20. Only You
She knew full well that he hadn't felt much for their tea date. He was polite, she was distant. They'd just checked in on each other, filling a gap after five years of no contact, and nothing more to say after that. She could be completely heartless in everything she did, and thanks to her, he'd slowly become indifferent, less and less concerned. When they met again, she didn't mind talking about the past, and he clearly felt the same way. They were both more rational than when they'd broken up, and their way of interacting had become much more relaxed.
Except sex, there's nothing rational about sex.
Yao Ling returned to her homestay and saw her parents resting in their room. She grabbed the magazines and film camera from the table and went into the room, turning on the light. The film camera wasn't suitable for work, but for play. She put it in her suitcase for later use, then put her hair up and went to shower.
After leaving Tsim Sha Tsui, Deng Shilang drove towards the apartment. Halfway through the drive, Liang Litang called him. He tapped the screen and played the call through Bluetooth.
"Has it been delivered? She doesn't even reply. She sends you a message but you don't even read it." Liang Litang had just finished the task at hand when the mouse made a sound.
Deng Shilang glanced at the screen and said, "It's delivered. I'm driving, how can I look at my phone?"
"Okay, I'm ready to call it a day." Liang Litang clicked the computer to shut down, stretched, and said, "Your department doesn't seem too tired. This month, only three companies have been listed on the main board from GEM. This morning, that biopharmaceutical company released a newly developed prescription, and its stock price has risen sharply. Customer orders are plentiful."
Deng Shilang stopped at a red light and said, "You know the CSRC is ahead of us. They need time, and the review process isn't that fast." He briefly explained, then asked, "Are all the orders going to this biopharmaceutical company?"
"Yes, the clinical data is good, the product has been approved for marketing, and they bet it has a promising future." Liang Litang was a little sleepy, so he stood up, put on his coat, and prepared to go downstairs.
There was a rustling sound over there, and Deng Shilang understood, "The market closes at 4:30. They're spending so much time helping them research new securities."
"I'm still looking into it with other colleagues. My boss takes it very seriously." Liang Litang got into the elevator, pressed the button for the floor, and sighed, "Rosalie's leaving in a few days. I might not even have time to spend with her."
The light turned green, and Deng Shilang stepped on the accelerator and said, "She likes someone."
"Indeed." Liang Litang agreed with this, and then said, "Drive slowly. I'm going home now. I'll treat you to lunch tomorrow."
Deng Shilang said bye, hung up, and soon drove to the apartment. When he arrived, he saw familiar high heels lying next to the carpet. There was the sound of a phone call in the living room. It was Chen Li'er, discussing work with someone there.
He went over to kiss her, put his phone on the table, and without further interruption, went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. When he came out again, he saw that the phone screen was on, and she was checking it while she was on the phone.
Deng Shilang placed two glasses of water on the table, sat on the sofa, and waited for her to end the call. He said, "You can still do two things at once."
"Just supervise my boyfriend as usual."
He watched her scrolling, and when she reached her mailbox, he tapped her head twice to remind her: "Okay, don't open G-mail. It's all business secrets."
Chen Li'er switched to WhatsApp and read the previous message. She said, "This Liang Litang, I even want to delete him." She returned the phone to him and said, "It's settled. I'm not stingy at all."
"I happened to read last night about what happens when couples share with each other." Deng Shilang suddenly remembered.
"How about it?"
"I don't want to look at your phone. No couple can stand sharing." He admitted, drinking water. "Let me ask you, has anyone sent you a dickpic on Instagram? If so, block them and tell them to go to hell."
"I asked the studio's PR to help me." Chen Li'er turned a blind eye. Hearing the jealousy in his calm tone, she smiled and kissed his face, "I can't, and neither can you."
Deng Shilang hugged her. Since nothing happened between him and Yao Ling tonight, their tacit agreement came into effect and they would not cross the line.
The next day, Deng Shilang dropped Chen Li'er off at the studio and then drove to work. Just as they were getting a refill of coffee in the company's tea room, they were about to begin a hearing. Their supervisor's assistant handed them some documents, including the timely disclosures of the biopharmaceutical company's financial results and voluntary announcements regarding innovative drugs, which Liang Litang had mentioned.
He glanced at the document in his hand, Mainland Company.
At lunch time, Liang Litang kept his word and treated Deng Shilang to a good meal. After the meal, they worked until the evening before leaving the building.
Yao Ling has already started packing her luggage for the mainland. The luggage is not heavy and the B&B lease will be renewed. She forgot that she bought a round-trip ticket between Hong Kong and Milan. They still have to fly from Hong Kong to Milan, so they will stay in Hong Kong for a while before leaving.
After cleaning up, Yao Ling went to the tea restaurant to help and learned how to make sweet soup. Qiu Ping was very happy to hear that they would come to Hong Kong again and couldn't stop smiling.
Time passed quickly, and Yao Ling rarely saw Liang Litang. She spent the remaining days with her parents alone, and then went to West Kowloon to catch a bus to the mainland.
When they arrived at the place where they grew up, Yao Ling opened WeChat and sent a message to Xiaoyu, telling her that they could meet and reunite.
Xiao Yu made an appointment with her at a coffee shop near the high school. He ordered two cups of coffee in advance and waited. When he saw her, he immediately stood up and hugged her, unable to contain his excitement. "How come you are even more beautiful than in the video? It's exaggerated."
Yao Ling was very happy to finally meet Xiao Yu. "Give me an Italian kiss on the cheek," she said, and then she kissed Xiao Yu three times on both cheeks.
After the ceremony, they sat down to drink coffee and chat.
Xiao Yu heard something interesting and teased, "So you've been in Hong Kong for half a month, so you can meet DC."
"I saw it." Yao Ling nodded.
Xiao Yu opened his phone and pointed it at her. "He said he was coming to the mainland on a business trip. Didn't he tell you?"
Yao Ling really didn't know. She was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect him to come to the mainland. She said, "We still don't have any contact information."
"Damn it, didn't I tell him about your Instagram?"
Yao Ling couldn't help laughing when she heard her accent: "Why do you speak so Taiwanese? Where's your boyfriend?"
"This is not important at all. What's important is that my last call with you was in vain." Xiao Yu was speechless.
Yao Ling shrugged and took a sip of her coffee, which had a faint lipstick mark on it. She watched Xiao Yu, her head down, busy with something. Soon her phone rang. It was a WeChat group Xiao Yu had created, and Deng Shilang was in it.
"That's not necessary."
"Please, you used to ask me to be your messenger. Don't forget how you first added each other's contact information."
Yao Ling recalled that it was Xiao Yu who had asked for the attendees' contact information before the international students left. She had persuaded them to open WeChat and leave their Instagram handles, then created a large group and invited everyone who attended. That's how Yao Ling saw Deng Shilang in the group, a gray avatar. She didn't add him, but he added her separately. That night, she held her phone for a long time, her heart racing. She lay in bed for two hours, her face and heart covered, before finally accepting his friend request.
Yao Ling stopped reminiscing, pinched a bag of sugar, tore it open and poured it into the coffee, "He won't take the initiative to add it to my coffee now."
Deng Shilang rarely opened WeChat until he crossed the mainland and clicked on a message. He stumbled upon a group chat. He knew that besides Xiaoyu, the other person was Yao Ling. As usual, he ignored her and took a taxi with his colleagues to the hotel to settle in. For the first few days, they would conduct research at biopharmaceutical companies in accordance with listing regulations, and would also visit the securities trading services company established by the Hong Kong Exchange. The rest of the time would be more relaxed.
After checking into the hotel at 8pm, Deng Shilang left a message for Chen Li'er in the lobby. After tidying up, he went upstairs and saw Yao Ling wearing hotel slippers in the corridor.
Yao Ling took the hotel room card and didn't pay attention to who was next to her, but she heard a familiar voice asking, "Your family is gone."
She looked up and found it was Deng Shilang. She put down her hand that was swiping the card. "No more," she asked again, "you too."
He stood at the door and said, "My dad rents it out to someone else."
Yao Ling nodded in understanding. He used to walk her home after school, but that place was gone now. She swiped her card and went in without saying goodbye.
Deng Shilang smiled, thinking it was pointless to say anything. He opened the door and went into his room. After showering, he sat at his desk, checking his email on his laptop. A message popped up on his phone. It was Xiaoyu in the group chat. He took the time to reply with a couple of words and continued writing his email. Five minutes later, Xiaoyu called him, and he casually answered, still typing in English.
"What's going on? I'm busy. I haven't drunk enough to bother others." Deng Shilang is always so casual with his friends.
"Where's Lingling?"
"If you want to find her, just send her a DM. I don't know."
"She didn't reply to me."
"That means taking a bath."
Xiao Yu felt bored and quit. He was still staring at his laptop, not paying attention. When he heard the voice on the other end, he thought Xiao Yu was still there. He typed several emails in a row, dozens of lines of business English. He pinched his nose and continued typing.
"Only you." Yao Ling said.
Deng Shilang paused, then looked at the screen and realized that there were only the two of them. "So you can answer the phone."
"I was wondering when you became so stupid that you wouldn't quit even if no one picked you up."
“No time to look at the phone.”
Yao Ling didn't say anything, and his shallow breathing came into the microphone. He was also very quiet, so quiet that only the sound of the keyboard could be heard.
Deng Shilang finished writing his last email, closed his mailbox, and covered his notebook. "Why, the keyboard sounds are nice, but you don't admit that you want to hear my voice."
Yao Ling smiled and said, "It's up to you to take care of yourself, or you don't know what I'll do if I hear it."
Deng Shilang realized that she might have gotten wet, so he interrupted, "Stop talking."
She was the one who hung up first.
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