Belated Romance (Mu Tongrui)
Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Before Mu Tongrui went to work at Fu Corporation, she visited a pharmacy nearby to purchase some24-hour emergency contraceptive pills.

There were many public elevators that were under maintenance early in the morning. It was also atpeak hour, coupled with the fatigue from last night that left Mu Tongrui feeling very weak. She wasunable to squeeze with the others in the elevator. She looked at her watch and thought that she wasgoing to be late when she saw Xiang Nanqian passed by. She smiled and said, “I heard that youquarreled with Lingye last night. Is that true?”

Mu Tongrui pursed her lips and looked pale. She saw Xiang Nanqian pressing onto the button of theprivate elevator. Xiang Nanqian laughed and said, “See you later. I will not be waiting for the elevatorwith you.”

The private elevator door opened. Xiang Nanqian wore her limited-edition Jimmy Choo's and walkedinto the elevator, with others casting envious glances at her. She stepped inside confidently andsmirked at Mu Tongrui.

When the private elevator door open, Mu Tongrui saw Fu Lingye standing inside.

He looked at her with his usual expressionless face. Just when the door was about to close, hestretched out his hand to stop the door from closing shut.

The door opened once again. He locked his eyes on her, “Come in.”

It was not certain who he was talking to. The other female staff standing together with Mu Tongrui wereflushed with excitement, thinking that Fu Lingye were talking to them. They were about to step into thelift when Xu Kun stopped them. He said with a taciturn look, “Not all of you, just her.”

Xu Kun pointed directly at Mu Tongrui. Mu Tongrui froze and stood outside the door. She did not plan toenter the private elevator. She would rather squeeze with others on the public ones than use the sameone with Fu Lingye and Xiang Nanqian. She did not want to be the third wheel.

Fu Lingye saw Mu Tongrui's pale face. He frowned and said impatiently, “I asked you to come in.”

Mu Tongrui balled her fist. She felt anger and injustice rising in her heart. When Fu Lingye ordered herlike this, she felt angrier. However, if she did not go up with him, he would make things even moredifficult for everyone else. She could not possibly quarrel with him in front of so many employees. Shehad no choice but to step into the private elevator.

When the elevator door closed again this time, Mu Tongrui could hear the despicable, negative remarksthat were hurled at her.

“Who on earth is she? I saw her talking to Ms. Xiang earlier. How was she also able to take the samelift as the President?”

“Isn't Mu Tongrui Yeshao's girlfriend? How did she get involved with the President?”

“She really is a wench!”

.........

The elevator doors close, separating them from the incessant, nosy chatter outside.

Fu Lingye stood at the back of the elevator. Mu Tongrui and Xiang Nanqian stood in front because theycame in later.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the elevator. Mu Tongrui stared at the red numbers changing asthe elevator rose. She hoped that it would go faster.

After arriving at the 60th floor, the elevator door opened. Mu Tongrui rushed out as though it wastorturous spending every second in the elevator. After Xiang Nanqian came out, the door closed oncemore. Xu Kun looked at Fu Lingye and asked him cautiously, “Boss, do we let Miss Mu go off like this?”

Fu Lingye asked Mu Tongrui to enter the private elevator in front of everyone. It was obvious that hewanted to let everyone know that Mu Tongrui was a special person in his eyes. However, Xu Kun wasnot sure what his boss was actually thinking. He thought that his boss wanted to take the opportunity toask Mu Tongrui to come up to the President's office. He did not expect to see her leave like this.

The two of them did not exchange a word in the elevator.

They did not even exchange glances.

Fu Lingye kept his steady gaze, his eyes cold and calm. He spoke indifferently, “Are you going to doher work for her then?”

“......”

Xu Kun did not know what to say. He touched his nose awkwardly.

He did not understand what his boss was doing. His boss asked Mu Tongrui to take the same elevatoras him. That meant that it would invite a lot of unnecessary gossip from the other staff in the company.Seeing how his boss appeared aloof, it seemed that his boss did not have the intention to protect MuTongrui after all.

Upon arriving at the 66th story, the elevator door rang open. Fu Lingye walked out of the elevator andinstructed Xu Kun following behind him, “Those people who were engaged in the nosy chatter andgossip earlier, report them to me.”

Xu Kun was startled. He could hardly respond to what Fu Lingye was talking about. He could notremember who those people were. It was only after a while that he got what Fu Lingye meant, when hisboss mentioned those few female staff to him. However, he really did not see clearly who they were.

“But there are so many staff. I am afraid it would be difficult to replace out who were the ones who saidthose things.”

Fu Lingye stopped in his tracks. He shot a glance at him, “There are surveillance cameras around. Do Ineed to teach you how to look at them?”

Xu Kun broke into a cold sweat, “...... Yes, yes, yes. I will do it immediately.”

.........

Once Mu Tongrui entered the Creative Department, Xiang Nanqian dumped a stack of documents onher and ordered her arrogantly, “Bring them to the documents room on the 20th floor.”

“Now?”

“Of course. I want them delivered to me within 10 minutes. The data room needs these documentsurgently.”

Mu Tongrui frowned and endured the persistent body ache. She carried the documents and walked out.

Xiang Nanqian held onto her arm and called out in a prickly tone, “Why? Are you not willing to deliverthese documents? Wasn't it enough pretending to be weak and vulnerable in front of Lingye earlier?Are you still pretending?

Mu Tongrui let out a deep sigh, “Ms. Xiang, I am not pretending to be frail. I am not feeling well today.”

Xiang Nanqian did not want to believe her. She said coldly, “So what if you are not feeling comfortable?Does that mean you should not work?”

“I did not mean that. I will send these documents over now.”

Mu Tongrui carried a heavy stack of documents and rushed over to the Creative Department.

When she got to the elevator door, she realized that the elevator was still in the midst of maintenancework. Even the private elevator was undergoing maintenance too. Xiang Nanqian must have knownabout this and did this to her on purpose!

Enduring the discomfort, Mu Tongrui carried the documents and returned to the Creative Department.

Xiang Nanqian was not surprised to see her walk back. She said, “Why haven't you sent thedocuments over?”

“The elevators are still undergoing maintenance work. I see that these documents are not that urgent,so I will go over later when the elevators are working.”

Xiang Nanqian shouted at her in front of everyone else, not caring about Mu Tongrui's image. “Who areyou to decide if the documents are urgent or not? I said they are! I do not care if the elevators areworking or not, so you would better send them over now!”

Mu Tongrui clenched her fists.

Xiang Nanqian snorted and said in disdain, “If you feel that you cannot continue with this job, then youcan resign anytime.”

Mu Tongrui bit the bullet and grabbed the documents. She left the Creative Department without lookingbehind her, taking the emergency stairway.

Xiang Nanqian sneaked a smile. It was going to be physically exhausting for Mu Tongrui to carry thedocuments down from the 60th to the 20th floor and then make the trip back up.