticing her, he put down the documents and said, "Your room has been cleaned. Stay here tonight."