The CEO Falls for the Slacker

Chapter 2

Shen Yan was so angry that she threw the Bluetooth speaker in her hand into the trash can. What kind of terrible man is this, planning to dump her and go live off another woman?

She had only ever heard during her middle school years that her family was called nouveau riche, and that she was the daughter of such a family—nothing but money. This was the first time she heard someone call her poor, saying she couldn’t afford a house in S City and wanted to break up with her because she wore cheap clothes.

She was truly furious. Cheap clothes? She’s a college student! Is it abnormal for her to wear clothes that cost only a few dozen yuan? Is there a problem with that?!

With someone like Zhong Cheng, who lacks judgment, how can he be the one to live off a woman? Does he even look like someone who would eat soft food?

Instead of taking the easy way out, he chose to aim for the unreachable moon.

She didn’t know Yang Ming well, but as the “flower” of the economics department, Shen Yan had heard of her. Yang Ming was beautiful and dressed in luxury brands. When the school year started, she became the topic of discussion among the new students. Some even gossiped that she was the daughter of the Huaxin Group, causing a sensation at A University. No one could believe the daughter of such a big corporation would be at their school. Later, Yang Ming clarified that she had some connection to Huaxin Group, but not a strong one—she was just a relative of the wife of the chairman of Huaxin Group in S City.

However, to the eyes of college students, being a relative of Huaxin Group was equivalent to royalty. With Yang Ming’s beauty, good personality, and her role as host at the welcome party where she also performed a dance, she became the center of attention at A University and the goddess in many boys’ hearts.

Although she and Zhong Cheng were classmates, during the time she was dating him, Shen Yan never heard him mention Yang Ming. She never expected that Zhong Cheng would break up with her because of her.

Had Zhong Cheng been secretly in love with Yang Ming for the past four years?

Thinking of this possibility, Shen Yan felt lucky that Zhong Cheng had broken up with her. Otherwise, even if they continued their relationship and eventually got married and had kids, she would discover that Zhong Cheng had always had an unforgettable love for someone else. That would be even more disgusting.

After throwing the Bluetooth speaker into the trash can, Shen Yan decided to forget about it. Zhong Cheng didn’t want her, and now he was after Yang Ming. Well, that’s his bad luck.

The next morning, Shen Wei and Xu Yue urged Shen Yan to get up as they were going to S City with her.

Shen Yan was still groggy when Xu Yue pulled her out of bed.

“Did we have an earthquake?!” Shen Yan startled awake at Xu Yue’s hurried voice.

Xu Yue replied, “…We don’t live in an earthquake zone, what earthquake.”

Luckily, Shen Yan wasn’t in a bad mood. She glanced at her phone and looked at Xu Yue resentfully. “Mom, why so early?”

Xu Yue said, “It’s not early. Your dad made an appointment with a real estate agent. We’re going to look at houses.”

Shen Yan thought she misheard. “Look at houses?”

Xu Yue replied nonchalantly, “Yeah, you’re going to work at Lushi Group. Shouldn’t we buy a place near there for you? The traffic in S City is so bad, especially during rush hours. If you don’t live near your workplace, you’ll definitely be late every day.”

Shen Yan hadn’t expected that the house she never mentioned when breaking up with Zhong Cheng would become a reality. If she ran into Zhong Cheng again, she’d make sure to let him know.

S City is expensive, and Lushi Group is in the city center, one of the most expensive areas in the country.

But expensive does have its advantages. Every house the agent showed them was nearly ready to move in, and Shen Yan was quite taken with them.

One was a large apartment with a view of the river, luxuriously decorated, and the kitchen even had two built-in fridges. The bathroom’s mirror opened up to reveal a mini-fridge for cosmetics.

Another was a small, quiet villa with a beautifully landscaped garden. According to the agent, flowers bloomed year-round here.

Both houses were not far from Lushi Group, one east and one west.

When the agent, Xiao Wang, learned that Shen Yan would start working at Lushi Group next week, he looked at her with admiration. “Miss Shen must be very capable. I heard Lushi Group has been recruiting top graduates from prestigious universities in recent years.”

Shen Yan was about to modestly deny it when Xu Yue quickly took over, “Yes, our Yan Yan graduated from A University.”

Xiao Wang’s admiration made Xu Yue feel good, and that was one of the reasons she had tried so hard to get Shen Yan a job.

Shen Yan: …

What should she do? She felt so embarrassed. If she had gotten the Lushi Group offer through proper channels, it would have been slightly better, but her mom knew exactly how she got this offer and still bragged about it.

She quickly changed the subject, “Dad, Mom, if I live alone, wouldn’t these two houses be too big? I’d have trouble cleaning them.”

Though the luxury was tempting, Shen Yan was still being practical.

Xu Yue thought for a moment, “I have eight years until retirement, and your dad has thirteen. When we retire, we’ll come live with you in S City.”

Shen Yan still wasn’t convinced. “But won’t it be unsafe if I live here alone?”

Xiao Wang interjected, “Miss Shen, don’t worry. As you saw when we came to view the houses, the process is very thorough. Both these communities have the best security in S City. The property fee is ten yuan per square meter, and all deliveries and takeout are brought right to your door by security.”

Shen Yan: “What about cleaning?”

Xu Yue looked at her disapprovingly. “If you choose the large apartment, I’ll buy you two robot vacuums. If you choose the villa, I’ll hire a cleaning lady. Is that good?”

Shen Yan timidly asked, “Can I invite friends to live with me?”

Xu Yue looked confused. “What?”

Shen Yan: “Charge them rent.”

“Your roommate, Feng Shanshan?” Xu Yue thought of Feng Shanshan, who had been her classmate in high school, and they had both come to S City from A City. “She’s working at a state-owned enterprise?”

Shen Yan nodded. “Yes, in S City.”

“Okay, but you want to charge her rent?”

Shen Yan nodded seriously. “Of course.”

Xu Yue: …

In the end, Shen Yan chose the large apartment. The villa, being older and without an elevator, would have been too tiring to climb.

But Xu Yue was very happy with the small garden.

In the end, Shen Wei decisively bought both, the river-view apartment for Shen Yan to live in and the villa for them to move into once they retired.

Shen Yan was a little shocked by her father’s big spending. “Dad, did you rob a bank?”

“…Do you know how to talk?” Shen Wei explained, “Buy now, not later. Housing prices are skyrocketing, and S City might implement purchase restrictions soon. If we don’t buy now, we’ll regret it later.”

Shen Yan felt like she needed to reassess her family’s financial situation. How could her dad buy property in S City like he was buying cabbage?

Once the house was settled and they moved her in, Shen Yan realized her last weekend before starting work was gone.

After her parents left, Shen Yan stood by the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, looking out at the calm river, feeling an indescribable strange sensation.

She was about to start work.

She wasn’t sure how things would go at Lushi Group. Since her major was Chinese, she was assigned to the president’s office, which didn’t sound like a great environment.

In novels, the president’s office either had the nosy wife of the president or ambitious assistant secretaries or employees who had to work overtime every night because of the president’s bad mood…

Then there was the fact that even top students from the economics department were screened out—her colleagues must be the top of the top, the most competitive of all!

It seemed terrifying. Either way, it felt like hell.

For the first time, Shen Yan felt unsure about her future, like the water in the river, drifting aimlessly.

But the sun would eventually rise, and the alarm for the next day went off on time.

Shen Yan quickly got up, washed her face, and left without even having breakfast.

After she left, she suddenly realized she didn’t know where Lushi Group was.

Oh no, she knew it was nearby but didn’t know how to get there… She quickly opened the navigation app and found herself in a very awkward situation.

Lushi Group was about 1.5 kilometers from her home—neither too close nor too far. It would take about half an hour to walk, 15 minutes by bike, and 7-8 minutes by electric bike.

But the awkward part was that they hadn’t thought of this problem yesterday. She didn’t have an electric bike or a bicycle. During the morning rush hour in downtown S City, there were 100 people waiting for a taxi. After struggling to get to the community gate and finding a shared bike parking spot, she saw one lonely bike. Shen Yan rushed over, only to find that the chain was broken.

Now she understood why the bike was left here.

With the reporting time approaching, Shen Yan had no choice. She hesitated but decided that being late on her first day would be worse, so she tied her hair up and started running.

Thank goodness she didn’t have time to do her makeup, wear formal clothes, or high heels.

This was insane. Shen Yan had never run this hard even during the 800-meter race in college. But thinking about it, 1.5 kilometers was just two 800-meter races. Shen Yan usually ran 800 meters in about three and a half minutes, so it would take her ten minutes to reach the destination, definitely doable.

She ran after the navigation, and just as she was getting closer to Lushi Group, a shared bike passed her by, and the rider called out to her:

“Hey, why are you running with a canvas bag on your back?”

Shen Yan: ?

She was running so hard she had no time to answer, but the guy kept talking while riding his bike at the same speed as her: “Are you running to work? That’s so healthy!”

Shen Yan: …

Shen Yan glanced at him. He looked fine, but obviously not too smart. She shook her head and ignored him, continuing to run ahead.

The guy, seeing she didn’t respond, was about to say something more, but when he reached his bike return point, he had to stop. After locking the bike and finishing his task, Shen Yan was long gone.

By the time Shen Yan reached the entrance of Lushi Group, she felt like she was about to cough up blood. Looking at the time, it was 8:53. She made it just in time and finally breathed a sigh of relief.