32. On the way back (Part 2)
The car stopped and the engine turned off. Chi Jin opened his eyes dazedly and looked out the window in confusion—the familiar gas station sign and the bustling service area.
"Awake?" A low and pleasant voice came from beside him.
Chi Jin sat up suddenly and realized that he had fallen asleep in Chen Yisheng's car.
She felt a little embarrassed, her cheeks slightly hot. "Hmm...are we at the service area? How long have I been sleeping? Sorry, I said I was here to chat with you."
"Not long." Chen Yisheng unbuckled his seat belt and said in a natural tone, "It's a good time to take a break. I'm going to the bathroom. Do you want to go downstairs for some fresh air? Or get something to eat?"
His gaze lingered on her sleepy face for a moment, then quickly moved away.
"Oh, okay, I'll go to the bathroom too." Chi Jin responded quickly and unbuckled his seat belt.
She opened the car door and was invigorated by the cool, early autumn air. She subconsciously took a deep breath, but suddenly stopped—a faint scent of a cemetery, a mixture of incense, candles, and earth, seemed to still linger at the tip of her nose.
Her heart tightened and she quickly glanced at Chen Yisheng's tall back who had just got off the car.
If Chen Yisheng knew about this, she would definitely feel unlucky. She quickly took out the bottle of portable perfume that was about to expire from her small bag. She used it to cover up some unpleasant smells.
While Chen Yisheng was already heading towards the restroom, she quickly turned around, facing the traffic, and puffed twice in front of and behind her. The cool fragrance instantly spread, powerfully covering up the bad smell.
After doing all this, she breathed a sigh of relief, casually stuffed the small perfume bottle into her pocket, and quickly walked to the bathroom.
The two of them briefly strolled through the service area before hurrying on. As they returned to the car, Chi Jin sniffed intently, leaving only the crisp, clear scent of her own perfume. She felt a sense of satisfaction, completely relaxed.
The car started up again and merged with the returning traffic. The second half of the journey seemed much smoother, and the sunlight streamed in through the car window, a warm glow. Chi Jin felt much better and took the initiative to chat with Chen Yisheng. The atmosphere was relaxed and harmonious. Although Chen Yisheng was still quiet, he would respond when appropriate.
The atmosphere was just right, and suddenly a number of WeChat messages popped up on Chen Yisheng's navigation phone, vibrating several times in a row. Chi Jin subconsciously avoided it, but Chen Yisheng handed the phone over.
"Look."
She clicked on it carefully and found a photo of pancakes sent by Aunt Wu. She looked very cute and lovely.
"Haha, it's round again. It looks like the food is good."
"When I delivered the pancakes, he adapted quickly. It went better than I expected."
Chi Jin paused: "I'm really sorry about this. I originally agreed to accompany you to deliver the pancakes."
“But it all went well.”
"Yeah, that's good."
"You can check out the video Aunt Wu sent me a few days ago. It's very cute."
Chi Jin swiped left and flipped the page. The screen suddenly lit up, and her eyes were instinctively drawn to it. She quickly took in the short line of text—it was work-related. She pushed the phone over. "Someone sent you a message... It's a colleague."
Chen Yisheng hummed, then picked up his phone with one hand and swiped it open. It was a lengthy message from an editor in Group A, outlining his intentions and plans for the position of team leader. He glanced at it quickly, his fingertip hovering over the screen for a moment, but he didn't reply immediately. Instead, he handed the phone back to Chi Jin. The screen displayed a photo of a pancake.
"Are you going to be a team leader?"
Chi Jin's attention was still on his unanswered message, and it took a moment for her to register what he was asking. She quickly shook her head, her gaze returning to the fluffy kitten photos, pretending to flip through them intently. She casually said, "No, not really interested. I guess Xiao Duan might try."
After a pause, she added, "I'm just a kitten waiting to be assigned in the group, waiting for a kind-hearted team leader to adopt me."
Before he could even finish his words, the notification of another new message rang out with remarkable clarity. From the corner of his eye, Chi Jin almost immediately caught the slightly affectionate nickname—"Duoduo"—and the following words: [Brother, are you back in Jing City? Tonight at the same place?]
It's hard to tell the gender, but the words used are familiar and intimate. Chi Jin pushed the phone back: "Editor Chen is really a busy man, with constant messages."
This time, Chen Yisheng replied. He pressed the microphone icon and replied directly to the voice message. His voice was his usual low and steady voice, without any extra emotion. "Not yet. Okay."
Chi Jin listened to his reply, which was neither happy nor angry, and became more considerate: "Editor-in-Chief Chen, if you have something urgent, you really don't have to send me off specially. Just drop me off at any subway station ahead. It's very convenient."
"No problem." Chen Yisheng put the phone back on the holder and refocused his attention on the road ahead. "It's a friend of mine."
It also didn't specify whether it was a boy or a girl, but Chi Jin probably guessed it was a girl. Otherwise, it would be a bit disgusting for men of this age to call each other reduplicated nicknames and "brother".
At around three o'clock in the afternoon, the car drove smoothly into the residential complex where Chi Jin lived and stopped precisely downstairs of her house.
"We're here." Chen Yisheng stopped the car.
"Thank you so much, Editor-in-Chief Chen!" Chi Jin thanked him sincerely and unbuckled his seat belt. "You must have had a hard time on the road—By the way!"
She quickly took three boxes of Tuan Tuan Cake from the back seat: "My mother asked me to give this to you. Of course, I was planning to give you a few more. I'm sure you'll like it."
"How did you infer that?"
"The last time I was video chatting with the adoptive parents at your house, I noticed that you always had a lot of soda at home, so I guessed that you have a sweet tooth."
Chen Yisheng accepted it with a smile and said, "Then hurry up and tell Auntie you're safe. Master Chen has already sent you off safely."
"Okay, thank you so much for your trouble. See you at the editorial office tomorrow."
"Okay." Chen Yisheng opened the trunk and took out her small suitcase. "See you tomorrow."
"I almost forgot about the luggage. Please be careful on your way back."
"Yeah." Chen Yisheng nodded.
Chen Yisheng slowly withdrew his gaze after watching Chi Jin walk into the apartment door with his suitcase and disappear. He didn't start the car immediately, but sat in the driver's seat, his fingers unconsciously tapping the steering wheel.
He casually scanned the interior of the car, his gaze pausing slightly as it passed the passenger floor mat. A small, silver cylinder lay quietly on it, its body gleaming faintly in the afternoon sun.
It's her perfume bottle.
Apparently, she had just hastily reapplied her perfume and put it in her pocket, and it had accidentally fallen out. Since she didn't wear perfume often, she didn't remember.
Chen Yisheng stared at the bottle quietly for a few seconds, his emotions unclear. He reached out to take it and placed it in the side storage compartment.
As if it should just lie there.
He started the engine, and the car system resumed the previous radio channel, soothing music streaming out. The car drove smoothly out of the residential complex and merged into the bustling city.
…
Chi Jin went upstairs, and the first thing she did was to call her mother to let her know she was safe. Her mother's nagging advice on the other end of the phone, mixed with the background sound of the TV at home, made her feel at ease but also a little sad.
After hanging up the phone, she took the Tuantuan cake out and put it in the refrigerator to keep it fresh before slowly starting to pack her luggage. In the small room, she opened the suitcase and found a few pieces of clothing and miscellaneous items scattered out. She was glad that she didn't bring much.
Taozi wasn't home, and the house was quiet. Too lazy to bother with a complicated dinner, she boiled some water and expertly opened two bags of simple braised beef noodles, watching the noodles slowly expand in the boiling water. While waiting, she fished three eggs from the corner of the refrigerator. She hesitated—usually, she'd only put one in—but cracked them into the pot one by one. The golden liquid quickly solidified in the bubbling broth, forming a beautiful egg drop, adding a touch of luxury to this simple dinner.
This morning, before leaving the house, she secretly slipped two thousand yuan to her mother as a token of filial piety. With only seven days left before payday, she would have to tighten her belt this week.
Chi Jin hadn't been working for long, and although her income was indeed considerable in some months, she had used it to renovate her home, replace furniture, and buy gold and silver items for her mother. She hadn't saved much money, nor had she spent much on herself.
Chi Jin hadn't been working at Zhongxin Magazine for long, but while she occasionally earned a decent income from a good feature or a viral article, she rarely spent her money on herself. During her internship, she'd spent most of her money on home renovations. The heavy solid gold bracelet on her mother's wrist was bought with three months' worth of her salary. With each expense, the balance in her bank account was like a leaky bucket, never quite making it to savings.
Fortunately, Chen Yisheng was kind and offered to pay the bill without asking her for a penny for travel expenses.
She looked at the rented house. Although small, it had everything she needed. It seemed that she could always make do with it.
After finishing her noodles and washing the dishes, the thick, greasy taste of the seasoning still lingered in her throat. She opened the refrigerator, her eyes glancing over the row of ice-cold beers, her fingers almost touching the cold cans. But then she remembered the promise she'd made to her mother before leaving home. After a moment's hesitation, she withdrew her hand and closed the refrigerator door.
Finally, she switched to a carton of milk, inserted a straw, and took a swig. The cool liquid slid down her throat, and she decided to use milk as a substitute. However, she glanced at the package out of boredom and found that it had expired three days ago.
She held the box for a few seconds, then continued to drink the rest in small sips as if she hadn't seen the date.
It was time to go back to work. Thinking about work made her feel a little uncertain. She hadn't come up with any particularly bright new ideas yet; the inspiration in her head was like a riverbed in dry season, bare sand and gravel. Fortunately, she had a few high-quality freelance submissions on hand that she could push forward to meet the requirements, which gave her some peace of mind.
She opened her laptop, logged into her work email, and routinely began to process the backlog of emails. In addition to various submissions and press releases, several emails with particularly eye-catching headlines from different media companies jumped out, all trying to poach her.
This was an unexpected aftereffect of the "horse racing speed contest" article that had captured the industry's attention. She had recently received numerous similar offers and exploratory emails, each one more alluring than the last. To say she wasn't tempted would be a lie. Indeed, on occasions when she was working late into the night or feeling overwhelmed, these emails had stirred a flicker of "evil" thoughts, imagining a different possibility.
But in the end, she didn't reply. The media world isn't big, but it's not small either. Any little news can spread quickly. Contacting someone privately, especially a competitor, is always a bad sign. More importantly, after careful consideration, she didn't seem to have the ambition or aspirations to compete.
For her, being able to work hard and make some recognized achievements in a place like Zhongxin that suits her and that she approves of is enough to satisfy her.
She yawned deeply, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. Closing her email, she forced herself to focus. She carefully sorted through the few submissions she felt showed the most potential, marking them with revisions and layout suggestions. She planned to submit them at tomorrow's meeting, hoping to get them featured in the column, which would be a good start to the new week's work.
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