Getting out of Qin Ruojing's Audi A8, Chu Ge originally planned to call Tong Yaqi and a few of his colleagues, but thinking he was about to return soon, he put the phone he had taken out back into his pocket.

After casually grabbing some lunch outside, Chu Ge returned to the Tianjiao Building.

When he exited the elevator and appeared on the ninth floor of the Tianjiao Building, he was greeted by a few familiar-faced girls whose names he couldn't recall, and he smiled and greeted them as usual.

Originally, these girls were discussing things about Chu Ge and felt that this time he might be in serious trouble.

When they saw Chu Ge in front of them, they all shivered, and one girl's file folder even fell to the ground.

It wasn't until Chu Ge picked up the folder from the ground and handed it back to her that she came to her senses, staring blankly at Chu Ge's back as if petrified.

As he walked towards the Operations Management Department office, everyone he encountered had the same dumbfounded expressions, not just whatever they were doing, all froze in place, jaws dropped.

Feeling all the ghost-like stares from people in the hallway, Chu Ge was rendered quite speechless. It seemed the rumors Qin Ruojing concocted might have already spread within Tianjiao Film and Television.

Finally, Chu Ge pushed open the office door of the Operations Management Department and immediately felt a strong, heavy, and mournful atmosphere.

In his view, Feifei was leaning on the table, sobbing with her shoulders trembling. Mo Xiaoran sat beside her, silently shedding tears together, Lu Gang pursed his lips tightly, gazing blankly outside the window, and the eyes of the other girls were all red as well.

Even when he opened the door, not a single person in the office turned their head, the room was dead silent, as if nothing from the outside world had anything to do with them.

Seeing this scene, Chu Ge's heart warmed involuntarily, feeling that just for everyone's current state, it was worth considering these colleagues as friends.

"Ahem, it's work time now, why are you all still slacking off? Be careful I have finance dock your pay."

Standing in the doorway, Chu Ge coughed twice, speaking with a pretense of seriousness.

Lu Gang turned his head, glancing at Chu Ge with red eyes, then silently turned his head back, returning his gaze out the window.

Feifei slowly, slowly lifted her head, and when she saw Chu Ge's trademark smile, she was instantly stunned.

The same stunned expression appeared on Mo Xiaoran and the other girls as well.

Nobody spoke, the atmosphere in the Operations Management Department remained silent, the only difference from before was that there were no longer sniffles, but now there wasn't even the slightest sound in the room.

"Why are you all looking at me like that? We haven't seen each other in just a few hours, acting like you don't recognize me?"

Chu Ge's heart warmed even more, and he found it somewhat amusing. He leisurely strolled into the office, patting Lu Gang's shoulder.

"B-Brother? You... I... Is this not an illusion?"

Lu Gang was even more dumbfounded, his pupils contracted fiercely, staring at Chu Ge's familiar face at close distance and mumbling incoherently, while stretching out his hand towards Chu Ge's face.

"Go, go, go, get away, bro doesn't swing that way."

Bemusedly punching Lu Gang, Chu Ge retreated a few steps, dodging Lu Gang's trembling hand.

Just as Chu Ge was about to turn back and say something more, a rush of wind sounded by his ear, and then one of his hands was suddenly caught tightly by someone.

"Vice Minister Chu, you... you're okay, that's... really... really great."

Behind Chu Ge, Feifei clutched one of his hands tightly, as if afraid that if she let go, Chu Ge would suddenly disappear. Her already flowing tears became even more intense.

"What could happen to me? Haha, I'm Chu Shuo, just a few punks, what can they do to me?"

Looking at Chu Ge's sideways face, Feifei laughed and cried, holding Chu Ge's hand even tighter, and the other girls also gathered around, encircling Chu Ge, some crying, some laughing.

"Cough, cough, Feifei, can you let go of my hand first? I was fine originally, but if you don't let go soon, I fear I might actually be in trouble."

Jokingly and half-seriously, Chu Ge said, and only then did Feifei let go of his hand, laughing and crying as she wiped her tears hard.

Hearing the noise outside, Ji Songtao also "bang" pushed open the door to the minister's room and walked out quickly, his deep frown smoothing out, all the worry on his face turning into surprise.

When everyone in the Operations Management Department finally accepted the fact that Chu Ge was safe and sound, they immediately asked questions excitedly and eagerly.

Chu Ge's answers were still the same perfunctory ones he gave Qin Ruojing earlier. Although not entirely convincing, they were at least a reasonable explanation.

In fact, for the people in the Operations Management Department, regardless of the process, as long as Chu Ge was safe, that was better than anything.

Although they hadn't been in contact with Chu Ge for very long, unknowingly, everyone had already considered him the backbone of the Operations Management Department.

After chatting with his colleagues for a bit about previous matters, Chu Ge let them return to their respective positions, leaving only Feifei by his side.

"Vice Minister Chu, I, I really didn't know Yu Zekai would do something like this. I, I've completely broken up with him. I'm sorry, really sorry..."

"Feifei, actually, he's not that bad. After those soldiers helped me this morning, I had a calm and honest talk with him. He said he's come to terms with it, so let's just part on good terms. He won't bother you again. I wish you happiness in the future."

Feifei pressed her lips together, forced a smile, and nodded.

Though Feifei knew very well in her heart that things couldn't be that simple, Chu Ge was just saying this to protect her from embarrassment in front of colleagues.

But since Chu Ge didn't want to say more, she kept all her gratitude inside, sighed silently, and remained quiet.

Seeing the Operation Management Department return to its usual atmosphere, Chu Ge suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, didn't the chairman say there was a basketball game this afternoon? Drawing lots to decide the opponents for each department?"

"It seems so, yes, the chairman did mention it."

Hearing Chu Ge mention it reminded everyone of the matter, which should have been dealt with by drawing lots before the company's sports festival ended. However, due to an unexpected incident, Tong Yaqi never brought it up in the end.

"I'll go ask Director Tong."

Chu Ge smiled and stood up, planning to use this as a pretext to see Tong Yaqi and officially assure her of his safety.

However, just as he reached the door, the office door suddenly swung open, and there stood Tong Yaqi, face to face with Chu Ge.

Chu Ge touched his nose, "Hello, Director Tong."

A hint of surprise flashed in Tong Yaqi's eyes, but she quickly concealed it and nodded, "Come to my office."

Following Tong Yaqi into her office and just closing the door, she started scolding him thoroughly.

Throughout, Chu Ge just chuckled. He could certainly feel that this was clearly Tong Yaqi's way of showing her concern for him.

After all, given their current relationship, saying anything else would just seem inappropriate.

When Tong Yaqi finally had enough of scolding, Chu Ge touched his nose and laughed, "Director Tong, didn't the chairman emphasize that there would be a basketball game at the company sports festival? When do we draw?"

Tong Yaqi was taken aback. She had been so worried about Chu Ge's safety earlier that she had entirely forgotten about it. If not for Chu Ge's reminder, she might not have remembered.

Although Tong Yaqi still had many things she wanted to say to Chu Ge, they had plenty of time to talk in the future. So she nodded, had Chu Ge draw immediately, and called the other departments to inform them.

"Chu Ge, don't forget, I still owe you a meal. We have all the time in the world."

Chu Ge smiled knowingly, holding the lot he had drawn, and nodded, "Yes, we have all the time."

Returning to the Operation Management Department's office, Chu Ge placed the lot he drew on the desk and announced to his colleagues the opponent they would face, the Finance Department.

Upon hearing those three words, everyone felt both amused and relieved.

It must be said, Chu Ge did draw an excellent lot for the Operation Management Department.

Though the Finance Department holds a prestigious position, because it's comprised of more women than men and the staff is a bit older, their sports prowess is definitely weaker than the Operation Management Department's.

After the draw, Tong Yaqi arranged the match schedule. Since the Operation Management Department was the first to draw, their match with the Finance Department would begin immediately.

At two o'clock, the Operation Management Department and the Finance Department arrived at the match location, a gymnasium very close to Tianjiao Group.

Throughout the game, Chu Ge didn't play. Even though he sat on the sidelines, watching everyone run around on the court was quite entertaining.

To his surprise, his colleagues weren't as weak as he thought. Ji Songtao, although not fast, had accurate shots. Feifei and the other three girls had some basic basketball sense, and their dribbling was decent, even making some impressive passes.

Compared to others, what surprised Chu Ge the most was Lu Gang.

Whether it was layups, dribbling past opponents, or stealing techniques, everyone else was several levels below Lu Gang. The game was practically Lu Gang's solo performance.

The final score was 40 to 8, with the Operation Management Department leading far ahead, hardly using much energy to secure an easy victory.

Moreover, had they not wanted to spare the Finance Department from too much embarrassment, the Operation Management Department's score could have been even higher, and the Finance Department wouldn't have even scored eight points.

With their first win secured, the entire Operation Management Department was clearly very excited, especially Lu Gang, who scored thirty points and couldn't stop smiling, feeling even more confident about the upcoming games.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.