Chapter 141: Meeting Shen Qingchen
“Huh?” The HR interviewer froze for a second before realizing that Shen Qingchen had likely seen Bai Cha just now.
“Are you talking about that black-haired girl? Ah, yes—she’s quite remarkable. She’s only twenty this year, already graduated from college, and looking for an internship. But due to her family circumstances, she doesn’t have plans for graduate school at the moment and will likely jump straight into full-time work.”
As HR spoke, she handed Bai Cha’s resume over to Shen Qingchen. Suddenly recalling Bai Cha’s reason for applying, she stole a quick glance at her boss.
“Besides, when I asked that girl why she chose our company… Sister Shen, do you know what she said?”
She leaned toward Shen Qingchen with a mysterious, gossip-hungry look. Shen Qingchen cast her a smiling, sideways glance.
“The last time you wore that face, the interviewee turned out to be chasing after me. What, is this little girl after me too?”
“Hehe! Bingo!”
“She answered so fast—completely unhesitating! Even I was caught off guard!”
Shen Qingchen looked down at the resume, deep in thought.
“Then bring her on board. She seems pretty interesting.”
That aura around her was remarkably similar to how Shen Qingchen had been in her younger years.
She handed the resume back to HR, who nodded in agreement.
“I was planning to hire her anyway. Her abilities seem to be the best among the recent applicants. With your word, Sister Shen, I can send out the offer message without hesitation.”
Shen Qingchen let out a soft chuckle and turned toward her private office.
Unaware of what had just transpired behind her, Bai Cha went out to look for apartment rentals.
The housing around this area wasn’t cheap at all.
Truth be told, logically speaking, since she had to enter game instances, she should have looked for a lower-stress job that didn’t require renting an apartment.
Or she could have simply returned to her hometown, where she already had a house waiting for her.
But who could blame her when she just so happened to spot Shen Qingchen?
Aside from Xiao Xiao and Xu Shengsheng, this was the first player she had ever encountered in the real world.
She hadn’t even met Xiao Xiao in person; although they were now contacts on the friend list, they hadn’t chatted a word.
And Xu Shengsheng was merely a beginner.
Shen Qingchen, on the other hand, was an experienced, veteran player—and an individual who excelled equally well in reality.
More importantly, she hadn’t entered a single game instance for an entire year.
Bai Cha had no idea how she had managed to achieve that.
For the next few days, Bai Cha didn’t plan on entering the game again.
Decent apartments were hard to find anyway, and since she could continue staying in her university dorm until the end of July, there was no rush.
Ah Zhao returned to the dorm once as well, and the three of them went out for a mini personal hotpot buffet together.
While eating, Ah Zhao suddenly let out a wistful sigh.
“To be honest, I don’t know why, but I always feel like there’s supposed to be one more person in our dorm. But when I think about it carefully, there isn’t anyone else.”
Li Mengyao nodded in agreement.
“Maybe it’s because all the other dorm rooms have four people. Oh, right, Bai Cha, are you really not taking the graduate entrance exams?”
“Yeah, didn’t everyone say earlier that you had a guaranteed admission spot?”
Bai Cha’s grades had always ranked number one. Being so young on top of that, she had always been favored by the professors.
Maintaining first place for four years straight meant that, according to the university’s tradition, she was eligible for a guaranteed recommendation to graduate school.
Bai Cha paused slightly.
“I wasn’t the only one competing for that spot back then. My health happened to be quite poor during that period.”
“Ah? Then why didn’t you say anything? We could have helped you explain things to the counselor!” Ah Zhao said with deep regret.
Bai Cha shook her head gently.
It hadn’t been entirely about the competition either. It was just that when her physical health was poor at the time, her mental state had also suffered a breakdown.
She had felt that going straight into the workforce might be better, so in truth, she had given up on it herself.
After wrapping up the meal, they began packing their belongings.
Barring any surprises, most of their future interactions would likely move online.
In doing so, her connection to reality seemed to thin out yet another fraction.
Bai Cha passed her interview and was allowed to start work this coming Tuesday.
As an intern, she was assigned a mentor—a man who fit the standard image of a computer science major down to a tee: plain-looking, dressed in a plaid shirt, sporting dark circles under his eyes and black-framed glasses.
He was a man of few words; unless Bai Cha asked a question, he basically wouldn’t utter a peep.
However, whenever technical, professional matters were involved, he would chat at length.
After Bai Cha grasped the general scope of her duties, she tried her hand at a few tasks. Seeing that she faced no real issues, her mentor finally offered a few extra words.
“You’re really impressive. There are already very few girls in this major, and most female graduates end up switching fields anyway. I heard you’re only twenty—to be this skilled at such a young age, and as a woman, you’re really something.”
His vocabulary was somewhat lacking, unable to muster anything beyond calling her “impressive.”
Bai Cha gave a polite smile. “Thank you.”
Scratching his sparse hair, the man didn’t know what else to say, so he simply turned back and sat down at his desk.
As noon approached, Bai Cha finally ran into Shen Qingchen again.
Shen Qingchen clapped her hands to gather everyone’s attention.
“A newcomer has joined our department! Everyone, introduce yourselves.”
Saying this, she looked toward Bai Cha, offering a warm, nodding smile.
Bai Cha sighed inwardly.
Although she had heard Li Mengyao and the others venting in their group chat before about how the first awkward hurdle upon joining a new company was making self-introductions, actually experiencing it herself still made her dislike such scenes.
However, as far as socializing went, at least she wasn’t forced to go first.
There weren’t many people in the department, and the introductions were brief—just names and ages. Bai Cha noted down each person’s features alongside their names.
When her turn arrived, her introduction was equally concise.
“My name is Bai Cha. As a newcomer, I hope everyone will guide me along.”
Once the dull social formalities drew to a close, the mundane reality felt all the more dry and tedious.
Fortunately, it was lunchtime right after.
Shen Qingchen waved her hand at Bai Cha.
Bai Cha blinked in surprise and walked over.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you out for lunch today. There’s a food street right downstairs, and a few places offer really affordable prices.”
Bai Cha looked at her. “You…”
“Oh? Don’t tell me you don’t recognize me?” A playful smile danced in Shen Qingchen’s eyes. “I heard from Xiao Liu in HR that you came here specifically for me?”
Bai Cha fell silent for a brief moment, casually smoothing her hair to feign embarrassment.
“Mhm. I saw your picture before.”
Shen Qingchen looked thoughtful.
“So you really came just for my face? Ah, that won’t do. I already have a husband, and we even have a child.”
This time, Bai Cha was genuinely stunned for a moment.
“You have a child?”
“Yep! Just had our hundred-day celebration!” Talking as they walked, Shen Qingchen led her downstairs.
Bai Cha couldn’t help but wonder: Did I look up the wrong person?
Still, the name ‘Qing-chen’ shouldn’t be that common, right?
And… looking at it this way, did her year-long absence from the game happen because she was pregnant?
Does the game grant special concessions to pregnant women?
If so, there should have been related topics on the forum with a fairly high level of discussion.
After all, men can’t get pregnant, so male players would inevitably target female players out of resentment over perceived unfairness.
“What’s wrong? Are you that surprised?”
“Mhm… You look so young and beautiful, I didn’t expect you to be married so early,” Bai Cha remarked casually.
Shen Qingchen let out a low chuckle, reaching out to pat Bai Cha’s shoulder. She suddenly stepped in close, a rich yet unobtrusive fragrance of roses wafting off her body.
“Are you surprised that I’m married with a child, or are you surprised that I managed to get married and have a child while still clearing game instances?”
Bai Cha came to a dead stop, looking right at Shen Qingchen, who stood mere inches away.
The other woman’s eyes held a gentle smile; thanks to her almond-shaped peach-blossom eyes, she almost appeared deeply affectionate. With her hand resting on Bai Cha’s shoulder, her eyes were filled entirely with Bai Cha’s reflection.
