late at night

When Ren Xiao received Bai Yi's call, he was stunned for several seconds before answering, "Xiao Yi, are you doing well in Xiangcheng?"

Bai Yi hummed in agreement. "My senior brother and I are quite concerned about you. We've been working together on that project for a long time. What are your plans after you leave Sijian? Have you set your sights on any pharmaceutical companies? Which one will you go to? Our project will contact them first."

Ren Xiao felt a pang of sadness. These past few days, Si Jian, along with her career and Bai Yi's life, had undergone tremendous changes.

She could imagine everyone falling apart, but she didn't expect Bai Yi to call her and ask how they could continue to cooperate in the future.

"I haven't decided yet, but Runhe's HR contacted me."

Bai Yi was silent for a moment, then said, "That's good. Innovative traditional Chinese medicine is Runhe's main business."

However, Zhong Yunxi is an investor in Runhe.

She didn't tell Ren Xiao. She was afraid that if she did, Ren Xiao would reject such a good company as Runhe because of her.

However, the projects she participates in will not be in cooperation with Runhe.

"Let me think about it some more, and I'll contact you again once I've made up my mind."

Bai Yi also offered her some ideas: "Next month, there's a conference in Xiangcheng on the transformation of scientific research results in traditional Chinese medicine. The participants are mostly research institutions and pharmaceutical companies. You can come and take a look when you have time. Maybe you can find a pharmaceutical company that you like better."

Ren Xiao was indeed unfamiliar with such meetings in Xiangcheng, so he quickly agreed, "Okay, I'll keep an eye on it and come see you then."

The two chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up.

Ren Xiao stared at the phone for a while before his heart rate calmed down; it was the joy of getting something back.

Bai Yi was far more insightful than she had imagined. Despite her seemingly gentle and kind exterior, her mind was as clear and discerning as fine glass. She didn't let her own predicament affect Bai Yi.

Zhong Yunxi returned to Yuegang from Beijing. He originally wanted to work overtime, but in order to stabilize his body, which was still feverish, and to avoid affecting his trip to Xiangcheng the next day, he went back to Boyuntan to rest early.

Upon landing, Xue Meng instructed Aunt Wu to prepare some light meals, as the boss had contracted the flu in Beijing and was still running a fever.

Aunt Wu agreed first, then asked Xue Meng curiously, "Madam hasn't come back for several days. Has something happened? The boss seems to be in a bad mood. If there's anything I shouldn't say, please remind me."

Xue Meng only replied: We had a fight.

Aunt Wu understood and didn't ask any more questions.

When Zhong Yunxi arrived home, Aunt Wu cooked him wonton noodles. When he came to the dining room and saw the bowl of wonton noodles, he stood there stunned for a moment. Aunt Wu then realized that at home, he always made the wonton noodles and steak himself.

Zhong Yunxi's cooking skills are not very good. Apart from porridge, these are the only two dishes he can cook well. He learned to pan-fry steak abroad, and he learned to make wonton noodles specifically for Bai Yi. When Bai Yi wants him to cook for her, she wants to eat these two dishes.

Before Aunt Wu could even ask him if he wanted anything else, he sat down.

Halfway through the meal, he said to Aunt Wu, "Call Xiaoyi and ask if there's anything she needs here in Boyuntan. Don't tell her I'll bring it over, just say I'll send it to her."

Aunt Wu nodded and made the call.

After a while, the other end answered. The moment Bai Yi answered the phone, Zhong Yunxi put down his chopsticks.

Aunt Wu glanced at him and hurriedly asked, "You haven't been back for a long time. Are you still in Xiangcheng? Should we send you a few more clothes?"

When Bai Yi was in Boyuntan, Aunt Wu and Uncle Kong treated her very well. Although she was a nanny and housekeeper, she couldn't refuse Aunt Wu's calls. Even if she stopped answering Aunt Wu's calls in the future, she would still have to say something.

She lay on the bed reading before going to sleep, her voice languid: "Aunt Wu, no need. My clothes were already sent over last time. The rest were bought by Zhong Yunxi, I don't want them anymore. I'm divorced from him."

Aunt Wu exclaimed "Ah!" and glanced at Zhong Yunxi, who was listening intently with a detached expression. Aunt Wu knew that Zhong Yunxi wanted to hear Bai Yi speak, so she couldn't just hang up. She wanted to chat a bit more, even if there was nothing else to say. "Well, we should at least keep the clothes for you. Pick out a few more, even just one or two. The New Year is just over a month away. I'll send you two brightly colored coats for the New Year, okay?"

Bai Yi remembered that she had a few favorite accessories, but first asked, "Is Zhong Yunxi home?"

Aunt Wu looked over, and Zhong Yunxi shook his head. Aunt Wu understood and replied, "He's not here. He hasn't been back for quite a few days. He's probably busy. I heard from Xue Meng that he's been in the capital these days and even got sick. Sigh, this flu season, going to the capital to suffer."

Bai Yi gave a soft "Oh," paused for a while, and then said, "I don't need the coat. I have two white cashmere dresses from Brand E, and I forgot about my green sandalwood belt last time. There are two StellaLou dolls in the bedroom that Senior Brother Lu bought for me. I don't need anything else."

She always spoke to others in a slow, polite, and reasonable manner. She vented all her bad temper on him.

Aunt Wu quickly replied, "Okay. I'll send it to you tomorrow. Please also send some skincare products, as they'll oxidize if left unused for too long."

Bai Yi gave a soft "hmm," as if unwilling to waste any more words refusing, "Aunt Wu, you don't need to call me anymore. Just delete my contact information. It won't be appropriate when there's a new mistress."

"Sigh..." Aunt Wu just sighed, Bai Yi had already hung up.

When Zhong Yunxi heard her mention the new mistress, he felt a lump in his throat and his brows furrowed deeply.

Aunt Wu glanced at him with a worried expression. He raised his hand and went upstairs, saying, "I know everything she said. I'll go upstairs and tidy up."

Zhong Yunxi packed up Bai Yi's things, but they weren't even full in a 20-inch suitcase. He took it upon himself to put two coats in.

When he got to her green sandalwood belt, Zhong Yunxi almost instinctively tied a bow twice. He used to tie all of Bai Yi's accessories himself. Bai Yi had never managed to tie his tie successfully.

The following afternoon, after landing in Xiangcheng, Zhong Yunxi first delivered Bai Yi's belongings to her home. Then he drove to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Industrial Park.

Xiangcheng is mountainous, and the city is shrouded in fog all year round, rarely seeing sunlight. Today the fog is particularly thick.

Zhong Yunxi had the driver park the car outside the park and walked to the research center himself.

Thanks to the bounty of nature in Xiangcheng, the industrial park is lush with vegetation, elegant and secluded, with lakes, canals, corridors, and pavilions, making it even more comfortable than the ultra-luxury villa areas like Yuegang Boyuntan.

Following the signs in the park, Zhong Yunxi walked along the winding bridge over the lake and saw Bai Yi and Yu Shiyuan talking as they approached from below the research center.

Zhong Yunxi stood there, glanced at the time, and realized it wasn't time to leave work yet.

Bai Yi paused for a moment when she inadvertently saw Zhong Yunxi, but quickly recovered and the two continued walking forward.

The three of them inevitably bumped into each other on the winding bridge.

When Bai Yi approached, he put his hands in the pockets of his windbreaker, lowered his head slightly, and turned his face towards Yu Shiyuan.

Zhong Yunxi felt a faint rose scent linger at the tip of his nose, just like the scent on his pillow before he fell asleep the night before.

The three of them walked separately. Yu Shiyuan was also wearing a windbreaker, with his car keys hanging from his hand, and a string of green sandalwood beads dangling from them.

It looks a lot like the belt he packed for Bai Yi last night.

It turns out she had always liked this accessory so much; it was a way of remembering someone.

When playing cards, because she didn't want to lose the accessory, she swapped it for the hair clip he gave her. He was afraid she would be angry, so he offered to trade it back for something else.

He stood there, no longer calling her. He let her walk past him with another man.

Zhong Yunxi didn't know how long he had been standing there; the physical time and the time in his mind had become severely out of sync.

When Bai Yi returned, she was alone. She walked past him again, without saying a word, silent and resolute. Zhong Yunxi had always known how ruthless she was.

A misty fog rose from the lake, and although his body temperature hadn't completely dropped, Zhong Yunxi felt cold.

Zhong Yunxi grabbed her, "Bai Yi, you lied to me about the two-year marriage agreement just to clear the way for your childhood sweetheart?"

When Zhong Yunxi called her by her full name, Bai Yi felt as if she were hearing her own name for the first time.

She could barely see anything for a moment. She turned around, grabbed his collar, and pushed him against the railing.

Tears were already falling, but she didn't want to look up at him and let him see how pitiful and weak she was.

She used all her strength to raise her right hand and slapped him across the face.

"Yes, we're childhood sweethearts. Don't you have one too?"

Zhong Yunxi's every breath trembled. He looked down at Bai Yi clutching his clothes, tears falling drop by drop. He raised his hand to cover them.

Bai Yi saw the ring on his hand, grabbed his hand, and tried to pull it off.

When Zhong Yunxi realized what she was trying to do, he held on tightly, not letting her pry it open.

When she was a child, she would throw things because she wanted something so badly but couldn't get it. She couldn't control the pent-up resentment and irritability inside her and needed to vent.

She felt she had completely received Zhong Yunxi's love, but later she discovered that what she had received was a mirage of perfunctory affection.

He gave himself to more than just her, yet he emptied her heart out, and now he wants to doubt, blame, and misunderstand her.

She couldn't get his unique love and suffered all kinds of grievances. That ring was something she had to smash right now.

She couldn't pry it open, and even scratching and biting didn't work. In front of Zhong Yunxi, she was like a disheveled and disobedient wildcat.

She struggled with his fingers, stamping her feet in frustration, her sobs choked with sobs, unable to speak clearly: "Give it to me, give it to me, that's mine."

Zhong Yunxi could never bring himself to be ruthless. Whether she was angry or acting coquettish, he was always helpless. He even worried that she might make him faint from anger, so he gradually loosened his grip.

Bai Yi took off his ring, turned around, and threw it into the lake. She didn't look at him again.

As Zhong Yunxi walked out of the park, the driver noticed that his complexion was off, with his cheekbones flushed and his lips pale, but he didn't dare to offer any advice.

He leaned against the car door and said, "Let's go to the hospital."

In Xiangcheng, he didn't know as many people as he did in Yuegang, so the driver, fearing he might not be able to handle things properly, called Xue Meng.

Xue Meng had been worried about him since he flew to Xiangcheng today. What if he fell ill? He had made such a big move in the capital a few days ago, and there were so many things waiting for him to handle.

The moment Xue Meng received the call from the driver, he almost expected it. He quickly made arrangements and, five minutes later, told the driver to take his boss to a private hospital.

Zhong Yunxi stood there like a puppet, expressionless as he watched the nurse treat the wound on his hand.

"It wasn't a cat or dog scratch, was it?" Even though it was clearly human teeth marks, the nurse still asked another question.

Several minutes passed before the nurse stopped what she was doing, looked up at him, and Zhong Yunxi finally spoke, "No."

His gaze remained fixed on the ring mark on his middle finger.

When the nurse came to give him an IV drip, she said, "You have too many small wounds on your left hand, so we'll stick the needle in your right hand. Try not to use your right hand to play on your phone while you're getting the IV drip."

He barely spoke, slowly leaning back in the hospital bed and closing his eyes.

After making the arrangements, the driver called Xue Meng back to report the situation.

Xue Meng shouldn't meddle in his boss's private affairs. His boss never lets him accompany him when he goes to Xiangcheng. But the current situation is really not objective.

Xue Meng recently helped him look at several houses online, and he plans to go there to complete the procedures in the next few days.

He sent a message to Bai Yi without permission, briefly mentioning Zhong Yunxi's recent situation in Beijing, detailing the investment plan of Leading Capital in conjunction with Beijing Dongchen Fund for the traditional Chinese medicine industry in Southwest China, and finally saying that his boss had been sick for several days and was now in a private hospital. He said that he did not know anyone in Xiangcheng and that the driver was not someone he had brought from Yuegang, and hoped that Bai Yi could go and see him.

Xue Meng's ability to serve as Zhong Yunxi's personal assistant is beyond doubt, and her communication skills are also excellent, allowing her to handle every detail of the situation with perfect understanding.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the message was successfully sent, hoping to be a useful mouthpiece for his boss.

At least in his view, the boss's feelings for Bai Yi were quite commendable. Even if he made a mistake due to a momentary lapse in attention, the boss was making amends.

Bai Yi stayed in the office until she missed the shuttle bus. After returning to the office, she was in a daze and just sat in front of the computer in a daze.

Seeing the message Xue Meng sent her reminded her of what had just happened between her and Zhong Yunxi.

She made it very clear that she didn't want to have any more entanglements with him. He also had a childhood sweetheart, and they were a good match in terms of social standing and career. He didn't need to keep bothering her.

Since Zhong Yunxi believes that she and Yu Shiyuan deceived her first, then let him think that way; she can't explain it anyway.

She walked to the entrance of the park and hailed a taxi.

The driver asked her where she was going, and she stared blankly at her phone, but then read aloud the name of the hospital that Xue Meng had sent her.

She hesitated, her mind a jumble, but she went to the hospital and pressed the elevator button to the floor where Zhong Yunxi was hospitalized.

Standing outside the ward, she glanced through the glass at the person half-lying on the bed. Even from so far away, she felt as if she could see him clearly. Zhong Yunxi's brows were furrowed, and his eyelashes cast a shadow on his lower eyelids. He didn't have a piercing or sharp gaze. His gray-white turtleneck sweater made his face look especially sickly.

She had seen him in all sorts of ways. Even when he was asleep, he looked calm and composed. This was the worst she could remember Zhong Yunxi looking like.

There was only one IV drip left on the stand. No one was by the bed.

She sat on a bench in the corridor until someone entered his hospital room.

She seemed to finally realize what was happening, hurriedly wiped her eyes, got up, went downstairs, and took a taxi home.

She came without any logic and left without a clear path. She felt that heartbreak was not only painful, but also mentally taxing; it was as if her mind had been damaged.

The driver brought in a thermos lunchbox, and Zhong Yunxi didn't wake up until late at night.

But he didn't want to eat anything. He even thought the shrimp dumplings the driver brought tasted fishy. He only drank a bottle of sports drink to replenish his sugar and electrolytes.

"Mr. Zhong, it seems that Miss Bai Yi came by while you were asleep." The driver thought that his boss might care about this.

In this environment and state, Zhong Yunxi was unable to sleep at all. He had just lifted the corner of the blanket and was preparing to get up and go back to the hotel.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know if I saw it wrong."

Zhong Yunxi stopped what he was doing and tucked the blanket back up: "Go to the security room and check the surveillance footage. Bring it to me."

The driver returned an hour later, bringing back a dozen minutes of footage he had edited from the surveillance video.

It is Baiyi.

Zhong Yunxi watched her exit the elevator on this floor, stand outside his ward for a few minutes, sit on a bench in the corridor, head down, always raising her hand to wipe away tears.

She herself admitted that they were childhood sweethearts, and she threw his ring at him, even biting him, and made him so angry that he ended up in the hospital, yet she hid there and secretly cried, looking so aggrieved.

However, even when Zhong Yunxi was being thrown away by her, he didn't feel this heartache as he does now when watching the video.

He regretted his thoughtless words.

He left the hospital and returned to his hotel, playing a video that was over ten minutes long over and over again until he fell asleep.