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

Chapter 335 Chasing Men (Part 2)
Meng Youyou covered her face with her hands, crouched down, and quickly crossed the remaining ten meters of corridor. She dashed into the waiting hall, and when she turned around, she saw Jiang Fu walking slowly towards her with her body upright, which almost made her go crazy.

Jiang Fu calmly walked up to her and delivered a comment that was infuriating: "Covering one's ears while stealing a bell."

Meng Youyou complained about her "pig teammate": "The gap in the railing was so small, and we were facing away from him, how was he supposed to know who was who?"

Jiang Fu smiled without saying a word: "..."

To prevent the person in front of her from escalating their outburst, Jiang Fu wisely chose not to tell her that when she was being pulled down to squat, Jiang Fu had made eye contact with the man in the rest area for a brief moment while in mid-air.

The classroom chosen for the open class was a large study room on the fourth floor. Jiang Fu helped Meng Youyou set up the camera and sound equipment together.

Jiang Fu sat below as a trial student, while Meng Youyou stood in front of the stage to give a trial lecture. After a complete process, the two of them gathered in front of the camera to reverse the video and check the effect of the assignment.

After staring at the screen for a while, Jiang Fu poked the camera screen with her fingertip and commented frankly, "Don't you think this electronic whiteboard is too small? I didn't notice anything wrong when I was sitting in my seat, but in the recording, it's just a tiny corner, and you can't even see the words on the slides clearly."

"Moreover, when you are simulating bilingual real-world cases, the video playing on the whiteboard does not present a good image. The classroom ceiling light is too bright, and it reflects light off the whiteboard, making it look a bit blurry."

Meng Youyou thought for a moment and said, "How about we move the camera forward a little?"

"In that case, you won't be able to film the students during the interactive classroom activities you designed?"

"Did you turn off the lights when you played the video?"

“You have several videos where you keep turning the lights on and off. It’s too much of a hassle and makes it seem like a makeshift operation.”

Meng Youyou was stumped. Newcomers to the workplace often encounter various problems. In the end, Jiang Fu came up with an effective solution: "Let's put up a big screen in front of us. The visual effect will be much better."

The meeting rooms and study rooms in the office building have undergone several upgrades, with most of them replaced by modern electronic whiteboard devices. The relatively old projectors and screens are all left idle in the storage room on the first floor. While the two were waiting for the elevator in the fourth-floor lobby, Jiang Fu received a phone call. Meng Youyou overheard the voice next to her reply, "Okay, I'll go back now. Wait a moment."

After the person next to her hung up the phone, Meng Youyou hurriedly asked with concern, "What happened?"

"Xiao Wu, who joined at the same time as you, said that the reporting system is malfunctioning and keeps showing format errors, so he can't export the template. He asked me to go back and help take a look."

"Okay, then go quickly."

Jiang Fu glanced at the elevator display screen; the numbers hadn't changed, indicating they would have to wait a while longer. She simply waved to Meng Youyou and turned to head straight for the stairwell: "I'm not waiting anymore, the stairs are faster. Youyou, I'm going now."

The clatter of heels faded into the distance, and Jiang Fu's figure quickly disappeared around the corner of the stairs. Just as Meng Youyou looked away, the elevator notification chimed, and the double metal doors slowly slid open.

She stepped into the elevator car alone and pressed the button for the first floor. The car descended smoothly, and after a moment, another crisp "ding" rang out, and the metal door opened. Dark-patterned tiles on the ground outside came into view, and Meng Youyou felt inexplicably nervous as she stepped out.

The rectangular corner of the elevator lobby was nestled in a recessed area at the far west end of the main hall, its gray and white tiles creating a striking boundary between the two spaces. Meng Youyou didn't walk out directly; instead, she strode through the lobby without glancing at them, passing them without a second glance. Finally, she stopped in front of the locker room, her graceful back to them, swiping her card, inserting her key, opening the door, and closing it—all in one fluid, flawless motion. This was the route she had planned for herself in the few seconds she'd spent in the elevator.

However, it is all too common for an idea to be abandoned just before it is put into action. Meng Youyou did not cross the tile boundary line with ease, but deliberately slowed her steps, moving along the wall to a distance of half a footprint in front of the tile line, and then stopped.

She cautiously peeked out, her body hidden behind the load-bearing wall, her gaze passing over the leaves of a life-sized Monstera deliciosa bonsai at the corner, and looking to her right. In the rest area in the east corner, two people were still sitting facing each other. The woman's hands were clasped around the inside of a glass, her thumbs unconsciously rubbing the glass back and forth, her lips moving slowly as she spoke. At a distance of about ten meters, Meng Youyou obviously couldn't hear a single word.

As for the man opposite him, he barely spoke, remaining silent and attentive for a long time. His back was straight, and he sat upright on the front half of the sofa, his hands resting side by side on the edge of the coffee table. He had been in this posture an hour ago, unchanged, and it was impossible to discern any closeness or distance in his attitude.

Meng Youyou's gaze shifted between the two women. She noticed that the woman who had been talking incessantly suddenly fell silent, picked up her cup, took a small sip of water, and then put it down without saying another word. The stroking motion in her hands also stopped, and she simply stared intently at the person opposite her.

A few seconds later, the woman bit her lip lightly, and then her body suddenly leaned forward... Seeing this, Meng Youyou quickly pulled her head back, pressed her back against the cool wall, and stared blankly at a set of cold-toned metal elevator doors in front of her. The mirror-like texture reflected her own figure and pale face.

Meng Youyou could clearly see every trace of bewilderment, panic, emptiness, and melancholy on her face at that moment; there was simply no hiding place. She was like a panicked rabbit—like the rabbit in the tortoise and the hare race, who suddenly realized that the tortoise had already run far ahead of her. In this situation, Meng Youyou felt as if she were there, and she had a strong sense of empathy for the same fate.

It turns out she wasn't as confident as she seemed, nor did she act as nonchalant as she did in front of Jiang Fu, casually cracking a joke and laughing heartily before completely forgetting about it and not giving it a second thought.

She would also feel uncertain, uneasy, and afraid that the truth is... "Oh, actually no one's place in another person's heart is irreplaceable"—it's just that you happened to meet at a certain point, and then experienced many things together, which is why you loved each other so deeply. However, once that opportunity is missed, then you are nothing special.

Besides, in his eyes now, she's hardly any closer than a stranger. Her supposedly confident assertion is probably nothing at all; who's the rabbit and who's the tortoise is anyone's guess.

Only those who are not afraid of losing anything can always be full of confidence and carefree. At least Meng Youyou is not that kind of person.

At that moment, she realized for the first time that she simply could not accept the outcome of failure, accept losing him, or accept the possibility that he did not love her.

Even before today, Meng Youyou had never truly imagined such a possibility. It wasn't that she hadn't thought about it at all, but every time she touched upon it, her heart would ache terribly, so she always spontaneously resisted and avoided it, trying her best to exclude it and keep it far away.

The instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm is human nature, and she had never forced herself to confront "it" before. So much so that the moment Meng Youyou saw the woman's outstretched hand touch the back of the man's right hand, she reflexively pulled her head back, not daring to see his next reaction—would he immediately push her hand away, or would he gently grasp it in return?
How cowardly. Meng Youyou scoffed inwardly at herself.

Just then, her phone vibrated unexpectedly, displaying a message that brought Meng Youyou back to her senses. She glanced down at the screen; it was from Jiang Fu: [Can you handle this by yourself? Should I call Dou Peng over, or find someone else?]
Meng Youyou typed with her head down: [It's okay, I can manage on my own, you go about your business.]
Jiang Fu: [I think I'll have to wait a while longer here. I'll come find you later.]
Meng Youyou: [Okay, no rush.]
After the conversation ended, Meng Youyou spaced out for a while before slowly raising her head from her phone screen. She met the girl's reflection in the metal door once again. Her eyes were still a little dazed, but her cheeks had regained some color.

She took out a powder compact from her pocket, lifted the mirror cap, and looked closely. There was a small patch of light bluish-black under her eyelids, a result of staying up late last night, which made her beautifully shaped eyes look dull in the mirror.

The girl turned her back to the wall and stood facing it, intently working on her powder puff to cover her dark circles.

Meng Youyou had just covered one eye when a pair of dark eyes suddenly appeared in the mirror, staring back at her from two meters away. The girl jumped in fright and immediately turned around, instinctively hiding the hand holding the powder compact behind her back, as if she were hallucinating—like a primary school student being caught red-handed by the head teacher for bringing a game console to school.

Meng Youyou stared in disbelief, speechless: "What are you doing here?"

"Where should I be?" the man asked calmly.

The girl subconsciously glanced towards the hall. "You shouldn't be..." Realizing she'd let something slip, Meng Youyou quickly stopped herself and corrected herself, "How would I know where you are?" She straightened her back, her neck stiff, and said matter-of-factly, "I'm not a tracking device! Who cares where you are every day?"

Upon hearing this, the man immediately realized something, a slight smile playing on his lips, and asked, "Should I be sitting on the sofa talking to someone now?"

"No, that's not it!" The girl raised her voice, tilted her chin up, her eyes sharp, and blurted out, "You should be holding someone's hand right now!"