Gala's "Super High Player": Extreme Sadness and Reason, Slap

Lin Group.

On the top floor, in a pitch-black office, faint sobbing echoed through the room, mixed with the somewhat pitiful murmurs of a young girl.

"You're the simp, you're the... hateful, woo woo..."

Lin Baizhi hugged a pillow, crying her eyes out in grievance. Xia Tongxin's calling her a "simp" had dealt true damage, a critical hit at that, and she still hadn't recovered from it.

She cried so hard she was gasping for breath, not even hearing the ringing of her phone nearby, completely absorbed in her sorrow.

It was too much. How could someone go so far?

If you called Lin Baizhi an idiot or ugly, she would just laugh it off. But if you called her a simp who only knew how to indulge in wishful thinking, she would fight you to the death. As for why... well, it's so hard to guess.

It couldn't be because it hit the mark, right?

Probably not, right?

After a good while, the sobbing in the office stopped. The makeup on Lin Baizhi's face was completely ruined, making her look like a ghost. She still had a contract to sign in the afternoon, and it was about time, so she decided to stop crying for now.

She would tidy herself up first, get the contract sorted out, and then go home at night to hide under the covers and cry slowly.

Lin Baizhi wiped the tears and snot from her face and walked out towards the bedroom area. She noticed her phone screen was lit up, and it seemed someone was calling?

Confusion appeared in her eyes. Walking barefoot on the cold floor, the icy touch cleared her mind a bit, making her feel less sad... Okay, she was still sad.

Step, step, step... She quickened her pace, walked to the desk, picked up her phone, and answered the call.

It was from her secretary.

"President Lin, are you alright?" As soon as the call connected, the secretary's highly concerned and worried voice came through.

Lin Baizhi froze for a moment, took a deep breath, and hurriedly adjusted her emotions. Using her usual speaking tone, she said, "I'm fine. I was just a bit tired and fell asleep for a while, so I didn't see the call. Just tell me if there's anything. Prepare for the afternoon contract, I'll be right there..."

As soon as she spoke, she fully assumed the persona of a female CEO. Cold as ice, she once again transformed into a ruthless working machine, making the secretary on the other end shiver.

Could it be... she heard wrong just now?

That's not right, she clearly heard crying coming from the room earlier...

Was she having auditory hallucinations?

A huge question mark popped up in the secretary's head as her left and right brain started fighting. About half an hour ago, the secretary had gone to Lin Baizhi's office to report on the recent financial work.

Although the company had a professional financial team, Lin Baizhi still conducted regular checks, being quite responsible.

When she reached the door and was about to knock, she heard her President Lin crying inside. The secretary was completely stunned. She hurriedly put down the documents in her hands and then... pressed her ear against the door to eavesdrop.

The sound was very low and intermittent; it seemed she wasn't in the outer area, but further inside...

As a qualified corporate slave, if she didn't want to be fired or get a pay cut tomorrow for stepping into the company with her left foot first, it was best not to stumble upon her boss making a fool of herself.

Without changing a thing, the secretary hugged the documents she brought and left, tiptoeing, afraid of making any noise that the heartbroken President Lin inside might hear. If she did, she definitely wouldn't have a good time later.

Five minutes later, the secretary made a call to "confirm" whether her President Lin was still shedding little pearls.

But no one answered.

Alright, it seemed President Lin had encountered a very thorny issue and was extremely sad, with no time to deal with her right now. She decided to continue working and call again a bit later to check.

Ten minutes later, still no answer.

Twenty minutes later...

Half an hour later, the call finally connected. So, did their President Lin cry for a whole half hour?

Hiss... Could this be the reason why their President Lin had been wearing somewhat inappropriate smoky makeup lately? Her eyes were swollen from crying, so she needed to cover them up?

"Is there anything else?" Lin Baizhi's very cold voice came from the other end of the phone. The secretary instantly sobered up, shivered, and hurriedly answered.

"Nothing else, President Lin!" The secretary stood at "attention" and quickly replied.

The call ended.

In the room, looking like a ghost with her makeup completely ruined, Lin Baizhi began to scroll through the other messages she had missed over the past half hour. Besides the normal work handovers and reports, there were also quite a few messages sent from the logistics department.

Hmm?

Lin Baizhi frowned, and her posture straightened up a bit.

Although the logistics department at the Lin Group couldn't compare to the Dongfang family's, fortunately, their workload wasn't large. Both father and daughter shared the same tune; they liked to do things themselves and didn't enjoy having many people bustling around them.

They only used them when necessary, preferring to be hands-on for the most part.

Just like with meals, unless she was extremely busy with work, Lin Baizhi would always go home to cook for herself to practice her culinary skills. After all, she would have to cook for Ye Cheng in the future.

Lin Baizhi had once read a saying in a book: if you want to capture a man's heart, you must first capture his stomach.

Of course, Lin Baizhi wasn't just an empiricist; she loved to practice. She did exactly what the books said.

Also, because Lin Baizhi liked to "practice," the employees under the Lin Group would often receive some bizarre questionnaires.

Things like...

Do you like it when your wife or girlfriend cooks for you?

Does your sense of happiness increase, or do you love her more after eating a meal cooked by your wife or girlfriend?

Did your affection level increase?

By how much?

These were the questionnaires for the male colleagues. There were also questionnaires aimed at the female colleagues, with the same core theme.

Do you cook for your boyfriend or husband? After they eat, do they...

Such somewhat "bizarre" little surveys left the subordinates completely baffled. They couldn't figure out what exactly Lin Baizhi was trying to do. They thought the company wanted to gauge the stability of their family lives, so they all sweated profusely while filling out the questionnaires.

Every answer started as a 500-word mini-essay, out of fear that they would be fired tomorrow if they didn't answer well.

God knows that their President Lin only asked these weird questions just to unlock the "Victory CG". Oh right, Lin Baizhi had cleared all series of "Galgame", unlocked all hidden side quests, and maxed out all affection levels...

Too lame.

The premise of "Galgame" is normal people, but the problem was that Ye Cheng wasn't exactly a normal person. Many little tricks to increase intimacy between couples were like playing the lute to a cow when applied to Ye Cheng. Oh, by the way, Ye Cheng wasn't the cow, nor the one playing the lute; Ye Cheng was the lute...

For example, if someone's legs hurt, a normal person would say something to boost affection, like, "Baby, let me carry you on my back," or "Baby, let me rub them for you..."

But when it came to Ye Cheng, it became... "Oi, oi, kid, you really suck! Besides, what does a sore foot have to do with your hands?" After saying that, he started performing his signature handstand walk.

Constant investigation and constant practice were all just to increase her chances of winning. Lin Baizhi wouldn't let go of any method that could boost his affection for her!

Therefore, the employees of the Lin Group had to fill out a "questionnaire" every month, with weird questions like "Do you like girls who are straightforward?", "How did you and your girlfriend meet?", and "Do you prefer a soft and clingy younger girl, or a bossy one?"

Anyone who half-assed it was fired immediately!

If you don't do your job, there are plenty of others who will, but the questionnaire was different!

Logistics: "Miss, Young Master Ye didn't go to the cafeteria today."

Logistics: "Miss, a rabbit spirit suspected to be Young Master Ye sprinted out of the school gates in one stride today. The speed was too fast for the cameras to capture a clear image, but big data comparison shows a ninety percent probability that it was Young Master Ye."

Logistics: "Miss, Young Master Ye appeared at the mobile phone mall. The escaping rabbit spirit at the gate was indeed Young Master Ye."

Logistics: "An ambulance appeared. A middle-aged man whom Young Master Ye called 'Hubby' was sent into the ambulance..."

"Young Master Ye has been discharged from the hospital..."

A massive pile of detailed and vague data in between was all listed clearly on the phone. This was the main job of the Lin family's logistics team: collecting news and whereabouts of Ye Cheng.

The sources of information were quite reliable. The school cleaners, the elderly folks, the gardeners, the cafeteria aunties, the vegetable vendors at the gate... yes, that's right, they had all been bribed by Lin Baizhi!

She offered them a price they couldn't refuse.

Moreover, it wasn't anything excessive. They just had to report Ye Cheng's whereabouts. If there was nothing, they didn't have to report; if there was, they reported it and took the money... It was essentially money falling from the sky.

Seeing the earlier messages, Lin Baizhi was slightly confused, but she wasn't surprised that Ye Cheng ran out during daytime classes. Things like hurdling in a single bound or flying over the school fences... Lin Baizhi was already used to it.

These things were very simple for her brother. She was just curious why he was in such a hurry to go out, and why he had to go to some boring middle-aged uncle's place?

Lin Baizhi knew Old Gong, and she hated Old Gong very much. It wasn't that Old Gong had done anything universally condemned, but because every time Ye Cheng would call out "Old Gong, Old Gong" (which sounds exactly like 'hubby' in Chinese), Lin Baizhi had been putting up with it for a long time.

She felt that a certain boring, middle-aged old man was constantly provoking her!

You're even calling him "Hubby"?

Bah!

Is he yours?!

Just because Old Gong's surname was Gong, the massive Lin Group refused to hire anyone with the surname "Gong," regardless of gender. This surname was a constant provocation to her!!!

Continuing to read, Lin Baizhi's fists hardened. If she wasn't afraid of being hated by Ye Cheng, Lin Baizhi would have had someone "deal with" Old Gong a long time ago. It was too infuriating; she hadn't even gotten to call him hubby yet, but some guy was enjoying hearing it!

"Young Master Ye is heading towards the Dongfang family villa."

There was a long gap in the messages here, and what followed were no longer messages, but a dense cluster of missed calls from the logistics staff.

Lin Baizhi: "???"

There was only one reason they would call: something major had happened to Ye Cheng, like, perhaps, some shameless woman had appeared out of nowhere again...

However, Lin Baizhi hadn't answered a single one of these calls. Her phone was on silent, only vibrating, and Lin Baizhi had just been crying in her room again.

The most recent call was just one minute before the secretary called.

"Beep, beep, beep!"

The logistics department called once again, and this time, it finally connected!

"Miss, you finally answered the phone! Young Master Ye is injured, he's bleeding a lot..."

"Miss? Miss, are you listening?"

After hearing the first sentence, Lin Baizhi's mind exploded. It was buzzing, and she felt the world spinning around her. She could barely stand steady, her body going terrifyingly weak, and the hand holding the phone trembled incessantly.

"I, I'm listening, I... urgh..."

Before Lin Baizhi could finish her sentence, a sudden wave of nausea surged up, causing her to dry heave for a while. Only then did Lin Baizhi continue to ask, her voice trembling.

Excessive grief, a weak constitution, and multiple other factors combined to cause the dry heaving. The physical discomfort was quickly suppressed by Lin Baizhi's astonishing willpower, and she began to ask about Ye Cheng's condition and the follow-up.

She was not allowed to take any actions that would waste time now. She couldn't even cry; crying would only delay the time to go see her brother. Even crying was a sin!

Extreme rationality and extreme sorrow did not conflict, but it was just very rare for both emotions to appear in one person at the same time. After all, extremely rational people were unlikely to have massive emotional fluctuations themselves, seeing things with absolute clarity.

But it just so happened to appear in Lin Baizhi!

"Send me the hospital's location. I, urgh... I'll head over immediately. Give me five minutes, I'll be right down." Lin Baizhi swallowed the nauseous feeling once again, hung up the phone, propped herself up, and stumbled, dragging her weak body as she rushed toward the bathroom.

"Slap! Slap!" Two crisp sounds of slaps echoed from the bathroom.

"Why are you crying? Can crying solve the problem?!"

"Move, stop crying. Brother needs you right now, Brother will be fine..."

Lin Baizhi, with red eyes and streaming tears, repeated this to herself in the mirror over and over again. On her stunningly exquisite face were two very obvious slap marks, burning with pain. Her mind sobered up quite a bit, and she sped up the process of removing her makeup, and then... started applying makeup all over again!

Five minutes later.

Lin Baizhi got into the private car waiting downstairs at the Lin Group and headed toward the location of the Xia family hospital.

...