Chapter 39 Hesitation: "What if I really am just your boss?"...
Tang Yi was distracted during her first job.
She repeatedly stacked the neatly arranged candidate information for the fall recruitment season in her hands, taking apart and putting back together the clips on the edges of the papers, her mind unconsciously going blank.
It's already 10 a.m., and no one from the president's office has come yet.
She looked at the box on the table that she hadn't been able to give away, and felt a pang of regret for fleeing at the airport exit last night.
Oh well, it's just a small gift anyway, he probably won't really care about it.
Thinking this, she planned to put the things directly on his desk. However, as she gripped the armrests of the chair and propped herself up with her arms, a hand suddenly pressed her down from behind.
She turned her head with a start.
It's Zhang Minglang.
"Come in here for a moment, I have something to tell you."
Zhang Minglang's voice was hoarse, and his dark circles were very obvious, indicating that he hadn't slept well all night.
Tang Yi watched his departing figure and the slowly closing office door. She tried to calm herself down, picked up the documents and gift box on the desk, and got up to go inside.
"Have a seat." Zhang Minglang gestured with his chin toward the sofa.
Tang Yi sat on the edge of the sofa. She glanced at Zhang Minglang, who was busy working on his computer.
So she quietly adjusted her breathing and placed the box on the coffee table. Just as she was about to speak, Zhang Minglang got up from his office chair and slowly walked towards her.
Tang Yi felt a sudden tightness in her chest for no reason. She subconsciously reached out and picked up the box on the table, placing it between her hips and the sofa armrest, even tugging at her skirt in an attempt to cover herself up.
Zhang Minglang sat down opposite her, not noticing her movements. Just as Tang Yi was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a slight noise came from the table.
That was the sound of a USB drive sliding across the glass table. He was pushing the USB drive towards her from the other side of the coffee table.
Tang Yi looked puzzled: "What is this?"
"This is all the evidence we could gather. Because it happened two years ago, this is all the evidence we could find for now."
After Zhang Minglang finished speaking, he quietly watched her reaction.
However, things turned out completely differently than he expected.
Tang Yi felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Her heart rate soared, and her hands, which were resting lightly on her knees, clenched tightly, causing several wrinkles to appear on her skirt.
After her mind raced, she looked at him calmly, then shifted her gaze to the small USB drive in front of her: "What do you mean two years ago? I don't understand."
Zhang Minglang was completely baffled by her strange reaction.
He frowned, and the light that had just been shining in his eyes dimmed slightly.
What do you mean by that?
Despite having been the one who first put on a facade, Tang Yi was the first to drop her defenses. As if a defense mechanism had been triggered in an instant, her tone turned cold.
"I don't think I've mentioned this to you. I wonder what methods you used to find out about this?"
Zhang Minglang had some doubts, but he still decided to tell the truth.
“I contacted General Manager Lin and Chairman Zhang, and we collected all the evidence of Zhao Linrui harassing you. It’s all on this USB drive.”
The more Tang Yi listened, the colder she felt inside. She took a deep breath, and her two icy hands unconsciously clenched together, trying to warm them up.
She looked at Zhang Minglang's confused expression and the USB drive on the table as if it were an object unrelated to her: "So, you investigated me without my knowledge, used your connections, and pried open my past?"
When she looked up again, her voice trembled almost imperceptibly: "You think you've done so much for me, and I should be grateful, right? But when you were doing all this, did you ever think for a single second that I didn't want it?"
Zhang Minglang's brows furrowed deeper as he listened to Tang Yi's words: "But I just wanted to help you..."
“I don’t need your help, Mr. Zhang,” Tang Yi interrupted him, like a hedgehog with its quills raised. “You’re just my boss, nothing more. I really don’t want you interfering in my private affairs.”
Zhang Minglang was deeply hurt by her blunt words that distanced her from him. He couldn't stand her aloof attitude and blurted out some hurtful things in a moment of anger.
"Just your boss? If I'm really just your boss to you, what was the point of our heart-to-heart talk at the company that night?"
"If I really was just your boss, why didn't you distance yourself from me when I said 'I'm pursuing you'?"
Zhang Minglang's barrage of questions left Tang Yi somewhat bewildered. Just as she was about to speak, she was ruthlessly interrupted by him.
"Are you going to say it's for the company and for work again? Then let me ask you this: if I really was just your boss, why didn't you explain when you overheard the vendor misunderstanding our relationship that night you were on a business trip?"
Zhang Minglang stared intently at Tang Yi's stubborn face, his heart pounding.
He's gambling.
He didn't actually know if Tang Yi had heard the phrase "young couple," but he had nothing left, so he had no choice but to take a gamble.
He bet she could hear him.
The two faced off in silence for a while before Tang Yi looked away first.
Zhang Minglang didn't expect her to say anything.
But Tang Yi spoke up, her voice wavering yet firm: "You don't understand me at all, because I never intended to hide anything from the beginning."
What's the meaning.
Zhang Minglang felt as if a layer of fog had been bulged in his eardrums, making it impossible for him to hear anything clearly.
He looked at her, tentatively asking incredulously, "You..."
Tang Yi, however, seemed to have been drunk but suddenly sobered up, and hurriedly changed the subject.
Zhang Minglang was afraid he had misunderstood, so he didn't dare to ask any further questions.
When she spoke again, Tang Yi's tone was much gentler: "I just want to tell you that I have no intention of investigating a past matter that has already been dealt with, let alone asking you to investigate it."
"Have you really handled it?"
Upon hearing this, Tang Yijiu's tightly clenched fingers suddenly loosened, and the fabric of the dress slipped out of her hands, leaving only a small, wrinkled mark.
"Is this the outcome you wanted, keeping it all inside all this time?"
As Zhang Minglang spoke patiently and persuasively, he carefully observed her expression.
She seemed to lose focus for a moment, and her voice could only be heard as a forced firmness: "But you're my boss, and I don't want my personal matters..."
"This is not a private matter."
Zhang Minglang interrupted her decisively. Every word he spoke was like a raindrop hitting a puddle, creating ripples in Tang Yi's heart.
“This is not a private matter,” Zhang Minglang repeated. “Anything that makes you uncomfortable is not a trivial matter.”
"Tang Yi, look into your heart."
His tone was less like persuasion and more like pleading.
Tang Yi, what are you thinking about and what are you hesitating about?
Someone has found out everything for you; someone has your back.
What I wanted two years ago is now clearly laid out before me, stored on this small USB drive. Upload everything to the computer, make it public, and the justice and fairness you desire will arrive.
What are you afraid of?
She questioned herself in her heart.
Tang Yi had to admit that for a moment she wavered. However, under Zhang Minglang's prolonged gaze, she still couldn't bring herself to nod. She lowered her eyes and reached up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"sorry."
Tang Yi heard her own voice sound dry and stiff.
"These are the documents the branch office needs to sign, and this is the list of candidates for the first round of the fall recruitment. Please take a look."
Tang Yi's mind was in turmoil. She lowered her head, gently placed the folder on her lap on the coffee table, and hurriedly got up and left before Zhang Minglang could react.
Zhang Minglang knew that trying to persuade her to stay would be futile. If she herself was unwilling to step forward, no amount of persuasion from others would help.
Moreover, according to her, she was "just a boss."
Zhang Minglang sat there bitterly, not turning his head for a long time.
After the argument, which didn't really feel like a fight, ended rather unpleasantly, the two officially entered a cold war phase.
Zhang Minglang wanted countless times to send out all the evidence on the USB drive. But just as his finger hovered over the mouse, about to click, Tang Yi's words flashed through his mind.
"I don't need your help."
Zhang Minglang couldn't understand why Tang Yi was resistant to everything he did. When he wanted to ask her, he couldn't help but be afraid that she would push him further away.
And Tang Yi became the same Tang Yi again. She became the same Tang Yi who liked to numb herself with work whenever unexpected events occurred.
The two people's hearts were already very close, but due to various doubts and fears, they gradually drifted apart.
Tang Yi disliked this feeling of unease, so on this weekend night, she stepped behind the Heaven bar.
Physical fatigue, a bad mood, and rusty skills after not practicing for a long time...
For various reasons, she just couldn't mix a drink that satisfied her.
Xu Xiaoxiao observed everything she did. She chatted with her casually for a few moments, mentioning that she had recently passed her driver's test. Only after seeing that Tang Yi seemed to be feeling a little better did she finally get to the point: "What's wrong? Something on work?"
Tang Yi shook her head and told her everything that had happened in the CEO's office that day. Xu Xiaoxiao listened without offering any opinion or comment for a long time.
"Do you think I'm being dramatic?"
Tang Yi's eyes dimmed.
"I really wanted to get justice, but when the truth and evidence were actually in front of me, I hesitated and didn't dare to do it."
After relaying her conversation with Zhang Minglang to Xu Xiaoxiao, she finally found the word "affected" to describe the awkward feeling that had been lingering in her heart.
But Xu Xiaoxiao shook her head.
“Your avoidance and resistance are your brain’s way of protecting you. You’re experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, Yiyi.”
Tang Yi was stunned.
In the bustling bar, Xu Xiaoxiao held her hand, her tone extremely gentle.
“You did nothing wrong. On the contrary, you did the right thing. Your own feelings should always come first, and no one can force you to heal prematurely.”
Xu Xiaoxiao paused for a moment, but decided to express her thoughts after all these years.
So she gripped Tang Yi's hand even tighter: "Yi Yi, although I've always said I support all your decisions, as your best friend, I want you to be happy even more."
Tang Yi rarely showed a confused expression.
"Calm down and think carefully about whether your endless patience over the past two years has truly allowed you to let go, and whether you are truly happy or not."
Not happy at all.
Tang Yi answered silently in her heart.
If she had truly let go, how could she have felt such a strong emotional reaction when she saw the punishment for spreading rumors?
If she had truly let go, how could she have been moved by Zhang Minglang's words of comfort while walking side by side with him by the lake?
If she had truly forgotten all the pain from two years ago, if her wounds had truly healed, there wouldn't be the current stagnation in their relationship after the "whether to expose" argument with Zhang Minglang.
It's really, really hard to step out of the shadows and bravely face the sunlight, at least in the short term.
But Tang Yi still showed Xu Xiaoxiao a smile that she hadn't seen on her face for so many days.
"Thank you, Xiaoxiao. I'll think about it carefully."
Xu Xiaoxiao didn't say anything, but simply gripped her hand even tighter.
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