Lin Zhi watched the figure disappear into the elevator, inexplicably feeling that it was Zhou Congli.
Just then, her name was called. She composed herself and entered the office for her interview. There were three interviewers, and each asked her questions. She didn't feign false modesty, confidently highlighting her strengths. Finally, they told her to go back and wait for their notice.
Glancing at the time, Lin Zhi saw it was already noon. She planned to eat nearby before heading back to the university. When the elevator doors opened, she saw Zhou Congli standing inside, rubbing his temples.
For a moment, she didn't know whether to go in or wait for the next elevator.
Zhou Congli lowered his hand. "Going down?"
Lin Zhi nodded and calmly walked in. She stood close to the elevator doors, the polished metal walls reflecting their silhouettes—one tall and one short.
By now, Zhou Congli had resumed his usual mild expression, yet he still exuded an undeniable aura of pressure. In truth, neither of them had gotten a clear look at each other that day, so he couldn't recognize her now.
DING. The elevator stopped. A few Dongning employees were standing at the doors, chatting and laughing. The moment they saw Zhou Congli, they instantly fell silent.
"Are you coming in?" Zhou Congli asked.
The employees outside shook their heads in unison. A man who looked like a manager hurriedly pressed the elevator button. "We're not in a hurry, President Zhou. After you."
As the elevator doors closed, Lin Zhi pondered how to greet him. Anyone who could become a corporate president was undoubtedly shrewd. He had seen all kinds of people, and a single wrong word might expose her intentions to approach him. Just then, with a loud CLACK, the elevator suddenly plummeted.
Losing her balance, she fell to the side, but a hand firmly grabbed her, pulling her into a chest that carried a cold, aloof scent.
Zhou Congli's face was grim, but his voice remained perfectly steady. "Don't be afraid."
THUD. The elevator jerked to a halt.
Terrified by the massive impact, Lin Zhi squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face tightly in his chest, not daring to look up.
Zhou Congli took a deep breath and realized they were stuck between the ninth and tenth floors. He immediately pressed the emergency alarm button, then looked at Lin Zhi. "The maintenance crew will be here shortly."
Still reeling from the shock, Lin Zhi quickly let go of him. Her small face was pale, but she managed to force a smile. "Thank you for earlier, President Zhou."
Zhou Congli smiled faintly. "Are you here for an interview today? I'm truly sorry that your first visit to the company has resulted in such a bad experience.
"But don't worry. Dongning operates with high efficiency; we'll be out of here in no time."
His voice was gentle, carrying a reassuring power.
Lin Zhi hastily assured him that it was fine. Zhou Congli smiled again and asked which position she had applied for and where she had graduated from. Upon learning that she was from University A, he mentioned a few Dongning employees who had also graduated from University A. This effectively eased Lin Zhi's nerves.
At that moment, the elevator maintenance crew and the company managers finally arrived. After confirming that there were people inside—and that one of them was their own president—they hurriedly began the rescue operation.
The two of them stopped talking, quietly waiting for the technicians to fix the elevator.
Half an hour later, the elevator slowly descended to the first floor. When the doors opened, several department heads immediately rushed in, ready to support their president, only to see that there was a strange girl inside with him.
They were instantly stunned, darting glances between the two.
Feeling awkward, Lin Zhi took off the jacket and handed it back to Zhou Congli. "President Zhou, thank you..." Beijing in May wasn't exceptionally warm, and earlier, Zhou Congli had lent her his coat for fear she might catch a cold.
Just then, the handbag she was holding slipped and fell to the floor, spilling her lipsticks, Red Fragrances, and other items everywhere.
A blue sapphire cufflink clattered and rolled into the corner.
Zhou Congli froze and instinctively picked it up. The deep blue gemstone was clearly highly valuable, and it looked exactly like the one he had lost.
But before he could process why his lost sapphire would fall out of Lin Zhi's bag, she had already taken it back. She smiled sheepishly. "Thank you, President Zhou. Here is your jacket."
Zhou Congli was about to ask her about it, but Lin Zhi quickly walked out. He had no choice but to say, "This is Miss Lin. She came to the company for an interview today and unfortunately got trapped in the elevator with me.
"Assistant Zhang and Manager Wang, take Miss Lin to the hospital in a bit to get her checked for any injuries."
He then turned to the department heads. "Investigate the situation with the elevator thoroughly and send the report up to me." By the end of his sentence, his tone had turned ice-cold.
The executives nodded repeatedly, knowing full well that the president was furious. It was understandable—the elevator had suddenly dropped out of nowhere. Thankfully, the president was unharmed, or they would all be finished.
The person in charge of elevator maintenance trembled with fear. He had regularly inspected it according to protocol; how could something have gone wrong?
Zhou Congli paid him no mind. He gave Lin Zhi one last look and turned to leave. As the president of a major corporation, it was naturally impossible for him to personally accompany Lin Zhi to the hospital. Dispatching an assistant and a manager was already showing her enough consideration.
Lin Zhi hadn't wanted to go to the hospital, but with Assistant Zhang begging her with a bitter expression, she reluctantly agreed. Naturally, the check-up showed no issues. She politely declined their enthusiastic offers to treat her to a meal and headed straight back to the university.
Assistant Zhang returned to the company to report the situation to Zhou Congli. Zhou Congli looked up from a pile of documents. "Last time at the hotel, you said you didn't see anyone. Did you investigate further afterward?"
Assistant Zhang paused for a moment before quickly recalling what he was referring to, suddenly growing nervous. "Because you didn't order an investigation, I..."
"Look into it!" Zhou Congli ordered.
His cufflink had gone missing that night. At the time, he had assumed the woman was planted by their business partners, so he hadn't bothered to search for the lost item. But now that it had appeared in someone else's possession—and right in front of him, no less—he naturally had to get to the bottom of it.
Could it have just been a similar sapphire? He wasn't so careless as to misidentify something he used regularly. It just hadn't been an appropriate time to question her directly.
"Yes, sir," Assistant Zhang replied.
Back at the university, Lin Zhi stared at the sapphire cufflink in her hand. The man had left it behind that night, and the original owner of her body had kept it. She had always wanted to return it to Zhou Ye, the instigator of that night's events, but Zhou Ye refused to see her, so she hadn't been able to give it back.
Earlier, acting on a sudden flash of inspiration, she had seized the opportunity to reveal the item. While she couldn't guarantee that Zhou Congli would be suspicious enough to investigate, it would at least test his attitude.
Thinking back to the accident today, a lingering fear crept up on her. Her legs had truly turned to jelly at the time. While she was quite pleased that the accidental interaction had allowed Zhou Congli to remember her, the elevator malfunction itself had genuinely been terrifying.
Afraid of encountering another accident, she decided to check the system for any life-saving items.
However, she was stunned when she opened the system interface.
[ID: 6
Name: Lin Zhi
Points: -100]
Lin Zhi was completely bewildered. She hadn't done a single thing, so how could she have ended up with negative one hundred points?
System 6 said, "Host, while in the elevator, the system detected your intense desire to interact with the supporting male lead. Therefore, a special elevator malfunction was arranged. However, since your current points are at zero, a hundred points had to be deducted."
Lin Zhi was left speechless. She had completely failed to anticipate that the so-called "help" worked this way, or that it could even result in negative points.
"Thank you?" Aside from that, she genuinely didn't know what else to say.
"You're welcome," System 6 replied. "In each world, the system can provide you with assistance once. This world's usage has been depleted. You're on your own from now on."
Lin Zhi sighed inwardly, resigning herself to the situation. Fine.