Chapter 41 "Forced" Sending Someone Away...
Jiang Nuanyu vaguely sensed the low pressure Liang Qi was under, and for some reason, she didn't dare to contradict him anymore.
Although he was never passionate towards her, he had always been gentle in the past, whether that was just an act or not. Liang Qi had never let her feel his aloofness and indifference so directly before.
She seemed to have finally stirred his usual calm, but she couldn't feel happy. She felt the suffocating silence in the car, and the feeling of having messed up slowly crept into her heart.
The hotel where Liang Qi was entertaining that evening was nearby; it was just one intersection away after turning the corner.
Before the car had come to a complete stop, Jiang Nuanyu turned her head sharply and gave Liang Qi the first look she had seen that day.
Liang Qi did not choose to ignore her, and looked up to meet her gaze.
Jiang Nuanyu's lips moved, as if she wanted to say something to bridge the distance between them that she had pushed apart. But the moment she met his dark eyes, her mind and heart went completely blank.
Liang Qi glanced at her for no more than two seconds, and judging that she had nothing to say at the moment, he didn't give her any more time. As soon as Peng Ze in front unbuckled his seatbelt, Liang Qi pushed open the car door and got out of the car.
Peng Ze was also slightly surprised, and his action of opening the door paused noticeably before he quickly fastened his seatbelt again.
Jiang Nuanyu watched Liang Qi stride into the glass door through the car window, a wave of resentment washing over her. Forget making amends, she hadn't even said goodbye. He hadn't given her the chance.
As Peng Ze drove her home, snow began to fall. Large snowflakes landed on the car window, and after being blown away by the wind, they left sparkling watermarks on the glass.
Jiang Nuanyu stared at the slowly falling snow outside the window, her expression calm, but her thoughts were churning violently in her mind, though she couldn't quite make out what she was thinking.
Peng Ze focused on driving the whole way, saying little and asking few questions. He had naturally noticed the growing rift between his boss and this Editor Jiang, and that was precisely why he absolutely couldn't say anything more.
However, he also needs to pave the way for his boss's future, just in case.
After parking the car at the entrance of the residential area, Peng Ze got out of the car with Jiang Nuanyu and took an umbrella out of the trunk.
Jiang Nuanyu was puzzled. She didn't have the habit of using an umbrella in the snow.
Peng Ze handed her the umbrella and said, "The humidity is high today, the snow will melt quickly, don't get wet."
Jiang Nuanyu looked at the umbrella for a moment, then took it: "Thank you."
"You're too kind." Peng Ze smiled at her, nodded in acknowledgment, then returned to his car and drove away.
Jiang Nuanyu looked at the umbrella in her hand, but ultimately didn't open it. She used it to shield herself from the snow as she walked home.
Snow had fallen on her coat and scarf, and as she entered the room, it melted into damp droplets. She found a clean rag, roughly dried them, and then hung the clothes on the hanger.
Her hair was soaked by the snowflakes, so she simply went to the bathroom to take a shower and then used a mop to wipe the snow water that had gotten into the entryway floor from her shoes.
After finishing all that, she dragged her feet to the sofa, leaned back, and sat down.
The world outside the window was gray and white, and her heart was empty and blank.
She hadn't been home at this time for two weeks, and suddenly she didn't know what to do. She sat listlessly for a while, then picked up her laptop, opened her to-do list, and found the sections for the next few days completely empty.
After deciding to leave, she had no new assignments at Florian, and with her daily overtime work, her workload dwindled. Aside from those tasks that weren't due yet and couldn't be handled immediately, she was practically doing nothing.
She flipped through her emails, checked her notes, rummaged through her archived work items, browsed magazine websites for a while, and finally clicked on an adventure art film that she had bought a long time ago but hadn't had time to watch.
The movie was more than halfway through, and she still hadn't remembered the main character's name.
She turned off the video app, closed her laptop, and put it aside. She hadn't eaten dinner, but didn't feel hungry. She picked up her phone, turned off all the lights in the house, and went to her bedroom, crawling into bed.
She stared blankly at the snow-covered sky outside the window, the curtains undrawn.
The snow fell heavier than before, obscuring the distant lights. After a while, the snow seemed to lessen, and the grey sky revealed a hint of bluish-black, like a velvet cover.
After an unknown amount of time, the view outside the window turned white again.
This first snowfall turned out to be a continuous heavy snowfall.
Jiang Nuanyu suddenly remembered the umbrella Peng Ze had given her, and then, naturally, she thought of Liang Qi.
Thinking back to the last look he gave her and the way he left without saying a word, her heart aches terribly.
At that moment, she seemed sad. Very sad.
So, it was so easy for Liang Qi to hurt her. And all he did was do nothing.
It turns out she was so passive with him.
She suddenly admired her own previous reckless and headlong courage in trying to rush into his world. Perhaps ignorance breeds fearlessness.
But now she understands that someone as complete as Liang Qi could not be easily approached in his world.
In this light, perhaps her leaving was the right choice.
She has already signed a contract with Chaleur, and in a sense, she has already stepped into the future.
And her future... probably won't include him.
This was her own choice; it had nothing to do with him.
She told herself that even if she gave up a future with him... she could still like him.
She can like him, but it doesn't have to do with him.
So she didn't want to say goodbye to him; she didn't want to hear his goodbye either.
She stubbornly thought this way, feeling a mix of relief and pain. One moment she was overwhelmed with sadness, her nose stinging with tears, and the next she felt numb, as if nothing mattered.
During the day, she is perfectly normal, with a stable mood, as if she can calmly accept and tolerate everything that happens. But only she knows that at night, she is mentally ill.
The snow outside the window continued to fall tirelessly. She blinked away the tears welling up in her eyes, took out her phone from under her pillow, and glanced at the time.
It was only one in the morning, far from the time she usually falls asleep.
She habitually opened her photo album, clicked on her favorites section, and found two photos there.
One of them was the painting that Hans had given to her and Liang Qi. She took a picture of it with her phone when she got home that day, thinking that she would show it to Liang Qi when she had the chance, but she never got around to it.
The other photo was one she secretly took of him years ago.
In the darkness, the light from her phone screen reflected in her eyes as she gazed over Liang Qi's photo again and again.
She admitted that she had just lied to herself. She simply couldn't bear to part with T.
*
The next morning, Jiang Nuanyu woke up before the alarm clock went off.
After the snowfall, the sunlight reflected off the snow, making the morning sun much more dazzling than usual.
My eyes hurt, and my head hurts a lot too.
She squinted, pressed her temples, threw off the covers, and got out of bed—the roads were difficult to travel on in the snow, and traffic jams were common, so she decided to get up early and set off early.
After washing up and getting ready, she called a car on her phone.
As soon as she accepted the order, the driver called to say that there was still snow on the roads near her home and the municipal authorities had not yet cleared it, so he might be a little late.
Jiang Nuanyu wasn't in a hurry, so she told her driver not to rush and that safety should come first.
She deliberately lingered at home a little longer before setting off to avoid getting cold outside. But she waited at the entrance of the residential area for several minutes, her toes almost freezing, and the car still hadn't arrived.
She returned the call.
No one answered, and just as she was worrying that something might have happened, the car in front of her honked. She leaned closer to the car and glanced at the license plate; it was the same one she had hailed.
She hung up the phone and gave the last four digits of her phone number after getting into the car.
She was about to swipe away from the background when her eyes inadvertently glanced at the screen, and her hand suddenly stopped moving.
In the recent call screen, the two Chinese characters "梁齐" stand out prominently among a row of numbers.
Jiang Nuanyu: ? ? ?
She looked closely and saw that the call log showed the time as 3:45 a.m. today.
Early morning? ??
Her heart sank.
When she opened the call details, she was even more dumbfounded—this call that appeared out of nowhere lasted for thirty-five seconds.
She clutched her phone, trying hard to recall. She did remember staring at Liang Qi's number last night, but she definitely didn't intend to call him.
It must have been because you weren't holding your phone properly while you were asleep and accidentally touched it.
...It's all over.
It would have been fine if Liang Qi hadn't answered, but why did he?
In those thirty-odd seconds...
Jiang Nuanyu closed her eyes in despair.
She didn't dare to think about it anymore.
*
In the morning, Liang Qi had just arrived at his office and was taking off his clothes when Peng Ze knocked on the door and came in, his eyes serious: "President Liang."
Liang Qi glanced at him, casually draped his coat over the sofa, and sat down around the desk: "What is it?"
Peng Ze's expression turned slightly grave as he said, "Our people have figured out the specific format of the 'Celebrity Gathering.' Although the content of each event is different, there's one thing in common—"
Liang Qi was about to pick up the folder on the table when he noticed the hesitation in Peng Ze's tone and looked up at him.
Peng Ze said, "Every 'Celebrity Game' includes a poker exchange segment. Members use their VVIP points to place bets, and if they win, they receive the points from all the participants' bets. Moreover, if the betting points reach a certain threshold, even if they don't win, they will receive additional points back."
Liang Qi flipped through the documents in his hands, remaining silent.
Peng Ze lowered his voice and reminded him, "Is President Yao using the name of 'Celebrity Gathering'...?"
Liang Qi glanced at him, closed the file, leaned back in his chair, and said, "This is indeed skirting the edge of legality. But this 'celebrity gathering' is small in scale and highly private. As long as it doesn't attract regulatory attention, the risk is temporarily within a controllable range."
Peng Ze frowned more and more, worriedly saying, "Although customers using the points that come with the service purchase to place bets doesn't directly involve the flow of funds and seems compliant on the surface, the activity still has a gambling element in its essence. Mr. Liang, isn't doing this too risky?"
Liang Qi smiled coldly and snorted, "Points-based betting can attract customers, but the costs behind those services are not low. Moreover, for security reasons, the scale of the 'Celebrity Game' is destined to be limited, and the profit margin is naturally limited. The sub-projects cannot make money from this 'Celebrity Game'."
He shook his head slightly, looked at Peng Ze, his gaze deep and sharp: "What do you think his real purpose is?"
Peng Ze then realized something was amiss: "If the 'Celebrity Game' isn't for profit, then it is..." He looked at Liang Qi, clearly understanding something.
Liang Qi didn't explain further, but relaxed his gaze and said, "Call the members of the management committee to my office. Now."
Peng Ze nodded: "Yes."
*
In the afternoon, Liang Qi stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in his office, staring expressionlessly at the hazy blue-white horizon in the distance.
He has ordered a full review of the sub-projects under Jingyao's charge. He knew from the beginning that what Jingyao was doing was not as simple as it seemed, and the truth of it all might be just around the corner.
He only needs to wait quietly.
After a few knocks, the secretary pushed the door open and came in: "President Liang."
Liang Qi turned his gaze away from the window, and his secretary asked him whether he would attend the industry cocktail party that evening as planned.
Upon hearing this, Liang Qi turned to look at the desk.
He stared at the phone on the table for a few seconds, then had his secretary cancel his scheduled appointments for the evening.
*
Throughout the day, any slight movement on her phone would startle Jiang Nuanyu. Even a phone call from a colleague next to her would make her instinctively reach for her phone.
Around 4 or 5 o'clock, the phone on the table suddenly started buzzing.
Jiang Nuanyu was still startled, but after the near miss that day, she quickly breathed a sigh of relief.
She thought to herself that she was making a fuss over nothing, but when she turned the screen over, she froze—
This time, it wasn't an overreaction on her part; the call really was from Liang Qi.
A "clang" sounded in her mind.
Should she answer or not? Not answering would obviously be inappropriate, but if she answered, how would she explain the phone call she received in the early hours of the morning if Liang Qi asked about it?
Her thumb was already hovering over the answer button. She had rehearsed all the possible scenarios, her mind in turmoil, and she was just about to take the plunge and answer the phone first.
The screen flashed and returned to the lock screen; Liang Qi had hung up the phone.
When the phone went silent again, Jiang Nuanyu felt a pang of emptiness in her heart.
She knew it would turn out this way again—as soon as it happened, she realized she had made another wrong choice that she would regret.
Should she call back? But she didn't have the courage.
She put her phone on the table, casually ripped off a discarded sticky note from the edge, and anxiously folded it back and forth in her hand. She folded it horizontally and vertically until the paper was soft, but the call never came in again.
She stared at the phone lying quietly for a moment, then tossed the crumpled piece of paper onto the table and decided to stop thinking about it.
She took a cup of cereal from the drawer, intending it as her dinner, and went to the break room.
On her way back, she used her sleeve to pad her palms, holding the cup of hot oatmeal in both hands, and walked steadily step by step back to her workstation.
Across the table, she suddenly heard her phone vibrate.
she:! ! !
Ignoring the possibility of getting burned, she quickly went to the table, put down the cereal, grabbed her phone, and saw that it was a voice call from Yu Miao.
A fleeting sense of disappointment crossed her mind. She sighed silently and answered the phone.
On the other end of the phone, Yu Miao invited her to go out that evening.
Since the day of the interview, Yu Miao has been sending her messages almost every day. Jiang Nuanyu guesses that Yu Miao may consider her a friend.
She quite liked the girl. Since she had nothing better to do and didn't want to go home, she accepted the invitation.
Yu Miao probably didn't expect Jiang Nuanyu to be so agreeable. After excitedly hanging up the phone, he sent her the address.
Located at Tangwan Club, Jiang Nuanyu was no stranger to the place; she had been there a few times with friends during her university years. It was also where she first met Liang Qi.
Due to the nature of her work, Jiang Nuanyu attends many social occasions such as business dinners, events, and parties. However, she has hardly participated in gatherings like the past, where a group of people get together simply to have fun and relax, since graduation. She finds it strangely novel.
The cereal on the table was still steaming. Not wanting to waste it, and thinking that it wouldn't make a difference if she ate it a little longer, she decided to finish it before leaving.
She held the paper cup and blew on it, then looked up and saw her face reflected in the monitor. She barely had any makeup left, and if she went out, she would look even more bare-faced.
So, while waiting for the cereal to cool, she touched up her makeup, not only lengthening her eyeliner but also adding a touch of shimmering highlighter to the inner corners of her eyes, which made her recently somewhat dejected expression look much more energetic.
She glanced at herself in the mirror with satisfaction, quickly finished her cereal, and reapplied her lipstick. Before leaving, she even changed into a pair of shinier earrings.
She slung her bag over her shoulder, took the elevator down to the first floor, and, determined to end the day with a relaxing and enjoyable pastime, walked lightly through the turnstile.
She strode toward the door, her gaze sweeping casually across the room. When she saw the person standing by the window with their back to her, a floating, unreal feeling washed over her.
Liang Qi, dressed in a black suit, stood tall and straight, one hand casually in his pocket as he looked out the window, seemingly waiting for someone.
Jiang Nuanyu felt that she could recognize Liang Qi just by looking at his back, which could be considered a small skill; but Liang Qi's ability to sense her gaze seemed to be a bit better than hers.
Because as soon as she saw him, he turned to look at her.
After standing still for a few seconds, she hesitated, then moved forward almost step by step.
She didn't walk in his direction, but stopped a few steps away from the revolving door, her eyes fixed on the spinning glass door.
Liang Qi looked at her for a moment, then walked over and slowly stood beside her.
Jiang Nuanyu turned around, smiled, and spoke first, politely greeting, "Mr. Liang."
Liang Qi didn't respond to her, his gaze lingering on her face, seemingly taking another look at her eyes.
Jiang Nuanyu blinked uncomfortably at her eyes, which she had just touched up her makeup, and whispered, "You're here...?" She couldn't quite believe that he had come specifically for her.
Liang Qi, however, assumed she was feigning ignorance. He stared at her for two seconds, then asked instead of answering, "Why didn't you answer the phone?"
His tone was extremely flat and devoid of emotion, not at all like someone genuinely wanting to know the answer. It was more as if he already knew she was deliberately ignoring him.
Why did he insist on asking? Jiang Nuanyu's eyes darted around, and she had no choice but to lie, "I didn't hear it at the time, and later... I forgot to reply."
Liang Qi looked at her without saying a word.
She looked up at him, but her eyes lacked confidence: "Is there something you need on the phone?" Her tone was overly polite.
She had a premonition that she was going to regret it again.
Liang Qi stared intently at her for a long while, his eyes deep, before finally curving his lips into a faint smile and saying, "It's nothing."
"Oh." Jiang Nuanyu feigned a sigh of relief. "That's good then..."
Every nerve in her body was on edge, afraid that Liang Qi would ask about the phone call in the early morning at any moment, so she preemptively asked, "How come you... are here?"
Liang Qi ignored the question and simply said, "Shall I take you back?"
"I made plans with a friend," Jiang Nuanyu replied quickly.
Liang Qi nodded slightly, pursed his lips, and looked behind her.
Jiang Nuanyu didn't know if it was because she had told too many lies and was afraid that others wouldn't believe her if she told the truth, or if Liang Qi really didn't believe her.
The moment he looked away, her heart began to sink.
The feeling of not being trusted by him made her so ashamed that she couldn't lift her head. She pursed her lips, afraid that saying too much would make her make a mistake, and remained silent for a while.
Liang Qi looked back at her and said, "I'll take you there."
She immediately replied, "I'm telling the truth, we'll meet at Tangwan Club."
Liang Qi said, "Perfect timing, that club is owned by a friend, I'll go check it out too."
Jiang Nuanyu remained silent.
The day before, he insisted on "going along the way," and now he simply said "it's perfect timing." His casual remark left her no room for refusal whatsoever.
She lowered her head in frustration and said, "Fine then."
Her tone was strained, and Liang Qi couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth. But this cool smile was clearly not from pleasure.
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