Chapter 016 That's how a person gets corrupted, little by little.

  *

  Liang Wenya acted immediately. The very next day, she called in a construction team and had her General Manager's office demolished and merged with the adjacent lounge area, transforming it into a fitness and leisure zone. A few days later, various simple fitness equipment arrived: dumbbells, pull-up bars, step machines, ski machines, simple stair climbers, resistance bands, and ropes—perfect for quick workouts during breaks.

  Liang Wenya had a few of the company's fitness enthusiasts demonstrate the equipment to lift the mood.

  At the encouragement of the crowd, Su Xian and Lao Zhang started a pull-up contest. Su Xian did 10 and jumped down. Lao Zhang did 12, then put his hands on his hips and mocked her, "Brother, you've fallen into decay."

  Su Xian ignored him, walked over, and did a one-handed pull-up.

  "Do you have to be so serious?" Lao Zhang knew he couldn't do a one-handed pull-up, reluctantly admitted defeat, and turned to urge everyone to try the various equipment.

  *

  Seeing that the first few people couldn't pull themselves up, Li Chengshi finally dared to try, but, as expected, he couldn't do it either. His face turned red, but he could only barely pull himself up to nose level.

  Just then, a pair of hands grabbed his waist from behind and pushed him up, allowing him to complete the pull-up.

  "Okay, come down slowly." Su Xian firmly held him, assisting him to lower himself slowly, and encouraged him, "Try one more time."

  He wanted to, but his body suddenly became weak and unresponsive. As he pulled up again, his hand slipped, and he fell backward toward Su Xian. Fortunately, her hands had remained firm, steadily supporting his weight.

  Once he stood straight, Su Xian finally let go of him, mocking, "Little brother, you suck, practice more."

  Li Chengshi's face was flushed. He quietly said, "Mmm."

  Su Xian turned to wash her hands. Lao Zhang walked up to Li Chengshi, clicking his tongue in wonder. "Xiao Li, I always thought you were quiet and honest, but you're a 'green tea' (scheming person)."

  "Engineer Zhang, don't talk nonsense. I won't tell Sister Wang about you watching videos of beautiful women dancing during work hours."

  Lao Zhang pointed at his forehead, disdainfully saying, "You're not just 'green tea,' you're quite insidious too."

  *

  After working overtime until 6:30 PM, Li Chengshi went back to practice pull-ups.

  Lao Zhang packed up and called Wang Jing, ready for the couple to leave together. Seeing that Li Chengshi still couldn't get up, he kindly offered to lift him, but Li Chengshi yelped as he landed, shouting, "It tickles!"

  Lao Zhang protested, "How come it didn't tickle when Engineer Su held you?"

  "Your forces are different."

  "I think the gender is different, haha." Wang Jing laughed and ran to pull Su Xian over.

  Lao Zhang cupped his hands into a flat circle and showed Su Xian. "Look at his little waist, it's so thin! He probably weighs less than 60 kg."

  "Being thin doesn't mean being weak. Also, I weigh 65 kg."

  Su Xian decided to be fair. "Engineer Zhang, don't underestimate Li Chengshi. Although he's thin, he has a great frame. If he practices a bit, his physique will definitely be better than yours."

  "Hah, now you're defending him. Fine, I can't be bothered with you young couples. Honey, let's go."

  "Hey! Don't talk nonsense!"

  Su Xian wanted to argue with him, but Li Chengshi pulled her back. "Team Leader, ignore him. Help me lift myself up." He said, then grabbed the bar and started pulling up. Su Xian had no choice but to stand behind him, support his waist with both hands, and guide him on the correct way to exert force.

  "...8, 9, 10. That's enough, Li Chengshi, right?"

  "Mmm, but don't let go quickly. Lower me down slowly."

  Su Xian slowly lowered him. Suddenly, an idea struck her. "There's a scale over there. Go weigh yourself. I want to see if you're 65 kg."

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  "No need to weigh. I'm going home now. See you tomorrow, Team Leader." He ran back to his seat, grabbed his backpack, and bolted.

  Su Xian chuckled at his retreating figure and went back to work.

  *

  The next day, Su Xian brought her idle pull-up assistance band from home and installed it on the pull-up bar at the company. Most people in the company couldn't do pull-ups, so everyone needed this accessory.

  The Structural Department was right next to the fitness area. Lao Zhang poked Li Chengshi's shoulder, pointed at Su Xian, and chuckled, "Little 'Green Tea,' she didn't get your hint."

  "Engineer Zhang, don't talk rubbish. What hint could I possibly have?" He was a little disappointed though. "Where did she get the assistance band?"

  "She has plenty of stuff like that. During the pandemic, she couldn't go to the gym, so she took a page out of my book and set up a power rack at home. She's not missing any equipment."

  "That's cool."

  "Li Chengshi, she likes jocks. If you want to pursue her, you'd better train hard."

  "Engineer Zhao doesn't look like a jock either."

  "He's good at other things."

  "..."

  **

  The project officially started in November. Zhao Nanfeng and Department Head Sato also rushed over from Japan to attend the groundbreaking ceremony with the Anliang Construction team. All relevant parties were present. Although superstitious activities like burning incense and bowing to Buddha were prohibited by regulation, everyone sincerely wished for everything to go smoothly.

  Over the next few months, Design Group 2 moved its workplace to a temporarily leased office building next to the construction site. Su Xian was responsible for managing the work schedule of the 20+ member construction drawing team and coordinating communication with Project Manager Lao Yang and the various on-site department heads.

  She could no longer bring Li Chengshi breakfast. She offered to subscribe to a breakfast delivery service for him, but he said he didn't like it and asked her to transfer him 10 yuan every day instead.

  "Now you don't mind leaving a transfer record?"

  "It's not 100,000!"

  She deliberately transferred 100 yuan once, and he immediately transferred 90 yuan back. What a meticulous nuisance!

  However, work was so busy that transferring him 10 yuan every night, hearing him say "Good night, Team Leader," and seeing the photo of his breakfast the next morning became a rare moment of relaxation.

  That's how a person gets corrupted, little by little.

  **

  After New Year's Day, Zhao Nanfeng came again. He ran into Su Xian just as she was returning from the construction site, right outside the office building.

  All winter, she had been wearing the uniform work clothes issued on-site, and her face was often ruddy from the cold wind.

  Zhao Nanfeng walked up, raised his phone, took a photo, and praised loudly, "Look at that vibrant vitality!"

  Seeing her own frozen-red nose tip in the photo, Su Xian rolled her eyes at him.

  "You're as lovely as you were before," Zhao Nanfeng suddenly said seriously.

  Su Xian shivered in distaste, shook him off, and walked straight into the lobby.

  He followed her. "Let's have dinner tonight. I have something serious to discuss with you."

  "If it's serious, let's discuss it at the company."

  "I want to invite you to join my firm."

  *

  It wasn't until Zhao Nanfeng walked into the construction site gate and disappeared that Su Xian turned around and walked toward the elevator lobby. Her mind was buzzing anxiously. She checked her phone—4:30 PM. She went upstairs to brief Xu Shuyi on the work, then drove back to Anliang Construction.

  She hadn't been back in a while, and everyone greeted her warmly. Su Xian responded to each one. Liang Wenya was standing by the Structural Department, discussing something with Lao Zhang. Su Xian walked straight over.

  "Hey, why are you back!" Lao Zhang saw her and immediately picked up Li Chengshi from his seat and pushed him in front of her.

  "Team Leader, you're back." He was wearing a festive green patterned wool sweater, his face slightly flushed, and his happiness was completely undisguised.

  Su Xian couldn't help but smile. It had been a while, and she genuinely felt a sense of familiarity.

  "Go make me a cup of hot tea."

  "Mmm."

  Li Chengshi scurried off to the pantry. Su Xian called Liang Wenya and Lao Zhang into the conference room.

  *