Chapter 20

On Tuesday morning, Qi Baizi received a call from the police, asking her to come in. Han Zhiyu had not yet been released. Her father, Han Zheng, had woken up and was receiving treatment at the hospital. After some thought, Qi Baizi asked Gu Yuetong for leave, citing personal matters. However, Gu Yuetong saw right through it on the phone. “Is there news about Han Zhiyu?”

Qi Baizi was silent for a moment before admitting it. She didn’t really want Gu Yuetong to be too concerned about Han Zhiyu’s affairs, no matter which way you looked at it. For one, she didn’t want Han Zhiyu to receive too much attention because of this incident, which could lead to disciplinary action, demotion, or even dismissal. After all, in this situation, Han Zhiyu was also a victim of her family circumstances. Secondly… she was somewhat resistant to Gu Yuetong having too much involvement with Han Zhiyu. These days, she would occasionally think about the things Han Zhiyu had told her before, and it made her inexplicably irritable.

But Gu Yuetong had already asked and even offered to go to the police station with her. Qi Baizi had no reason to refuse. The two agreed to meet at the company entrance. Qi Baizi had originally planned to pick Gu Yuetong up directly from her apartment. The car was still with her; she had taken it to be washed after dropping Gu Yuetong off after work yesterday. But Gu Yuetong had a project meeting at ten, so to save time, they had to meet at the company, which was closer to the police station.

Gu Yuetong hadn’t expected Qi Baizi to prepare breakfast for her even with such a tight schedule. She had already noticed the subtle changes in Qi Baizi, who was getting more and more into her role. Seeing Gu Yuetong unwrap a sandwich and a cup of black tea, Qi Baizi slowed down the car.

“Let’s take the local roads to avoid the morning rush hour.” She turned her head slightly to look at Gu Yuetong. Seeing her nod in agreement, she turned on the right turn signal.

The car drove steadily. Gu Yuetong leisurely took a sip of her black tea and asked, “What did the police say?”

“They asked me to bring her some clean clothes and things,” Qi Baizi said. “She might have to stay in there for a few more days.”

Gu Yuetong grunted in acknowledgment.

Qi Baizi glanced at her and frowned slightly. “Are you very worried about her?”

Gu Yuetong came back to her senses, stunned for a moment. Qi Baizi asked again, “After all, she was your assistant for a long time. You must still have feelings for her, right?”

This was a difficult question to answer. Gu Yuetong rarely spent her energy trying to guess her riddles. This was the first time she had spoken so proactively, and Gu Yuetong was genuinely unsure of her attitude. “You’re my assistant too. I have feelings for you as well.”

Neither confirming nor denying, it sounded more like she was covering something up. Was this Gu Yuetong’s classic way of manipulating people? Qi Baizi was inexplicably dissatisfied with this answer, even though she couldn’t find anything wrong with it… She lowered her eyes, her bangs slightly obscuring her vision. Qi Baizi used one hand to brush her hair aside. In the rearview mirror, Gu Yuetong saw a flash of annoyance on her face and suddenly detected a hint of jealousy.

This kid… was she competing for favor? Competing for favor with her own predecessor? Gu Yuetong clearly didn’t realize that Qi Baizi’s jealousy held something deeper; she just thought of it as a child fighting over candy.

“Your salary is quite a bit higher than hers was back then,” Gu Yuetong said, swallowing a bite of her sandwich. “And she was also taking benefits from Gu Hezhu.”

After a moment’s thought, she added, “Don’t worry, I’ll give you a bigger year-end bonus.”

Qi Baizi grew even more irritated. Why was Gu Yuetong suddenly so talkative, and what was she trying to explain? Who mentioned money? Distracted, she didn’t notice the car to her left suddenly changing lanes. She failed to slow down in time and scraped against it.

With a sudden brake, Gu Yuetong’s tea spilled all over the floor. Qi Baizi quickly turned to look at her. Fortunately, aside from the shock, Gu Yuetong was unharmed. Qi Baizi’s anger flared to its peak. She unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. The driver of the other car was also startled, but what was more frightening was Qi Baizi storming towards him.

Through the glass, Qi Baizi gestured for him to get out of the car. As the car changing lanes, he was naturally the one primarily responsible for the collision due to his lack of careful observation. The male driver’s face turned pale with fear; after all, the car Qi Baizi was driving looked expensive. Sure enough, as soon as he rolled down the window, Qi Baizi sternly questioned if he was blind.

“The car in front was so close, and you still changed lanes. Do you male drivers not use your brains when you drive, just knowing how to charge ahead recklessly?”

The male driver was so scared he blurted out, “Sister, big sister, I…”

“Who are you calling big sister? At your age, if you went to jail, the guards would have to sign you up for pension insurance. Don’t think I didn’t see you roll your eyes at me before you changed lanes. You think all female drivers in nice cars are easy to bully, is that it?”

“Let me guess, before you changed lanes, you were probably thinking that if there was a collision, you’d just scare me a little and then extort some money from me, right?”

“Do you have any idea who’s sitting in this car?”

But no matter who was in the car, the male driver could only accept the blame and pay up. Qi Baizi’s words had hit a nerve, and he didn’t dare get out of the car, just cowering inside, calling the traffic police and his insurance company. Qi Baizi glanced at the scrape. It was clear his car was more severely damaged; Gu Yuetong’s million-yuan car only had a small paint chip.

Her burst of anger vented, she had no more time to waste. Qi Baizi went to the back seat to quickly clean up the tea on the floor mat, then asked Gu Yuetong if she wanted to leave first. Gu Yuetong had been silently watching her handle the accident, not understanding how her usually soft-spoken assistant could suddenly have such a temper. Gu Yuetong was the one paying her salary and didn’t want to deal with her subordinate’s attitude. But on the other hand, she was five years older than Qi Baizi and had five more years of experience. She didn’t want to put too much pressure on this kid either, so she waved her hand, indicating they should handle the matter at hand first.

Qi Baizi went over and said something to the male driver, they exchanged phone numbers, and then she got back into the driver’s seat. As the car finally started moving normally again, Qi Baizi belatedly realized how scary she had just been. She organized her thoughts and said in a small voice, “I’m sorry, President Gu. I will definitely drive carefully.”

Gu Yuetong didn’t seem to mind that much. Small accidents were inevitable on the road. Speaking of which, she had also been in a scrape before, with a girl delivering food—wait a minute? Gu Yuetong squinted slightly, but her memory seemed to be covered in a layer of dust. She couldn’t remember the girl’s face at all, but the figure was distinctly familiar. She seemed to have asked for her business card at the time, saying she would contact her again for compensation…

“President Gu?” Gu Yuetong didn’t speak, and Qi Baizi thought she was truly angry. She reverted to her previous cautious attitude. “President Gu, I…”

“Did you ever work as a delivery driver part-time?”

Gu Yuetong suddenly asked. Qi Baizi was stunned for a moment, then nodded. “I have.”

“Around when was that?”

“I’ve been doing it on and off for the past few years…”

For Gu Yuetong to suddenly ask this, she must have something in mind. Did she mean for her to go back to delivering food? Was this a hint that she was fired? Qi Baizi gripped the steering wheel tightly, her nerves stretched taut.

“President Gu, I was in the wrong just now. I promise it won’t happen again…”

“Did you have any accidents when you were a delivery driver?” Gu Yuetong interrupted again.

An accident? After a moment of thought, Qi Baizi’s pupils suddenly constricted. So Gu Yuetong was referring to that incident… She remembered the business card tucked inside her textbook. Gu Yuetong had recognized her.

“President Gu, I didn’t intentionally not contact you for compensation. I can explain.” Sweat instantly broke out on Qi Baizi’s forehead. Even with the cool air from the constant temperature AC, she still felt a wave of heat. “I, I…”

Seeing her tongue-tied, Gu Yuetong quickly said, “I’m not trying to hold you accountable. I just happened to remember.”

“I didn’t expect it to be such a coincidence either.” Gu Yuetong raised her hand to check her watch. “Pull over after this traffic light. I’ll drive, you rest for a bit.”

Qi Baizi didn’t know what to say. In Gu Yuetong’s eyes, she was probably already a hit-and-run driver who couldn’t be trusted, right? After all, at the time of the accident, she had been the one to offer compensation, yet she had procrastinated day after day until now. Qi Baizi did as Gu Yuetong said. As she got out of the car to switch places, she glanced in the mirror. The girl with the student-like haircut was now red-eyed and pale-faced. How awful.

She sat in the passenger seat and secretly peeked at the silent Gu Yuetong, feeling the distance between them widen again. Gu Yuetong was like a sacred, unattainable ancient tree, always so noble and aloof. The occasional benevolent holy light she bestowed was enough to mesmerize… yet it also made people keep their distance. Han Zhiyu had been right about at least one thing: if you stayed by Gu Yuetong’s side for too long, you would be irresistibly drawn to her… Wait, was this love? Qi Baizi fell into self-doubt. In the beginning, she had only felt fear toward Gu Yuetong.

Her thoughts were in such a mess that, to prevent Gu Yuetong from noticing her strangeness, Qi Baizi had no choice but to open her phone to distract herself. She swiped the screen a few times and opened Weibo. It had been a long time since she had posted… Now was a moment of agitation and unease, perfect for venting. A few seconds later, the Weibo post was successfully sent. Gu Yuetong’s phone, which was on the back seat, chimed once. Qi Baizi looked back curiously, but Gu Yuetong coughed and asked her to check the navigation for her. Qi Baizi did as she was told and didn’t think much more of it.

After they arrived, Qi Baizi hesitated about whether to let Gu Yuetong go in with her. But since they were already here, it would be a waste of a trip not to see her. After briefly introducing Gu Yuetong’s identity to the police, Gu Yuetong entered the visitation area as a company leader. Qi Baizi, however, was called away by another group of police officers. After entering the interview room, Qi Baizi saw the female police officer from that day. She was wearing casual clothes, and her medium-length hair accentuated her cool and capable handsomeness.

“Thanks for making another trip. I just wanted to confirm with you today, on the day of the incident, when you and Han Zhiyu were in her room, did she offer to confess on her own?”

Qi Baizi frowned. Seeing this, the female officer reminded her, “No need to answer right away, take your time to think.”

Qi Baizi thought for a moment, then asked in return, “She’s already made her choice, hasn’t she?”

The female officer paused, then stared into her eyes and suddenly smiled. “You’re right.”

“You can go to the visitation area now.”

The female officer stood up and left. Qi Baizi’s throat moved, and she let out a slight sigh of relief.