Chapter Twenty: Was it a setup?
Luo Yan carried the heavy cardboard box downstairs. The edges of the box hurt her arms, and she stumbled, causing the top few books to slide down and scatter all over the floor.
She had no choice but to put down the suitcase, gather her messy hair, let out a long breath, and forcefully suppress the restlessness that was about to burst forth from her heart. She kept taking deep breaths to mentally prepare herself: calm down, calm down. If life plays a trick on you, just slap life across the face. The most important thing in life is to stay emotionally stable.
After calming down a bit, she squatted down to pick it up.
Just then, a hand picked up the book "Introduction to Environmental Engineering" that was furthest away from her and handed it to her.
"Thanks, I can do it myself..."
Luo Yan looked up and met Wu Yuzhou's somewhat complicated gaze.
"Xiaoyan, you're back?"
He looked at the large box and scattered belongings at her feet, then looked up at the stairwell. "What happened to you?"
Luo Yan was in a terrible mood and didn't bother to maintain any decorum. She said irritably, "Can't you tell? You've been kicked out by Biology Mom."
Wu Yuzhou frowned, and naturally reached out to take the rickety suitcase from her arms: "How are you going to carry all this stuff? Let me take you back."
"No need, I'll take a taxi." Luo Yan refused without even thinking.
What a twist of fate! I moved away for over two months and came back to run into the person I least wanted to see. My luck is just unbelievable.
"It's still rush hour, so it's hard to get a taxi."
Wu Yuzhou opened the ride-hailing app to show her, which showed that there were more than twenty people ahead of him in the queue.
Looking at the large box of "relics," Luo Yan instantly lost all her strength: "Well... thank you in advance."
Wu Yuzhou put the box in the trunk, opened the passenger door, and this time Luo Yan didn't make a fuss. She got in, gave an address, and then turned to look out the window, radiating a low-pressure aura that seemed to say, "Don't touch me, I only think of you as a ride-hailing driver."
"Did you have a fight with Aunt Xu?"
"There was no argument; she was overjoyed to see me off on my wedding day."
"Elders can be a bit stubborn sometimes, don't take it too seriously."
Luo Yan didn't reply, thinking to herself, even if she jumped off the building, it wasn't his place to comfort her. If it weren't for him and his precious wife, would she be bothered by those ridiculous rumors? Would she act like a mouse seeing a cat whenever she saw Jiang Sui?
The car stopped at the entrance of the residential area. Luo Yan jumped out of the car to open the trunk, and Wu Yuzhou followed.
Do you need help carrying it upstairs?
"No, thank you, goodbye." Luo Yan decisively refused the three requests in a row, and tried to pick up the box, but the movement was so sudden that she almost strained her back.
Wu Yuzhou quickly reached out to support her, "Let me help you, which floor?"
"I said I don't need it!" Luo Yan was inexplicably irritated and tried to break free from his hands on her waist. "Your wife is still lying in the hospital waiting for you, let's go!"
"Yanyan! Attorney Wu! What... are you doing!?"
Upon hearing this voice, Luo Yan was startled and turned around to see Zeng Rong carrying a bag of fruit, his eyes wide like copper bells, filled with shock and heartache at being caught in the act of adultery.
"Why are you here?" Luo Yan was completely bewildered.
“I…shouldn’t have come?” Zeng Rong walked over and pulled Luo Yan away. “Attorney Wu, you’re newly married, aren’t you? It’s not appropriate for you to be all fussy with our Yan Yan so late at night.”
Wu Yuzhou looked embarrassed: "Secretary Zeng, you misunderstood. I just happened to run into Xiaoyan and saw that she had a lot of things, so I gave her a ride back."
"You came all the way from the hospital? That's quite a smooth route!" Zeng Rong clearly didn't believe it. She turned to Luo Yan, her expression more serious than ever before.
Luo Yan quickly put down her suitcase and said to Wu Yuzhou, "Thank you, Lawyer Wu. I've arrived. Take care."
Seeing Zeng Rong's wary look, Wu Yuzhou could only nod and say, "Well... Xiaoyan, I'll be going now. If you need anything... call me." With that, he hurriedly got into his car and left.
Zeng Rong watched the taillights disappear, then turned to Luo Yan and began to earnestly advise her, "Yan Yan, you can't make a mistake! Wu Yuzhou is someone else's husband now. Even if you still have feelings for him, we have to have a bottom line. You absolutely cannot be a third party. Trying to have your cake and eat it too will only lead to disaster! You're a civil servant, so you need to be even more careful about your image. What if your superiors and colleagues find out..."
Luo Yan's temples throbbed as she listened, and she quickly interrupted her: "Stop! You've gone too far. Wu Yuzhou is just a nobody to me now. Today I went back to Xu Jingfei's place to get something, and he helped me carry it. What the hell is he doing, two-timing me... I strongly opposed your decision to leave the short drama writing industry in the first place."
Zeng Rong asked with suspicion, "Why did you suddenly go back? You really didn't want to see Wu Yuzhou?"
"Go ask your boss tomorrow! Hey, hurry up and help me move these things!" Luo Yan shoved a light bag into her hands in an annoyed tone.
Zeng Rong's expression softened slightly, but he continued, "It's like being in a compromising situation. If President Jiang finds out, he'll be heartbroken!"
Luo Yan carried the box and walked into the building entrance. "He's not my boyfriend, why are you so upset? Just keep your mouth shut and he won't know!"
"I'm doing this for your own good!" Zeng Rong followed her. "What does President Jiang lack compared to that guy surnamed Wu? He's handsome, capable, and most importantly, you..."
"Nothing happened to us!"
Luo Yan quickly stopped her, saying, "Granny Rong, aren't you tired of talking so much nonsense every day? Did you learn that from Luo Muyang? Learning everything will only harm you!"
Now I finally understand where all those inexplicable misunderstandings in idol dramas come from. It's because of NPCs like Zeng Rong who are everywhere, love to overthink, and even spread their imaginations as facts!
Office of the Vice President of Feiyang Technology.
Jiang Sui had just finished a video conference and organized the planning documents for the smart tourism project. He got up to go find Luo Muyang. As he passed the tea room, he heard several employees whispering to each other.
"Really? Secretary Zeng saw Lawyer Wu take her home late at night with his own eyes?"
"It's absolutely true. Attorney Wu even had his arm around her waist. They were very affectionate."
"Wasn't it said that she and President Jiang... how come she's still entangled with her married ex-boyfriend?"
"Oh, what else could it be? She's liked Lawyer Wu for ten years, and now that he's married and she's not the bride, it's only natural that she's feeling resentful, right?"
"Tsk tsk, that's quite a fancy move..."
"But you need to have the means to do that. She's beautiful and her dad's rich. Can we compare?"
"I really feel sorry for President Jiang. So many girls in the company have their eyes on him, and he actually got cheated on!"
"Shh! Stop talking, President Jiang is coming!"
Upon seeing Jiang Sui, the employees immediately fell silent and scattered like birds and beasts.
Jiang Sui walked over expressionlessly. Her phone rang; it was Luo Muyang.
"Xiao Jiang, still busy? It's okay, Dad... oh no, I just wanted to tell you, Yan Yan is just soft-hearted and sentimental, but Wu Yuzhou is all in the past. She is absolutely devoted to you. Don't listen to those rumors at the company, they're all nonsense!"
Hearing this attempt to cover up the truth, Jiang Sui felt a sudden surge of anger rise in his previously calm heart, but his tone became even calmer: "President Luo is overthinking it. I have said that my relationship with Comrade Luo Yan is only professional, and her private affairs have nothing to do with me."
Before Luo Muyang could say anything more, he hung up the phone.
Jiang Sui felt inexplicably choked up.
Luo Yan, you're really something. On one hand, you acted ambiguous with Luo Muyang in front of him, and on the other hand, you were entangled with your married first love, making it known to everyone in the company.
He did nothing, yet she used it to anger his ex, and then inexplicably accused him of being cheated on.
What did she take him for? A tool in a game of love?
That day, Luo Yan arrived at the conference room early, arranged the documents, and sat up straight.
Today was the first time since she took over the smart tourism project that she had inexplicably felt a sense of anticipation for the meeting. Ever since visiting Yunqi Bamboo Path a couple of days ago, she had been wondering if the bamboo tube tea that Jiang Sui handed her that day and his comment that "the handwriting is very neat" were icebreakers. Moreover, he had smiled at her that day, which was quite rare for him, and it wasn't a sarcastic smile, which made her inexplicably happy.
However, when the meeting was supposed to start, it was Jiang Sui's assistant, Xiao Huang, who arrived with several other technical staff.
"Where's your General Manager Jiang?" Luo Yan subconsciously looked towards the back of the line.
"Mr. Jiang has an important client to meet and can't get away," Xiao Huang replied matter-of-factly. "I can handle the data verification myself."
"Oh...he's really busy."
Luo Yan was stunned for a moment, and felt a little disappointed. She shook her head to get rid of the strange feeling and focused her attention on the meeting content.
Throughout the meeting, Luo Yan seemed somewhat distracted.
Jiang Sui is not the kind of person who would easily skip work assignments, especially important projects that he personally oversees.
Could it be... because he felt embarrassed after spending the night at her house and wanted to avoid her?
But he clearly fell asleep by himself that day, so it has nothing to do with her.
Perhaps she was overthinking it; he really did have an important client to meet.
After the meeting ended, Luo Yan lingered while packing her things. Once everyone had almost left, she casually walked over to another technician.
"Engineer Wang, I noticed that General Manager Jiang didn't come today. Where did he go?"
Engineer Wang adjusted his glasses. "We're not too clear on General Manager Jiang's schedule. If you have any technical questions, feel free to ask me."
Luo Yan was met with a rebuff, and gave an awkward smile: "It's nothing, I was just asking."
Back at my workstation, I picked up my phone and opened my WeChat chat with Jiang Sui. My finger hovered in the air for a long time, constantly deleting and modifying.
-Mr. Jiang, you didn't come to the meeting today. Is there something wrong?
Too direct, like checking up on someone.
Brother Huang said you went to meet an important client? Did it go well?
It's obviously fake; she doesn't care about her clients at all.
Are you in a bad mood? Don't listen to Zeng Rong's nonsense!
Why bring up something you shouldn't talk about?
After careful consideration for a long time, she finally settled on a sentence that she considered very subtle:
-Mr. Jiang, the data for Yunqi Bamboo Path has been verified, but there are still some details that might require your review. [Cute]
After waiting for a long time, Jiang Sui did not reply.
Luo Yan stared at her phone screen, her heart pounding with anxiety.
Is this jerk really having a fight with her?
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