Phase transition

I slept peacefully through the night.

When Su woke up, An Chi was no longer beside her.

She thought she had woken up early enough; normally, she could still go out for an hour of exercise before Ge Jin picked her up.

The phone rang beside her. She thought of someone, and it was Ge Jin. "President Su, Mr. Liu would like to talk to you about yesterday's matter."

"Let him talk to Bai Lutong."

Su got up and went to the balcony. The sun wasn't shining; it was just blocked by the eaves.

"Okay, do I need to arrive at Yuhai Bay a little later today?" Ge Jin thoughtfully noticed that Su Yao had stayed up very late last night and probably hadn't slept well.

Su heard footsteps behind her, went up and hugged her waist, leaned close to her ear where there was no phone, and gently brushed against her earlobe with his breath. It was a little itchy, but the caress made her ear cartilage red.

"Who are you talking to?" His voice, accompanied by the fanning of his breath, brushed gently against her ear, like the guitar An Chi played in the tavern, his fingertips slowly sweeping across the strings.

Su tried to stop him, saying, "Don't move."

It sounded like nothing more than playful banter, but Ge Jin on the other end of the phone heard it clearly. He was so stunned that he couldn't even see it on his face. Before he could recover from his daze, his words came out calmly: "President Su, I'll pick you up in the city center."

Su wanted to hear him say that, so she simply said, "Okay," and hung up the phone.

Looking at the busy tone, Ge Jin felt as if he had been transported to another world.

He originally thought that Bai Lutong would be one of his few competitors.

After all, Su Yao didn't even look at those marriage partners, and she wasn't someone who judged people by their looks. Otherwise, he thought the person with the best chance of winning would be Su Yao's friend, Pei Zhixi.

Fortunately, neither of them had any ulterior motives towards the other.

So he thought that his companionship would eventually allow Su to see him as the optimal solution.

There were only two times he couldn't hold back: once was when he saw Bai Lutong and Su Yao getting close, and he felt he shouldn't keep enduring it, so he confessed. Although the outcome was the expected rejection, he felt it was just because Su Yao was inherently incapable of rejecting everyone, so he chose to accept.

The second time was when he saw Su Yao changing her work hours just for someone who was no longer her adopted son, and... this person harbored ulterior motives. Even though he was still suspicious, he couldn't let things continue like this, so he chose to offer some harsh but honest "threats." Perhaps... his approach was wrong, but he also understood that Su had her own considerations before doing anything; otherwise, she wouldn't have sent An Chi abroad. And what if...

Ge Jin was torn apart by inner turmoil; he was no match for anyone.

He couldn't compare to Bai Lutong's abilities, nor to An Chi's pitifulness, yet he was clearly the one who had been with Su Yao the longest.

Silent, long, quiet words, silence is what pierces the corner of one's own heart.

He once thought: "Being there for someone is the most enduring expression of love."

From Su Yao's 25th birthday to his current 32nd birthday, seven years have passed, and he has been by her side for those seven years. Sometimes he thinks that if Su Yao never falls in love with anyone in his life, then he can keep his secret love affairs quiet and just stay by her side forever.

But the truth has already been revealed, so how can he undo it?

Su Yao always believed that work was work and personal matters were personal matters, and she did not want to mix them up. Her calm and self-controlled nature had shaped her into who she was today. Therefore, when she faced Ge Jin's confession, she felt embarrassed rather than worried that he would not discuss work with her.

But she forgot that Ge Jin wasn't that kind of person, so he avoided her, even skipping her office the day after his confession.

He thought her words of comfort were a hint about when to advance or retreat, rather than simply a stepping stone to a better job.

But he forgot that Su Yao was a man of his word, someone who insisted on getting to the point.

They seemed like such a perfect pair of partners, but in different ways, he would reveal his true colors by constantly trying to please her.

This kind of pandering is something Su Yao doesn't want to see, and it's the reason he's lost his way. Perhaps he really should let go.

On the other side, An Chi only heard the name "Bai Lutong" and then cunningly moved closer. He didn't expect it to be Ge Jin's voice. But before he could relax, the person who had made him nervous dialed Bai Lutong's number right in front of him.

When he saw the three large characters "Bai Lutong" on the phone, he just kept rubbing his nose, lips, and cheeks against Su Yao's earlobe, hair, and cheeks.

He always liked to do these little things, and Sue wouldn't do anything to him, but it was a huge provocation to the other competitors.

"Why did you suddenly decide to call me?" Bai Lutong spoke in a teasing tone. Some people say that liking someone is like turning them into someone else. He imitated Su Yao's joking manner, even he himself didn't know when he would become like this.

Su said, "There's something I want to apologize to you for. Please don't be angry when I tell you."

Su Yao was still somewhat polite, but ultimately she pushed the man surnamed Liu towards Bai Lutong, so her manners weren't much.

Upon hearing this, Bai Lutong became serious. "What's wrong?"

“Something happened yesterday. I agreed to let him cooperate with the Su family, surnamed Liu. Then, when he was talking to you, you…”

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Lutong said anxiously, "You don't need to apologize to me for things like this in the future. The Su family business was originally yours."

An Chi heard everything clearly from the side. Although she knew she shouldn't say anything, she couldn't help but speak up to defend herself: "What's mine is all yours, sister."

He leaned close to her ear and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear. The itchy sensation spread from the tender flesh of her ear to the tip of her heart. Su gestured with her eyes for him to tone it down, and then continued to Bai Lutong, "But he's no good. What I mean is, you give him a mess and help me get rid of him."

"Hmph, alright." Her tone was indulgent and full of laughter. He realized that Su Yao's apology to him was only because when she left him with a mess, he actually breathed a sigh of relief. There was no blame, no anger, not even a hint of impatience. On the contrary, he liked this dependent behavior, even though Su Yao saw it as "passing the buck," but in his eyes, it was her trust. Usually, Su Yao's favorite thing was that she would never ask him for help if she could solve it herself, and she would never ask him for help if she could find a way herself. Even on the few occasions when he helped her out, Su Yao always reciprocated by treating him to a meal or getting him a share of the profits in a project. But this time was different.

However, these are all from Bai Lutong's perspective.

He forgot that if Su Yao trusted him, she wouldn't apologize to him with remorse. If he were really angry, Su Yao might still "return" something to him. But he didn't care, so why should Su Yao bother to do those things? After all, she was someone who weighed everything.

People often say that when a woman falls in love, she struggles with fantasies—fantasies about men, fantasies about the future—but men don't; they only have hormones.

Applying this statement to Ge Jin, Bai Lutong, and An Chi seems to be a mistake. They all fantasize about Su Yao's favor, just like women in people's eyes. However, they have their own ideas, develop themselves with their own dignity, and yearn to be appreciated by Su Yao.

Su Yao, on the other hand, is like a "man" who "gets out after finishing," but she is calmer, has more choices of her own, and will not become a prisoner under her. She understands everything that is in her best interest and carries her own compassion and clarity.

Therefore, it might be more accurate to replace the stereotypical image of women with "affectionate ones" and men with "unfaithful ones."

It's not that women are not rational or independent enough, but rather that their tenderness is often given all sorts of false names by those with ulterior motives; it's not that men are necessarily heartless, indifferent, or cruelly silent, but rather that the mistakes of some are magnified infinitely.

In contrast, a truly devoted lover is only willing to protect the one and only in their heart, rather than relying on various different opinions.

Su Yao felt relieved to have gotten rid of a big problem. An Chi was constantly trying to make his presence known to her, which gave her a terrible headache. But then she remembered that she had slightly ruined An Chi's date yesterday because of the Su family's affairs, and she couldn't bear to blame him for lingering with her for a while this morning. So she said, "I have to go to work now. Is your company so empty?"

But I can't help but wonder, it's clearly a company, although it's not as big as my own company, but I've just started working in a new place, so I don't think I'll be very busy.

But seeing that An Chi has been pursuing her for so long, she couldn't feel his busyness at all. Or maybe she was too busy and didn't remember many times when An Chi wasn't around.

An Chi, who had been leaning on her half-heartedly, told her that someone would need to manage the company after he went to school, so he should let go and let his subordinates take over as soon as possible.

Upon hearing this explanation, Su nodded, feigning agreement, but then changed the subject: "Why does it feel like you don't want to do it yourself and are just passing it on to someone else?"

An Chi smiled upon hearing this, saying that he wouldn't.

He didn't know why, but now he was telling Su Yao these kinds of lies. He used to be the kind of person who would tell even the biggest lies when he was a child, but now he was blurting out little lies.

He wasn't as busy as Su Yao described. In fact, he chased after Su Yao during the day and still had to work when he got home at night. Although he did delegate some things to his subordinates, he still had to take charge of the company's development direction and personally control it.

Sometimes, however, he didn't even have time to chase after Su Yao during the day because he had to think about meeting with business partners first. On days when he wasn't with Su Yao, he just wanted to know when it would end so that he could stay by Su Yao's side without any restraint.

Thinking of this, An Chi suddenly remembered the time when Su asked Bai Lutong to have dinner.

During that period, because the investment was hopeless, An Chi felt extremely depressed. At that time, what he wanted most was to meet with Su.

So he changed out of his pajamas, which he hadn't changed out of because of work, and put on a clean and refreshing set of clothes. He also took a shower and washed his hair several times. He went to Su Yao's company with great joy, but Ge Jin told him that Su Yao was not at the company, but had gone to have dinner with Bai Lutong. At that moment, his worries were even more serious than the fact that his company could not build a branch in the mainland. All he could think about was that Su Yao had been taken away by Bai Lutong.

Later, when Ge Jin went to pick up Su Yao, he followed behind him and got into the car to pick up Su Yao as well.

Who would have thought that the moment he saw Su Yao, all the troubles in his mind would be swept away, leaving only a sense of competition and crisis with Bai Lutong. Unexpectedly, the two of them went out chatting and laughing. He wanted to do something, but who knew that Su Yao was unwilling to pay any attention to him at all, and even drove away directly.

At that time, he always felt that he was hopeless and especially stupid. The moment Su Yao shook him off, he didn't feel angry, but rather felt that Su Yao had always been such a unique person, especially... cute.

So even though he was covered in exhaust fumes and had been waiting for his assistant to pick him up at the hotel entrance for almost half an hour, he just kept grinning like an idiot, so much so that his assistant thought he was crazy.

Looking back, I realize that I'm the kind of person who has no bottom line when it comes to Su Yao. I'd be willing to be Su Yao's pet for all eternity... that would be fine too.