Chapter 54 Inanimate Objects
Jiang Xia's pupils contracted as she looked into the eyes of the man before her.
There was no one else in the park except them, and apart from the sound of the wind, he could almost hear his own deafening heartbeat.
Mr. Zhan is still waiting for his reply.
As time passed, Jiang Xia saw Zhan Lintian approaching, his eyes half-closed. Wu Zhou had kissed him in the same way last time.
If she doesn't resist, he will kiss her to confirm his feelings.
Just as their lips were about to touch, Jiang Xia hurriedly pushed them away, stood up abruptly, covered his lips with his head down, and strode forward along the shore.
"Jiangxia, Jiangxia."
Zhan Lintian followed closely behind, calling his name. The two of them moved very fast, one in front of the other.
Zhan Lintian followed him, saying, "It's not convenient to get a taxi here, I'll take you home."
Jiang Xia turned around, walked backwards, and waved his hands frantically: "No need, President Zhan, don't trouble yourself, I'll take a taxi."
Then he turned around again and strode forward.
The wind brushed against his cheek, and with each breath, his heart swayed like a willow branch in the wind, chaotic and disordered.
Jiang Xia took out his phone and opened the app while running.
Fortunately, a taxi that had just dropped off a customer at the airport happened to receive his ride order and stopped by the park on its way.
After Jiang Xia got into the car, he rolled down the window and looked out at Zhan Lintian, who was standing by the roadside watching him.
The driver asked, "Is that your friend?"
Jiang Xia nodded, and the driver didn't ask any more questions, taking her home according to the address on the order.
He returned home and sat on the sofa, lost in thought.
If he had been a little slower to dodge, Mr. Zhan might have kissed him directly. Even though there was no one else in the park, kissing someone in broad daylight still made him feel embarrassed.
Jiang Xia sat on the sofa for a long time until his phone vibrated. Wu Ming's plane must have been flying over a city, and the signal was temporarily better. The message he had edited a long time ago finally arrived.
"If you need anything, you can ask my brother. He promised he'd help you."
Wu Zhou...
Jiang Xia was lost in thought, wondering what Mr. Wu wanted to say to him that evening.
He was like an empty shell, nervously driving to the company first—he had only taken half a day off.
The words on the computer and the paper swirled around, and Jiang Xia's pen tip slid across the paper, unable to write a single word for a long time. Finally, the glass pen tip, dipped in colored ink, wrote a messy sentence in a flamboyant style, which he then crossed out, leaving only a jumbled mess.
When Jiang Xia finally arrived, he took off his glasses and threw them on the table.
A colleague next to him saw this and asked kindly, "Jiang Xia, are you alright?"
Jiang Xia rubbed her face and replied with a smile, "It's nothing, I'm just a little tired."
He picked up the cup: "I'll go make a cup of tea."
Jiang Xia was leaning against the tea room when he ran into his boss, Editor-in-Chief Sun.
Editor-in-Chief Sun is a decisive and efficient person who combines kindness and strictness. He is easy to get along with in private and has provided me with a lot of freelance work over the years. He values me highly.
"Are you not feeling well lately?"
"Editor-in-chief, I'll get back to normal soon."
Editor-in-Chief Sun was in a good mood today and said, "Jiang Xia, you'll be twenty-seven by the end of the year, right?"
“Yes.” Jiang Xia smiled and took a sip of strong tea. “Time flies, several years have passed in the blink of an eye.”
Five years ago, I graduated full of vigor and left the campus.
Going back a little further, Wu Ming left today, but I always remember the first time I met him.
To be precise, Wu Ming transferred schools near the end of his first semester of junior high school. However, his student registration had not yet been transferred, so he could only attend classes with his classmates. He would not officially enroll until the second semester of his first year of junior high school.
All that has happened seems like yesterday. Jiang Xia matured too early and learned to care too early. These fourteen years have been so long, taking up most of his life.
Editor-in-Chief Sun remained amiable throughout: "Aren't you planning to date? Would you like me to introduce you to someone?"
Jiang Xia nodded slightly: "I'll think about it some more."
Editor-in-Chief Sun nodded and reassured him, "Young people get married later these days, it's normal. By the way, I've sent you the electronic invitation to that competition translation job I introduced you to last time. Take a break."
"Thanks."
Editor-in-Chief Sun took the coffee out, and Jiang Xia slumped down, drank the tea, poured himself another cup of oil tea, and returned to his workstation.
He probably needs to keep busy; if he does, he won't be able to think about these things.
When I was troubled by Wu Ming, I relieved my emotions by taking on a lot of work.
Jiang Xia took a deep breath, opened WeChat, changed his Moments note, and updated his work calendar.
Not long after, someone sent him a message.
"Hey Jiangxia, I'm sleepy, here's your pillow. Do you want to do some advertising copy translation? The team hasn't been able to finalize it, so I'm asking you for help. If you get it, there's a reward; even if you're not selected, you'll still get a bonus for your hard work."
These short advertising slogans are quite time-consuming, and most of the time, even if the other party uses their own translation, they will still adjust them to suit the general public.
His writing was too literary, but fortunately, the other party only needed that one small idea.
Aside from this, there are several on-site sales translators, sales-oriented translators, who are paid very high prices and are not far away.
Jiang Xia took on several jobs that didn't conflict with his regular work, including receiving product brochures from the other party.
He was busy until 8 p.m., and drove home at 9 p.m. Before leaving the company, he sent a message to Wu Zhou: "Mr. Wu, I'm working overtime tonight and I really don't have time. I'm sorry, let's talk another day."
"Let's talk about this another day" carries a hint of implicit rejection.
Wu Zhou replied, "Okay."
Jiang Xia stared at that sentence for a long time, thinking that it meant he understood.
He took a deep breath, chuckled softly, took the elevator down to the underground parking garage, and drove home.
People are prone to making mistakes when they are distracted.
He drove along a street, and by turning the corner he could take a side road to avoid the more congested road.
Colorful neon lights flashed on both sides of the road. The commercial street was crowded with people, many of whom were out enjoying the nightlife.
Jiang Xia caught a glimpse of someone vomiting drunk by the roadside, with friends patting their backs.
The faint sounds of people singing loudly after drinking and the roar of car engines echoed in the air, with cars constantly speeding past him; it was clear that someone was racing.
As if things weren't going to go wrong, Jiang Xia was lost in thought while waiting at the traffic light. Only when the car in front of him started moving did he snap out of it and quickly shift into gear and move forward.
Suddenly I heard a screeching sound of brakes, followed by a violent jolt in my back, and my head hit the steering wheel.
Another surge of acceleration, the car behind me braked, but not all the way down, either startled or driven by a drunk.
He gritted his teeth, suppressing the pain, touched his forehead, his palm was wet, quickly shifted to neutral, opened the car door, got out immediately, and retreated to the side of the road.
Fortunately, the car behind did not continue to brake, but the driver remained seated and refused to get out.
When the traffic police arrived, Jiang Xia walked to the car and smelled a strong odor of alcohol on the other person. He was indeed drunk. Fortunately, the other person did not drive recklessly and caused no injuries.
The traffic police officer asked a routine question, then glanced at Jiang Xia, who was covering his forehead with a handkerchief: "Sir, do you want to go to the hospital for a check-up?"
Jiang Xia nodded. Fortunately, there was a hospital within 500 meters.
He took out his phone with one hand. His car had been hit, and the other party was fully responsible. However, the other party was driving under the influence of alcohol, and the insurance company would not pay. He also didn't have the extra time to argue with him.
After signing the traffic accident diagnosis report, he started looking for his insurance company's contact number, preparing to pursue subrogation and first send his car for repairs.
Jiang Xia scratched his head helplessly. Without a car, he would have to take a taxi or the subway to work.
Montreal is divided into three districts by major rivers, and each district has its own independent subway system. Although there are connecting buses that offer frequent and fast service, it is still not as fast as driving.
Jiang Xia went to the emergency room for a checkup and was found to be fine; he had only broken his skin, which was why he was bleeding.
He sat in a chair at the hospital and awkwardly dialed the insurance number, thankfully the insurance company was available 24 hours a day.
He was naturally unhappy about what had happened, but when he searched through his contacts, he couldn't find anyone to tell.
In the past, he would tell Wu Ming that although Wu Ming did not like him associating with others and hated that he could not reply to messages in time, he would rush to Wu Ming's side as soon as he was in trouble and then use his connections or have his assistant take over the whole process.
However, most of the time, Jiang Xia wouldn't bother him.
He has always lived a very cautious life.
Jiang Xia saw Zhan Lintian's WeChat account, which he had pinned to the top of his chat list, but thinking about what happened during the day, he still didn't contact him.
After he finished dealing with everything, he took a taxi home. It was already past ten o'clock, not too late, just a little delayed.
Jiang Xia slept for more than ten minutes in the car until the driver called his name.
Jiang Xia woke up with a start, apologized, got off the bus, and went home.
The driver took him directly to his building. As soon as Jiang Xia got out of the car, he saw Wu Zhou's car, which was still waiting for him.
There was no one in the car; Wu Zhou came by himself without having a driver.
Jiang Xia hesitated for a long time downstairs before finally stepping upstairs.
It's impossible for him to just turn around and go to a hotel on his own. The key point is that Mr. Wu won't wait for him; he'll definitely keep waiting.
Feeling uneasy, Jiang Xia finally took a deep breath and went upstairs.
When Wu Zhou heard footsteps, he thought it was Zhan Lintian again. About an hour ago, General Manager Zhan came by, but left when he found Jiang Xia wasn't home.
The hallway lights came on, and Jiang Xia slowly made his way up the stairs.
Wu Zhou immediately noticed the gauze on his forehead. He quickly walked down the steps to Jiang Xia, gently touched his forehead, and whispered, "What happened?"
Jiang Xia said softly, "We were rear-ended."
Wu Zhou examined it carefully. The gauze was not large and was not pressed very tightly. Jiang Xia's facial expressions were normal, which proved that it was not a large open wound.
Wu Zhou said, "You can tell me, and I will help you."
"I can handle it myself."
“But I want to be with you. Having someone by your side makes things much less helpless.” Wu Zhou took a step closer, pressing on, “Wu Ming can be with you, can’t I?”
“Jiang Xia, I’ve waited for you for many years. I didn’t even plan to tell you, but…” He didn’t spell it out, leaving the rest of his words unsaid, and he didn’t want to mention Wu Ming in front of Jiang Xia.
One is her own younger brother, and the other is her brother's friend with whom he has feelings. He has been coveting Jiangxia for many years. If she can win him over, the two of them can hold hands and live a long life together.
In the dazzling, decadent city of Mengcheng, Wu Ming hides a treasure from others, intending to keep it secret.
But the gorge is not an inanimate object; it has its own joys and sorrows.
Jiang Xia's lips trembled, and he opened his mouth to speak, but he was powerless to refute it... He knew nothing about this.
He changed the subject: "What...what do you want to talk to me about tonight?"
He unusually did not invite Wu Zhou into the house, and Wu Zhou did not mind.
"I lied. I don't want to talk to you about Wu Ming. I just want to see you."
Did I scare you when I kissed you last time?
Wu Zhou asked in a low voice.
Jiang Xia glanced away and looked at the wall on one side.
Wu Zhou cupped his face in his hands and gently brushed his eyes: "Don't be sad because of Wu Ming."
"I..." Jiang Xia couldn't bring herself to say "no," so she just pursed her lips and stopped talking.
Wu Zhou said in a low voice, "Don't think about it, just like you wrote before, like a stone..."
Jiang Xia chuckled softly and nodded slightly: "I understand, thank you."
He's too dignified to want to break ties with anyone. Even with Wu Ming, they've maintained a superficial friendship despite their separation.
Jiang Xia shook her head, trying to shake his hand away.
Wu Zhou lowered his head and kissed him lightly, first with a tentative, simple touch, and then with a slightly more forceful increase in the intensity of the kiss.
Jiang Xia whimpered and tried to push him away by placing his hands on his shoulders, but this time Wu Zhou used even more force than before, grabbing Jiang Xia's wrist with his right hand and then inserting his fingertips between his fingers.
Wu Zhou gripped his hand tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand, controlling the urge to pick up Jiang Xia, carry her home, press her onto the sofa, and kiss her entire body.
From his lips to his neck, then her fingers parted his clothes, gently caressing his waist, wanting to warm him, wanting to be intimate with him like a young couple...
Wu Ming's time abroad was an opportunity he had finally gotten.
"Jiang Xia, let's try it together..."
At this moment, Zhan Lintian was originally going to leave, after all, he didn't want to stand there helplessly with President Wu in the corridor.
But he suddenly stopped his car after driving a short distance, deciding to wait.
He waited for a long time, but Jiang Xia's black car didn't come. Instead, he saw him getting out of a taxi in the distance.
Without thinking twice, Zhan Lintian quickly got out of the car and followed.
With a few big strides up the steps, Zhan Lintian saw Jiang Xia being held in someone's arms and kissed.
His earlobes turned blood red, and he called out with difficulty, both angry and embarrassed: "Wu Zhou..."
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