Chapter 88: Chapter 77 Outside the Office Building
Chapter 88: Chapter 77 Outside the Office Building
Lin Yun set down his phone and continued to organize the files on his desk.
After lunch break ended, Xia Liang rather unexpectedly sent him a text message, saying she suspected Moke was making false military reports, claiming to go out in search of Magical Girls but never returning, and therefore wanted to conduct a tracking investigation.
Recalling how not long ago he had been their subject of investigation, and now, they were turning their sights on Moke, Lin Yun found it amusing but didn't decline.
He activated the tracking spell he had previously set on Moke, and after a brief sensation, he located Moke's position and shared it with the two girls through the group chat.
"However… an orphanage, huh?"
As he tidied up the files, his thoughts began to wander. "Could it really be a new recruit?"
While he wasn't very enthusiastic about recruiting new Magical Girls, if he truly encountered a child with talent, the final decision might still fall into their hands.
After all, following the conversation with his daughter, not only did Lin Xiaolu temporarily resolve her issues, but he also came to understand many things.
He was about to resign from the job he had been doing for nearly ten years and fully devote his energy to matters related to Magical Girls. And once he had made that decision, it also meant one thing—he would one day seek the truth behind An Ya's death.
At the time, even though he knew there was something fishy about his wife's death, he did not take any action because of a reminder from the Golden Green Cat's Eye: He was now a father, the only relative his daughter had, and if something happened to him, there would be no one left to care for his child.
But the situation had changed. His daughter had also become a Magical Girl.
Although the process had been somewhat serendipitous and not entirely pleasant, since she was very determined to continue down this path, as her father, he should support her as much as possible.
That led to another choice: to train his daughter to be strong enough to protect herself against all adversaries before choosing the right moment to leave.
Thus, the thought of helping his daughter build a team arose once again.
When he had first recruited Xia Liang, he had harbored such a notion, but later realized that his life was too busy—working during the day while being a Magical Girl by convenience, and tutoring the two children at night.
Under such a cramped schedule, if he hastily recruited a new Magical Girl, not only would he lack the time to teach another person, but there could also be gaps in ensuring their personal safety.
He hoped that while helping his daughter build a team, every child could grow safely and sturdily, and only face the real storms when their wings were fully grown.
Now that he had chosen to resign, he felt more confident about recruiting someone new.
This was also why he actively agreed to Xia Liang's request to track Moke.
After he had arranged the files on the desk neatly aside and confirmed there were no oversights, he stood up from his seat and took one final look at his office desk.
To say that he felt no nostalgia for this job would actually be untrue.
He had worked in this position for a long time and, although there were many hardships and unpleasant moments, he had also made many friends and achieved significant growth. More importantly, this job had been a way for him to shape his social identity.
He had chosen to retire from being a Magical Girl and enter society as a key employee. Aside from not wanting to live off past achievements and hoping to provide additional financial security for his family life through work, and giving himself other duties, essentially, it was about clarity of self and maintaining integrity.
The essence of a person is the sum of their social relationships: it's precisely because of meeting different people, living together, and influencing each other that each person becomes a unique individual.
Lin Yun left his office, gently closing the door behind him, exhaling a long breath.
This chapter came to a close.
After this, he would head to the general manager's office to say goodbye and then fully resign, ending this chapter of his career.
Passing by the External Affairs Department, through the glass partition, his gaze intertwined with that of his former colleagues; he saw Liu Guanshan sitting at his desk with his feet up, smiling and waving at him.
Let's have a few drinks when you're free.
That was what his lips seemed to say.
"Give me a break, who drinks without a gathering?" Lin Yun murmured with a smile behind the window.
When he arrived outside the general manager's office and saw that the door was ajar, he paused his steps, straightened his collar, and then knocked gently on the door.
"Please come in."
A somewhat hoarse voice came from inside the door.
As Lin Yun walked in, he could see the general manager of his company, a man named Wang Tengfei, sitting behind the desk, smiling at him.
The reason he was a general manager and not a president was because Gao Sheng was actually a franchise brand.
Its small-scale and household elevator business spread throughout the southern Donghua Region, with headquarters located in the nearest central city—Yannan City.
When An Ya was still around, Lin Yun would sometimes travel on business; after An Ya passed away, to better take care of Lin Xiaolu, he actively requested to move to the after-sales department. Though busier, at least he was always in Fangting City.
At that time, he also communicated with the general manager in front of him.
The change of position back then, and the resignation now, the person he was having the conversation with remained the same, but his mindset had completely changed.
"Old Lin, take a seat, have you really thought this through?"
Wang Tengfei pointed to the chair in front of the desk, "Let's not beat around the bush, you are our veteran employee, and very capable. I was actually thinking of promoting you in a couple of years, becoming a manager would have been no problem."
"As for the situation at home, those who need to know are aware; your attendance has been a bit of an issue lately, everyone can understand; if you can get over this hurdle, wouldn't everything be alright?"
Unfortunately, this hurdle seemed impossible to get over.
Lin Yun sighed to himself.
If it were just normal fluctuations in life, he could bear it. But now, balancing work and the affairs of a Magical Girl had become untenable, and he had to choose the side that was more important to him.
And now, without An Ya, Lin Xiaolu was the heaviest weight on the scale.
"Manager Wang, we have discussed this matter many times, the company has been good to me, it's just that I have some personal reasons."
As the saying goes, don't slap a smiling face, so Lin Yun too, accompanied his words with a smile: "I do have quite a few things to deal with at home, and I don't know how long it's going to take. Continuing would only trouble the company, it's better to make a decision sooner."
"It's not troublesome at all, everyone understands, you're taking this too seriously."
Wang Tengfei wanted to persuade him further, "If you have issues at home, why not just take a long leave? We're old pals, why go to such extremes?"
"Ah, Manager Wang..."
Lin Yun pretended to sigh, the two continued their insincere exchanges until they had fulfilled all the niceties, concluding the conversation.
In the office that afternoon, only the sound of their conversation could be heard, mingling with the hissing of the air conditioning if one listened closely.
The sun shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting large patches of light on the office floor.
But within those patches of light, a tiny black dot had appeared without anyone noticing.
The black dot grew larger and heavier, becoming hard to ignore, even faintly taking on the vague semblance of a human figure.
Lin Yun, facing the window and still speaking with Wang Tengfei, gradually slowed down his speech as he started to make out the scene outside the window, until he finally stopped talking altogether.
There was someone outside the window.
The general manager's office was on the 17th floor of the office building; it was impossible for someone to be outside.
But at this moment, indeed, there was someone standing in the distance outside the window, looking towards the office building where Lin Yun was.
It was a girl.
A girl with a smile, wearing a black dress.