29. Contact me later
The two walked to a carved column a little further away and stood facing each other. Outside the corridor was the castle's carefully trimmed lawn. The slanting sunlight lengthened their shadows.
Chi Jin lowered his voice and asked with a hint of questioning: "Editor-in-Chief Chen is from L City? You kept it from me for so long!"
Chen Yisheng lowered his eyes to look at her, his tone unhappy: "Hidden? I haven't even asked you yet, have you forgotten something more important? You're actually accusing me first."
Oh no! Chi Jin slapped his forehead. He had agreed to send Da Bing to be adopted with Chen Yisheng at the beginning of October, but she had completely forgotten about it.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She slapped her forehead again in frustration, her face full of apology. "There have been so many weddings lately, my cousin's, my classmates', it's been so busy that I really forgot!"
"Too many weddings?" Chen Yisheng raised an eyebrow. The subtle teasing in his tone now became a clear sting, with a barely perceptible chill. "It seems Editor Chi is so busy with work that his side hustle has expanded into the wedding industry? His schedule is so full."
"No! I really have too many weddings to attend..." Chi Jin hurriedly explained, "After being caught by the wise and powerful Editor-in-Chief Chen, I really haven't done any side jobs!"
Chen Yisheng's gaze passed over her and glanced at Sun Ting, who was looking over at them from a distance. When he looked back at her face, his eyes became unusually sharp and his voice turned cold. "Really? I see you have plenty of time, busy with 'development'."
It felt like there were too many things to explain at once, and it was impossible to explain them clearly. Chi Jin had to pick up the most important thing to calm his anger: "Did Da Bing go to Aunt Wu's house okay? Did he get angry? Do you have any photos you can show me?"
"You still have the mind to care about cats?" Chen Yisheng's tone was still stiff, but his tense jawline seemed to relax a little.
"Oh, King Chen, I was really wrong." Chi Jin clasped her hands together and bowed lightly. She couldn't figure out his temper, so she could only correct her attitude and apologize.
She was wearing a knee-length dress, and the bow made the hem of her skirt sway slightly. Chen Yisheng's eyes subconsciously shifted quickly to the lawn outside the corridor.
"Forget it. Forgetting to send the cat is a small matter. I thought something happened to you." He cleared his throat, his tone seeming to soften a little. "You came back on Thursday, right? You wanted to walk out of the meeting room and into the house the next day."
Chi Jin nodded: "Then when did you come back?"
"yesterday."
"How did you get back?"
"Carpool."
"When do you plan to go back?"
"The day before the holiday ends. I want to spend time with my mom."
"I drove back. Let's go back together."
Chi Jin's eyes widened, and his first reaction was to decline: "No, no, I have a carpooling group. It's very safe. I always carpooled back home when I was in graduate school."
"Don't think too much. I'm just worried about the traffic jam on the highway on the last day, which will delay you from going to work. I'll drive, so I can manage the time more safely."
The subtext is: I am the superior and I have the final say.
Chi Jin's pupils shrank slightly, and he complained silently in his heart: Damn capitalist, we all work for the boss, why is he so dedicated to his job that he even worries about his subordinates' return transportation?
But he could only compromise: "Then...then I'll treat you to a meal."
She knew very well that she should not be ungrateful and should repay favors.
But he answered unexpectedly quickly, as if he was waiting for this: "Okay. Then tonight."
"Then I have to talk to my mother..." Chi Jin took out his cell phone to report to his mother.
"Chi Jin." Sun Ting's voice interrupted at the right moment, and he approached with a gentle and appropriate smile. "It seems that it's almost time for a toast at our table. Let's go back together?"
His gaze lingered politely on Chen Yisheng for a moment, with just the right amount of curiosity.
"Oh, okay. Editor-in-Chief Chen, I'll contact you later."
Chen Yisheng frowned. He keenly caught what Chi Jin had hidden very well - when Sun Ting was present, he addressed him as "you", as if he was deliberately distancing himself from their relationship.
"Do you have an appointment later?" Sun Ting asked casually, his eyes behind the glasses scrutinizing.
Chi Jin nodded: "Well, it's a little...work-related."
This excuse is particularly lame at a wedding.
"Oh?" He looked unconvinced.
"We don't need to explain our affairs too clearly to others." Chen Yisheng deliberately left an ambiguous message and left first. "Contact me later. Chi Jin."
He also deliberately called "Editor Chi" as "Chi Jin".
On the way back to her seat, Chi Jin explained to Sun Ting that they were just a normal superior-subordinate relationship. It was strange to say, she didn't feel the need to explain interpersonal relationships with someone she had only known for two days, but just because his face darkened, Chi Jin's ingratiating personality for dealing with intimacy immediately came into play.
Even if it's far from developing into an intimate relationship.
Sun Ting's eyes flickered behind his glasses, but he still wore a gentle smile, and his voice was calm. "I didn't misunderstand you, so why would you be angry? Besides, isn't Editor-in-Chief Chen wearing a huge ring on his hand?"
Chi Jin, who knew the whole story, was choked: "...That's right."
Yes, to outsiders, Chen Yisheng is married.
Chi Jin breathed a sigh of relief and followed his words to find a way out: "Actually, it's mainly because I haven't been in a good state at work recently. I'm a little afraid of him. I didn't expect to run into him here, so I'm a little nervous."
"I understand." Sun Ting smiled. "A few years ago, I also worked for others. I had to consider people's attitudes."
"But you're the big boss now, and I don't know when I'll be able to become editor-in-chief."
He said slowly with a mischievous smile, "As long as you stop glancing at your Editor-in-Chief Chen's desk, I'll call you Editor Chi."
Chi Jin awkwardly withdrew his gaze and met Sun Ting's smiling face: "Sorry. I'm still a little scared."
Sun Ting smiled and didn't ask any further questions. It was just that there was always someone who was dishonest and his thoughts were much deeper than they appeared.
…
The "irrelevant people" at their table dispersed quickly. Chi Jin had thought that Chen Yisheng, as a member of the mother's family and with a special status, would stay a little longer to socialize, but he didn't expect that he would leave quickly.
"Where are we going?"
It was just past three in the afternoon, and dinner still had three long hours to go. Chi Jin sat in the passenger seat, her fingers mindlessly twisting the strap of her bag, feeling the pause was incredibly difficult. She desperately needed something serious to fill their time together, something to make it less awkward. She reached into her bag, feeling around, and her fingertips touched the reassuring metal cube—sure enough, the USB drive was there!
"It's still early for dinner... How about we find a place? I brought the manuscript for the column I've been following recently, the one by Zhao Hengsheng at Shuanghu Building. It's a preliminary compilation I rushed out before the holidays, and I wanted you to take a look at it first so you can have a better idea of what's going on."
Chen Yisheng glanced sideways, seemingly seeing through her intention to use work to escape solitude, but he didn't point it out: "Sure. Where to?"
Chi Jin suggested: "Internet cafe?"
The driver obviously thought of the similar environment of Internet cafes in small cities - polluted air, smoke-filled air, and shouting one after another. However, it just happened that -
Chen Yisheng tapped the steering wheel twice and turned off the navigation on his phone: "Follow me."
The car drove through the streets of the small town, turning left and right, and finally stopped in front of a rather refreshing looking internet cafe. The decoration was modern and the front was clean, completely different from the smoky and chaotic place Chi Jin had imagined.
"How do you know the route so well?"
"I used to play Counter-Strike all the time when I was in school. Later, a classmate who played games with me bought this place. I helped out with some ideas and renovated it. It was the best place in the area at the time. At least, there was room to sit."
Hmm, I didn't expect he would have such "low tastes", he looks quite human.
Chi Jin nodded and agreed: "Even if it is placed in Jing City, it will be good, and the price is not expensive."
The two of them checked into a private room. Chi Jin quickly went to a seat near the back, plugged in a USB drive, and quickly opened his computer and documents.
"Do you carry a USB drive with you?"
Chi Jin was concentrating on retrieving a file. He didn't even look up when he heard this. He said half-jokingly and half-seriously, "This is my fate. If it couldn't be engraved into a chip, I would have implanted it in my brain long ago so I could retrieve it with my thoughts."
Chen Yisheng saw the document named "Edited by Zhou Cheng" and his eyes flickered over it.
"Hmm." She turned the screen slightly towards him. "Preliminary review before the holiday, preparing for the 'homework' due after the holiday. Teacher Chen, will you grade the homework first?"
"This is a special lesson." He said this as he leaned over to read the manuscript. He quickly scanned the summary of interview material that Chi Jin had compiled and the preliminary thematic clues he had drawn.
"This was compiled after my second interview with Zhao Hengsheng at Shuanghu Building. Brother Qin gave me half of this column."
"Here, the external factors you've outlined as motivations for Zhao Hengsheng's decision to give up his stable job and dedicate himself to public welfare are merely superficial. The experience he mentioned in the interview is the true driving force. You've placed this detail too late and described it too briefly. This moment of 'seeing' needs to be magnified, delving deeper into the psychological impact and subsequent chain reactions. This is the key to the arc of the character and the depth of the subject."
Chi Jin nodded: "Okay! I'll change it now."
Chen Yisheng stood up and walked to the vending machine in the corner of the private room, buying two cans of iced coffee. He opened the pull tab of one can and gently placed it next to Chi Jin.
"Just now I heard... your blind date seemed to want to take you home?"
Chi Jin concentrated on typing: "Yes and no, I didn't intend to agree. I didn't mean to use you as a shield."
"Which district do you live in?"
"Ah? It's in the suburbs. You don't need to send me off. I can take the bus home after dinner. I squeeze into the subway every day in Jing City. I haven't taken the bus home for a long time."
"You've already treated me to dinner," Chen Yisheng said matter-of-factly, putting down the coffee can. "Of course I have to take responsibility for getting you home safely. Isn't that basic courtesy?"
Before Chi Jinteng could think of an answer, the phone suddenly rang. She quickly answered it and signaled Chen Yisheng to be quiet with her eyes.
"Hello, Mom."
"Ah... I... I saw a classmate at the wedding whom I hadn't seen since graduation for a long time... Ah, of course it was a girl."
Chen Yisheng beside him groaned.
"It's the sports committee member from the next class. He's quite tall, the one you said should be sent to play basketball."
Chen Yisheng gently made a few ball-bouncing movements.
Chi Jin said a few words and hung up. Chen Yisheng put down his "ball-bouncing" hand, sat up straight, and looked at her seriously: "Why do I feel like... I'm a social delinquent who instigated middle school students to skip school and go to the internet cafe, and I have to help lie to cover it up?"
Chi Jin quickly smiled and said, "No, no! Absolutely not! You are a good young man who helped me with my homework and improved my business skills! Teacher Chen, what do you think of my changes here? I think this column is still Brother Qin's. I am sharing the performance with him and cannot fall behind."
"What about your own column? No news again?"
"Oh, I won't rush you to work on your holiday."
The voice was drawn out, with a hint of coquettishness.
Chen Yisheng looked at her rare display of childishness, a faint smile flashing across his eyes. He didn't press the issue any further, but simply picked up the coffee and took another sip, his gaze returning to the text she was editing on the screen.
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