Chapter 57 Removing from the Blacklist: Gu Qingyan Remains Unmoved: Even if you get married...
Gu Qingyan's "feelings" continued to appear like unpredictable drizzle. Lin Yuwei maintained a calm demeanor, sometimes refusing, sometimes forwarding, sometimes discarding, her attitude gentle yet firm, trying to shut out this unsettling attention from her world.
However, the "showers" this afternoon came too heavily for her to handle discreetly.
Having just finished a long online meeting, Lin Yuwei was rubbing her sore neck as she stood up when her assistant, Xiao Li, knocked on the door, looking slightly embarrassed: "Sister Weiwei, the front desk has received another afternoon tea delivery."
"Same as always, just divide it up among everyone." Lin Yuwei said calmly, without looking up.
“But…” Xiao Li hesitated, “This time the quantity is particularly large, a whole big box, twenty-two portions, not a single one more or less, which is exactly the number of people in our studio right now.”
Lin Yuwei paused. She looked up, her brows furrowing involuntarily. A feeling of being precisely calculated and manipulated by an invisible hand made her extremely uncomfortable. She followed Xiao Li to the front desk, where a huge insulated box bearing the logo of a well-known dessert shop stood out starkly. Opening the lid, she found neatly arranged slices of exquisite cake and handmade cookies, even thoughtfully paired with different flavors of coffee and milk tea—a thoughtfulness that was almost suffocating.
A surge of anger rushed to her head, but she forcefully suppressed it. She took a deep breath, waved to Xiao Li, and said in as calm a voice as possible, "Take these and distribute them to everyone. Just say it's... a gift from the client."
"Okay, Sister Weiwei." Xiao Li keenly sensed that she was in a bad mood and immediately responded.
The office door closed softly, shutting out the faint cheers of surprise and delight outside, which now sounded particularly jarring. Lin Yuwei paced back and forth in the softly carpeted office, like a beast trapped in an invisible cage, restless and uneasy.
Finally, she stopped, picked up her phone, and with a resolute gesture, dragged out the number that had been dormant in her blacklist.
Fingers flew across the screen, first transferring 5,000 yuan, then sending a message laced with suppressed anger: Gu Qingyan! What exactly do you want?! Did you send these pointless things?! Is this funny?
Almost the instant the message was successfully sent, the top of the dialog box changed to "The other party is typing...".
He refused the transfer, and his reply was surprisingly quick, simple, and direct, even carrying a sense of self-righteous persistence: I'm not being bored; I'm very, very serious about trying to win you back.
Lin Yuwei stared at the words, her heart clenching as if suddenly squeezed, first stopping abruptly, then pounding wildly, causing a sharp pain in her chest. Anger, absurdity, and a hint of panic she herself didn't want to admit instantly overwhelmed her.
She replied with a cold laugh, pressing her fingertips firmly: "Has Mr. Gu never pursued anyone else? You only bother and disgust me! Please stop immediately!"
However, his response was frank to the point of being shameless: You know, I haven't pursued any other girls. If you find this bothering, I'll change, but I won't give up.
What the hell? And what do you mean, "I know..." Lin Yuwei cursed Gu Qingyan under her breath, quickly typed her reply, and angrily pressed the send button: Are you crazy?! I'm already engaged! Can't you see that?!
Gu Qingyan remained unmoved: Even if you get married, I will wait for my chance.
Looking at the obsessive and insane declaration on the screen, Lin Yuwei felt her heart surge and her whole body tremble.
Just then, the door to Shiguang Studio was gently pushed open, and Zhou Xubai returned after meeting with a client. He glanced at the empty office area, then turned to see the lively scene of people sharing afternoon tea in the conference room. He smiled and walked over. Designer Li Xiao looked up and saw him, and quickly stood up to hand him a tray: "Mr. Zhou, you've come back just in time. This is for you and Mr. Lin."
Zhou Xubai took the tray, looked at the exquisite pastries inside, and asked with a gentle smile, "What's the occasion? Who's spending so much?"
"Mr. Lin said it was a gift from a client," Assistant Li answered quickly.
"Which customer is being so polite?" Zhou Xubai asked casually.
"I don't know, Mr. Lin didn't say who it was." Xiao Li shrugged.
Zhou Xubai nodded, his gaze inadvertently glancing at Lin Yuwei's tightly closed office door. He walked over with the tray, knocked twice, and when he heard no response, gently pushed the door open and entered.
Lin Yuwei was sitting in her seat, head down, staring intently at her phone screen, her brows furrowed, her fingers flying across the keyboard. She didn't even notice him coming in. She exuded an aura of restlessness and even let out a soft sigh.
Zhou Xubai walked to her desk and spoke gently, trying to get to the point in the most natural way: "I heard from everyone that a client treated us to afternoon tea? Was it... sent by President Zheng?" He mentioned the name of a major client he was in talks with, and the communication between the two parties was very smooth, so he guessed it was President Zheng, which was reasonable.
Lin Yuwei was completely absorbed in the suffocating confrontation with Gu Qingyan when Zhou Xubai's voice suddenly boomed like thunder, startling her so much that she almost dropped her phone.
She suddenly raised her head, and the panic and agitation on her face, which she couldn't hide, were clearly seen by Zhou Xubai.
"Huh? Xu Bai? You...when did you come in?" She subconsciously locked the screen and placed the phone face down on the table, her movements so fast they were almost hurried.
She forced herself to calm down quickly, her brain racing as she tried to continue his conversation: "President Zheng? Oh...yes, maybe...the assistant over there did mention wanting to express her feelings..." Her tone was somewhat unsteady, her eyes darting away, avoiding his gaze. The excuse was clumsy and lacked detail, and even she felt guilty.
Zhou Xubai didn't respond immediately. He just looked at her quietly, his eyes, which were always full of warmth and gentleness, now held a subtle caution and deep worry. He had clearly caught all her loss of composure, as well as that sigh that she hadn't had time to completely conceal.
The air seemed to freeze. On the tray, the iced coffee condensed into rows of water droplets that slowly slid down the cup, like a silent question.
His gaze lingered for a moment on her forced composure, then slowly swept over the phone, which was turned face down and concealing its secrets, before finally settling on her eyes, which, though trying to hide their unease, betrayed their true feelings.
His voice was softer than usual, yet carried an undeniable gentle strength: "Weiwei," he asked slowly, "you don't look well. Did something happen?"
"I'm fine," Lin Yuwei said almost instinctively, abruptly changing the subject, "Did your meeting with the client go well today?"
Zhou Xubai didn't respond to that. He walked around the desk to her side, gently placing his warm hand on her shoulder, his voice low and comforting: "Weiwei, we're engaged now. You can tell me many things; you don't need to bear it all alone."
His touch was as gentle as ever, yet at this moment it made her feel an invisible pressure. That thoughtfulness and understanding, like a mirror, reflected her concealment and wavering, leaving her nowhere to hide, and the confusion and guilt in her heart instantly reached their peak.
At this moment, she truly wanted to lay bare all her troubles: Gu Qingyan's relentless entanglement, the pressure of being afraid of Zhou Xubai knowing the truth, and the scales in her heart that had long since lost their balance, always being pulled by Gu Qingyan's every word and action... All these chaotic emotions were almost about to burst forth.
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but they were blocked by something invisible, and he swallowed them back down.
Looking into Zhou Xubai's clear, gentle, and trusting eyes, a sharp sense of guilt pierced her. Feelings are extremely private and even exclusive things. This chaos caused by "other men" is itself a desecration and harm to Zhou Xubai. Speaking out might temporarily release her own pressure and seek temporary relief and liberation.
But what about Zhou Xubai? This was tantamount to planting a sharp thorn in his flawless world of emotions, a specter of betrayal, suspicion, and uncertainty. It would be a rift that could never be truly healed, a wound that, even if it healed, would leave a hideous scar. She couldn't be so selfish; she couldn't drag him into this unbearable emotional quagmire to alleviate her own anxiety, defiling the purity and peace he had given her.
Thinking of this, Lin Yuwei took a deep breath, sat up straight, and gently but firmly left Zhou Xubai's warm and comfortable embrace. She looked up at him, giving him a smile that appeared as relaxed and dependent as possible, her tone gentle, even a little coquettish: "It's really nothing, I'm just a little tired from the recent project pressure." After saying that, she even patted Zhou Xubai's hand reassuringly: "Don't worry, if anything happens to me, when have I ever been polite to you? I'll definitely come to you first to complain."
Her performance was near perfect. The panic in her eyes was forcibly suppressed, leaving only a slight weariness. Zhou Xubai stared at her for a few seconds, a fleeting and imperceptible complex expression flashing in his gentle eyes. But in the end, he did not ask any questions. He just smiled gently and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear: "That's good. Don't overwork yourself."
However, to Lin Yuwei's surprise, although Gu Qingyan said he wouldn't give up, he seemed to have taken her warning to heart.
The following day was uneventful, and on the third day, no "anonymous gifts" appeared.
For a full two weeks, that omnipresent and unsettling "care" completely disappeared. There was no afternoon tea delivered at the exact time, no flowers that appeared silently at the door. The company reception and the apartment entrance returned to a normal tranquility that belonged to Lin Yuwei herself.
For the first day or two, Lin Yuwei did feel a long-lost sense of ease, as if her tense nerves had finally been relaxed. But soon, this absolute and deliberate quiet began to make her feel a strange... discomfort and bewilderment.
How could someone like him give up so easily? His obsessive declaration, "Even if you get married, I will continue to wait," still rings in my ears.
This sudden vacuum doesn't feel like a lull in the fighting; rather, it's more like the stillness before a storm, or perhaps more like a seasoned hunter who, after changing tactics, patiently lies in wait in the shadows, anticipating a new opportunity.
Lin Yuwei found herself sometimes glancing at her phone unconsciously, or slowing her pace as she passed the front desk. It wasn't anticipation, but rather a certain degree of... vigilance and uncertainty. What exactly did Gu Qingyan want to do?
As time passed, Lin Yuwei suddenly realized that Gu Qingyan seemed to have successfully turned her into an unsolved mystery by completely "disappearing," which in turn made her occupy a corner of her heart even more firmly. This sudden tranquility made Lin Yuwei feel more uneasy than the previous intense harassment.
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