20. Sudden loss of balance

As Ling Ling spoke, Yu Chuanbei stared at her intently, afraid to miss her every smile and frown, and thus, her delicate, fragile thoughts. He could sense her affection for him as she spoke, yet his concerns were beyond comprehension. With all his years of life experience, he didn't even know which principle to apply to clarify their relationship. They were as flustered as children, and all the simmering adult talk was like dirt to them. "You've done nothing wrong to me. I shouldn't have pushed you so hard." Although Ling Ling had refused for the second time, Yu Chuanbei wanted to apologize, but his phone rang at an inopportune moment. Annoyed, he didn't want to answer, but Ling Ling gestured for him to answer. A key client downstairs had called him repeatedly, and Ling Ling politely accompanied him downstairs. They walked down the narrow rooftop stairs side by side, their shoulders and knuckles bumping into each other from time to time. He wanted to hold her, and she kind of wanted him to hold her. Suddenly, everything went dark, and the bright lights and singing birds vanished in an instant. Ling Ling lost consciousness for a moment, her footing missing, and her body lurched forward weightlessly. She was so frightened that she thought she was going to tumble down the escalator and get hurt, but a strong arm quickly grabbed her waist! However, the man also lost his balance, pressing his upper body against her, and his soft lips pressed against the corner of her mouth... She leaned back as hard as she could, as if trying to embed herself into the wall, dodging his hot lips. She didn't dare look up at his eyes in the dark corridor, still warm even in the moonlight from the rooftop. Fortunately, the screams of men and women in the room due to the emergency power outage prevented them from hearing each other's pounding heartbeats. They couldn't remember how long their bodies stayed pressed together like that; it seemed like seconds, yet also like a century. All the ceiling lights, corridor lights, and wall lights suddenly lit up with a bang. The guests in the hall continued to exclaim and laugh, and no one cared about the reason for the power outage, which the housekeeper came out to explain. Ling Ling pulled her body out of his sweaty palms in a panic, and before he could even open his lips to say anything, she stumbled away without looking back... *~*~*~*~*~*~~ After parting with Ling Ling at the dinner party, Yu Chuanbei was distracted and stayed up late with his companions. When he returned home, he still couldn't sleep. The tulip painting facing the bed seemed to be swaying, and the wind was conveying a whisper to him, and in this whisper...

When listening to Ling Ling say these words, Yu Chuanbei looked at her intently, afraid of missing her every frown and smile, and thus missing her delicate and fragile thoughts.

He could sense her emotions as she spoke these words, but his concerns were unanswerable. With all the life experience he'd accumulated over the years, he didn't even know which principle to apply to clarify their relationship. They were as flustered as children, and all the broken bones and chicken broth that adults had chewed up were like dirt to them.

"You haven't done anything wrong to me. I shouldn't have pressed you too hard and put you in a difficult position."

Although Ling Ling had refused for the second time, Yu Chuanbei still wanted to apologize, but his cell phone rang at an inopportune time. He was annoyed and didn't want to answer the call, but Ling Ling gestured for him to answer it.

It turned out that a big customer downstairs had called him five times, and Ling Ling sensibly accompanied him downstairs.

They walked down the narrow stairs of the rooftop side by side, their shoulders and knuckles bumping into each other from time to time. He wanted to hold her arm, and she half wanted him to hold her arm.

Suddenly, everything went dark before her eyes. The bright lights and the singing birds vanished in an instant. Ling Ling lost consciousness for a moment, her footing missing, and her body lurched forward. She was too frightened to react, thinking she was about to tumble down the escalator and get hurt, but a strong arm quickly grabbed her waist! However, the other person also lost their balance, pressing their upper body against her, their soft lips pressing against the corner of her mouth...

She leaned back as hard as she could, as if to embed herself into the wall, dodging his hot lips. She didn't dare look up at his eyes in the dark corridor, which were still warm even in the moonlight from the rooftop.

Fortunately, the room was filled with screams of men and women due to the emergency power outage, so they couldn't hear each other's rapid heartbeats.

They couldn't remember how long their bodies were pressed together like that; it seemed like seconds, and also like a century.

All the ceiling lights, corridor lights, and wall lights suddenly lit up with a bang. The guests in the hall continued to exclaim and laugh, no one paying attention to the butler's explanation of the power outage, which was a mistake.

Ling Ling frantically pulled herself out of his sweaty palm. Before he could even open his lips to say anything, she stumbled away without looking back...

*~*~*~*~*~*~

After parting with Ling Ling at the dinner party, Yu Chuanbei stayed up late with his companions in a daze. When he returned home, he still couldn't sleep.

The tulip oil painting facing the bed seemed to be swaying, as if the wind was conveying a whisper to him. This whisper contained something that the stubborn Ling Ling refused to say, and something that even the pure Ling Ling herself could not explain clearly.

He even thought that Ling Ling's uncertainty about her feelings for him might be due to the lack of a reference for comparison. If she had experienced the entire process of falling in love, she might be able to draw an objective conclusion about their relationship.

But relationships aren't about consulting and planning; they don't require experience and tact. Perhaps the optimal solution to a relationship can only be determined after a breakup or a long-lasting marriage.

He didn't know how other people's love affairs were, and whether the relationship lasted long enough to last forever.

But at this moment, he just wanted to see her, although he was reluctant to disturb him.

He drove to the attic where she lived, looked up at the towering buildings, and searched for her window.

The light in her window flickered, then dimmed, just like the distance between her and him, which became farther and closer.

On an autumn night, frost and dew thickened, he huddled in his car, patiently waiting for midnight to pass, the dawn to fade, and then the dawn to usher in. In his heart, he passionately held a gentle belief: if meeting Ling Ling was a thunderclap, then keeping her by his side would be a lifetime of spring.

Ling Ling slowly walked out of the elevator. This sleepless night had left her feeling exhausted. She had been trying hard not to recall the scenes and details of her time with him last night, but the feeling of his gentle touch on her skin only grew stronger, and her heartbeat only grew louder.

She felt like a walking corpse, her thoughts full and tangled, but her heart empty.

It wasn't until she walked out of the apartment building and her distracted eyes met his worried eyes that her heart was suddenly hit unexpectedly and filled up in an instant.

She stood there blankly, watching him get out of the car, watching him open the door for her, listening to him say, "Let me take you to work", and then she still stood there blankly, and after a long time she mechanically sat in the passenger seat of his car.

They hadn't exchanged a single word the entire way. In Yu Chuanbei's world, he didn't dare speak. The day before, he'd been telling her he shouldn't have pressed her too hard, yet now he'd gone to her house and waited for her all night. He was afraid to tell her about this crazy thing, afraid she'd think he wasn't keeping his word. But honestly, he had no ability to keep a promise like "never to bother her again, never to see her again."

When they reached their destination, he simply said goodbye to her briefly and left quietly.

Yu Chuanbei's idea was that as long as he could enjoy the time with her at this moment, it would be fine. Extra words were always used to define or distinguish, and they no longer needed them now.

But Ling Ling forced herself not to think about anything. She just remembered for a long time in her heart how many traffic lights they encountered, how many times they started and stopped, and the rhythm of the car engine during the morning rush hour.

*~*~*~*~*~*~

Arriving at the company, Ling Ling immediately jumped into action. She'd heard that Tuo Wu had landed a major client, but the client required a partnership between Tuo Wu and Eifer. The two companies had already agreed on a plan, and today, Bai Yuefu's team would be meeting with Eifer's project team.

When Ling Ling heard the name of Ever Company, she immediately thought of Yu Chuanbei, but she thought that their businesses were not related and they would probably not meet.

Zheng Hong from Yu Chuanbei's team, however, kept complaining to him: "Boss, do you really need to be involved in a negotiation with that small company, Tuo Wu? Besides, this is clearly the Planning Department's job. Let those creative teams who don't even understand data analysis models handle it. It's totally inappropriate for us to negotiate! Why are you so soft-hearted this time, taking on a job that was passed around by another department?"

Yu Chuanbei simply ignored his complaints, because he did have a selfish motive—he wanted to see Ling Ling again. He was addicted to the longing.

Led by the front desk into Tuo Wu's conference room, Yu Chuanbei quickly glanced at the other party's team configuration. After confirming that Ling Ling was present, he didn't even look at her again.

Ling Ling stared in surprise at Yu Chuanbei's unexpected reappearance. She felt the intensity of his eloquent speech, his use of data and logic to crush Bai Yuefu, and felt pity for the weariness hidden beneath his sallow eyes. Her rosy, girlish heart seemed to be stirring. She had originally come to take meeting minutes, but now she was just jotting down random details.

Throughout the meeting, Yu Chuanbei relentlessly pressed Bai Yuefu. "To be honest, we at Ever have always advised against splitting the media for this proposal. This would significantly increase communication costs between our two companies, which have vastly different corporate cultures and work rhythms. The client wants you to handle the TV channels and us the online channels, but we actually recommend that we handle the online channels and you handle the local marketing—because your company is quite dominant in local marketing. I've seen the initial draft of the ad you're planning to run on TV, and it's incredibly old-fashioned. It's clear you haven't conducted a comprehensive data analysis of your user base, and you're simply targeting elderly people who don't even have smartphones. This is essentially a strategic miscalculation of the client's product positioning."

Bai Yuefu was also getting impatient. "So what do you think? With this wave of technology, what other age groups are still watching TV, besides the elderly who have a lot of money but don't know how to enjoy life?"

"There are also teenagers who have been exposed to electronic products since birth, but are only allowed to watch designated programs at designated times and places every day." Yu Chuanbei said confidently, causing the members of his team to start laughing.