38. Freedom to stay or leave

Her roommate, Taozi, was away traveling with her boyfriend this week. Chi Jin realized that in the two years since she left school, the only friend she could really count on was her roommate. Now that Taozi was gone, she didn't even have anyone to talk to.

Chi Jin was not such a homebody when he was a student, but now that he is working, he finds that lying at home is the most cost-effective pastime.

Even though Sun Ting sent her many apology messages and even though they seemed very sincere, Chi Jin still blocked all his contact information to prevent future trouble.

Chen Yisheng's private account was also dealt with. Since they're talking about keeping distance, they should be thorough.

If her conditions were better, her burdens were lighter, she and Chen Yisheng had known each other earlier. If they were not in the same editorial department, if the age gap was smaller, if he was unmarried, perhaps she would have gladly accepted Chen Yisheng's pursuit.

But the fact that two people can only be together under so many restrictions is enough to prove that they are not a good match.

After all, she is not worthy of Chen Yisheng.

Thinking of this, Chi Jin suddenly realized that her two previous boyfriends were inferior to her in family background, education and appearance. It seemed that only in this way could she accept others' kindness to her calmly.

Perhaps deep down she never believed that someone would be nice to her for no reason, just as Chen Yisheng said.

I don’t want to think about it anymore. It’s useless no matter how much I think about it.

Chi Jin put his phone aside to charge and was about to clean up when he heard the sound of the door lock turning.

It's eleven o'clock on Saturday morning... this time...

"Wow—pond—"

Seeing Chi Jin standing in the living room with a mop, Taozi threw herself into her arms and burst into tears.

"What's wrong?"

"He cheated on me, what a jerk! I never want to be in a relationship again." Taozi sobbed. "I found out in the middle of the night and rushed back home. I wanted to go home, but I was afraid my mom would scold me... Sob, after thinking it over, I decided to go back home."

"Okay, okay." Chi Jin patted her shoulder. "I'm here, I'm here. Did you delete him?"

"Of course! I even slapped him several times! This traitorous gigolo has the nerve to flirt with people outside while spending my money!" Taozi was filled with righteous indignation, and then burst into tears, "Chi Zi, why are good men so hard to find? You must persuade me not to get back together with him! Absolutely not!"

"Alright, alright. I won't chase after those who leave. You must firmly believe that 'those who are lost to me are lost forever.'"

"That's right! I will never look back. Let him regret it!"

Chi Jin helped her sit down on the sofa and brought her a glass of milk: "Actually, I wanted to get you some wine, but let's both quit. It's not too late to find a partner after you improve yourself."

Taozi was slightly startled: "What stimulated you?"

Chi Jin curled his lips and told the whole story.

Upon hearing what happened to Chi Jin, Taozi stopped crying immediately, wiped her tears, and said, "Chi Zi, I want to ask you seriously. Have you ever rejected someone before?"

Chi Jin had been in love twice before, both times when she was a student. She shook her head: "No. As soon as they confessed their feelings, I agreed. I thought they were nice people at the time."

"You're stupid!" Taozi poked her head. "You're dating an ordinary guy, but you missed out on the rich bachelor! Why did you agree to them back then?"

"I'm a bit of a people-pleaser, and I was afraid they'd be unhappy, so I thought it was okay to just talk about it. Now I think about it, I might have been putting their feelings first."

Taozi had a look of disappointment on her face: "You, you, how come you woke up to your boss? He clearly put your feelings first, and you still rejected him. Isn't this what you're looking for?"

Chi Jin's first reaction was that what she said made sense, but then he changed his mind and said, "But he kissed me because he was jealous. Isn't that very selfish? He didn't consider my situation at all. Besides, he is older than me and his superior. Why didn't he consider my difficulties in the company?"

Taozi was a few years younger than Chi Jin after all, and was stunned. "Oh, that's right. Why didn't he say something like, 'I'll take care of the company, don't worry'?"

Chi Jin smiled bitterly and said, "After all, life is not an idol drama. There are not so many smooth roads to follow. If I am with him, I will have to face a lot. Instead of worrying, it is better to maintain the status quo."

"Okay." Taozi rubbed her eyes. "Are there any other handsome guys in your company? Can you introduce them to me?"

"Ah? Didn't you just break up?"

"Life isn't a melodrama." Taozi put her hands on her hips. "If the old doesn't go away, the new won't come. The best way to get over the last relationship is to find another one. I can't stand being single for too long. It's so boring."

So, it's been two years since Chi Jin and I broke up. Is it boring? A little, sure, but not unbearable.

Taozi is a local, has family support, and owns a car and a house, so her life can't be that bad.

"What are your requirements?" Chi Jin also felt that the quality of Taozi's recent boyfriends was questionable, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to match them up if there was a suitable one.

"Preferably a local. I don't want a Phoenix Man. Of course, lazy, idle locals are also not acceptable." Taozi listed all the locals. "I don't want to live in a different place again. He should be over 1.85 meters tall, sunny and cheerful, and can make me happy. Not too dull. Preferably a younger brother type, so we can play together."

Although there was no introduction to the idea of ​​Chen Yisheng and Taozi being together, Chi Jin couldn't help but compare Chen Yisheng's conditions with Taozi's requirements. Indeed, the conditions in all aspects did not meet.

but……

"There's actually a suitable candidate. He's a new editor at our company, a local native with a bachelor's and master's degree from Jing Normal University. He's the most senior person in our company, very perceptive and efficient, but not slick."

Taozi's eyes lit up: "Really? Then why didn't you take it?"

"Uh..." Chi Jin paused, "When I think about becoming a boyfriend or girlfriend with a colleague, I feel like work has become disgusting."

"Sister Chizi." Taozi shook her arm coquettishly, "Then can you introduce me to someone later? You know my conditions. Apart from being a little lazy and crybaby, there's nothing wrong with me."

"And he's very love-sick." Chi Jin defined.

Taozi came over again: "The best, Sister Chizi. When I find someone suitable, I will definitely introduce her to you."

"Come on, I just want to work now." Chi Jin said, "Okay, I see you're fine now, come and clean up together."

Taozi alone can reach the point where the whole place is filled with wailing.

…

Before going to work on Monday, Chi Jin rehearsed countless times in his mind the expression, tone, and attitude he would use when he saw Chen Yisheng. However, Editor-in-Chief Chen was a very busy man after all. He had been in a high-level meeting all morning and had not seen him at all.

This was fine, all was well. During lunch break, the four friends sat together in the cafeteria. Qin Xiancheng looked a little off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what. It wasn't until Jin Yaojia came from behind and greeted them that Qin Xiancheng shrank back under the table.

Ouyang Yuan frowned: "You want to be a local rat?"

Qin Xiancheng watched her walk away before crawling out: "This woman is scary."

"What do you mean?"

Qin Xiancheng hesitated for a long time, and finally said concisely: "I confessed to her and was rejected. Don't tell anyone else."

Ouyang Yuan said, "It's more terrifying if you confess your feelings to your colleagues."

What a coincidence? Chi Jin sipped his chopsticks without saying anything. Jin Yaojia's mental fortitude was truly remarkable. She was able to calmly greet Qin Xiancheng as if nothing had happened. If it were her, she definitely wouldn't be able to do that. She'd want to avoid Chen Yisheng as much as possible.

Of course, she wasn't stupid enough to share this with her colleagues.

"Ah..." Duan Xingche's eyes widened, "Doesn't Sister Jiajia have a boyfriend?"

"Ah?" The three were stunned.

"Yeah. I saw a car picking her up, and it was a Cayenne."

"Damn! I told you she was scary! I noticed it from the moment she approached me about writing a column together. She let me fall into her trap step by step. Do you think she'll post big-character posters about me in the editorial office?"

Chi Jin reassured him: "How could that be? You didn't do anything out of the ordinary."

"...I kissed her."

Chi Jinfan almost spit out her words. They were too similar. She couldn't help herself: "Why don't you guys consider the girls' feelings before kissing and hugging?"

"There's nothing I can do about it. My body reacts before words."

"What you said is disgusting." Ouyang Yuan felt a chill in her heart and asked Duan Xingche, "Little boy, do you have a girlfriend?"

Duan Xingche shook his head: "I just got a permanent job. Besides, I don't even have a car right now, no means of transportation. Which girl would want to be with me?"

Chi Jin always remembered the promise he made to Taozi, but he didn't know if it would be unfair to introduce her to Duan Xingche now since she had just broken up.

"Master, can you introduce one?"

Qin Xiancheng answered first: "You're not going to introduce yourself to the kids, are you? I've always felt that something was wrong between you two."

Chi Jin rolled his eyes at him and said to Duan Xingche, "It's my roommate. We just broke up and he cheated on me."

Qin Xiancheng snapped his fingers: "It sounds like he's in love. Okay, if you want to fall in love, you have to find someone with a love brain!"

"I... I'm not worthy of her, am I?" Duan Xingche scratched his head. "Although I'm from here, I live in the suburbs and I'm still renting a house."

"She is too, and like you, she's from the northern suburbs. She's very petite and cute, very sweet-talking, and quirky. She's a year younger than you. She likes younger brothers, and I feel like you're..."

Chi Jin stopped abruptly when he saw Chen Yisheng actually coming to the restaurant to eat with Jiang Hu.

"Oh my god, these two people can actually eat together?" Qin Xiancheng said in a low voice.

"Hey, Editor Chi!" Jiang Hu came over when he saw their table, "And Editor Duan."

During the previous autumn recruitment, the two editorial departments worked together for a few days, and it wasn’t a very pleasant experience.

Except for Ouyang Yuan, the remaining three people stood up and greeted: "Editor-in-Chief Jiang, Editor-in-Chief Chen."

Chen Yisheng and Chi Jin didn't look at each other. Jiang Hu stood between them, not giving them a chance to make eye contact. He pointed to the empty table next to him and said, "Is it empty? Can your Editor-in-Chief Chen and I sit here?"

"Sure, sure." Qin Xiancheng was just being polite.

Jiang Hu sat in the seat closest to Chi Jin, still separated from Chen Yisheng and Chi Jin. He said, "I saw Editor Chi's drinking capacity last time, it was really impressive. Next time there's a group social, let your Editor-in-Chief Chen bring you along."

Chi Jin was not polite: "I quit drinking."

Jiang Hu narrowed his eyes and smiled, "That's a shame. We're planning to set up a new editorial department and need to talk to advertisers first. We're also planning to bring Editor Chi along."

"If the content requires me, I can go, but forget about socializing. Investment negotiations probably didn't rely on drinking companionship."

"Oh my, Editor Chi is saying he's willing to come to my new magazine? I've been pestering your Chief Editor Chen for weeks, but he's been insisting you definitely don't want to leave Faces. I didn't expect you to agree so readily."

Several young editors looked at each other in bewilderment. The experienced one was still the most cunning. With just a few words, Chi Jin fell into his trap easily.

Chi Jin was a little dumbfounded. This word game was played too smoothly. She was too young and couldn't handle it at all.

"Editor-in-Chief Chen...you probably didn't agree to let Xiaochi go, right?" Qin Xiancheng glanced at Chen Yisheng.

Chen Yisheng was vague, his eyes swept over Chi Jin lightly, and then quickly looked away: "Everyone is free to choose. I won't force you to stay or leave."