Chapter 87

The two stood in the tea area of ​​the office.

Guan Nan put down her water glass, picked up the coffee can, unscrewed the cap, scooped out coffee, and listened to her colleagues chatting.

Last night after work, the boss's wife came to the company with a lavish meal to treat everyone, but she didn't expect everyone to have already left. Looking at the dark studio, the boss's wife was originally planning to go home, but then...

From the dimly lit office of the boss, came the soft murmur of lovers whispering sweet nothings.

At this point, everyone's expressions subtly changed as they discussed what would happen next.

With Jiang Li's expression and the words from that phone call filling her mind, Guan Nan didn't notice what they were saying at all, and nodded instinctively: "Ah, that's good."

The others looked like they'd seen a ghost.

Xie Qiao tugged at her, winked, and whispered a reminder: "The boss got beaten up."

"Who hit me?" Guan Nan asked, completely bewildered.

"...the landlady."

Seeing this, Guan Nan gave a dry laugh and bent down to get some water.

Xiao Shuwei looked away, then glanced at his colleague again, half-believing, half-doubting: "How did you know?"

"All that talk was for nothing?" The colleague rolled his eyes at them, then looked around and lowered his voice, "We were the ones who cleaned up the mess this morning."

Another colleague said, "We also watched the surveillance footage, tsk tsk tsk."

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"·····"

Zhang Min's lips twitched: "How can you guys be so lewd?"

Before they could finish their conversation, the HR manager came over. The group exchanged a few words with him and then quickly dispersed. The remaining three were still waiting for hot water.

Guan Nan didn't make it.

Still curious about what had just happened, Xie Qiao grabbed her and wouldn't let her go, saying, "Don't go."

"Hmm?" Guan Nan turned around.

Xie Qiao grinned slyly: "How did you get here today?"

"Take a car."

"Hmm?" Xie Qiao put her hands on her hips, looking at her with a questioning expression. "Think about it again."

Seeing her "I'll give you another chance to argue" expression, Guan Nan couldn't help but laugh. She pretended to think about it seriously for a moment, but didn't correct her: "It's just taking a car."

Xie Qiao pouted: "Not telling the truth, not being loyal."

"...It's just taking a car." Guan Nan looked completely innocent.

After several inquiries, Guan Nan remained tight-lipped and smiled as she steered the conversation toward work.

During lunch, the conversation drifted to which colleague was getting married, highlighting the grand scale of the wedding, the amount of the dowry, and how confident they were. Then, feeling a bit deflated, I started thinking about how much money to give as a wedding gift.

The three of them sat at a table, sighing deeply: "I can give it to him, but the problem is when will he give it back?"

Zhang Min laughed at her: "Don't even mention you, Nan Nan doesn't even have a boyfriend yet, so there's no guarantee she'll get him back."

Upon hearing this, Guan Nan smiled guiltily and did not reply.

Xie Qiao's expression worsened when she saw that she had a "boyfriend".

But the next second, Zhang Min changed her tune and started promoting her younger brother to Guan Nan. She was like a peddler praising his own wares, exaggerating how good he was.

Finally, still savoring the moment, they suggested that the children arrange a time to meet.

They then used a joke to gloss over the topic at Xieqiao Bridge.

They're starting to agonize over how much money to give as a gift.

After a meal, they felt that giving too much was unfair, and giving too little was embarrassing. They returned to the studio feeling utterly dejected.

The afternoon passed by in a flurry of activity.

Before I knew it, it was evening and I was about to leave work.

Back at Hecangyuan, Guan Nan lingered at the entrance to the commercial street for quite some time, for reasons unknown. Only after a long while, as the street grew brighter and brighter, did she slowly begin to walk in.

Go straight until you reach the first bend, and "Coffee Wine" will be right in front of you.

Guan Nan put his hands in his pockets, looked up at the wooden sign, and examined it carefully again.

The wisteria climbing the wall, swaying precariously over the wooden sign, resembles a waterfall cascading down, creating a visually striking effect. The wisteria and the bluestone wall blend together seamlessly.

Compared to the vibrant bougainvillea and trumpet vines of other shops and residences, it appears exceptionally serene and cold.

A moment later, Guan Nan stepped onto the stairs and raised her hand to knock on the door.

Looking at the lock, he pondered for a few seconds, then took out his phone and opened WeChat.

Guan Guan: [You seem to have forgotten to give me the keys.]

The person on the other end seemed busy with something and didn't reply to the message as quickly as usual for the first time. Guan Nan was happy to relax and simply turned around and squatted on the steps, watching the bustling crowd.

After a while, a message finally came back, brief in content.

I don't know what to say, so I'll just laugh it off: [You do.]

Guan Nan frowned slightly: "??"

The reply contained only two words, but she examined it carefully for a long time, unable to recall how she came to have the key.

The answers they gave were confident and certain.

Guan Nan didn't even need to imagine it; she could tell what his tone was like.

Guan Nan hesitated for a moment, then replied very sincerely: "I really don't have that."

I don't know what to say, so I'll just laugh it off: 【You really do have this.】

Guan Nan paused for a moment, before sending the message.

I don't know what to say, so I'll just laugh it off :【=】

=?

Guan Nan was stunned again.

I don't understand what kind of text emoticon this is.

Guan Guan: [What do you mean?]

Perhaps she had lost patience, because the other party didn't give her any more time to agonize or feel frustrated, and directly sent her a voice message: "Wait."

The voice came from the receiver, and before the ear even got close, the speakerphone was turned on.

When I tried to turn off the speaker, the screen automatically turned off.

Guan Nan listened to the voice message in a flustered manner.

Then, staring at the "=" on the screen, I felt inexplicably incredulous.

She never imagined that the equals sign could be used in this way; it was truly ingenious and impossible to find fault with.

Ironically, it was quite intimidating the first time I saw it.

Before she could finish her thought, Jiang Li seemed to have moved from one noisy place to another. When the next voice message came in, the background was quiet and the volume was low: "Are you sure you don't have a key?"

Guan Nan confirmed: 【No.】

Jiang Li: "Didn't I give you the spare key last time?"

This voice message was like a bolt from the blue.

With the other party subtly adjusting their voice, seemingly carrying an imperceptible chuckle, Guan Nan's breath caught in her throat, her entire body tensed instantly, and her expression turned somewhat dumbfounded.

In a flash, she seemed to remember something.

She reached out and felt around through the canvas bag, searching until she touched a bunch of hard keys.

That night, that bunch of keys.

Guan Nan blinked, suddenly feeling guilty for forgetting that the key had always been in her bag, but she couldn't tell whether it was because it was a key she always carried with her, or because she didn't know where she had put it.

The key seemed to be saying, "Look, you've finally achieved the result you've been planning for so long. Isn't this what you've always wanted?"

For a moment, Guan Nan was at a loss, and even the key was causing her anxiety.

She hesitated, conflicted, and slowly typed out the following in the input box, forcing herself to remain calm: 【Really? I forgot.】

Perhaps too lazy to type, Jiang Li sent another voice message, his tone lazy and even his perfunctory reply sounding unsatisfactory: "Really? That's quite unfortunate."

Just as Guan Nan lowered her guard and thought he believed her.

Immediately afterwards, I heard him say, "When I was packing my bag this morning, I think I saw the keys in it."

Woolen cloth.

What happened...?

The tone was as if to say, "Don't think I don't know what you're pretending to be."

Guan Nan silently deleted all the words on the panel.

She stood at the door, clutching the key in her hand, and after a long period of mental preparation, she pushed the door open and slowly walked in.

Although she hadn't been here many times, she wasn't unfamiliar with the place. Every step she took and every frame she saw seemed to be alive with his presence everywhere.

This gradually calmed down the slight unease in her heart.

Passing through the small, open path strewn with small stones, we stepped forward through the antique-style inner gate.

She turned her head and saw the birdcage hanging on the frame; the bird looked energetic and not at all hungry. It only glanced at her briefly when she entered.

This demeanor is just like his master's—carefree and arrogant.

Guan Nan stood in front of the birdcage, and before she could even raise her hand, the bird chirped at her.

They seem to have been startled.

"You..." Guan Nan blinked, belatedly realizing that the precious bird in front of her was very intelligent, so she asked it for its opinion in a consultative manner, "Would you like to come home with me?"

The bird ignored her.

Guan Nan was ignored by it and was puzzled by its reaction, but her attempts to coax it were to no avail.

"If you don't come with me, I'll buy it for you at the morning market tomorrow." Guan Nan had a sudden inspiration and repeated what she had said last time, pretending to be naughty.

Sure enough, these words had an effect that was clearly visible to the naked eye.

But it has the opposite effect.

The bird, beak pointed and claws raised, stepped forward and scratched her in front of her face, its expression a mixture of defiance and anger: "Idiot! Idiot!"

Guan Nan remained silent.

She had never thought of keeping a pet before, and she didn't know that a bird could be so difficult to get along with.

Suddenly, the issue of raising birds became quite complicated.

After thinking it over and over, Guan Nan hesitated for a long time before finally sending a message to Jiang Li, pretending not to have seen the reply.

She sat in the open-air stadium, propping her chin up with one hand, carefully choosing her words: "Your bird..."

I don't know if there's something wrong with what I said or if I misspoke.

Staring at the name in the top frame, it kept changing between "I don't know what you're talking about, just laugh it off" and "The other party is typing..."

It took a long time for the other party to accept this statement, but they still had doubts.

I don't know what you're talking about, just laugh it off: [?]

Guan Nan didn't know what the problem was, and pretended not to notice the question mark, saying, "Your bird doesn't seem very hungry."

Fortunately, this time the other party seemed to have no reservations and replied quickly: "What do you mean?"

Upon seeing the message, Guan Nan looked up at the bird she had painstakingly brought up, which was proudly displaying its "Welcome, welcome!"

Guan Nan choked for a moment, then took a short video of him, just a few seconds long.

But the little thing seemed to realize something, and it became incredibly obedient in front of the camera.

Guan Nan: "This..."

This is strange; it sounds like she's lying.

At this moment, Guan Nan also felt a little insecure, staring at the chat box as if she were the one who had "accused the villain first."

She hesitated, wondering whether to explain, but fortunately, Jiang Li, who was on the other end, knew this bird's character inside and out. With a single, merciless sentence, he tore off the bird's pretense: "You were faking it, weren't you?"

Seeing this, Guan Nan deleted all the text in the input box and retyped: 【It seems to have a bit of personality.】

The unspoken message is that this bird is really difficult to deal with.

Jiang Li wasn't surprised by this. He sent a voice message, "A little bit? It's so temperamental. Everyone has to watch its mood. If it's not satisfied, it'll scratch your face."

Guan Nan wholeheartedly agrees with this.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Li sent another voice message: "Don't get too close to it, it's so arrogant it'll scratch anyone."

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