Chapter 68 Are you asleep?
Leaving Shi Xinyu's place, Chen Yaoan felt even more uneasy.
She glanced at the time; it was already late. Xu Jialan had said he had to work overtime tonight, and she wondered if he had finished yet.
She thought for a moment and sent him a message.
Xu Jialan replied quickly, saying the work would be finished in about half an hour.
Chen Yaoan calculated the time, hesitated for a while, and then decided to go pick him up from get off work.
When she arrived at his company building, it was still early, so she waited outside without telling Xu Jialan.
A dozen minutes later, Xu Jialan walked out of the company, followed by a girl.
She was talking to him, and Xu Jialan would reply from time to time.
As the two reached the door, Chen Yaoan called out to him, "Xu Jialan."
Xu Jialan turned her head and saw it was her. A flash of surprise crossed her face, and she quickly walked over to her, took her hand, and asked, "Why are you here?"
She smiled and said, "I've come to pick you up from get off work."
He paused for a moment.
"What's wrong?" Chen Yao'an's heart skipped a beat when she saw his expression.
"It's nothing, I'm just a little flattered."
The girl who had been following him had been standing not far away watching them, showing no intention of leaving. When she saw Chen Yao'an looking at her, she took the initiative to walk over.
"Is this your girlfriend?" she asked Xu Jialan, turning her head.
"yes."
She extended her hand and said, "Hello, my name is Huang Zhaozhao, and I'm Xu Jialan's colleague."
Chen Yaoan lightly touched her hand. "Hello, my name is Chen Yaoan."
Huang Zhaozhao then turned to Xu Jialan and asked, "You already have a girlfriend, how come I've never heard you mention it?"
"What? Do I need to report to you about having a girlfriend?" Xu Jialan said, still showing no mercy.
Huang Zhaozhao wasn't annoyed at all, and jokingly said, "Who needs you to report to them?"
They act as if they completely fail to understand the meaning behind the other person's words, appearing innocent and harmless.
Xu Jialan didn't argue with her any longer. "We're leaving now."
He left with Chen Yao'an after saying that.
Chen Yaoan glanced back and saw Huang Zhaozhao still standing there watching them.
In the car, Chen Yaoan couldn't help but ask him, "Was that girl a colleague from your department?"
"Yes, she's an intern I'm supervising. She just graduated last year, and my supervisor asked me to mentor her for a while."
"oh."
Xu Jialan turned to look at her while driving, "Why did you suddenly come to pick me up from get off work today? When did you become so proactive?"
Chen Yao'an felt a little embarrassed by his words, "I just had nothing to do and suddenly felt like coming."
He was busy driving, but he didn't forget to reach out and hold her hand. "I wish you could pick me up from get off work every day."
"You wish!"
Xu Jialan chuckled.
As before, in order to avoid being discovered by Yan Shumei, Chen Yaoan got off the bus a step ahead of him before arriving in Yaoan Town and went back separately.
Before getting out of the car, he pulled her aside and asked with a hint of reluctance, "Are you coming to my house again tonight?"
"It depends."
He was slightly disappointed, but kissed her on the cheek. "I'll miss you if you don't come."
He's as good at flirting as ever.
Actually, the two of them don't do anything when they meet; they just stay together, maybe kissing and hugging at most.
She smiled, awkwardly gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then got out of the car.
Late at night, Chen Yaoan was still awake when Xu Donglan sent her a message.
Hsu Chia-lan: [Want to come to my house?]
Chen Yao'an considered it for a moment: "I won't go."
Xu Jialan: [Why didn't you come? I'd make you some coffee.]
The excuse she made for him to make her coffee last time was just that.
She pursed her lips, but ultimately agreed.
She quietly slipped out of the house. Xu Jialan deliberately didn't lock the door. She opened the door and went inside, but she didn't see Xu Jialan. There was no one in the house.
Just as she was wondering what was going on, a pair of hands wrapped around her waist from behind, which startled her. "What are you doing?"
He placed his arm around her shoulder and said, "I want to hug you."
After hugging for a while, Chen Yaoan said, "Didn't you say you were going to make me coffee?"
"Okay, I'll go cook it for you now." He brushed his lips against her ear, seemingly unintentionally, yet also deliberately.
Chen Yao'an shrank back sensitively and tried to avoid the situation.
Xu Jialan stepped aside and went to the kitchen.
Chen Yaoan then sat in the living room playing on her phone.
Midway through, Xu Jialan's phone, which was on the coffee table, rang. She looked over at the sound.
Then she spotted the name she had just learned that evening: Huang Zhaozhao.
Xu Jialan's WeChat notifications were encrypted, so she couldn't see the message content.
But I knew she was the girl who often texted Xu Jialan.
She recalled Huang Zhaozhao as a girl who loved to dress up, and probably because she had just graduated, she exuded youthful energy.
Chen Yaoan licked her lips, somewhat curious about what she had sent to Xu Jialan.
But I resisted; peeking at other people's phones is never a good habit.
When Xu Jialan returned, Chen Yaoan somewhat unnecessarily reminded him, "Someone sent you a message."
"good."
He walked over, picked up his phone from the coffee table, unlocked it, and then opened WeChat.
Chen Yao'an was pretending to play on her phone, but her gaze couldn't help but fall on his phone screen, and she even couldn't help but lean her upper body closer to him.
Xu Jialan noticed her movement, looked up at her, and asked, "What's wrong?"
She shook her head, realizing she had been too obvious. "Nothing."
But he seemed to see right through her, waving his phone in his hand, "Want to see?"
"Why would I look at your phone?" she retorted stubbornly, lowering her head.
"oh."
So he continued looking down at his phone.
After a long while, she felt somewhat unwilling. Was he testing her just now? Could he really let her look through his phone so easily?
Isn't it said that most men hate it when their girlfriends check up on them or go through their phones all the time?
Chen Yao'an couldn't hold back any longer and looked up at him, "Um... can I really just look at your phone?"
Xu Jialan, on the other hand, seemed indifferent. "You're my girlfriend, so of course you can look at me as you please, but there's one condition."
She looked up at her, her eyes sparkling.
"What are the conditions?"
"Give me a kiss and I'll give you my phone."
It's just a kiss, nothing serious. She's kissed him quite a few times lately. "Okay."
She sat up, pounced on him, and kissed him on the lips before quickly retreating.
Unexpectedly, Xu Jialan did not do as she wished. She grabbed the back of her head and forcibly gave her a deep kiss.
A few minutes later, Xu Jialan released her, looked into her watery eyes, and licked her lips with satisfaction.
He handed her the phone, saying, "Here, take a look."
Chen Yao'an, panting, took a long time to catch her breath. She turned on his phone screen and asked in a mock manner, "What's your unlock password?"
He took the phone, unlocked it in front of her, and openly showed her the password before handing it back to her, saying, "Take your time looking at it. I'll go get you some coffee."
He went out, and Chen Yaoan checked his phone's photo album. There was nothing special about it; there wasn't even a single selfie of him in the album.
She opened WeChat again and went directly to his chat with Huang Zhaozhao. At the bottom of the screen, Huang Zhaozhao asked him if he was asleep.
He simply replied, "Going to sleep."
Late at night, a girl asks a man if he's asleep, which is obviously intentional. What does it mean when he replies "asleep"?
If you're really asleep, shouldn't you just not reply?
Or is this an implication?
She fell into deep thought, when another message came in.
Huang Zhaozhao: [Can we chat for a bit?]
Chen Yaoan frowned. What were they going to talk about so late at night?
She didn't move, and her phone screen remained on Huang Zhaozhao's last message. When he returned, he handed her the phone.
"Huang Zhaozhao sent you a message."
He reached out and took the phone, typed a few words quickly, and then handed it back.
She glanced at it.
[No time.]
Does Huang Zhaozhao message you frequently?
"Hmm." He frowned impatiently. "She's a relative of our department director. The director forced her on me, but I didn't expect her to have so many problems."
Xu Jialan rubbed her forehead, looking like she had a headache.
"I'm giving this to you? You haven't been working here long, have you?"
"Who knows what the director is thinking?" Xu Jialan turned to look at her, seemingly unwilling to mention this person. "Why do you keep bringing her up?"
"Just ask her whatever message she sends you."
Maybe she's overthinking it? She's been acting suspiciously lately.
The next day, Xu Jialan worked overtime again, and Chen Yaoan was extremely annoyed. On her way back, she passed by Yinye T and went inside, wanting to chat with Shi Xinyu for a bit.
Shi Xinyu was still sitting at the bar.
Do you think I'm overthinking things?
Chen Yaoan described what happened that day to her.
Shi Xinyu poured a small glass of brandy into a cocktail shaker and said, "It's no wonder you're overthinking it. Xu Jialan used to be a womanizer, so it's understandable that you feel insecure. That's his problem."
"Are you sure you're overthinking it?"
Xu Jialan used to hang out with Yinye a lot, so Shi Xinyu never really trusted him.
Chen Yao'an looked at her, "What do you mean?"
"Don't be fooled by his righteous and stern demeanor now. Who knows what might happen in the long run? After all, it's easy for a woman to pursue a man. He's working overtime again today, so he might be with that woman."
Chen Yao'an felt increasingly uncertain after hearing what she said.
"The reason you think this way is because you lack trust in him. Why don't you have an open and honest talk?"
Chen Yao'an also felt that what she said made sense. "According to what you said, we should indeed have a talk."
Shi Xinyu nodded, "If he even shows any sign of that, I'll beat him to a pulp."
Chen Yao'an laughed out loud.
The two had dinner together while Shi Xinyu was free, and Chen Yaoan left last.
—
After finishing her overtime work, Xu Jialan picked up her bag and walked out, but Huang Zhaozhao caught up with her again.
"Brother Jialan, are you in a hurry to go home?"
"Is there something you need?"
"There's something I'd like to ask you in person. How about I treat you to dinner?"
Xu Jialan glanced at his phone screen. He had just texted Chen Yaoan to ask her out for dinner after get off work, but she hadn't replied yet.
Why didn't you talk about work-related matters when you started work? Why did you have to wait until you were leaving?
Huang Zhaozhao gave an awkward twitch of her lips, but she was quick-witted and soon came up with an excuse, "I hadn't encountered this problem yet."
Xu Jialan gave her a deep look.
Just then, his phone rang. It was Chen Yao'an replying to his message, saying that she had declined his invitation to dinner and that she had something to do and wouldn't be having dinner with him.
He turned off his phone and looked at Huang Zhaozhao, whose gaze was fixed on his phone.
Huang Zhaozhao always had a lot of problems. At first, he thought it was because she was diligent and studious, but as time went on, he realized something was wrong. Even if someone is not very smart, they should be able to get into the architecture department. They shouldn't be that stupid.
He put away his phone and agreed, "Okay, let's have a meal together."
Huang Zhaozhao was overjoyed. "Perfect timing! I recently discovered a great restaurant."
Chen Yao'an said goodbye to Shi Xinyu and rode his bicycle back to Yao'an Town.
As I passed by a Western restaurant on the street, I was drawn to two people inside.
She slammed on the brakes and stood at a distance, looking at the two people sitting inside the floor-to-ceiling glass window.
It was as if all the anxiety and doubts I had felt over the past few days had suddenly been confirmed, and all the grievances and anger welled up inside me.
But she didn't go forward; she didn't want to make a scene in front of everyone in the hall. She just took out her phone and took a picture of the person inside the glass window.
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