An 80s female translator was spoiled rotten by a rough and jealous man.

Chapter 334 Chasing Men (Part 1)
Late at night, Meng Youyou couldn't sleep. She curled up in bed, covered her head with the blanket, and held her phone. She turned the screen on and off repeatedly, more than a dozen times, but the other end of the chat window remained silent.

Finally, unable to contain myself any longer, I sent a screaming message to the dorm group chat: [Help!!! How do I pursue a guy?]
Liao Zisheng, an active online commenter, was the first to chime in: [No way! Did I read that right? You mean you're planning to pursue a man? What kind of guy is he? You have to pursue him?! !!!]
Meng Youyou was typing away when two other people in the group chat jumped in, saying they were a bunch of night owls who weren't sleeping in the middle of the night.

Deng Shiqi: [What kind of guy is this? Look at the photos~]
Wang Li: [Posting photos, posting photos... I need to see what the male guest looks like first before I can give advice. Whether he's handsome or not, the package deal will be different.]
Meng Youyou deleted the text in the input box and retyped: [It's not convenient to take his picture now. See you later when it's done, I'll treat you all to dinner.]
Liao Zisheng: [Judging from your tone, you seem determined to win!]
Meng Youyou: [The main problem now is that he doesn't reply to my messages, what should I do?]
Liao Zisheng: [...]
Liao Zisheng: [So you're already thinking about what will happen after it's even started, before anything's even begun?]
Meng Youyou posted a laughing emoji with the caption: [It was bound to happen sooner or later~]
Liao Zisheng: [I'm impressed!]
Liao Zisheng: [There are countless ways to pursue a man, but if you're the protagonist, the most effective method is to dress up beautifully every day and appear in front of him anytime, anywhere, making your presence felt! You need to know how to utilize your strengths and maximize them.]
Watching a lifelong single person enthusiastically discussing "The Art of Love" in a group chat, speaking with such practiced ease as if they were a seasoned veteran, Meng Youyou couldn't help but chuckle: [?]
Meng Youyou: [Isn't beauty my least remarkable advantage?]
Liao Zisheng: [Go to hell!!!]
Deng Shiqi: [I've never pursued a guy before. I was planning to, but he beat me to it before I could even start. I have no practical experience, so I can't give you any advice.]
Liao Zisheng: [Highly suspected of showing affection in public, drag him out and execute him!]
Wang Li: [Although I was the one who pursued my ex-boyfriend, he was a jerk, so I think I should be careful with my words and actions in this regard and not mislead others.]
Well, without a single usable strategist, Meng Youyou still had to fend for herself. She turned to a Q&A app and casually browsed the experience posts of netizens from all walks of life.

Before going to bed, Meng Youyou received a private message from Liao Zisheng, the champion of long-distance running: [I'm planning to go to Fanzhou this weekend, remember to pick me up!]
Meng Youyou: [Don't you have to go to work?]
Liao Zisheng: [I quit. I can't stand this lousy job anymore. Our boss is completely out of his mind!]
Meng Youyou: [...]
...

The next morning, Meng Youyou was woken up by the alarm clock. She reached out from under the covers and decisively turned it off, then went back to sleep until the alarm rang again fifteen minutes later. She couldn't stay in bed any longer.

She stayed up really late last night. Liao Zisheng dragged her along to complain about her brainless boss and insisted that Meng Youyou give her feedback on the travel itinerary she had prepared for Fanzhou, not letting her go until 3 a.m. Meng Youyou really had to use some willpower to get out of bed this morning.

The sound of running water came from the bathroom. Meng Youyou sat on the bed with her eyes closed, changing her clothes while calling out to the bathroom, "Jiang Jiang, I overslept." The rest was left unsaid; it was an unspoken agreement between the two that she should remember to bring her breakfast.

At this moment, the sound of water in the room stopped. "Okay!" Jiang Fu responded loudly.

Within two minutes, Jiang Fu emerged from the bathroom, dressed neatly. She walked to the bedside, picked up her phone, and added, "Hurry up."

The main office building of the camp has a classic square circular layout, forming a regular "口" shape that encloses a vertically connected central atrium. A large transparent glass roof is erected on the top of the atrium, allowing sunlight to stream in and freely penetrate the central space to reach each floor, casting dappled light and shadow on the corridor floor tiles and the green plants on the ground floor.

The square-shaped circular corridor encircles the inner side of each floor, with the railings featuring a dense metal grille design. Standing on any floor, one can easily see the outlines of the corridors above and below, and the figures and furnishings on the opposite and side sides are clearly discernible, creating a bright and spacious atmosphere.

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps echoed in the circular structure and atrium. Huo Qingshan stood leaning against the railing, holding his phone in one hand. Hearing the sound, he looked down at the opposite side—a girl ran up to the time clock in the office area on the third floor, panting, and stood up straight. After only two seconds, her shoulders slumped down, and even just looking at her back, one could see her great frustration.

Huo Qingshan, as if possessed, moved the phone away from his ear while on a call, glanced at the time bar at the top, and then silently smiled.

Standing in front of the time clock, Meng Youyou stared at the orange notification box that popped up on the screen with a bitter expression. The bold Song typeface clearly displayed: [Late Arrival Reminder! Name: Meng Youyou, Employee ID: 202XXXX56, Time Attendance: 08:31, Duration of Lateness: 1 minute.]

The girl muttered to herself, "This crappy machine of yours is faulty! The response time is terrible! When I was standing in front of you just now, it was still showing 08:30. You delayed me for several seconds before slowly starting to scan my face!"

"You're not reliable! You're dragging me down!" Meng Youyou said indignantly, pointing her finger at the machine screen and scolding, "Don't do this again next time! Don't let it freeze at crucial moments! Be smarter, do you know how much damage those few seconds of delay do to me?"

"Did you hear that? I'll reluctantly forgive you this time, but don't let it happen again!"

"...Qingshan, Qingshan." The voice on the other end of the phone called out twice in a row, "Are you listening to me?"

Huo Qingshan put the phone back to his ear, trying to regain his composure: "The signal isn't very good. What did you just say?" His gaze remained fixed on a green shadow in the opposite corridor, unaware that a soft smile was quietly gathering in his eyes.

"I told you I'm delivering some medical equipment to your unit's infirmary today, and we could meet if you have time. I was abroad when you first woke up, and I only returned to China at the end of last month. I had a lot of things to take care of after landing, so I haven't been able to contact you much."

"Okay," Huo Qingshan readily agreed.

...

At 2:30 p.m., after lunch break, Meng Youyou pushed Jiang Fu out of the office, saying sweet words in a coquettish tone: "Oh dear, if you don't help me, no one else will. Jiang Jiang is the best to me. I love you the most."

Meng Youyou has to give a public lesson tomorrow morning, so she needs to start preparing now. For a regular foreign language training class, this wouldn't be necessary. However, this lesson is different. First, she has to set up the recording equipment herself. Second, it's not like a typical classroom format, where students sit with a textbook and the instructor stands at the front lecturing with a PowerPoint presentation—something like that.

When it comes to public courses that require video recording, the standards naturally differ, often requiring a variety of formats to appear more sophisticated, which greatly increases the workload.

The higher-ups had just issued instructions for the camp to conduct a foreign language training assessment, requiring the submission of a high-quality teaching video; coincidentally, this also coincided with Meng Youyou's one-month anniversary of joining the unit, which was already planning to verify her performance. With these two things happening at once, they simply assigned her this task. The highest-ranking leaders in the camp would be attending this open class, putting Meng Youyou under immense pressure under these double responsibilities. "Other people's good friends always think of her when it comes to good food and fun things. But you, you always think of me when it comes to dirty or tiring work!" Jiang Fu complained. "Even moving things is hard labor! Didn't Dou Peng just walk up to your workstation and say if you needed help, just tell him? I heard it from next door."

"You, why don't you use a perfectly healthy and strong laborer like me instead?" She teased Meng Youyou by poking her lower back.

Meng Youyou shrank back as if ticklish, pouting and glancing at her: "Don't tell me you don't understand."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Fu laughed and said, "Sigh, this is an innate advantage of being a beautiful woman. I haven't even had this kind of treatment yet."

"If someone's willing to help, you can just accept it. It's not like you asked them to. Why make such a fuss..." Jiang Fu couldn't think of a suitable word to express her meaning for a moment, and after a few seconds, she blurted out an idiom: "Remain chaste as jade?"

Jiang Fu put her arm around Meng Youyou's shoulder and teased her deliberately, drawing out her words: "Tsk tsk tsk~ Are you afraid your crush will misunderstand and back down?"

"No way!" Meng Youyou denied it outright: "That's because I don't like to take advantage of others, and I have good morals!"

"Oh, oh, oh!" Jiang Fu immediately retorted, "How dare you say that? I haven't even finished my own work yet, and you dragged me out to work with you. I don't like taking advantage of others, so why do you always try to take advantage of me?"

Meng Youyou giggled, "Because you're the best to me."

The two were bantering as they walked side-by-side down the corridor toward the elevator, laughing and joking, when Jiang Fu suddenly stopped. Meng Youyou turned to look at her suspiciously, only to see Jiang Fu raise an eyebrow and give a meaningful downward glance. Meng Youyou followed her gaze and looked downstairs.

In the east corner of the lobby on the first floor of the office building, a semi-open temporary rest area has been set up. A waist-high solid wood cabinet is cleverly separated from the open passageway, and several pots of lush green plants are placed on the cabinet.

A man and a woman sat facing each other on a dark brown fabric sofa, with a small round wooden table between them. The man's profile was visible to Meng Youyou; it was Huo Qingshan. The woman was also dressed in military uniform, with long, straight hair tied in a low ponytail. She wasn't a familiar face in the unit, but she sat there with an elegant yet spirited demeanor. When she spoke, her eyes were relaxed, and her voice was gentle and tender.

There's a famous saying online—"The way someone likes another person is as obvious in their eyes and expression as their cough; it's all laid bare." Those involved are often blinded by their own feelings; Meng Youyou wondered if she, too, was so blatantly obvious when she looked at him. But from an outsider's perspective, Meng Youyou could tell at a glance that the woman liked him.

Just then, Jiang Fu promptly whispered a sarcastic remark in her ear: "Your crush seems to be someone else's crush, doesn't it?"

Meng Youyou rolled her eyes at her and asked, "Is she prettier, or am I prettier?"

Jiang Fu rolled her eyes even more in response: "That's such a low question! Don't say you're my sister after we get out! It'll make you look bad!"

"Hahahaha!" Meng Youyou couldn't help but burst into laughter: "So what do you want to hear me say, gloating over this and enjoying the show?"

"I wanted to take advantage of your moment of utter despair to tell you that men are no match for sisters, and even if he doesn't love you, I'll always be there for you!" Jiang Fu exaggeratedly opened her arms wide: "Touched, aren't you?"

As soon as they finished speaking, the two burst into laughter. Perhaps their laughter was a bit too loud, and they couldn't stop in time, attracting the attention of the people downstairs. The man, with his excellent hearing, suddenly and keenly turned his head. But as he looked up, he only caught a fleeting glimpse of two blurry green shadows that shrank down in unison, as fast as two startled sparrows.

Meng Youyou pulled Jiang Fu down quickly, their backs pressed tightly against the corridor railing, their heads almost touching, looking like two fleeing quails. Meng Youyou let out a long sigh of relief, feeling a sense of relief at escaping from danger, and was happily thinking to herself—thank goodness she reacted quickly!

Unexpectedly, Jiang Fu, who was standing next to her, added insult to injury, unable to suppress her laughter as she reminded her, "Don't you know that the railings in the corridor are openwork?"

Meng Youyou's expression froze for a moment: "..."

What did you say? Then what were they doing all that frantic fuss just now?