Chapter 60 Chapter 60

Late night in the office.

Ren Li sat at her workstation, her heart pounding all night.

The light tube above her head emitted a dazzling white light. She spread out her laptop in front of her eyes and stared at the report on the screen for a long time, but she didn't write a single word.

It's really killing me.

Thinking back on what had just happened, she still found it incredible.

Just now, she and Wen Shuo had dinner at a restaurant in Guomao. Wen Shuo said he would take her to work overtime, so the two of them walked along the street back to the office building where Renli Company was located, and took the opportunity to see the dazzling CBD night view.

To fulfill his "promise," Wen Shuo insisted on staying with Ren Li for the full half hour. Ren Li had no idea what he was trying to convince her of, perhaps it was just the competitive streak of a lifelong academic.

In order to avoid being discovered by her colleagues, she had to take Wen Shuo to an inconspicuous outdoor platform outside the first floor and stayed with him for a long time.

This time, the two of them finally didn't engage in the same heated exchange they'd had at dinner. While neither of them had touched upon the "sensitive topic" from four years ago, at least they were able to chat calmly.

The cool breeze of early summer night blows softly across my cheeks, and the atmosphere rises in the quiet night sky.

When Ren Li looked at Wen Shuo, she felt as if they were back in their senior year of high school.

The cursor of the open Word document on the computer screen flickered. Ren Li came back to her senses, shook her head, and tried desperately to erase the scene from her mind.

Work is important. If she doesn't finish the report at hand quickly, she will have to stay up all night here again.

Thinking of this, she quickly perked up and prepared to get another cup of coffee.

However, when she walked into the tea room with a cup of water, she was blocked by Cheng Lulu in front of the coffee machine.

"Go ahead." Cheng Lulu's eyes seemed to be scrutinizing her. "When did you get in touch with Mr. Wen from StarWind?"

This was her personal matter, and Ren Li didn't want to answer, so she said, "Lulu, you're working overtime today too."

"Don't change the subject." Cheng Lulu said, "You disappeared for such a long time tonight. What were you doing?"

She looked Ren Li up and down, her eyes somewhat unreadable.

Ren Li said, "Nothing. I went to get the interview materials that Mr. Ling requested."

Cheng Lulu spread out her hands: "What about the materials?"

Ren Li: “…”

She glanced at her phone on the bar counter. There was no message from Wen Shuo yet. Sure enough, Wen Shuo had forgotten about the materials the moment he turned around, so she would have to urge him later.

Just as she was thinking about it, Cheng Lulu suddenly laughed: "See, I guessed right, you didn't go to get the materials at all. Don't think I didn't see you get on the elevator with Mr. Wen."

She suddenly lowered her voice and moved closer. "Actually, you don't have to be nervous. I'm not here to judge you from a moral high ground. I just want to know how you managed to win over such a superior man."

"Hmm?" Ren Li finally understood the hidden meaning of her words.

The financial world is full of scandals, and recently, a senior MD executive used internship opportunities as leverage to lure interns. While the case was dealt with seriously after being uncovered, this kind of behavior does persist.

Therefore, Cheng Lulu must have misunderstood her relationship with Wen Shuo and thought that she had done something.

People's words are scary, Ren Li understood that she had to explain clearly.

"You misunderstood," Ren Li quickly clarified. "Wen Shuo... oh, Mr. Wen, and I went to high school together. He was attending a strategy meeting this time, and we happened to meet, so we had dinner together."

"You're kidding me," Cheng Lulu said. "You guys acted like strangers last night."

"Really." Ren Li said, "It's just that we had some unpleasantness before, and we haven't seen each other for a long time, so..."

"I don't believe it, because the way Mr. Wen looked at you just now was too abnormal, unless—"

Cheng Lulu's mouth suddenly opened wide: "Fuck, you two have never been together before?!"

Ren Li felt that it was becoming increasingly difficult to explain.

"Then everything seems to make sense." Cheng Lulu murmured to herself, recalling Ren Li's reaction when she saw Wen Shuo, which further confirmed her idea.

"..." Ren Li said nothing, neither admitting nor denying.

"Ren Li, how could you eat so well before?" Cheng Lulu said bitterly, "Your boyfriend, oh no, Mr. Wen, he's rich, handsome, and has a great figure. How can you have all the good things in the world?!"

When Ren Li heard Cheng Lulu talk about Wen Shuo's good figure, she suddenly remembered the scene on the high school basketball court when Wen Shuo lifted his jersey to wipe his sweat, revealing his abdominal muscles. Her face suddenly turned red, "His figure... is just okay."

Cheng Lulu was filled with envy and jealousy. "So what's going on with you guys now? Broken up? Or got back together?!"

Ren Li shook her head. She actually didn't know how to answer. After all, Wen Shuo and her had never really been together, so there was no need to use the word "break up".

"We went to different universities and stopped being together," Ren Li said. "Now, we're still friends."

Hearing this, Cheng Lulu finally breathed a sigh of relief, and her expression became a little better.

But she was still blatantly jealous of Ren Li.

She hangs out at cocktail parties in the financial circle every day, hoping to find a wealthy man who can provide her with a comfortable life for the rest of her life, but she has never met anyone like Mr. Wen. Even people with half the conditions as him have never met him.

Not getting the answer she wanted tonight, Cheng Lulu had no choice but to go back to work in anger, wearing her high heels.

-

The date for the defense was finally set, the second week of next month.

The thesis has been submitted and passed the plagiarism check. There has been less work at school recently. Apart from preparing the PPT for the defense, Ren Li has more time and has resumed her daily life of going between the company and school.

In the intervals between busy work, Ren Li sometimes thinks of Wen Shuo.

The two have not been in contact for a long time since he flew back to the United States.

The chat history on the phone was from several days ago. Wen Shuo said that he had an important meeting and was very busy recently, so he might not have time to contact in the near future.

Because of the time difference, it was several hours later when Ren Li woke up and saw the message. She replied "OK", and the matter was never mentioned again.

Life seems to have returned to normal.

Simple, busy, empty.

Sometimes when she was daydreaming, Ren Li would think of Wen Shuo, recall their last meeting, and wonder what he was doing now.

Ren Li thought that maybe it would be better to accept reality as soon as possible.

When he left, he didn't seem to say anything about coming back. If you don't fall in love, you won't get hurt again.

So she carefully pieced together her heart that had been broken once, and continued to cheer up and greet every day of her life.

Time passed quickly. One night a week later, after finishing her overtime work at the company, she saw a high-end black sports car parked on the side of the road outside the office building late at night.

She swore that she was really curious and only took a few more glances at the car as she passed by.

However, the car window in front slowly lowered, revealing Wen Shuo's cold face.

The instantaneous impact of the scene was so strong that Ren Li looked him in the eye for a long time before she uttered a single word: "Why are you here?"

However, Wen Shuo just calmly said two words: "Get in the car."

Ren Li hadn't figured out the current situation yet, so she didn't want to rush into Wen Shuo's car. "I mean, aren't you still in the US? Why are you here?"

Wen Shuo: "There are many flights from the United States to China, and I can still afford the ticket."

"That's not what I meant." Ren Li pointed to the company building behind her, "Are you here for work, or..."

He came all the way to see me.

She is currently too embarrassed to say the second half of the sentence directly.

"I came here specifically to see you today." Wen Shuo seemed to have seen through her thoughts at this moment.

Ren Li suddenly regretted leaving get off work so late: "Have you been waiting for a long time? I didn't know you were waiting for me. If I had known, I definitely wouldn't have worked overtime so late."

Wen Shuo: "You're busy working even when you're having dinner with me, how dare I disturb you?"

Ren Li: ...

Sure enough, the academic master's pettiness is still the same as before.

She refused to get in the car, so Wen Shuo got out and took the initiative to open the passenger door for her.

Ren Li felt that if she refused now, it would be a bit too pretentious. She didn't owe Wen Shuo anything, so there was no need to be so afraid.

So she tightened the straps of her canvas bag and sat on it.

The car door closed, and in the blink of an eye, only the two of them were left in the small space.

Ren Li turned her head and met Wen Shuo's gaze. She was originally quite courageous, but now she suddenly became nervous again.

Wen Shuo: "Ms. Ren, are you scared?"

Ren Li said stubbornly: "Not really."

She didn't know why Wen Shuo came back this time, but the important thing was that he came back.

At least the person in front of me is real and I can touch him with just a stretch of my hand.

"You're distracted again." Wen Shuo said, "Fasten your seat belt."

"Oh." Ren Li came back to her senses and frantically searched for it, but finally Wen Shuo helped her tie it.

The two of them sat back in their seats. Ren Li calmed her pounding heart and pretended to turn her head outside to look at the invisible scenery.

"Where are you going? I'll take you back."

Ren Li finally turned her head back and thought for a moment: "School?"

She didn't expect that the first thing she said would be a question.

Of course it’s just school, where else could it be!

She felt that she must have worked too long today, so that her IQ had dropped to zero.

However, Wen Shuo did not notice her rich inner thoughts at the moment. He started the car and slowly drove towards the main road.

There was little traffic on the overpass at night, and neon lights were flashing outside the window. Ren Li leaned against the window and looked for a while, thinking about everything that had happened today.

Unlike his own wild imagination, Wen Shuo behaved very naturally from beginning to end tonight.

It was as if the two people had not seen each other for a long time, but just said good morning to each other when they went out this morning.

It felt like a feather was gently scratching my heart, and more surging emotions were blocked behind the wall of my heart.

The night was beautiful tonight, and there was still some time before she had to go back to school, so she decided to close her eyes and rest.

However, she was asleep for more than two hours, and when she woke up again, the car had stopped downstairs of the dormitory.

In the first few seconds after she opened her eyes, Ren Li's consciousness was blurred. She sat up in a daze and tried to stretch her limbs, but her wrist hit the roof of the car.

She yawned, and her chaotic thoughts finally came back to normal: "How long have I slept?"

She found that Wen Shuo's suit was covering her body without her knowing.

"Two hours."

Wen Shuo's voice came faintly from the side, "Ren Li, are you a pig? You really can sleep too much."

Ren Li: “…”

She angrily stuffed the suit into Wen Shuo's arms: "You don't understand, being able to eat and sleep is a blessing. What time is it now?"

Wen Shuo glanced at his watch, "11:50, ten minutes until 12 o'clock."

"How much?" Ren Li thought she had misheard. She quickly took out her cell phone and stared at the 11:51 on the screen for a while before finally realizing that Wen Shuo was not lying to her.

Not far away, the lights in the entire girls' dormitory building had been turned off, and all access cards would become invalid after 11 o'clock - she would not be able to go back to the dormitory tonight no matter what.

"It's over, why didn't you wake me up earlier." Ren Li held her forehead with both hands, "What should I do? What should I do now?"

"It's simple," Wen Shuo said. "Like me, stay in a hotel."

"Wait." Ren Li turned around, her eyes gleaming with wisdom. "I have a suggestion. How about..."

Wen Shuo anticipated her thoughts and flatly refused, "No, I refuse to go to McDonald's with you."

Ren Li: ...

There was a 24-hour McDonald's near the school, and when she was working on her big assignments, she often went there to stay up all night. Although staying up all night made her feel a bit uncomfortable the next day, there were fries and ice cream there, so it wasn't a problem.

"Ah, you really don't consider going to McDonald's?" She blinked her big eyes and asked again.

The tone of her voice sounded like she was acting coquettishly to Wen Shuo's ears.

He took a deep breath and finally decided to stick to his principles.

"Ren Li, I flew for more than ten hours today, and I drove to pick you up right after I got off the plane. I haven't slept for 24 hours, and you had the heart to let me sit in McDonald's all night."

"Oh, then let's not do that." Ren Li subconsciously added, "Then if we stay in a hotel, should we get two rooms?"

Wen Shuo sometimes felt that Ren Li's ability to tease people unconsciously was really annoying.

He suddenly wanted to scare her.

In the darkness, Ren Li only felt that Wen Shuo suddenly approached.

The light dimmed, and the familiar scent of Wen Shuo mixed with the sharp smell of woody perfume enveloped her and domineeringly invaded every inch of her senses.

Ren Li's body stiffened instantly and she subconsciously shrank back until she had nowhere to retreat.

Haha, you are really bad at it and love to play.

He lowered his eyes, looking at Ren Li huddled in the corner, and the corners of his lips suddenly curled up slightly:

"What on earth are you thinking about in your little head every day?"

Ren Li pondered the meaning of Wen Shuo's words and her face suddenly flushed: "No, what I mean is, of course we should stay in two rooms! It's just that I think it's too expensive and unnecessary, so I said to stay in one."

You don't want to stay in a place that's too expensive, so maybe we can share a room for one night? Ren Li was stunned by the thought process she had just had.

Why on earth would she think this? Perhaps it was because she and Zhang Xintong had previously stayed in the same hotel room to save money when they went to a concert, so she subconsciously said this just now.

She was thinking about how to make amends when Wen Shuo said, "I think you should not think too highly of me."

Hearing this, Ren Li shrank back again, taking on a defensive posture, and looked at him warily: "What do you mean?"

She is scared.

Wen Shuo's tense body finally relaxed and he let her go.

He leaned back and exhaled deeply. "What I mean is, the me you know is only the me of my senior year of high school, not the real me. I'm not as gentlemanly as you think. You don't understand men. From now on, under no circumstances, you must agree to spend the night in the same room with a man."

No matter what the reason, no one can do that, including me, understand?"

Ren Li: “…”

She started missing McDonald's again.