Chapter 43 Old Photos
There was a message in the work group, which was a notice of overtime work on Saturday.
Everyone looked closely and found that it was Zhou Ran who notified them personally.
No one dared to say anything, and just replied "Received".
Xu Mi was the first to lament: "Ah, my SPA."
Xu Xinrui comforted her: "It's okay, you can go the day after tomorrow."
The translation team, which had just completed its task, was faced with another Saturday overtime storm.
Everyone sat listlessly at their workstations, packing up to get ready to leave.
Yan Nian exited the group chat and scrolled down, and saw that Ma Xiao had sent her a message last night, inviting her to a concert.
Thinking about having to work overtime tomorrow, she told the other party her situation truthfully.
Ma Xiao didn't ask any more questions, and just replied with two words: [OK.]
On her way home from get off work, Yan Nian had just walked out of the office building when she heard Xu Mi calling her from behind: "Yan Nian."
Yan Nian turned around and saw Xu Mi and Xu Xinrui walking towards her slowly, arm in arm.
Xu Mi asked, "Why are you always involved in scandals with Mr. Zhou? The group chat on that account is going crazy."
No matter how loud the explosion was, she didn't see it. Yan Nian was very calm and didn't want to get involved.
Xu Mi and Xu Xinrui were already accustomed to her good attitude. Xu Mi directly stated the key point of the gossip: "Some people say that you live with Mr. Zhou and go to get off work together every day."
Live together?
Yan Nian felt a little depressed for a moment. She didn't have to think about it. It must have been spread by those people she met this morning. She had forgotten what they looked like.
Yan Nian said calmly, "It will be gone in two days, don't take it too seriously."
The translation team firmly believed in the simple superior-subordinate relationship between her and Zhou Ran.
In their opinion, Yan Nian's personality is not very likable except for her good looks. If they hadn't known her for a long time and knew that she was a person who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, people who didn't know her would think that she was difficult to get along with. She was born with a charming figure and looked very scheming, aloof and unsociable.
Zhou Ran is a leader who is passionate about his career and only cares about efficiency when working. The two people have very different personalities, not to mention believing in those groundless gossips.
Xu Mi praised her: "Awesome."
Xu Mi's car has a license plate restriction, so today the three of them got off work late and went to take the subway with great difficulty.
They are all heading in the same direction.
The subway is not crowded at this time and there is even space available.
Xu Mi plopped down between the two of them, taking the lead, and continued the previous topic: "Today, You Jia saw the message in that group, and his face was almost touching his toes."
Xu Xinrui smiled and said, "In the entire translation team, only you and Yan Nian can make her angry."
Yan Nian was caught in the crossfire for no reason and just listened silently.
"He's been pursuing President Zhou for so long, but I haven't seen how good he's been to her." Xu Mi said bluntly, "Actually, I also had a crush on President Zhou for a while when I first came here. He simply met my aesthetic standards. However, I still have self-awareness. President Zhou has destroyed the last bit of fantasy I had about him. I don't want to end up losing my job if I don't win him over."
Yan Nian thought what she said made sense and looked at her for a few seconds.
…
Zhou Ran’s birthday falls on a weekend.
After Yan Nian finished his breakfast, he fell back on the bed holding his phone and typed the four words "Happy Birthday". He didn't send it out for a long time, and when he exited it, it turned into a red "Draft".
Aunt Zhang knocked on the door outside: "Yan Nian, Teacher Xu's clothes have been washed."
Yan Nian collected his thoughts, stood up from the bed and went to open the door.
Aunt Zhang handed her the folded clothes and said, "Please put them aside for a while."
Yan Qilin and Xu Yiqing both had things to do today, so they left early in the morning.
They had specifically informed her that the aunt was not allowed to enter the room casually.
Yan Nian took the clothes: "Okay."
Walking into Xu Yiqing's cloakroom, Yan Nian pushed open the door and hung up the clothes according to their colors.
When I was about to go out, I accidentally saw an old round children's biscuit box on the third layer of the open compartment on the right side of the dressing table.
Yes, it is old and looks out of place in the bright apricot-colored dressing room.
It has a tin texture and is printed with cartoon patterns from that era.
Yan Nian saw it at a glance.
Xu Yiqing rarely keeps old things at home, let alone a biscuit box that is so old that it has faded.
Yan Nian rarely comes to his parents' room.
Xu Yiqing's words that night made her curious about the cookie box.
At this moment, it was like entering a forbidden area. I moved over carefully, took down the biscuit box and opened it.
There are some old photos inside.
The first one is a photo of their family of three. After she was born, her parents would take a lot of photos of her every birthday.
There is a large photo album that belongs to her, and these probably couldn't be put in it.
There is also a family photo. At that time, grandpa was still here and three-year-old Yan Nian was sitting between grandpa and grandma in the photo.
She had never seen these photos before, and she looked through them one by one.
There was another group photo on the ground, but the elders in the photo were much younger than the one just now. The little girl sitting in the middle didn't look like her at all. She was probably about four or five years old.
Yan Nian's heart beat inexplicably faster, and he continued to explore.
There were several yellow envelopes inside, also containing photos.
Aunt Zhang called out from outside: "Yan Nian, I'll make you whatever you want for lunch."
Yan Nian was startled, his pupils constricted, he turned around abruptly and stared at the door of the cloakroom, and the photo in his hand fell to the ground.
The back of the residual color is facing up, with two words on it that are so faint that they have faded.
Maybe it was the bright floor tiles that were dazzling in the light, or maybe it was the tense nerves that caused my perception to be distracted from the sounds outside. My eyes lost focus for a moment, and I stared at the words for a while, but they didn't seem real.
After confirming that the voice was from Aunt Zhang and not Xu Yiqing, Yan Nian leaned against the dressing table and slowed down.
He hurriedly picked up the photo and put it back in the box, then put the box back in its place, untouched.
"How about I make you sweet and sour pork ribs at noon?" Aunt Zhang watched her come out with a smile.
Yan Nian moved the corners of his mouth and nodded: "Okay!"
Aunt Zhang saw her pale face and asked: "Why do you look so pale? Did you catch a cold because you didn't cover yourself with a blanket at night?"
Yan Nian's eyelashes fluttered a few times: "It's okay, it will be fine in a while."
Aunt Zhang said, "I've been using the air conditioner every day lately. I have to be careful not to catch a cold."
Yan Nian didn't listen carefully to what Aunt Zhang said next. With a pale face, he returned to his room and closed the door. It was as if he had returned to a safe place. He leaned his back against the door and slowly slid down to sit on the ground.
She heard the sound of Aunt Zhang walking outside, and every step she took seemed to be pulling her into the real world.
Yan Nian slowly stood up from the ground as if sleepwalking and walked to the bed.
She sat down in front of the dressing table listlessly, her expression a little dazed, and took out her childhood photo album to check again.
Recalling the night when Xu Yiqing mentioned that he had dreamed of his daughter, Yan Qilin's tone was not very good.
Later, I knocked on her door and asked if she was asleep.
After that, no matter how busy Xu Ke was, he would reply to people who sent WeChat messages in a timely manner and reply to her after half an hour.
So, the girl in the photo.
If it wasn't her, where did she go?
Over the years, her parents never revealed to her the existence of another member in the family.
Her thoughts were complicated and she began to question herself again, not sure if she had seen it wrong or was overthinking it.
Yan Nian looked at the phone lying on the bed in the mirror with empty eyes, lighting up repeatedly.
After a long time, she gradually came to her senses, walked to the bed and picked up her mobile phone. There were several WeChat messages, including one from Zhao Shutong.
When I met Zhao Shutong that day, we added each other on WeChat, but we never chatted after that.
Zhao Shutong: [Sister Yan Nian, what are you doing? ]
Yan Nian sighed softly and replied: [At home.]
Zhao Shutong: [I'm so bored in Times Jiaxiang alone, can you go shopping with me for a while?]
That night, Zhao Shutong was like a census worker and even asked her where she lived.
After a brief chat, Yan Nian felt that he would think about all sorts of random things at home, and it would be nice to have someone to distract him, so he invited her to come over for lunch and go shopping with her in the afternoon.
Zhao Shutong agreed readily, and soon sent her a message saying that he had arrived at the gate of the community and asked her to go out and pick him up.
Yan Nian said hello to his aunt and asked her to cook one more meal for one more person, then put on his shoes and hurried downstairs to pick someone up.
Zhao Shutong is a chatterbox and can chat with anyone.
While eating, I praised Aunt Zhang's cooking skills all over.
They went shopping together in the afternoon, and Yan Nian accompanied her to pick out clothes.
She was a total otaku and couldn't stand strolling for a while. It wasn't until around five in the afternoon that Zhao Shutong let her go.
However, it also gradually made her forget that today was Zhou Ran's birthday and the photos.
Shopping did not bring her a sense of satisfaction, but rather a sense of exhaustion. This method could indeed help her forget most of the unhappy things and watch the bustling world.
I was exhausted and had no time to think about anything else, as if nothing was important anymore.
Zhao Shutong: "Sister, let me treat you to a meal!"
Yan Nian looked at the time, too lazy to move his toes: "Okay."
Zhao Shutong asked, "Do you suggest I call someone?"
Yan Nian nodded: "Whatever you want."
Thinking that they would just have a quick meal near the mall, Zhao Shutong took her in a taxi to a restaurant of Star-level standard.
The environment is luxurious and elegant, integrating entertainment and dining.
Yan Nian looked at it and thought it was a place where at least a dozen people couldn't come and spend money, so he asked, "Did you invite a lot of people?"
Zhao Shutong said, "Not many, maybe seven or eight people."
Just, seven or eight people.
…
Yan Nian felt embarrassed. She imagined seven or eight strangers younger than her sitting together and felt a little suffocated.
Now that I'm here, I can't run away, so I have to follow Zhao Shutong into the box.
The waiter led them in, and Yan Nian saw Zhou Ran sitting in the middle at a glance.
Yan Nian's expression paused.
Zhao Shutong said in a brisk voice: "We are here."
Zhou Ran raised his head when he heard the voice, and his eyes went straight across the huge round dining table and fell on her.
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