Sunset Flowers
The later part was difficult to endure. Chu Yiqi couldn't actually remember when she was conscious. She only remembered that the last time she was conscious was in a clinic, and the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the scolding from the person she was supposed to call "Mom".
She couldn't remember the content, but it was nothing more than the same old things over and over again, the same words that gradually forced Chu Yiqi back into her shell.
This scene flashed by, and all Chu Yiqi could hear was the phone ringing, the default "beep-beep." For a moment, Chu Yiqi couldn't even tell whether it was the voice in her mind or the reality of the moment.
—Until that moment, Xi Ai answered the phone, and the sound of winter wind and falling snow came through.
It's like a black and white television that has been out of signal for many years, suddenly having a picture at that moment, making up for the long-overdue "I'm here," and a person who just happened to appear in front of you.
Chu Yiqi looked at the sleeping face in front of him, and breathed out very softly, like a stone that had been pressing down for a long time falling into the sea, and a feather drifted down into his palm.
Xi Ai put her coat aside, and Chu Yiqi took a closer look. She noticed that one side was damp. She stared at it for a long time, feeling somewhat relieved that they had laid down a carpet during the renovation, so that there was no noise and Xi Ai wouldn't have woken up.
She slowly approached Xi Ai, then quickly pulled away again.
In the end, Chu Yiqi did not encounter Xi Ai.
The next morning.
Xi Ai woke up and went to the balcony to make a phone call—to Su Luojian.
"What's wrong, Sister Luo?"
"Didn't you see the trending topics?" Su Luojian asked, a little anxious, but not really.
Xi Ai opened Weibo and, sure enough, saw the trending topic that had only just fallen a little. She silently saved the picture before responding to Su Luojian's series of "What do you think? What does she think?"
"I don't know what she's thinking, she hasn't gotten up yet."
"You guys... huh?"
Xi Ai pinched the bridge of her nose and said, "No, it's not exactly a reconciliation, it's just... well, let's talk about it later. Let's just ignore it."
"I'll ask her when she wakes up, but no, I have to ask her now. Why don't you..."
"No, call her yourself, then hang up and say goodbye."
"You! Never mind, I won't make it difficult for you to go and call her—"
The snow hadn't actually stopped, it had just become much lighter, and it would melt instantly if you caught it in your hand.
Xi Ai stood there for a long time, then picked up the glass of red wine in front of her.
Actually, she hadn't eaten yet, so she shouldn't have been drinking.
Xi Ai shook her head and opened a document she had just received.
She only glanced at it a few times before leaving.
Just then, Chu Yiqi came out of the room while on the phone. When he saw her, his gaze fell on the cup in her hand, and he seemed to frown slightly.
Xi Ai turned around, put down her cup, smiled softly, then walked over and mouthed, "Sister Luo?"
Chu Yiqi nodded and immediately turned on the speakerphone.
In the end, they decided to ignore the matter and not give a direct response. Chu Yiqi simply issued a statement in response to another trending topic: "Chu Yiqi wins the case."
Xi Ai actually saw this trending topic. Because there were quite a few people in the audience and the verdict was announced in court, the news spread very quickly.
One of the posts was liked by Xi Ai using a secondary account.
She remembered several comments very clearly—
[Does anyone remember that in the very beginning, every time someone introduced themselves, they said, "The period that started in autumn"? My poor baby.]
[I'm sorry, but my first reaction was really that introducing myself had a bad connotation. I sat up in the middle of the night last night thinking: I'm so stupid.]
Actually, Xi Ai knew about the origin of this name from the very first time Chu Yiqi's parents caused trouble, so later she would always emphasize, intentionally or unintentionally, that "it shouldn't be the Yiqi of Qiu Yiqi".
—The future is promising.
Xi Ai forwarded the email An Zai had just sent to Grandpa Xi, said a few more words, and then put down her phone. The two looked at each other, unsure who spoke first: "What do you want to eat?"
After a moment of silence, Xi Ai said, "I haven't been here for a long time and I didn't prepare any ingredients. Let's go out and get something to eat."
Chu Yiqi nodded almost immediately.
When she returned at noon, Xi Ai sat on the balcony, watching the snow while revising a plan.
Chu Yiqi sat on the other side, writing and drawing in her notebook. Xi Ai didn't seem to notice what Chu Yiqi was writing, but she would occasionally look up at Xi Ai.
Are you going to the company today?
Xi Ai put down her cup without looking up and said, "I have to go. I have a meeting this afternoon."
"Hmm." Chu Yiqi's gaze fell on the empty glass of red wine, lost in thought.
After a while, when Xi Ai noticed her gaze, she picked up the cup and finally said the rest of her sentence, "I'll take it to you later."
Xi Ai said, "Forget it, I can go by myself."
Chu Yiqi didn't reply. She sat on the carpet next to Xi Ai, hugging a butterfly pillow and rewriting lyrics.
Xi Ai watched quietly for a while, sent a few messages, then grabbed her coat and went out.
As she walked past Chu Yiqi, Chu Yiqi suddenly spoke up and asked her, "Then, are you coming back this afternoon?"
"should."
"Hmm." Chu Yiqi lowered his head, and Xi Ai immediately realized what Chu Yiqi was thinking, and that he had made up his mind and was worried about something.
Xi Ai sighed inwardly, but still said, "I'm not sure when it will end, so don't worry about me."
The meeting actually ended quite quickly.
—Xi Ai has always seemed easy to talk to in general, but when it comes to work, she is always meticulous and has very high standards. Her style is even more decisive and efficient than the old man's.
However, as soon as the meeting ended, Xi Ai pulled her good friend out to work overtime. The two of them were on a voice call, and Xi Ai said, "I'm telling you, Young Master Mu, we're already back, but every time I call you, it's just a voice call. You don't want to see me, do you?"
"How could that be? Aren't you tired from working every day?" Mu was a little tired now—she didn't want to be dragged into the fatigue of work by her longtime friend who had relationship problems.
Xi Ai scoffed lightly and said, "This time it's really important business. An Ann connected with my people here, and they seem quite interested in our project."
"Then?"
“Then I didn’t reply.” Xi Ai didn’t ask, nor did she intend to ask about the details of their past. She simply said, “Oh, actually it’s something else entirely. Your school’s centennial celebration, which is the opening ceremony next year, which is in two months. He’s going, as an outstanding graduate.”
Mu Jin paused for a moment before saying, "I'm not a graduate."
"So what? It's up to you. I've delivered the message; it's firsthand inside information."
Mu Jin wanted to laugh a little and said, "You're a student of Crane Half, and you... he... and No. 1 Middle School have moved to different cities, how come you know about it faster than me?"
"I'm a little more well-informed than you."
"Okay, let's get down to business. Do you have time tomorrow? Let's sign a contract." Mu Jin's speech quickened a bit when he got down to business.
"I thought you would have some concerns because of him, even though he doesn't know it's you here yet."
Mu Jin said, "One thing at a time. We've almost won, how can we let him win? But... don't tell him."
Xi Ai nodded and said, "You should check the time. I... have a meeting tomorrow morning."
"Okay, I'll come over to your place at 2 PM this afternoon and check out the AMI2 campus together."
Xi Ai's phone call, which included all sorts of random things, lasted for almost half an hour.
It's only four o'clock.
Xi Ai leaned back in her chair, slowly turned around, and then looked at a document, but couldn't concentrate on it for a long time.
In fact, Chu Yiqi would come here before, but she would come quietly and do her own thing on the sofa. She would wait for Xi Ai to finish her work before they would leave together.
However, Xi Ai doesn't like to work properly at times like this. She'll take a few documents and sit next to Chu Yiqi, half-jokingly complaining about how tired she is, and then try to coax Chu Yiqi into comforting her, usually ending with a kiss.
—It's because of that kiss.
Xi Ai put down the documents and went to make a cup of coffee, but couldn't find it.
Fortunately, Gu Yu returned before Xi Ai could formally reply to her resignation application. He probably had a fight with Xu Zhaoshi, so he came back in the end. However, both of them will be transferred to the subsidiary as vice presidents soon, which can be considered a solution.
Gu Yu looked at Xi Ai, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Um, Ms. Xi, you said before... no, Teacher Chu said not to put coffee in, and you agreed, so we haven't prepared any more since."
Whenever Xi Ai needed a cup of coffee to stay awake, she would always smuggle it from the break room.
Xi Ai paused for a moment, then came to her senses and said, "Oh, I forgot."
"How about I make you a cup?"
"No need," Xi Ai said with a faint smile. "Then I won't drink it."
"Okay, I'm going out?"
"Please close the door, thank you."
Xi Ai stood by the floor-to-ceiling window for a long time, seemingly spotting a familiar car, before giving a self-deprecating laugh.
She was truly bewitched, she thought.
With such heavy traffic, how could anyone recognize it?
The phone rang; it was a piano piece, sped up, but you could still tell it was a track from Chu Yiqi's first solo album, composed by...
It was Xi Ai and Chu Yiqi.
Xi Ai went over, answered the video call, and greeted him in French with a smile: "Long time no see."
The old man across from her gave her a somewhat disdainful look and said very slowly in very, very standard Chinese, "Speak properly."
“Okay.” Xi Ai switched languages fluently.
But then Mr. Xi switched to French: "Let's get down to business."
"oh."
"What about Yiqi? Why aren't you with him?"
Xi Ai blinked and said, "You asked me yesterday, and I did go to pick her up yesterday. But she might not even like me, right? Why would I bother her?"
"Keep pretending, keep pretending!" The old man glared at her and said, "Fine, just know your place. Anzai, how are you going to answer them? Even though they're acquaintances, you still have to behave properly."
"Someone else has been talking about this project for a long time, it's a matter of first come, first served, but there are others who are more suitable for us. I think it's not a bad thing to give them a little benefit and do them a favor."
"You decide what to do."
Xi Ai reviewed some documents and, when she was almost done, prepared to go downstairs.
The all-black car downstairs was still there. Through her sunglasses, Xi Ai clearly saw a very familiar person get out of the car.
Xi Ai was clearly stunned, but she still walked over.
As Xi Ai approached, Chu Yiqi opened the passenger door and took out a bouquet of pink flowers.
Xi Ai had a slight smile on her lips from the moment she saw Chu Yiqi. But as she got closer, the smile faded, and she said, "Didn't you say... you've been waiting for a long time?"
"You said it, but I think I'll be here soon."
If I don't come, I feel like I'm missing out on a lot.
Actually, when Chu Yiqi arrived, she felt that something was missing, so she hesitated for a long time. In the end, she spent a long time choosing flowers in the flower shop, and the shop assistants almost recognized her. Finally, she found a bouquet of preserved flowers in the corner.
Neither Xi Ai nor she liked fresh flowers, so although they kept succulents and other green plants at home, they never really had any flowers.
The only time flowers appeared in their hands was on the day they got together.
Originally, Xi Ai was supposed to go straight back to the villa, but Chu Yiqi arranged to meet her in advance at a place that was perfect for watching the sunset.
I always felt that I needed something with a stronger sense of ritual.
So Chu Yiqi brought flowers to see Xi Ai.
When they returned from watching the sunset that day, they walked side by side without any overly intimate gestures, but something seemed different from before.
Everyone assumed that the flowers were prepared by Sisley herself as a celebration.
Not long after, the bouquet dried up, crumbling into powder when squeezed. The two of them stared at the flowers, then at each other, for a long time.
In the end, the two of them tacitly concluded: "We won't buy flowers anymore. If we do, they'll be preserved flowers."
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