A face that could bring a nation to ruin

I got out of the car, and before I had even shut the door properly, his car shot away like an arrow loosed from a bow, leaving dust in its wake.

I checked the time. Luckily, I had left early.

Standing on the street, I realized there was no way to get a taxi here at this hour. I glanced at the subway entrance nearby and decided to take the subway.

It was my first time taking the subway. I opened the map app and found the shortest route to the office. Everything went smoothly: buying a ticket, going through security, entering the station, and boarding the train.

I relaxed. Although Gu Hansheng had dumped me halfway there that morning, I had managed to take the subway on my own.

For someone who had accomplished nothing in the first half of her life, even this gave me a little sense of achievement.

Sitting in my seat, I watched the illuminated advertisements flashing past, and my mood improved considerably.

But that good mood did not last long. Before long, I noticed something was wrong.

I happened to glance at the map. Why was my location getting farther and farther from the office?

I carefully checked the station names. There was no mistake. This train did stop at the station I needed!

I could not see what the problem was, but I really was getting farther and farther away. I grew a little anxious.

But I stood by the train doors, at a loss.

An older, retired woman seemed to notice my predicament. "Young lady, which station are you going to?"

I pointed to the station I needed. "This one."

She smiled in understanding. "Young lady, you're going the wrong way. Get off at the next stop, then wait on the opposite platform and take the train from there."

I hurriedly thanked her.

That little sense of achievement I had felt vanished without a trace.

Because I had gone in the wrong direction, the ample time I had allowed myself was now running a little short.

After getting off the subway, I still had some distance to walk. It was my first time taking this route, and I did not know how long it would take. To avoid being late, I had no choice but to jog the whole way.

Along the way, I felt my shin hit something, but I could not spare it any attention.

Fortunately, I made it to the office before I was late.

I walked quickly toward the elevators.

While I was waiting, I felt someone touch my arm.

I turned around to see a handsome, distinguished-looking man. I looked at him in confusion.

He said nothing, merely signaling with his eyes for me to look at my leg.

He had beautiful peach-blossom eyes that seemed able to speak.

I looked down and discovered that my leg was actually bleeding.

When I had come to complete my onboarding paperwork on Friday, I had taken note of what my coworkers wore.

Almost all of them wore knee-length suit skirts, so when I went shopping for work clothes with An'an, I had made suit skirts my first choice too.

I remembered that I seemed to have bumped into something while running over.

That was probably when I had hurt it.

The man said quietly, "The supply room is on the seventh floor. There's a first-aid kit there."

I nodded and thanked him.

But I was running out of time. I did not have time to go to the infirmary and went to report to HR first.

When Qiao Na saw me come in, she looked me over, noticed the injury on my leg, and asked what had happened.

I answered honestly.

Qiao Na told me to take care of it first, or it would affect my appearance at work.

I went to the supply room.

Fortunately, I always packed an extra pair of stockings when I went out.

I found the first-aid kit in the supply room. There were all kinds of medicine inside, and I found what I needed to treat the wound. To my surprise, there were even adhesive bandages in every size.

After briefly treating the wound, I found a suitable bandage and put it on, then went to the restroom to change my stockings.

Once everything was taken care of, I finally let out a sigh of relief.

The wound, which I had barely felt before, now throbbed faintly.

I blamed Gu Hansheng for all of this.

Although I knew I could not compare to Shen Nian in his heart, remembering the anxiety on his face still sent waves of bitter hurt through my heart.

Forget it. Work comes first.

I returned to HR. Qiao Na seemed ready to take me to have my onboarding information entered. Since I had already completed the onboarding formalities a couple of days earlier, I could start work today.

Then she told me to report to the secretarial office on the twenty-fifth floor by myself.

I arrived on the twenty-fifth floor. It was quiet, with only the sounds of typing and occasional hushed conversations between coworkers.

Hardly anyone looked at me, and naturally, no one came to tell me where my workstation was or what my duties were.

I felt a little lost and did not know whom to ask, because everyone was working intently.

Just then, someone walked over and asked, "You're the new hire?"

I had only just said, "Yes."

She handed me the stack of documents she was holding. "Take these to customer service on the third floor."

I froze for a moment, then turned and headed to the third floor.

So I was just running errands!

Standing in the elevator, watching the numbers steadily decrease, I still felt a sense of unreality.

But I could not think about all that now.

Delivering the documents went smoothly.

On my way back, I stopped by the restroom.

While I was in a stall, I heard two people chatting outside.

"You saw that just now, right? Supervisor Qiao took that new hire to have her onboarding information entered."

"Who knows why? Her major isn't even relevant, and she has no work experience. How did she get picked out of all those people?"

"Oh... you can't even figure that out?" The speaker gave a soft laugh, her tone laced with mockery. "She's pretty! That face could bring a nation to ruin."