Chapter 3 Unemployment

As he approached me, a very distinct, faint scent of tobacco invaded my nostrils.

I had a vague feeling I had smelled this scent somewhere before.

He didn't shake my hand but sat down on the sofa opposite me and glanced at the badge hanging around my neck, "Your last name is Zhang?"

"Oh no." He was somewhat unconventional, and he disrupted my rhythm, "My name is Xia Zhi, the reporter who was supposed to interview you had to go on a business trip."

I looked up at his face.

I knew a little about Sang Qi.

Dayu Group was founded by two brothers, said to come from an official family with a prestigious father. But the sons themselves were exceptional, expanding Dayu Group into a very large domestic enterprise within just a few years.

And Sang Qi was very young, rumored to be under thirty.

Therefore, there must be something worth exploring about such a representative young businessman.

Only, Xiao Zhang's interview script was too superficial, full of nothing but flattery.

I hadn't expected him to be so handsome, he could certainly hold his own against any male movie star even in the film industry.

I stared at him, lost in thought, when he curled his fingers and tapped on the table, "Miss Xia, is there something on my face?"

Of course, there wasn't. Looking at his firm forehead, I answered honestly, "I just feel like I've seen you somewhere before."

He quirked his lips and chuckled lightly, "I've had quite a few exclusive interviews recently."

Maybe I saw him on TV, but I'm not interested in such benchmark figures. Even if I do see them, I just glance and move on.

I turned on the recorder, and the interview officially began.

Proceeding according to the script, the interview went smoothly, although without much spark.

As it was almost over, my phone rang inside my bag.

Glancing into the open bag, I saw it was He Cong calling.

I had been searching for him for twenty-four hours straight, and finally, he appeared.

Without a second thought, I answered the call and walked out of the reception room to talk.

"Where have you been?" I blurted out as soon as the call connected.

"Xiao Zhi," his voice was as soft as ever, "Did you call me a lot?"

"Where have you been?"

"I went on a business trip. I had to leave in a hurry yesterday and didn't have time to tell you."

"Fine." I didn't argue with him about why he didn't answer my calls, I had more important things to ask him, "Tell me, what exactly happened on that night a month and a half ago after the event I attended with you?"

"It's been so long, how would I remember?" he mumbled vaguely, trying to brush it off, "Xiao Zhi, I have things to do, I need to hang up now."

"He Cong, don't you hang up!" I called out his name through clenched teeth, "Why was I in a hotel, why weren't you there? Why didn't you take me home when I was drunk?"

"Xiao Zhi, didn't I explain to you last time? I had just settled you down when my boss called me, so I went to take care of that and it got very late, so I didn't want to disturb you."

"You never touched me?"

"Of course not."

I laughed; could this child have fallen from the sky?

"Fine," I nodded, "since you've never touched me, tell me, why am I pregnant?"

I asked this question very calmly.

I must be the only woman in the world who fell pregnant with a child that wasn't her husband's and still had the nerve to question him!

"Xiao Zhi." His voice did not sound surprised, as if he had been mentally prepared, "Let's talk about everything when I get back."

"He Cong, you get back here right now!" Finally unable to restrain myself, I stood at the back stairwell and hysterically shouted these words.

He Cong hung up the phone faster than he did anything else.

He was always slow and procrastinating, but he was the fastest to run away whenever there was trouble.

I took a deep breath, feeling a suffocating pain in my chest.

I turned around with my hand on my chest, only to see that tall figure had already entered the elevator.

"President Sang!" I jogged a few steps, but by the time I reached the elevator doors, they were slowly closing before my eyes.

The handsome yet indifferent face of Sang Qi was trapped between those two cold iron doors.

I watched the numbers jumping on the elevator, ready to note the floor he was going to and follow him up.

A person who looked like a secretary stopped me, "Miss Xia, I am President Sang's secretary."

"Oh, I had an emergency just now and took a call," I hastily explained.

"President Sang asked me to tell you that you are the most unprofessional journalist he has ever met."

I was speechless, he had never seen me when I was professional.

When I was investigating the gutter oil issue, I disguised myself as a peddler buying gutter oil and followed those people to scoop the oil every night, getting smoked for a whole two weeks.

"I'm sorry, I really had an emergency just now, if President Sang is busy at the moment, we can meet another time."

"President Sang doesn't have that much time to waste on you." The secretary handed me the interview draft I had left in the reception room, "Even if someone else took over temporarily, the draft is someone else's work. You lack sincerity."

The secretary then entered the elevator, and I let out a defeated sigh.

I couldn't even complete such a simple task, and character interviews are supposed to be the easiest.

When I got back to the magazine office and had barely settled in, Little Tang rushed to tell me, "The editor-in-chief is looking for you, be careful. I heard you didn't complete the interview and got a complaint from Dayu Group. He is furious."

I braced myself and walked into the editor-in-chief's office; sure enough, he was very angry, even taking off his cap to reveal a shiny bald head.

It is said that those who see the editor-in-chief's bald head are not far from death.

I didn't dare to sit, standing there trembling, "Editor-in-chief."

He didn't speak for a long time, and I stared blankly at his bald head.

Suddenly, he finally spoke, "Xia Zhi, go to HR and handle the procedures."

I paused for a moment, "What procedures?"

"The procedures for resignation, what else!" the editor-in-chief shouted at me, making my legs shake almost causing me to fall over.

"Editor-in-chief, I just took a call." I felt a bit wronged, I admitted it was wrong to take a call during an interview, but isn't being fired a bit much?

"Xia Zhi, are you a newbie? Is this your first day as a journalist? Do you know who you were interviewing? It was not easy to arrange an interview with Sang Qi, thanks to the influence of the headquarters' management. Now they've complained to the headquarters. I'm just a small editor-in-chief of a branch, I can't cover for you, I can't cover you!"

He banged on the desk so loudly that I was worried the already fragile desk would break.

I instinctively covered my lower abdomen.

A woman's nature is her motherhood. Although I felt very anxious about his arrival, I am, after all, his mother.

I stepped back and licked my lips, "Sir, it's easy to get liver fire in the autumn. I'll go make you a cup of fire-reducing tea."

I was about to slip away when the editor-in-chief regained some sanity and called out to me in a hoarse voice, "Xia Zhi, you've been at our magazine for three years, straight after graduation. In principle, I should protect you, but my powers are limited. Please understand."

Under the sunlight, the editor-in-chief's head shone like a light bulb.

I could feel his helplessness.