Early in the morning, as the sky was just beginning to lighten, Li Zhao got out of bed.
When he swiped his card to enter the company, the female colleague at the front desk was engrossed in painting her nails.
Li Zhao asked her for a resignation form, and she carelessly handed him a blank form.
Li Zhao took the form and walked straight to his cubicle.
The hall was a scene of bustling activity at this time.
Some people were busy making calls to clients, while others were buried in mountains of documents, all working feverishly.
Li Zhao was used to this.
He looked at the huge red and green LED screen on the wall, which displayed stock and futures trends, with dense data constantly refreshing.
Li Zhao's gaze was entirely focused on the stock of Chu Tian Pharmaceuticals.
Seeing that its stock price was exactly the same as in his previous life, without any change, a deep look of joy flashed in Li Zhao's eyes.
After a long while, he finally sat down at his cubicle.
Lin Xiao gave him a cold glance, his expression unusually grim.
His colleague, Zhao Qianqian, happened to pass behind Li Zhao with a teacup and asked in surprise, "What's going on? Why are you resigning?"
Her voice was quite sharp, immediately attracting the attention of those around them, who all looked up in their direction.
Li Zhao felt a bit displeased.
"After chasing her for over a year, are you really giving up on Supervisor Xu?" Zhao Qianqian said with a look of regret, "If you're not at the company, such a beautiful woman will fall into someone else's hands."
"I can't lick anymore," Li Zhao said, shrugging his hands indifferently, "Anyway, she's not short of simps; what difference does one more or one less make?"
"Among Goddess Xu's many suitors, you've made it into the top three. If you try a little harder, you might have a chance."
Zhao Qianqian wasn't wrong; in about another week, during a romantic candlelight dinner, Xu Yao would agree to date Li Zhao.
But he wasn't crazy; there was no reason for him to go through the pain again.
Li Zhao's expression was relieved, and he smiled, "My blessings aren't enough; I'll let someone else have her."
But he hadn't expected Zhao Qianqian to be so bored as to pull Xu Yao over.
"You didn't reply to my messages earlier; are you really going to resign?" A soft voice sounded behind him.
Li Zhao turned his head to look.
Xu Yao had delicate features, fair skin, and stood gracefully.
Today, she was wearing a fitted, short dress that tightly hugged her exquisite curves, with the hem above her knees; below, a pair of black stockings perfectly accentuated her straight, long beautiful legs.
Li Zhao merely glanced at her, then abruptly turned his head back.
This woman was definitely poison!
Li Zhao was deeply poisoned in his previous life.
If he made the same mistake again, he might as well buy a block of tofu and bash his head in.
Seeing that he remained silent, Xu Yao asked again, "Are you really leaving?"
"I don't want to do it anymore!" Li Zhao said flatly.
"Have you already found another company?"
Li Zhao smiled faintly, a sharp light flashing in his eyes.
"I'm going to be my own boss!"
Xu Yao narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly, half-believing and half-doubting his words.
She suddenly gripped Li Zhao's right wrist firmly, completely disregarding the strange looks from those around them, and said in a low voice, "Come with me for a moment; I have something to tell you."
A moment later, the two of them arrived in the empty stairwell.
Xu Yao still held Li Zhao's hand tightly, not letting go.
She lowered her head slightly and said softly, "I really don't want you to leave. Will you stay?"
Xu Yao's tone was full of attachment and reluctance, and her bright, warm gaze seemed capable of melting any ice.
Li Zhao looked at her deeply.
The Xu Yao before him was as gentle as water, completely different from the one in his previous life who would become emotional and wide-eyed during arguments.
Li Zhao gently shook his head.
Xu Yao's eyes immediately dimmed a bit, and then she continued, "If you don't want to stay in Lin Xiao's team, I can apply to have you transferred to my team."
"Sorry," Li Zhao shrugged.
"Why?" Xu Yao pressed.
"There's not much time left; I have many things to do next," Li Zhao said.
Xu Yao gave a helpless, bitter smile.
She wasn't that slow.
For over a year, Li Zhao had constantly bought her milk tea and given her various designer bags.
Between a man and a woman, it was nothing more than those few things, to put it bluntly.
After chasing her for so long, he suddenly stopped without any warning.
Xu Yao was psychologically unable to accept it for a while.
She still couldn't understand the reason.
Seeing that Li Zhao was determined to leave, Xu Yao finally steeled herself.
She said, "How about this, don't be impulsive; I'll come to your place tonight, and we can talk it over properly."
Li Zhao, of course, understood the meaning of her words.
His throat unconsciously swallowed, and images from the past flashed in his mind.
On the bed, Xu Yao was drenched in sweat, her eyes hazy; her graceful body twisted constantly, her hair gradually becoming disheveled.
That soul-stirring pleasure still lingered in Li Zhao's mind.
He finally managed to suppress the surging desire in his heart with great difficulty.
Li Zhao no longer delayed and simply stated the problem directly: "Do you still have Han Zhou in your heart?"
"How do you know about Han Zhou?" Xu Yao was surprised, her expression suddenly changing.
She remembered clearly that she had never mentioned Han Zhou's name at the company.
Li Zhao let out a long breath, then forcefully shook off Xu Yao's hand.
Survival was the top priority!
To live with dignity in the apocalypse, without having to grovel to others for food.
Building a Super Fortress as quickly as possible was the most important task at hand.
Li Zhao had no time to play emotional games with Xu Yao!
Moreover, when a couple spent a long time together, they would clearly know what kind of person the other was.
Once they argued, Xu Yao would smash things indiscriminately, not even sparing the TV or microwave, which gave Li Zhao a huge headache.
The next second, he resolutely pushed open the stairwell door and strode out.