Su Yao wasn't prepared for the way the entire 23rd floor froze the moment she stepped out of the elevator the next morning. People literally paused mid-walk like they were NPCs waiting for a new dialogue prompt. Someone dropped a stapler. Someone else bumped into a chair. Guo Qiang from sales whispered, "Bro, she's here," like she was a celebrity walking the red carpet and not a sleep-deprived office girl who nearly left her keys in the microwave this morning.
She stood there blinking at the world, unsure why everyone looked like they had witnessed a solar eclipse.
"What… are you all doing?" she asked hesitantly.
Silence.
Then—
"Oh my god she really came back alive."
"She didn't get fired?"
"Did she sign an NDA??"
"What does the CEO smell like??"
"GUYS YOU CAN'T ASK THAT—"
Su Yao pressed her hands over her face. "Please stop. Please. I beg you."
Her plea did nothing.
Shanshan materialized like a drama character making her entrance. She slammed both palms on Su Yao's desk and leaned in with the intensity of someone who hadn't slept and was powered entirely by gossip.
"Yaoyao," she whispered dramatically, "did you or did you not get personally summoned by the CEO again yesterday?"
Su Yao groaned. "Shanshan—"
"That's a yes," Shanshan decided immediately.
"It's not a yes!"
"Then what happened?"
"Work happened!"
"Work? WORK??" Shanshan grabbed Su Yao's shoulders. "Honey, when the CEO asks for you personally, that's not 'work.' That's a full-on main plot event. That's—"
"—an HR case waiting to happen," Chen Wei said as he passed by, sipping his black coffee like the world's tiredest philosopher.
Su Yao wanted to crawl inside her desk drawer.
She plopped into her chair and turned on her computer with the determination of a woman trying to pretend she wasn't slowly turning into a company-wide legend.
The monitor lit up.
Immediately—ping.
[Internal chat: General Ops → "SIGHTED: Su Yao returned from CEO meeting. Status: Alive." ]
She slammed her forehead on the desk. "Why does this company hate me."
Shanshan patted her head like comforting a tragic dog. "Because you bring drama into our otherwise boring corporate lives."
"That's not a good reason!"
"It's the BEST reason."
Su Yao groaned louder.
By 10 AM, rumors had evolved at supernatural speed.
Rumor: "Apparently the CEO smiled at her again."
Rumor: "He personally inspected her spreadsheet."
Rumor: "I heard they left the office at the same time."
Rumor: "No way, she's his secret childhood sweetheart."
Rumor: "Maybe she saved him in a past life."
Rumor: "My cousin works in IT—he said her access logs were updated manually by CEO Xiao himself."
Su Yao nearly choked on her tea when she overheard that one.
"That's NOT TRUE!" she hissed as she passed the break room.
A junior staffer gasped. "She speaks! The CEO's chosen one speaks!"
"Oh my god," Su Yao whispered, "please let lightning strike me."
Her bracelet rubbed against her wrist again. She stopped moving for a moment, her fingers brushing over the wooden beads. A faint ache formed in her chest—soft, strange, familiar.
Little Bean.
The whisper returned, like it had been waiting inside her mind since she woke up. She shook her head sharply and forced herself to keep walking. She would NOT start crying in the break room. Not today. Not in front of the coffee machine that already hated her.
She grabbed her mug, filled it with hot water, burned her fingers, hissed quietly, and hurried back to her desk.
But the moment she sat down—
Tap tap tap.
She froze.
Everyone froze.
Because of course, standing right next to her desk like a walking plot twist…
…was Xiao Le.
The room fell silent. Even the printer somehow stopped working out of respect.
"Ms. Su," he said.
His voice was calm. Too calm. That dangerous, soft tone that made the whole office hold its breath.
Her heartbeat jumped.
"Y… yes, sir?" she said, trying not to sound like a cornered rabbit.
"Do you have a moment?" he asked.
Everyone leaned in without shame.
Shanshan straight-up held her breath.
Su Yao wanted the floor to open and swallow her whole.
"Yes," she managed weakly.
Xiao Le nodded once. "Good. Please come with me."
He turned and walked toward the hallway.
And Su Yao, miserable and flustered, followed him.
They could practically hear the silent screaming behind them.
Shanshan whispered loudly to Chen Wei, "THE LEGEND CONTINUES."
Chen Wei replied, "I'm opening a betting pool."
Walking behind him in the hallway felt like following a storm cloud she wasn't sure would rain or strike lightning. He walked with long, even strides; she had to take two small steps to match one of his. She tried not to stare at his back. Tried not to think about last night's photos. Tried not to think about the village.
He opened a small meeting room door and stepped aside for her to enter first.
She went in.
He closed the door behind them.
Her heartbeat instantly exploded into fireworks.
He didn't sit immediately. He watched her first, studying her face again like she was a book he couldn't read fast enough.
She couldn't handle it. She clutched her notebook like a shield. "Is… something wrong?"
"No," he said. "I just wanted to clarify a few things regarding the trip."
Her lungs stopped working.
Oh right.
The village.
The memories.
The photos.
Trip with CEO.
No big deal.
Just her entire emotional stability at stake.
He continued, "I'll send you the schedule tonight. We leave at seven in the morning. Tang will accompany us. You don't need to bring much."
She nodded too fast. "Okay. Yes. Got it. Bring my ID? Should I bring snacks? Or water? Or—"
"Just yourself," he said quietly.
Her mouth shut.
His gaze softened. Just a fraction. But she felt it.
"I know this may be difficult," he said, "but… if anything becomes overwhelming, you can tell me."
Overwhelming?
Her?
Overwhelmed?
She wanted to laugh, cry, or crawl under the table.
Instead she said, "It's fine. I'm fine. I'm always fine. So fine you don't even know."
He blinked, confused. "Okay."
She covered her face. "Ignore that. I'm nervous. Please pretend I didn't talk."
He didn't.
He stared.
Then—very, very quietly—he said, "You don't have to pretend."
Her breath froze.
She felt something warm in her chest pull tight, like someone gently tugging a string that led directly to her heart.
She looked away. "I'll… do my best."
He nodded. "Good."
Silence wrapped around them for a moment. Not awkward—just heavy. Soft. Something fragile hanging between them.
For a second, she couldn't breathe.
Then he looked away, breaking the moment, and said in a calmer voice, "You can return to work."
She fled the room so fast she nearly tripped on the carpet.
The moment she reappeared in the office, chaos erupted.
"WHAT DID HE SAY?"
"ARE YOU GETTING PROMOTED?"
"DID HE SMILE?"
"DID YOU ASK IF HE'S SINGLE?"
"YAOOYAO PLEASE—WE'RE SUFFERING—"
Shanshan grabbed her. "Spill."
Su Yao stared at her coworkers, cheeks burning, brain scrambled, heart racing.
Then she whispered the single sentence that detonated the entire floor:
"…We're going on a trip."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Followed by—
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
Shanshan jumped up.
Chen Wei dropped his coffee.
Fang Min nearly fainted.
Someone cried.
Someone else blessed her.
The intern prayed.
And the office officially ascended into pure chaos.
In that single moment, the legendary story of Su Yao and the CEO was born.
And no one—not even Su Yao—realized how fast it was about to spread.