At both ends of the walls surrounding them hung a light. It had been specially modeled after a lantern. That was where the orange light emanated from.

“Miss Luo, why don’t you ask the question?”

Luo Xiyun’s first intention was to refuse, however, she suddenly caught sight of Chen Xu’s face through the swirling mist. It was the first time since the dream was over that she had gazed at his face this way.

Under the light, his face looked like it was covered with a golden glow.

It reminded her of the last day in the dream when he was sitting in a wheelchair and staring at the sun rising from behind an iceberg.

A wave of emotion rushed through her, and her heart began to throb. At that moment, all the frustration and vexation that had been suppressed inside burst forth.

Why was it him?

How was it him?

Why did it have to be him?

No, that had only been a dream.

She clenched her fist tightly around the towel and opened her mouth to speak. “You, come closer,” she ordered.

Everyone could tell that her demeanor had turned stern. Even the newcomers who weren’t too familiar with her could feel the tension in the air.

At that moment, the mood changed.

Chen Xu did as she had asked and made his way to the middle of the pool. The water wasn’t very deep and only reached his waist. When he stood up, his entire upper body was exposed above the water.

Luo Xiyun kept her eyes fixed firmly on a random point on his chest. When the four somewhat inconspicuous moles came into view, her vision began to sway before the scene in front of her suddenly distorted and spun around.

Her ears began to ring, and she felt as if the world was disappeared beneath her feet.

Indistinctly, she heard a familiar voice.

“There isn’t even a single mole on your body. You’re indeed a natural beauty.”

“Why did you poke me here? These four moles didn’t exist when I was a kid. It was only after I became an adult that they appeared. If you connect them together, don’t they look like a square?”

…

The conversation seemed to have taken place in a different time and space.

The present world slowly materialized before Luo Xiyun’s eyes again. She looked at Chen Xu’s oblivious expression, and an uncontrollable fury bubbled in her chest.

“Are you in a romantic relationship with Dai Zixin?”

From everyone else’s point of view, she had stared at Chen Xu for a good few seconds before asking such a question. Although they couldn’t decipher what she was thinking, they felt the pressure solely from her tone alone.

The temperature surrounding them instantly plunged even lower than the temperature outside.

Everyone had their eyes on Chen Xu who was standing in the middle. They were all anxious on his behalf. As for Dai Zixin, the other individual who had been mentioned, her face was etched with worry.

…

When Chen Xu saw that he had been picked, he swore under his breath.

Did Miss Guo not have anything between her ears? Why had she suggested such a game? They weren’t close friends, and their workplace superior was present! The questions couldn’t be too personal, but at the same time, they couldn’t be too formal either. Wasn’t she making things difficult for them?

Wait a minute… Was she out of her mind? Why was she getting Luo Xiyun to ask the question?

Luo Xiyun was now asking him to come closer?

Something wasn’t right. Her tone didn’t sound right. Who was she angry with this time?

All sorts of thoughts surfaced in his mind. He stood up in the water and walked over, only stopping when he could finally see her face clearly.

This was an appropriately safe distance from her. Based on the current relationship between the two of them, going any nearer would only draw her ire and resentment.

She was looking a little wan and haggard. Had she not been sleeping well recently?

She was far too stubborn. She could always delegate the work at the company to someone else. She was a female after all. Why was she working herself to the bone? It wasn’t as if her family was poor.

Why wasn’t she saying anything now?

Hm, judging from her demeanor, was she on her period?

That couldn’t be right. It wasn’t supposed to be now. If he remembered correctly, it was currently supposed to be the ovulation period.

Oh, right. His ex-girlfriend used to complain of discomfort during her ovulation period. Was she suffering from the same thing? Perhaps it was something even more severe.

He had to be careful in his answer. They weren’t in the dream now. If she were to reprimand him in front of everyone, he wouldn’t be about to counterattack. How embarrassing that would be!

She was speaking now. What was this she was asking?

She seemed to be asking if he was in a romantic relationship with Dai Zixin. That was weird. Since when did she concern herself in the private lives of others?

He didn’t recall the company having any prohibitions against employees dating each other.

Chen Xu was lost in his thoughts. After Luo Xiyun voiced her question, it was quite a few seconds before he recovered his wits and replied, “No. Dai Zixin and I are just normal colleagues.”

Although he had stated his answer very straightforwardly, Luo Xiyun didn’t feel her anger dissipate at all. Her tone remained cold, “Is that so? Someone saw her come out of your room. How do you explain that?”

Chen Xu fought the urge to turn his head and look at Miss Guo. Although he knew that his colleagues liked to gossip, he was still appalled that the news had already reached Luo Xiyun’s ears when it had only occurred less than half an hour ago! This was extreme!

He explained succinctly, “We were only discussing something.”

Luo Xiyun watched as he continued looking down. He didn’t dare to face her. She felt as if she was going to explode with fury.

However, in front of so many subordinates, she controlled her expression and tone. Her words were icy when she said, “You should know that the company has a policy forbidding office romances. Offenders will be fired immediately upon being discovered.”

Everyone present was uncomfortable.

Was there really such a policy?

Chen Xu felt doubtful. He didn’t recall the existence of any such thing. But it wouldn’t be wise to contradict her at this moment.

Times weren’t the same anymore. If this had been in the dream, she would never have dared to speak to him this way.

He sighed inwardly.

He knew that living in real society meant that he had to recognize and accept reality.

This Luo Xiyun before him right then wasn’t the same Luo Xiyun in the dream who had accepted her fate. At work, she was merciless to everyone.

So be it, if she said so.

He didn’t utter a word.

Luo Xiyun observed his demeanor, and her chest heaved as she struggled to control her emotions. “Even if you aren’t in a romantic relationship, you have to watch your actions. Don’t do anything that can give others the wrong idea. Don’t let me hear of such rumors again.”

She finished her monologue in one breath and stood up. “I’m tired,” she said and got out of the pool to leave.

…

Only when Luo Xiyun finally disappeared past the door did everyone heave a sigh of relief.

“That was so scary! All the rumors about her are true!”

“What an imposing scene that was. I was so nervous that my heart was about to jump out of my mouth.”

“Chen Xu, your luck must have been really bad to encounter that!”

…

The group started discussing what had just transpired, echoing each other’s sentiments that they had received the fright of their lives.

“Miss Luo is really scary when she’s angry. Is she usually like that?” a female administrator asked who was sitting on the other side of the pool close to Miss Guo.

Miss Guo shook her head in a daze. She was about to speak when a thought suddenly occurred to her, and she kept her mouth shut. She glanced at Chen Xu, who was leaning by the edge of the pool, with a weird look in her eyes.

In the six months that she had been working with Luo Xiyun, she had never seen her get so angry before.

Furthermore, Luo Xiyun had never concerned herself with the private lives of others. Such rage was unusual in and of itself.

Just what was the reason for that?