33 Toad
What Miao Yue and Zhou Qi didn't know was that her smug smile caught Yang Xiao's eye, and in the eyes of someone already devastated, it became a playful banter. Zhou Qi said, "That's the daughter of the hospital leader." Only after failing to get into graduate school did she realize the depths of the scandal. In that moment of devastation, anger and devastation made her automatically include Zhou Qi in the same category.
So she spoke in a tearful voice, "Zhou Qi, is your future so important? Even if Uncle Zhou is gone, you still have to smile at others, right?" Often the more familiar someone is, the more accurately and deeply they stab someone in the heart. Zhou Qi watched her tears rolling down his face, and his vision gradually became blurred.
Miao Yue left tactfully after seeing this. She only wanted to tease Zhou Qi, not the child-like Yang Xiao.
Uncle Zhou's funeral was simple. In Lu Town, a mourning tent was erected beneath a lush yellow orchid tree. The attendees were Zhou Dashe's close chess friends and relatives. The overwhelming black and white of the mourning tent made Yang Xiao feel as if the only thing left in the world was black. The mourning couplets hanging from the wreaths on either side were written in mournful and poignant language. A smiling portrait of Zhou Dashe hung in the center of a cluster of white chrysanthemums.
During the funeral procession, the round paper money scattered into the air tumbled in the wind. She and Zhou Qi followed behind, listening to the Feng Shui master's chants and shouts, standing on the wood tied to the side of the coffin. Yang Xiao felt as if she had returned to the day of Yang Guizi's funeral.
Only that day the weather was even worse. Dark, smoky clouds gathered overhead, suffocating the air. The scraps of burnt paper money from the brazier drifted everywhere, like a gray snowfall. Children, unfamiliar with the separations of life and death, sat at the banquet, their plastic cups overflowing with drinks, clinking glasses like the adults, laughing happily.
The men, women, and children helping out, each wearing a brightly colored apron, chatted about family matters, wondering whose family was about to have a funeral or wedding in the coming days. Only Yang Xiao remained lost in the funeral, unable to extricate herself. Zhou Daye stood beside her, watching her lost in thought as she stared at the clinking of glasses. He patted her shoulder and said slowly, "Relatives may mourn for me, but others will sing. As long as you remember him, he will always be in your heart." It wasn't until a few years later, in a movie, that Yang Xiao heard a somewhat similar answer as Zhou Daye's: "Death is not the end of life, but forgetting is."
Therefore, she will always remember Yang Guoqiang and Zhou Yigang. Yang Xiao also always believed that Yang Guoqiang and Zhou Yigang would walk across the marigold-covered bridge in the movie, across the Yin and Yang, to visit her.
...
Yang Xiao followed the tutorial on her phone, layering each layer of the birthday cake for Wuwu. Wang Ruopeng leaned against the kitchen door, exclaiming over and over, "Wow, Wuwu is so lucky!" When the cake was done, Yang Xiao winked at Ruopeng. Wang Ruopeng immediately understood and turned around to pick up Wuwu and sit on the sofa.
Yang Xiao came out with canned food, tuna, and a freeze-dried mini-cake. She lit the candles and turned off the living room ceiling light. Ruopeng covered Wuwu's eyes and began singing a cat-speaking birthday song: "Meow meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow meow." Wuwu smelled the food and squirmed around in panic. The dim candle flickered, its tiny flame reflected in Wuwu's dark eyes.
Yang Xiao instinctively pulled out her phone to capture Wuwu's first birthday. In the photo, beneath the warm yellow glow, Ruopeng smiled brightly. Wuwu, who was hugging her, wore a pointed birthday hat and stared intently at the flickering candle flames on the cake. Yang Xiao herself extended her hand and made a "yeah" sign.
While Wuwu was contentedly enjoying her cake, Wang Ruopeng squeezed in next to Yang Xiao and started asking, "Did you feel uncomfortable this time when you went back because you met that person?" Yang Xiao didn't respond, continuing to watch Wuwu devour her food. "Oh, what a bad fate! I feel so guilty now. I knew you were going to suffer, but I still encouraged you to confess. I was so naive back then. Rather than dwelling on it and waiting for a response, it would be better to just go for it and part ways afterward. But... I'm sorry, Xiaoxiao."
"This has nothing to do with you, Cat." Yang Xiao patted the back of Ruopeng's hand soothingly. "It's only a matter of time before I confess my feelings. Besides, my old problem isn't just because of him. It's just that he has a greater impact on me. Before I video chatted with you, I bumped into something in the elevator. The hotel staff called an ambulance for me. Zhou Qi was sitting downstairs."
"So, he was the one who accompanied you to the hospital? He knew about your chronic illness?" Wang Ruopeng pricked up his ears, realizing that things were not simple. He sat down on the sofa, afraid of missing any details. "Yes. He wanted to introduce me to a doctor later." Yang Xiao fell back and leaned against the sofa.
"Please don't let him come near you again. He was almost recovered, but you caused a relapse again." Wang Ruopeng punched the air twice, his eyebrows raised, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, "I don't know if I should talk about this or not."
"Tell me." Yang Xiao closed her eyes, resting, feeling like the engine noise still echoed in her ears every time she got off the plane. "Did he get together with that boss's daughter this time when you went back? It wasn't some story where he was pushing a stroller with a delicate, pacifier-sucking child in it, and you two ran into each other at a baby store, right?"
Yang Xiao couldn't help but laugh out loud, "What's the point of me going to a maternity and baby store?"
"Give each of the misbehaving kids in my class a pacifier."
"You're still too kind. If it were you, that mischievous kid would just have a stinky sock stuffed in his mouth." Yang Xiao crossed her arms, her mouth laced with poison. "Good talk." Wang Ruopeng couldn't help but applaud. "Are you going to work tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? I forgot again."
"The day after tomorrow, I'll clean up the house and make you something delicious." Yang Xiao stood up and drank some water, then walked to the French window with the water cup. "Tell me, is it really possible for me to quit my job and give it a try?"
It was already pitch black outside the window. Only the curtains on the first floor across the street were open, and a light was still on inside, gleaming golden in the glow of the densely packed wine bottles on the bar. It was a small, recently opened pub with reasonable prices and pet-friendly service. Ruopeng and Yang Xiao had been there once before, and the owner was quite nice, giving them a discount since they weren't familiar.
"You have to trust your own judgment." Wang Ruopeng walked over to her and touched Yang Xiao's glass with his. "Cheers!" Yang Xiao smiled. This cat really could taste the flavor of wine even from plain water. "I'm mainly afraid that I'll lose all my dad's compensation money."
After Yang Quezi's death, the town paid her a compensation. Zhou Daye had kept the money for her until she went to college, depositing it in a bank account at the credit union, never touching her. Even in high school, when Zhou Daye was hospitalized, she suggested using the money from the bank account for Uncle Zhou's medical treatment. Zhou Qi refused, not spending a single cent of Yang Quezi's compensation and telling her it was for her own use.
Now, this money, along with the salary she'd saved over the years, would become the startup capital for "Little Yang," but she still felt a little apprehensive. The reason she'd told Fang Qiu back then, saying she'd quit her job because of the heavy workload, was just an excuse. This situation was far from being summed up in one sentence.
Last year, before Yang Xiao's promotion, she worked on a project. She and a few colleagues had just taken over when they were told to go on a business trip to Guangdong with their manager. The person who greeted them on the client's side was a middle-aged man named Zeng, his smile so wrinkled that it practically obscured his eyes. Upon meeting them, he addressed them as "Manager" and "Teacher" with remarkable enthusiasm. Even after two years on the job, Yang Xiao still felt a little uncomfortable, but she didn't raise her voice to correct them. Such terms of address were so common in the industry that correcting them would seem insincere.
As soon as they arrived at the hotel, the manager and Mr. Zeng had left, leaving them behind. The group of thugs, of course, had no right to question them, so they looked at each other and decided to just check in at the hotel. The guy who checked them in was a new guy, a bit shy and not very experienced. With the lobby bustling with people, the other receptionists were too busy to help him.
So by the time Yang Xiao got her room card and went upstairs, it was already forty minutes later. Luckily, the client was generous enough not to squeeze them into a room with two people. They each got a king-size bed, but Yang Xiao was assigned a higher floor. As she went upstairs, she didn't think much of it, simply assuming it was because the floor was full and they had moved her upstairs.
When she opened the door, she discovered that the room was larger than she'd expected. It wasn't quite a suite, but the furnishings and decorations were exceptionally luxurious. Yang Xiao smacked her lips. It looked like the hotel had truly invested heavily in the renovations. She then pulled her laptop from her backpack and walked over to the solid wood desk next to the bed, ready to continue working overtime.
Before she could even start up the antique computer the institute had provided her, she felt an itch in her nose. When she touched the tip of her nose, she found blood all over her hand. It was a true tale of gains and losses: staying in a nice hotel, then having a nosebleed the next moment. She was worried about the blood dripping onto the carpet, and then having to charge the client for the cleaning fee. She instinctively opened her desk drawer to look for paper, but instead of a tissue, she found a yellow envelope.
Could it be that the previous resident forgot to take it? Yang Xiao had no choice but to quickly walk to the bedside and pull out a few pieces of paper to wipe it. After the nosebleed completely stopped, she picked up the envelope in the drawer and prepared to call the front desk to report it lost and found. The envelope was not sealed, and Yang Xiao glanced inside and caught a glimpse of the corner of the invoice.
Perhaps out of professional caution, she opened the envelope. Inside, she found invoices of all sizes, nearly all from high-end restaurants, hotels, and shopping. The amounts varied, but all were addressed to "Party A." Yang Xiao suddenly realized she was in trouble. It turned out this magnificent room wasn't meant for her.
Yang Xiao's rationality and moral composure began to wrestle. Without a banker and unaware of their connections, reporting the case wasn't a particularly wise option. But she still remembered the first lesson in auditing: Auditors must be honest and transparent. She spread the invoices out on the bed, stored them on her phone, and hurriedly put them back into the envelope.
For now, she could only feign ignorance and wait until she returned to the office after her business trip to apply for a transfer from the project team before making a decision. As for whether these invoices had been entered into the accounts, or whether the accounts were the ones she had received, Yang Xiao had no idea. But when the news finally came to light, what a huge professional stain would these unsuspecting people bear?
Besides, if she asked the front desk to change rooms now, even a fool would know that she had discovered something in the drawer.
Yang Xiao could only wait for the client's manager to return with her to check her in. Once they discovered the front desk blunder, they could change her room. She was alone in her room, neither sitting nor standing, so she decided to work another shift. It wasn't until evening that she received a call from the front desk. The voice wasn't the new guy, but a middle-aged woman who sounded experienced.
"Ms. Yang, I'm sorry to bother you. We have to have the floor heating repaired tomorrow. Could you please change your room? I'm really sorry."
"Okay, I'll come down and check in again."
"Okay, thank you for your understanding."
Yang Xiao felt a sense of relief. After returning to Beijing, she knew this project would become a major issue. So, the very next day after her return, she asked her manager for a team change, explaining that she couldn't handle the intense travel and wanted to be transferred to a team working on local projects.
The manager, a man who would rather kill someone innocent than let them go, naturally wouldn't let Yang Xiao out of his sight. The safest option now was to tie her to his team and make her a member of the same team. After being turned down several times, Yang Xiao had dreams for several days in a row of herself transforming into a toad, swallowing ingots of gold, and waking from them repeatedly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
