Chapter 67 You said someone like Xu Jialan...

Chen Yao'an ignored him until the next day, and she didn't reply to his messages. He could only try to coax her.

Xu Jialan happened to pass by a flower shop after get off work. She parked her car, intending to buy a bouquet of flowers, but after looking at it from the doorway, she changed her mind.

She said she didn't like these flowers; she only liked wildflowers.

He turned around and drove away.

Back in Yao'an Town, before it got dark, Xu Jialan took some equipment and food up the mountain.

Chen Yaoan ignored Xu Jialan all day. She thought he would come to coax her tonight, but he didn't send her a single message all night.

It was already past 10 p.m., and Xu Jialan hadn't made a sound. She sat by the window, refreshing the chat interface with Xu Jialan again and again, but there were still no new messages.

Chen Yao'an, feeling sullen, turned off her phone and placed it face down on the table. Since he was ignoring her, she wouldn't pay any more attention to him either; she was going to sleep now!

She had barely lain down in bed when she heard a noise coming from the window of her room that faced the street.

Chen Yao'an was startled, but upon closer listening, she realized that someone was knocking on the window.

.

Who would knock on her window so late at night?

Her heart skipped a beat.

The knocking on the window continued, followed by Xu Jialan's unhurried voice, "Are they already asleep?"

Chen Yao'an sat up abruptly in bed, slipped on her slippers, ran to the window, and pulled back the curtains.

Xu Jialan's indistinct face appeared outside the window, looking at her.

“Open the window,” he gestured to her.

Chen Yao'an suppressed her joy, turned her head away, and showed no intention of opening the window for him; her subtle emotions were quite evident on her face.

Xu Jialan chuckled indulgently, a little helplessly, and patiently coaxed her, "Could you please open the window for me, okay?"

Chen Yaoan shook his head.

"Then I beg you?" he pleaded. "It's tiring to talk through the window."

Chen Yao'an reluctantly opened the window, somewhat annoyed with him, "Why are you looking for me so late? I thought you had forgotten about me long ago."

She speaks in a sarcastic and unsettling way.

"I wanted to come find you too, but some people are ignoring me."

So you mean it was my fault?

"No, of course it's my fault," he coaxed her. "I was wrong."

Chen Yaoan felt a little better and let out a snort through her nose.

He took the flowers out from behind his back and presented them to her, saying, "These are for you."

"Flowers?" She took them, glanced at them, and said, "Wildflowers?"

This time it's a bunch of pale yellow wildflowers.

Her gaze swept over him, and seeing his attire, she was taken aback. "You've come up the mountain so late?"

"They left at dawn."

"That won't do!" she said anxiously. "Do you know how dangerous it is to go up the mountain at night? If something really happens, there's no signal up there."

"It's nothing, I just didn't expect there weren't many flowers still blooming this season, so it took me a bit of effort to find the right time."

After hearing what he said, the flowers in Chen Yao'an's hand suddenly felt heavier.

Are you still angry?

She paused for a moment before saying, "I'll forgive you for now, considering how hard you worked to find the flowers."

"temporary?"

"What's wrong for now? I still need to see how you perform."

Xu Jialan had no choice but to nod in agreement, "Okay."

The two chatted for a few more minutes, but Chen Yaoan couldn't bear it and urged him to go back and rest.

Xu Jialan left, and Chen Yaoan went to the living room, found a vase, filled it with water, put the bunch of wildflowers in it, and placed it in her own room.

The next day, Chen Yao'an accidentally overslept, while Yan Shumei got up early and, seeing no movement in her room, went to wake her.

Yan Shumei didn't even bother to knock before pushing the door open and entering her bedroom. "It's getting late, time to get up."

Chen Yao'an opened her eyes and mumbled, "I understand."

Yan Shumei glanced casually around the room, then turned to leave, but suddenly stopped, turning back to look at the vase on the table.

Where did you get these flowers?

Chen Yao'an woke up abruptly and made up an excuse on the spot, "I picked them on the way."

"These flowers grow on the road? I remember they grow on mountains."

Chen Yao'an: "..."

She didn't know how to answer for a moment, but fortunately Yan Shumei didn't seem to care too much, and just told her, "Get up quickly."

He left after saying that.

Chen Yaoan let out a breath and got out of bed.

—

As Chen Yaoan spent more time with Xu Jialan, she became more aware of his popularity. Sometimes, when the two of them were walking on the street together, they would attract women who would chase after them and ask for their contact information.

Xu Jialan politely declined them all, but as the number of times increased, Chen Yaoan became increasingly uncomfortable, and she even began to become suspicious without realizing it.

That evening, the two of them managed to avoid Yan Shumei and spend time alone at Xu Jialan's house.

Fortunately, there was nothing else to do, so Xu Jialan found a romance movie to watch with her. The story was reaching its climax, and the atmosphere was just right when they were suddenly interrupted by a phone call.

Xu Jialan picked up her phone, said, "I'm going to take this call," and then got up and left.

He didn't go far; he stood at the doorway, his gaze fixed on the courtyard.

He answered the phone, "What's up so late?"

The voice on the other end of the phone was a woman's, and she spoke very politely, "I have something I'd like to ask you about at work. I hope I'm not bothering you?"

"Go on," Xu Jialan said succinctly.

At first, Chen Yaoan didn't pay much attention because he was only talking about work. But the phone call was too long; the movie was almost over.

Chen Yaoan turned her head and frowned. Why hadn't they finished talking yet?

She gradually realized something was wrong. Two grown men shouldn't have that much to say. Could it be a woman on the other end of the phone?

Once doubts arise in your mind, you unconsciously plant the seeds of suspicion.

Ten minutes later, Xu Jialan finally finished her call and sat down next to her again.

She asked, seemingly casually, "Whose call was it?"

"colleague."

"Oh, you guys have been fighting for too long, the movie's already over."

Xu Jialan looked up at the television. Sure enough, the movie had already reached its end. He turned to apologize, but first kissed her on the cheek. "I'm sorry, let's watch it again."

"Then I'd like to drink coffee."

"Drinking coffee so late? Aren't you afraid you won't be able to sleep?"

"Don't worry, I can fall asleep. And I'd like to drink your freshly cooked food."

"good."

Xu Jialan doesn't have a coffee machine, only a coffee pot, so it takes him quite a bit of effort to make coffee.

After he left, Chen Yao'an's gaze fell on the phone he hadn't taken with him, and she suddenly had an idea: should she sneak a peek at it?

Is this not a good idea?

She hesitated for a long time, but in the end, reason could not overcome her curiosity, and she picked up his phone and turned on the screen.

The screen was password protected. She had secretly observed him before and roughly remembered his password. She tried it twice and the phone unlocked.

She glanced up at the door to make sure Xu Jialan wouldn't suddenly come in, then nervously entered his contacts. Sure enough, the person who had called earlier was a woman.

She then opened WeChat.

The first few friends on his phone were all normal, until he came across a woman's WeChat profile picture, which was a photo of a woman whose face was not visible.

Chen Yaoan guessed that this was probably a selfie of hers, only showing the profile of her nose and mouth, which were barely visible.

The two people's chat box is located near the top, indicating that they chat frequently.

She couldn't help but click in and scroll through their chat history. Her hands trembled slightly with nervousness, unsure whether it was from guilt or something else.

The two chatted almost entirely about work. As she scrolled down, she sensed something was off.

Going back a while, Xu Jialan's female colleague once invited him to dinner in the evening, but he refused. After that, the female colleague would ask him about work every few days, always in the evening.

What kind of work-related conversations absolutely have to be held at night? Can't we talk about them during work hours?

She was engrossed in the video when she suddenly heard the door open behind her. She hurriedly exited the app, locked the screen, and threw it on the sofa.

Xu Jialan pushed the door open and came in from the outside.

She turned around in a panic.

He asked her, "What were you looking at just now?"

"Looking at my phone." She waved her phone in her hand.

"Oh," Xu Jialan replied, without any particular reaction.

Chen Yaoan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but her heart was pounding. He probably hadn't noticed.

He placed the coffee in front of her. "The coffee is ready."

"oh."

one

Ever since she secretly looked at Xu Jialan's phone that day, Chen Yaoan had been feeling uneasy, so she went to Shi Xinyu for advice.

Yinye was finally able to operate normally, and after get off work she went to the bar to find Shi Xinyu.

"You mean that female colleague texts Xu Jialan every few nights?" Shi Xinyu asked her.

"Hmm." Chen Yaoan rested her hand on the bar, looking somewhat listless.

"What did they talk about?"

"Work."

"Work? What kind of work requires us to talk about it so frequently, and why does it have to be at night? Can't we talk about it during work hours?"

Chen Yao'an thought the same thing, and her mood became even more uneasy.

Seeing her like this, Shi Xinyu tried to salvage the situation, "If we're just talking about work, it doesn't necessarily mean there's anything going on."

"Did they send any ambiguous messages or anything like that?"

Chen Yaoan thought for a moment and shook her head. "No, Xu Jialan always replies to her messages in a businesslike manner. It's just that once she asked him to dinner, but Xu Jialan refused."

"In that case, I think it's highly likely that the girl is still pursuing your boyfriend."

She thought so too. Chen Yaoan sighed. Dating someone like Xu Jialan was really troublesome.

Shi Xinyu then felt something was off, "Do you think someone like Xu Jialan has that much patience to talk to others about work like this?"

That seems to make a lot of sense.

Chen Yao'an immediately sat up straight.