Chapter 44

Lu Yan’s eyes flickered slightly. In Shen Su’s ear, she whispered slowly, “It’s nothing. I just wanted to say… thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Shen Su’s eyebrows arched. She raised her hand to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, her fingers seemingly unintentionally brushing against Lu Yan’s lips.

Lu Yan felt her heart skip a beat. She stared fixedly at that hand and blurted out instinctively, “Sugar, I’ve noticed your hands are exceptionally beautiful.”

“Is that so?” Shen Su withdrew her hand and looked at it seriously, a hint of a smile in her eyes. “Thanks for the compliment.”

While they were whispering, a familiar face appeared in Lu Yan’s peripheral vision. Her expression shifted slightly, and she nervously hooked her pinky finger around Shen Su’s.

Shen Su looked up and raised an eyebrow. Oh? Sheng Suyu hasn’t exited the stage yet?

System: 【Friendly reminder: The threat this character poses to the Love-Struck Miss has not been eliminated. Please stay vigilant!】

Shen Su: No wonder…

“I heard you two made quite a scene earlier,” Sheng Suyu said with a dark expression, taking a sip of red wine.

“Did we?” Shen Su took a sip of juice and said nonchalantly, “However, I’d like to give the young President Sheng a reminder. Excessive internal infighting is never a good thing for a company. Especially when that energy is wasted on meaningless things.”

It wasn’t just CY; the Sheng family was also plagued by internal power struggles. The Shengs held shares in CY—not many, but given Lu Yan’s presence, Sheng Suyu’s appearance at the gala wasn’t entirely unexpected.

“That is no concern of yours, Miss Shen.” Sheng Suyu shifted her gaze to read the original at bailiantales.com Lu Yan, her eyes darkening. “I have something to discuss with my employee. Miss Shen won’t mind, will she?”

Shen Su shrugged. “Go ahead.” I’m not leaving anyway.

Seeing that Shen Su had no intention of making herself scarce, Sheng Suyu gritted her teeth. “We need to discuss official business. I must ask Miss Shen to…”

“Oh!” Shen Su feigned surprise. “This is after-hours. Your company is still trying to squeeze its employees at this time? That’s rather heartless, isn’t it?”

Sheng Suyu choked on her words. “You…”

Lu Yan couldn’t help but cover her mouth to hide a giggle. How could a sharp-tongued Shen Su be so “adorable”?

She spoke up: “President Sheng, if it’s official business, you can email me. If it’s personal, I’ve already said everything I have to say.”

The look in Lu Yan’s eyes held no ripple of emotion, as if they were merely ordinary colleagues. In fact, they weren’t even that; Sheng Suyu didn’t actually work at the office. She only needed to “vote with her feet” when necessary and wait for dividends.

“President Sheng, do you have anything else?” Shen Su made no effort to hide the “get lost” look in her eyes.

Sheng Suyu let out a cold snort and walked away with her glass.

Once she was gone, Lu Yan let out a sigh of relief. “Finally gone…”

“Speaking of which, what kind of dispute did you actually have with her?” Shen Su asked leisurely. “The ‘lover’ you mentioned online—was it really not her?”

Lu Yan whispered a single sentence: “She’s not worthy.”

Shen Su raised an eyebrow. “Then what kind of person is this ‘White Moonlight’ who haunts your dreams and stays on your mind?”

“She…” Lu Yan pulled her gaze away from Shen Su’s face and looked down at her watermelon juice. “She is a very, very good person. She helped me many times. But I don’t deserve her.”

Shen Su’s tone was gentle, but her question cut straight to the point: “So, you and Sheng Suyu were just using each other as substitutes?”

Lu Yan froze. She hadn’t expected Shen Su to point it out so bluntly. It was easy for Shen Su to deduce that Sheng Suyu used her as a replacement, but how did Shen Su know she was using Sheng Suyu? Did she see through something?

Lu Yan’s breath hitched. If Shen Su knew she liked her and had found a “low-tier” substitute, what would happen?

“Are you wondering how I knew?” Shen Su’s voice remained warm, showing no signs of anger.

But Lu Yan didn’t relax; she gave a cautious nod.

Shen Su took out her phone and opened the Little Green Book app. “Look, did you forget you posted this half a year ago?”

Shen Su had scrolled to a post from six months ago—a casual photo of a pond with the moon reflected in it, captioned: 【The moon in the water is, after all, fake.】

In reality, Lu Yan had also posted another update visible only to herself: 【She is not you.】

But Shen Su shouldn’t have seen that.

Lu Yan bit her lip. “You figured it out just from that one post?”

Shen Su laughed. “I don’t have that much of an imagination. It was a combination of everything you’ve said over the past year and your attitude toward Sheng Suyu.”

“I see…” Lu Yan exhaled. It was good she hadn’t realized the whole truth. She was afraid that if Shen Su found out, she would end up like Xu Ming—or perhaps even worse.

“Aren’t you afraid that because of this ‘moon in the water,’ you might miss the real ‘White Moonlight’?” Shen Su asked pointedly.

Lu Yan looked down. “The White Moonlight is beyond my reach, so I could only try to scoop the moon from the water.”

“And if your White Moonlight saw you with a fake and was unhappy about it?” Shen Su pressed.

Lu Yan slowly raised her head and set her glass on the table. “Then I wouldn’t look for anyone else. If she gives me even a shred of hope, I would risk everything for her.”

“It seems Yan Yan is truly deeply in love with that Miss White Moonlight…” Shen Su propped her head on her hand, speaking with a playful smile.

Lu Yan opened her mouth, nearly confessing right then and there.

At that moment, the gala performances began. Shen Su tactfully shifted her gaze to the singer on stage and stopped her questioning.

Relieved, Lu Yan changed the subject. “Sugar, what do you think of the planning for our company’s gala?”

“Unremarkable.” Shen Su finished her juice and looked at Lu Yan. “Yan Yan, have you considered changing jobs? With your talent, staying at CY is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

Lu Yan blinked. Since the topic had ​stolen content​turned to work, she used a different title: “Young President Shen… is this a headhunting attempt?”

Shen Su hummed. Even if it wasn’t the Shen Group, it couldn’t be CY where Sheng Suyu had investments. The simplest way was to poach her; if that failed, she’d find a way to kick Sheng Suyu out of the picture.

“But I heard you earlier—weren’t you implying a cooperation with CY? Is poaching someone like this really okay?” Lu Yan whispered in Shen Su’s ear.

“I never said I’d cooperate with them.” Shen Su popped a piece of mung bean cake into her mouth. “As for what they choose to interpret, I can’t say. However, if they offer good terms, we might consider it. A lean camel is still bigger than a horse; CY had its glory days.”

After reorganization, the company had suffered massive internal turnover and constant infighting. It wasn’t what it used to be. Shen Su reached out and lightly tapped Lu Yan’s forehead. “If you’re going to jump ship, do it sooner rather than later.”

Lu Yan smiled helplessly. “If I jump, I’ll likely have to change industries.”

Shen Su understood without an explanation—Lu Yan had likely signed a non-compete agreement.

“Will you head back to see the cat after the gala ends?” Shen Su asked.

Lu Yan nodded. “Sure.”

Just as she spoke, the lights in the ballroom dimmed, leaving only the center illuminated. Several well-dressed people walked to the middle. Shen Su stood up and pulled a dazed Lu Yan toward the lights. “May I have this dance, Miss?”

Lu Yan’s heart raced. She stammered, “O-of course.”

As the music began, people started dancing under the spotlight. During annual meetings, Lu Yan never danced—first for fear of Sheng Suyu’s jealousy, and second because she didn’t know how. But under Shen Su’s lead, her steps gradually found their rhythm.

Shen Su leaned in and pointed out the key figures among the dancers—the ones who could solve the raw material supply issues her company was facing.

When the dance ended, Shen Su’s hand left Lu Yan’s waist. She bowed slightly, took Lu Yan’s hand, and pressed a kiss against her own thumb over it. Even though there was no direct contact with Shen Su’s lips, Lu Yan was uncontrollably ecstatic.

Shen Su stepped back. Lu Yan’s palm felt empty, and her heart seemed to drift away with Shen Su. Shen Su smiled and mouthed: “Good luck.”

Lu Yan quickly snapped back into professional mode. Shen Su returned to her seat to continue eating desserts. As time passed, guests—mostly non-CY employees—began to leave. Two minutes later, Lu Yan returned to Shen Su’s side.

“How was it? Successful?” Shen Su handed her a glass of juice.

Lu Yan took a sip. “Successful. And… thank you for the tip.”

“Just a small favor.” Shen Su smiled. “Why don’t you sit? My neck is getting a bit stiff looking up at you.”

“Sorry, Sugar…” Lu Yan sat down immediately, her hand instinctively reaching for the back of Shen Su’s neck. “Let me give you a massage?”

Both froze when her fingers touched Shen Su’s scent blocker.

Shen Su laughed. “I was just joking! You took me seriously?”

Lu Yan withdrew her hand, blushing.

Just then, the host called Lu Yan’s name. It was the awards segment. The award linked to Lu Yan was the “Outstanding Employee” award. When the winners were decided, Lu Yan knew she wasn’t on the list. Even if her performance was better than that gossipy Alpha’s, she couldn’t beat someone with a shareholder uncle backing them.

From that moment, she had considered leaving the company, despite the massive sunk costs. But Shen Su had stood up for her, “paying them back in their own coin.” Now that she had “backing,” she didn’t want to leave anymore. She had been with this company since ​Read on BaiLianTales​graduation and had put in so much effort; why should she leave because of a loser? Besides, she didn’t want her relationship with Shen Su to become one of boss and subordinate.

As the employees were called up, Lu Yan hesitated. This award was likely due to Shen Su.

“You earned this. Go on.” Shen Su patted her shoulder with a warm smile.

Lu Yan bit her lip, stood up, and walked onto the stage with her head held high. She came down with a ticket and sat back down. “This seems to be for a lucky draw later, after the awards.”

“It’s okay, it’s still early.” Shen Su didn’t even check the time.

Lu Yan, however, checked; it was already 10:30 PM. Her thumb traced the smooth raffle ticket. She hoped for a big win tonight.

After the speeches, the gala concluded, and the lucky draw began. Shen Su accompanied Lu Yan to the box. Lu Yan reached in, her eyes fixed on Shen Su. Seeing Shen Su smile, Lu Yan pulled out a slip and froze.

“Oh? What did we get?” The host looked over. “Wow, one year of paid leave! That’s the grand prize, right?”

Lu Yan’s eyelid jumped. She didn’t think it was a grand prize—if she really took a year off, would there still be a place for her at the company? She held up the slip to President Wang, who was walking over. “President Wang, can this be converted to cash?”

Wang laughed. “Of course! Project Team One can’t do without an outstanding employee like you!”

In the end, the prize was converted to 50,000 in cash. After the photos with the leadership, Shen Su waited while contacting her driver. She saw President Wang say something to Lu Yan, who looked quite dismissive.

As Shen Su walked over, Wang let her go. Lu Yan linked arms with her.

“Let’s go,” Lu Yan said happily.

Shen Su glanced back at President Wang. She felt he had instructed Lu Yan on something, but Lu Yan didn’t mention a word about the gala until they were back at the apartment.

Mao Mao was just as clingy as Mu Mu. As soon as they entered, she was all over them. But this time, Lu Yan didn’t pick her up immediately. Instead, she looked at Shen Su hesitantly, appearing as if she wanted to say something.

Shen Su touched her face in confusion. “Is there something on my face?”

“No, it’s just…” Lu Yan bit her lip and asked tentatively, “I had quite good luck today, winning the grand prize. Sugar, would you like a touch of luck?”

“Sure!” Shen Su changed into her slippers and raised an eyebrow. “How do I ‘touch’ it? A hug? Holding hands? Or something else?”