Xu's dilemma
Over the next few days, Chen Xu came less often. Even when he did, he always carried a lingering sense of low spirits. He no longer enthusiastically shared interesting company stories, nor did he forcefully promote various "happiness plans." More often, he simply slumped on Ye Shu's sofa, his brow furrowed in knots, staring blankly at the ceiling or sighing.
Ye Shu continued brewing his tea, watching his gaze, but didn't proactively inquire. But his silence, unlike the pure, detached silence of the past, seemed to carry a subtle layer of waiting, like calm water, ready to receive the inevitable raindrops.
Finally, one evening, when the rain began to fall again, Chen Xu could no longer hold it in.
"Ye Shu," he said in a hoarse voice. He sat up from the sofa and scratched his hair irritably. "I might...get into some trouble."
Ye Shu was pouring boiling water into the teapot, the water flowing steadily. He didn't turn around, but just tilted his head slightly to show that he was listening.
"That Lingxi Technology thing..." Chen Xu licked his chapped lips. "I know a guy there, not that close, we've only played basketball together a few times. We were drinking together a couple of days ago, and he was stressed out. He started complaining to me, saying their smart home system had a ton of problems. To meet the deadline for launch, they'd fudged a lot of the tests, and there were hidden dangers in the underlying architecture... He also said... he also said that the internal stress test had failed, and the report had been suppressed by higher-ups..."
Ye Shu poured the brewed tea into two cups, walked over, and placed one on the table in front of Chen Xu. Steam rose from the cups.
Chen Xu didn't touch his teacup, his hands clasped nervously. "At the time, I just thought it was drunken talk and didn't take it too seriously. But then...but then, I was having dinner with another friend yesterday and we talked about this, and I just...just said a few words as gossip..."
His voice dropped, with obvious regret. "I don't know how that idiot turned around and told everyone else, and even exaggerated it! Now it seems to have spread quite a bit... I don't know where Lingxi got wind of it, but it seems... it seems they're investigating who leaked it... My friend called me this morning, his voice had changed, and he asked me who I'd told... Fuck..."
He suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, and looked at Ye Shu, filled with anxiety and fear: "Ye Shu, do you think... will they find out about me? Will my friend lose his job because of this? Or even... get into trouble? I really didn't mean to do that! I just... just had a bad mouth!"
He finally finished, his chest heaving violently, like a fish thrown onto the shore, gasping helplessly. The only sounds in the room were the patter of rain outside the window and his heavy breathing.
Ye Shu picked up his cup of tea, blew away the steam, and took a sip. His movements were still slow and deliberate. He set the cup down, his eyes fixed on Chen Xu's fingers, which were trembling with anxiety.
"Once the words are out of your mouth," he began, his voice as calm as ever, yet like a piece of ice, it temporarily calmed Chen Xu's agitation, "it becomes cause and effect. It has its own direction."
This didn't sound like comfort; it even carried a hint of cold philosophy. Chen Xu's face paled. "Then...what should I do? Should I just wait? What if they really come knocking on my door..."
"They're looking for the source, not the relay of the rumor." Ye Shu's eyes were calm. "Your friend is one of the sources. You are a link in the flow. Panic will only make the flow more chaotic."
His words were like a precise scalpel, peeling back the surface of the matter. Chen Xu froze, chewing on his words carefully. True, Lingxi was going after the insider who leaked the information, not someone like him who had heard it secondhand. But his panic could indeed make things worse, like for his already terrified buddy.
"But...but my buddy..." Chen Xu's tone softened with worry.
"His choice, his own karma." Ye Shu's tone contained neither pity nor accusation, only a cold clarity. "He chose to speak, you chose to spread it. Each bears the consequences."
Chen Xu opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but found himself speechless. Ye Shu's words were like a cold mirror, reflecting the consequences of his quick-witted words and the responsibility everyone bears in this matter. No sentimentality, no comfort, only facts.
This icy clarity strangely relaxed Chen Xu's tense and chaotic nerves a little. The panic didn't completely disappear, but the aimless, aimless fear was anchored on a more concrete and understandable level.
He leaned back on the sofa dejectedly and picked up the cup of tea he hadn't touched. His hands were still shaking, and the rim of the cup made his teeth click. He took a big sip, and the slightly scalding tea slid down his throat, bringing a real sense of warmth.
"Then...what should I do now?" he asked in a low voice, like a lost child.
Ye Shu was silent for a moment. Outside the window, the sound of rain seemed to intensify.
"Wait." He said one word.
"Wait?" Chen Xu was puzzled.
"The water will find its way." Ye Shu turned his gaze to the window, watching the traces of rain on the glass. "The vortex won't last forever. Until it subsides, it's safer to remain still than to struggle recklessly."
He was telling Chen Xu to remain constant in the face of ever-changing circumstances. Before things became clear, he should not do anything unnecessary or say anything more to avoid complicating the situation.
Chen Xu looked at his calm profile. The indifference that had penetrated his bones now became a strange, reassuring force. His chaotic and anxious mind seemed to be infected by this cold calm, and slowly settled.
He stopped talking, just holding the cup of tea and sipping it in small sips. The bitterness of the tea turned into a sweetness that made him feel a little more sober.
Ye Shu stopped talking and sat with him in silence.
The only sounds in the room were the rain and the gentle breathing of the two people. A different kind of silence, laden with a heavy burden, permeated the air. But in this silence, Chen Xu felt for the first time that he was not alone, suspended in a vacuum of anxiety.
At least, there was someone who, in his own unique and cold way, was accompanying him and watching him get caught up in this sudden undercurrent called "reality".
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