Nostalgia

After returning home, Yu Xi resumed her usual life, spending most of her time at the company and locking herself away.

From the ward to the CEO's office, once the door was closed, she was alone again.

On the large desk was a photo of her and Meng Chou. In the photo, the two were wearing ski suits, supporting each other, and making a peace sign at the camera.

They laughed heartily, like victors, as they recorded their descent down a steep slope several meters high.

Yu Xi's gaze unconsciously shifted from the computer screen to the photo, staring at it blankly until the computer screen went dark, without her noticing.

There was a knock on the office door, and Yu Xi casually said, "Come in!"

Assistant Liu walked in with a serious expression, holding a document. Yu Xi saw him standing in front of the desk for a long time without saying a word, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's about the cooperation. The other party said they need you to come over to sign the contract." Assistant Liu began to analyze, "Our cash flow depends on this cooperation, but I've already gone five times, and the other party refuses to sign no matter what. They insist that you, President Yu, come over."

“I’ve come back and forth several times and haven’t seen a single person. It’s really strange. What a big fuss it is that you, Mr. Yu, have to come over.”

Listening to his indignant complaints, Yu Xi also became interested and took the document to look through it.

It's about collaborating with another company to produce a batch of clothing. The clothing will be designed by Jin Xuexiao's design department, while they will provide the fabric and be jointly responsible for the later launch and sales. The other party is quite generous in giving up the majority of the profits to them.

Since Jinxuexiao is a relatively new company, it needs such partners to better promote its products and services.

"Make an appointment with their people, I'll go over there." Yu Xi said calmly, putting the document aside. "I'm also very curious about what kind of person they are, offering such big concessions, yet engaging in this kind of formalism."

In her mind, everything should be resolved in the fastest way possible to achieve the goal of cooperation between the two parties. As for such polite formalities, they were what Yu Xi disliked the most.

She disapproved of the drinking culture and the unrestrained demands for overtime work to meet deadlines.

In Yu Xi's words, "Work is work, and life and work should be kept separate."

Assistant Liu said with some concern, "President Yu, if I may add one more thing, is this really feasible? I'm afraid the other party will feel they're being taken advantage of and want to back out, but they're just dragging it out like this."

"No matter what, we'll find out once we go." Yu Xi suddenly felt that something could truly distract her, at least it didn't give her time to overthink.

Jin Xuexiao is in her growth period, and at such a crucial time, Meng Chou used to be busy with various competitions and negotiating orders. During the time she was hospitalized, Ji Huai'en was busy with these things, and now it's finally time for her to take over.

Facing such a thorny issue right from the start, Yu Xi didn't find it difficult; she just didn't understand why they had to waste time going through this whole process again.

"What did they say?" she asked casually when she saw Assistant Liu busy sending messages.

Assistant Liu stared at the chat interface on his phone screen, looking puzzled. "As soon as they heard that you, Mr. Yu, were coming over, they quickly replied and arranged a time and place to meet and sign the contract."

Yu Xi tapped her index finger on the keyboard, and the computer screen lit up again. She scrolled through her schedule with the mouse, then turned to Assistant Liu and said, "Okay, you can arrange it as you see fit. I don't think I have anything to do this Friday, so I'll go back on Friday noon. You can just finish your work and leave on time. You don't need to drive me back."

"Okay, Mr. Yu." Assistant Liu said, turning and leaving, closing the door again, and the office returned to silence.

Yu Xi stood up, reached out and took the photo frame. Looking at the photo, her emotions surged. All the beautiful memories had become a thorn in her side after Meng Chou's accident.

She opened her palm, brushed away non-existent dust from the photo frame, and said to herself, "I will protect Jin Xuexiao, protect everything you left behind, and I will find out the truth."

For a long time, Yu Xi believed the car accident was simply caused by the heavy rain, until she received a message from a stranger: [Want to know who was behind Meng Chou's death?]

Yu Xi assumed that the rival company had gotten her phone number and was doing it maliciously. After glancing at it, she was too lazy to reply and continued to busy herself with her own things.

The person on the other end seemed to know Yu Xi wouldn't believe him, and immediately sent another message: [Think about Meng Chou's behavior that day, wasn't it strange? Actually, he already knew someone wanted to kill you, so regardless of whether it was a car accident or not, either you or he would die.]

The scene from that day reappeared before his eyes. Even though it hurt so much that he could hardly breathe, Yu Xi still thought about it carefully. She began to waver. Maybe it really was possible?

Throughout the entire car accident, Meng Chou kept comforting her and saying goodbye.

Yu Xi knew him too well. If they really couldn't see each other again, then he had really considered everything too thoroughly, protecting her and the child, even risking his own life to save them.

Once such an incident occurs, public opinion will first focus on Yu Xi. For a long time, at least the person behind the scenes will not dare to do anything easily, and she and her child will have temporary safety.

Meng Jinxian will definitely get involved in this matter and will send more people to protect them.

As Yu Xi analyzed the situation, fear gradually took over her mind. She hated herself for only considering this now, and even more so for not realizing it sooner.

Now, more than a year has passed, and searching on various software programs only yields media reports of the serious car accident that day, as well as many people's reflections on Meng Chou's death.

[Why should I believe you?] Yu Xi typed this line on the text message interface, went back and forth several times, but never sent it.

Gradually, her busy work schedule made her forget about it.

Until today, when the same person who sent the text message reappeared in a mysterious way, she suddenly remembered this incident.

Yu Xi opened the text message that hadn't been deleted and dialed Assistant Liu's number. "Help me find out which car caused the accident on the day of the incident. Pack up all the information you can and send it to me."

Thinking that Meng Jinxian still couldn't know about this, she added, "Be careful in your work, and don't let anyone know until you've investigated the matter thoroughly."

"Don't worry, Mr. Yu, I will definitely pay attention to things," Assistant Liu said confidently.

—

Spring is coming to an end, the temperature is gradually rising, and the leaves of the plane trees on both sides of the road have already spread out, with large patches of new green hanging on the branches, rustling in the wind.

Yu Xi arrived at the coffee shop on the street corner as promised.

It was nine o'clock in the morning, another weekday. Besides her, there was only one other person at the coffee shop: a young girl sitting in the corner reading a book. The usually bustling street was unusually quiet at this time.

Soothing music played in the store, and the enchanting melody echoed in her ears, immersing her in the music and relaxing her tense nerves.

Indeed, music and desserts are the most therapeutic things.

She wasn't in a hurry. She flipped through the magazines on the table, temporarily putting down her phone which was full of work messages, and waited for the mysterious person to arrive to sign the contract.

"This person has pretty good taste." Yu Xi took a sip of coffee, looked around the shop, and said naturally, "A Chou, next time we're on break, let's come to this shop for coffee too, okay?"

When something wonderful happens, I always want to share it with the people I love.

Yu Xi had long since developed this habit, and it had even become a natural part of her daily life.

Before she could even feel sad, someone sat down in the empty seat opposite her and said, "The best way to let go of the past is to face it head-on, and even when talking about it, to remain completely calm."

"How could you..." Yu Xi was interrupted before she could finish speaking.

"Of course, letting go is not forgetting, but rather keeping the memory in your heart."

Yu Xi said bluntly, "Hello, this place is taken."

He continued Yu Xi's words, saying, "Hello, I'm the one here to sign the contract with you."

"My surname is Liang. This is my business card. You can call me Dr. Liang." He handed over the card with his psychological counseling studio printed on it and sat down gracefully.

While Yu Xi was looking down at the card, Dr. Liang continued with a sigh, "I wonder if the person you're talking about has ever introduced me to you. I've been studying abroad for so many years, and he didn't even tell me he got married. It's really something."

"Who would have thought that our reunion would turn out like this?" Dr. Liang said, his cheerful mood, which he had been trying to cheer up Yu Xi when he came in and sat down, vanished instantly.

Yu Xi was completely confused. She vaguely remembered that Meng Chou had told her that he had a childhood friend who was sent to study in Germany by his mother when he was in junior high school.

The two never saw each other again, only occasionally keeping in touch via WeChat.

She tentatively asked, "Are you Ah Chou's friend?"

"Of course." Dr. Liang gave a helpless bitter smile. "See, I knew it. He didn't introduce me to you."

"No, he did say that, but my memory isn't very good right now, and I've confused a lot of things." Mentioning Meng Chou, Yu Xi couldn't help but feel heartbroken.

"I knew he was so supportive of my studying psychology back then, he was waiting for me here!" Dr. Liang said, reaching for the contract on the table. Without looking at it closely, he quickly flipped to the last page and signed his name without hesitation.

Yu Xi hadn't expected him to sign the contract so quickly. Before even meeting him, she had wondered what a difficult person he was and had come up with a bunch of excuses to persuade him.

Now it seems those words are unnecessary.

"Aren't you going to read the contract again before signing?"

Dr. Liang closed the pen cap and handed her the signed contract. "No need to look at it. I trust you, and I trust him too."

"Besides, he instructed me to come here today to sign this contract beforehand." Dr. Liang handed her an exquisitely packaged kraft paper bag. "This is what he asked me to give you."

“He said he was afraid you wouldn’t be able to get over it, so he asked me to help you more, and he also hoped that this thing could replace him and stay by your side.”

Yu Xi's tears flowed uncontrollably, and her emotions plummeted to rock bottom again, but a glimmer of hope also ignited within her—a hope that she would listen to Meng Chou and live a good life.