Chapter 12: Giving Little Jiang a third eye...
On Monday morning, the Florian editorial office was filled with the rich aroma of hot coffee.
Jiang Nuanyu had a topic selection meeting in the morning. After putting down her bag at her workstation, she took her water cup and headed to the break room.
On the way, I ran into Feng Shasha, who had just arrived. She had dark circles under her eyes, was dragging her feet, and had a dazed look in her eyes: "Jiang Jiang, good morning..."
Seeing that she was about to collapse, Jiang Nuanyu teased, "Didn't you sleep last night?"
"I slept. But it was practically the same as not sleeping at all." Feng Shasha yawned indistinctly. "Yesterday, Shao Jie and I went to the music festival, and the traffic after the show was terrible... We didn't get out until after 2 a.m., and it was almost 5 a.m. when we got home, and it was already dawn..."
She rubbed her cheeks and sighed, "I can only slack off today. I'm definitely going to slack off on this one today."
Jiang Nuanyu smiled and said, "Don't touch too obviously."
Feng Shasha gave her an "I understand" look and slowly went to her workstation.
Jiang Nuanyu shook her head and smiled.
She was nominally Feng Shasha's superior, but as long as the work was completed on time, she had no objection to occasionally slacking off.
After all, she's not the one who pays the salary, so there's no need to put on airs or be too serious.
She filled her water bottle, went back to her workstation to pack her things for the meeting room, and inadvertently glanced at the sticker inside her laptop case, which stirred something within her.
She glanced at the time and realized she still had time, so she pulled out the folder specifically for storing stickers, found the replaced "Glaswind" sticker, put it back in its case, and happily went to her meeting with her laptop.
·
The topic selection meeting lasted until almost noon, after which the colleagues simply went to eat.
Jiang Nuanyu didn't go with everyone; instead, she went back to her workstation first.
Both of her prepared topics were successfully approved at the meeting. She wanted to take advantage of the fact that the impression was still fresh to organize everyone's feedback and discussion details, and clarify the key points of subsequent implementation before going to dinner.
Just as I was busy, the phone on the table rang.
"Hello?" She picked up the receiver and put it to her ear, her attention still on the computer screen.
On the other end of the phone was Xin Yan, the receptionist: "Editor Jiang, a visitor is looking for you."
"Okay, I'll be right there." Jiang Nuanyu hung up the phone, saved the file, picked up her phone, and got up.
When she arrived at the front desk, she asked, "Who was looking for me?"
Xin Yan gestured with her chin toward the waiting area, and Jiang Nuanyu turned her head to look in that direction. She was taken aback when she saw who it was.
Jingyao, dressed in a casual suit, got up from the sofa, gestured to her, and walked over.
Jiang Nuanyu frowned immediately.
Perhaps because she had witnessed his tense standoff with Liang Qi, she had a lukewarm impression of Jing Yao.
As he approached, Jiang Nuanyu asked suspiciously, "Did you come to see me?"
Unlike his somewhat cold attitude during their previous two meetings, Jingyao's eyes flickered and a smile played on his lips at this moment.
He nodded: "Yes, I was looking for you. Do you remember me?"
Jiang Nuanyu frowned even more deeply. She remembered him, but she didn't recall them being this close.
“How did you know I work here?” she asked.
Jingyao lowered his head and smiled, then raised his eyes and said quite seriously, "As long as you're willing, you'll always find out."
Jiang Nuanyu glanced at Xin Yan, who was trying hard to suppress her laughter, and turned back to ask businesslike, "Is there something you need?"
Jingyao frowned, pretended to think for a moment, and said, "I'd like to invite you to dinner. Is that a good idea?"
Jiang Nuanyu was so provoked by these words that she hesitated for a moment, thought for two seconds, and said, "I'm on a diet recently, so I don't eat." She then gave a fake smile, as if afraid that the other person wouldn't realize it was an excuse.
Jingyao naturally understood, and looking at her, he suddenly smiled silently.
Jiang Nuanyu felt inexplicably uneasy at his laughter. Seeing that he didn't seem to have anything important to do, she didn't want to get entangled with him any longer. Just as she was about to turn around and go back, Jing Yao stepped aside and easily blocked her way.
Jiang Nuanyu stopped abruptly and looked up at him warily.
It was lunchtime, and colleagues from the magazine kept passing by, casting curious glances at us.
She then took a half step back.
Jingyao glanced at the passersby, then looked down at her, as if certain that she would care about her colleagues' opinions: "You can refuse me today, but I'm telling you in advance, I may come again tomorrow."
"Whatever." Jiang Nuanyu walked around him without looking back.
Behind him, Jingyao didn't linger for long; he stopped laughing, turned around, and left.
After returning to her workstation, Jiang Nuanyu's brows remained tightly furrowed.
She found it utterly baffling.
She and Jingyao had only met once, they weren't even acquainted, so why would he suddenly come to find her? And with such a deliberately familiar attitude.
·
The next day at noon, Jiang Nuanyu finally finished writing the manuscript related to the exhibition. As she hurriedly went to eat, she passed by the front desk and suddenly glanced around.
Jingyao did not appear.
She secretly breathed a sigh of relief, guessing that he was probably just teasing her on a whim yesterday.
As evening approached, she worked an extra half hour, packed her things, and started calling a taxi on her phone while walking out with her head down.
Just as I was about to turn into the elevator lobby, I looked up and saw Jingyao standing against the wall with one hand in his pocket.
She pretended not to see it, went straight into the elevator lobby, and pressed the down button.
Jingyao leisurely followed and stopped beside her: "I told you I would come again today."
Jiang Nuanyu couldn't help but turn around, look directly at him, and ask, "What exactly do you want?"
"I told you, I wanted to have a meal with you." Jingyao repeated the same thing.
Jiang Nuanyu stared intently at him, but his expression remained calm and his eyes composed, revealing no flaws whatsoever.
The elevator doors opened with a "ding," and Jingyao stepped aside, raising his hand to make a "please" gesture.
The elevator descended to the first floor, and as soon as the doors opened, Jiang Nuanyu strode out. Suddenly, she turned around and warned Jing Yao, "Don't follow me."
She walked out of the office building, through the bustling crowds in the square, and when she reached the roadside, she turned around. Jingyao was no longer following her.
But she was still uneasy and became anxious and annoyed by his repeated disturbances.
On the taxi ride home, Jiang Nuanyu kept thinking about this.
Her intuition told her that Jingyao's interest wasn't simply based on attraction to her. If that were the case, he would have taken action back on Menghe Island, instead of waiting so long to appear.
She recalled the scene at the entrance of the horse farm restaurant.
It's no exaggeration to say that Jingyao and Liang Qi are wary of each other, at odds, and even hostile to one another.
However, she had no evidence to suggest that Jingyao's actions were related to Liang Qi.
In short, she was even more annoyed!
·
Even as the summer sun is about to set, it is still scorching hot.
It's only a two or three-minute walk from the entrance of the residential area to downstairs, but Jiang Nuanyu was already sweating profusely.
When she opened the door, the house felt like a sauna. She turned on the air conditioner while changing her shoes, then rushed into the bathroom to take a shower.
The apartment isn't very large; it was originally a two-bedroom, one-living-room layout, but the landlord converted it into a one-bedroom apartment, combining the second bedroom and living room to create an open-plan living and dining area. Jiang Nuanyu lives alone, and the space is spacious and comfortable without feeling too cold or empty.
After I took a shower, the temperature in the house dropped.
She dried her hair until it was half dry, changed into her nightgown, and began to prepare dinner.
She opened the refrigerator, and in the vegetable compartment, half a cabbage lay forlornly. She tore off two leaves, rinsed them with water, and placed them in the drainer to dry.
She filled a small pot halfway with water and put it on the gas stove to heat it; she took out a bag of the braised beef she had prepared in advance from the freezer.
The pre-cut meat slices were refrozen together. She painstakingly knocked a few slices off the stove and threw them into the pot, then resealed the rest and put them back in the refrigerator.
By this time, the water was almost boiling. She tore the cabbage into small pieces, threw it in along with the noodles, covered the pot, turned the heat to low, and timed it for five minutes.
The fresh fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator are almost gone and we urgently need to restock.
While waiting for the noodles to cook, she lounged on the sofa and ordered groceries through a food delivery app.
When Jiang Nuanyu first started living alone after graduation, she had no idea how to cook.
She never eats breakfast, eats her regular meals at restaurants on weekdays, and orders takeout or simply doesn't eat on her days off; sometimes, she doesn't even eat for a whole day.
Such irregular eating habits are certainly not advisable.
She had been working for less than a year when she was tormented by stomach pain in the middle of the night, sweating profusely, and curled up in bed to call 120 for herself.
Jiang Nuanyu's home is in Linping, which is adjacent to Beijing. Although they are close by, it takes two hours to drive there each way.
Since she fell ill, in order to ensure their daughter could eat properly, Jiang Wenrui and Lin Zhiwei would drive to Beijing every week, with meals packed in food containers in their trunk.
She brings a week's worth of food at a time, categorizing and labeling everything, including frozen and refrigerated items. Jiang Nuanyu only needs to heat it up briefly when she wants to eat it.
Jiang Wenrui runs a fairly large dental hospital with many experienced doctors under his command. However, he is also highly skilled and reliable, so many people specifically request him to treat their teeth, making him always very busy.
As a university professor, Lin Zhiwei, although not as busy as Jiang Wenrui, is also in a stage of balancing teaching and research, and his days off are equally precious.
Jiang Nuanyu couldn't bear to let her parents go through the trouble of bringing her food on their precious weekend, so she decided to learn to cook for herself.
She began to study recipes and gradually developed an understanding of how to balance carbohydrates, protein, and vegetables in a meal.
She learned from her parents how they brought her meals, preparing several days' worth of food in advance and storing it in the refrigerator. Although her cooking skills were still rough, she tried her best to find a balance between not being unpalatable and being nutritious.
Even so, she still didn't want to spend too much time cooking.
Working at the magazine wasn't easy, and sometimes she wouldn't have time to prepare, so she'd just eat whatever was available. But trying to eat on time gradually became a habit.
Her stomach problems did not recur.
It seems that she truly became an adult starting from eating properly.
As her phone countdown timer went off, she got up, turned off the stove, added a little salt and sesame oil to the bottom of a bowl, picked up the pot, and poured everything into the bowl. A simple dinner was ready.
She placed the bowl on the table, sat down, and began to eat.
The meal looked a bit casual, but it actually tasted pretty good. It was warm and smooth, and it was enough to cheer her up after a bad day.
·
Jingyao did not appear for the next two days.
Jiang Nuanyu was busy with the crucial final work for the September issue, and she also needed to finalize the shooting location for the new topic. With a ton of things to do, she was so busy that she gradually forgot about this little episode.
After a week of intense work, she didn't have to work overtime on Friday, and packed up her things to leave work on time.
As she passed the front desk, she saw Jingyao sitting on the sofa. She paused for a moment, but didn't stop.
The joy of being able to leave work on time and welcome the weekend has been greatly diminished at this moment.
There were other colleagues in the elevator lobby. Jingyao didn't speak immediately after he came over, but Jiang Nuanyu could feel that he was looking at her.
She kept her head down, operating the ride-hailing app on her phone, refusing any eye contact.
As they descended to the first floor, Jingyao walked beside her, saying, "Wouldn't it be too cruel to reject me again today?"
Is this the start of her playing the victim?
Jiang Nuanyu seemed not to hear and continued walking forward through the turnstile.
Jingyao took two quick steps, turned around, and walked backwards in front of her.
Jiang Nuanyu didn't even lift her eyelids, and turned to walk past him.
Jingyao reached out to stop her, forcing her to stand still, staring ahead, and letting out a heavy sigh.
Jingyao lowered his voice and said, "Give me some face, okay?"
After a few seconds of silence, Jiang Nuanyu finally spoke: "Okay."
Rather than letting him keep bothering you, it's better to draw a clear line as soon as possible and get it over with.
She turned to look at him: "It's just a meal, right? Let's eat."
Jingyao seemed surprised by her sudden change of attitude. He paused for a moment, then laughed, "It's just a meal. But today, by chance, we can go to a special place."
Jiang Nuanyu frowned, immediately regretting agreeing to his proposal.
·
Jingyao drove all the way to the northeastern suburbs of Beijing, an area known for its wealthy residents and numerous private mansions.
The car drove through a black wrought iron gate, and the driveway stretched straight ahead as if it had no end. On both sides were rows of sycamore and dawn redwood trees, casting long shadows on the ground.
I estimate that I walked for about a kilometer on this road before finally reaching my destination.
The parking lot is on the west side of the villa, and to the south is a spacious outdoor swimming pool with round tables scattered around it. There are already quite a few people there.
Jiang Nuanyu glanced out the car window and asked, "Where is this place?"
Jingyao stopped the car and turned off the engine, saying, "It's just a friend's birthday party. It's not very interesting for me to come alone. It'll be more interesting if you come with me."
Jiang Nuanyu frowned.
Jingyao unbuckled his seatbelt, glanced at her, and said, "Cheer up."
Jiang Nuanyu suppressed her emotions and asked, "How long are we supposed to stay?"
"No rush, we've only just arrived."
"Just this once, right?"
"If all goes well, this will be the one."
“You…” Jiang Nuanyu was so angry at his reneging on his promise that she couldn’t speak.
Jingyao smiled nonchalantly and said, "Don't worry, I hope it goes smoothly too."
"What do you mean by 'successful'?" Jiang Nuanyu asked.
Jingyao didn't answer, but chuckled and said, "Get out of the car first."
Upon entering the party venue, a round table in the center, covered with a white tablecloth, was already piled with gift boxes and bags of various sizes.
Jingyao placed the gift bag he had prepared in advance on the table. As he turned around, a girl with a fresh and sweet appearance walked quickly toward the two of them: "Jingyao, you're here!"
Jingyao immediately put on his signature smile and spread his arms wide: "Happy birthday, Lanxin."
Song Lanxin smiled and stepped forward to greet him, giving him a hug.
Her gaze swept over Jiang Nuanyu, but she didn't ask who she was. She only said to Jing Yao, "You arrived earlier than the other two. You deserve praise!"
Jingyao's lips curled up: "They are all very busy people, and I am the most free, so why don't I come first?" As he spoke, he glanced at Jiang Nuanyu, took her arm and led her to his side, "Let me introduce you, this is today's birthday girl, Song Lanxin."
Song Lanxin then looked at her seriously.
She was wearing a light purple sundress, and was quite tall, about 1.7 meters, but her round face and eyes made her look particularly friendly.
Jiang Nuanyu gently pulled her hand away from Jing Yao's. Although she was still dissatisfied with him, she smiled at Song Lanxin out of politeness and said, "Happy birthday."
"Thank you," Song Lanxin replied with a smile.
However, aside from those two words, she didn't say anything else to Jiang Nuanyu.
As night fell and the lights came on, the crowd grew larger and the atmosphere became increasingly lively. A quick glance revealed that every guest was impeccably dressed, with watches, bags, and accessories all meticulously chosen.
Upbeat music played from the speakers, and people gathered in twos and threes, chatting and laughing, taking photos.
After a while, Jiang Nuanyu roughly understood that, in addition to celebrating a birthday, this party was also a social event for people to expand their networks and consolidate their resource connections.
Some people would approach her and strike up a conversation, and she would chat with them for a few words, but overall she showed little interest.
She wasn't averse to socializing, but as an editor with little background, she knew that talking to these people too much was pointless.
To put it bluntly, she was of little use in this situation.
She sat at a round table in the far corner, fiddling with the small ornaments on the table.
Not long after dark, Jingyao made an excuse to leave, but half an hour passed and he was still nowhere to be seen.
She wasn't curious at all about where he went; her only worry was that outside vehicles couldn't get in, and she might have to walk out along that tree-lined path alone to hail a taxi home.
Just then, Jingyao came over from the other side of the pool. Unlike his usual relaxed, half-smiling face, he had no expression at this moment.
As the person approached, Jiang Nuanyu said, "I want to leave, is that alright?"
“Yes,” Jingyao said, “but not now.”
She was taken aback: "What do you mean?"
"Come with me first."
Jiang Nuanyu remained seated, a strange sense of unease creeping over her: "Where are we going?"
Jingyao didn't answer her, but grabbed her wrist and pulled her away.
"What are you doing?!"
Jiang Nuanyu was startled by his sudden action and whispered angrily, "Let go of me, Jingyao! Where are you taking me?!"
She tried to shake him off, but his grip was too strong, and she couldn't break free. She was forced to follow him through the crowd and into the villa.
When they reached the top of the stairs, Jingyao stopped and turned to look at her.
Jiang Nuanyu pulled her hand back, and surprisingly managed to ask calmly, "Can you let go of me first?"
Jingyao seemed to hesitate, but only for a moment.
He switched hands, from holding her wrist to grasping her hand, and pulled her upstairs.
He took two steps at a time, walking very fast; Jiang Nuanyu was practically dragged upstairs by him, keeping a close eye on the stairs, afraid of falling.
Jingyao pulled her straight to the second-floor terrace. Jiang Nuanyu's anger and confusion were building up, and just as they were about to explode, he suddenly stopped.
She stumbled forward due to inertia and nearly bumped into him.
She looked up, ready to lash out, but first saw the familiar figure on the sofa, and her heart sank.
Hearing the noise, Liang Qi looked up and glanced over. His gaze first swept over Jing Yao, then landed on her face, and then moved down to their hands, which appeared to be clasped together.
His gaze lingered for no more than a second before calmly shifting elsewhere.
A note from the author:
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