Chapter 6 The capitalist's face was full of weariness
Chapter 6
Finally, as Jiang Zhiyan wished, Xia Zhiyu put down her phone, shrank into the blanket, and turned her long, dark hair into a ball with her back to him.
"I want to sleep for a while."
Xia Zhiyu's sullen voice came from under the covers.
Sleeping is better than her playing on her phone, Jiang Zhiyan's expression softened, and he loosened his tie with one hand.
"Take a good rest. I'll handle the rest of your work."
To Xia Zhiyu, this tone sounded like a condescending favor from her boss.
The next second, Xia Zhiyu's hand was empty as Jiang Zhiyan bent down, took the phone from her hand, and placed it on the wardrobe.
Xia Zhiyu has extremely poor self-control. When she was preparing for her postgraduate entrance exam, she couldn't control herself from playing on her phone. After Jiang Zhiyan discovered this, he took over control of Xia Zhiyu's phone without hesitation, and this habit has continued to this day.
Wherever Jiang Zhiyan is, Xia Zhiyu can forget about playing on her phone in peace.
Fang Xinle jokingly said that Xia Zhiyu wasn't in a relationship, but rather had found herself a new father, the kind with an extremely strong controlling nature.
Xia Zhiyu unconsciously clenched her empty palm. It seemed that Jiang Zhiyan had taken away more than just her phone. Xia Zhiyu vaguely felt that she had lost something more important in this relationship.
She stared blankly at the light-colored tassels on the curtains fluttering in the wind, her gaze scattered and unfocused.
Go to sleep. If you fall asleep, you won't think about these worries anymore.
Jiang Zhiyan and the job I hate won't appear in my dreams.
Xia Zhiyu yawned, physiological tears wetting her eyelashes. The silk pillowcase was soft and comfortable, and the hypnotic effect of the medication was fermenting in her body...
A piercing telephone ring suddenly rang in the air, startling Xia Zhiyu awake. Her nerves, which had just relaxed, tensed up instantly, her heart pounded violently in her chest, and her mind buzzed.
It took her a while to recover, and then a surge of anger welled up inside her.
She had told Jiang Zhiyan at least eighty or a hundred times that when they got home, he could turn down his phone's ringtone. She didn't even ask him to mute it anymore. Was turning down the phone's volume such a difficult thing?
Xia Zhiyu turned her head and glared fiercely at Jiang Zhiyan, her anger brewing inside her.
"I'm going out to answer a phone call."
Jiang Zhiyan is always working; even when she's feeling unwell and wants to rest, he wakes her up with work calls.
Will her position in his heart never be as important as his work?
A chill crept into her heart, and Xia Zhiyu finally couldn't hold back her tears.
But she didn't even have the right to be angry.
She and Jiang Zhiyan were not from the same social class. It was precisely because she was Jiang Zhiyan's girlfriend that she was able to join Huawan's best team, live in one of the most upscale communities in Beicheng, and enjoy the best medical care and services. The auntie made different bento boxes every day.
Xia Zhiyu, you're doing very well, aren't you?
While your peers are still struggling with the pain of a three-hour commute, while your colleagues are anxious about not having any cases, and while top school graduates are dejected because they can't get into Huawan, you've already enjoyed countless conveniences because of your status as Jiang Zhiyan's girlfriend, haven't you?
You're doing very well.
Xia Zhiyu told herself this again and again.
Life seems glamorous, your job makes your parents proud, and when your family talks about you, they'll only say how successful that girl working hard in the big city is.
She also has an exceptionally outstanding boyfriend.
But Yu Yu, since you're already doing so well, why do you feel ashamed and why do you still shed tears?
"Why are you crying again?"
Jiang Zhiyan's voice sounded distant and indistinct, as if it came from afar. Xia Zhiyu felt Jiang Zhiyan wiping away the tears on her face.
Through her blurry tears, she gazed intently at Jiang Zhiyan. The tears blurred his sharp features, but Jiang Zhiyan looked just as handsome and gentle as when they first met, someone who could easily win the heart of any woman.
But Zhiyan.
Xia Zhiyu grabbed Jiang Zhiyan's collar, closed her eyes, and cried like a disheveled child who had been scolded.
She cried and stammered as she complained about Jiang Zhiyan.
"You're so noisy! I just fell asleep and you started making the call."
“You’re never home, and the neighbors look at me like I’m some rich man’s mistress.”
Perhaps due to her illness, she is particularly vulnerable now.
Xia Zhiyu's tears fell like a broken string of pearls. She gasped for breath, her limbs weak and her body limp. Exhausted and desperate, she came to a conclusion.
"Jiang Zhiyan, you have never put yourself in my shoes."
"You don't have me in your heart, you only have yourself."
"You don't love me at all."
Her voice was very soft, like a weak groan suppressed by countless invisible veils.
Jiang Zhiyan gently patted Xia Zhiyu's back. Upon hearing Xia Zhiyu's conclusion, his previously smiling lips flattened, his eyes darkened, but his tone remained as gentle as ever.
"Don't talk nonsense, Yu Yu, how could I not have you in my heart?"
He remembered that he had indeed had a few arguments with Xia Zhiyu before, but unfortunately, all of them happened to coincide with work meetings.
After Jiang Zhiyan finished working with his overseas team, it was Xia Zhiyu's turn to work with her domestic team. Their schedules never aligned, and all their arguments eventually fizzled out.
Moreover, it wasn't a serious matter of principle, so Jiang Zhiyan didn't take it to heart.
He kissed Xia Zhiyu's forehead, a gesture meant to comfort her.
"These are all minor issues; I can handle them."
"Okay, stop fooling around. I was too busy to spend much time with you recently, but I've shifted my work focus back to China now. Promise me you won't overthink it anymore, okay?"
"Don't make me unhappy again."
He casually brushed off the year with two sentences, and also gave Xia Zhiyu a warning.
The air grew thinner and thinner, and the walls of the house seemed to be compressing infinitely, with an intense feeling of suffocation gripping the throat.
Jiang Zhiyan simply looked at her calmly, just as he had countless times before, with composure and tranquility.
Xia Zhiyu felt as if she were locked in a prison called Jiang Zhiyan. She desperately wanted to gain Jiang Zhiyan's approval, but she was also afraid of Jiang Zhiyan's contemptuous and disdainful gaze.
She pushed Jiang Zhiyan away forcefully, veins bulging on her forehead, stray hairs sticking to her skin, itching and scratching.
Xia Zhiyu had imagined many times how Jiang Zhiyan and she would argue after he returned. She had rehearsed her thoughts over and over again. She wanted to rationally explain her feelings to Jiang Zhiyan and make him understand how much his year-long business trip to the United States had affected her.
But before she could say anything, she choked up.
"Why did you insist on going to America in the first place!"
Anger, anxiety, exhaustion, and an overwhelming sense of regret.
Jiang Zhiyan looked at Xia Zhiyu's violently twitching fingers and the bulging veins on her neck.
From an angle where Xia Zhiyu couldn't see, Jiang Zhiyan's gaze was so cold it was almost icy.
He pulled Xia Zhiyu into his arms tightly and said in a deep voice:
"Can we talk about it after you wake up? These are all minor things. Your health is the most important thing. You need to rest now."
That's bullshit.
Xia Zhiyu felt extremely dizzy, shivering, and sobbing uncontrollably.
She couldn't tell whether she felt dizzy from being angry with Jiang Zhiyan or from having a fever.
Whenever Xia Zhiyu unleashed her anger, Jiang Zhiyan would simply watch her coldly, without uttering a word.
Jiang Zhiyan knew that as long as he coaxed her, Xia Zhiyu would definitely forgive him.
But Jiang Zhiyan never coaxed her, because he firmly believed from the bottom of his heart that Xia Zhiyu was wrong and that Xia Zhiyu should listen to him and make changes.
But Xia Zhiyu's changes never satisfied him; he always looked down on her with arrogance, which suffocated her.
In this love affair, it seems that only Xia Zhiyu is trapped.
Once she calms down in despair, the reason for the argument will be casually glossed over.
Expensive bags and jewelry, a large bouquet of expensive flowers—Jiang Zhiyan only knows how to cover up problems like this.
After one time, two times... countless times, Xia Zhiyu had become numb.
Work was too draining; she didn't have the energy to argue with Jiang Zhiyan a second time, nor was she willing to communicate with him when she was calm.
It's ridiculous. What kind of communication is that between the two of them? It's just Jiang Zhiyan putting on the guise of a boss and lecturing her on grand principles.
How is Jiang Zhiyan's method of dealing with and manipulating her any different from passive-aggressive behavior?
But she couldn't help but care about Jiang Zhiyan's attitude towards her.
Exhaustion overwhelmed Xia Zhiyu like a surging sea, a suffocating feeling pressed on her nerves, and her heart almost jumped out of her chest.
She wished she could jump off the tenth floor right now so that Jiang Zhiyan could personally experience the torment she had suffered in this relationship.
"Get out!"
Xia Zhiyu threw a cushion at Jiang Zhiyan, yelling, "Get out of here!"
"Don't you have a lot of work? Don't you have a lot of meetings to attend? Go and lock yourself into your work for the rest of your life!"
"Is it so hard for me to spend ten minutes out of twenty-four to reply to a message? You can reply to work group messages instantly, but you just pretend you don't see my messages."
"And I'm not asking you to stop working from home, but could you please stop calling me one phone call after another while I'm sleeping?"
The Mickey Mouse water cup was knocked over by Xia Zhiyu in her rage, and rolled down to Jiang Zhiyan's feet.
The arm that was bent to serve as a handle was broken in two.
This was the first birthday gift Xia Zhiyu gave him during their passionate relationship.
Jiang Zhiyan's hands showed slight bulging veins as he caught the pillow and placed it at the foot of the bed, his voice suppressing anger as he spoke slowly and deliberately.
"Xia Zhiyu, have you made enough trouble?"
The words carried a warning tone, revealing the aloof indifference of the wealthy.
Xia Zhiyu's eyes were still red at the corners, and her eyelashes were wet and clumped together. In the blink of an eye, tears silently rolled down her cheeks, making her look pitiful, stubborn, and aggrieved.
Jiang Zhiyan couldn't stand seeing her like this. Even his anger would be extinguished by those two tears. He sighed, and even his act of lowering his posture seemed like a favor to Xia Zhiyu.
No apology, no promises, just constant evasion.
"Okay, stop it. Can't you just say what's bothering you? Do we have to argue? I'm tired."
Even when offering a step up, he did so in a condescending tone.
There's no such thing as a grudge that lasts overnight between husband and wife; arguments and bickering are common occurrences. In the past, as long as Jiang Zhiyan lowered his head and said a few soft words, Xia Zhiyu would readily back down.
What else can she do? Life can't just stop. Even if she can ignore Jiang Zhiyan's presence at home, she still has to report to him after she goes to work. A cold war is meaningless for Xia Zhiyu.
Although Jiang Zhiyan would always say they'd talk about it the next day after an argument, they never actually discussed the issue afterward.
After countless disappointments, Xia Zhiyu had become numb.
Jiang Zhiyan always had an excuse, whether it was a business trip or a work meeting. In short, there was always something more important than talking to Xia Zhiyu. Xia Zhiyu would never be his first choice.
It's always the same old routine, the same old rhetoric.
Scammers always know how to come up with new tricks.
Life is just so incredibly boring.
A sense of powerlessness, like a torrential downpour, overwhelmed the young fish.
She knew perfectly well that Jiang Zhiyan would say that, but she foolishly clung to a sliver of hope.
The blanket rustled, and Xia Zhiyu retreated into her heavy shell like a turtle.
After a long while, Jiang Zhiyan only received a discouraging remark from Xia Zhiyu.
"Fine, let's leave it at that."
Xia Zhiyu didn't even look at Jiang Zhiyan. She turned her back to him and shrank into the blanket, leaving only her fluffy head exposed.
Their negative attitude is like that of a dolphin refusing to work in a zoo.
If she stood up now and had a big argument with Jiang Zhiyan, Jiang Zhiyan would think that Xia Zhiyu was really angry.
But when she became listless, Jiang Zhiyan would only think that she realized she was being unreasonable.
To be honest, it's quite boring that Xia Zhiyu keeps acting like this.
Jiang Zhiyan's expression darkened slightly. He glanced at Xia Zhiyu with a look of utter disgust.
Within two seconds, the soft sound of leather shoes hitting the wooden floor could be heard, and the door was gently pulled open and then closed again.
After a while, Xia Zhiyu’s barely audible sobs could be heard in the room.
The fully automatic curtains, as if receiving a command from somewhere, quickly closed, plunging the room into complete darkness, much like Xia Zhiyu's state of mind reflected in reality.
A self-deprecating laugh echoed from inside the room.
See? She knew Jiang Zhiyan couldn't do anything except use passive-aggressive tactics.
Both inside and outside the house, separated by only one wall, were eerily quiet.
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