Chapter 19 But I don't want to be a loser in relationships again...
Lin Lang glanced at her flushed face, then looked down and noticed that the girl's wine glass was already more than half empty. She reached out and took Gu Xiangyi's glass, placing it in front of her and saying, "You're not allowed to drink anymore."
"Oh." Gu Xiangyi rested her hands on the bar counter, gently supporting her head, her gaze wandering more brazenly over Lin Lang's face.
After a long pause, she chuckled and said, "Sister, you're beautiful and have a lovely name. Do you have a lot of suitors?"
Lin Lang almost choked on her drink when she heard her lavish praise. She calmly said, "I already heard the first one. As for the third one, there are quite a few... but I don't seem to remember telling you my name."
Gu Xiangyi nodded honestly again; she had indeed found out about this from Gu Qi herself.
She suddenly found it amusing: "Sister, your sister is my mom's friend, and you know my aunt. If I call you sister, isn't that a bit disrespectful to your generation?"
Lin Lang instantly exploded: "You're not allowed to call me 'Auntie'! I'm seven years younger than your auntie, that's a huge age difference!"
"Oh~" Gu Xiangyi replied verbally, but secretly she was delighted. She had accidentally found out her sister's age.
The band played jazz and then blues. Lin Lang was slightly tipsy. As she watched Gu Xiangyi's delicate face turn redder and redder, she realized that the girl had taken the wine glass from in front of her without her noticing.
The Long Island Iced Tea was quite potent; Gu Xiangyi felt dizzy and leaned against Lin Lang's shoulder like a magnet.
“Hey…” Lin Lang poked Gu Xiangyi’s soft cheek.
Gu Xiangyi groaned a few times, opened her eyes groggily, let out a small hiccup, and said to Lin Lang, "I need to... go to the restroom."
Lin Lang sighed and rubbed her forehead. Although this was the Gu family's bar, she was still worried about letting the young girl wander over there alone. So she got up, picked up Gu Xiangyi, and headed towards the restroom.
The long corridor shut out the previous hustle and bustle, and the walls were adorned with Victorian-style retro wall lamps, casting a dim and tranquil glow.
Gu Xiangyi leaned against Lin Lang, causing him to sway from side to side. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the two of them swayed until they were pressed against the wall.
Lin Lang's back was pressed against the wall, and Gu Xiangyi's hands, which were pinned against the wall, locked in front of him, preventing him from moving. The two were very close, as if they could hear each other's heartbeats.
"Hey...you...get up." Lin Lang struggled gently, trying to push the girl away, but she only pressed him down harder.
She had always thought they were about the same height, but now she realized that Gu Xiangyi was actually a little taller than her.
"Sister..." Gu Xiangyi's eyes gradually became hazy. She lowered her head slightly to look at Lin Lang, and she felt that the face in front of her had become even more beautiful.
"You are really...so beautiful."
The breath, carrying the scent of alcohol, brushed against Lin Lang's eyelashes, causing her to involuntarily close her eyes. At that moment, she felt a soft, warm sensation on her lips.
By the time Lin Lang realized what had happened, Gu Xiangyi's soft lips had already left hers.
Wait... what's wrong with her?
I was kissed forcibly by a young girl after I had been drinking!
She was both ashamed and annoyed as she cupped Gu Xiangyi's face in her hands, trying to see if she was truly drunk or just pretending. Seeing that Gu Xiangyi couldn't even open her eyes and that the weight pressing down on her was getting heavier and heavier, she finally gave up completely.
Why bother going to the restroom...
Lin Lang managed to drag the person to the front desk. The manager naturally recognized them as members of the Gu family and immediately called over the Gu family's driver who had been waiting outside.
Lin Lang only breathed a sigh of relief after watching Gu Xiangyi's car drive away. But thinking about how she, a refined single aristocrat, had actually "lost her virginity" to a young girl's inexplicable kiss, she called the Lin family's driver and fled in a disheveled state.
*
The production company scheduled a meeting with Li Xian for Monday morning, but Song Lan arrived in Shanghai early, Sunday evening.
Shang Shu picked out a nice bar on the Bund and invited her to have a drink. She and Song Lan kept their public and private lives separate, but because the first three years were a period of great upheaval for S&S, they were too busy, so they had very few private occasions.
"What would you like to drink?" Shang Shu handed the wine list to Song Lan, who was sitting opposite her.
"Just a mojito will do; I have to work tomorrow," Song Lan said to Shang Shu with a smile, a rare moment of detachment from her usual seriousness.
Shang Shu chuckled and shook her head, ordering a Metropolitan as usual.
"President Shang has a long-standing affection for the Metropolitan Hotel," Song Lan said with a smile. Over the years, whether it was a social event or a leisure occasion, she had been by Shang Shu's side and observed that Shang Shu seemed to have always been particularly fond of the Metropolitan Hotel.
Shang Shu pursed her lips, neither confirming nor denying; her affections extended far beyond just wine.
Then she teased Song Lan about the way she addressed her, saying, "Now that you're here, don't be so reserved."
Song Lan smiled and nodded in agreement.
The bar had a relaxed atmosphere, and the two of them sat by the window, where they could see the river view at night.
Shang Shu picked up her glass and took a small sip. It was slightly lighter than the one she had in Macau. The bartender had controlled the proportion of base spirits perfectly. It was the kind of drink that Song Lan also said was suitable for work tomorrow.
"How is your mother's health lately?" Shang Shu asked casually.
Song Lan also has only one mother at home, and her heart has been bad for many years. In recent years, Shang Shu has helped her find a specialist doctor, which has made her condition somewhat better. When looking for a secretary, in addition to Song Lan's own excellence, Shang Shu also valued her simple family background.
"I'm recovering very well. The last surgery was a great success, thanks to the doctor you helped me contact." Song Lan mentioned this, her eyes sparkling with gratitude that she couldn't hide.
"That's good." Shang Shu smiled with relief. Her actions had nothing to do with any skill in managing people; it was more out of pity for this girl who was the same age as her.
Song Lan also glanced at Shang Shu, who was gazing at the river view. Over the years, she had followed Shang Shu and grown up with her, but she had also witnessed too many of Shang Shu's untold grievances. In her eyes, Shang Shu always built a seemingly hard shell around herself. She tried her best to take care of others, but it seemed that she had an unresolved knot in her heart.
It wasn't until Gu Sui appeared that Song Lan also felt that Shang Shu had become somewhat different. She discovered that whenever Shang Shu saw Gu Sui, her usual indifference would vanish, and she would either raise her thorns or reveal her softness, which were things she hadn't often seen before.
Song Lan is actually a very principled person. Her principle has always been to do more and talk less, and she almost never cares about things outside of work. But now, she can't help but be a little curious about the relationship between the two of them.
Shang Shu turned around and looked at Song Lan, who also seemed hesitant to speak, and asked, "What do you want to ask?"
Song Lan's thoughts were exposed, and she couldn't help but back down a little: "It's nothing."
Shang Shu chuckled lightly: "I already told you not to be so reserved. Just ask me anything you want to ask. I naturally won't say anything I don't want to say."
Seeing that the other party had already said this much, Song Lan couldn't be coy any longer. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Is there... a problem between you and President Gu?"
Song Lan never expected that her eloquent secretary would hesitate for so long before asking such a blunt question. She immediately felt it was inappropriate, but since the words were already out, she could only bury her head in the sand and wait for the other party's answer.
Shang Shu had a vague idea that it was related to Gu Sui before she asked the question. After all, they had worked together for three years and were quite familiar with the people and things around them. The only person who could make Song Lan hesitate to speak up was Gu Sui, the variable that had appeared recently.
Shang Shu lowered her head and did not answer. She gently swirled the wine glass in her hand: "What do you think our relationship is?"
She was curious about how she and Gu Sui appeared in the eyes of Song Lan, an outsider. She had to admit that she was somewhat blinded by her own involvement.
Seeing that Shang Shu's expression was normal, Song Lan's anxiety gradually subsided. Since Shang Shu had asked so directly, there was no need for her to beat around the bush. So, after thinking for a moment, she said, "At first, I thought you and President Gu were business partners who worked together because of the mirror. Later, I felt that you were like friends. Then, when you fainted, seeing how anxious President Gu was, I became a little unsure again..."
Shang Shu picked up her wine glass and drank the rest of the wine in one gulp: "Let's be friends now..."
She turned her head to look at the cruise ships on the river and said calmly, "Do you remember the answer I gave you when you asked me why I wanted to restart S&S?"
Song Lan also gave a soft "hmm". That period was the early days of the company's establishment. She was still a nobody who had just started out. It was on a night like this that they had a drink at the newly opened Scarlet Bar. She remembered that Shang Shu, slightly drunk, shed tears in front of her and said that half of the reason for establishing S&S was for her mother, and the other half was to pursue someone.
Back then, she didn't understand. She thought Shang Shu meant "pursue" or "pursue" when she said "chase." She wondered about the relationship between the two but never asked. Now, she still doesn't understand the deeper meaning of "chase," but she knows who the person Shang Shu was referring to is.
“From the day we got together, I’ve been trying to keep up with her. Maybe others don’t think it’s necessary to do this, but I’ve always felt that even in a romantic relationship, the one who stops moving forward first is destined to be abandoned.” Shang Shu gave a bitter smile.
She had already learned a valuable lesson from her mother about this matter.
She paused, then continued, "She's so dazzling, I've felt that way since the first day I met her, so even now, I still feel a bit entitled to be abandoned."
Song Lan wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words to say.
"I admit I can't let her go, but I don't want to be a loser in relationships anymore."
After Shang Shu finished speaking, she shifted her gaze from the bustling river view back to Song Lanye's face. Looking at the other woman's furrowed brows, she seemed to truly empathize with her and couldn't help but smile: "Don't you have anything to say?"
Song Lan also took a sip of wine, her expression somewhat complicated. She looked into Shang Shu's eyes and said, "I was just wondering, you're so good to others, why are you so harsh on yourself..."
In her opinion, Shang Shu, who is both highly capable and from a prominent family, is already someone that others can only look up to. Just how much more outstanding does one have to be to reach the red line in her mind?
"Perhaps humans are inherently contradictory beings." Shang Shu tapped her wine glass with her finger and smiled self-deprecatingly. This was a lesson Gu Sui had taught her.
Whether she accepts it or resists it, she can't escape the absurdity of existence itself, so she might as well just let it be. After all, she only has the leisure to think about such things when she swallows the wine and lets herself sink into a state of sobriety.
A note from the author:
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