Chapter 32: Sports-meet
Feng Jiu stretched and dragged herself up from the bed. Then she quickly headed into the shower to prepare for the long day ahead.
All the new employees were required to attend a half-day briefing course on the SOP of the company. In the latter half of the day, everyone will be taking part in a friendly sports-meet.
The winners of the sports-meet would be rewarded with cash vouchers, where they could spend it anywhere inside the resort.
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Feng Jiu waited at the foyer for Si Ming and Xiao Yan to arrive, before heading to the auditorium hall together for their training.
At the same time, she was hoping that she wouldn't bump into Dong Hua and Ji Heng today.
Once they arrived at the auditorium, they quickly settled down in their seats. The hall was filled with noise and chatter, as everyone waited impatiently for the training to start. The person-in-charge then asked the crowd to quieten down, as the training will be starting soon.
Ji Heng walked up the stage and welcomed everyone.
"Good morning, everyone. I am pleased to see everyone here, and I'll be briefing all of you on the SOP today. I hope I won't bore you to death later on!"
Xiao Yan immediately laughed out loud and shouted, "Ji Heng, you're too funny! I'm sure you won't bore us to death, you'll only kill us with your humour!"
Everyone turned over to stare at Xiao Yan, and Feng Jiu immediately covered his mouth to prevent him from talking more nonsense.
"You're so embarrassing, Xiao Yan! Behave yourself!" Feng Jiu reprimanded him.
Ji Heng secretly rolled her eyes, gave a fake smile, and sarcastically said, "He definitely has a sense of humour. Such a funny guy."
Everyone then started laughing, and Xiao Yan gave a huge satisfied smile.
"Look, Ji Heng praised me."
Xiao Yan was totally oblivious to the fact that Ji Heng was just sarcastic. Feng Jiu and Si Ming then shook their head in disbelief.
Then the person-in-charge tried to calm the crowd down, and announced, "Before we commence the training, let's give a round of applause to welcome the President of Tai Chen Group on stage. He will be giving a short speech now."
Dong Hua effortlessly exude confidence while walking up the stage. He was full of charm and charisma, and it attracted many female employees' attention.
"Our president is so charming! I wonder if he has a girlfriend," A lady sitting in front of Feng Jiu whispered to her friend.
Upon hearing what they said, Xiao Yan cringed and turned to Feng Jiu. "What's so good about that Ice Face? I don't know even why Ji Heng likes him. I'm way better than him."
Feng Jiu kept quiet because she didn't know how to respond to Xiao Yan. Then Si Ming turned over and told Xiao Yan to stay silent.
Dong Hua picked up the microphone and said with a cold and stern voice, "I would like to welcome everyone to the company. In Tai Chen Group, we do not tolerate any mistakes, and you will be terminated without any notice if you are found breaching employment terms."
Xiao Yan immediately commented, "He is indeed an ice face, his heart is made of ice too. I guess we better start being on our toes; if not, we will risk losing our job!"
Si Ming turned over to Xiao Yan again, and said, "I'm glad that you know that, so you better buck up and be on your best performance!"
Feng Jiu didn't say a word and blankly stared at Dong Hua while thinking to herself.
"He seems so cold and heartless, and so different from the Dong Hua that I know."
Then Dong Hua left the auditorium hall, and Ji Heng started the briefing training.
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"Ahhh! Finally, it's over! I'm so hungry! Should we head over to the restaurant for lunch now?" Feng Jiu rushed out of the auditorium hall.
"You're always thinking of food!" Si Ming replied to Feng Jiu.
"Of course! I need to eat more to prepare for the friendly sports-meet later on. If we win, we can use the cash vouchers to redeem entry into the hot springs, and have a good meal at the restaurant!"
Upon hearing about the word 'food,' Xiao Yan became excited and immediately rushed them towards the restaurant.
Then they ate to their heart's content, before heading back to their room to rest.
"We will meet at the foyer in an hour." Lian Song told Feng Jiu before they left for their rooms.
Feng Jiu was eager to attend the sports-meet, as she was looking forward to winning the cash vouchers. She was confident of winning because she was always good at sports. Back in school, Feng Jiu took part in various sports competitions and also won first place.
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One hour quickly passed. Feng Jiu changed into her active sportswear and headed out to meet Si Ming and Xiao Yan, at the foyer.
Everyone then proceeded to the mini stadium and waited for the sports-meet to start. The sports-meet segments were basketball, running and soccer.
The Design Department teams were allocated to the basketball segment first.
Feng Jiu, Xiao Yan, and Si Ming started to do some stretches to warm up for the basketball match. Then Feng Jiu noticed Ji Heng standing across the basketball court, and she was smiling sweetly to everyone.
"Ji Heng is so kind and friendly, just look at her smiling to everyone!" Xiao Yan gushed with praise over Ji Heng.
Feng Jiu bitterly thought to herself, "Kind and friendly? More like fake and pretentious! I wish I could kick this ball at her!"
Feng Jiu didn't want to burst Xiao Yan's bubble, so she kept her thoughts to herself. Then she started to day-dream, and she giggled to herself.
Feng Jiu imagined herself kicking the ball at Ji Heng, and she also imagined how Ji Heng fell after getting hit by the ball. She felt satisfied even though she was just picturing the scene in her mind.
Feng Jiu was so engrossed with her day-dreaming, and she didn't notice Xiao Yan sneaking up behind her.
"Feng Jiu! What are you day-dreaming about?!" Xiao Yan wanted to scare Feng Jiu after he noticed her staring into blank space.
The shock caused her reflexes to react, and she accidentally kicked the ball that was placed right in front of her feet.
"Noooooo!!!" Feng Jiu yelled as she realized that she had kicked the ball hard, and it was too late to stop the ball.
Then she noticed the ball flying towards someone.
Feng Jiu immediately closed her eyes as she was afraid to see what was going to happen next. And then all she heard was a loud thud, followed by a long silence.
She slowly opened one of her eyes to peek at what was going on and why everyone was so quiet.
Feng Jiu instantly froze when she realized who was standing in front of her.
Dong Hua then stared intensively at Feng Jiu, and asked sternly, "Were you the one who kicked this ball?"
"Uh...Uhhh... It was Si Ming!" Feng Jiu immediately pointed at Si Ming and subtly winked at him to help her out. Then she bowed her head in shame, afraid to look at Dong Hua.
Si Ming shook his head lightly and replied to Dong Hua, "Yes, yes, it was me. I'm sorry, I didn't see you coming this way."
"I see. You're lucky that I have a fast reaction, and I managed to dodge the ball. Be more careful next time, Si Ming." Dong Hua replied coldly.
Dong Hua stared at Feng Jiu, who was bowing her head. He thought to himself, "This is the first time that I met someone so daring. She dared to kick the ball at me, and then blamed it on her superior."
Feng Jiu slowly lifted her head to look at Dong Hua.
Feng Jiu then ran away in panic when their eyes met, as she couldn't face Dong Hua now.
Out of a sudden, brief flashbacks of memories shot through Dong Hua's mind, and he instantly felt a sense of familiarity coming from Feng Jiu.
"Jiu-er. You have such beautiful eyes. I don't ever want to stop looking at them."
Dong Hua squinted his eyes and lightly touched his temples, as his head was starting to hurt a little. He didn't know why he was having such flashbacks, or why he was calling her Jiu-er.
"Are you feeling okay, Dong Hua?" Ji Heng asked, in a worrying manner upon noticing Dong Hua touching his temples.
Dong Hua brushed her question off and then he left the court.
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Feng Jiu ran into the nearby washroom and splashed her face with water. Her heart was still pounding from the adrenaline rush, and she tried to cool herself down.
Although it was still hard to see Dong Hua, she was already emotionally numb at this point. All she wants now is to earn more money to pay for Ye Qingti's hospital bills.
"What I just did was way too embarrassing! I have to start avoiding them from now on." Feng Jiu thought to herself.
Then she cheered herself on and left the washroom to return to the court.
"Are you feeling alright, Feng Jiu?" Si Ming asked.
"Don't worry, I feel fine. Thanks for asking, Si Ming. Now, let's get ready to beat our opponent! If we win this sports-meet, we will have some good food tonight!"
Xiao Yan excitedly nodded his head in approval. Si Ming was relieved to see Feng Jiu feeling better, and he always knew that Feng Jiu was a strong-minded person.
Then they started their game of basketball.
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"Yay! We really won! Look at all these vouchers, Xiao Yan. We will be living a good life for the next few days!"
"Let's go have a seafood buffet. We totally deserve it!" Xiao Yan excitedly exclaimed.
Feng Jiu and Xiao Yan were excited at the thought of eating, and they happily hopped around the court.
Si Ming smiled while looking at them, and he felt like a father bringing his two kids out on a trip.
"Let's go! Let's go!" Then Feng Jiu excitedly dragged both of them towards the restaurant.
Feng Jiu then silently thought to herself, "What a great day. I'm sure that it would get even better tomorrow!"
It was the first time in a long while that Feng Jiu actually felt so happy.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone