Chapter 42: It Was Meant to Be Thrown Away

The group continued to chat and laugh, though Su Nuo remained the focal point of their conversation.

"The young mistress won't be able to keep up this act for much longer, right? Acting is so exhausting, and she's always preferred chasing after him directly."

"Do you think her acting like this counts as incest? After all, they share the same household registry."

"If she had any shred of shame, would she still be clinging to President Duan? He's completely sick of her."

After they walked away, Su Nuo emerged from the corner.

She had heard every single word they said.

They called her a bootlicker, a shameless chaser, and a love-obsessed fool.

Some even claimed she had orchestrated this entire charade herself, which had caused everyone to lose their bonuses, and warned that she would soon learn what they were capable of.

She did not know what these people were capable of, but she was certain they could not possibly compare to the people at the compound.

Just as she was about to step out of the pantry, Chi Ling suddenly walked in.

He seemed somewhat hurried, as if searching for something.

The moment he caught sight of Su Nuo, he visibly let out a sigh of relief.

"Didn't you go eat?"

"Not hungry." Su Nuo quickly wiped the cream from her lips.

Chi Ling furrowed his brow slightly, then turned right back around and walked out.

Looking bewildered, Su Nuo stood in place for a moment, then finally shook her head and walked back to her desk.

Many people had already returned from lunch, and everyone was beginning to take their afternoon nap.

Returning to her seat, Su Nuo ate a few more pieces of dessert and felt quite content.

Working at this company was actually not bad; at least she could get regular meals, and she could drink milk and coffee whenever she wanted.

As she rested her head on her desk, dozing off, a sandwich and a carton of milk suddenly appeared in front of her.

She lifted her head and looked up at the man standing before her with a dazed expression.

She did not recognize him.

"Miss Su, Chi Ling asked me to bring this to you. He probably had to go out with President Duan and didn't have time to come over himself."

The man had a very pleasant voice, tinged with a hint of youthful awkwardness.

Su Nuo nodded earnestly. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Chi Ling and I are good buddies; he asked me to look after you."

The man shyly took out his phone. "Add me on WeChat. I order takeout every day, so I can order an extra portion for you."

Su Nuo thought about it for a moment, then shook her head.

She had no money—what takeout could she possibly order?

Anticipating what she was about to say, the man quickly waved his phone in front of her eyes.

"Brother Chi gave this to me. He said it's your meal allowance, and since it's free money, you might as well use it."

"It's probably from President Duan anyway, since he's your brother. Come on, scan me."

The man had already pulled up his QR code, and Su Nuo finally scanned it.

The moment the two of them finished adding each other on WeChat, someone aggressively bumped into the man.

"Wang Bo, I seriously never expected you to stoop to cozying up to our precious young mistress too."

Sun Xiaoxiao looked at the two of them with clear dissatisfaction.

Wang Bo had been leaning forward, and the impact directly knocked the carton of milk over.

He quickly pulled out a tissue and handed it to Su Nuo. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, it was all my clumsiness."

"Sun Xiaoxiao, what are you doing? You knocked over the milk!"

"Oh, the milk? My bad, oops."

Sun Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at Wang Bo, then turned her displeased gaze toward Su Nuo.

"Can the young mistress actually stomach this kind of cheap food? I thought the young mistress only ate abalone and bird's nest?"

"No wonder you didn't go out for lunch—turns out you were just waiting for someone to make a delivery!"

"What happened to 'experiencing grassroots life'? You might as well just go back to being your pampered young mistress."

Seeing how fiercely Wang Bo was defending Su Nuo only fueled Sun Xiaoxiao's irritation.

Everyone in the office knew she had a crush on Wang Bo, and for him to treat Su Nuo this well was practically a slap in her face.

"I'm sorry, I... I won't do it next time."

Su Nuo muttered a soft apology while trying to clean the milk off her clothes.

Admitting fault had become second nature to her; whenever anything went wrong, it was always her fault.

Sun Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow.

Su Nuo was actually apologizing to her?

She glanced out the window, wondering if the sun had somehow risen in the west today.

Suddenly, a bold hypothesis formed in her mind.

With a swift sweep of her hand, she knocked the sandwich to the floor and "accidentally" stepped on it.

Wang Bo flared up at that. "What is your problem, Sun Xiaoxiao? Are you out of your mind?"

"Oh, it's not like I did it on purpose. The young mistress won't mind, will she?"

Sun Xiaoxiao covered her mouth with an exaggerated gesture, though her eyes remained locked on Su Nuo's expression.

Huang Huan stepped forward and tugged at Sun Xiaoxiao's sleeve, but Sun Xiaoxiao merely shot her a meaningful look.

Following her gaze, Huang Huan noticed that Su Nuo was trembling all over and still murmuring quiet apologies.

Recalling some recent online gossip columns she had read.

Could it be that Su Nuo had actually been kidnapped? Perhaps she had been through some traumatic ordeal, which explained why her personality had changed so drastically.

Even so, given that she was a member of the Duan family, Huang Huan ultimately shook her head.

"Xiaoxiao, we have a meeting soon. Let's go."

"Hmph!"

Rolling her eyes, Sun Xiaoxiao finally turned back to her workstation.

Su Nuo closed her eyes for a moment, then braced herself and bent down to pick up the sandwich.

She might not have any food waiting for her back home tonight, so she still needed to take care of her basic survival first.

Watching her pick up the crushed sandwich and place it back on the desk, Wang Bo ran a hand through his hair.

"Miss Su, let me throw that away for you. There are quite a few stray cats and dogs outside."

With that, he picked up the sandwich and took it away.

The last flicker of light in Su Nuo's eyes vanished.

Her dinner was gone.

Yet she did not say a word, ultimately just rising to her feet with a helpless sigh.

This outfit cost over a hundred thousand, so she had better wash it clean.

She remembered that this outfit had been charged to Duan Yubai's card; what if he suddenly demanded she return it?

That man was completely unpredictable right now, and she had no idea when he might fly into a rage.

Watching her reaction, Sun Xiaoxiao grew increasingly suspicious, and after a moment's thought, she stood up and followed her.

Su Nuo carefully worked on removing the milk stain from her clothes.

Fortunately, only a little had spilled, so once washed, it should be barely noticeable.

Suddenly, the garment was snatched from her hands and tossed directly into the trash can.

Su Nuo instinctively took a few steps back, only to find Sun Xiaoxiao flashing a malicious grin.

"Sorry about that, young mistress. I didn't mean to. You won't hold it against me, right?"

Su Nuo shook her head, then reached out and retrieved the garment from the trash can.

Sun Xiaoxiao's eyes widened in utter disbelief, unable to process what she was seeing.

The old Su Nuo would have thrown a fit if her clothes even brushed against a milk stain, let alone landed in a trash can.

Yet today, she was acting completely, absurdly abnormal.

"Miss Su, these clothes are already dirty. You might as well just throw them away."

Sun Xiaoxiao materialized behind Su Nuo like a ghost. "Just like people... some people, once they're tainted, they're no good anymore either."

Su Nuo abruptly whipped her head around to look at her, her eyes filled with terror.

Believing she had guessed the truth, Sun Xiaoxiao let her smile grow even wider.

"My, what 'young mistress' or 'goddess'? Sometimes you're not even worth as much as an ant. Tell me, if..."

"What are you two doing?"

A cold voice cut through the air, and Sun Xiaoxiao's face instantly flushed crimson.

Chi Ling stood at the entrance of the women's restroom, looking coldly at the two of them.