Rejected by the Campus Belle, I Find My True Love

"Stop fawning over him. Anyone who didn’t know better might think you were the one getting engaged."

"So what if I’m fawning? What’s it to you? What, are you jealous that the boss is getting engaged?"

Cui Hao froze with irritation. "Jealous? Right, I’m jealous. So, boss, you should just call off the engagement."

"Cui Hao, have you ever heard the saying, ’Better to demolish ten temples than to ruin one marriage’? You’re actually telling the boss to call off his engagement? You’ve got a malicious heart. No wonder no girls like you..."

Yu Kexin suddenly realized she had misspoken and quickly stopped. "Cui Hao, I didn’t mean that."

"You say no one likes me, but you’re in the same boat. Out of all the guys in the company, which one of them likes you?"

Yu Kexin rolled her eyes. So much for her apology.

"So what if no one likes me? Have video games lost their charm? Has my job stopped being rewarding? Why should I need a man’s approval? Unlike you, who acts like you can’t live without a woman’s affection."

Bring it on. Let’s tear each other to shreds.

Working among a group of men every day, Yu Kexin had long since developed a tough skin.

"Alright, you two. You bicker every single time you see each other. Don’t you ever get tired?"

For some reason, Cui Hao and Yu Kexin had been clashing every time they met lately, always aiming for each other’s sore spots. To an outsider, it looked as if they shared some deep, irreconcilable hatred.

Refusing to back down, Yu Kexin retorted, "He started it... I don’t even want to argue with him. But, boss, this is your engagement party. How can you know nothing about it?"

How could he seem like a guest at his own engagement party? No, he’s even more clueless than a guest. This is all very strange.

"Xiao Xi and the others will handle everything," Xue Yang said nonchalantly.

"So... doesn’t that make you..."

A live-in son-in-law?

But Yu Kexin didn’t dare say that to Xue Yang’s face.

Men usually don’t like it when people say things like that about them, right? But the boss doesn’t seem to mind at all. Could it be that this is what he really thinks?

"Is your work all done? You all seem to have a lot of free time."

"No... no! We got the news that Fight It Out wants to revoke our license. It was urgent, so we wanted to discuss a strategy with you. But since you’ve already handled it, we don’t need to worry anymore. We’ll get back to work now. You’re busy, boss, carry on."

With that, Yu Kexin dragged Cui Hao out of the office.

"Why’d you pull me out of there so fast? I still had questions for the boss."

Once outside, Cui Hao unhappily shook off Yu Kexin’s hand.

For once, Yu Kexin didn’t argue with him. Instead, she whispered, "Cui Hao, do you think the boss has lost his ambition?"

Cui Hao was taken aback. "Huh? Why would you say that? How could the boss not be ambitious? He’s incredibly ambitious."

He was launching new energy vehicles and building charging stations all over the country. He controlled at least a tenth of the future economic lifeline. It was hard to say if that was an overstatement or an understatement, because you never knew what Xue Yang would come up with next.

"Think about it. An event as huge as an engagement is being completely handled by the woman’s family, and it’s being held at their venue. What is that if not marrying into her family?"

"The Lin Corporation is a huge deal. Of course they wouldn’t hold the engagement party at the groom’s family home. Besides, I think marrying into the family is fine. How does that have anything to do with losing ambition?"

In Cui Hao’s view, marrying into the bride’s family wasn’t a big deal at all. This was the modern era. Things like family names weren’t valued as highly as they used to be. As long as two people were in love, what did it matter whose last name the children took? Besides, young couples were encouraged to live on their own these days, so the technicalities of him marrying into her family didn’t matter.

Yu Kexin didn’t even know what to say to Cui Hao’s bizarre logic.

"But if the boss gets engaged to the boss lady, and her family wants him to come back and help the Lin Corporation, wouldn’t that mean he wouldn’t have to strive anymore?"

Marrying into the family... who even cares about that these days? Her real worry was whether Xue Yang would abandon the business they had worked so hard to build in exchange for that broader horizon.

Hearing Yu Kexin’s words, Cui Hao slapped his thigh. "Crap. Now that you put it that way, it’s a real possibility. No, I have to go ask him."

Cui Hao hurried back into Xue Yang’s office.

"Why are you giving me that look?"

Cui Hao didn’t speak. He just kept staring as if Xue Yang had betrayed him.

"Alright, stop giving me that disgusting look. If you have something to say, spit it out. If not, get the hell out. I’m busy."

Cui Hao walked up to the desk, leaned forward with his hands on it, and got close to Xue Yang. "You’re not really planning to abandon us, are you?"

"What’s all this about abandonment? You really think I’m some kind of heartbreaker? Or... have you had improper thoughts about me from the very beginning?"

Hearing this, Cui Hao exploded. "Damn it! I’m into women, not big lugs like you."

"If you’re not interested, then why don’t you scram?"

"Whoa, don’t tell me you actually have a secret crush on me?"

Xue Yang stopped typing. He leaned back slightly in his chair and stared directly at Cui Hao.

Cui Hao immediately felt his skin crawl. "I... I was just kidding. Don’t look at me like that."

"Get to the point."

Cui Hao stood up straight and said in a low voice, "Kexin and I were just talking. We think it’s very likely that after you get engaged, you might abandon us to join the Lin Corporation. I came to ask if that’s true."

"If I really wanted to join the Lin Corporation, would I need to go to all this trouble?"

"That’s true..."

"Don’t waste time on wild speculation. The gaming and automotive businesses are what I’ve poured my heart and soul into; I would never abandon them. My goals have never changed, and they won’t change whether I get engaged or married to Xiao Xi."

Hearing Xue Yang’s words, Cui Hao’s worries completely vanished.

"That’s all I needed to hear. I’m relieved. Alright, I’m heading out."

The moment he stepped out the door, he was stopped by Yu Kexin.

"Cui Hao, so? Is the boss going to abandon us?"

"Relax. Our boss isn’t that shallow. He would never abandon us."

"Oh, thank goodness. You scared me to death just now. If the boss really left us, I don’t know what I’d do."

"What else could we do? Tie him up so he can’t go anywhere and just keep him here in the office."

Yu Kexin rolled her eyes at him and returned to her office without looking back.

"You and what army?"

"Hey, don’t go! What’s that supposed to mean? Come back and explain yourself..."

「...」

After Cui Hao left, Xue Yang sat up straight. He didn’t resume typing, seemingly lost in thought. A long time passed before his fingers finally returned to the keyboard.

His phone vibrated.

He glanced at it once before ignoring it and returning to his work.

「...」