Chapter 7 You can ask her about it next time you meet...
The next afternoon.
Manager Wang from Xinghelou called Tang Ran, saying that the menu for Song Wuqi's birthday banquet had been prepared and that Tang Ran could come over if she had time.
The Tang family started with restaurants, and Tang Ran's maternal grandfather had the ability to transform into a food processing plant, relying on the wealth accumulated by three generations of the Tang family through the opening of Xinghe Restaurant.
Xinghe Building witnessed the development history of the Tang family and is the root of the Tang family.
Before he passed away, my grandfather gave the restaurant to Tang Ran and told her to run it well.
Tang Ran did not disappoint her grandfather's wishes.
Xinghe Tower was the only property that the Tang family managed to preserve in the previous life.
If Manager Wang hadn't called, Tang Ran wouldn't have remembered that she had booked a birthday banquet for Song Wuqi.
Tang Ran's first reaction upon hearing this was to cancel immediately, but after thinking about it, she replied that she would go and take a look.
When she arrived at Xinghelou, Manager Wang had already instructed the chefs to display the sample dishes.
Tang Ran looked at the list and selected a few special ingredients that needed to be air-freighted from abroad or pre-ordered.
Whether or not this birthday banquet will be held in Chengdu is uncertain, so why waste the energy to prepare it carefully?
Manager Wang arranged for the chef to make the sample dish, and Tang Ran pretended to try it before finalizing the decision.
The Song family headquarters, top floor.
Song Zhixu's private green bubble received a picture, followed by a series of messages.
"I heard they're preparing a birthday party for their little niece."
"Am I misunderstanding this girl?"
"It doesn't seem like they're planning to break up."
"Judging by the quality of the dishes, a single table would cost at least six figures."
"He's so attentive to her, he must really love her."
"Why is this girl so infatuated?"
"Why can't I meet such a wonderful girl?"
Song Zhixu glanced at it casually and pressed the mute button without even unlocking it.
As the sun dips below the horizon, the streetlights come on right on time.
The machines on the road rumbled, and road maintenance workers were busy on the street, giving the city's old streets a new look.
Tang Ran carried the dinner she brought back from the restaurant into the apartment. When the housekeeper saw her return, he swiped her elevator card for her.
She thanked him and looked down at the message Miao Tiantian had sent.
The elevator came up from the basement level. Tang Ran replied to her messages and walked in without looking up.
Miao Tiantian is being driven crazy by her client lately, and she spends all her free time criticizing him to Tang Ran.
Typing couldn't calm Miao Tiantian's furious spamming, so Tang Ran sent a voice message: "Relax, darling, don't be angry. When you come back from your business trip, I'll take you out for a nice meal to treat you."
Her delicate voice, paired with the soft, melodious tones of the Wu dialect, is truly sweet enough to melt anyone's heart.
The person on the other side of the elevator couldn't help but glance at her.
Today, Tang Ran wore a pink and white faux two-piece plus-size vest shirt, paired with a white tiered skirt.
Her outfit and personality are perfectly matched; it's very sweet.
Her smile with her eyebrows arched is even sweeter.
"We've arrived at the 19th floor."
As the electronic announcement sounded, Tang Ran put away her phone and went outside.
As Tang Ran stepped out of the elevator, her phone vibrated again. Just as she raised her hand, all the lights in the corridor suddenly went out.
Tang Ran trembled and froze on the spot.
Endless darkness grew rampantly before her eyes, like a ferocious beast rapidly devouring her.
"Don't be afraid."
A gentle voice sounded in her ear, and the warmth spread across her wrist, pulling her out from under the black maw.
Tang Ran came to her senses.
First, I subconsciously looked towards the window on the other side of the corridor.
Seeing the streetlights made her less afraid.
Tang Ran wasn't afraid of the dark, she just couldn't stand suddenly being in a completely dark environment.
She turned around, wanting to say thank you.
All the lights in the corridor came on again, and Tang Ran's "thank you" was replaced by surprise.
"B-Um, Miss?"
Long black hair, beautiful light brown eyes, and a black mask—this is the powerful young lady she met at the Xia family yesterday.
Upon hearing her address, Song Zhixu tilted her head slightly, but didn't ask anything.
She released Tang Ran's hand and her first words were an explanation, "I live in 1901."
Tang Ran was stunned for a moment.
I remembered the misunderstanding I had about her yesterday.
Tang Ran was a little embarrassed.
Actually, she was so scared that she didn't have time to be on guard.
"Mmm, mmm." Tang Ran's face flushed slightly.
She nodded, easing the slightly awkward atmosphere. "Sister, are you new here? I've never seen you before."
“It’s been a while,” Song Zhixu replied gently.
The house was reserved before the sale even started, and we moved in a long time ago.
Tang Ran had never seen her before because Tang Ran hadn't lived here much.
"Oh, oh, I live in 1902."
After Tang Ran finished speaking, she felt a little silly. There were two apartments per floor in this building. If the other person lived in 1901, she must be in 1902. She couldn't possibly live in 1901 as well.
"I only recently moved here myself," she chuckled. "Thank you for earlier."
Having encountered her for two consecutive days and received her help, Tang Ran felt that they were quite destined to meet, but she also became a little wary.
That seems too much of a coincidence.
Don't blame her for being overly suspicious.
She was once bitten by a snake and was afraid of ropes for ten years.
I'm really scared of being fooled by Song Wuqi.
"It was nothing, don't worry about it." After saying that, Song Zhixu turned his head and coughed twice.
When she stopped, she politely apologized to Tang Ran.
Tang Ran said sweetly and considerately, "Sister is not feeling well, please rest early. I won't disturb you."
Song Zhixu nodded and turned to walk towards 1901.
Tang Ran watched her go inside and close the door before slowly turning her gaze away.
Polite and gentle—isn't that exactly the persona Song Wuqi was putting on in front of her?
Tang Ran even wondered if yesterday's encounter at the Xia family's house was just a coincidence.
The thought flashed through her mind, and Tang Ran gave a self-deprecating laugh.
I've really developed PTSD from Song Wuqi.
She's not an important person, so why would so many people deliberately approach her?
After taking a shower back in her room, Tang Ran took her dinner and headed to the dining room.
Miao Tiantian sent two more messages. Tang Ran had just opened the messages when all the lights in the room went out again.
She jumped up from the chair with a start, shone her phone in the light, and ran to the balcony.
Tang Ran was moving so fast that she even kicked off one of her shoes, and the sash of her bathrobe came undone, revealing a large area of skin.
Thankfully, the towel she was drying her hair was hanging crookedly in front of her chest, which helped cover up her almost exposed private parts.
What made Tang Ran even more embarrassed was that before she could tidy herself up, she saw someone standing on the balcony next door.
The selling point of Shengming Apartments is the surrounding garden balcony. The advantage is the 270° super large terrace, big enough to grow flowers and grass and have a barbecue. The disadvantage is that you can see the neighbors next door from the edges of the balconies on the north and south sides.
Sure enough, Tang Ran saw her neighbor next door, who was on the phone, turn his head and look at her.
He took in her disheveled appearance.
With years of excellent manners, Song Zhixu gave a polite yet unembarrassing smile after a slight moment of surprise.
Tang Ran coughed lightly, straightened her clothes, stretched out her leg to pick up her fallen slipper, and explained with feigned composure, "The power went out again."
Song Zhixu nodded slightly and then continued her phone call.
She turned and went into the house as she spoke.
From the few snippets of conversation she overheard, Tang Ran could roughly tell that it was a work call.
Tang Ran's phone lit up; it was a group message from the property management. Municipal construction had severed cables, and repairs were underway. Power was expected to be restored within half an hour.
She gave a helpless smirk; it seemed she would have to spend the next half hour on the balcony.
"It doesn't matter."
Song Zhixu's voice could be heard coming from the house across the street.
"I guess it's downstairs, but the apartment building is out of power and can't be delivered up."
"No need, it will warm up in a bit."
"I booked my flight to Guangzhou for Thursday."
"Okay, that's all for now."
The sound grew louder as it approached, and Song Zhixu returned to the balcony, now holding a star-shaped wrought iron lantern.
Tang Ran had a similar lantern when she was little, except that hers was lit with a candle, while the one in the older girl's hand was electronic.
The warm yellow light, like a sacred flame, dispelled unease and fear.
In Tang Ran's eyes, Song Zhixu at this moment was a goddess who had descended in a radiant light.
Meeting her direct and longing gaze, Song Zhixu paused in placing the lamp, walked over to her, stood by the balcony, and handed her the lamp.
Tang Ran instinctively stood up to greet her, but then felt a little embarrassed as she reached out her hand. "This isn't appropriate, is it? I only have one lamp."
“You seem to need it more than I do,” Song Zhixu said gently.
Since she had said that, Tang Ran stopped being polite; she genuinely disliked the darkness.
"Thank you, sister."
The two balconies weren't too far apart, and Tang Ran stood on tiptoe to barely reach the light.
Tang Ran placed the lamp on the table, and Song Zhixu's phone rang again, sounding like another work call.
The big boss has so much work to do!
Tang Ran sighed inwardly and looked Song Zhixu up and down.
The light blue bodycon dress features a three-dimensional cut that accentuates the figure, while the white blazer paired with a gemstone bird brooch creates a simple yet sophisticated look that highlights feminine charm.
It's been almost an hour since she got home, and this person hasn't even taken off her mask. Tang Ran guessed that she had been on the phone ever since she came in.
Her skin was very fair, her eyebrows were long and thick, and she had almond-shaped eyes and a high nose bridge; only half of her face was visible.
Tang Ran suddenly became curious about what was under her mask.
She hadn't noticed it the first two times, but after taking a closer look this time, Tang Ran felt that the person's eyebrows and eyes looked somewhat familiar.
I feel like I've seen this somewhere before.
Noticing her gaze, Song Zhixu turned her head and gave her an inquiring look.
Tang Ran felt like she'd been caught peeking, and quickly lowered her head to scroll through her phone.
Song Zhixu's eyes crinkled at the corners as she continued her phone call.
Tang Ran pretended to be scrolling through her phone while listening intently to the sounds coming from the neighboring balcony.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that after she hung up the phone, Tang Ran quietly turned her head away and quickly called out to her before she turned to go inside.
"elder sister."
Song Zhixu turned around.
Tang Ran pulled the insulated bag from the table and handed it to her, saying, "Thank you for the lamp, sister."
Song Zhixu asked, "Aren't you going to eat it yourself?"
"I ate it on my way back."
She was full from tasting the dishes all afternoon, so she wasn't hungry at all.
Song Zhixu glanced at the Xinghelou logo on the bag and naturally thought of the messages Murong Yi had sent her that afternoon.
Tang Ran realized the ambiguity in her words and quickly explained, "I haven't eaten, and the dishes were all hot."
What was brought back was something Manager Wang had prepared separately; these were all dishes that Tang Ran had removed from the menu.
The boss ordered high-end ingredients, and even if they weren't going to eat them, they had to be cooked and taken away for her. Leaving them in the store as waste would be too much for her, a mere manager, to cover.
"Thank you." Song Zhixu walked over and took the bag.
The cell phone rang.
This time it was Tang Ran's call. The background of the call was a group photo, and the contact name was "girlfriend with two hearts added."
The screen's light was most dazzling at night, and Song Zhixu saw it just as she withdrew her hand.
Tang Ran turned around with her phone in her hand, her face, which had been smiling just a second ago, suddenly darkened.
She composed herself and unlocked her phone.
"Hello."
His calm voice contrasted sharply with the disgust on his face.
"I've already eaten. What about you?"
The lights in the room came on at that moment.
Tang Ran didn't sit down on the balcony; she went straight into the living room.
The faint light of the lantern was overshadowed by the bright light, and the halo was shallow.
Song Zhixu leaned against the railing and watched for a while before slowly turning his gaze away.
Inside the house.
Tang Ran gave a few perfunctory replies, then made an excuse to go take a shower and hung up the phone.
The moment Tang Ran pressed the red icon, she opened her contacts and deleted the contact with a single click.
She deleted the photos and the green bubble nickname from the album the day she came back, and for a moment forgot that there was such a disgusting nickname in her phone book.
next door.
Song Zhixu took a shower.
Her skin was fair, and a bluish bruise around her collarbone was particularly clear.
The darkest areas also have dark scabs.
After glancing down briefly, Song Zhixu finished dressing and returned to the restaurant.
After leisurely finishing the meal Tang Ran had brought her, she unlocked her phone, ignored the message notification from Murong Yi marked as 20+, and opened her company email.
I checked the new email from Song Wuqi.
After carefully reviewing the data, Song Zhixu circled the last few numbers and added a note: 'The data calculation is inaccurate, the valuation is too high, and it needs to be rechecked.'
When Song Wuqi received this email, his scalp tingled.
The previous acquisition plan was not well done, and this time it was pointed out that the data calculation was inaccurate.
She threw Song Zhixu's reply directly into the group chat and yelled, "How can you do things like this? You can still get the data wrong. Quickly double-check it for me!"
More than a hundred pages of materials, tens of thousands of data points, all checked together, and the whole group won't be able to sleep tonight.
Tang Ran lay in bed preparing to sleep. As soon as she closed her eyes, a face wearing a mask suddenly appeared in her mind.
Where exactly did we see it before?
You can ask her name next time you meet her.
Tang Ran thought to herself.
A note from the author:
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