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Invitation Card
Mu Heqing thought that the rest of her life would be lived in a plain and uninteresting way, just as she had imagined.
Before long, she realized how ridiculously naive she had been.
In early spring, the weather is still chilly despite the warming trend, and the daytime weather is quite pleasant.
Mu Heqing sat in front of the computer, her mind already elsewhere. She glanced at the bottom right corner of the desktop. Great, 4:18 PM. She could go home from work in a little over an hour.
Today is just an ordinary Friday, but tomorrow and the day after will be the two most wonderful days of the week.
She's going to have a happy weekend.
"So sleepy." Yu Yazhi, who was sitting at the workstation opposite Mu Heqing, yawned. She probably yawned more than sixty times today.
Yu Yazi is Mu Heqing's senior. She usually wears a high ponytail and thin silver-rimmed glasses. She prefers to dress in a gray shirt with black trousers, and she looks like an elite woman.
Privately, Yu Yazi is a huge fan of TV dramas. She often stays up all night watching them, and she watches them no matter how bad they are.
She usually feels sleepy around 8 or 9 in the morning and 3 or 4 in the afternoon, at which time she will yawn incessantly.
"Sister Yu, it's almost time to get off work." Mu Heqing also yawned; yawns are contagious.
The two people in the office were drowsy.
"Knock, knock, knock." There was a knock on the door.
Mu Heqing dragged himself open the office door, and a man in a business suit with slicked-back hair stood outside. The man's surname was Xu, his given name was Chi, and he was a salesman for the company, a favorite of the boss.
Xu Chi rushed in, shouting as soon as he entered, "Good news, good news!"
Mu Heqing and Yu Yazi ignored him for no other reason than that Xu Chi always asked them for help whenever he had good news.
"This is really good news." Seeing that the two ignored him, Xu Chi asked anxiously, "Are you two free tonight?"
Yu Yazhi rolled her eyes: "I have time to eat, but not to work overtime."
"That's right, it's about eating. The boss is treating the three of us to a meal at 'Hai Cuo You Lang'."
"What?" Yu Yazhi was instantly wide awake, staring in disbelief. "Has God opened his eyes? Or am I still half asleep?"
Mu and Qing had also heard of "Hai Cuo You Lang," which was said to be a uniquely decorated buffet restaurant with outrageously high prices.
“I’m free, absolutely free.” Yu Yazhi nodded repeatedly.
"Where's Xiao Mu?" Xu Chi asked.
Mu and Qing immediately raised their hands to indicate, "I'm definitely available too."
Having a lavish buffet before the weekend sounds great, a perfect start to the weekend.
"OK, see you tonight." Xu Chi hurriedly left again.
Yu Yazhi stood up from her seat and walked to the printer. "Something's not right. The boss is so stingy, why would he treat us to such an expensive buffet?"
Mu Heqing shook her head. She didn't know either, but she just wanted to eat and that was it. Thinking too much would be tiring.
"Knock, knock, knock." The door was knocked on again.
Mu and Qing reluctantly opened the door. This time, a young man in a blue and white striped uniform and a baseball cap stood outside. He was Liu, the courier in charge of this area's "document delivery".
"Wen Di" is the most popular courier service used by most companies in Ancheng, and it is generally used to deliver documents and materials.
"Hello, deliveryman." Xiao Liu had Mu and Qing sign a form and handed her a package.
Mu Heqing took the express delivery and closed the door.
"Is this information sent by a previous client?" Yu Yazhi asked.
“It seems not.”
The courier service uses a common blue and white paper bag with the words "Wen Di" printed on it in large, italicized artistic font. The tracking number, sender's name, sender's address, recipient's name, and recipient's address are affixed to the lower right corner of the bag.
The sender was a name Mu and Qing had never heard of before, Lin Dingguo, and the sender's address was also strange, seemingly a mailing point of "Wen Di".
Generally speaking, the return address should be the sender's address.
Mu and Qing tore open the paper strip sealing the package; inside the bag appeared to be a piece of red cardboard.
She took the contents of the express paper bag out.
A bright red invitation card with large, eye-catching gold lettering.
"Hey, who's getting married? They even sent you an invitation." Yu Yazhi leaned closer. "Looks like your wallet's in for a rough time; you're definitely going to have to give out wedding gifts."
Mu and Qing didn't remember having any relatives or friends getting married, and also, who would specifically send an invitation to her company?
She opened the invitation.
The invitation, written in gold regular script, reads: "We cordially invite Ms. Mu Heqing to attend the wedding ceremony of the groom, Li Shi, and the bride (empty) at 7:18 PM on the 7th of this month. Address: Jiuzhou Manor, Ancheng."
Upon seeing the groom's name, Mu Heqing's fingers trembled for a moment.
mischief?
Yu Yazhi also saw the invitation and said, "This invitation is so perfunctory. Why didn't they even print the bride's name? And who is this Li Shi?"
Mu Heqing pursed her lips. "High school classmate."
"You have a good relationship with him?"
“We haven’t been in touch for many years.” Mu Heqing’s mood plummeted.
Yu Yazi said, "I know that the internet says that after graduating from high school, unless you are very close friends and see each other often, the next time you meet will either be at a class reunion or a wedding."
Mu and Qing stared blankly at the invitation, without saying a word.
“After not contacting each other for so many years, suddenly they send you an invitation. Isn’t that just to collect money as a wedding gift?” Yu Yazi commented. “I’ve encountered this before. A classmate I hadn’t contacted for ten years suddenly said they were getting married and wanted me to attend. I ignored them. If you ask me, you should just ignore them too.”
Yes, ignore it.
Mu and Qing told themselves that as long as they ignored her, her life would continue to move forward steadily.
She crumpled the invitation and stuffed it into the trash can.
…………
After get off work, Yu Yazhi asked Mu and Qing to ride in her car to dinner, and Xu Chi also insisted on coming along.
"Brother Xu? Aren't you with the boss?" Mu Heqing looked at Xu Chi, who was fastening his seatbelt in the passenger seat.
Xu Chi snapped on his seatbelt. "The boss went first, he said he had something to do. Oh, Yu Yazi, why is your car still the same one? How many years have you been using it?"
Yu Yazi started the accelerator: "Give me the money, and I'll change it."
The car quickly left the underground parking garage; her old car still drove steadily.
It was already half dark, and the city's night view was about to unfold. The lights of billboards, high-rise buildings, pedestrians, and vehicles intertwined, and a chill crept in.
The nights in early spring are still cold.
After graduating, Mu Heqing stayed in Ancheng. Her hometown was in Huacheng, which was a bit far from Ancheng, but not too far. Compared to Huacheng, the nights in Ancheng were gentler.
She sat in the car, listening to Yu Yazhi and Xu Chi chat.
"Why did the boss suddenly treat us to dinner?" Yu Yazhi asked while waiting at a red light.
Xu Chi: "Isn't it to thank you guys for helping me land a big client last time? The boss is just happy. Don't tell anyone else."
"I'm not stupid. What could the boss have gone off to do? I don't want to miss dinner tonight."
"It's said that the boss has met his great benefactor," Xu Chi said mysteriously.
"What important person?" Mu Heqing asked.
She joined the company relatively late, and she wasn't very familiar with its history.
Xu Chi said, "Oh, Xiao Mu is late and doesn't know. Let me explain. Our company expanded too much before, and the cash flow broke down, almost causing it to go bankrupt. The boss spent a lot of money to save the company, but it was all in vain. Just before the company was about to collapse, according to the boss, a benefactor appeared who contributed money and effort to save the company."
"There are still such kind people?" Mu and Qing didn't believe it.
Xu Chi: "I don't know the details of the story, but the company is indeed thriving now."
Forty minutes later, the car stopped in a secluded parking lot.
Yu Yazi got out of the car, looked around, and touched her beloved car. "Being surrounded by so many luxury cars, you've got it all."
Mu and Qing also got out of the car. The group walked across the intricately designed bridge over the flowing water, and then through the long corridor made of colorful glass lamps and flowers, and finally they could vaguely see the light and shadow.
"Where is the entrance to this restaurant?" Yu Yazhi asked.
Xu Chi quickly checked the reservation information. "Oh, we went to the wrong place. There's a parking service here, but you insisted on parking yourself. Now look what happened, we seem to have walked to the back door."
Yu Yazi: "I can't accept letting someone dressed like that drive my car."
The person Yu Yazi was referring to was a waiter dressed like he was attending an upscale dinner party when Mu and Qing first arrived near the restaurant. He was in charge of parking, but Yu Yazi absolutely refused to let him drive her beat-up little car.
Mu Heqing pointed ahead, "Sister Yu, there seems to be someone up ahead, I'll go ask them."
She ran forward. By then it was completely dark, and the lights on the path were dim, with only the colorful glass lanterns in the distance still shining brightly.
This restaurant seems to focus on privacy and luxury, hence the minimal use of natural light.
"Hello, I'd like to ask you something..." Mu Heqing suddenly fell silent, as the person standing in front of her didn't seem to be a restaurant staff member.
In front of Mu and Qing was a tall man whose face was indistinct. He had his hands lazily in his pockets, and judging from the general shape of his clothes, he was not one of the restaurant's employees.
"What's wrong?" The man's voice was unexpectedly pleasant, and his attitude was unexpectedly gentle.
Mu and Qing thought the man was a very aloof person.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm lost and can't find the restaurant entrance. I wanted to ask you for directions." Mu Heqing was very polite.
"This is the back entrance. How did you get here? You can still get in here, it's just a little hard to find. Go that way, and you'll see a wooden sign; that means you're on the right track." The man pointed in a direction. Afraid Mu and Qing wouldn't understand, he said, "Never mind, I'm going too. How about I take you with me?"
Mu and Qing discovered that the man was also very enthusiastic.
I've really met a kind person.
Mu and Qing waved to Yu Yazi and the others, signaling them to come over.
The group followed the man into the restaurant without incident.
Mu and Qing thanked her again: "Thank you so much."
The man laughed and said, "It's nothing."
The restaurant's interior lighting was still dim, with only the uniquely designed small lights on the ceiling emitting a warm yellow glow. Most of the restaurant's decorations were made of wood.
They entered through the back door into a narrow corridor, about three people wide, with several small wooden sliding doors on either side. Behind these doors were the restaurant's private rooms, and waiters kept bringing dishes into the rooms.
However, even in this dim light, Mu and Qing could make out the man's appearance. Under the lamplight, the man's hair was styled in a fluffy and stylish manner, his eyebrows and eyes were relaxed, and he had a slight smile on his face. Under his khaki short jacket were long legs wearing black pants.
When Mu Heqing spoke to him, he lowered his head slightly, his light brown eyes fixed on her, the corners of his eyes curving slightly.
This kind of man can instantly charm everyone; he's incredibly approachable, and Mu and Qing definitely wouldn't be able to handle him.
Mu and Qing politely said goodbye to the man.
She thought, "We've only met briefly anyway. We won't see each other again."
[Author's Note]
I've started a new story! Please support and add it to your favorites! [kissing emojis]
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