Chapter 23
Yan Qing had been troubled by too many things lately, and after being ridiculed by Secretary Gao, she finally snapped. Although she retorted at the dinner table, she still felt suffocated, and as she walked with her head down, the soles of her shoes stomped loudly on the floor.
It wasn't until someone else walked beside her that she realized Shen Hanyang had caught up.
“I’m angry,” he said. It sounded like a question, yet also like a description.
"I wouldn't dare."
"Hmm...pufferfish."
"What pufferfish?" She thought she had misheard.
Shen Hanyang covered his mouth and coughed lightly: "It is—pufferfish."
Yan Qing assumed he was serving a dish on the table and couldn't help but say sarcastically, "Such expensive ingredients are beyond my means. You can keep them for yourselves."
Shen Hanyang seemed to be suppressing a laugh.
Yan Qing stopped abruptly, exasperated: "What are you doing following me?"
"Seeing you walk away so angrily, I came over to ask what happened. After all, you'll still need to come to my house for lessons in the future."
"Ask about the situation?" Yan Qing almost burst out laughing, unsure whether to say he was truly absent-minded or feigning ignorance.
"The thing is, I admire you all; there's nothing you can't find fault with. I'm poor and haven't seen much of the world. If it weren't for you, I would never have had the chance to experience the life of high society: amusement parks without queues, caviar that costs more than my monthly living expenses. But please understand, I work for you, there's a contract, I provide labor, you pay me, it's a mutual agreement, equal and trustworthy. I've never demanded anything that doesn't belong to me, nor have I done anything against the rules. I'm upright and honest; what obligation do I have to demean myself to satisfy your superior, depraved tastes?"
Shen Hanyang nodded, deeply agreeing: "That's right."
Yan Qing continued, "I understand your psychology all too well. You ridicule all the poor people in the world. You look down on this one and that one. You're afraid I'll take advantage of you, afraid I have ulterior motives, or even afraid I'll cling to you? You're overthinking it! People like you, narrow-minded and sarcastic, are hard to find even with a lantern. I avoid you like the plague! Not everyone envies your wealthy lives. Finally, let me give you one more piece of advice: the world you see reflects the kind of person you are!"
Shen Hanyang looked at her with interest: "Finished?"
"That's all."
Shen Hanyang pondered for a moment: "I roughly counted, and you just used 'you all' more than a dozen times. You're very good at drawing boundaries."
Yan Qing raised her head, still brimming with excitement: "What's the problem? What else could it be but 'you'?"
Shen Hanyang looked completely innocent: "You didn't even ask for my opinion before deciding to put me in a camp with the others, making it seem like I was bullying you with them. But I didn't say a word the whole time."
Yan Qing was furious: "Silence means tacit approval, it's encouragement!"
“There was no encouragement,” Shen Hanyang defended himself. “I just thought it was all just banter, harmless and unimportant. To be honest, I didn’t pay attention to most of what they said.”
"Of course it doesn't matter to you, because you're not the one getting criticized; they're being very friendly to you! Try being in my position and see if you can still be so calm."
Yan Qing hadn't lost her temper like this in a long time. While burning with anger, she couldn't help but be surprised by her own performance.
The curve of Shen Hanyang's lips became more and more pronounced, and when he could no longer hide it, he finally turned his face away and laughed out loud.
Yan Qing's face darkened as she looked at him: "You can laugh all you want here." With that, she turned to leave.
Shen Hanyang blocked her way: "When are you coming back to class?"
Yan Qing showed no mercy: "The contract has been terminated."
Shen Hanyang repeated his words: "I can add money." Then he added: "A lot more."
Yan Qing gritted her teeth: "We're not on the same path. I'm not capable of making money off you. Don't contact me again."
This road, located on one side of East Lake, is rarely visited; not a single passerby was seen for half a day. The weeping willows on both sides of the road partially obscured the figures of the two people. If one didn't hear their conversation, the scene would easily be mistaken for a couple in love on a date.
Shen Hanyang stared at her for a long time, then suddenly leaned closer, the two of them just a breath away.
Yan Qing paused for a few seconds.
He frowned: "You've been drinking?"
Yan Qing took two steps back in surprise.
Last night, she did indeed go to Fantland again and sat there for two hours. She only drank sparkling orange juice, but Zhuge Xiaoxiang drank too much. Hu Ruoting wasn't there, so she had to take Zhuge Xiaoxiang home herself. Zhuge Xiaoxiang vomited badly; she had heard of people choking to death on their vomit, so she stayed by his side, afraid to leave.
In a daze, Zhuge Xiaoxiang suddenly hugged her. She tried to pull away, but heard his sorrowful voice: "Am I no longer worthy of liking someone else?"
These words stunned her. She had felt something remarkably similar. After the passing of Jiang Xiaoman and her husband, she was utterly despondent. She abandoned all worldly pleasures, and her life became even more difficult than before, but she was willing to accept it. Because for her, it was a punishment, a punishment that eased her guilt.
Just as she was lost in thought, Zhuge Xiaoxiang's lips approached. The scalding heat and the smell of alcohol alternately stimulated her. She was confused, her mind a complete fog.
They kissed on the sofa. To be precise, she was passive; she didn't know what she was doing, as if her hands and feet weren't her own, like a puppet being manipulated.
Zhuge Xiaoxiang took off her shirt, and at that moment she remembered what Gu Feimeng had said: "No wonder he is a legend in the mountaineering club, a sports student among science students."
He was incredibly strong; he easily lifted her up by the waist.
She felt herself being placed on the bedroom bed, her hands roaming aimlessly over his firm muscles. His kisses were fierce and passionate, leaving no inch of her exposed skin untouched. And at that moment, she found herself lost in thought, like an unrelated third party, indifferently looking down at the two people entwined on the bed.
Just as his hand was about to untie her belt, she snapped back to reality and pulled away from his ardent embrace.
Yan Qing was lost in thought when a voice interrupted her: "Looks like you drank quite a bit, still a bit tipsy?"
Yan Qing came to her senses and saw that Shen Hanyang had replaced Zhuge Xiaoxiang's face and was looking at her up close.
Calming her turbulent emotions, she said seriously, "Just consider it a drunken outburst from me. I stand by every word I've said. Goodbye forever!"
That night, sitting on the bleachers next to the playground, Yan Qing regretted it.
The day after tomorrow is Feng Xin's deadline for her. What will Feng Xin do if she doesn't get the 10,000 yuan? She doesn't know, and she doesn't dare to think about it.
She felt nothing but deep regret; she shouldn't have lost her temper and lashed out at Secretary Gao and Shen Hanyang. Every working person has to survive under the thumb of others. Having angered Shen Hanyang, she was likely to lose her job. Dignity doesn't put food on the table, but the price of emotional outbursts is real money, and that's exactly what she needed most.
There's no turning back now.
A person sat down beside her. She knew it was Zhuge Xiaoxiang.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked.
Aside from Gu Feimeng and Huang Qian, no one else knew about her. She turned to look at him, recalling their first encounter at the Shen family home. Her initial impression of Zhuge Xiaoxiang was that he was cheerful and talkative, always wearing a refreshing and sincere smile. His smile reminded Yan Qing of the lush white poplar trees lining the school's tree-lined paths. She wasn't a naturally outgoing person, but his enthusiasm, like the warm sun in March, didn't annoy her.
Yan Qing gazed at Zhuge beside her. For a few seconds, she almost wanted to confide in him, to tell him about her heavy worries. But the words caught in her throat, and she shook her head, not uttering a single word about her predicament.
Such is the way of the world. A person burdened by poverty will be seen as begging when they complain. Even if she said or did nothing, Secretary Gao was still wary, disdainful, and hostile towards her. She wanted to believe that Zhuge Xiaoxiang wasn't that kind of person, but her heart was too weary, and after a deep exhaustion, only silence remained.
"Would you like to take a walk?" Zhuge Xiaoxiang suggested.
“Okay.” Yan Qing got up with him.
He naturally took her hand.
Yan Qing looked at him from half a step behind, and he seemed to be immersed in nameless happiness.
"I've always had a question," Yan Qing said.
He kissed her hand: "What is it?"
Why did you apply for a tutoring job at the Shen family's house?
Zhuge smiled: "So that's what it was about. Do you remember when I told you I went to teach in a mountainous area after graduation? By chance, I started an e-commerce business there, promoting local agricultural products. Later, the township government got involved. With official help, the business became more and more successful, and I gradually accumulated some capital. But this has never been my ultimate goal. What I really want to do is establish a public welfare education foundation. But my strength is limited. I heard from the village officials that the Shen family's company has been doing public welfare in the area, so I wanted to get to know Shen Hanyang and see if there was an opportunity to cooperate."
Yan Qing fell silent after hearing this.
Zhuge Xiaoxiang tightened her grip on her hand: "Don't worry, I just want to fulfill Ruoyi's wish."
Yan Qing remained silent. Her focus wasn't actually on that, but rather on the fact that Shen Hanyang, someone who only ever talked about "adding money," was a philanthropist.
Zhuge Xiaoxiang stopped and hugged her, gently kissing her forehead: "The past is the past, I want a new beginning."
She raised her head, saying nothing. The darkness blurred her face, and Zhuge Xiaoxiang failed to notice the bewilderment in her eyes.
In the office, Shen Hanyang slowly flipped through the photos on Secretary Gao's iPad. There was a bunch of colorful paintings, and next to them was a blank homework book that hadn't been touched at all.
"Mr. Shen, look at this Ms. Yan. Luckily, I kept a close eye on things beforehand and secretly observed her from the doorway, which is how I gathered this evidence. She spends all her time with Jiaming, who is good for nothing. The two of them hide in their room drawing, and they haven't even started their summer math homework yet!"
Secretary Gao described "eavesdropping," "peeping," and "taking photos" as "inspection," speaking with righteous indignation and without any sense of wrongdoing.
Shen Hanyang remained expressionless.
Secretary Gao adjusted his glasses and sighed heavily: "When I first saw how young she was, I thought she was unreliable. College students like her, especially those from families like hers, are uneducated and undisciplined. It's hard to expect them to have any professional qualities or morals."
Shen Hanyang placed the iPad face down on the table and easily cut off Secretary Gao's words: "I understand the situation you reported. However, I think we should wait a little longer. Jiaming's last math teacher just left. I'm afraid that changing teachers too frequently will make him uncomfortable and affect his learning progress."
Secretary Gao said, "I'm afraid she'll learn bad habits instead of good ones, and if she encounters another Zhang Linjing, no one can handle it. President Shen, you know, when you were away on a business trip, Zhang Linjing came to the company and caused trouble again, which caused a wave of public opinion and had a very bad impact!"
Shen Hanyang didn't respond to her words. He bent down, opened a drawer, and took out a thin document. Turning to the last page, after "Party B," in elegant small regular script, was written: Yan Qing. Next to it was a small red fingerprint, like a begonia petal fallen on white snow. Above these two characters was Party A's signature, the strokes powerful and vigorous, as if it wanted to swallow the two small characters below it whole.
"Teacher Yan lost her contract, could you give her this copy?"
Even though Secretary Gao was unwilling, he couldn't forcefully go against Shen Hanyang's wishes, so he could only say, "Okay, I'll call XX to run an errand."
Shen Hanyang said, "You've gone to the trouble of delivering it to her."
Secretary Gao was completely taken aback when Shen Hanyang asked her to deliver it personally. Ever since Yan Qing publicly humiliated her, she had felt a deep resentment towards this ill-mannered and petty young woman. At the same time, she became even more convinced that her judgment was correct: people from humble backgrounds who grew up in the lower rungs of society would never understand what dignity was.
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but Shen Hanyang's gaze had already returned to the computer, and he said nothing more.
She had no choice but to stop talking and quietly closed the office door.
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