Chapter 37
Tang Ruxin stood in the middle of the bedroom and looked around. She suddenly felt something strangely wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. She opened the curtains and saw the main road outside. She could see her car parked in the yard.
The windowsill and floor were spotless, and the clothes in the closet were neatly stacked by season. A round table sat by the window, topped with an upside-down cup and kettle. A tall, narrow corner shelf stood against the wall. High up, it held a few study materials issued by the company, and below, photos of her and her hanging out.
In the photo, the two of them are holding ice cream cones, arm in arm, smiling brightly. Tong Jiayu is half a head shorter than her, but she insists on hugging her shoulders, standing on tiptoe and stretching her neck in an attempt to appear taller, making her posture look particularly funny - she is making trouble, she is laughing, and it is as beautiful as a dream.
Tang Ruxin turned the photo upside down and left without a trace.
No matter how beautiful it was in the past, from the moment she cried and begged Tong Jiayu to tell the truth, and Tong Jiayu still chose to lie, her fate with her was broken.
Sitting down by the bed, Tang Ruxin opened the top drawer of her nightstand. Inside were common items like a hair tie, a steam eye mask, and essential sleep oil, along with two empty bottles of multivitamins and fish oil supplements. Both were over a year past their expiration date. She opened the bottles and examined them, finding no pills in sight. Given Tong Jiayu's almost obsessive tidying habits, why would she have left two empty bottles?
She put it close to her nose and sniffed it. There was no smell, but there was powder. Tang Ruxin looked at the bottle carefully. It was fish oil. How could there be white powder in a bottle of fish oil?
Tang Ruxin screwed the bottle cap back on, then opened the drawer door, revealing several neatly stacked boxes. She hesitated for a moment, feeling it would be inappropriate to rummage through Tong Jiayu's things without permission, but then she tossed her hesitation aside. Tong Jiayu hadn't felt bad when he'd lied to her, so why should she be so polite?
There were three boxes in total. Tang Ruxin took them out of the cabinet and placed them on the bed. She opened the smallest one, which was full of clipped company magazine news.
Judging from the earliest news items, Tong Jiayu began collecting them shortly after joining the company. She collected the most information about Tang Ruxin, followed by Yu Zhe and Tang Jiulin. The scraps of paper, varying in size, were stacked chronologically. Flipping through them felt like retracing one's own path.
Tang Ruxin chuckled softly, her mind drifting to Tong Jiayu, carefully searching for information about herself in the company's journals. After a moment, she froze her smile, slowly tidied the papers, and closed the box.
The second box contained two A5-sized photo albums.
Most of the album consisted of solo photos of Tang Ruxin, some even out of focus. Tang Ruxin flipped through them, some from years ago, some more recent. Though they were all candid photos, they showed her with delicate makeup and a well-groomed appearance. It was clear the photographer had gone to great lengths to make her look beautiful and confident.
But was it necessary for Tong Jiayu to secretly take photos of her? If he wanted to, he could just tell her directly. She wouldn't refuse.
There were also several selfies of Tong Jiayu, but in the background, Tang Ruxin was either looking at her phone or using her computer. Even group photos had to be taken secretly. Was it because she was afraid she wouldn't agree, or perhaps because she didn't want to know? These photos filled two thick albums, all taken without her knowledge. Tang Ruxin suddenly felt a pang of pain.
At the end of the album, after a few blank pages, there was a photo hidden in the album cover. Perhaps when she took the box out, she shook it a few times, and the corner of the photo was exposed.
The photo is a bit yellowed, at least a dozen years old. In the photo, Tong Jiayu is about fourteen or fifteen years old, thin as a stick, and she is completely different from the plump and slightly plump girl she is now.
She had a youthful, fresh-faced appearance, short hair, and a rather neutral androgynous outfit: a loose white T-shirt and gray sweatpants. With her hands in her pockets, she leaned against an iron railing, beyond which lay a vast expanse of distant mountains and a slate-gray sky. She stared blankly to the side, her face devoid of a smile, as if she was deeply reluctant to have this photograph taken.
Tang Ruxin stared at the photo for a long time, the more she looked at it, the more strange it seemed to her. There was something indescribably odd about Tong Jiayu's expression and her outfit. The entire photo was oppressive and dreary, like a promotional still for some gloomy, art-house film. After staring at it for so long, Tang Ruxin felt a little short of breath.
Suddenly, the door downstairs made a sound of being unlocked. Tang Ruxin was startled and quickly turned on her phone to check the gate surveillance. The camera showed Tong Jiayu struggling forward with a cane.
Tang Ruxin looked at the photo again, hesitated for a moment, and then took a picture of it with her phone. Then she hurriedly stuffed the photo into the album cover, put it back into the box, and put all the boxes into the bedside table. She opened the door and went out, and saw Tong Jiayu struggling to climb the stairs with a cane.
Her face was pale, her hair was soaked with sweat, her hands on the crutches were shaking slightly, and every step she took was extremely difficult. She looked up and saw Tang Ruxin standing safely at the stairs, and she was obviously relieved.
"Why didn't you answer my call? I was worried about you."
Tang Ruxin walked down a few steps and helped Tong Jiayu back to the first floor living room to sit down. She went to the kitchen to get a cup of warm water, handed it to Tong Jiayu and said, "I was so tired that I fell asleep as soon as I got back. I didn't hear the phone ring."
"Are you still angry?" Tong Jiayu asked cautiously, holding the water cup in both hands but not drinking it.
Tang Ruxin was silent for a moment. She hadn't really decided how to treat Tong Jiayu. She had wanted to move out before she was discharged. The house belonged to the company, so it was better for her to leave than for Tong Jiayu to leave. She hadn't expected her to limp out of the hospital.
"If I say yes, will you tell the truth?" Tang Ruxin looked at her calmly.
Tong Jiayu opened her lips slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but closed them again after a moment.
Tang Ruxin smiled and said helplessly: "Fortunately, you didn't choose to continue insulting my IQ."
"Why, do you think I'm lying..." Tong Jiayu asked in a low voice.
"I've been suspended now. Yu Zhe wouldn't choose this moment to team up with you to deal with me. You can't hide your love for someone. Similarly, you can't hide your dislike for someone. I've never seen love for Yu Lei in your eyes, only disgust."
“I was…”
Tang Ruxin raised her hand to stop her from speaking. "The first time you met Yu Lei was in the central control room, and I thought you hated him then. So when you told me you liked him, I was surprised. I thought something had happened between you that changed your impression of him. But it turns out you've been lying to me ever since then."
Tong Jiayu pursed her lips silently and stared down at the water cup in her hand.
"You know full well that this accident has caused me so much guilt and pain, and that I bear the brunt of the deaths and injuries. Do you think it's reasonable to say that you exaggerated your injuries to make me feel bad and had the doctor put you in a cast? Or do you simply enjoy witnessing my pain and guilt?"
"Ruxin...you know I can't." Tong Jiayu's eyes were red and she spoke with a heavy nasal tone.
Tang Ruxin leaned back against the soft sofa cushions, tiredly raised her hands to cover her sore eyes, and said in a hoarse voice:
"So, I asked you three questions in total, and you lied about every one of them."
Tong Jiayu was quiet for a long time, and finally said, "I'm sorry."
"You know, I have a mental mysophobia. No matter what kind of emotion it is, it only goes one way in my heart. There is no room for going the other way."
Tang Ruxin lowered her arm that was across her eyes, sat up and looked at Tong Jiayu.
"Tong Jiayu, where are you going now?"
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