Chapter 23 He Gradually Broke Down Her Preconceptions…

Chapter 23: He Was Gradually Breaking Down Her Preconceptions...

With the small stool, Lu Yingxiao no longer needed Gao Youhe to give her a boost; she could easily place the little red flower onto the reward chart herself.

Gao Youhe was an enthusiastic supporter. As soon as Lu Yingxiao finished, she clapped enthusiastically and praised, "Sis is amazing! Every little red flower is placed so neatly."

Lu Yingxiao glanced at Gao Yan and pointed to the small stool under her feet, saying, "I had some help from this stool."

Gao Yan remained silent.

Gao Youhe tilted her head to look at the small stool. "This little stool showed up just in time. Like it knew Sis needed it and quietly popped up."

"This proves it's a good stool!"

Gao Youhe also praised the stool that had helped Lu Yingxiao, not saying a word about Gao Yan.

Apparently, Gao Youhe didn't know this stool was brought by Gao Yan.

Gao Yan didn't let on either.

Although this was a trivial matter, Lu Yingxiao subconsciously compared it to the men who had pursued her before. Regardless of whether she needed their help or not, they would always take it upon themselves to do things they thought were good for her. Afterward, they would make a big deal about what they had done for her, as if they were hopelessly devoted and she was the heartless player.

What they didn't realize was that they just created hassles, causing her a lot of unnecessary trouble.

They never felt bad about it; instead, they would say righteously, "I didn't know; you didn't tell me in advance."

Lu Yingxiao was truly dumbfounded.

Because of this, whenever men approached her afterward, she'd start off prejudiced against them.

At the beginning, it was the same with Gao Yan.

But as they spent time together, his words and actions gradually broke down her previous ingrained patterns of thought.

...

Once the red flower was placed, Gao Yan went to work.

Lu Yingxiao first saw Gao Youhe off to school, then had Lao Wang drop her off at the underground parking garage of Love Sea Mall. Following the same routine as yesterday, she walked across the overpass to the Shengzao Construction Company opposite.

Manager Zhang had given her a temporary work pass yesterday, so Lu Yingxiao no longer needed to call Special Assistant Chen. She could enter the company by swiping the card herself.

While taking the elevator, she happened to run into Xia Huaimeng, who had come up from the B1 underground parking level.

Xia Huaimeng was thrilled. "No wonder my eyelid kept twitching early this morning. Turns out fate was telling me I'd run into you in the elevator today."

Lu Yingxiao: "It's not that unusual for us to meet in the elevator, is it?" We have the same work schedule, and our workstations are adjacent. The chance of meeting in the elevator in the morning was very high. "Your big surprise is definitely just around the corner, waiting for you."

Xia Huaimeng: "Thanks for saying that, but I still think my big surprise is meeting you in the elevator."

"You don't know, since I've been at Shengzao, I've rarely run into other colleagues from the office in the elevator."

"First, our company is huge, with tens of thousands of employees. Second, we have six staff elevators, meaning everyone has six choices. Third, apart from Sister Wan, I'm the only one who takes the elevator from the underground parking garage, so we can't exactly coordinate which elevator to take."

"Under these three conditions, the probability of running into each other is naturally very low. But who would have thought, on your second day at work, we'd meet? It must be fate."

After Xia Huaimeng's explanation, Lu Yingxiao also felt they were truly fated.

Just as she was thinking this, Xia Huaimeng suddenly got right in her face, her eyes scanning Lu Yingxiao's face back and forth.

Lu Yingxiao wondered why she was being stared at and touched her face. "Is there something dirty on my face?"

Xia Huaimeng: "No, it's just that I feel your complexion is exceptionally good today—rosy and glowing, with sparkling eyes. You look all spring-like."

Lu Yingxiao: "That's an exaggeration. It's probably the same as usual."

But scenes from the morning in the villa garden flashed through her mind.

In the flower-filled garden, in the dim light of early dawn, the strict "coach" used a thin bamboo branch to closely correct her form during warm-ups.

Under the "coach's" strict demands, she repeated the movements over and over.

Although it was a bit tiring, she could clearly feel that her long-dormant athleticism was jolted awake by the "coach's" rigorous requirements.

"What are you thinking about? You're in another world?" Xia Huaimeng leaned in again with a mischievous grin. "With that springtime look on your face, is spring really coming?"

Lu Yingxiao put on a serious expression. "Are you still half-asleep? What spring? It's autumn now, when leaves are starting to fall."

Xia Huaimeng looked unconvinced.

She pointed at Lu Yingxiao's rosy, glowing face.

Lu Yingxiao: "I worked out this morning. If you want a good complexion like mine, I can call you tomorrow morning to wake you up, and you can join me for some early exercise."

"What time?"

"Five o'clock."

"So early? Forget it. The best place to be on an autumn morning is a warm bed."

Lu Yingxiao grabbed Xia Huaimeng's arm to stop her from running away—after all, she had been talking nonsense earlier. "Morning exercise can make even chilly autumn feel like spring."

Xia Huaimeng waved her hands repeatedly in refusal. "No, no, no. Autumn is autumn. If autumn feels like spring, then everything's out of order."

Lu Yingxiao: "Then why did you say I had a spring-like feeling earlier? Good friends should experience spring together. I must call you to wake you up tomorrow morning."

Xia Huaimeng begged for mercy. "I was wrong, I was wrong. You don't have spring, you don't have spring."

The two of them playfully made their way to the secretarial office.

Unexpectedly, the spring that Lu Yingxiao strongly resisted was now filling the entire office.

Colleagues who had arrived early were gathered around Tian Tian.

Everyone wore bright, spring-like smiles, especially Tian Tian. Usually not one to smile much, her face was now radiant with overwhelming joy.

Xia Huaimeng stepped forward to ask, "What good thing happened to you?"

Lu Yingxiao followed along.

Tian Tian showed the personnel transfer notice in her hand to Xia Huaimeng and Lu Yingxiao. "Manager Zhang just gave this to me, telling me I can participate in the specific work of the South City project!"

"He told me to work hard and said that both General Manager Gao and he have high hopes for me, and that I'll be able to handle things independently as a Project Manager sooner or later."

"With Manager Zhang's encouragement, I feel like I could become a Project Manager tomorrow!"

Xia Huaimeng immediately affirmed in a confident tone, "Of course you can! We all have high hopes for you too, and we also believe you have the ability!"

Listening to Tian Tian and Xia Huaimeng's conversation, Lu Yingxiao suddenly remembered yesterday when she followed Xia Huaimeng to Gao Yan's office to deliver the meeting minutes. Manager Zhang had been there then.

They must have been discussing this in the office.

Unexpectedly, Manager Zhang, who appeared smooth-talking and adept at flattery, completely broke her stereotype. In the companies she had worked for before, there were quite a few people similar to Manager Zhang—they fawned on superiors and bullied subordinates, and held severe gender biases. Especially for women like Tian Tian, with a sweet, pretty appearance, no matter how strong their work abilities were, they would still be suppressed.

Even if they managed to climb up through their own efforts, they would still face veiled sarcasm and malicious rumors.

But then again, if Manager Zhang were like those male managers she had known before, Gao Yan would have kicked him out four years ago when he rooted out the factions left by his uncle in the company.

This is a case of "like general, like soldiers."

Manager Zhang has his bad side, but he was able to stay, which naturally means Gao Yan sees something valuable in him.

Xia Huaimeng also belatedly realized this, "No wonder we ran into Manager Zhang in Mr. Gao's office yesterday. Manager Zhang must have gone to see Mr. Gao about this matter."

Soon, Tian Tian would be moving her office to the Nan Cheng project team's office.

Tian Tian invited all the colleagues in the office, including Lu Yingxiao, "Lunch is on me today! Feel free to tell the cafeteria chef whatever you want to eat."

Xia Huaimeng said, "If you say so, I won't hold back."

Tian Tian glanced at Xia Huaimeng, "When have you ever held back with me? Don't worry, when I move my office later, I'll give you the blueberry plant I've been keeping in the office. That way, you won't have to keep coveting it every day and sneak over to pick them when they ripen. Giving it to you will also save you from sneaking into my new office to steal them someday."

Xia Huaimeng suddenly burst into laughter.

Not only Tian Tian but also Sister Wan and others were left confused by her laughter.

Lu Yingxiao recalled what Xia Huaimeng had said when they met in the elevator.

Sure enough, Xia Huaimeng took Lu Yingxiao's arm and said to Tian Tian, "When I met Yingxiao in the elevator, I told her that my eyelid had been jumping all morning. I said it was the heavens telling me that my surprise was meeting her in the elevator. But Yingxiao said my surprise wasn't her—my real surprise was still waiting for me, and I should be eagerly looking forward to it."

"See, it really came true. You got your wish to transfer to the Nan Cheng project team, and I got my wish to have your blueberry plant."

"Yingxiao's words are prophetic."

Upon hearing this, Tian Tian immediately approached Lu Yingxiao, "Yingxiao, Yingxiao, do you think I'll smoothly become a Project Manager?"

Lu Yingxiao replied sincerely, "Of course you can! Not only will you smoothly become a Project Manager, but it might even happen sooner than you expect."

Tian Tian said, "Your words are prophetic, so I believe you!"

Following Tian Tian's lead, other colleagues also came over to ask Lu Yingxiao questions, as if treating her like a wishing well.

Even Wan Hui was no exception.

Xia Huaimeng teased Wan Hui, "Sister Wan, you believe in this too?"

Wan Hui replied, "Didn't you say Yingxiao's words are prophetic? I believe you."

Xia Huaimeng clutched her chest and said in an exaggerated tone, "Oh my, I had no idea I was so trusted by Sister Wan before."

"From now on, in our secretarial office, besides Sister Wan, I'm in charge! You all have to listen to me. After all, Sister Wan trusts me the most—I'm her most favored right-hand woman!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she naturally received warm "greetings" from Tian Tian and the others.

Lu Yingxiao watched from the side.

She used to come to work only for the paycheck, but now she suddenly felt that going to work could actually be quite enjoyable.

She was all smiles at that moment.

This wasn't a polite smile but a genuine one from the heart.

Her smiling eyes subconsciously glanced toward Gao Yan's office not far away.

The tightly closed door suddenly opened from the inside, and someone walked out of the office.

Lu Yingxiao didn't look away.

Gao Yan emerged from the office, surrounded by Special Assistant Chen and several other senior executives.

They had heard the cheerful laughter from the secretarial office.

Special Assistant Chen and three or four other senior executives directly looked toward the source of the commotion—Xia Huaimeng, who was at the center of the playful teasing from Tian Tian and the others.

Only Gao Yan's gaze precisely locked onto Lu Yingxiao, who was standing sideways to him.

Seeing the smile on her face, his brow relaxed, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a faint smile.