Chapter Twenty-Eight: Fellow Losers Under the Same Sky
Jiang Sui noticed that Luo Yan had recently switched to "power saving mode".
She sits furthest away in meetings, and when discussing work, she is concise and never says a word more than necessary. If their eyes occasionally meet, she immediately jumps away as if she has been burned, as if he were a carrier of some deadly virus.
"I have already reviewed the historical visitor flow data analysis provided by the scenic area," Jiang Sui said, handing over the documents in his hand. "If there are any new research and development needs, I will report them as soon as possible."
Luo Yan didn't even lift her eyelids, took it with both hands, and said in a calm and even tone, "Okay." After saying that, she turned around and left without giving him a second glance, as if he were just an NPC who issued a quest.
Jiang Sui looked up at the top of his head; there was no exclamation mark.
What's wrong with her this time?
He tried to recall their recent work interactions, but he couldn't recall anything that might have offended her. Could it be that she was distracted during the last meeting and he pointed it out, making her feel embarrassed? Or... was she on her period?
Jiang Sui was unaware that Luo Yan was embroiled in a frenzied internal conflict.
She tried to rationally convince herself: Who Jiang Sui eats with and chats with is none of your business, you two are just client and service provider...
I understand the reasoning, but why can't I shake off that sour and stifling feeling in my heart?
Jealousy without being entitled to it is indeed the most bitter. It's so bitter that your teeth ache, but you can't show it at all. The only way you can think of is to reduce physical contact, which is what people call "out of sight, out of mind".
But... she wants to see him the moment she opens her eyes every day!
He's still normal, just slightly crazy.
The project proceeded as usual, but the efficiency seemed to be slightly lower, just a tiny bit, almost imperceptible.
On the fifth day after being blocked by Xu Jingfei, Luo Muyang finally couldn't sit still any longer.
Unable to reach her by phone or send a WeChat message, Luo Muyang staked out her house, only to learn that Xu Jingfei had been extremely busy lately, spending all her time at the beauty salon. Gritting his teeth, Luo Muyang decided to personally visit the beauty salon to "apologize."
He deliberately chose a weekday afternoon, thinking it would be easier to talk to people when there were fewer people around. He picked out Xu Jingfei's favorite pink shirt, paired it with a silver-gray suit, combed his hair into a slicked-back style, and carried a large bouquet of blue tulips that supposedly symbolize eternal love. He then solemnly went to the beauty salon.
As soon as I stepped inside, I bumped right into He Jun.
When He Jun saw Luo Muyang, he immediately put on his signature sunny smile. "President Luo, are you here to see Sister Feifei? What a coincidence, she just went out to meet with suppliers. Please sit here and wait. I'll pour you a cup of tea with goji berries and cassia seeds. It's good for clearing heat and improving eyesight, and it's especially suitable for someone your age."
Luo Muyang replied with a straight face, "No need, thank you."
The sofa in the rest area was soft and low, and Luo Muyang, dressed in a bespoke suit, looked out of place and cramped inside.
While He Jun was introducing the products to the female customer in a soft voice, he said over, "Ms. Luo, if you're bored, you can read a magazine, the latest Harper's Bazaar, but it might not be suitable for you... It's a bit cold, let me get you a blanket, your joints shouldn't get cold as you get older."
Luo Muyang almost crushed his phone.
Arguing with young people is dishonorable if you win, and even more shameful if you lose; you can only look at your phone and pretend to be handling official business.
At this moment, a young woman walked up to Luo Muyang and gracefully extended her hand: "Hello, excuse me, are you Mr. Luo from Feiyang Technology? I saw your interview on financial news."
Luo Muyang instantly switched back to business mode, stood up and shook hands: "Hello, I am Luo Muyang, what is your surname?" He was a little smug, thinking to himself, "See, I'm still quite charming!"
"My surname is Liu, Mr. Luo. Your entrepreneurial experience is a model for the industry!"
Ms. Liu smiled sweetly, her eyes filled with admiration, "Our company is currently expanding its digital business. I wonder if there's an opportunity to ask Mr. Luo for some advice?"
With such a beautiful woman in front of him and her attitude so sincere, Luo Muyang's vanity was greatly satisfied. He temporarily forgot his heartbreak and began to chatter: "Haha, easy, easy! Digital transformation is indeed a trend, the key is to find the right entry point..."
Just then, Xu Jingfei rushed back. As soon as she entered, she saw Luo Muyang wearing a flashy pink shirt, holding a bunch of ugly blue flowers, chatting enthusiastically with a young and pretty girl.
He Jun went up to her, his voice just loud enough for everyone to hear: "Sister Feifei, President Luo has been waiting for you for a long time. He and this Ms. Liu are getting along so well that I can't get a word in edgewise!"
As soon as Luo Muyang saw Xu Jingfei, he immediately stood up with the flowers in his hands and put on a fawning smile: "Feifei, you're back?"
Xu Jingfei's face instantly darkened. She shoved He Jun, who was trying to help her with her bag, and strode over. "Luo Muyang, who gave you permission to come into my shop and flirt with my customers?"
"We were talking about work..." Luo Muyang weakly defended himself.
"You've gotten into talking about work at a beauty salon? You've expanded your business quite a bit, huh? Young girls are lining up to talk to you about work? Do you think I'm stupid?!" Xu Jingfei was furious. She grabbed Luo Muyang and shoved him out. "Get out of here, you're in my way!"
"Feifei, listen to me..."
"roll!"
"..."
Luo Muyang stood blankly on the bustling street, staring at He Jun's smug smile through the glass door, gritting his teeth.
The autumn wind is bleak, and life is desolate.
Night fell.
Luo Yan, wrapped in a blanket, nestled on the sofa, analyzing the photo Xu Jinglan had sent her for the nth time on her phone screen, stubbornly trying to glean some clue from Jiang Sui's true feelings. He seemed a little impatient? That smile was probably just gentlemanly politeness...
The doorbell rang, ruthlessly interrupting her train of thought.
When the door opened, the person who entered was none other than Luo Muyang, who looked as if he had lost his parents.
"Huh! Mr. Luo, are you... bankrupt? Or are you fleeing from being hunted down?"
Luo Muyang didn't say a word. He walked in, put the beer he was holding on the table, slumped onto the sofa, and sighed deeply, "Yanyan, Dad's heart is aching..."
Luo Yan's frustration suddenly lessened considerably.
Indeed, happiness is always relative.
She immediately opened two cans of beer, handed one to Luo Muyang, and sat cross-legged on the carpet: "Tell me, what did you do to offend Ms. Xu this time?"
Luo Muyang took a big gulp of beer and began to bitterly recount how he had been fooled by Xu Jinglan, how he had been attacked by He Jun's tea ceremony, and how he had been "picked up" by a young and beautiful customer only to be kicked out by Xu Jingfei...
"Tell me, am I wronged? This is an innocent disaster! That He Jun is a reincarnated vixen, and Fei Fei actually believed him instead of me!"
Luo Muyang pounded on the pillow, looking as aggrieved as a 200-pound child.
Normally, Luo Yan would have complained bitterly, but today she was also troubled by love and felt a rare sense of kinship.
She tilted her head back and took a swig of beer, her eyes vacant. "Old Luo, are all men like this? They seem to be flirting with you on one hand, and chatting and laughing with other women on the other?"
Luo Muyang instantly became alert: "Did Jiang Sui bully you? I trusted him so much, handsome men are all womanizers!"
"I was just saying, why are you making wild guesses!" Luo Yan scratched her hair in frustration. "Let's talk about you. After all these years, is it really only Ms. Xu? Can't you find someone else?"
Luo Muyang fell silent, his eyes somewhat unfocused, and murmured, "Yanyan, have you always thought that your father is particularly unreliable?"
Luo Yan remained silent, tacitly agreeing.
Luo Muyang smiled bitterly, "When I met Feifei, she was only eighteen years old. She was the most beautiful and proudest girl in school. I was just a poor boy. Apart from having good grades, I had nothing. Everyone thought I wasn't good enough for her, and I even thought so myself..."
“I received my first angel investment when I was 24. Once the company was up and running, the first thing I did was run to her and tell her that I could make her life better…”
“She suddenly ran away and disappeared without a trace… I searched for her for a long time. When I saw her again, you were already six months old. That’s when I found out she was pregnant. She tried to abort the pregnancy twice but failed. Your grandmother was worried that she would ruin her health, so she persuaded her to give up her plans to study abroad, dropped out of school, and went back to her parents’ home to prepare for childbirth.”
Hearing this, Luo Yan couldn't help but feel ashamed.
"I'm so grateful to Ms. Xu for sparing my life. And then what?"
Luo Muyang took another sip of wine. "Later, I knelt down and begged her to marry me, to give me a chance to atone for not being by her side when she was in the most pain, and to give her a complete family. She said that men become bad when they have money, so she ran away before I got rich... Listen to what she said?"
“Ms. Xu… has quite a personality.” Luo Yan wiped her sweat again.
“She’s resentful. I made her suffer so much back then… When we first started our business, she and I squeezed into a ten-square-meter rented room, eating instant noodles and sharing a single sausage. Because I glanced at a pretty girl passing by, she was so angry that she didn’t talk to me for a whole day. On anniversaries and birthdays, other girls got gifts, but I couldn’t even afford a single rose…”
"I'm sorry to her, and I can't let her go... She's a thorn in my heart, I can't pull her out, it hurts whenever I touch her, but if I didn't have this thorn, my heart would be empty, and there would be no meaning in living this life..."
“I know I can be pretty stupid sometimes, I don’t think things through, and I often make her angry, but I just… can’t control myself. I just want to be near her whenever I see her, even if she yells at me or hits me, it’s better than her ignoring me… So I work hard to earn money, and I’m single-mindedly focused on bringing her back in a grand way, but it seems like I always end up doing it wrong…”
Luo Muyang's voice lowered, filled with an unprecedented weariness and regret.
Luo Yan listened quietly, and suddenly realized that her own struggles and feelings of attraction seemed so insignificant in the face of her parents' more than twenty years of entanglement.
What exactly is love?
Is it like Luo Muyang, who stumbled and struggled for over twenty years without changing his mind? Or is it like her, who used to relentlessly pursue Wu Yuzhou, but now her heart flutters at a single glance from Jiang Sui, and she's troubled by a single photograph?
She picked up a beer can and clinked it against Luo Muyang's.
Luo Muyang rubbed his reddened eyes, looked at Luo Yan, and said earnestly, "So, my daughter, when you're looking for a man, you can't just look at his face. He has to be like his father—deeply affectionate, devoted, and rich!"
Luo Yan: "..."
You should just shut up.
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