Chapter 10: Social Death
Lin You had dark circles under his eyes and finally made it to lunch break.
She yawned and sent a message to Chen Lingling saying that she would not go to eat lunch.
Chen Lingling replied quickly, thinking she was going to work overtime.
"Eating is the most important thing in the world. No matter how busy you are at work, you have to eat first! Come down to me!"
Lin You held a water cup in his left hand and a phone in his right hand, and said in a voice message: "It's either I'm working overtime or I didn't sleep well last night... I'm very sleepy..."
"Something's wrong. Isn't your sleep and sleep routine always the most regular?" Chen Lingling immediately smelled gossip and asked, "Tell me the truth, did you have a secret meeting with a man last night? Is there something wrong with you?"
When Lin You was asked this, she couldn't help but think of Shi Jingyuan sending her home last night.
She didn't know when she fell asleep in the car. When she woke up, the car had been parked in front of the gate of her community for a long time.
She was covered with Shi Jingyuan's coat, and through the car window she saw him standing under the dim yellow street light, smoking.
In the hazy smoke, he seemed to look up into the car.
Just one glance and Lin You was so scared that he instinctively closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.
Five minutes later, after he finished smoking and returned to the car, he said to her jokingly:
"I just saw you wake up. It's not that I don't allow you to sleep in the car... but parking is not allowed here. Security has come to remind you three times."
"It doesn't matter if I don't live here, but you..."
Lin You has never been so embarrassed!
What the hell is wrong with her? Why is she pretending to be asleep?
Wasn't it just a sneak peek at him?
He is good-looking, which woman wouldn't take a second look at him?
She was just appreciating the beauty of that moment! It didn't mean anything!
At that time, she was so embarrassed that she could dig out a sea view apartment with her toes, so before he could finish, she opened the door and ran away with her coat...
Literally ran away!
This act of fleeing made her feel so ashamed again that she tossed and turned all night and couldn't sleep. When she woke up this morning, her sleep was severely unbalanced.
However, the real reason was too embarrassing, so she naturally wouldn't tell it.
"I had a department dinner last night and drank too much."
It was a reasonable excuse, and Chen Lingling had no doubts at all.
Colleagues went to the cafeteria one after another. Lin You put the U-shaped pillow on the table, leaned his cheek against it, and fell asleep in a short while.
Unfortunately, she still slept uneasily. In her dreams, there always seemed to be a street lamp and a smoking figure.
*
It turns out that all emotions cannot withstand the test of time.
This embarrassing social incident no longer affected her sleep after a few days, and she returned to her daily routine.
Shi Jingyuan and she were not from the same world. Even a brief contact would not change the reality that they were from different classes and circles.
In the morning, when Lin You went to the Finance Department to sign the reimbursement form, he ran into Manager Wang.
He was flirting with a female colleague in the office, and his dirty hands were on her waist. Seeing him moving down, Lin You sneered and knocked on the door.
Manager Wang's smile froze and he withdrew his hand angrily.
When the female colleague saw Lin You, she felt like she had seen a savior. She pulled Lin You back to her workstation and handled the reimbursement procedures for Lin You.
"Lin You..." The female colleague read the name on Chu's expense report and said with a smile, "Thank you for what I said just now. I know you saw it."
"..." Lin You pursed his lips, "You're welcome."
After her female colleague signed the form and registered it, she gave her a receipt. Perhaps she was angry, and she couldn't help but vent a few words in front of Lin You.
"If I were younger, I would have slapped him in the face. But now, with elderly parents and young children to take care of, I can't afford to be willful."
"I have to endure it for the sake of living. If my family is financially better off, who would want to endure this kind of humiliation?"
Lin You took the list and put it back in the folder, saying softly, "Yes, I understand."
The female colleague looked up and smiled at her, "I didn't realize you're quite mature."
Lin You: "I'm not young anymore. I'm... past the age where I get impulsive because of a momentary injustice."
So, after she told Shi Jingyuan about Manager Wang harassing female employees, Manager Wang was still in his leadership position, and nothing had changed...
She didn't seem to find this result that difficult to accept.
How could she forget that he was Mr. Shi, who stood in the top wealthy circle, and he was just a member of that circle. As long as it did not affect their interests, it was not worth their doing anything.
Those people are like this, and so is he...
*
When Lin You got off work, he just walked out of the company door and received another call from Ms. Su Yu.
"How many days have passed! How are things going between you and Xiao Cheng?"
"Your cousin's birthday is in a couple of days. If he asks about you two, what do you want me to tell him?"
"What did you promise me last time? Didn't you say you would be nice to me?"
Lin You felt a dull pain in her solar plexus. When Ms. Su Yu was about to go over the past and write a 5,000-word essay, she was shocked to see Cheng Hao walking towards her.
How does the saying go? Speak of the devil and he will appear.
"Mom... Cheng Hao came to see me. I won't tell you anything for now." Lin You was still a little confused.
"Xiao Cheng?" Ms. Su Yu burst into laughter when she heard this. "Okay, okay, go on your date. I'm hanging up now."
The beeping sound from the phone made Lin You feel that Ms. Su was eager to kick her out of the house.
Cheng Hao was wearing a well-fitting black suit, carrying a briefcase in one hand and a privately-made dessert in the other.
He walked up to Lin You, his eyes showing the calmness of a mature man, as if no matter how embarrassing the situation was, he could handle it calmly.
"Long time no see, Miss Lin."
He greeted politely.
Lin You came back to his senses and said, "Long time no see."
There were people coming and going at the company gate when people were leaving get off work. The two of them looked around and walked to the side tacitly.
"Mr. Cheng..."
"Ms. Lin..."
They spoke at the same time, were stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help laughing.
Cheng Hao was very gentlemanly, "You speak first."
Lin You was not polite either. He considered his words carefully before speaking.
"After my last meeting with Mr. Cheng, I thought we would no longer have any contact, but Ms. Su... uh, my mother, she said you told my uncle that you wanted to take things further with me?"
She got straight to the point and didn't want to waste time testing each other.
Cheng Hao was not surprised by her outspokenness. After all, he had seen it last time.
"I came here this time just for this matter." He raised the dessert in his hand, "This is an apology gift. I'm sorry for causing you trouble."
He was sincere, but without any guilt or remorse.
Lin You frowned and said nothing.
"Last time I said that going on a blind date was not my intention. I did not lie to Miss Lin."
He said self-deprecatingly, "Look at my age. I'm not in a hurry, but my family is. They always think that my daughter and I need a complete family. As long as I don't remarry, they will continue to introduce suitable partners to me."
His words made Lin You feel the same way.
The afterglow of the setting sun fell on the profile of the person in front of her. When she looked at him again, she saw fatigue and loneliness in his eyes.
"They hope you'll have a complete family after remarrying, but they don't realize that you and your daughter already have a complete family. Your life doesn't necessarily need another person involved."
She just sighed in her heart, and felt regretful after she said it out loud.
She and he were not even familiar with each other, so how could she be qualified to judge other people's lives.
She immediately made up for it: "Sorry."
After hearing this, Cheng Hao was stunned for a moment, and then a faint light flashed in his eyes.
"It's okay, you're right."
Her attitude made Cheng Hao feel that this trip was right, so he took the opportunity to make an unreasonable request.
"I think Miss Lin and I have the same problem. How about... we work together to deal with it?"
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