Xu Zifan got off work that day and immediately settled the job matter. Wu Xuefei was unwilling to accept it, but no matter what she said, Xu Zifan had a reason to object. She really couldn't find a more suitable job, so she could only reluctantly agree.
Wu Xuefei was more than two months pregnant, and it was impossible to tell. She wore a dress, looking beautiful, and went to work with Xu Zifan. Xu Zifan still had that dull hairstyle, and his expression was rather simple, wearing a white shirt, jeans, and sneakers. The two of them looked extremely mismatched, like a fashionable woman and an ordinary passerby. When Sister Liu saw them, she could hardly believe her eyes.
Wu Xuefei was even prettier in person than in her photos. She greeted Sister Liu politely and courteously, making a good first impression. However, the more polite she was, the more people felt she wouldn't be interested in someone like Xu Zifan. Sister Liu muttered to herself a few times before taking her to see the customer service manager.
The connections had already been made beforehand; it was just a regular position, and someone pulled some strings to get her in. After going through the interview and hiring process, Wu Xuefei started work the next day. She received training first, and then began working a few days later, alongside the veterans in the customer service department, so that if anything went wrong, someone could step in.
Wu Xuefei's plan was to work for half a month or a month, then claim she was unwell and resign to go home. Therefore, she initially performed exceptionally well, wanting to give Xu Zifan the image that she was working very hard but her health wouldn't allow it. As a result, she became one of the first to complete the training and officially start answering phones independently.
Those who haven't worked in customer service have no idea how busy the customer service department is every day! So many employees, and everyone is constantly answering calls. Wu Xuefei is mainly responsible for B2C customer service, which is their company's own online store. In one day, she received all sorts of bizarre calls: "I paid half an hour ago, why hasn't it been shipped yet? What time will it be shipped? How many days will it take to arrive? Give me an exact time!", "Other stores offer a 10% discount, why don't you offer a discount? Why is the same product so expensive?", "Want to meet up? I know girls like you love online dating, let's have a phone romance!", "I'm heartbroken, and even buying something from your online store is so difficult. Why is your online store so hard to use? Can't you learn from Taobao?"...
Wu Xuefei was absolutely furious. Some people were just unreasonable; no matter how she tried to reason with them, she couldn't understand. Some even resorted to swearing and insults, making her so angry that she barely ate any of her lunch. After a day of phone calls, her throat was burning; no amount of water helped, and it remained sore.
She had planned to complain to Xu Zifan after get off work, but as soon as Xu Zifan saw her, he smiled and said, "How was it? It must have gone very smoothly, right? With your strong abilities, how could you be stumped by such a simple task? Wasn't it easy for you?"
"No, actually customer service is quite tiring..."
"How could that be? Look at those young girls, they're all happily leaving get off work, chatting about where to go later. They're so relaxed. How could you be worse than them? Don't be modest. I have faith in you. You'll definitely get a bonus at the end of the month."
All of Wu Xuefei's complaints were shut down. She went home irritably, wanting to lie down, but Xu Zifan said she'd been sitting in the office all day and needed to move around; sweeping and mopping were good exercises, and she should rest after she finished. Wu Xuefei was about to throw a tantrum, but Xu Zifan preemptively showed her the pregnancy health information he'd found online, telling her it was all for her own good and the baby's good, and that making her do chores was simply to prevent a difficult labor.
What's worse, Xu Zifan showed her a lot of news about difficult childbirths, which was shocking and made her a little worried herself. She reluctantly started sweeping the floor. Meanwhile, Xu Zifan was already comfortably drinking coffee and writing code.
Wu Lidong wanted to help Wu Xuefei, but he was pretending to be sick these past few days to avoid work. Even when his lower back was better, he said it wasn't, and spent all his time lying in bed recovering. Finding a job would be a huge problem for him; people could tell his real age just by looking at his ID card. He's only ten years older than Wu Xuefei—could he really have a daughter that old? So, he absolutely couldn't go to work; he couldn't afford even the slightest risk of being exposed.
Both were dissatisfied with their current lives and video-called each other every night after returning to their room, discussing how to get their hands on the house. Xu Zifan had no other value left; this house alone, including the renovations, appliances, and furniture, could fetch two million. They were unwilling to simply leave after living in this house every day. If they could trick him into giving it to them, they would have another two million in hand, enough to live a comfortable life in a different city.
Only then could they truly buy a house and a car, find easy jobs, and live a carefree life. For this reason, the two decided to temporarily tolerate Xu Zifan's "foolishness." Their plan was to have Wu Xuefei resign in half a month, then Wu Lidong would propose an investment scheme to make money, using several rounds of returns to lure Xu Zifan into the trap. Finally, they would pull off a big one, getting Xu Zifan to borrow all the money from his relatives and friends to invest, only to have him lose it all. Afterwards, they could legitimately use the pretext of protecting assets to transfer the house to Wu Xuefei's name, and then use a fake divorce to part ways with him. Everything would go smoothly.
They discussed this "perfect" plan for many days before finalizing it. Sometimes, after the video call ended, they would think of something and communicate with each other via WeChat. Therefore, Xu Zifan had a general understanding of their plan from their WeChat chat history. It was exactly the same as the plan they used to deceive the original owner of the body, except that the part about faking depression and going on vacation was removed.
Xu Zifan secretly took screenshots of their chat history and saved them. Then, pretending that he knew nothing, he suggested hosting a banquet.
Wu Xuefei was very wary. "A banquet? What kind of banquet? Didn't we agree not to have any of these things? Once we got our marriage certificate, we're husband and wife. I don't like all this arguing. I don't even know them."
Xu Zifan laughed and said, "There has to be a first meeting. Recently, many relatives and friends have found out that I got married, and they all blame me for not having a wedding. They insist that I host a banquet. Xuefei's work is going very well, so we should celebrate properly. Also, my colleagues know that my family situation isn't very good, and they've helped me a lot, cared about me a lot, and even helped me find a job. I'm very grateful to them, so we have to have a banquet. My parents' relatives are also quite upset. But they're elders, so there's nothing I can do; I can't refuse their requests. Don't worry, just smile when the time comes, and I'll take care of everything else."
Wu Xuefei protested, "No, I..."
"Xuefei," Xu Zifan looked at her suspiciously, "Someone said today that you definitely won't agree to the banquet because you look down on me and don't want to spend your life with me, so you won't want to see my relatives and friends. Is that true? Do you really think that? You said you married me for the sake of the child, so are you planning to abandon me and the child after giving birth?"
Wu Xuefei was startled. "Of course not. I married you to live a good life with you."
"Then it's settled. This weekend, our whole family will host a banquet for relatives and friends. We'll have a good meal and get to know each other better."