Beyond the Boundary

There was a gentle knock on the office door, then it opened.

The assistant stood at the door and said respectfully, "President Wen, the rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the exhibition tonight is about to begin. Guests and media are arriving one after another."

Wen Lingyi seemed to be startled by the sound. She quickly placed the phone in her hand with the screen facing down on the smooth desk, making a slight sound.

"Got it. I'll be right there." She nodded slightly at the assistant, her voice as steady as ever.

She stood up and subconsciously adjusted the hem of her skirt with her hands. The off-white silk skirt had several fine wrinkles due to sitting for a long time.

Only after the assistant left did Wen Lingyi pick up her phone again.

The screen had gone dark. She hesitated for a moment, but did not light it up again. Instead, her fingertips unconsciously rubbed the cold phone case.

A whole month has passed since that awkward breakup.

She walked over to the floor-length mirror on the side of the office and examined herself in the mirror.

With delicate makeup and appropriate clothes, everything looks the same as usual.

But there is a difference.

She thought she had pulled out in time, cut her losses decisively, but the aftereffects that had silently seeped into her life told her she had been trapped there for far longer and deeper than she was willing to admit.

It feels like a person with a tumor in his body. Even if the lesion is successfully removed, during the long recovery period, the body still has to expend tremendous effort to adapt to the "missing" state and regain balance.

Her love came later than her hate.

Hatred came the fastest and most violently. She first used all her strength to hate Zhou Jianxing's betrayal and armed herself with anger.

But when the hatred faded away, she slowly realized that Zhou Jianxing had already silently integrated into the fabric of her life and became a kind of habitual existence.

Now I have to force myself to quit this habit, and the process is painful and repetitive.

She would always look back uncontrollably, like a person who had smoked for many years and suddenly lost the comfort of nicotine. Her whole body was filled with a kind of anxiety and discomfort like ants crawling. Although she knew it was harmful, she was still pulled by a strong inertia, longing for that brief numbness.

It turns out that the most terrifying thing in the world is dependence, and the most dangerous thing is habit.

The most torturous wound in the heart is often not the initial cut, but the persistent, subtle, non-fatal but unignorable pain during the long healing period.

For example, one night, she went to the kitchen to pour water out of thirst, and her eyes swept across the blue and white checkered cotton apron on the hook, and her steps would stop involuntarily.

Then, the back of the person wearing the apron and busying himself in the dim light of the kitchen will appear clearly in front of my eyes, and even the aroma of food floating in the air at that time will linger in my nose again.

Then, thoughts would spread uncontrollably. Is that woman now wearing another apron, wielding a spatula under the light of another kitchen? Would the steaming heat blur her profile?

The face of the man standing next to her could even be outlined in Wen Lingyi's mind.

This association is meaningless and only adds to her troubles, but it always pops up suddenly when she least expects it.

Her wound was still infected, festering and ulcerating, and was far from being healed.

·

The opening reception of the exhibition was held as scheduled in the evening.

The venue was brightly lit, with elegantly dressed people, celebrities and people from the art circle holding wine glasses and chatting in low voices. The air was filled with a mixture of perfume, wine and the faint smell of cigars.

Wen Lingyi wore a pearly white backless long dress. The silk fabric fit her body curves, and the back design was boldly open to the waist, revealing smooth skin.

A slender diamond bead chain hung down from behind her neck. As she walked, the cool pendant gently sank into the depression between her shoulder blades and then slid away, bringing a subtle, cool touch.

The opening performance was a piano and erhu duet, and the music was changed to "Butterfly Lovers".

The mournful and lingering melody flowed in the space. The performer had superb skills and rich emotions, and the audience below the stage was mesmerized by the music.

Wen Lingyi was holding a glass of red wine, standing a little further back and sipping it.

The wine was sour and astringent, with a slightly sweet aftertaste. She looked towards the stage, but her eyes were somewhat unfocused.

"Look over there," Su Qing nudged her waist gently with her elbow, her eyes signaling in the direction of the crowd, "Cheng Capital's eldest daughter, Cheng Xueqing. Zhaohua Building is one of their family's businesses."

Wen Lingyi followed her gaze and from her perspective, she saw the back of a woman wearing a black off-shoulder dress. She had an upright posture and a relaxed attitude. Her long black hair was simply tied up behind her head, revealing her graceful and slender neck.

The other person was slightly raising his head, watching the performance on the stage intently.

"I heard," Su Qing took a sip of the champagne in her hand, her lips curved up with a hint of teasing, "This Miss Cheng has no interest in men. Although her family arranged their marriage, she and her husband have always been playing their own games and have never interfered with each other."

"So?" Wen Lingyi retracted her gaze and turned to look at Su Qing, her face expressionless. "What do you want to say?"

"Lingyi, you know, the most effective way to forget an old relationship is to start a new one."

Su Qing lowered her head, avoiding her direct gaze, and lowered her voice.

"I just don't want to see you drunk and unconscious in my arms crying in the middle of the night. Why? You've been separated from that person for so long, and you're still in such a bad state."

"That person".

For Wen Lingyi, Zhou Jianxing has successfully replaced Zhu Yang and become a new sensitive word that cannot be mentioned easily.

"She's about your age, mature and rational enough not to be as emotional as a child."

Su Qing made up her mind and poured out all the information she had heard from her friends.

"And her sexual orientation isn't a secret in the industry; it's very stable. At least you don't have to worry all day about her suddenly liking men."

"Even after breaking up, she's always been straightforward and respectable." Su Qing licked her dry lips and continued to persuade, "Her looks, figure, education, and family background are all impeccable. Don't you really want to give it a try?"

For Amelia Su, Cheng Xueqing was almost the perfect choice.

Mature enough, married, and has his own family to maintain.

Even if Wen Lingyi dated her, it would definitely not cause much trouble, and there was no need to worry that Wen Lingyi would get carried away and make an irreversible decision.

After all, even if Wen Lingyi is willing, Cheng Xueqing and the family behind her will never allow it.

For people like them, dignity and interests always take precedence over illusory personal feelings.

"Thank you for... caring about me so much." Wen Lingyi raised her head and drank the remaining red wine in the glass.

This is not an elegant way to drink.

Su Qing carefully distinguished her tone, and couldn't tell whether it contained more sincerity or sarcasm.

Su Qing frowned and looked at her, but finally said nothing.

It must not be easy for someone like Wen Lingyi to have just ended a relationship in which she had truly invested.

·

After a while, Wang Zixuan led Cheng Xueqing over.

Only then did Wen Lingyi truly see the woman that Su Qing had described as "impeccable in both appearance and figure."

To be fair, Su Qing's evaluation is very pertinent.

Three-part face, five-eyes, golden ratio, impeccable like a plastic surgery template.

So exquisite that it is boring, so perfect that it is uninteresting.

"Mr. Cheng, this is our gallery's art director, Ms. Wen Lingyi. She is primarily responsible for tonight's exhibition." Wang Zixuan introduced enthusiastically.

Then he turned to Wen Lingyi and said, "Mr. Wen, this is Mr. Cheng Xueqing from Zhaohua Investment. Mr. Cheng is very interested in the theme of our exhibition. I would like to trouble you to show Mr. Cheng around and give him a good explanation."

"Hello, Mr. Cheng." Wen Lingyi put on an impeccable social smile and extended her hand. "I've long heard of you. You're truly a promising young man. It's an honor to introduce you to tonight's performance."

Moderate compliments were part of her job, and she was already very familiar with it, knowing that those in high positions more or less needed this bit of vanity.

The other person stretched out his hand and shook hers gently.

The hand was extremely cold. The moment their skin touched, Wen Lingyi almost thought she was holding a piece of cold jade. The almost inhumanly low temperature made her subconsciously wonder if the air conditioning in the gallery was set too low.

The cold touch made her think of another pair of hands.

Those hands, whenever they touched her, brought with them a warmth that made her heart warm.

"Hello. Mr. Wen, you are too polite. I am just an empty title in the family." Cheng Xueqing raised her eyes to look at Wen Lingyi, and the corners of her lips also raised into a perfect smile. It was impeccable, but it did not reveal much of her true emotion.

"Then I'll have to trouble Premier Wen. I'm just a layman when it comes to art."

Wen Lingyi nodded and looked away.

The moment her eyes met Cheng Xueqing's, she saw only emptiness in those beautiful eyes, and the emptiness reflected the ruins of her own heart.

Another person like her.

·

They stopped in front of a work made of mixed media.

A lot of people gathered in front of this work.

Lin Rui was obviously not good at speaking and stood aside at a loss. In the end, Wen Lingyi gave a detailed introduction on his behalf.

The work embodies an intense conflict and collision, in which elements of different materials, colors, and shapes are forcibly juxtaposed and superimposed, yet a dangerous and dynamic balance is achieved through some ingenious conception.

What is more touching than the exquisite techniques is the strong emotions gushing out from the work. It seems that without any language explanation, one can directly feel all the thoughts and passion that the creator put into the work.

Of course, in the end, all intense emotions need to be expressed with the help of solid techniques. This is the essential difference between amateurs and experts in artistic aesthetics.

The expression of emotions must ultimately return to the compositional language of the work itself.

Wen Lingyi stood still with a smile on her face, and introduced the creative concept, material usage and artistic value of the work to Cheng Xueqing and the audience around her in fluent and professional language.

She spoke in a simple and clear manner, and the people around her unconsciously held their breath and listened attentively. After she finished her explanation, they tacitly responded with a light round of applause.

Lin Rui on the side also gave her a grateful look.

A work of art is always waiting for the right person who can truly understand and appreciate it.

Cheng Xueqing stood in front of the painting and was silent for a long time. Only when the applause around her completely died down did she slowly speak.

"Premier Wen's explanation was very professional and I benefited a lot from it." His voice was steady and no emotion could be heard.

She paused, her eyes still fixed on the work, as if she were talking to herself.

"But, can people really break through boundaries through self-awareness?"

"Does embracing differences and trying to understand, to some extent, mean giving up a part of your stubborn self?"

“Everyone says we need to break through, but how do we do it?”

Wen Lingyi was stunned.

She didn't expect Cheng Xueqing to raise such a question full of philosophical speculation and strong emotional color, which completely jumped out of the scope of conventional social greetings and professional discussions.

Moreover, she herself could not find the exact answers to these questions.

In a relationship, the hardest thing to break through is never the physical boundaries, but the invisible barrier between people's hearts.

Boundaries are sometimes like a gate.

Are you going to open it yourself and allow another person to walk in?

And can you predict what will happen after opening this gate?

If loving someone means grinding off some edges to accommodate the other person, or even sacrificing a part of yourself...

So are you willing to do that?

Who sets this boundary and how can we break through it?

This time, before Wen Lingyi could organize her words, Lin Rui stepped forward and tried to answer from a creative perspective.

"Mr. Cheng, this question is very interesting. This work actually explores the invisible barriers between people in modern society: information barriers, cognitive differences, inherent prejudices... These are like high walls."

“Our creations hope to inspire viewers to think about how to break through their own cognitive limitations and establish deeper connections with the outside world and with others…”

Cheng Xueqing nodded friendly at Lin Rui, then turned her gaze to Wen Lingyi, her tone returning to its previous calmness. "Please pack this painting and send it to Panhuan·Golden Villa in Yuzhong District. My assistant will send the address to Mr. Wang later. Thank you very much, Mr. Wen, for your patient explanation tonight."

Afterwards, Cheng Xueqing left first.

·

The exhibition continued until late at night and the guests gradually dispersed.

Wen Lingyi walked to the beverage area and took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to her to pick up the red wine and champagne on the table one glass after another.

Alcohol seemed to temporarily fill the empty space in my chest.

"Don't drink anymore." Su Qing held down her hand that was reaching for the wine glass again, her brows furrowed, her eyes filled with obvious disgust. "Didn't you promise me before that you would try to drink less?"

"It's for work. I've already drunk it anyway." Wen Lingyi pushed Su Qing's hand away, not quite gently, and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.

The alcohol made her cheeks flush and her eyes look hazier than usual.

"How was your conversation with Miss Cheng? Did you leave your contact information?"

Su Qing was obviously very satisfied with Cheng Xueqing. In her opinion, only someone of this level was truly worthy of standing by Wen Lingyi's side.

"That's it. I have no interest in her." Wen Lingyi turned her head and glanced at Su Qing mockingly, "Don't you always dislike me falling in love?"

"Yes, I do feel disgusted." Su Qing grabbed Wen Lingyi's wrist tightly as she tried to reach for the wine glass again. Her force was so great that her nails almost dug into her skin.

"But I hate seeing you like this even more! I thought that after what happened with Zhu Yang, you would at least become a little more mature and sober."

Wen Lingyi let her hold her and did not struggle.

She tilted her head slightly, looked at Su Qing's exasperated face, and suddenly felt like laughing.

Under the light, her figure seemed no different from a month ago, still radiant and in control of everything.

But Su Qing felt that she seemed to have changed a lot, but also seemed to have never really changed.