In confusion, not knowing what to say, I said a few irrelevant words to him and finally hung up the phone in anxiety.
I buried myself deep in the large and soft office chair, and all kinds of questions began to linger in my mind. As soon as Peng Xiaohui left my office, Yue Mingyuan knew that I agreed to cooperate with them in raising funds for the village bank - this undoubtedly meant that she reported to Yue Mingyuan immediately after she left.
What is she doing? Seeking credit? Excusing me? Or trying to make up for her sister Xiaomin's move into my house? Or maybe a combination of both. In short, this Peng Xiaohui has become the mediator who maintains the delicate relationship between us, which is superficially harmonious and fighting without breaking up.
It seems that it is time to take a closer look at this woman. Who is she? Is she like Xi Shi, who lurked beside Fu Chai and worked as an undercover agent for Gou Jian? Is she like the Princess Tai, who cried and pleaded in front of Wu Zetian to save Xue Shao? Or is she Li Xiuning, who resolutely went into battle and bravely defeated the enemy to protect her sister?
When the call was connected, her voice was as calm and gentle as usual, as if nothing had happened.
I proposed a meeting, and she did not refuse, but set the location at the Tianyue Hotel where she rented - it was both her temporary office and her residence.
I readily agreed. No venture, no gain. This time, I was determined to burn my boats.
Before the end of the work day, I quietly left the office, briefly told Hu Jia a few words, and walked to Tianyue Hotel. Following the map, I came to her door and rang the doorbell.
The door opened. She was wearing pajamas, looking lazy and a bit dazed as if she had just woken up.
Oh, she didn't even bother with the superficial work. This outfit was nothing more than the most straightforward hint: she had already "bathed and changed clothes" and was "looking forward to it" in the room.
Seeing me hesitating at the door, she explained softly: "County Magistrate Guan, I just woke up and haven't had time to change clothes yet."
I nodded, showing an expression of understanding and consideration on my face, and walked into the room naturally.
She then closed the door tightly, leaned lightly against it, raised her hand, and locked it with a "click".
Her lie that she had “just woken up” seemed pale and powerless in front of the six neatly arranged side dishes and a pot of red wine that had been ajar earlier.
She asked me to sit down and gracefully poured the blood-amber liquid into each of our glasses, filling them half full. Then, she sat back in the high back of her office chair, lifted the stem of the glass with her slender fingers, raised it to me, and smiled: "Happy toast."
I also picked up the wine glass and took a sniff. The mellow aroma lingered around me, and I sighed, "People who have seen the world are really different. This wine must be worth a lot, right?"
She smiled, eyes rolling: "Excuse me. Good wine goes with heroes, you deserve it."
At this moment, she was no longer as cautious or passionate as she was when facing the deputy county magistrate. Her eyes and her posture clearly showed that she had thrown away the barriers of her professional identity and treated me purely as a man with whom she had an ambiguous relationship and was responding to and - capturing me.
I frowned. This woman really knows how to switch. In Longting Club, she is a smooth and well-mannered manager, dealing with the powerful and wealthy like a fish in water; today in my office, she is an elite white-collar worker with sharp words and direct speech to solve the crisis; but at this moment, in this private space filled with the aroma of wine, she has transformed into a hunter with charming eyes and deliberately lazy and seductive behavior. She wears multiple masks and switches seamlessly, and each time, she accurately serves her current purpose.
I picked up the wine glass, took a sip, and looked at her face, as if I was just chatting: "Speaking of which...it seems like you haven't seen Xiao Min for a long time?"
This seemingly casual question caused Peng Xiaohui's expression to freeze, and a trace of indescribable melancholy flashed across her face, as if her deep longing had been aroused. But this emotion only lasted for a short moment, so fast that it almost made people think it was an illusion. She quickly restrained herself, and even deliberately curved the corners of her mouth upwards, pretending to be completely indifferent, and deliberately lowered her voice: "That's right, I haven't seen her since she... moved to your place." She said the words "moved to your place" in a light and detached way, with a sense of deliberate alienation.
I caught her fleeting true emotion and tentatively suggested, "How about... find a time to call her over? You two sisters haven't been together for a long time, so it's a good opportunity for you to meet?"
She suddenly raised her head and looked straight at me. The previous melancholy in her eyes disappeared completely, replaced by a kind of cold hardness: "Meet?" She pulled the corners of her mouth and uttered a short and annoyed snort, "Whenever we meet, we quarrel, it never ends! Instead of making each other upset, it's better not to meet!"
I was a little surprised by this strong feeling of rejection. I looked at her face that was almost identical to Xiao Min's and couldn't help wondering, "It's really strange, you two sisters look like you were cut from the same mold, but why are your personalities... so different?"
Hearing this, she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. The sigh was filled with too much unspeakable heaviness. "She..." Peng Xiaohui's gaze drifted away, as if penetrating the wall and looking at that innocent figure, "She's like a child who hasn't grown up yet." Her voice lowered, with an almost pious wish, "But you know what? I just hope she will always be like this, never grow up, and stay away from people forever!" She said the word "stay away" with extra force, with an unquestionable desire to protect her.
I was silent for a moment, and finally asked the question that was lingering in my mind: "Are you really going to let her live with me forever?"
Peng Xiaohui retracted her thoughts and refocused on my face, examining me sharply, as if weighing the weight of every word. After a brief thought, her eyes softened a little, but still with a sober scrutiny: "You?" She tilted her head slightly, her tone a bit complex and honest, "You may not be a good person." She paused, her eyes became unusually serious, "But... you are far from being a bad person." She exhaled gently, her voice revealing a kind of calmness that had settled, and also mixed with a little imperceptible fragility, "She is with you... to be honest, I am more relaxed." The last sentence, her voice was very light, but it was like a heavy stone falling to the ground, "After all... in this world, I have her as a relative."
I said, "Isn't your father out? Isn't he also your relative?"
This ruthless remark seemed to have hit her sore spot. Her voice became tense. "He brought us sisters into this world, but he pushed us into a quagmire worse than death. In my heart, he has long been dead."
As soon as she finished speaking, she seemed to throw away something heavy, and her tone suddenly changed: "Yue Mingyuan is very satisfied with your support for the bank's fundraising."
The fragility that Fang Yu revealed due to her family background disappeared in an instant. She seemed to have pressed a switch and turned into a business elite who only cared about interests and was watertight.
I stared at her and asked, "Did you report our conversation to him?"
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