Chapter 49: The Cousin

Yu Youchu did not answer Wan Ninghe again. She picked up her wine glass and initiated a conversation with Cui Jing beside her.

"Sister Jing, thank you so much."

Cui Jing waved her hand and raised her own glass to toast with Yu Youchu.

A crisp, clear sound marked the conclusion of the matter.

"If it weren't for you, I might have offended all the other employees in the company as well. Sister Cui, you are truly a miracle worker."

Cui Jing smiled. "Your literary competence makes it hard for me to believe that you wrote your copywriting entirely by yourself. But I quite like your style."

The two of them exchanged a knowing smile.

"Youchu, are you getting a ride in my car later?" Mu Chuan finished the wine in his glass in one gulp. "We can call a designated driver."

"No need." Yu Youchu shook her phone. "Someone is coming to pick me up."

"Oh my, you youngsters certainly know how to play the game." Cui Jing took another sip of her wine. Wasn't this a textbook love triangle?

She wondered what kind of background the other person had. It would be best if he was not inferior to Mu Chuan, otherwise watching this drama would lose its thrill.

Just as they were talking, Yu Youchu received a message from Pei Jiayin.

[Are you done yet?]
[Almost.]
[Then I am on my way.]

Yu Youchu locked her phone screen and looked up to see Mu Chuan staring at her.

The moment their eyes met, he quickly averted his gaze, dodging the confrontation between them.

"Well then, it's time to head out. We still have to work tomorrow."

Everyone stood up one after another. Because they all had to work the next day, nobody had actually drunk much. Besides, with a formidable figure like Cui Jing planted right there, and two interns sitting on either side under the radiance of her imposing presence,

not only was everyone too tense to let loose, but no one dared to find an opportunity to pressure the interns into drinking.

Still, the gossip they had witnessed today was enough to keep them talking for quite some time. The surveillance footage of Wan Ninghe deleting Yu Youchu's files had already been circulated as well.

The thought of being rid of such an annoying pest put Yu Youchu in a much better mood.

As she waited for Pei Jiayin's car, a faint smile hung on her lips.

"Yu Youchu, how do you feel about today?" An ethereal voice rang out. In such a cheerful night, it sounded like a ghost hovering over Yu Youchu's shoulder, causing her to shudder involuntarily.

She turned her head to look.

A delicate and pretty face presented itself before her.

There was not a trace of intoxication on it, reminiscent of a crisp autumn breeze.

"Gu... Taotao?" The alcohol had only worsened Yu Youchu's already poor memory.

The girl on the opposite side nodded.

"You haven't answered my question yet."

Yu Youchu found it inexplicable. "Just like that. Nothing special to talk about."

"Is that so? You certainly made quite a splash." Gu Taotao pulled her sleeves together.

Judging by her posture, she probably wanted to strike up a long conversation.

Yu Youchu signaled inwardly that she wanted nothing of the sort, and subconsciously searched for Mu Chuan's whereabouts to use him as a shield.

Just as she turned her head, she caught sight of a familiar figure getting into the back seat of his own car.

Left with no other choice, Yu Youchu bit the bullet and replied, "I didn't make a splash. To be precise, I probably left a rather poor impression."

The other person raised an eyebrow in surprise, as if taken aback by Yu Youchu's answer.

"Why?"

"Because aren't interns supposed to seek steady progress? I acted a bit too radical."

Gu Taotao was wearing a long gauze dress today, paired with an outer knitted long sweater. Every gesture she made carried an air of effortless laziness.

At this moment, she tucked her bangs behind her ear and said earnestly,

"Not at all."

"In fact, I think your boldness earned you a lot of bonus points with Sister Jing."

"Really?" Yu Youchu offered a weak smile.

She could sense the coldness in Gu Taotao's eyes. She had always been quite sensitive to emotional atmospheres, and right then, she could detect a faint, suppressed hostility.

"Do you think I'm picking a fight with you?"

Yu Youchu snapped her head up. Following such an astonished reaction, that hostility became even more palpable.

"No..." When she saw the pure look in Gu Taotao's eyes, her words took a sharp turn, "...just a little bit."

It felt as though she had climbed up the ladder relying entirely on Cui Jing.

Gu Taotao suddenly burst into laughter.

That clear, ringing laughter echoed loudly in Yu Youchu's ears, sending a tingling sensation through them.

What a strange person.

Just as Yu Youchu was about to get to the bottom of it, Pei Jiayin's car pulled up to the spot where she was waiting.

Only then did Yu Youchu realize that, in order to keep Pei Jiayin hidden from her colleagues, she had deliberately chosen a rather secluded place to wait for the car. Gu Taotao must have followed her here on purpose.

Yu Youchu felt goosebumps break out all over her body.

However, Gu Taotao was merely a minor employee in the design department; she couldn't possibly have crossed paths with Pei Jiayin... right?

Just as Yu Youchu was gripped by panic, Pei Jiayin had already parked the car steadily and stepped out. At the same time, Yu Youchu heard that ethereal voice ring out once more:

"Pei Jiayin...?"

"Gu Taotao?"

Yu Youchu: ?

How on earth do the two of you already know each other?

"What are you doing here?" They asked each other in unison.

Realizing something, both of them turned their gazes fixedly onto Yu Youchu.

"Are you close with him/her?"

"Wait, wait, wait." What kind of situation was this? Yu Youchu felt a headache coming on.

"Do you two know each other?"

Both of them wore dark expressions. After a long moment, Pei Jiayin finally spoke up first:

"She's my cousin. After graduation, she didn't want to work at the company arranged by our parents, so she went out to find a job on her own... I had no idea that after a year of not checking up on her, she quietly sneaked into my... our company."

Pei Jiayin almost let a slip of the tongue escape, managing to catch himself and turn the sentence around just in time.

Yu Youchu, however, had her mind entirely occupied by what Pei Jiayin had just said and failed to notice his awkward phrasing. But Gu Taotao caught it instantly, raising an eyebrow.

She glanced at Pei Jiayin's car, a Volkswagen Phaeton.

Roughly estimating the situation in her mind, she already had a pretty good idea.

Seeing her eyes darting around shrewdly, Pei Jiayin knew that this quick-witted girl had already figured out a clue or two.

Yu Youchu now had absolutely no idea how to face Gu Taotao.

Actually, she had previously tried to look into Gu Taotao's background. She was a manager under Cui Jing, and for this project, she had been leading Mu Chuan and Wan Ninghe.

Yu Youchu thought it through carefully. Cui Jing had previously said she would try her best to assign Yu Youchu to a team under her people... That meant her boyfriend's cousin was going to be her future direct boss, while her boyfriend was the big boss high above her direct boss.

"Hello, Cousin-in-law." Gu Taotao offered a sly smile, her ethereal voice feeling like a bolt of lightning striking Yu Youchu from the blue.

What had she just called her?

Cousin-in-law?

Yu Youchu's expression froze completely on her face.

Meanwhile, a smile spread across Pei Jiayin's face instead. "I suppose I won't tell Auntie that you're working at Huasheng after all."

Gu Taotao felt deeply aggrieved inside. She had merely wanted to tease a new, interesting colleague and perhaps give her a little scare. Never did she expect that walking by the river often would finally get her shoes wet—she had accidentally run straight into her own cousin-in-law.

Good thing she was sharp enough to save herself in the nick of time; otherwise, how could she have continued to slack off comfortably in her cousin's company... But still.

Why on earth was her cousin, the CEO of Huasheng, dating an intern on her team?