Chapter 58. Judging others by oneself.
After getting up and having breakfast, Xia Qingwan went to the entrance to change her shoes.
Grandma came over from the restaurant and said, "You don't have to come back to pick us up at noon. I can just take a taxi."
“I’m back,” Xia Qingwan said, leaning against the wall as she put on her shoes. “I have something to tell you.”
Xia Huiqing, who had already turned to leave, turned back to look at her upon hearing this. "...What is it?"
"Let's talk about it at noon."
She changed her shoes and stood up straight, "I'm leaving first."
As I walked out the door, I was greeted by a sudden gust of cold wind.
After National Day, the temperature dropped sharply.
It's time to trade your windbreaker for a coat.
Xia Qingwan adjusted her collar, thinking to herself.
I flipped through the class schedule on the bus.
I have a lot of evening classes lately, and a whole day of classes on Saturdays. My schedule is packed, but just looking at it gives me a feeling of fulfillment that comes with a touch of weariness.
That's fine.
She unconsciously took a deep breath.
-
At noon, I hurriedly rode my bike to the school gate from the teaching building. I ran into Pei Meizhu on the way, but I only had time to wave goodbye.
I took a taxi at the school gate and rushed back to the compound. Grandma and Chen Yuman were already waiting at the door with their suitcases.
Xia Qingwan drove the car out and helped put the suitcase in.
On the way to the airport, Chen Yuman asked, "Cousin, who did the age-friendly design for your house? Do they take orders from Shaoping?"
"...It seems like they're not going to answer."
Grandma glanced at her, then looked back at the back seat. "Why is Manman asking this?"
“I feel like my grandma needs one too, so I’m thinking of talking to my dad and seeing if he can find someone to install one for her as well.”
Xia Huiqing said, "Don't worry about it. I'll discuss it with your father some other day."
"good."
After checking in and before going through security, while Chen Yuman went to the restroom, Grandma looked down and rummaged through her bag, asking, "What do you want to tell me?"
"I broke up with Mr. Ye."
Xia Qingwan said it all in one breath, in a straightforward manner.
Xia Huiqing paused and looked up at her, "...Didn't you say two years? What's going on? Did they have a conflict or a quarrel?"
“No,” Xia Qingwan looked away, “His mother contacted me and said that his situation in the Ye family is not very good.”
"...His family is pressuring him to get married?"
Grandma made a reasonable guess.
Xia Qingwan moved her throat, but found that her "hmm" didn't come out, so she nodded.
After a moment of silence, Xia Huiqing said, "Well, a short pain is worse than a long one. It's better to end it sooner rather than later."
"I think so."
Seeing Chen Yuman walking towards him from the bathroom, Xia Huiqing said, "Is it okay for you to live alone in the old house? Do you need me and your grandmother Xi to move back to Shangjing?"
"No need, winter vacation is in two months anyway, and I'll go to Shaoping then."
"Okay, call me anytime if you need anything."
In the past, her grandmother only disciplined her studies, food, clothing, and interpersonal skills, and there was basically no emotional care. When her grandmother jokingly mentioned marriage, Xia Huiqing only said, "It's not bad not to get married."
At this moment, perhaps because he had seen her go through this, Xia Huiqing cared about her more than before.
After returning to Shaoping, Xia Huiqing called Xia Qingwan about once a week.
On the phone, Xia Huiqing gradually felt relieved when she heard her voice and condition were extremely normal.
-
Throughout October, Xia Qingwan was busy with the ancient literature project.
After the incident involving Chen An'an's cousin, when the project was officially launched, the mentor group held a small selection test. Xia Qingwan passed the test smoothly and became the person in charge.
After class, she was either in the library or in the project office.
During this period, Pei Meizhu came to see her once.
At that time, Xia Qingwan was engrossed in reviewing materials in the project office.
"Sister Qingwan."
She looked up, "Meizhu, how come you have time to come here?"
Pei Meizhu darted in with a grin, leaning against her desk and saying, "I've come to invite you to dinner. It's been so long since I've seen you."
"I'm afraid not tonight. I need to stay up late."
Xia Qingwan checked the time. "I'll be busy until eleven o'clock."
"You go ahead and do your thing," Pei Meizhu said casually, sitting down directly on the sofa in the office. "Wang Jingzi will come pick me up for dinner later, and then I'll come find you for a midnight snack after dinner."
"good."
Not long after, Pei Meizhu happily answered a phone call and stood up joyfully, "I'm going to eat."
"Go."
Watching Pei Meizhu jog out of the office, Xia Qingwan couldn't help but smile slightly.
very nice.
She felt it sincerely.
Because she had a report to submit at the last minute, Xia Qingwan was busy in her office until 11:30 p.m., and was eventually persuaded to leave by the security guard of the teaching building.
Pei Meizhu said it would take another ten minutes, so she simply stood under the streetlight in front of the building to wait.
After reading classical Chinese texts all day, she put on her headphones and listened to English listening exercises to refresh her mind.
Fifteen minutes later, Pei Meizhu finally arrived.
A Bentley slowly came to a stop at the side of the road, and Wang Jingzi and Pei Meizhu got out of the car together.
Xia Qingwan took off his headphones and greeted them.
“Miss Xia,” Wang Jingzi said, “I just happened to run into you. Do you remember? You left a pair of earrings in your car.”
He explained in detail, "Crescent-shaped earrings in the back seat of the Maybach. I'll bring them to you when it's convenient for you."
"Oh," Xia Qingwan thought of the earrings, "No need. They were originally a gift from Mr. Ye. Just put them back in the drawer of Ye Yuan's cloakroom."
The breakup was hasty, and all her clothes and jewelry were left at Ye Garden. However, most of those clothes and jewelry were bought for her by Ye Peixiu, and each one was quite valuable, so she couldn't very well take them with her. In this way, it was just right.
Pei Meizhu pretended to be busy, typing with her head down, as if she didn't hear them at all.
Wang Jingzi paused for a moment, then said, "...Okay." He added, "Oh, by the way, you still have some books at Ye Garden."
The book should definitely be taken back.
Before she could speak, Wang Jingzi said, "President Ye doesn't like others entering his study, so I can't do it for him."
“…Okay,” Xia Qingwan quickly made up her mind, “When he’s not home, let me know and I’ll go get it.”
"Can."
This time, Wang Jingzi came with a mission.
Upon returning to Ye Garden, he relayed the entire story to Ye Peixiu without missing a single word.
Ye Peixiu was smoking on the sofa in the study. After listening to this, he said calmly, "I understand. You can go back."
He knew that she was not only arrogant, but also had plans.
Because he lived with relatives in his childhood, he set his sights on studying hard, pursuing postgraduate and doctoral degrees, and building a small family with his own abilities and hands.
A girl who grew up having to be mindful of others' feelings would naturally be very self-aware, knowing that there was a huge gap between her and him, and never intending to "climb the social ladder," which is why she rejected and avoided him in the first place.
Even when they were together, she was already prepared to leave.
However, his mother Pei Yaxian's visit caught everything off guard.
It has been almost a month since they broke up. At this moment, after thinking about it so many times, Ye Peixiu finally felt that he had lost her.
-
In early November, the ancient literature project came to a successful conclusion.
Pei Meizhu asked Xia Qingwan to go celebrate with her.
The two came to the bar and ordered a drink each. Pei Meizhu went to the dance floor as if she knew the place well, leaving Xia Qingwan alone in the booth.
There were flashing lights and extreme noise.
Yet, beneath the chaos, a river seemed to flow quietly. Xia Qingwan, holding her glass, detachedly watched the various expressions on the faces of the people at the bar and on the dance floor.
There is a sense of frivolous vanity.
Everyone seems to be trying their best to enjoy themselves in the present moment, not caring about tomorrow.
Although frivolous, it also has a kind of carefree happiness.
The atmosphere in the bar reminded her of Ye Peixiu. She remembered him holding a cigarette, chuckling lazily and saying, "Who wouldn't know how to get rid of you?"
Such an arrogant, eccentric, and frivolous look reminded her of Chapter 31 of "Dream of Red Mansions", where Baoyu coaxed Qingwen to tear the fan and said: If you like to hear that sound, you can break it on purpose.
It was only then that she suddenly realized that from the very beginning, she had identified herself with Qingwen.
In reality, she was not Qingwen, and Ye Peixiu was not Baoyu.
-
On his 28th birthday, Ye Peixiu went to the Pei family in Shanghai on behalf of his mother Pei Yaxian.
The head of the Pei family is his uncle.
The Pei family had also heard about the recent tensions between him and the Ye family. This time, in addition to discussing official business, they also discussed personal matters.
Mainly about Pei Meizhu.
My uncle said, "I'm planning to have Meizhu transfer back to school. The servant in Beijing reported back that a man has been coming in and out of Meizhu's villa recently."
Ye Peixiu already knew about this.
Pei Meizhu and Wang Jingzi, one is his cousin and the other is his subordinate for many years. He knows them so well that he naturally discovered the clues a long time ago.
However, he didn't tell anyone that he was judging others by his own standards.
After hearing this, Ye Peixiu was silent for a moment and said, "I'll take care of this."
If her uncle intervenes and brings Pei Meizhu back to Shanghai, who knows how much of a scene she'll throw in, making a huge fuss.
Wang Jingzi has followed him for so many years, it's time for him to go down and gain some experience.
-
The next day after returning to Shangjing, Ye Peixiu signed Wang Jingzi's transfer order.
When Wang Jingzi left Beijing, Pei Meizhu was dancing energetically in a bar, completely unaware of what was happening.
Ye Peixiu called her but no one answered. He checked her Moments and found out that she was in a bar.
He drove over to find her.
But then he saw Xia Qingwan on the street outside the bar.
She felt too stuffy in there, so she came out to get some fresh air.
In November, the ginkgo trees along the street all turned yellow, and the fallen yellow leaves swirled and danced gently in the night breeze.
The streetlights cast a warm, golden glow, generously enveloping her. She stood with her hands in her trench coat pockets, head bowed, lost in thought.
Her long hair was tied loosely behind her head, with a few strands of hair fluttering around her cheeks.
He knew that she had performed very well in the project that had just ended, and had received praise and awards. This time, it was probably Pei Meizhu who dragged her here to celebrate.
She has a quiet and tenacious meaning. Even without him, she can live well, just as she once wanted.
Therefore, for a moment, Ye Peixiu thought that it would be better to let go.
Such thoughts, wrapped in the surging love and possessiveness in my heart, are like sand in clam meat, which hurts me.
-----------------------
A note from the author: I'm truly sorry I can't decide on an update schedule right now (I just had a physical and need to sort things out. I've been running to the hospital a lot lately, having teeth pulled and implants implanted. I also have a ganglion cyst on the back of my hand. I don't need surgery yet, but it still hurts occasionally). This week's list has 21,000 posts, so on average I need to update at least 3,000 posts per day. I'll try to write and update as much as possible. Thank you for your understanding!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
