Chapter Eighty-Seven Birthday

Upon hearing Jiang Chuan's words, Lin Yu turned around, a crack appearing on his deliberately maintained cold expression. "Is there something wrong with Grandma's health?"

Although she harbored immense resentment and suspicion, she wasn't about to throw a tantrum over something concerning her elders' health. It was as if she were bound by an invisible shackle, making any outburst inappropriate.

Seeing that her attitude had softened, Jiang Chuan's tense nerves relaxed a little.

“As you get older, your bodily functions decline, and it’s normal to get minor illnesses. Don’t worry too much.” He reached out and gently smoothed the wrinkles between her brows caused by worry with his fingertips, patiently comforting her.

Lin Yu pursed her lips, smoothed the messy hair by her ears, and lowered her voice involuntarily. "Is the situation serious? Work isn't so busy these days, I can cover for you."

"There are professional doctors and caregivers looking after her 24 hours a day. You can't help much even if you go," Jiang Chuan said casually, not wanting to add unnecessary psychological pressure to her.

"Taking good care of yourself is the biggest help you can give."

"When is a convenient day for you? I'll go with you to take a look." As a junior, I can't be slack in showing my respect and gratitude, especially since that's Jiang Chuan's last remaining relative in this world.

Lin Yu realized that he was in an extremely contradictory dilemma regarding him.

On one hand, I felt heartbroken that he was hiding his entanglement with his ex-girlfriend. On the other hand, I felt sorry for the pressure and hardship he might have to bear alone.

She decided to put these troubling thoughts aside for the time being.

Just as Jiang Chuan suggested, once this period has passed and both sides have calmed down, they do need to find a time to sit down and have an open and honest talk.

If, at that time, what happened before was really just an unpleasant misunderstanding, Lin Yu thought that she might still be willing to continue to walk hand in hand with him.

But if he really can't let go of his ex-girlfriend, then he can wake up as soon as possible and extricate himself from the relationship.

Jiang Chuan thought about his grandmother's recent mental state, which was sometimes lucid and sometimes confused, and even occasionally out of control. He was worried that if Lin Yu went over at this time, he would see some bad scenes, so he shook his head.

"Let's wait a few days until the situation stabilizes."

He reached out and turned Lin Yu's shoulder towards him, his warm thumb gently wiping her slightly reddened eyes. "I'm going to Beijing on a short business trip in the next couple of days."

"Again?" Lin Yu had a vague sense of unease, as if the moment he saw those chat logs, he had put on a pair of "colored glasses," and every little thing he saw through them was filled with the meaning of betrayal.

She instinctively grabbed his wrist, a futile attempt to stop him. "Can't you wait until after my birthday to leave?"

Jiang Chuan pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Some old matters need to be settled."

He paused, looked at her lowered eyes, and comforted her, "I promise you, I will definitely come back on your birthday."

A profound sense of powerlessness suddenly welled up in Lin Yu's heart. She felt as if she were trapped in a cage woven from suspicion, doubt, and moral constraints. Even though she sensed the storm was coming, she was powerless to stop it or prepare for it.

It was as if she had suddenly lost control of the relationship, or perhaps the direction of their relationship had always been in Jiang Chuan's hands, and she could only passively wait for the day of judgment to come.

......

On my birthday, my phone screen lit up precisely at midnight, and Jiang Chuan's birthday wishes and red envelope arrived without fail.

Lin Yu knew he always had a habit of staying up late to handle work, but unlike when they were deeply in love, she no longer forced herself to stay awake and wait for this punctual ritual.

She turned off the lights and went to sleep early, leaving Jiang Chuan's feelings hanging there all alone. It wasn't until the next morning rush hour on the subway that she opened the money transfer he had sent her.

Early that morning, Lin Yu's phone was bombarded with automatic blessing text messages from various banks and apps.

As soon as she arrived at the company, HR approached her with a smile and told her to remember to visit the General Affairs Department when she had some free time to collect her birthday bonus and handwritten greeting card.

Several close colleagues specially ordered her favorite taro bubble tea, filling the entire office with its sweet aroma. But amidst this lively atmosphere that belonged only to her, Lin Yu only felt a sense of unease and exhaustion.

Jiang Chuan called while she was on the third floor collecting the gift money. She glanced down at the screen lit up in her palm, then stepped into the elevator without stopping, letting the doors close and completely cut off the signal.

During her lunch break, Lin Yu took a moment to call him back, but the line was constantly busy. Disinterested, she looked at the darkened screen and didn't force herself to call a second time.

After finishing my meal and clearing my plate, my phone screen lit up again. "In a meeting. I ordered flowers and a gift; remember to pick them up at the front desk later."

Another hour passed, and Lin Yu was already slumped over the table preparing for his lunch break when Jiang Chuan's message popped up again at an inopportune moment.

"The food has arrived. The flight is delayed, so let's grab something to eat first."

"Go home after get off work and wait for me. The restaurant will be open until nine o'clock." These were words Lin Yu didn't want to hear; every single one of them was incredibly annoying.

Jiang Chuan's WeChat messages are always concise and to the point, never containing emojis or redundant pictures. Lin Yu couldn't even discern any emotion in his cold words.

She stared at the two lines of text for a long time, feeling that even one more word in reply would seem cheap. After a while, she only replied with "okay," and her sleepiness vanished. She had no choice but to stand up from the chair.

Lin Yu took the elevator down to the lobby on the first floor and saw the deliveryman waiting for her at the front desk. He was holding a large bouquet of red roses in his left hand and a paper bag with the double C logo on it in his other hand.

When she signed for the package, she smelled the fragrance of roses, but found it too strong and overpowering, so she left it with the front desk so that her colleagues who liked it could share it.

Back at his workstation, Lin Yu opened the gift box and saw a black CF (Crossfire) with a lychee pattern inside.

This was a classic style she had casually mentioned to Jiang Chuan three months ago, and it was currently wrapped in a dust bag, emitting the faint fragrance unique to lambskin.

It must be admitted that deep down, she is still a common person, easily pleased by exquisite and expensive gifts. If she were in the officialdom, she would probably have been swayed by sweet talk eight hundred times over.

Lin Yu ran his fingers along the black leather texture, sighed softly, carefully put the bag away, and thanked Jiang Chuan on WeChat.

For a moment, she even thought, why not just live like this in a daze, instead of having to get to the bottom of everything?

But then I thought, I don't have the ability to be so tactful, and if I force myself to keep going, I'll only make my life a mess.

She gave a wry smile, feeling that she had probably inherited some of her mother's out-of-place stubbornness.

As it was nearing the end of the workday, Chen Guang came downstairs and walked over to Lin Yu as if no one else was there. He leaned over, rested one arm on the partition of her workstation, and placed a rose on her desk.

Happy birthday, Engineer Lin!

Lin Yu looked up and met his pair of smiling peach blossom eyes.

Xiao Zhao immediately peeked out from behind the computer screen with a pair of gossipy eyes, which darted back and forth between the two of them.

Lin Yu glanced at her, held the flower under his nose and took a symbolic sniff, and laughed, "Section Chief Chen's skill in using flowers to present to Buddha is getting better and better."

Chen Guang's gaze swept over the unwrapped gift on the floor, and he leaned against Lin Yu's desk, asking, "Going to celebrate with your boyfriend tonight?"

He didn't seem to mind mentioning Jiang Chuan in front of Lin Yu, which made Lin Yu's previous awkwardness seem somewhat unnecessary.

"No personal matters during work hours." Lin Yu said, head down, organizing her documents. The office was crowded and noisy; she didn't want to become the subject of gossip in the break room, especially since she was the one staying to work there after the New Year.

Chen Guang smiled knowingly and placed a stack of documents in front of her. "The environmental impact assessment revisions have all been marked. The dean wants you to be responsible for compiling them."

He paused, tapping his fingertips lightly on the paper twice. "No rush, just give it to me in the next couple of days."

Lin Yu took the document and flipped through it casually. The places that had been modified were clearly marked by Chen Guang in red pen. The annotations were written in elegant and powerful running script, a far cry from the crooked handwriting he remembered.

She flicked the pages with her finger. "What era are we living in? Section Chief Chen still insists on handwritten annotations? Technology changes lives!"

Chen Guang picked up a book of regulations from her bookshelf and flipped through it casually, chuckling softly at her words. "I'm used to it."

He closed the book and asked casually, "When are you free? I'd like to treat you to a meal as a thank you for helping me find an apartment recently." Worried that Lin Yu might refuse, he added, "Invite Cheng Yuan and the others along too."

As Lin Yu gazed at the darkening sky outside the window, thinking of Jiang Chuan's seemingly endless and repeatedly delayed return journey, a wave of exhaustion and disappointment washed over him once more.

She suddenly didn't want to wait for anyone anymore, nor did she want to return to her deserted apartment alone. So she tossed the documents in her hand onto the table and looked up at Chen Guang.

"There's no time like the present, let's do it today."

Chen Guang's gaze swept meaningfully over Lin Yu's dark circles, and he nodded without saying anything more.

As soon as the person left, Xiao Zhao crouched down and slid over on his chair. "Team leader, didn't you say you two didn't know each other? You two don't seem like it! There's definitely something going on between you two!"

Now that things have come to this, Lin Yu also feels that there's no point in deliberately hiding it any longer.

As she saved the computer file, she casually remarked, "A college classmate." Then, after a moment's thought, she added deliberately, "Just a nodding acquaintance."

"Where is justice?!" Xiao Zhao wailed, resting his chin on his hands and sighing to the heavens.

"Why are you surrounded by such high-quality men, team leader! While I'm surrounded by either ugly ducklings or clueless jerks! This world is so unfair!"

Lin Yu couldn't help but laugh at her exaggerated expression, patting her shoulder to comfort her, "It's okay, you have money to burn!"

"1,880 a day, guaranteed until you retire. Eight-pack abs, replaceable whenever you want, and emotional support available 24/7, always on standby for you. Isn't that much better than dating?"

"Team leader!!" Xiao Zhao's face flushed red instantly. He rushed forward in a fluster to cover Lin Yu's mouth, begging for mercy in a low voice, filled with shame and indignation.

"Please don't mention it! What happened that day was too embarrassing! Dean Li gave me a veiled lecture a few days ago, and now I get PTSD just thinking about video conferences!"