Chapter 44 Chapter 44 Time waits for no one.
Strictly speaking, Su Tu has no holidays.
When I was working, I worked 996 and had at least one day off every week. Now I work on my own. Although I have more freedom in terms of time, when I am idle, I have no income, and when I am busy, I may have to work day and night.
So she can neither allow herself to be idle nor find her own time once she is busy.
Early on Saturday morning, she went to the newly completed construction site. Before the customers moved in, she set up her camera and took a set of real-life photos.
At noon, the client treated her to a meal and booked a restaurant downstairs in the community. Just as he was thanking her for her dedication during this period, his cell phone rang. She hung up twice and waited until the client finished speaking before she stood up apologetically and went out to answer the call.
Less than two minutes later, he lowered his eyes and returned to his original position, waiting calmly and silently until the meal was over.
In the afternoon, I accompanied another client to look at materials. Because there were many categories to be ordered, we went to three building materials markets. We didn't give up until it was almost dark and the market was about to close.
When I finally got back to the car, I was completely exhausted, my mind was blank, and the only thought left was to go home quickly and lie down to rest.
But when I got out of the elevator, I looked up and saw a person standing at the door, with a tense expression and a gloomy mood.
Seeing her come back, he subconsciously moved closer to her.
It was as if he had been waiting for a long time, but when he finally got there, he didn't know what to say, so he just stood in front of her, at a loss.
Su Tu paused, thinking that maybe he just came to discuss business with him?
So I just waited in silence for a while.
However, half a minute later, the situation remained deadlocked.
She couldn't wait any longer, nor did she want to speak anymore. She avoided the figure blocking her way like a city wall and reached out to unlock the door.
Shi Shu then hurriedly approached, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her away, preventing her from leaving.
He is used to planning and strategizing, and so far, he has never fought an unprepared battle. So even if there are certain variables in the process, or even if he loses directly, he will appear calm and composed because he has such an idea.
This was the first time, because things turned out completely beyond my expectations and I had no time to think of a remedy.
Of course, he knew that appearing in such a hurry would not only make it difficult to save the situation, but might even make his situation even more precarious.
But I understand more clearly that time is running out. If I delay for even one more second, his elimination will be a foregone conclusion.
I hadn't figured out what to do, but I had to react immediately.
He had never been caught off guard like this before. In the chaos, his Adam's apple rolled and he could only shake out all the thoughts that flashed through his mind: "I..."
"I've booked a few restaurants. Take a look and see what you want to eat. Let's go now, okay?"
"I've bought the movie tickets too. It's the one you picked. They have tickets for every time slot."
"You can go shopping, look at materials, or do anything else you want. I'll do it right away, okay?"
Su Tu's eyelashes trembled slightly, and his gaze slowly moved upwards from the big hand with bulging veins that was clasping his wrist. He was a little surprised that he could say so many words at once.
But other than that, I don’t have any other ideas.
All the embarrassment, frustration, and anger had gradually dissipated over the past five days. She pursed her lips, her emotions calm, "Forget about the rest."
After thinking for a moment, she calmly discussed with him, "I can look at the materials, but the building materials market is closed at this time. I'll probably be free on Thursday morning. We can meet there then. Is that okay?"
There was a desolate look in her cold eyes, as if a building had collapsed and was irreversible. However, Shi Shu was still unwilling to give up and stubbornly wanted to piece the broken pieces together again: "I was wrong."
The force in his hands tightened, and the voice he managed to squeeze out was hoarse and broken: "Su Tu... I was so wrong."
But she had already decided to move on and didn't want to delve into the details anymore: "Okay, I understand."
She agreed with what he said, then flexed her wrist to indicate that he was hurting her. When he hastily withdrew his hand, she patiently asked, "Is there anything else?"
Shi Shu: “…”
She nodded: "Then I'll go in first."
But he held the door tightly, refusing to let anyone in: "Su Tu..."
I called her name, but didn't know what to say.
Su Tu didn't understand either. He himself didn't know why he came here, so why did he come?
Since you are already distancing yourself from her, why not be more resolute and stay away from her completely?
She didn't want to make the situation too awkward, and she was really tired.
After waiting for a while, seeing that he still couldn't explain it, I had no choice but to admit defeat. I picked up the heavy computer bag and camera bag in my hands and sincerely asked him to let me go: "Can you please let me go?"
“I actually still have a job.”
Shi Shu: “…”
-
I closed the door and went into the house, and let out a deep sigh in the darkness, not knowing why.
I feel like my body is getting weaker.
He lowered his eyes and put the device on the table. Just as he settled into the sofa to rest for a while, his phone rang again.
On the day when the office floor plan of the Zhongrui Building was completed, Su Tu took the initiative to ask Cheng Huai about the time. The other party either replied that he was not sure or delayed it until later.
Until today, she was too lazy to ask and let him drag it out. Instead, she received a message from the other side: [Come to the office at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning]
[Please clean up the pictures and don’t bring me any garbage]
Su Tu was used to her bad tone, but it was also possible that she didn't have the energy to argue at the moment, so she just replied in a formatted way: [OK]
Afterwards, he supported himself with his arms and climbed up, struggled back to the workbench, turned on the computer, checked the drawings one by one, and began to worry about whether he should add two more drafts to the original plan.
Try to make it complementary to the original plan in every area, so that when he rejects the direction of the original plan, she can directly bring up the alternative plan for him to choose.
I finally did it.
Although this won't really help much if he's really trying to find fault, it's better to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
She really didn't have the energy to deal with it too much, so if she wanted to get rid of it completely, she could only do it quickly.
However, there is a lot of room for development in office projects, and the workload of adding two draft plans is far less easy than imagined. Before the integration is half done, my stomach starts to protest.
Her daily routine was disordered and her meals were completely messed up. If Tao Qingqing hadn't ordered regular meals on weekdays, she would probably have been taking stomach medicine with her.
She actually didn't have much of an appetite at the moment, but she didn't have any self-harming tendencies. Feeling that her stomach was a little uncomfortable, she immediately ordered herself some porridge.
Half an hour later, the takeaway was delivered. As usual, I asked the rider to put it at the door. After I finished drawing a node in my hand, I got up and prepared to pick it up.
I only discovered it when I opened the door.
The person is still there.
It must be the rider who came. He knew she would come out, so the moment the door lock sounded, his deep gaze fell on her.
Su Tu was stunned for a moment. He didn't remember how long he had been inside. He only knew that it was already very dark.
In the middle of the night, there was someone standing at the door for no apparent reason. She subconsciously grabbed the door handle and asked, "How long are you going to stay here?"
It is no exaggeration to say that when Shi Shu saw her angry expression, it was as if he saw hope of breaking the ice. His eyes, which had been silent for a long time, trembled, and he wished she could scold him.
His Adam's apple rolled hard, and he said, not knowing whether to please or to provoke, "When you are willing to pay attention to me."
As if seeing his determination, Su Tu frowned slightly, and remained silent for a while. Only then did he feel that he had to respond and suddenly nodded: "Okay."
"Then wait for me."
She leaned over and picked up the takeaway at the door, as if she wanted to deal with the things at hand first before coming to him to solve the problem.
He went back into the house and closed the door.
Shi Shu's chest trembled, and he unexpectedly went to the door. He was mentally prepared that she would come out with a broom and beat him up. He even looked forward to it a little perversely.
But a few minutes later.
The door opened, but his earnest gaze froze in an instant after he saw something clearly: "..."
Su Tu stood at the door with a cold face, holding a paper bag. Without even looking at his expression, he took out the items from the bag one by one and said, "I've thrown away most of the gifts you bought me at the night market. Now all I have left is this butterfly bracelet."
"I roughly calculated it. After the discount, it's 226. Plus the 668 I charged you at the fish restaurant a few days ago, the total is 894. I rounded it up and put 900 yuan here."
"Then there's this bracelet I bought on my behalf. I've only tried it on once, so it shouldn't be worn. You can check it out. If there's any problem, you can contact me for compensation."
Finally, he looked up and pointed at the hydrogen balloon tied to the bag: "And this balloon, it's been deflated after a few days. You can figure out what to do with it yourself."
After sorting everything out, he put the things back into the bag, handed it over, and said, "That should be about it. Here you go."
Shi Shu never imagined that the situation could get even worse. His usually confident magnetic field was completely disrupted. He didn't know what to do to go back to a few minutes ago, or five days ago, to respond to her hug.
Instead of facing the current situation here, he didn't want to or even resist it.
"That's not what I meant."
His face was bleak, and he still didn't know how to deal with it. He could only urgently organize his words and try to push the things she handed him back, hoping that she would remember the past and give him an concession this time: "I... I don't want to regret it."
"I've already given these to you. You accepted them and promised me that you could pursue me."
She was unmoved: "But I regret it."
Five days had passed, and she had already thought it through.
I don't have the conditions to try and make mistakes.
She didn't want to be passive anymore, waiting for others' responses day after day, and she didn't want to see herself looking pitiful and ridiculous when she was worried about gains and losses.
So it is better to start from the source and block all channels that affect your emotions, so that you can truly protect yourself from harm.
She had already made her decision and didn't want to drag it out any longer.
But if the incident happened suddenly and he couldn't accept it for a while and needed a complete explanation, she could also tell him clearly.
"Shi Shu."
"I like yours."
She suddenly confessed her feelings, and he felt inexplicably flustered. He seemed to be stressed by all her actions tonight, and he wanted to stop her from saying anything else: "Su Tu..."
But he was interrupted by a calm voice: "Listen to me."
“…”
Su Tu was silent for a moment, then he slowly raised his eyes, looked at him with relief, and said, "I accepted your gift because I was originally planning to agree to your request."
"Even on the way to the building materials market that day, when you helped me change my shoes, I already wanted to ask you if you wanted to be my boyfriend."
"Until a few days ago, before you sent me back from the fish restaurant, I had actually been waiting for you to confess your love. Any form would have been fine. Even if you just told me that if I was willing to be with you, you would not be angry, I would definitely agree."
"But you didn't, and you even hid from me for five whole days. It made me realize that my favorite quality about you can disappear at any time, so I don't want to wait any longer."
"What is it?" He still couldn't help interrupting.
It's like being forced into a desperate situation and grabbing a lifeline by chance. No matter how strong it is, you can only try your best to climb up: "I can change, I can get it back."
"No."
She had no intention of forcing anyone to do anything.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning you when I say this."
Her eyes curved slightly, but her expression was calm. "I just want you to understand that when I accepted the bracelet, I really wanted to be with you, and now that I'm giving it back to you, I really don't want to be with you anymore."
Shi Shu: “…”
-
After a whole day of hard work, Su Tu was completely exhausted when he returned to the house.
I don’t feel like drawing or eating.
He curled up on the sofa, pulled the quilt over him, and fell asleep without caring about anything.
When the alarm rang the next day, as expected, I still felt weak, dizzy, and my stomach was not feeling well. I didn’t think much about it for a while. What else could happen on such a long weekend?
I wanted to close my eyes and fall asleep again, but I woke up suddenly the next second.
He stared at the ceiling in a daze for a while before he climbed up from the sofa with his arms, washed his face, heated up the porridge from last night, quickly ate something, and then went out with his computer bag.
After a good sleep, she had other things to do, so she didn't have the energy to think about it.
So when he opened the door and suddenly saw that the figure at the door had not disappeared, and had become a little depressed after wasting a night, he was a little caught off guard: "..."
She looked at the dark circles under his eyes, the faint stubble on his chin, his body swaying as he stood up, and the paper bag in his hand swaying along with it, and suddenly frowned.
I'm really a little annoyed.
She didn't understand what she had said that wasn't clear enough, and subconsciously wanted to ask him what he wanted, but she was inexplicably angry, thinking that he couldn't even understand her kind words, so what was the point in questioning him.
Finally, he turned around and closed the door without saying a word.
But Shi Shu didn't dare to leave.
Under the circumstances last night, if I really left like this, what would be the difference between that and simply giving up?
After a night, he had calmed down considerably. Thinking that things couldn't possibly get any worse, he decided to just go back to the starting point and start over again. "Where are you going?"
The voice was as hoarse and trembling as the figure.
Su Tu turned his back to the people and unconsciously tightened his grip on the door handle.
After holding back for a moment, he deliberately said, "See Cheng Huai."
Shi Shu was stunned for a moment, but then he just said, "I'll take you there."
“…”
Su Tu didn't know how he could pretend that nothing had happened, but he knew very well that he didn't have the ability to do so and didn't intend to do so.
She let go, walked around the shadow that was already covering her, and walked straight towards the elevator: "No need."
She remembered the coldness he showed when he asked her that night in the parking lot if she still needed him to send her off, and she didn't think that he would be safer driving than herself in his current state.
So he didn't hesitate at all, quickened his pace to shake the person off, and as soon as he got into the car, he turned the steering wheel and left.
Finally out of trouble.
Not long after, he encountered many difficulties in the office again.
Su Tu stood in front of the LCD screen in the conference room, holding a laser pen. Less than five minutes after she spread out the PPT, Cheng Huai couldn't bear to read it anymore. He frowned and criticized her plan from all aspects, from the cover directory, page layout, to space arrangement, ergonomics, and found it useless.
Finally, he slammed the blueprint onto the table without mercy and said, "If this is all you can do, I advise you to change your career as soon as possible!"
Su Tu was calm as if he had no emotions.
Her face showed a kind of numbness and indifference, similar to that of a dead pig that is not afraid of boiling water. It was not until she heard his last sentence that she nodded as if she had learned something. "So, can you tell me how you want to change it?"
You can't help but push the mud up the wall!
With this kind of perfunctory attitude, which only seeks project completion rather than perfection, he would have been fired at least eight hundred times in the office.
Cheng Huai put his fingers together and tapped the table with great poise. "Please understand the definition of revision. You need to have a rough draft before I can give you a relative opinion."
"Instead of holding a bunch of garbage and talking nonsense to me!"
Su Tu pondered for a moment and felt that what he said was not entirely unreasonable, so he continued, "You think that none of my three drafts have any merit, right?"
At least I have some self-awareness.
Cheng Huai snorted, his expression somewhat relieved: "What do you think?"
Unexpectedly, Su Tu gave up and immediately put down the laser pointer and said, "I think your judgment is correct. With my ability, it is indeed difficult to meet your requirements."
"Since we've already reached a consensus on this point, in order to avoid setbacks, why not cut our losses now and save both of us time?"
Cheng Huai's eyelids jumped: "What do you mean?"
Su Tu's face was calm. On the one hand, he was in a bad mood, and on the other hand, he was still feeling unwell. He just wanted to finish the job as soon as possible so that he could go back and rest.
His tone was therefore somewhat urgent: "Either you take a closer look at my proposal and see if there is any room for improvement, or I will give up and terminate the contract now."
It is simply impossible to continue wasting time like this endlessly.
Cheng Huai was stunned for a moment before he looked at her hesitantly: "How do you solve it?"
Su Tu's eyes were determined: "Pay compensation."
Cheng Huai couldn't help but laugh, thinking she was being too shameless: "Do you know how much compensation you have to pay?"
Su Tu picked up the phone directly: "I can transfer the money to you now."
Cheng Huai's face froze: "..."
The situation suddenly came to a stalemate.
The office is not small, and the design fee calculated per square meter is enough to cover the income of her small studio for nearly a month.
Ten times the compensation is ten months’ income, and you just want to give it up?
How arrogant!
Cheng Huai understood better than anyone how hard this woman's heart was. Once she made a decision, she would never change it even if she was destined to be imprisoned.
It's like a chess game in which you are already in the upper hand and will win with just two more moves, but your opponent suddenly announces that he has given up. If you want her to come back so that you can win with dignity, you have to give in and compromise.
His face was livid.
After a long pause, he managed to force out a sentence through his teeth: "If you can't do it well, then you give up. Is this your usual attitude when dealing with customers?"
That's the decision.
I need to use her mouth to move forward.
Su Tu nodded, regaining the proper attitude of Party B at the right time, and not being stingy in offering a way out: "Sorry."
"Now, can we start over with the plan?"
Cheng Huai said nothing, nor did he take back the drawings he had thrown out. He just maintained that condescending attitude, tapping the table impatiently, signaling her to hurry up.
There is ample time.
There is no need to worry about the length of time.
Therefore, in the subsequent negotiations, although he still used sharp words and a bad tone, whenever he encountered a point of disagreement, he would point it out and criticize it mercilessly.
But overall it's pretty cooperative.
Until he received a call in the middle of the conversation. After hanging up, he checked the circle of messages. I don’t know what he saw in the group message, but his expression, which had just relaxed, suddenly changed again.
He raised his lips and sneered: "Are you so inseparable?"
Su Tu was busy making revisions and annotations. He looked over when he heard this and asked, "What?"
Cheng Huai threw his phone to his side, raised his chin, and the coldness on his lips became even more intense: "To come out to discuss the plan, you have to bring a personal bodyguard with you?"
Su Tu lowered his eyes: "..."
When I suddenly saw the photo of a tall figure waiting in the reception area on the first floor, the image of that figure swaying two hours ago suddenly flashed through my mind.
I thought he would go home after I left, and I didn't realize he followed me, or why he followed me.
It doesn't show up when it should.
He shows up when he shouldn't!
She didn't think this was anything to be moved about, but the emotions she had been deliberately avoiding and suppressing still found an opportunity, and a crack suddenly appeared on her calm and carefree face.
But soon, it disappeared again.
She retracted her gaze and continued to make annotations: "It has nothing to do with me."
Cheng Huai was relentless: "I've chased you all the way here, it has nothing to do with you?"
She looked up again, her expression cold: "I said, it has nothing to do with me."
“…”
Cheng Huai was stunned for a moment, remembering the situation at the fish restaurant a few days ago. The contrast with the present situation suddenly made him wonder: Break up?
He couldn't help being a little absent-minded as he saw that she was not moved at all and was still concentrating on her work.
As soon as he turned around, he immediately turned his back on you.
That's really her style.
Su Tu didn't know what he was thinking. He just continued to move forward with a clear purpose. After determining the direction of all the spatial areas, he stood up to pack up his things and said, "I should be able to adjust the plan today. I will send you a WeChat message for confirmation later."
"If there are no problems, we can start making the renderings. It will take about 7-10 days. I hope you can arrange your time in advance and cooperate like you did today."
I didn't even realize that my speaking speed was much faster than before.
After saying that, she didn't give him any room to speak. She nodded politely, picked up her computer bag and said goodbye. It was not until she entered the elevator hall and found that someone had followed her out that she looked at him in confusion.
Cheng Huai shrugged, looking in good spirits: "I'll give it to you."
“…”
Su Tu ignored him.
After exiting the elevator, he walked straight out of the building, ignoring anyone except himself.
Shi Shu still stood up and walked over immediately.
Perhaps because he had been sitting for too long, his steps were a little unsteady, and he looked even more gloomy than he had been this morning. However, his gaze on her remained focused. "I'll take you there."
Su Tu frowned, as if he couldn't make himself understood no matter what he said, and finally got a little angry: "I don't need it anymore."
"Do you understand?"
The tone is really not good.
Shi Shu's expression did not fluctuate much. He had asked such a question that night, so it was only natural that he would be answered like this.
Cheng Huai stepped forward upon seeing this, as if to help out, and stretched out his hand to pull the man to his side: "Su Tu, I'll take you there..."
Without waiting for the touch, Su Tu avoided it directly, and the tone of his refusal was no different: "You too."
"Mind your own business!"
Cheng Huai's arms were suspended in the air: "..."
Su Tu didn't stay any longer, turned around and continued walking out.
As I approached the door, the metal frame of the revolving door reflected the scene behind me.
Some people seemed to not understand what she was saying. From a small distance, they acted as if they were going to follow her the same way she came, taking every step.
Finally, he forced her to stand still.
He took a deep breath before turning around to meet her gaze, but his emotions were still not as stable as usual.
She looked up at his shaky figure, who looked extremely displeased at being followed, and suddenly grabbed his collar and pulled it down.
As he looked straight ahead, he changed his tone to a more understandable warning: "If you don't go back to bed, don't come to see me on Thursday!"
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