Chapter 34 Side by Side "I like you".
They walked side by side along the lake. One had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, the other had a shapely figure. It was completely dark, with only a few streetlights casting long shadows overhead.
They remained silent, walking slowly, letting the ambiguous atmosphere in the air permeate and ferment.
"Would you like to go for a walk over there?"
Zhang Minglang turned his head to look at her, his voice very soft.
Tang Yi followed his gaze and saw that they had walked to the small stall they had just seen in the distance.
So Tang Yi nodded: "Okay."
As they got closer to the stall, their faces were illuminated by the warm light from the lamps. Tang Yi squinted at the sudden brightness.
“You…didn’t you say you didn’t want to go out?” Zhang Minglang broke the silence between the two, his hands in his pockets, a deep smile in his voice.
Tang Yi looked up at him, a smile curving her lips: "I just wanted to get out for a walk."
She took two steps forward, then suddenly whispered, "Thank goodness I got out."
Otherwise, I wouldn't have realized my feelings.
The sound was too low and was carried away by the wind amidst the shouts of vendors in the background.
Zhang Minglang didn't hear it.
The two fell silent again, but neither of them felt awkward.
The wind was howling, and her hair and skirt were blown into beautiful arcs. Tang Yi felt a little cold and silently hugged her arms.
Zhang Minglang, who was standing nearby, noticed her movement and subtly moved closer to where the wind was blowing, trying his best to shield her from some of it with his body.
He glanced down at the only thing he was wearing, a gray hoodie, and sighed in frustration: "I should have worn a jacket. It's a pity I can't take off the hoodie; I'm not wearing anything underneath."
Tang Yi was once again taken aback by his bluntness. She glanced at him with a complicated expression: "Could you please...?"
"What's wrong?" Zhang Minglang seemed to have anticipated what she was going to say. He acted as if he had nothing to lose. "I'm not your boss now. I'm talking to you as a man."
In the past, if Tang Yi had heard such words, she would have pretended not to hear them without hesitation.
But this time she remained unusually silent.
Zhang Minglang keenly sensed that she was different from usual.
He carefully reviewed his behavior throughout the day, and aside from spouting nonsense in the car and touching her hand in the hotel restaurant...
Okay, he did do a lot of outrageous things.
Zhang Minglang sighed, and without hesitation, said in a very soft voice, "I'm sorry."
Tang Yi felt his sigh and his voice were like feathers, lightly brushing against her right ear, making her feel ticklish.
She looked up at him: "What did you do?"
Aside from their unguarded eye contact on the bench, this was the first time she had looked him directly in the face that evening.
Zhang Minglang stared at a small mole on Tang Yi's cheek, then moved his gaze upwards to her bright eyes reflecting the streetlights, before finally glancing almost imperceptibly at her lips.
Tang Yi's lips are somewhat thin, and unusually, she wasn't wearing lipstick, which softened her usual seriousness and coldness at work.
Zhang Minglang felt his throat was very dry, and everything around him seemed to have turned into a mosaic, into a blurry shadow. Now, his pupils were filled with her face.
She's so beautiful. Am I dreaming?
Only this one thought kept swirling in his mind.
Tang Yi rarely looks at him so intently.
Even though he was her boss, who was sometimes so sharp-tongued that he could be a bit annoying, she never doubted his looks.
Just like at the dinner party at Songfeng Pavilion, the moment Tang Yi first met him, she silently admitted that her new blind date was indeed quite handsome.
The two stopped walking at the same time and gazed at each other silently.
Tang Yi was the first to react, her eyes darting left and right before she quickly looked away. Zhang Minglang also looked up at the sky and then at the ground, too embarrassed to look at her again.
The young men and women walked shoulder to shoulder, their clothes rubbing together as they walked, making a soft rustling sound.
Their heads were turned to one side, seemingly a little unfamiliar, but their hearts were growing closer and closer in silence.
Tang Yi knew where the pounding in her heart came from. But she felt an instinctive fear, a fear of the unknown fall that was about to happen.
She wanted to say something immediately to break the sticky atmosphere and bring them both out of this state.
She blinked sharply, almost blurting out, "Mr. Zhang, the summit tomorrow morning..."
Zhang Minglang turned to look at her, the lingering tenderness in his eyes replaced by helplessness: "Do you really have to talk about work at a time like this?"
She paused.
But all she learned was to suppress the unfamiliar emotions she felt by working tirelessly.
Only in this way can she quickly return to the effortless state she had when working, and return to her familiar comfort zone.
However, when she looked at the bustling street full of lively vendors not far away, she felt a brief sense of relief.
Fine, I'll just let it go this time.
In this city far from the workplace, on this tranquil night by the lake, leave work behind and enjoy yourself.
After making up her mind, Tang Yi felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off her shoulders.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and inhaled the cool air into her lungs. When she opened her eyes again, her tense body relaxed, and she looked up at Zhang Minglang with a smile on her lips.
"Let's go and take a look ahead."
Zhang Minglang was touched by her sudden change in expression, and nodded happily, his voice gentle: "Okay."
Most of the vendors here are elderly men and women, and occasionally you can see one or two middle-aged couples working together very well, deftly flipping the snacks on the hot plate.
This small street not only has these food stalls, but also all kinds of stalls selling flowers, plants and potted plants.
It was called a stall, but it was really just a slightly larger open space where a cloth was laid out and colorful, packaged bouquets and potted plants were crammed on top.
Further out, you can even see several young men setting up small tables with tarot cards neatly laid out on them, explaining "destiny" to their young customers with mysterious expressions.
Zhang Minglang and Tang Yi's gazes fell simultaneously on the tarot card stall. Tang Yi found it somewhat novel, after all, she had never encountered anything like this in her life for the past twenty-odd years.
"You want to play?" Zhang Minglang asked curiously as she slowed down.
He did recognize these things, because as far as he knew, Cheng He's younger sister, Cheng Cheng, was obsessed with these metaphysical things and used to watch these kinds of videos all the time at his house.
What did he say back then?
"Don't let this nonsense get you down, kid!"
Although he was a staunch materialist, he was willing to accompany her if she liked these things.
But Tang Yi laughed and said, "I don't believe in these things. I just find it novel because I've never seen anything like it before."
"Never seen it before?" Zhang Minglang asked, somewhat surprised.
Tang Yi wasn't embarrassed to admit it. She shrugged lightly: "Yeah, my life is really boring. Every day it's just going to work, checking my phone, going to Orange County..."
When she heard about Orange County, her eyes lit up; she realized this was a good opportunity.
So she cleared her throat, stopped seriously, and said to Zhang Minglang beside her, "I need to discuss something with you."
Zhang Minglang's heart began to pound wildly.
No way, she's not going to... confess her feelings?
He felt incredibly nervous, but also somewhat regretful.
He admitted that he still cared a lot about who confessed first. After all, as a grown man, he shouldn't be secretive or coy when he liked a woman.
This is not in his character.
That's why, when he saw her on a blind date with Bai Zeyu, he acted impulsively and blurted out, "I'm pursuing her," without considering the occasion.
But that day, she got angry.
It was only at that moment that Zhang Minglang realized that his impulsive act, without considering the consequences, had brought her not joy, but burden.
She was his secretary, a capable assistant handpicked by Chairman Zhang to help him in his work. Both of them had personally promised Chairman Zhang that they would never have any relationship outside of work.
He couldn't figure out Tang Yi's attitude, but he knew perfectly well that he had fallen for her.
He couldn't help but keep checking Tang Yi's every move, no matter when it started.
Today she changed into a pink shirt, which made her look radiant. She rarely wears this color; why doesn't she wear it more often?
Today her hair smelled different from rose to jasmine. Did she change her shampoo?
Today, when she reported on the work arrangements, her tone was flatter than before, and her expression seemed colder. Who's been so foolish as to offend her this time?
At that time, Zhang Minglang would be distracted, her voice would become background noise, and he would be lost in thought.
Surely it couldn't be him who's so blind?
When it comes to Tang Yi, all his reckless actions automatically come to a stop. The moment she seems about to get angry, he immediately applies the brakes.
He cherished his feelings for her like a priceless treasure. He finally understood why male protagonists in TV dramas always harbor unrequited love, hesitant to utter those four words.
But today, he decided to discard all those convoluted schemes.
Tang Yi blinked, Tang Yi opened her mouth. Zhang Minglang seized the opportunity, and the two voices collided under his careful arrangement.
"I have a project proposal..."
"I like you."
The wind stopped blowing for a moment, and the noise of the street was like background music on a record player that had been stopped. Tang Yi felt the blood in her body freeze for a moment, then rush to her limbs and face.
Her unfinished words were cut off by his earth-shattering words, leaving her unable to utter another sound.
Zhang Minglang was also stunned.
He never expected things to take such a bizarre turn.
I thought you wanted to confess your feelings to me, but you're still talking to me about projects.
Zhang Minglang belatedly felt a surge of blood to his head, secretly hating himself for being so reckless.
Frustrated, he stole a glance at the other person's reaction. Tang Yi stood quietly in place, as if she had made up her mind after seriously considering something.
She looked up with a determined gaze: "Me too..."
Just pretend you didn't hear that!
Their voices clashed again.
Zhang Minglang was afraid that Tang Yi would reject him again, and he could no longer afford any further setbacks in their relationship.
Having tasted the sweetness of success, he never wanted to go back to the way things were before.
After hearing his words, Tang Yi's expression dimmed imperceptibly.
So she nodded gently: "Okay."
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