Chapter 5 Encircled Her
After returning to the company, Gu Cunxi turned on his computer and continued browsing the files on his desktop. After analysis, he concluded that the company's annual revenue should be around 600,000 to 800,000 yuan. Excluding rent, renovation, utilities, labor, and hardware consumption and updates, there shouldn't be much net profit left in a year. Moreover, the entire campus only covers several hundred square meters. In such a location, the rent would be a huge sum.
"Sister Cunxi"
Hearing Cheng Sheng calling her, Gu Cunxi came back to her senses and asked softly, "What's wrong?"
"Can you help me? Although I know the same period comparison, I can't find the key points in summarizing these documents. I have never done this before. I just help other departments print some documents and make some simple tables."
Seeing Cheng Sheng standing aside with a somewhat distressed look, Gu Cunxi smiled helplessly: "Then let's do it together. Let me summarize the documents, and you will be responsible for calculating the same period ratio, how about that?"
"Thank you, Sister Cunxi, you are so kind. I really don't know what to do today without you..." Cheng Sheng said happily
She took the file from Cheng Sheng's hand and looked at it carefully. She opened Excel on her computer. This was something she used to do every day. She summarized the contents of these files. Data statistics were something she was very good at.
No matter before or now, in her heart, her parents and work are the only things she cares about.
…
She hardly stopped for the whole afternoon. Cheng Sheng saw how devoted Gu Cunxi was and knew not to interrupt her. They were busy until the evening. Gu Cunxi sorted out all the documents one by one, compiled them, and rearranged them into a table.
"Huh..." Gu Cunxi leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms. She had to admit that her energy was not as good as before. She had never felt tired working on the watch all night before. But now, after only one afternoon, she felt increasingly tired and her whole body ached.
After an afternoon of document review, she gained a detailed understanding of the company. She discovered that there were significant problems with operational management, including lax employee discipline, lack of work planning, and unclear division of labor.
These documents should have been the responsibility of the sales department management. Weekly reports, summaries, and data analysis were all important documents that would be used in meetings. How could they be handed over to a receptionist who was unfamiliar with the job?
After a while, the company's people started to leave. Gu Cunxi looked at his watch. It was time to get off work. Everyone clocked in on time and walked away in a hurry. On this point, everyone was united.
She picked up her clothes, tidied up her workstation and walked out. At the company gate, she saw Xiao Peiyin from a distance. Her slender and straight back was particularly conspicuous in the crowd.
I wanted to go up and say hello, but when I thought about the strange feeling I had all day, I felt a little uncomfortable. Gu Cunxi hesitated for a while and decided to walk away.
She retracted her gaze, lowered her head and quickened her pace to leave. As soon as she turned around, she heard her gentle voice behind her, like a breeze brushing against her cheek. She trembled unconsciously and stopped.
"Cunxi, where do you live?" Xiao Peiyin came over and smiled at her.
“…”
"Near Changning Road," Gu Cunxi turned around and said lightly
"What a coincidence! I live there too. I take the 255 bus, and you take the bus too, right? We can go together."
The familiar and pleasant fragrance surrounded her body and penetrated into Gu Cunxi's nose. She wanted to find an excuse to refuse, but she seemed to be looking forward to something in her heart.
In fact, she was willing. Gu Cunxi's heart gave him a clear answer, and he couldn't say no.
"Cunxi? Are you listening? What are you thinking about so absentmindedly?" Xiao Peiyin saw that she looked absent-minded, raised an eyebrow and asked softly
"Hmm?" Gu Cunxi came back to her senses and stared blankly at the person standing in front of her. Although she felt a little embarrassed, she couldn't refuse. Or perhaps she didn't want to refuse. Gu Cunxi sighed lightly, shook her head and said, "No problem, I'm also taking bus 255, so let's go together."
After saying that, she turned and walked towards the station. Xiao Peiyin followed her and the corners of her mouth unconsciously raised the arc, even she herself didn't know
The two of them were silent along the way. She walked beside Xiao Peiyin, glancing at her from time to time.
What should I say? She thought to herself
Such silence was really awkward. Gu Cunxi held it in for a long time before he spoke slowly. When he spoke, he realized that his voice was hoarse.
"I heard Cheng Sheng call you Pei Yin. Is your last name Pei?"
As soon as she asked, she realized that this was a stupid question. If her surname wasn't Pei, could it be Yin?
"Oh, by the way, I forgot to introduce myself to you. My last name is not Pei, but Xiao."
Gu Cunxi smiled awkwardly
"Nice to meet you, Gu Cunxi." She turned her head and looked at her with gentle eyes.
When their eyes met, there was a slight light in her dark pupils. Her beautiful almond eyes made people feel gentle when looking at them, and as clear as spring water.
Gu Cunxi was stunned for two seconds, then quickly turned his head away and looked forward. It felt like someone was beating a drum in his heart, thumping...
"Are you and your boyfriend planning to get married?" Xiao Peiyin found a topic. She couldn't help but be curious about this beautiful woman who was quiet and silent.
After yesterday, Gu Cunxi was particularly sensitive to the word "marriage". She really didn't want to talk about it. If she thought about it carefully, if they loved each other, she should be looking forward to it. But not only did she not look forward to it, she was very opposed to it.
"I haven't thought about getting married." Gu Cunxi's tone turned colder. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "What about you? Have you been married for many years?"
"Well, I've been married for seven years and have a daughter!" She paused and added, "And a son..."
Gu Cunxi nodded, thinking: "Having a son and a daughter is very happy, but the boy is a bit naughty."
Xiao Peiyin curled the corners of his mouth and did not respond.
Although she looked like she was smiling, if you looked closely you would find that her smile was bitter. Gu Cunxi did not notice that and she thought she was really smiling.
Her thoughts were all on Xiao Peiyin's reaction when she mentioned her son. She paused and hesitated. Normally, she would have directly stated that she had two children, a boy and a girl. She didn't know why she mentioned them separately, and her tone was a little hesitant.
The two walked side by side to the station. The station was packed with people, just like during the morning rush hour. This time was also the evening rush hour...
"You're not from here, are you? Your accent doesn't sound like someone from here."
"Well, I'm not from here. I've only been in Jianghuai for a few days."
Gu Cunxi did not intend to tell her where he was from, where he came from, and why he came. These had nothing to do with Xiao Peiyin, but telling her would also be related to her pain, so she was unwilling to tell
Xiao Peiyin didn't wait for Gu Cunxi to speak again, so she didn't ask any more questions. She knew she was not a local, but Gu Cunxi didn't tell her what she really wanted to know.
"I'm not a local either, but my hometown is not far from Jianghuai, in a small place nearby. My husband is a local, and I've been living in this city since we got married. It's been seven years..."
Gu Cunxi heard something else in her tone, something like loneliness. Her voice seemed to float from far away, leaving people with a hollow and lonely feeling...
Xiao Peiyin lowered his eyes, staring at the muddy toes of her shoes, and asked calmly, "Have you been singing in bars before?"
"Yeah," Gu Cunxi nodded, hesitant to speak.
It didn't take long for the bus to pull into the station. Because it was the evening rush hour, there were many people on the bus, crowded and close to each other. The two stood together, and Gu Cunxi was slightly taller than her.
The car was shaking, and their bodies bumped into each other from time to time as the car was moving.
A faint fragrance drifted over, and Gu Cunxi's hands on the railing tightened unconsciously.
The two of them were silent along the way. Gu Cunxi didn't like talking to people in crowded places. She thought Xiao Peiyin might be the same.
Suddenly, there was a sharp brake sound, accompanied by the driver's yelling, and the people in the car lost their balance.
Xiao Peiyin didn't hold onto the handrail tightly, and her body slipped and fell backwards. In a flash, a pair of hands tightly grasped her waist, and the arms tightened and pulled her back...
The imbalance between the front and the back made her unable to stand steadily, and her right hand subconsciously wrapped around Gu Cunxi's waist.
The two of them were so close that they could even feel each other's temperature, their breaths intertwined, becoming sticky.
"Are you okay?" Gu Cunxi asked softly.
"No...it's okay." Xiao Peiyin was stunned. At close range, her face was particularly clear.
Although hugging and holding hands between two women is not strange, at this moment, it attracted the attention of others, with a hint of strange scrutiny.
Maintaining this posture, they were stunned for a few seconds.
Xiao Peiyin's fingers around her waist slid lightly unconsciously. She didn't even notice whether such a distance and action was too ambiguous. It was just a subconscious reaction, like an instinct without any reason.
A faint scent of perfume penetrated the nose, mixed with the coolness of the two people's mint cigarettes.
She smokes? Xiao Peiyin thought, and couldn't help but sniff it hard.
This kind of cigarette smell is actually quite pleasant, the light tobacco aroma is permeated with a hint of cool mint. She has always hated the smell of cigarettes, because Chen Feng has been smoking for many years and always has a strong smell of tar on his body. She hates this very much, but the smell on Gu Cunxi is very fresh. Although there is also the smell of cigarettes, it is not disgusting at all. In fact, this light tobacco aroma is somewhat charming.
For the first time, Xiao Peiyin felt that the smell of cigarettes could be so pleasant.
"Um, Xiao Peiyin?" Gu Cunxi looked around awkwardly.
"Hmm?" Xiao Peiyin came back to her senses and suddenly noticed the gazes of the people around her and the posture between them. She instantly let go of her hand and took a big step back, widening the distance between them.
"Sorry, thank you," Xiao Peiyin whispered, with a hint of panic in her eyes, and straightened her wrinkled clothes.
The loud yelling of the driver in front startled Gu Cunxi back to his senses and he whispered, "The car is very unstable, hold on tight."
"Okay, I understand." Xiao Peiyin pursed her lips and tightened her grip on the railing.
Just now, with such close contact, Gu Cunxi's delicate facial features fell into her eyes and looked very real. Her facial features were three-dimensional, with a pair of European and American eye sockets that made her eyes look very deep, and her lips were pink. For a 30-year-old, there were no lip lines. Her lips looked soft. I wonder what kind of boyfriend she is to match her.
Gu Cunxi didn't say a word the entire way. She deliberately took a half step to the right, trying to distance herself from Xiao Peiyin. Perhaps this would calm her turbulent thoughts. The skin on her lower back, where she had just brushed against it, felt as if it was burning hot...
The radio on the bus started announcing the station name. Xiao Peiyin withdrew his thoughts and was stunned by his previous thoughts.
Why did he stare at her lips for so long?
"Xiao Peiyin, we've arrived," Gu Cunxi said as he walked towards the back door. Xiao Peiyin hurriedly came to his senses and hurriedly got off the bus through the crowded crowd.
The two stood in front of the station, the atmosphere was indescribably strange.
"Um, which neighborhood do you live in? I'm going east." Xiao Peiyin raised her hand and pointed in the direction behind her.
"Unlike you, I'm heading west and leaving first."
After saying that, he turned and left without waiting for Xiao Peiyin's response.
“…”
On the way back, thinking of the scene on the bus, Gu Cunxi unconsciously curled the corners of her mouth. She didn't mind such a touch at all. Her right hand subconsciously touched the place where Xiao Peiyin had hugged her just now, as if there was still some warmth left.
Gu Cunxi suddenly stopped and stood by the street, becoming increasingly confused about her thoughts and actions. As if her body was being controlled, she shook her head violently, thinking that it was probably because of the emergency situation that she did not mind being touched like this.
*
Xiao Peiyin stood at the door, groping for the key. The moment she opened the door, she saw her daughter running towards her.
"Mom~"
"Little greedy cat, are you hungry again?" She reached out and picked up her daughter, pinching her tender little face.
"Are you back?" Chen Feng came from the living room and said while reading the newspaper
"Hmm" Xiao Peiyin turned around and glanced at him, his eyes showing some coldness.
"I'm going to eat at my parents' house tonight, and then I'll help Nannan with her homework there."
The same people, the same scene, her seven years of marriage life, without any waves, as calm as stagnant water. Xiao Peiyin put down the fruits and vegetables she bought on the road, looked at her daughter running and jumping in front of her, and smiled gently. An An looked very much like her, and there was no trace of Chen Feng on her cute little face.
For Xiao Peiyin, her daughter is the only thing in her marriage that she has no regrets about. It seems to have given her a little comfort in her hard and complicated life.
"Mom, Mom!" An An jumped and spun in circles, waving his little hands in the air.
"What's wrong, An An?"
"I want to eat this." An An held an apple in his hand and pursed his lips.
"An An, go to the living room and wait for me. Mommy will wash it and give it to you." Xiao Peiyin took the apple from her daughter's hand and kissed her on the cheek.
An An shook his little head and nodded
Xiao Peiyin was holding an apple and was about to turn to the kitchen when she heard Chen Feng's impatient voice behind her: "Apple, isn't there one over there? Mom and Dad are waiting for us to eat, let's go over there first."
Xiao Peiyin looked at the apple in her hand, her eyes gradually darkening.
The thought of having dinner at his parents' house would make her feel overwhelmed. Every meal in front of Chen Feng's parents would make her unable to swallow.
Either explode in silence or perish in silence
For seven years, she has chosen the latter
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