The day before the company's promotion qualification exam, Chloe closed the conference room door with a mysterious air. "I have a way to make sure everyone on our project team passes the exam!" "Personal hygiene products brought into the exam room won't be inspected if they're unopened." "We just need to copy the key points onto tissues we carry in and bring them with us!" Before she finished speaking, the entire project team erupted in excitement. In my previous life, as the deputy team leader, I stopped them from this ridiculous idea in time. "The company notice said that this year they're adding inspections of opened packages. Any packaged personal items will be opened and checked. You'd better not make trouble for yourselves. This is the promotion exam that affects next year's job level and salary!" The whole team scoffed at me. "Oh, so righteous, aren't you? You're just afraid we'll all get promoted and take your manager position!" "Chloe truly has our best interests at heart. Stop being such a buzzkill!" With no other choice, I reported this to HR. As a result, they were caught cheating. Everyone just got a verbal warning, but only Chloe was stripped of her position. Holding a grudge, she pushed me down the stairs when I was working overtime. When the police investigated, my colleagues all pleaded for her: "Chloe is such a good person. It must have been Nina who started it!" "She's always been a snitch. This is what she deserves!" I closed my eyes with endless hatred. When I opened them again, I had returned to the day Chloe taught everyone to cheat. I raised my hand with a smile, my eyes curving into crescents: "That's a brilliant idea! Count me in first!" ---
In my previous life, after I died, Chloe still wasn't satisfied. She contacted people from the black market to dump my body at my parents' house. My parents had heart attacks on the spot. Chloe laughed maniacally, stepping on my father's chest and shouting. "If your daughter hadn't meddled and ruined me, the department director position would definitely be mine now!" "She deserved to die. The daughter's debt, the parents pay. Making you pay the price for my future isn't unreasonable, is it?" Before she finished speaking, two bright red knives were pulled from my parents' chests. My soul floated in the air, frantically trying to fight them, but powerless. I could only watch helplessly as they committed evil. Suddenly, someone pushed my shoulder hard. "Nina, say something! Are you going to do it or not?" The pain in my shoulder woke me up. Only then did I realize I had been reborn. The whole team surrounded me, mocking. "She really lives up to her reputation as the team's famous stick-in-the-mud! Just knows how to keep her head down and work! People like you will never get promoted!" "Which is better---her or this trick? She probably can't even beat a tissue!" Everyone burst out laughing. Someone slapped a tissue covered in key points onto my desk. Chloe sat in the middle of the workstations, looking at me with contempt. "Nina, you're the deputy team leader with the strongest professional skills. I'll leave this task to you." "Prepare several copies, summarize the key points, and distribute them to everyone in the restroom during the exam." She lowered her voice and leaned close to my ear. "We're all colleagues. You wouldn't refuse such a small favor, would you? Besides, you'll need it yourself, won't you?" Seeing me hesitate, the other colleagues became impatient. "Asking for your help is showing you respect. If you're not grateful, fine, but what's with that attitude? Why are you acting so high and mighty?" "We all have mortgages and families to support. If we fail and get pay cuts, how can we face our families? Don't you have any sense of responsibility?" "And she's the deputy team leader! Most unreliable when it counts!" "Stop putting on airs!" They were too stupid. The company had already sent out a notice that this year's promotion exam inspections would be comprehensively upgraded. Any items candidates brought into the exam room, including personal hygiene products, would need to be opened and inspected. To ensure fairness, justice, and transparency in the exam. In my previous life, I felt everyone had worked hard all year and shouldn't be ruined by this. I tried desperately to dissuade them, even bringing up the department director. I never expected it would end with my entire family's tragic death. In this life, I picked up the tissue from the desk and looked at it. "You're right. The promotion exam is so important that we should do well even if it means taking risks." They didn't expect me to be so "reasonable." Chloe showed a suspicious expression. "You're really going to help us? You won't secretly snitch, will you?" I immediately turned on location sharing in the WhatsApp work group. With this, everyone could see my movement track. Whether I went to the leadership or not would be crystal clear. "I won't interfere with you, but I'm not participating." ---
Chloe laughed. "You think that's enough to make us trust you?" "You can still send messages without leaving." "As long as you don't help us, you're trying to sabotage us." The others caught on and surrounded me, not letting me leave. Just then, Ethan arrived. He gave me a cold look, instantly standing with Chloe and mocking me sarcastically. "What's the use of just keeping your head down and working? Chloe does side hustles while working, and every quarterly evaluation she easily ranks above you. Aren't you embarrassed?" "She's kindly giving you a hand. Don't be ungrateful. When you fail again, you'll hide away crying endlessly. No one will care about you then." The whole team roared with laughter. "No way, so that's why she works overtime so desperately! Turns out she's jealous!" "She's not helping us because she's afraid we'll actually get high scores, right?" My heart ached, and even breathing became difficult. During the first promotion exam after joining the company, the company prepared a fifty-thousand-dollar bonus for first place. At that time, my father's heart disease required surgery, and our family was scraping together money everywhere. I worked overtime desperately, studied day and night, wanting to use that fifty thousand dollars for my father's surgery. But in the end, I came in second. First place went to Chloe. At the awards ceremony, she held up the fifty-thousand-dollar bonus sign with a brilliant smile. Only I knew she had cheated. She had gotten the test questions in advance from an insider at the third-party testing agency. When I got home, I cried until my eyes were swollen. Ethan knew about my guilt and frustration. He came to see me with gifts, tenderly handing me tissues. "Grades obtained through cheating won't last. Nina, don't blame yourself. I believe in you. You'll definitely succeed next time." We grew up together. I thought we had become indispensable to each other's lives. Until one late night after overtime, I saw him kissing Chloe in the stairwell. I took a deep breath. Gathered my things. Ignored everyone and went home after work. "My uncle is the group's vice president. If you don't help us, I'll make sure you can never stay at this company." Chloe's voice came from behind. All the colleagues were shocked. "Wow! Chloe is usually so low-key!" "With that connection, even if our answers are discovered, we won't be afraid!" "Chloe is still the best! Personally helping us---what is Nina even worth!" "She deserves to be fired! When you deliver food in the future, remember to tell us. I'll give you extra tips!" Laughter erupted behind me. Chloe's expression was contemptuous. But I was unusually calm. In my previous life, her uncle was taken away by the company's compliance department on exam day. Accepting bribes from suppliers, facilitating illegal benefit transfers---he was immediately dismissed and handed over to judicial authorities. Tens of millions of dollars in illegal gains were confiscated. Their entire family lost everything overnight and could only survive by driving for Uber. I wasn't threatened. My steps didn't stop. Chloe immediately changed her expression. Before she could speak, Ethan stepped forward first. "Since you're so antisocial, I'll have to use special methods." He took out his phone and dialed a number. "I've already had someone pick up your parents. When you can see them depends on your performance." My heart lurched. All my blood ran cold. "Ethan, are you crazy!" "You dare lay hands on them?" ---
My family and Ethan's family had been neighbors for decades. My parents watched him grow up. Back then, his parents were busy with business and had no time for him. Little Ethan often sat alone on the steps in front of my house. My parents felt sorry for him and opened the door to let him in. From then on, there was always a place for him at our dinner table. But I never expected he could put my parents in danger for Chloe's sake. He shrugged. "If you just agree obediently, everything will be fine. If something happens to them, you're the one who caused it." I looked at him in disbelief, trembling all over. Chloe finally smiled, glancing at me with eyes full of provocation. "Ethan, you're so good to me." She threw several boxes of portable tissues into my bag and threatened. "There's no one at your house. Going back won't help." "You have one night. Get all the key points organized. The exam is tomorrow. Don't delay things." "It's all up to you, Miss Perfect." With that, she invited everyone to go have drinks at a bar. The whole team cheered, deliberately whistling at me. They grabbed my phone and locked me in the conference room. "What are you doing! Let me out!" I desperately pounded on the conference room door. They laughed even louder. Ethan watched coldly the entire time without saying a word, walking away shoulder to shoulder with Chloe. Everyone jeered, looking at me mockingly. "So pathetic haha, she can't even keep her childhood sweetheart!" "With a Dream Girl like Chloe, who would want someone as ordinary as her!" "After tomorrow's exam, we'll be free!" "Let's go on a team building trip to an island resort!" "Let's have a party! Let's go karaoke!" They wildly fantasized about how to arrange their wonderful post-promotion lives after finishing this tough battle of the promotion exam. I looked at the mountains of tissue boxes piled in front of me, my eyes instantly reddening. My parents worked very hard. Everyone said daughters didn't need to work so hard, but they still said early on that if I got promoted to a higher level, they would take out their savings to buy me an apartment. They were determined to support me in establishing a foothold in the big city. But now, I was locked in here, preparing cheat materials for everyone. The defenses in my heart were collapsing inch by inch. They were still laughing and chatting outside, very lively. But this joyful atmosphere didn't affect me at all. I looked up at the surveillance camera in the conference room that had just been repaired. I knew that tomorrow, they wouldn't even be able to enter the exam room. ---
On exam day, I was hungry and exhausted, my nose tingling with the urge to cry. With dark circles under my eyes and my bag on my back, I waited for them to come get their things. Thanks to them, I had crammed all the key knowledge points overnight. Now all the exam points were practically carved into my brain, impossible to shake off. "Didn't sleep well last night? You're not going to fall asleep in the exam room, are you? How embarrassing!" Chloe deliberately bumped my shoulder with ill intent. Ethan followed right behind, directly grabbing my bag to check if the materials were prepared properly. Two minutes later, he showed a satisfied expression. "Smart of you." After the cheat materials were distributed, all the colleagues walked into the exam room with their heads held high, certain of victory. "Did you pick out positions yesterday? There are still too few good positions. None that I like." "Well, I've decided to test into Division A. I heard their year-end bonus is a hundred thousand." "A hundred thousand? I straight up promised my mom yesterday I'd get first place. Already ordered a new car!" "Did you hear? After the exam, Ethan is going to officially announce his relationship with Chloe!" "Wow! Double happiness!" Their laughter buzzed around my ears like flies. So annoying. And my mind at this moment was completely filled with the knowledge I desperately memorized last night. It was time for the inspection. I nervously stepped up, and the proctor dumped everything out of my bag one by one. Even the small tissue packages were opened and inspected one by one. "No problems. Go in." Hearing this, I felt like I'd received a pardon from death. Chloe and her group behind me also breathed a sigh of relief, queuing up for the proctor to inspect them. "What's this?" The proctor opened a tissue package, casually picked up one sheet, and asked with a frown. Chloe's back went cold. "Proctor, this is a personal hygiene product..." "That's not right, is it?" The proctor unfolded the packaging paper. Neat handwriting densely covered the entire surface
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