"Miss Lin, you studied abroad?"
"Yes."
"According to your résumé, you're quite outstanding. Our company really needs talents like you."
Hearing that, Lin Siya relaxed a little. After a few more questions—which she answered smoothly—the interviewer seemed satisfied. She left the meeting full of cautious optimism.
She expected to hear back within three days.
But when three days passed with no call or message, she couldn't help dialing their number to ask for an update.
"Sorry, Miss Lin," came the polite voice on the other end. "Our positions are already filled. As for why you weren't selected—well, we simply found someone more suitable."
After hanging up, Lin Siya gave a bitter smile at her phone.
A year had passed, yet Gu Yan's influence still lingered.
She didn't believe that company could find someone "more suitable" in just a few days. Whatever else she lacked, her education, experience, and résumé were solid—of that she was confident.
Meanwhile, inside the company—
"Manager, that Miss Lin was extremely qualified. Her education, overseas experience, and the project proposals she presented—they're exactly what we need." The HR recruiter looked puzzled. "I really thought we'd hire her."
The manager shook his head. "Her name's Lin Siya. She has a grudge with the Gu family. Mr. Gu already made it clear—he wants her blacklisted in this city. No matter how capable she is, we can't risk hiring her. If we offend him, our entire company's finished."
It wasn't worth the gamble.
One interview after another went the same way. Every interviewer was impressed—until she was told to "wait for a call" that never came.
She refused to give up, calling each company one by one, only to hear the same polite lie:
"We've already found someone more suitable."
But when she checked their job listings online, they were still hiring.
Her lips trembled, eyes burning red. "More suitable"? Please. They were just afraid of Gu Yan's retaliation.
To keep searching, she'd even borrowed 5,000 yuan from Yuan Xin. Her debt was growing, but her hope was shrinking.
A week later, with no job and her confidence crumbling again, she walked out of a tiny noodle shop.
It was dark.
The shop wasn't far from her neighborhood—her usual dinner spot now that fancy restaurants were out of reach. She couldn't cook, so it was cheap noodles at night, thin porridge in the morning.
Wearing heels and carrying her bag, she trudged along the dim street toward her apartment.
Watching the lights flicker to life in the distance, she felt lost.
It was as if this city had no place for her anymore.
Every time she tried to stand up again, the world pushed her back down.
When she finally reached the gates of her complex, she spotted a familiar figure—leather jacket, leather pants, wine-red curls glowing even under weak streetlight.
The woman leaned casually against the wall by the gate, posture relaxed and unhurried.
Lin Siya bit her lip. Coincidence, surely. There was no way this woman was actually waiting for her.
"It's late," Ah Xin said, stepping toward her. "Too pretty a girl to be wandering around at night. Try to come home earlier next time."
Lin Siya blinked, nose stinging. Her voice wavered. "Yuan Xin… you weren't waiting for me, were you?"
"I was," Ah Xin replied simply.
Her eyes softened with a faint smile—warm enough to outshine the streetlights. "You still owe me six thousand two hundred and twenty yuan. As your creditor, I have an obligation to make sure you're safe."
Lin Siya's lips quirked, her chest loosening. She walked faster to catch up. "I'll pay you back. I just went to get dinner, I wasn't wandering around."
"Found a job yet?"
Her face fell. She shook her head.
"They said I was excellent," she muttered, "but they still wouldn't hire me." Her voice grew smaller. "Yuan Xin, I offended someone powerful. As long as he doesn't relent, no one who knows about it will hire me. Even if someone takes me in by mistake, they'll fire me the moment they find out."
"This city doesn't want me anymore."
She laughed bitterly. "After that night, I swore I'd get back up, live well no matter what. But now… no one will give me a chance."
"Maybe the only job left for me is washing dishes."
Her tone was half-joking, half-broken. "But that's not the life I want. It's not that it's shameful—it's just meaningless. I'd rot away doing that, earning a few thousand a month just to survive. I don't want to become one of those people."
She clenched her fists. "I'm still breathing, still fighting… because there's still a tiny bit of strength left in me. And because—" she hesitated—"because someone made me believe I'm not completely abandoned."
"I've already faced death. I lived.
If I can't prove my worth while I'm alive, I'll never die in peace."
Ah Xin studied her quietly, eyes narrowing slightly. "My company's hiring. Want to give it a try?"
"You… own a company?" Lin Siya's first thought was that Yuan Xin must be some kind of local gang boss.
Wait, she was the boss of a company? Seriously?
Ah Xin nodded with a small smile. "Just a small one—for now. But one day it'll be the biggest in the country. Join now and you could be one of the founding members."
Lin Siya laughed despite herself. The woman sounded like she was trying to recruit fresh graduates with a dream.
Except she wasn't lying.
"I… can I really?" she asked hesitantly. "I've offended someone with a lot of power. If I join your company, I can't guarantee he won't come after you too."
"If he's that powerful," Ah Xin said mildly, "he's probably too busy to care about small fry like us."
Then, tilting her head slightly, she added, "You're struggling because everyone else wants to curry his favor, right? The kind of people who'd kick you down just to please him?"
Lin Siya nodded weakly. "Yeah. No one wants to offend him."
"Then don't worry," Ah Xin said, smiling faintly. "I'm not one of those people. I don't need to please him—and I'm not afraid of him.
So, are you coming or not?"
Lin Siya looked at the woman before her—the thick makeup, the bright hair, the unreadable face beneath it all—but behind that façade was something genuine. Something warm.
Without thinking, she blurted out, louder than she meant to, "I'll come! If you're willing to hire me, I'll be there."
Ah Xin smiled. "Good. Then go home and rest. Tomorrow morning, we'll finalize your position."
Taking a deep breath, Lin Siya followed the woman with the red curls, quickening her steps until they walked side by side.
Glancing at Ah Xin's oversized hoop earrings, she couldn't help wondering what kind of company this really was. Hopefully… not some protection racket.
The next morning, Lin Siya woke at seven.
After getting ready, she realized she'd forgotten to ask where the company actually was. She was just about to call when someone knocked on her door.
Looking through the peephole, she saw a familiar explosion of red curls—and those calm, bright eyes with a hint of melancholy.
Opening the door, she smiled. "I was just about to ask where your company is. You came to pick me up?"
"Mm."
Ah Xin handed her a cup of soy milk, a bag of steamed buns, and a boiled egg. Lin Siya froze, blinking down at the breakfast, afraid to keep her waiting too long before accepting it awkwardly.
"You didn't have to," she said softly. "I could've just grabbed something on the way."
Then, almost shyly, "Did you eat yet?"
"Yeah."
"Wait a sec, I'll get my bag."
She squeezed the warm paper bag in her hands, smiling to herself as she hurried inside, grabbed her purse, and locked up.
They went downstairs together in comfortable silence.
It had been years since anyone had bought her breakfast—back in school, the boys who chased her used to do that.
Back then, she'd found it annoying. Did they think a few buns could win her over?
Now, her heart felt strangely warm. It had been so long since anyone cared enough to remind her to eat.
By the time she finished her soy milk, they were standing outside a modest office building. Above the door, a sign read: Huan Yuan Security Co., Ltd.
So… not a protection racket.
The door was open. Inside, several computers displayed live surveillance feeds from different shops, two men monitoring them closely.
Ah Xin led her to an office. By the time she finished breakfast, the rest of the employees had arrived.
"Everyone," Ah Xin said, sitting at the conference table, smiling lightly toward the nervous newcomer, "this is our new colleague, Lin Siya. From now on, she'll be working with Xiao Yu in the marketing department."