To You Whom I HATE The Most Chapter 8

Eight Letter

The morning rush hour was packed with people, but with his tall stature, Xia Qianbei spotted Zhou Ran at a glance.

He protected the coffee cup in his hand as he weaved through the crowd, bumping into Zhou Ran with his shoulder. Full of energy, he greeted, “Morning!”

Zhou Ran hugged his arms and grunted softly, replying dully, “Morning.”

“What’s wrong?”

Zhou Ran lifted his shoulder, pressing on it slightly. Every movement triggered a sharp ache. “I went to the gym this morning. Probably pulled a muscle.”

“Did you spray some medicine?”

“It’s fine, nothing serious.”

Xia Qianbei gave him a quick once-over. “Did you have a falling out with Luo Xiaolei?”

Zhou Ran frowned. “How do you know?”

“Heh, if you have the energy to go to the gym so early in the morning, you definitely aren’t having much luck with her.”

The elevator arrived, and Zhou Ran stepped in first. Xia Qianbei followed, saying, “At least Cheng Yiyun lasted half a month last time. You’ve only been at it a few days. Does that mean it’s my turn again?”

Zhou Ran shrugged. "I’m sorry."

Xia Qianbei snorted and called him out, "Sorry for what? You did it on purpose, didn’t you?"

Zhou Ran didn’t deny it.

Xia Qianbei poked him with a finger. "Is your charm really that lacking?"

Zhou Ran admitted openly, "Yes, you're right."

Xia Qianbei was left speechless.

It was Wednesday, and Ji Qinghuan had returned from his business trip.

Before starting work, Zhou Ran went to the CEO’s office.

After discussing work for a while, Ji Qinghuan closed his folder and casually said, "Xiaolei called me."

It was something Zhou Ran had expected. He paused for a moment, then muttered three words: "I’m really sorry."

Ji Qinghuan waved his hand. "It’s fine. I introduced her to one of my childhood friends. I heard they got along pretty well."

"That’s good." Zhou Ran let out a relieved sigh.

This was how Ji Qinghuan handled his blind date partners—— "Darling, to be honest, I think you’re amazing, but after spending some time together, I feel like our personalities don’t quite match. I have a friend who’s also outstanding, and I think I can introduce him to you. I’ll explain things to the elders."

Situations like this happened repeatedly and never failed.

He had basically used up all the brothers around him.

Zhou Ran: "So, when do you plan to tell your family?"

Ji Qinghuan: "Tell them what?"

"About you and Qi Yingshuang," Zhou Ran paused, "Or are you just playing around?"

"No way. I’ve been pursuing her for two years," Ji Qinghuan shrugged, "But you have to understand, our families are in a lawsuit right now, and I don’t want to give my dad a heart attack."

Zhou Ran clenched his fist and gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "Good luck, Romeo."

Ji Qinghuan smiled. The road ahead was tough, but it was his choice, and he was mentally prepared.

"What about you? What’s going on with you?"

Zhou Ran lifted his coffee cup and took a sip of his latte. "What about me?"

Ji Qinghuan casually remarked, "Xiaolei told me that you seem to be living with someone else?"

"......"

The person grew nervous, unconsciously raising his voice. "How could that be? With who?"

"I'm asking you, with who?"

"I’m not with anyone."

Ji Qinghuan curled his lips. "You know you’re terrible at lying, right?"

Zhou Ran fell silent.

"She also said that you and your assistant are acting a bit strangely. Could it be... you and Xiao Zhang...?"

Zhou Ran’s eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"

Ji Qinghuan just smiled, reminding him, "Our company has a strict policy against office romances, you know."

"I’m really not with anyone. And that’s not Xiao Zhang."

"Then, who?"

The more he tried to explain, the worse it got. Zhou Ran waved his hand in frustration. "I’m going back to the office."

"Tsk tsk, something’s off with you, Zhou Ran." Ji Qinghuan circled his finger in the air.

Zhou Ran's expression darkened as he threatened, "I’ll tell your dad tomorrow that you’re dating the Qi family’s daughter."

Ji Qinghuan scoffed, "Get lost, get lost."

"Got it, I’ll be right there." He rubbed his shoulder, but unfortunately, it was his right one.

She greeted him with a smile, "Director Zhou, good afternoon."

Zhou Ran nodded, "Good afternoon."

"We’re ready." Cen Wei glanced in his direction.

Zhou Ran snapped out of his daze. "Oh, okay, let’s begin."

Cen Wei tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Standing in front of the projection screen, she spoke calmly, "After our meeting last week, we held another session and made the necessary adjustments based on the issues you raised. Here, the original lines have been simplified, and in this area, we added a touch of green. It represents the leaves of an orange, but can also be seen as a sailboat on the waves. After this small change, we can see that not only is the overall color scheme more harmonious and striking, but also..."

She was wearing a green knitted short-sleeve top and brown trousers, with an embroidered grayish-white rabbit on her chest.

"Additionally, we’ve redesigned a special edition for the paper cup packaging," Cen Wei pressed the remote and switched to the next slide, "We learned that the founder of Xincheng, CEO Ji, is actually the young master of Poke, a long-established brand in the instant coffee industry. Since its launch, Xincheng has been labeled as 'supermarket goods.' To break this stereotype, Xincheng plans to introduce a new premium series this year. So, the sense of sophistication you mentioned last time, we aim to highlight it in this new series."

This was something Zhou Ran hadn’t anticipated. He shifted in his seat, leaning forward, his elbows resting on the table.

"Most brands on the market prefer a minimalist style, using solid colors as the base and adding a brand logo on top. But after seeing that so many times, it starts to feel ordinary. This time, we’re going in the opposite direction."

In the concept art, the coffee cup had a deep brown base, with grayish-green branches and leaves, covered in orange blossoms. The composition was rich in layers and eye-catching, as if a lush citrus grove in midsummer was unfolding before them.

It was intricate, yet tasteful.

"Director Zhou, what do you think?" After asking the question, Cen Wei held her breath and clasped her hands together.

Zhou Ran carefully examined the design and then commented, "It’s good, but——"

Cen Wei held her breath, waiting for him to continue.

He lifted his pen and tapped it. "What 'supermarket goods' and 'young master'? It's okay to say such things in front of me, but make sure not to mention them to anyone else."

Cen Wei nodded repeatedly. "Understood, understood. So, no other issues?"

"No, you did great." Zhou Ran lowered his head to organize his things.

Cen Wei glanced at Li Yuetian, who also looked pleasantly surprised.

Zhou Ran stood up from his chair. "Thanks for your hard work."

Cen Wei smiled and replied, "It's our pleasure."

As soon as he left the meeting room, Cen Wei and Li Yuetian excitedly hugged each other and squealed.

Jing Shenyan couldn’t come today due to a last-minute client meeting, leaving them with no backup, so Cen Wei had originally been a bit uncertain.

"Unbelievable, he actually said there were no problems!"

Cen Wei patted her chest, letting out a heavy sigh of relief. "I thought we’d have to go over it two or three more times. Last time, he even picked apart the curvature of the waves."

Li Yuetian clapped her hands. "This is great! Now we can enjoy the Qingming Festival holiday properly!"

But Cen Wei couldn’t quite share the same enthusiasm. Once this project was done, it meant she could finally quit.

She hadn’t expected it to come so soon.

Li Yuetian immediately reported the situation to Jing Shenyan, holding up her phone and grinning. "The boss says he’s treating us to a late-night snack tonight!"

Cen Wei absentmindedly responded with "Okay."

Zhou Ran walked back to his office with his hands in his pockets. Tall and long-legged, he strode quickly, completely unaware that his assistant had to jog to keep up with him.

Glancing at a beautiful gift box on Zhang Yuying's desk, Zhou Ran casually asked, "What’s this?"

Zhang Yuying caught her breath and replied, "Egg yolk pastries, brought by the designer from Jingming."

"Cen Wei?"

"Yeah, do you want me to bring you a couple of pieces to try?"

"No need." Zhou Ran withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward. "It’s a gift from someone else."

"Do you want to eat hotpot? Or maybe spicy chicken? Actually, Thai food is pretty good too. I recently saw a new restaurant online with really high ratings."

Li Yuetian was holding Cen Wei's arm, choosing a place to gather for dinner that night.

"I’m fine with anything."

Li Yuetian pointed at her and said firmly, "No 'I’m fine with anything,' you have to choose one."

"Alright." Cen Wei thought for a moment, and the first answer that came to her mind was seafood, but she said, "Let’s go with Thai food."

Li Yuetian cheered, "I was hoping for Thai food!"

Cen Wei smiled. Of course, she knew that Thai food was what Li Yuetian wanted.

Their studio wasn’t large, and employees came and went frequently, with Cen Wei having been there the longest.

During dinner, she took the opportunity to announce to all her colleagues that she would be resigning.

Some were surprised, others felt reluctant. Li Yuetian tugged at her sleeve and asked, "Why so suddenly?"

Cen Wei explained softly, "My family has been urging me to go back for a while now, and I feel it's the right time. I can’t just keep drifting around outside."

Cen Wei stood up and raised her glass to toast everyone at the table. "Thank you all for your care and support. Let’s stay in touch in the future."

Finally, she turned to Jing Shenyan, refilled her glass, and said to him alone, "Thank you."

Jing Shenyan lifted his glass and gently clinked it with hers, his expression calm, smiling slightly as he replied, "I wish you a bright future."

As Cen Wei sat back down, Jing Shenyan spun the empty glass in his hand, suddenly asking, "Is there really no reason that could make you stay?"

Cen Wei's chopsticks paused in mid-air for a moment.

He said, "I misspoke that day. I’m sorry, but as your boss, I still want to try and keep such an excellent employee."

Cen Wei picked up a piece of sago pudding with coconut milk and took a bite, the sweet flavor spreading across her tongue.

"No, you don’t need to apologize. My resignation is due to personal reasons. I just can’t continue," she looked up and smiled slightly, adding, "So I’m sorry for letting down your good intentions, Jing Shenyan."

She rarely called him by his full name. Jing Shenyan looked at the glass in his hand and raised the corner of his mouth, saying nothing further.

"Hello."

He asked, "Aren’t you off work yet?"

"Oh, I’m out having dinner with colleagues. What’s up?"

Zhou Ran replied, "Nothing, just checking."

"Is your boyfriend checking up on you?" One of her colleagues gossiped from the table.

Cen Wei shook her head, denying it, "No."

The voice on the other end was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Come home early."