Chapter 50: Realizing it too late... Now...?
Luo Yan rushed out of the art museum, hailed a taxi, jumped in, gave the address, and leaned her head against the car window, her mind a jumble of thoughts, like a ball of yarn being torn apart by a husky.
What a scoundrel! The number one scoundrel in the world!
She was so angry that her teeth itched. She took out her phone and changed Jiang Sui's WeChat nickname from "General Manager Jiang (Party B Version)" to "You cunning bastard with a heart full of tricks."
Still not satisfied after making the changes, he opened Zeng Rong's chat window again and started typing:
- Granny Rong, are there any contestants number four, five, six, seven, or eight? Fill them up! I want to see if the tens of millions of people in the mighty Yu'an can run into that NPC Jiang Sui on every street!
Zeng Rong replied very quickly:
- Yan Yan, resources need time to be consolidated. Why don't we take a break and plan our next move? [wiping sweat]
Luo Yan felt that typing was too inefficient and that words could not fully express her feelings at the moment, so she made a phone call directly.
"Keep arranging! Those three last time really opened my eyes and made me fully realize how well our country has done in protecting male diversity, so please continue!"
Zeng Rong was so frightened that she put down the apple she had taken a bite of. "Yanyan, please don't make things difficult for me. President Jiang... I can't afford to offend him."
"What's it to him!" Luo Yan gritted her teeth. "Don't ever mention that PUA master who deceives people's hearts and bodies to me again!"
"To be fair, Mr. Jiang really cares about you. He's shown up at every blind date, hasn't he? Don't be stubborn. Don't let him drive you away; you'll regret it later..."
Luo Yan astutely caught the loophole in her words: "Wait, how do you know he shows up every time?"
Zeng Rong's voice trembled slightly: "I guessed... Isn't that how it's always portrayed in idol dramas?"
"Is it Luo Muyang? Whoever pays your salary, you listen to them."
"Am I that kind of person...?"
"You'd better tell the truth, or I'll call Lao Luo right now and tell him that the Hermes bag you claimed for reimbursement last month was a high-quality fake."
"It's President Luo! He always informs President Jiang of the time and place in advance. He's also the one who asked me to specifically pick out oddballs to go on blind dates with you. He said that when you compare them, you'll find that President Jiang is the ideal person in the world!"
Zeng Rong decisively betrayed them, confessing everything at once.
After all, the promises made by the boss are empty words, but the Hermès bag in hand is real.
Luo Yan understood instantly.
It turns out there were bad people among the crowd.
Does Luo Muyang have some kind of "reconciliation fetish"? He constantly tries to get Xu Jingfei's attention (and dislike) by acting foolishly, and he even shamelessly becomes a spy who sells his daughter for personal gain!
Then, she decisively made a phone call to Luo Muyang, yelling as soon as he answered, "Luo Muyang, you betrayed me! Did you have Jiang Sui follow me on my blind date?!"
Luo Muyang feigned ignorance on the other end, "Huh? Yanyan, what did you say?...Dad's in a meeting, I'll hang up now!"
Luo Yan listened to the busy tone on the phone and laughed in exasperation.
Jiang Sui is his biological son, right? What a loving father and filial son! He's so biased towards outsiders, his elbow is almost dislocated!
After calming down, I sent Zeng Rong another message:
- I'm giving up blind dates. I'll dedicate my life to my workplace and fight for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Men, get out of my modern society!
Luo Yan returned to her office, seething with anger. Everyone she looked at seemed to be Jiang Sui's accomplice. She even subconsciously checked the documents Liu Su handed her to see if they contained any "Jiang Sui's private goods".
"Sister Yan, are you alright?" Liu Su asked with concern. "Are there too many weirdos on blind dates these days?"
Luo Yan waved her hand weakly: "Don't mention it, I have PTSD."
While others are dating, she's dating too. But look at her dating life—it's harder than the journey to the West! While Sun Wukong fights monsters, she's outsmarting Jiang Sui. The key is that this male fox spirit can also transform into seventy-two different forms: aloof elite, pitiful, stalker. She can switch between these identities with ease. Even the Three Battles with the White Bone Demon couldn't compare.
Just as I was getting annoyed, Zhou Jiaqi came over with some documents: "Sister Luo, the supplementary environmental impact assessment data for Luoxia Peak is out. Do you have time to take a look?"
Luo Yan now recalls her "intense exchange" with Jiang Sui in the car whenever she hears "Luoxia Peak," and her expression becomes a little unnatural: "Leave it there, I'll look at it later."
Zhou Jiaqi put down the materials but didn't leave immediately. "Sister Luo, are you not in a good mood? If... if you need someone to talk to, I'm available anytime."
His eyes were clear, filled with pure concern.
Luo Yan felt a warmth in her heart. Look at that young Zhou, what a sunny and cheerful boy he is! How could she have been so blinded by lust and insisted on challenging the hellish difficulty of the dungeon?
Xu Jingfei's discerning eye, honed through countless men, proved that Jiang Sui was not a man anyone could afford to mess with.
"Thank you, I'm fine, it's just that it's hot and I'm a little irritable."
Zhou Jiaqi smiled, said nothing more, and turned back to his workstation.
Luo Yan sighed.
If she liked someone like Zhou Jiaqi, they'd probably be sweetly discussing what to eat at the cafeteria for lunch right now, instead of playing this suspenseful game of "Guess what Jiang Sui is hiding today" every day.
At noon, Luo Yan planned to go to the supermarket across from the office building to buy some snacks. As soon as she stepped out of the Cultural and Tourism Bureau, she saw the familiar black SUV. Jiang Sui was leaning against the car door, standing there like a gatekeeper.
"Luo Yan, let's talk."
"What should we talk about?" Luo Yan crossed her arms and looked at him with a forced smile. "How can President Jiang, who is so busy with work, still accurately track down the location of every blind date I go on? Or should we talk about your Versailles-style 'dilemma' as the heir of Mingsheng?"
A hint of unease flashed across Jiang Sui's face. "I didn't follow you."
“Hmm, I didn’t follow you.” Luo Yan nodded sarcastically. “Your family did the urban planning for Yu’an. All the popular matchmaking spots are located on your usual route.”
Jiang Sui was speechless after being retorted by her, and looked at her in silence.
Just then, Luo Yan's phone rang; it was Sun Zhicheng. She answered, but her anger flared up again after only a few words.
“President Sun, this data model has already been tested three times when President Jiang was still in charge. Making changes now will affect the stability of the entire system!” She said, glaring at Jiang Sui. “Yes, I know President Jiang is no longer involved in this, but the plan has already been finalized. It’s not something you can just change as you please… What do you mean by ‘he’s no longer here’? Does the plan become unusable just because he’s gone? Does the imperial seal become invalid when the emperor dies?”
After hanging up the phone, Luo Yan looked at Jiang Sui, who was standing silently in front of her, and both old and new grudges welled up in her heart.
"General Manager Jiang is so carefree. He just abandoned the project he built from scratch, leaving us lowly clerks to suffer. You're so noble for going to support the county's economy, while we're arguing with this idiot who thinks he's the smartest person in the world every day! If you didn't want to take responsibility to the end, why did you take on this job in the first place?"
She got angrier and angrier as she spoke, and poured out all her pent-up frustration in a rapid-fire manner: "That's right, you, President Jiang, are such a big shot. You are the only prince of Mingsheng, the vice president of Feiyang who is second only to one person and above a thousand others. You have both the two giants in the IT industry under your control. Of course you can come and go as you please. It's no wonder that a lowly civil servant is being made a fool of by capitalists!"
Jiang Sui listened in silence until she finished speaking, then said in a low voice, "I will communicate with Sun Zhicheng."
Luo Yan sneered, "No need, Mr. Jiang. We, the Bureau of Culture and Tourism, will handle our own affairs. We wouldn't dare trouble you. You should continue playing your riddle game and stop bothering me!" With that, she turned and left, and this time Jiang Sui didn't stop her.
After taking a few steps, Luo Yan couldn't help but look back. Jiang Sui was still standing there, the sunlight casting a long shadow that made him look inexplicably lonely.
Her heart clenched, but she immediately forced herself to harden her heart.
He's not the only one in the world with his own troubles.
When Luo Yan went to work in the afternoon, the force with which she typed on the computer keyboard was as if she were performing CPR on the machine.
Liu Su leaned closer and sighed, "Sister Yan, I broke up with my boyfriend."
Luo Yan didn't even look up: "Congratulations! Why this time? Doesn't he understand why you insist on buying toothpaste endorsed by your idol?"
"It's much more serious than that!" Liu Su said, heartbroken. "He said I was brain-dead for spending half a month's salary to buy a front-row seat at a concert. He doesn't understand me at all. Is this about money? This is about faith! This is about youth!"
Luo Yan finally turned to look at her: "So you just dumped him?"
Liu Su clenched her fist. "Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together. If our values don't align, there's no need to keep each other around for Labor Day."
Luo Yan recalled the cautious look in Wang Qiushi's eyes when he looked at Liu Su. After hesitating for a moment, she still spoke up: "Actually, it's not that there are no people who understand you. That... Master Wang is quite concerned about you."
To Liu Su's surprise, she said, "Brother Qiushi? I know he's good to me."
Luo Yan was taken aback: "You know?"
"Can't you feel the heat when you're leaning against the fire? Every time he takes me home, he takes a detour and always pretends to bring me breakfast on his way..." Liu Su tucked her nails and pouted. "It's a pity he's not a permanent employee. That's fine, but dating in the same workplace is such a bad thing. What will our bosses and colleagues think of us? I can't stand a secret relationship. If we break up, it'll be so awkward to keep running into each other all the time."
Luo Yan subconsciously retorted, "That's not necessarily true..." She paused halfway through her sentence.
Is it bad to date someone at work? Will my boss and colleagues have opinions? Will it be awkward to break up?
Isn't this the same excuse she used when she insisted on keeping her relationship with Jiang Sui private?
Jiang Sui valued the smart tourism project so much, yet he took the initiative to withdraw after their falling out, even leaving Yu'an. He did this not to avoid her, but to... protect her?
If that's the case, then all those harsh things she said to him just now...
"Sister Yan, what's wrong?" Liu Su waved her hand in front of her.
Luo Yan snapped out of her daze and forced a smile: "Do you think it's possible... I'm a blockhead too?"
Liu Su: "???"
For the entire afternoon, my phone remained quiet; there were no missed calls or new messages.
After getting off work, Luo Yan couldn't help but call Jiang Sui. The phone rang for a long time but no one answered. When she called again, the call was disconnected!
He always answers her calls instantly, and even when their relationship was at its worst, he never hung up on her. Could it be... that he's really angry with her?
Luo Yan was in a state of utter confusion.
You jerk, I told you to stop bothering me, I didn't tell you not to answer my calls...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
