Chapter 59 Missing You [Chapter: Passing by you, I started missing you a little.]...

The bookstore was quiet, perhaps because of its remote location; there weren't many people inside.

There was only a curtain hanging at the entrance. The two held hands, lifted the curtain, and bent down to go inside.

Inside the curtain lies a landscape completely different from the outside.

Thousands of books are displayed on wooden bookshelves, but they are not very neatly arranged; even on the stairs, one or two open books can be glimpsed. Standing there, it doesn't feel like entering a bookstore, but rather like stepping into the bookstore owner's study.

The owner, a man with gray hair, came out of a small room where tea was prepared.

"Please sit wherever you like. You can look around freely and order drinks, but please don't touch the books." He moved slowly, his body trembling, but his voice was steady.

Tang Yi nodded and pulled Zhang Minglang through the store.

The bookstore was decorated like a small wooden cabin hidden in the forest, and all the bookshelves and tables and chairs looked handmade. Tang Yi gently stroked the tabletop, even feeling its uneven texture.

She whispered to Zhang Minglang with great curiosity, "The table looks like it was hand-carved, and so does the chair."

Zhang Minglang was trying out the chair when he heard this and stood up to reply, "Yes, this chair is a bit wobbly."

As he spoke, he grabbed the back of the chair and shook it in place, and the chair indeed wobbled.

The two walked around, each selecting a few books from the bookshelf, then sat down at the table and ordered drinks.

More tourists gradually entered the store, making it more crowded than before. Everyone tacitly remained silent, simply enjoying the pleasant atmosphere.

Tang Yi noticed that many people were huddled together in the corner. She went over to take a look and saw that the words "Written for TA a year from now" were written crookedly on the wall in colored pen.

On the shelf below, there was a thick row of letter paper and envelopes, crammed together, where many young tourists sat down and buried themselves in writing.

Tang Yi turned her head with interest to look for Zhang Minglang, but couldn't see him. When she turned her head again, his tall figure suddenly appeared in front of her.

He looked down at her, waving the letter and envelope in his hand, two pens still clutched in his fingers. He smiled and asked, "Will you write or not?"

Tang Yi raised her eyebrows and took it.

On the small table, two sparkling drink glasses are pressed tightly together, with bubbles rising up the inside of the glasses and disappearing suddenly when they reach the surface of the water, making a soft "pop" sound.

Tang Yi and Zhang Minglang were standing very close, heads down, writing intently on the letter paper. The pencils rubbed against the slightly rough paper, making a constant rustling sound.

Zhang Minglang placed one hand on the table, writing rapidly and elegantly, while his other hand insisted on reaching under the table to find Tang Yi's hand.

However, Tang Yi sat upright, with her hands placed steadily on the table and her shoulders and back straight, looking exactly like a well-behaved girl who listened attentively in class and took notes during her student days.

Zhang Minglang simply stopped writing and rested his chin on his hand, staring intently at Tang Yi's profile.

Tang Yi felt his intense gaze, but without even looking up, she said, "Why are you looking at me?"

Zhang Minglang slowly began, "Do you think things would be like this if we had been deskmates back in school?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Yi stopped writing. She turned to look at him. Bright light from the window shone on Zhang Minglang's face; his hair was short and tousled, and the sunlight filtering in revealed fine dust particles in the air.

He wore a carefree smile, his eyes slightly narrowed as he looked at her, his right hand supporting his chin, a pencil somehow moved to his left hand and was still spinning.

Tang Yi looked away, down at her letter, but the pen tip hovered a few millimeters above the paper, unable to fall.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Zhang Minglang's pen, which had been spinning rapidly in his left hand, landed on the table with a "clatter." He reached out his left arm, put his arm around Tang Yi's thin shoulder, and pulled her into his embrace.

Tang Yi didn't react in time, her body swayed, and she bumped straight into his chest, her ear close to the sound of his heartbeat.

Belatedly realizing what was happening, she pulled away from his embrace and took a step to the left, holding onto the chair.

Zhang Minglang's arms suddenly felt empty. He looked up and saw Tang Yi with a serious expression. She said righteously, "Zhang, stay away from me. Don't even think about dating."

After saying that, she turned her head back, picked up a pen, and started writing on the paper.

Zhang Minglang was stunned for a moment, then smiled and looked down. He nodded, picked up his pen again, and began to write carefully on the paper.

Time ticked by, and the two finished writing their letters, folded them carefully, put them in envelopes, wrote the addresses, affixed stamps, and handed them to the bookstore owner.

The boss said it was his granddaughter's idea to write letters to each other, and he repeatedly said that he would send them to the address provided a year later.

This is a wonderful memento. During the National Day holiday a year from now, the letter they wrote to each other a year ago will become a special link, reminding them of that peaceful and happy afternoon in the water town.

The two had planned to stay in the water town until the 8th before heading back, but unexpectedly, on the afternoon of the 6th, a major project of the same company encountered problems at two key stages in different regions.

Time was of the essence. Assistant Zhou urgently sent a message to Zhang Minglang, and the trip with Tang Yi had to be cut short.

Because of this incident, Zhang Minglang still had a tense face and looked somewhat sullen when he returned to the hotel to pack his luggage.

Tang Yi took the clothes that were hanging on the balcony down for him, folded them neatly, and put them into his suitcase. Seeing his reluctant look, she smiled and said, "Okay, don't be upset. It's just that we're going back two days earlier."

Zhang Minglang hugged her from behind, his voice low: "I don't want to be separated from you."

Tang Yixiao said, "You're going to City D, and I'm going to City C. It'll only be two days. We'll be meeting at the company soon."

Zhang Minglang nuzzled his head against her shoulder: "What do you mean 'just two days'? It's been a long time."

Tang Yi gently nudged him: "Hurry up and pack, don't miss your train ticket."

Tang Yi was worried that he would be tired from driving for several hours and then traveling to other provinces for meetings, so as soon as she received the business trip information, she contacted the fleet service company that the company had been cooperating with for a long time and asked them to send a driver.

When the two arrived at the entrance of the headquarters in City A, night had already fallen, and the company's special car for business trips was already waiting outside.

Because they needed to go upstairs to retrieve documents and files, the two of them took the elevator up together.

Zhang Minglang reached out and gently hooked Tang Yi's fingers beside him, occasionally pressing her knuckles.

As soon as Tang Yi stepped into the company, it was as if another work-specific personality had awakened, becoming even more aloof than usual.

She turned a blind eye to his attempts to hold her hand, but Zhang Minglang took advantage of the situation and even couldn't resist wanting to lean down and kiss her.

Tang Yi quickly moved a few steps to the side and lowered her voice: "Zhang Minglang, this is the company! There are cameras in the elevator."

Zhang Minglang glanced up at the camera above him with displeasure and said quietly, "What are the chances of them removing the camera?"

"Zero percent".

Tang Yi's serious expression relaxed a little, and she even couldn't help but smile slightly. The elevator doors opened, and she let go of his hand and walked out, turning her head as she said, "Don't forget our three rules."

Zhang Minglang sighed heavily. He had never hated going to work so much.

The two parted ways at the company entrance and got into cars heading to different destinations. Zhang Minglang reached out to the driver for a tissue and wiped away the barely noticeable trace of red on his lips.

He was in a good mood, looking down at the business trip information Tang Yi had sent him on his phone. He couldn't resist double-tapping her profile picture and sending a "tap" emoji.

The other person ignored him.

The fluorescent light from the phone screen shone on his face.

[Chapter: Don't be angry, Secretary Tang]

The other end replied with a period after a long time.

Zhang Minglang crossed his legs, finding a more comfortable way to type:

[Chapter: Does a period mean forgiveness? Thank you for your forgiveness.]

Tang Yi seemed taken aback by his shamelessness and didn't reply to his messages again.

Zhang Minglang turned off his phone, turned to look at the scenery rushing past the car window, and thought about everything that had happened in the dimly lit stairwell of the company.

*

Half an hour ago, after organizing all the documents, Zhang Minglang walked out first. He stood in front of the elevator, turned his head to look at Tang Yi who was looking down at the documents, and then glanced up at the damn surveillance camera. Suddenly, an idea came to him.

So when Tang Yi approached him, he turned on his toes and pulled her into the stairwell through a blind spot in the surveillance camera.

The door slammed shut, and Tang Yi was pinned against the heavy door panel, startled.

The stairwell was dimly lit, with only a faint green light emanating from the green corridor on the wall.

Tang Yi realized where she was, reached out and pushed him, her voice panicked: "Zhang Minglang, are you crazy? Get out of here..."

However, she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence because Zhang Minglang had already leaned in and captured her opening and closing lips in his mouth.

Tang Yi's eyelids twitched, and she tried to push him away. However, Zhang Minglang sensed her resistance and seemed to be stimulated by something. He hugged her even tighter, kept pulling her up by her waist, pressed one hand on the back of her head, and kissed her intimately.

Tang Yi ran her fingers through his short hair as she was forced to respond to his forceful and frantic kisses, but she couldn't muster any strength.

The two lingered in the dim light until Zhang Minglang felt Tang Yi's body becoming increasingly limp, almost sliding down the door, before finally releasing her slightly.

Taking advantage of the moment, Tang Yi shoved him away. Caught off guard, he stumbled back a few steps, his lower back hitting the stair railing. He hissed in pain, but a satisfied smile remained on his face.

She wiped away the tears that had welled up in her eyes, and pointed angrily at the man in front of her, saying, "Zhang Minglang, have you forgotten our three-point agreement?"

Zhang Minglang took a few steps forward, put his arm around her shoulder, and pretended to be aggrieved: "Didn't you say that we can't kiss because of surveillance cameras? There are no surveillance cameras here, and no one comes."

Tang Yi shook him off: "How can you take advantage of loopholes like this?"

She crossed her arms, turned her head to one side, and unleashed her ultimate weapon: "If you continue like this at the company, I'll have to reconsider our relationship."

She knew she was just saying it in anger, but Zhang Minglang inevitably took it seriously. He rushed forward and hugged her again, repeatedly saying "I'm sorry."

"I just wanted to kiss you. I promise I won't do it again, and you can't be angry or say anything about breaking up, okay?"

Tang Yi still said she would see how he behaved. But from the moment they came out of the stairwell, took the elevator, left the company gate, and got into different cars heading to different places, no matter what Zhang Minglang said, Tang Yi was determined to ignore him.

The car sped onto the highway. Zhang Minglang looked up from his reverie and caught a glimpse of a road sign outside the windshield. He took a picture with his phone and sent it to Tang Yi in their chat.

On the other side, Tang Yiben, sitting in the car heading to City C, closed her eyes to rest, her mind replaying the kiss in the stairwell just now.

Although she was terrified, she had to admit it.

This guy's kissing skills are pretty good.

Her phone vibrated in her hand, and she opened her eyes.

I clicked on the photo sent in the chat box. It was blurry, poorly lit, and looked like a casual snapshot, but I could still clearly see the two large characters "City C" written on it.

As she was wondering, another message flashed on the screen.

[Chapter: Passing By You.]

[Chapter: I miss you a little.]

Tang Yi stared at the two short lines of text, and a thought struck her.

She raised her hand to type.

Zhang Minglang was persistently staring intently at the flashing "The other party is typing" message above.

Until those seven words finally disappeared, a message popped up on the other end.

[Recliner: Remember to apply medicine to your lower back.]

Looking at the five nonsensical words, Zhang Minglang felt completely relieved. He lowered his hand, leaned back against the chair, and the corners of his mouth turned up wider and wider.

He knew she wouldn't really be angry with him.