38. Holding a grudge
"Is it only my body that knows me?"
Hearing him call her "Miss Song" again, Song Chiyu clenched her fists inwardly. "What if my colleagues hear me calling me that? The rumors about my impending divorce have finally started to die down."
"I'm sorry." He seemed genuinely unintentional, smiling slightly. "I'll be more careful in public in the future."
“You don’t need to call me that in private. It’s not like I don’t have a name.” Song Chiyu found his formality annoying.
"Chi Yu," he said abruptly, looking at her.
Song Chiyu's heart skipped a beat, but she pretended to be calm and looked away, saying, "Mm."
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
Song Chiyu broke the silence first: "Why are you here?"
Qi Yanzhou explained the whole story to her. It turned out that the archaeological team had unearthed something, but they couldn't determine what it was, so they asked him to take a look. Unexpectedly, Xie Yunjin didn't like him and then discovered what had just happened.
Song Chiyu naturally knew the root cause of the argument between the two.
"I'm sorry, Teacher Qi, I've caused you trouble."
That same phrase again.
Qi Yanzhou silently turned his head to examine her.
Song Chiyu couldn't discern his emotions, and fearing he might be angry with her over this, she explained softly, "Don't take his words to heart. He's not usually the type to say things like that; maybe today... well, men have their periods."
Hearing that she was comforting him, Qi Yanzhou couldn't help but laugh.
He leaned closer to her with his arms crossed, saying, "I know, I don't mind. I was just wondering just how much you hate bothering me."
Song Chiyu hadn't expected that this was what he cared about. "I..."
He slowly walked towards her. "Hmm?"
She couldn't refute it.
He gazed at her tenderly and deeply. "Haven't we done this so many times already?"
Song Chiyu covered her lips in surprise, not expecting him to say such a thing in broad daylight. He showed no embarrassment whatsoever, gently brushing the fingers off her lips: "Is it only your body that knows me?"
She quickly covered his mouth.
He dodged her fingers, cupped her head, and gently kissed her lips. Sensing her shyness, he didn't press her further. He released her and slowly straightened up, saying, "Let's go."
Song Chiyu said, "Aren't you going to eat before you leave?"
"You're treating me?"
“Okay,” she said, “let’s eat out. There’s a really popular Northeastern Chinese restaurant nearby.”
"Okay, let's go."
The restaurant was bustling with people at lunchtime, yet he remained composed and gentle, exuding a refined and aloof air that seemed out of place with his surroundings.
Song Chiyu unconsciously looked up at him. Perhaps it was because of her state of mind, but he looked even more handsome than usual today.
"Why are you looking at me?" Qi Yanzhou asked, taking a sip of tea.
"No." She instinctively lowered her head to deny it.
"You're lying, you were clearly looking at me the whole time," he said, putting down his teacup.
“You…” Song Chiyu couldn’t find an excuse: “You look good.”
He chuckled softly, unconsciously stretching his leg out from under the table and pressing it against her knee, asking, "So, are you still not going to sleep with me tonight?"
"No, I really have to work overtime." Song Chiyu shook her head with a wronged look on her face: "My colleague took the same ancient book as me back yesterday, and she restored half of it in one night. As for me, I only restored one page."
"It's okay, you can take it to my place today, I won't bother you."
"fart."
"Don't you believe me?" Qi Yanzhou asked.
She didn't deny it, and said indignantly, "You... you never keep your word. You always say you'll stop, but when have you ever actually stopped?"
"Didn't I stop yesterday?" He made no attempt to avoid discussing this topic with her in this setting. "Just that one time before."
"Was that just once? You changed the sheets twice."
I've held a grudge.
Qi Yanzhou gazed at her tenderly, and couldn't help but reach out and touch her face. "So cute."
Song Chiyu: "?"
He vaguely realized his lapse in composure and awkwardly withdrew his hand.
Song Chiyu lowered her head in embarrassment and said, "Do you still want to eat? If not, I'll ask the owner to settle the bill."
"Okay, let's go." Qi Yanzhou picked up his coat and walked with her towards the cashier. After the owner calculated the bill, he proactively handed over the QR code to pay. Song Chiyu stared at him in disbelief, "Didn't we agree that I would treat?"
"Next time."
Song Chiyu didn't know when the next time would be, so she could only agree for the time being.
He returned her to the museum and then left.
Compared to her relaxed and cheerful mood, the air in the office was noticeably oppressive. He Zhu quietly pointed to her seat, and when she turned her head, she saw Xie Yunjin sitting in her seat. He was twirling his pen expressionlessly, staring blankly at the corner of the desk, seemingly lost in thought.
Song Chiyu stepped forward to take her pen back, but he dodged her fingers and put it in the pocket of his work clothes.
She was speechless.
He got up to leave, but Song Chiyu blocked his way, insisting, "Give it back to me."
"If you want it, come out with me."
Song Chiyu doesn't want it anymore.
She took out her phone to reorder, but he snatched it away, saying, "Come out."
Song Chiyu gritted her teeth and gave up her phone.
Xie Yunjin wasn't in a hurry and waited for her outside the door. She calmed down a bit and had no choice but to get up and walk towards the door. He wasn't surprised at all and walked forward without looking back.
"Where are you taking me?" Song Chiyu asked in a bad mood.
"Why don't you just come with me?"
The corridors of the cultural heritage building and the archaeological institute are connected.
He went straight to his office. Unlike the noisy offices of his colleagues, his office was empty, with a half-finished bronze artifact on the desk.
Song Chiyu didn't recognize what it was, and stood outside the door without going in.
"If you don't give it to me, I'm calling the police."
"Report it." He leaned against his desk and placed her phone on the table.
Song Chiyu turned to borrow someone else's phone, and Xie Yunjin didn't stop her. He knew she cared about her image and would never allow herself to become the butt of gossip unless absolutely necessary. Sure enough, she came back a while later, silently walking past him to grab the phone behind her.
He seized the opportunity to press down on her wrist: "Go close the door, and I'll give your phone back to you."
What kind of person did she become?
Unable to break free, she raised her hand to hit him, saying, "You really don't care about my innocence at all."
He grabbed her wrist with his other hand: "I don't care about your innocence? What about you? When you first came to my lab, weren't you the same? You didn't care about my innocence then, but now you're concerned about your own?"
“Things are different now than they were back then.” Song Chiyu kicked him hard in the shin.
"What's different?" Xie Yunjin scoffed. "Because you got married?"
Song Chiyu had never seen him like this before, and couldn't help but show her fear, "You're hurting me."
His lips pursed slightly, realizing she was lying, but he still released her. She snatched the phone and was about to leave, but he supported her waist and placed her on the windowsill beside them. Song Chiyu was terrified and kicked his coat a few times, but he restrained himself from touching her further, placing his hands firmly on her sides, and said incredulously, "You kicked me?"
Song Chiyu knew that she had no chance of winning against him in a contest of strength.
What exactly do you want?
"Divorce him." Xie Yunjin stared at her intently.
"Are you crazy?" Song Chiyu looked surprised. "If you keep doing this, I'm really going to call the police."
"Report it, and make sure your cheap husband knows what I did to you too." His eyes behind his glasses were visibly red, whether from anger or something else, it was hard to tell.
Song Chiyu frowned: "I don't like you like this."
"Didn't you stop liking me a long time ago?" Xie Yunjin sneered. "Do you think I'm that much worse?"
"If you keep doing this, we won't even be able to be colleagues."
"Who wants to be your colleague? Did I come here just to be your colleague?" He ripped off his glasses and threw them on the table beside him, his beautiful almond-shaped eyes now bloodshot. "Do you think you can deny the fact that you once talked about marriage with me by pretending you don't know me?"
He looks completely different with and without glasses. Perhaps it's because his eyes are so long and narrow at the corners, but they give him an untamed and wicked air.
"Does breaking up with you mean I can't date other people?"
“Yes, you can marry him, but—” he said, emphasizing each word: “you can’t truly love him.”
"You madman!" Seeing that he didn't do anything more outrageous, Song Chiyu stopped provoking him: "Let me go first."
"Do you agree to talk to me?"
"Hmm." Song Chiyu sighed.
He took a step back, but without waiting for his help, she jumped off the windowsill. "Don't you think you're being too nosy as my ex-boyfriend?"
That's because I never felt that you and I were in the past.
"But you started dating someone else not long after we broke up, didn't you?" Song Chiyu was about to mock the ring mark on his ring finger when she suddenly noticed that he was wearing the same couple ring she used to wear, and she fell silent.
“Yes, that’s what you heard, but the truth is that in the three months I was dating other people, we met less than four times, and we didn’t meet alone even once. You can ask them if you don’t believe me.” He took a deep breath and slowly suppressed the soreness in his eyes: “I told you, everyone I see looks like you. The existence of other people just keeps reminding me that you’re really not by my side anymore.”
"There's no point in you saying all this."
"Divorce him. Anything he can do, I can do for you. It's just laundry and cooking, right? I can do that too."
“No…” Song Chiyu met his tearful eyes and slowly swallowed the words that were about to come out: “Forget about me.”
"You think I haven't tried? Otherwise, what would I talk to others about?" Xie Yunjin laughed self-deprecatingly: "Divorce him! If you won't talk to him, I will."
"What did you say to him?" Song Chiyu thought he had really gone crazy, but then she thought that with Qi Yanzhou's personality, he might not really take those words to heart. "Even if you told him, it would be useless. He is not the kind of man who is influenced by external factors."
"You seem to know him quite well." His sarcasm deepened.
nonsense.
She didn't know her husband, but she didn't want to provoke him further and cause him to do something even more extreme, so she silently moved towards the door.
He saw through her intentions immediately: "Do you want me to close the door?"
Song Chiyu immediately stopped in her tracks: "Is there anything else?"
"Divorce him. I'll give you three days, or I'll go talk to him myself."
"What did you talk to him about?" Song Chiyu was almost going crazy. It sounded like he had some kind of illicit affair. She took a step back and said, "Xie Yunjin, it was five years ago between us. You studied history, you must understand that some things are in the past."
"You also study history. Everything in the past leaves a trace. Only time remains; the events and their impact persist."
Song Chiyu stopped wasting words with him.
He feigned compromise and said, "I'll think about it."
"I'm not asking you to consider it; I'm asking you to come see me with your divorce certificate within three days. Otherwise, I'll have to tell him everything about our past and make him back down on his own."
Song Chiyu felt that he had underestimated Qi Yanzhou.
But she didn't say much, vaguely preparing to leave. Xie Yunjin suddenly grabbed her hand: "I'm doing this for your own good. His other background will eventually affect you."
Song Chiyu withdrew her hand. "I understand."
He slowly released her hand after two seconds, turning his back to her without ever turning around.
Song Chiyu understood Xie Yunjin; the reason he did what he did today was because he was truly determined. Whether she called the police or made the matter public, it wouldn't change his mind.
She wasn't worried about what Qi Yanzhou would do if he found out. Given his personality, he would definitely consider things from her perspective. However, the more she knew that he would consider her feelings, the more heartache and guilt she felt.
It all comes down to that damned Xie Yunjin.
Since you've broken up, do it cleanly. What kind of nonsense is forcing her to divorce? And why didn't you realize this earlier? If it weren't for Qi Yanzhou, she might still be foolishly soft-hearted, thinking that all men are like that, and that a man like Xie Yunjin, with a good job, a good family background, and who doesn't cheat, is already very good. But now she knows what a truly good person is. Even if it means compromising herself, she would never make things difficult for her.
Song Chiyu had figured it out. If she couldn't handle it, she would just quit. Qi Yanzhou would surely understand.
Thinking about it that way, it doesn't seem like such a big deal.
But he still managed to get a message from Qi Yanzhou.
To avoid Xie Yunjin actually causing trouble in front of him and creating unnecessary problems, she started calling Qi Yanzhou on the way, but then felt it wasn't right; these things should be discussed in person.
After getting off work, she waited until she had finished most of the restoration of the ancient book before calling him. He answered quickly, his voice as gentle and polite as ever: "What's up?"
Just as Song Chiyu was about to speak, he heard him say calmly, "Chiyu."
No one has ever called her that.
Only him. She suppressed the flutter in her heart: "Are you home now?"
"kindness."
I need to come and see you for a bit.
"Now?" He was quite surprised.
"kindness."
"It's so late, I'll come find you instead."
"It's inconvenient for my parents to be at home. I'm already dressed and ready to go out."
"Okay, at my house or outside?"
"It's your house, it's just a small matter, I can explain it in a few words."
"Okay, drive your car in, I'll wait for you in the parking lot."
Song Chiyu was about to say no, but he added again, "Call me when you're almost there."
[Author's Note]
I wanted to write more, but after writing it, I realized it wasn't well written~ [Please][Please] Thank you everyone for your contributions!!
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