That day, he came to the office.
Xu Yun found the light in Su Mu's office was still on. She was slumped over her desk, moaning softly in pain.
She seemed to be in great discomfort.
Even though it was late and perhaps improper for a man and woman to be alone together, he still kindly went over to see what was wrong.
He then learned that Su Mu was suffering from a stomachache because she'd worked overtime and hadn't eaten dinner.
He had offered to take her to the hospital, but she refused and told him not to worry about it.
'But they were colleagues, and since I've seen her like this, how could I just ignore it?'
In the end, left with no other choice, he went downstairs to a pharmacy and bought her a bottle of omeprazole. She slowly started to feel a little better after taking it.
It was likely this act of kindness that made her grateful, closing the distance between them. She started to see him in a more favorable light, and they were no longer strangers.
To alleviate the pain and distract herself, Su Mu took the initiative to start a conversation with him.
From their chat, he learned a few things that others didn't know.
In truth, Su Mu wasn't the useless "vase" that rumors claimed her to be.
She was the boss's cousin, a graduate of a prestigious 985 university. She had previously worked at her family's company, and it was only after divorcing her ex-husband, along with various other reasons, that she was "parachuted in" as the administrative supervisor here.
She was aware of the gossip circulating about her, but she couldn't be bothered to explain herself.
She believed the truth would speak for itself; all she had to do was focus on her work.
Xu Yun couldn't help but admire a woman like that.
After that incident, they maintained a professional distance at the office, but they would still occasionally chat on WeChat in private.
Moreover, whenever he was late and was about to lose his perfect attendance bonus for the month, Su Mu would quietly take care of it for him.
In return, Xu Yun would proactively help her with small tasks, both at work and in her personal life.
Over time, they developed a fairly good relationship outside of work.
However, it was strictly a platonic friendship.
Because he had a girlfriend at the time, he harbored no inappropriate thoughts toward Su Mu and felt she was out of his league.
Therefore, Xu Yun's proactive effort to get on good terms with this "hidden boss" was simply to make his life at the company easier and to occasionally get a little help on the job.
Besides, Su Mu was a mature woman who'd been hurt by love before. She wasn't the type to lose her head and impulsively fall for a handsome guy who only earned a few thousand a month.
People say social status doesn't matter in love, as long as two people like each other.
But in the reality of adult marriage, social status has always been a factor.
Love is a beautiful thing, but without enough "bread" to sustain it, love is like a Bubble—it bursts at the slightest touch.
As they say, money gives a man his backbone.
His mindset also began to shift.
Snapping back to the present, Xu Yun realized he no longer had to be so cautious, so afraid of what others might think.
Sizing Su Mu up anew, he couldn't help but marvel, 'You'd never know she's been married once.'
...
「5:30 PM.」
Xu Yun shut down his computer and stood up to leave.
Seeing this, Li Xiaoguang came out and called, "Xu Yun, where are you going?"
"Leaving work."
"Didn't you see that everyone else is working overtime?"
"I've finished all my work for the day. Why should I work overtime?"
Xu Yun replied casually, "If anyone's working overtime, it'll be you. I'm not. Go ahead, have the company fire me if you've got the guts."
"You..."
'This again?'
Li Xiaoguang was speechless, not knowing what to say.
Seeing Xu Yun take the lead and leave, the other colleagues secretly gave him a thumbs-up.
'The wimpiest guy in the office is suddenly showing some backbone.'
Su Mu, who saw this scene from her office, couldn't help but smile.
'It's like he's completely let himself go now that the wedding is off.'
Xu Yun went downstairs and ordered a private car.
'This time it's an Audi A6L, the latest model. Not bad looking.'
After getting in, Xu Yun began to wonder what kind of car he should buy for himself.
'Before, when I was broke, I never dared to even think about buying a car. Now I have to start considering it.'
'I can't just hail a car every time I go out. I need a daily driver.'
'I've had my license for almost six years and I haven't even driven a car.'
The private car driver was a middle-aged man who had been doing this for a while and had seen his share of wealthy customers.
But at first glance, he never would have guessed this young man in the back was rich.
His clothes were just so incredibly ordinary, without a single designer brand on him.
And mind you, by "designer brands," he didn't mean Nike or Adidas.
But there was no doubt the young man was rich.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have ordered a private car, and his destination wouldn't be Jiangcheng's most expensive luxury shopping center, Jiangshang Mall.
To be honest, most ordinary people wouldn't even have the guts to set foot in a place like that.
This could only mean that the young man was very low-key, not like the typical rich kids.
Half an hour later, the car stopped smoothly at the mall's entrance.
Xu Yun gazed at Jiangshang Mall, one of the nation's top ten malls, and was overcome with a wave of emotions.
He had lived in this city for several years, but he had only ever heard of this place, never set foot in it.
They said you shouldn't even dare to browse here unless you made over fifty thousand a month.
Xu Yun hadn't come here with any grand plan.
Having suddenly come into money, the very first things he wanted to change were the basics of his life: his clothes, food, housing, and transportation.
'As for housing, with the money I have on my card right now, I can't afford a villa.'
'So I'll have to pass on that for now and take care of my wardrobe first.'
'Clothes make the man, as they say. I have a few hundred thousand on my card now, so I should be able to afford a look around.'
'Jiangshang Mall, here I come!'
Xu Yun walked in, and everywhere he looked were all sorts of English brand names. He didn't know if they were domestic or foreign luxury goods.
In any case, he didn't recognize most of them; he'd never paid attention before because he didn't have the money.
'Huang Mengyao would probably be familiar with these. She used to spend her free time researching this stuff online.'
'She used to dream of owning these things, but even when I worked myself to the bone, I couldn't afford them.'
'Now I can afford them, but she's gone.'
'Maybe this was just fate. We were never meant to be.'
Xu Yun reached the first floor and, not wanting to go any higher, decided to just pick up an outfit to wear for the time being.
But he didn't know.
In this kind of mall, the most expensive things are usually on the first floor because it's the prime location.
The higher up you go, the cheaper the merchandise generally gets.
Xu Yun ambled along, stopping here and there, until he finally spotted a popular brand he actually recognized: Gucci.
"Hello sir, welcome to the Gucci Store."
The moment Xu Yun stepped inside, an enthusiastic sales associate approached him.
She said, "I'm Ning Qian, a sales associate here. How may I help you?"
Seeing the enthusiastic sales associate, he was a little surprised.
'I thought it would be like in one of those novels, where the staff would see my plain clothes and either mock me or give me the cold shoulder.'
'Turns out I was overthinking things.'