Chapter 34 Chapter 34
An Jiyue turned her gaze away awkwardly. She had almost forgotten the domineering attitude Lu Ye had shown towards her.
There were rows of seats in the huge tiered classroom. If another male classmate happened to sit on her other side, she could get closer and chat with him for a few more minutes, and she would be able to see his cold profile by turning around.
Putting aside the need for some coaxing, she actually quite enjoyed looking at his profile. The angles were like ice sculptures, and his pretentiously reserved gaze shifted abruptly between the lecture notes, the professor, and the multimedia screen. Every pore felt chilled.
But in her eyes, it all meant "come back to your senses if you know you're wrong."
After all these years, he is still so skilled, or rather, it has become an instinct.
An Jiyue pretended to be indifferent and curled her lips, then took off her chopsticks and picked up a piece of oyster omelet for herself.
Zhan Nianqing and Guan Haifu seemed to be relieved, and they quickly followed suit, talking and laughing, chatting about everything under the sun.
It was hard for An Jiyue not to notice that most of the dishes in Guan Haifu's bowl were picked up by Zhan Nianqing. The cold-faced Lu Ye was thrown out of her mind, and her gossip spirit was burning.
"Mr. Zhan is so generous with his treat, how come there's no wine? Haifu has been working so hard for Any Underwear lately, so she's serving tea instead of wine. You should give her a toast today."
Her almond-shaped eyes were smiling, and her gaze lingered between the two of them. Zhan Nianqing opened her mouth awkwardly, wanting to say something but stopping herself, only to be interrupted by Lu Ye.
"You drank so much last night, and you're still drinking today. Are you a drunkard?"
She was stunned for a moment, then turned around and met Lu Ye's sullen, unceremonious eyes. An Jiyue hadn't really wanted to drink; she was just teasing the two of them. Lu Ye's rebuke immediately brought back the embarrassing memory loss she'd experienced last night. She felt a pang of resentment, but she forced herself to say,
"I'm chatting with Mr. Zhan, and you're the only one who talks too much." She muttered softly, knowing that she was in the wrong.
"I ordered the wine to be removed." Lu Ye glared at her sharply, scolding her, "Stop making things difficult for President Zhan."
Guan Haifu immediately smoothed things over, smiling and agreeing with An Jiuyue's suggestion, "Boss Zhan has already given me a better thank you gift—an offer letter from Any's company. Before, it was just a friend helping me out, but now he's my boss. Shouldn't I be the one toasting him a glass?"
She smiled and raised the tea bowl, clinked it with Zhan Nianqing's, and drank the warm tea in one gulp.
"Okay, let's eat. We'll all be full soon. Director An, this taro duck is delicious. Try it."
Guan Haifu was trying to liven up the atmosphere at the small square table, but she saw that An Jiuyue and Lu Ye had different expressions and neither of them moved their chopsticks for a long time.
“What…what’s wrong…”
She looked around helplessly, and finally looked at Zhan Nianqing, who also looked bewildered. The two exchanged glances and lamented in their hearts: "It's so hard to eat a meal."
An Jiyue had just finished a few dishes and was taking a break. She leaned back in her chair with her arms folded and snorted coldly:
"Your offer was personally sent by President Zhan, so you're considered a connection if you get in, right? People with connections must be careful. Haifu, you're bound to be treated differently from other ordinary employees. You must be mentally prepared, otherwise you might feel guilty if you receive even a little bit of preferential treatment."
Guan Haifu was confused and hadn't fully understood when Lu Ye spoke. His expression was cold and solemn, but his words were straightforward and sincere.
"Your relationship with Mr. Zhan—with all due respect, it's already more than normal, isn't it? What you consider normal behavior might be seen by others as overstepping boundaries and climbing the social ladder. New employees should maintain a distance. Too much intimacy can easily lead to rumors and rumors behind your back."
Lu Ye's straightforwardness made the other two blush. Guan Haifu was stunned for a few seconds before she stammered in response.
In fact, they haven't made it clear yet.
Despite the nearly 100 chats they exchange every day, with topics ranging from Any brand to all sorts of other topics, they are still just "good friends who can talk about anything, regardless of age."
Guan Haifu was once teased by her roommates, who said that she was a young and naive person who would rush forward regardless of any difficulties, but was hesitant when it came to love. In fact, she was just worried that she was sometimes too young and naive, and that Zhan Nianqing only treated her as a child.
Zhan Nianqing had more thoughts, and he even felt it was immoral because of the age difference of six or seven years.
If Tang Bian heard about this worry, he would probably faint from anger. After pinching his Ren Zhong acupoint and waking up, he would probably be inspired and write a love story for them.
Before the two could ponder further, a powerful female voice suddenly spoke back:
"What does it mean to maintain a good distance? You know each other well but pretend to be strangers? You can say something in three minutes face to face but you insist on sending a message? Rumors are absurd and will never stop. Just keep a clear conscience."
An Jiyue was calm and gentle by nature. Whenever Zhan Nianqing dealt with her, her dignified and gentle oval face always had a faint and friendly smile on it. But at this moment, her eyes were bright and her words were sharp, which was rare to see.
Zhan Nianqing and Guan Haifu caught her determined gaze and nodded in unison.
Zhan Nianqing, the host, could already tell that the two weren't arguing directly with each other, but were secretly provoking each other. He quietly winked at Guan Haifu and placed another ball of richly colored lychee flesh in her bowl. The two stopped talking and buried their heads in their food.
The man's eyes grew darker, and his voice grew deeper. "A clear conscience? Do you think they have a clear conscience?"
The two innocent victims were frozen in time for half a second. Guan Haifu's fair cheeks had turned red to her ears. She was about to speak when she was silently stopped by Zhan Nianqing's gentle and calm eyes.
"They do have a close relationship, but so what? Connections are still resources, they should be used when necessary!"
An Jiyue's voice was noticeably more agitated. She was no longer sitting idly with her arms folded. One hand was clenched into a fist, pressing against the table. The veins on her slender white fingers were clearly visible.
Even when she was meeting with the director team or discussing the story line with the screenwriter team, she always discussed the matter in a gentle voice, trying her best to impress those who disagreed with her with her professional qualities.
But now, she spoke in a harsh voice, like someone trying to overpower the other person with the loudness of her voice, showing her usual cool and calm demeanor.
They had argued this before, and she had lost four years earlier.
But she habitually adopts the same views and strategies today, insisting that she did nothing wrong back then, and at the same time trying to use paranoia and coercion to make him "submit."
Lu Ye did not answer again. His expression showed a bit of indifference due to the passage of time. His eyes looked at her calmly, and the tolerance in his eyes was so familiar that it made people's heart break.
Perhaps, he had this expression on the other end of the phone back then.
She felt humiliated by the look on her face.
She remained reserved, repeatedly telling him that everything was in the past, so calmly that even she seemed to be deceiving herself.
But after all these years, it’s obvious who has moved forward and who is still stuck in the same place.
An Jiyue suddenly felt very tired. After two days of non-stop work over the weekend, the intense and fast-paced recording sessions, she was only able to hold on with a breath of air. That breath clung to her spine, telling her to always stand upright and withstand all the pressure.
Lu Ye seemed to have pulled out her last bone. Her whole body seemed to have suddenly lost all strength, leaving only limp body.
She lowered her head, sniffed, and started putting food into her mouth again.
Guan Haifu and Zhan Nianqing looked at each other, and tried to find some irrelevant small topics to liven up the atmosphere, but it ended in vain. The meal was still slightly silent until the end.
While Zhan Nianqing was paying, An Jiyue took out her phone and prepared to call a taxi. Before the order was even sent out, the key to a brand new Volvo was pushed to her side.
Before she could wonder, Lu Ye said, "I'm going to the airport. Can Director An give me a ride?"
It was his usual voice, calm and composed, without any ripples. She still felt a bit angry, wanting to say "it's inconvenient" to settle the score, but with his sincere and nonchalant attitude, it seemed unreasonable.
An Jiyue took the car keys without saying a word, and in a moment, she sat with him in the front seat of the silver car.
Lu Ye opened his laptop beside her, typing rapidly with his slender fingers. Occasionally he would stop to think, and his ring finger would lightly circle the keys.
He also answered two phone calls in the middle, still in a calm tone, analyzing the two recent unusual indexes, which made people feel a sense of reliability and trust when listening to him.
For several moments, she felt as if she was listening to Lu Ye's presentation when he was a student.
With the same slow speaking speed and low, magnetic tone, even if the listener knows nothing about finance, he will feel that what he says must make some sense.
Not to mention that she understood. Every judgment Lu Ye made had sufficient basis, and they were not common and overused indicators, but the results of the indicator system and model that he had carefully revised and verified.
He truly shines in this field. An Jiyue felt a little relieved. Even if he completely rejected the arrangement she had made so arbitrarily, Lu Ye still had the ability to quickly rise to prominence.
Thinking of this, her tense expression softened and relaxed a lot. Lu Ye pursed his lips and sighed quietly without anyone noticing.
"Last time I asked you if you were still mad at me, you refused to admit it. Look, you're clearly still angry."
He spoke gently, silently melting the ice that had been between them all night.
Lu Ye leaned his elbows against the window sill, smiling at her. An Jiyue had a calm demeanor and a graceful, elegant appearance, which he had seen many times, but it was rare to see her pouting and fuming.
An Jiuyue looked ahead calmly and suddenly turned on the turn signal, but the car continued to move forward. After a while, Lu Ye finally couldn't bear it anymore and reminded her.
"Oh, I meant to use the high beams." Her fake composure was punctured, and she felt so embarrassed that she wanted to find a hole to hide in. She added, "Your car is indeed quite complicated."
"If it's complicated, just take your time to figure it out." Lu Ye didn't laugh at her, but lazily informed her, "When I'm not in P City, this car will be yours to keep."
An Jiyue was dumbfounded. After she came to her senses and opened her mouth, she was warned by a threatening look.
"You are not allowed to sell or rent it. When I come, you are responsible for picking me up."
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