Daydreaming about Me

Chapter 98 Extra 3

After that meal together, Gu Xia didn’t see Fu Mingxiu for a long time.

She’d never met anyone like him before—couldn’t he talk properly? She hadn’t even minded him, yet he had the nerve to say she was better off not speaking.

Gu Xia was fuming that night, nearly walking out with her bag in hand. But good upbringing kept her restrained, and the two finished the meal quietly.

Fu Mingxiu probably realized he’d said something foolish, so he didn’t say much after that, just dropped her off at the school gate after dinner.

Gu Xia coldly thanked him and politely said goodbye.

It was purely polite; Gu Xia had no desire to see him again. What did he have in his head, anyway?

Since middle school, Gu Xia had never met a guy as blunt as him.

Normally, she wouldn’t have cared this much. The reason she was upset probably had something else mixed in there, more or less.

Fu Mingxiu watched her unbuckle her seatbelt and get out with a stern face. He hesitated, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end, he said nothing and watched her leave.

Once she was out, Fu Mingxiu sat in the car, hands gripping the steering wheel, and sighed.

Even with his low emotional intelligence, he realized she’d been unhappy because of his last remark.

Normally, Young Master Fu wouldn’t care about these things. Her being upset had nothing to do with him, as long as he felt satisfied saying what he did.

But at that moment, he actually felt a rare bit of regret.

He truly regretted it a little.

In the future, he should be more careful with his words.

Later, Fu Mingxiu went to A University a few more times, more or less on purpose. But it was a big campus, and casually running into her every time wasn’t easy.

He thought about apologizing, but didn’t want to be too deliberate about it, as if he had come specifically to apologize.

So, he decided that if he happened to see her, he’d say something; if not, then so be it.

Young Master Fu had never apologized to anyone before. Initially, he thought the matter would just pass, but for some reason, it lingered in his mind.

However, after a few tries without running into her, Fu Mingxiu gave up. Plus, he had just graduated that year and formally entered the company. Used to slacking off, he was suddenly overwhelmed with actual work, struggling to balance everything.

So, the matter was set aside. He was so busy every day that he barely had time to sleep, let alone take a day trip to A University for a coincidental meeting.

He didn’t expect to see Gu Xia again at the company.

That day, he had an early morning meeting and went to the company early to prepare documents. Carrying a funding proposal, he went into the top-floor office, planning to give Guan Xiangmei a quick briefing.

Through the glass door, he saw Guan Xiangmei arguing with Meng Weiguo.

The office was well soundproofed, so Fu Mingxiu could hardly hear anything, just faint echoes of their heated argument. In the end, Guan Xiangmei raised her arm and swept a stack of documents off the desk, while Meng Weiguo, his back to the door, showed no expression.

Leaning against the glass, Fu Mingxiu watched coldly for a moment. The two hadn’t even been together for two years, and the honeymoon phase had long disappeared. They now quarreled every three days and had a big fight every five, initially because Meng Weiguo wanted a child. Guan Xiangmei, being clever, would never agree.

Later, they fought over interests, the company, and money.

Fu Mingxiu watched with a mocking heart.

He thought his biological mother and stepfather were quite amusing.

He’d always felt that Meng Weiguo wasn’t good enough, which extended to a deep prejudice against Lin Yujing. After two years of tolerance, the man’s true colors finally showed.

Now that Fu Mingxiu was becoming more adept at his work day by day, Meng Weiguo was starting to panic.

After all, the company still belonged to the Fu family. When Fu Mingxiu officially took over, Meng Weiguo would have to go wherever he was told.

Fu Mingxiu deliberately bumped the glass door with his folder, making a crisp sound, causing the two inside to freeze like someone had pressed pause. Guan Xiangmei looked toward the door, and Meng Weiguo turned his head.

Without even glancing at their expressions, Fu Mingxiu turned and headed downstairs.

The meeting was at 10:30 a.m., so he still had more than an hour. Fu Mingxiu planned to return the proposal to his office and couldn’t be bothered to wait for the private elevator, so he went down when the elevator doors opened.

At the fourteenth floor, he encountered the HR department leading a group of interns.

The HR supervisor, who had been with the company for over ten years, recognized him right away. Fu Mingxiu was looking down and didn’t see him at first. When he looked up, the supervisor greeted him with a smile.

The supervisor had been around since the days of the old Fu, and when Fu Mingxiu was in high school, he used to come to the company to do homework. The supervisor would often secretly help him with it when he struggled.

Fu Mingxiu had a good relationship with him, so he initiated a greeting and exchanged a few words. Seeing four or five heads of black hair in front, he casually asked, “New employees?”

“Interns,” the supervisor replied. “It’s winter break, so HR recruited a few youngsters.”

Fu Mingxiu paused, suddenly realizing that it was already winter break.

He’d been so busy that he’d lost all sense of time.

There were four or five interns—two girls and three boys. The company had high standards, so even for a winter internship, the recruits must have some skills—either from prestigious schools or with connections.

The truly capable ones would be retained in advance, so as not to lose them to other companies after graduation. You could never have too many talents.

Fu Mingxiu didn’t say anything else, nodded slightly, and casually glanced over, noticing a head of black hair.

While chatting with the HR supervisor, the interns all turned their heads, except for one girl, who steadfastly faced the elevator doors, refusing to look back.

She seemed persistent and stubborn.

Especially that back view—it looked somewhat familiar.

When the elevator dinged, the interns walked out, and Fu Mingxiu, being a person who loved to delve into things, followed them out, trailing the supervisor and the interns to the HR department. He leaned against the door, watching as the interns were assigned to different departments.

Gu Xia was the last one. She wore a beige shirt and dark green wide-legged trousers. She was already tall, and with heels, she looked even taller. Her hair was loose, with soft curls.

She didn’t look like a freshman at all.

Fu Mingxiu was genuinely surprised when he confirmed it was her. Although he had also interned at the company during college, he was a sophomore then. Usually, freshmen spent their first vacation having fun; he’d never encountered one who would seek an internship at a company for serious work, at least not in his circle.

Among his group of young, affluent friends, few were ambitious.

Fu Mingxiu just leaned against the door, watching her.

She stood at an angle, half-facing him, speaking softly with the boy next to her.

After about five or six minutes, he began to lose patience.

He frowned, crossed his arms, tapped his finger on his arm repeatedly, looking like a manager inspecting the scene.

The entire office quieted down, occasionally glancing at him.

Finally, Gu Xia sensed the atmosphere was off and turned her head.

Their eyes met, Gu Xia looked at him for a few seconds, then calmly turned back.

Fu Mingxiu: “?”

He wasn’t particularly satisfied with her attitude. He was the kind who didn’t overthink things, directly raising his hand to point at her, “You.”

Gu Xia turned her head again.

Fu Mingxiu: “Come here.”

Gu Xia: “…”

How domineering of you.

Resigned, she followed him across the company hallway to the floor-to-ceiling windows. Fu Mingxiu turned to face her, “What are you doing here?”

Gu Xia gave him an odd look, “Interning.”

Fu Mingxiu coughed.

That wasn’t what he meant to ask.

What did he want to ask again?

Fu Mingxiu’s brain seemed stuck, his thoughts inexplicably stagnant, unable to keep up with his mouth. Out of nowhere, he blurted, “Why didn’t you acknowledge me just now in the elevator?”

“I did see you,” Gu Xia said.

Fu Mingxiu was dissatisfied, “Then why did you act like you didn’t?”

“…”

Gu Xia was speechless, “I’m just here to intern, learn a few things, and earn some pocket money. I’m not here for a family reunion. I’m just an intern, and you’re some executive, right? How am I supposed to start a conversation?”

It was a straightforward explanation: she came for an internship, not to connect with people. He should also pretend not to know her.

Fu Mingxiu paused, not having considered that.

Gu Xia hadn’t expected that the deputy general manager here was indeed the boss.

After getting to know him a bit, Gu Xia found Fu Mingxiu to be a bit of a “two”—in the literal sense—his blunt personality didn’t match the cunning nature of a wealthy heir. He seemed more like a nouveau riche fool.

The village idiot.

So,

she thought he was probably from a small family business or something. She hadn’t expected he was actually a rich heir who had grown up among elites.

Gu Xia was curious how someone with his intelligence and personality hadn’t been taken advantage of.

The two stood by the window at ten in the morning. The corridor was bustling with people going about their work, and the stillness between them seemed out of place.

Gu Xia waited a while, seeing that Fu Mingxiu had nothing more to say, and raised her eyes, “Do you need something else, Deputy General?”

“Yes,” Fu Mingxiu said.

Gu Xia waited patiently.

The man still held the file in his hands, looking somewhat awkward, nothing like a domineering CEO. He glanced at her, opened his mouth, and after a long moment, mumbled softly, “I’m sorry.”

Gu Xia was startled, “Hmm?”

Fu Mingxiu’s ears turned red as he looked away, cleared his throat, “When I said you look better when you’re quiet, I didn’t mean it—” He coughed, “that way.”

Gu Xia was utterly taken aback.

She’d forgotten about it long ago; it wasn’t a big deal. It was the kind of thing that came up jokingly among male friends.

And it had been months. She hadn’t expected Fu Mingxiu to still remember.

When she came back to her senses, Fu Mingxiu was already gone. Gu Xia stood by the window, recalling his earlier expression.

It was an unnatural expression, with red ears and a look like, “To hell with it, I’m just going for it,” as if apologizing had cost him his life.

Gu Xia burst out laughing, finding it quite amusing that a domineering CEO could be this innocent.

After that day, Fu Mingxiu didn’t speak to Gu Xia again.

He understood the message in Gu Xia’s words. Occasionally, they would run into each other in the company, but Fu Mingxiu pretended not to see her.

Although Lin Yujing teased him as a “general manager” and whatnot, he had actually only recently moved up from being a regular employee. He’d been promoted to management for just a few months, and his office was still on the same floor as the department staff.

Gu Xia’s office was also on the same floor, and the boy who had spoken to her earlier was likely an intern in the same department. Whenever Fu Mingxiu saw Gu Xia, that boy was always around her.

They were, after all, interning together, and it was normal to make friends in the same department. Having lunch, chatting, or grabbing afternoon tea was understandable.

Understandable, my foot.

Men know men, and sometimes intentions are blatantly obvious.

Although Fu Mingxiu had low emotional intelligence, he wasn’t an idiot. The boy’s eyes sparkled with pink bubbles whenever he looked at Gu Xia.

Fu Mingxiu found it intolerable. Was this using work as an excuse to blatantly pursue a girl?

Such behavior was disgraceful.

Unable to hold back any longer, he intercepted Gu Xia one day when she came out of the break room, holding a cup of coffee.

She glanced around to make sure no one was watching, “What is it, Deputy General?”

Seeing her keeping a distance, Fu Mingxiu was displeased, though he couldn’t pinpoint why. He sneered, shut the break room door, and looked at her sternly, “You know office romances aren’t allowed, right?”

Gu Xia: “…”

Lin Yujing, are you around? Your brother seems to be acting up again.

“I’m not having an office romance, Deputy General,” Gu Xia said respectfully.

The girl crisply addressed him as “Deputy General,” irritating Fu Mingxiu even more, “Can you stop calling me that?”

Gu Xia was confused, “But that’s what Lin Yujing calls you.”

“And if Lin Yujing eats dirt, would you eat it too?”

“…”

It was clear to Gu Xia that he was in a bad mood.

She didn’t have time to chat with a domineering CEO, so she nodded, “Okay. If you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do, or I’ll have to work overtime.”

Fu Mingxiu acted as if he hadn’t heard, leaning against the door, not budging, “Don’t bother.”

Gu Xia blinked, “What?”

“If you like working so much, transfer to my department as a secretary,” Fu Mingxiu said. “Why does one department need two interns? Can’t one handle the workload? Do you have to stick together all the time?”

He rambled on, and Gu Xia was stunned.

It took her a long time to process.

She wasn’t new to relationships; she considered herself a bit of a love expert. After all, she’d had her first crush in kindergarten, kissing the cutest boy in class and scaring him to tears.

Fu Mingxiu’s behavior was blatantly obvious, leaving her momentarily dumbfounded.

She’d initially thought Fu Mingxiu liked Lin Yujing, but after observing for a while and subtly mentioning it to Lin Yujing, she realized he didn’t.

Fu Mingxiu was just… a little clueless.

Now, it seemed he wasn’t clueless; he was genuinely innocent.

His reactions, a bit tsundere and contradictory, were like a child’s. Nowadays, even elementary school kids in relationships would straightforwardly ask, “Do you love me or him?!”

But not Fu Mingxiu. He’d hold it in, then intercept her to say no office romances, indirectly telling her to stay away from that boy.

He probably didn’t even realize why he cared so much.

Gu Xia couldn’t hold back her laughter.

The more she laughed, the angrier Fu Mingxiu became. He glared at her silently.

Today, the girl wore a pale pink dress that made her face look even fairer. Her smile was bright and captivating, like a budding lotus in a pond, her full lips forming an enchanting curve.

The more he glared, the redder Fu Mingxiu’s face became.

He awkwardly looked away.

Gu Xia stifled her laughter, earnestly saying, “Deputy General, rest assured, I won’t be getting into any office romances.”

Fu Mingxiu said nothing, but inexplicably felt relieved.

Gu Xia continued, “Besides, we’re just interns for another half month at most. He studies at N University, which is quite close to our school, just a few subway stops away.”

Fu Mingxiu paused.

Gu Xia added, “I’m not in a hurry. It won’t affect my work, even as an intern. After all, we should earn the internship pay you give us, right?”

With a dark expression, Fu Mingxiu turned and stormed out the door.

As Gu Xia and the boy grew closer, Fu Mingxiu’s mood worsened day by day, to the point where everyone in the company noticed, including Guan Xiangmei, who called him upstairs to talk, “I heard your temper has been getting worse lately. Is something troubling you?”

“No,” Fu Mingxiu replied flatly.

Guan Xiangmei didn’t dare to press further. Ever since her remarriage, she and Fu Mingxiu seemed to be separated by a wall. They often ended up arguing after a few words, so she said no more and watched him leave.

Fu Mingxiu was genuinely puzzled.

Originally, it was just this way. It started because of her sharp retorts that lingered in his mind, then because he felt like he’d seen her before. Later, it was because he thought he should apologize.

And so, for some inexplicable reason, he’d kept thinking about her for several months. Now that the apology was given and everything was clarified, shouldn’t it be over?

Yet, he couldn’t seem to get over it.

It was like a habit that had become addictive.

Even while Gu Xia interned during the winter break, Fu Mingxiu felt like a stalker, always noticing her whenever she passed by, just like when he frequently went to A University.

But she was always surrounded by people, laughing and talking, charming the boys around her.

Once, he even overheard some girls discussing the new intern, saying he was quite handsome.

Young male students, with their fresh, youthful aura, were different from the older men in the company—a delicate and youthful beauty.

Fu Mingxiu thought these people were blind.

What was handsome about him?

Was it just because he had fair skin and big eyes?

He was as thin as a stick, and Fu Mingxiu worried he’d get crushed in the elevator. Just a weakling.

Did she… really like that type?

Fu Mingxiu found it incomprehensible.

As the winter break ended, and Gu Xia’s internship was nearing its end, Fu Mingxiu realized she was indeed Lin Yujing’s friend, adept at handling relationships. In just a month, she had charmed everyone from the department head to the cleaning staff.

Including that young male intern.

On her last day at the company, the young man couldn’t hold back any longer. The two sat in the lounge, and he called out to her, “Um, Gu Xia…”

“Yes?” Gu Xia replied.

“Nothing, I just wanted to ask you…”

Gu Xia smiled, “Go ahead.”

“I wanted to ask if you’ve… you know, we’ve been around each other for a while now, and I wanted to ask if you could…”

Lowering his voice, he leaned closer, and Gu Xia did too. With their heads almost touching, he whispered, “The phone number of your senior in your department, the one I mentioned before. Did he agree?”

Young male interns nowadays didn’t just like female students; they liked male students too

.

This was how Gu Xia’s friendship with this colleague had formed. As soon as he heard she was from A University, his eyes lit up. Apparently, during a debate competition, he’d fallen in love at first sight with a senior from the computer science department but hadn’t dared to ask for contact information. He regretted it afterward, so he asked her to help get the guy’s WeChat or phone number.

Gu Xia had agreed to help, but just as she was about to respond, someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her up.

The grip was strong, squeezing her wrist painfully. She nearly cried out, stumbling as she was dragged up two flights of stairs to the company’s rooftop, where Fu Mingxiu released her.

Gu Xia was furious, rubbing her wrist as she glared at him, “Are you insane?”

Fu Mingxiu’s face was grim, “What was he saying to you?”

“None of your business,” she snapped.

Fu Mingxiu fumed, “Do you think just because it’s your last day, you can talk to me however you want?”

“Yeah.”

“You like him?”

“Yes.”

“You think he’s handsome?”

She didn’t even bother to look at him, “I think he’s incredibly handsome.”

“What about me?” Fu Mingxiu asked.

“You—” Gu Xia began to speak, then paused, looking up at him.

Fu Mingxiu’s lips were pressed together, his face full of irritation, and his ears were red. After a moment’s struggle, he asked again, “Who’s more handsome, him or me?”

Gu Xia blinked slowly, “Deputy General, does this question mean the same thing as ‘I like you’?”

Fu Mingxiu looked like a firecracker set alight, ready to explode. He nearly jumped up. His ears, and even his forehead, turned red.

He glared at her, flustered, “Who said I liked you?”

“No one,” Gu Xia nodded, turning to leave, “Then I’ll go back and continue with the confession. It’s cold out here, so enjoy yourself.”

She took two steps forward, and he remained silent.

She slowed her pace, taking another two steps.

Then she heard footsteps behind her. Gu Xia lowered her head, smiling. In the next second, Fu Mingxiu grabbed her arm again, pulling her close. This time he used both hands, gripping her wrists tightly, preventing her from moving.

Gu Xia looked down at their posture, finding it amusing, “A doll and a teddy bear dancing?”

Ignoring her teasing, Fu Mingxiu, with a flushed face, looked at her, his voice a bit hoarse, “I…”

“You.” Gu Xia was unhurried.

“I…”

Gu Xia curved her lips. Her nose was a bit red in the winter air, adding a touch of adorable clumsiness to her usual elegance, “What is it?”

Fu Mingxiu cursed under his breath, turned his head, then seemed to throw caution to the wind, pulling her forward and leaning down to kiss her.

Gu Xia was completely stunned. This big idiot, despite his clumsiness, was a man of action?

Their kissing posture was quite awkward; Fu Mingxiu was gripping her wrists tightly, his palms sweaty, and his warmth enveloped her, driving away the cold.

The rooftop was deserted, leaves drifting onto the cork flooring. The cold wind blew, rustling the rain cover on the lounge area. Besides that, there was no other sound.

After a long time, a girl’s voice, mingled with breathiness and laughter, came from the corner, “Deputy General, move your tongue.”

“…”

“No, not like that. Your kissing skills are terrible.”

“…”

“Deputy General, could this be your first kiss? How old are you?”

“…Shut up.”

Author’s Note: Fu Mingxiu’s extra story is finished. This might be the purest character I’ve ever written…

Next chapter will be a short piece about Jingmei and Juanbao.

-Chapter End-