Chapter 74 Stalemate
The banquet proceeded peacefully, with occasional dances performed in the center of the hall. Melodious music filled the air, and guests chatted in small groups. Wen Xue seemed to leave after a while, and Lu Ming's whereabouts were unknown.
With some free time, Wen Chu leaned against the mobile food counter, sipping champagne and lost in thought. Qi Siyan walked over, clinked his glass against hers, and asked with a crisp sound, "What are you thinking about?"
Wen Chu looked up at him and smiled: "It's nothing, I just finished socializing and I'm a little tired, so I'm recharging myself."
"Where's Lu Ming? You're his date, he shouldn't have left you here alone." Qi Siyan looked around for a moment, but didn't see anyone. She said indignantly, "This is just awful."
After he finished speaking, he casually asked, "Where's Sister Wen Xue? Has she left?"
Wen Chu chuckled self-deprecatingly: "Perhaps the two of them are catching up alone in some corner."
In a moment of impulsiveness, she said some harsh words to Lu Ming, but after calming down, she felt discouraged again.
Her mood has been changing faster than a roller coaster at an amusement park lately.
Now it seems that everything is going against her. How can she increase Lu Ming's affection for her when Wen Xue is back, and the two of them can meet freely every day and rekindle their old feelings at any time?
If Wen Xue had returned a little later, allowing Lu Ming's initial impression to fade somewhat, it would have been fine. But Wen Xue happened to appear at the very moment when Lu Ming should have fallen for her the most.
It's hard to say whether this wasn't intentional on the part of the system.
She had never been in a relationship and didn't know much about men. Unless she was a seasoned and experienced Casanova, she really couldn't have come up with so many clever tricks.
Besides, can a relationship gained by stealing be considered a good relationship? And why did she even steal it in the first place? A sense of powerlessness spread through her, and she could only continue to force herself to stay strong.
Qi Siyan seemed to realize she had said something inappropriate and quickly changed the subject, saying, "Your social skills have really improved a lot. Just a month ago you said you wanted to come out and study, and now you can already handle things on your own. You can even make Director Qiu, who is known for his bad temper, laugh. Before, I told you that you could ask me if you didn't know something, but now I should be asking you for advice."
"People should always strive to improve a little bit every day," Wen Chu said, forcing herself to stay alert and chat with the person.
Qi Siyan turned to look at her, her eyes full of concern: "I know you're not in a good mood right now. Maybe you can tell me about it? Aren't we friends? You don't need to hide your emotions from me. Sometimes it'll make you feel better if you talk about it."
Wen Chu gave a wry smile: "Talking won't solve anything, so don't waste your breath. Talking is tiring."
"It'll be exhausting to keep quiet. I don't think someone who's indecisive in relationships deserves to be liked. Wen Chu, there are plenty of men out there. Maybe you could try looking at other men and you'll find that you're being blinded by your own obsession. There's no need to waste your time and feelings on one person."
Wen Chu knew the other person meant well, but she couldn't explain why she was so persistent. She could only sigh and continue to act like a hopeless romantic in front of others: "I want to try again."
A shadow of gloom flashed across Qi Siyan's eyes. She nodded knowingly and comforted her in a light tone, "It's okay. I'll always be on your side. If you're still unhappy, remember to come find me."
"Thank you." Wen Chu smiled.
As soon as the banquet ended, Wen Chu received a call from Yang Lan, who asked her to come back for dinner. Yang Lan obviously wanted to ease the tension between Wen Chu and Wen Xue, and perhaps even bring up the matter between Wen Chu and Lu Ming. Wen Chu declined, saying it was too late and she had to go to work the next morning. She simply didn't have the energy to deal with so many people's concern and questions right now.
Lu Ming suddenly became very busy, probably because he was really starting to work on securing the project. Wen Chu went to work at Baiyue as usual, but rarely had the chance to talk to anyone. On the third day after Wen Xue returned, she could count the number of times she spoke to her on one hand.
Although I don't reject her getting close, I can't get too close. I can talk to her, but if the conversation is too ambiguous, I will remain silent.
People often have the courage to turn 0 into 1, but find it difficult to maintain the determination to start from 0 again after losing what they have gained.
The carefree and reckless way I used to pursue people doesn't seem to work anymore.
Wen Chu regretted using the memory protection card too early, but no one could predict what would happen next.
The only thing she can focus on now is work.
She finished organizing the budget sheet, pushed open the door to Lu Ming's office, and glanced over. He wasn't in his office chair. Then she saw the man and Wen Xue sitting on the sofa, a pile of documents on the coffee table, chatting at a comfortable distance.
Lu Ming's face was expressionless, but you could see the gentleness in his eyes, while Wen Xue had a faint smile on her face, and the atmosphere between the two was subtle.
Wen Chu paused for a moment, her steps faltering as she walked inside.
Hearing the noise, Lu Ming looked up at her and asked, "Is there something you need?"
Wen Chu raised the document in her hand with an expressionless face, "The budget is ready, and I've added some important components to it."
"Just put it on my desk. I'll look at it when I'm done here." Lu Ming was completely focused on his work, and after saying that, he added, "Thank you for your hard work."
Wen Xue was quite surprised to see her: "I didn't expect you to actually work here? And your parents actually agreed?"
"Your parents didn't say anything when you started your business abroad, did they?" Wen Chu said nonchalantly. "Besides, am I considered inferior to others working at Baiyue?"
Wen Chu quickly explained, "Of course that's not what I meant. What kind of work do you do here?"
"It has nothing to do with you." Wen Chu didn't want to be too polite with her, nor did she want to show any sisterly affection, before figuring out what kind of person she really was.
Hearing her tone, Lu Ming finally looked up and glanced at her with a hint of reproach, seemingly disliking the way she spoke to Wen Xue.
Wen Chu felt an even greater surge of anger, suddenly realizing that they were a pair of adulterers.
Wen Xue continued patiently, "When are you coming home so we can have a meal together? Mom and Dad were talking about you yesterday."
"I'll go home whenever you leave." Wen Chu showed no respect and ignored Lu Ming's reminder. She placed the watch on Lu Ming's desk and turned to leave.
As I reached the door, I heard Lu Ming say behind me, "Remember to knock next time you come in."
Upon hearing this, Wen Chu used all her strength to slam the office door shut. The entire thirteenth floor nearly shook.
It doesn't matter; she can't see the expressions on the faces of the people inside, even if they've eaten shit.
She took a break and continued working. Unexpectedly, Wen Xue opened the blinds separating her and Lu Mingzhi again. Whether it was out of curiosity or not, the two looked at each other through the transparent glass. One's eyes were full of surprise, and the other's eyes were full of indifference.
Wen Xue turned to Lu Ming and said something; Wen Chu guessed she was asking why their offices were so close together. Lu Ming's lips moved slightly, then he drew the curtains again.
Her view was blocked again, but Wen Chu couldn't bear to watch any longer. The unknown would spark her imagination; who knew what those two were doing in the office, talking for so long—maybe they were flirting.
Wen Chu crumpled the papers in her hand into a ball, threw them into the trash can, stood up, and walked out of the office.
On the other side, the two finally finished their conversation. Lu Ming put the documents away and stood up, saying, "That's enough for now. I have other things to take care of."
Wen Xue suggested, "It's getting late, why don't we go get some food together?"
"I'm still Wen Chu's boyfriend. It's not appropriate for me to have dinner with you." Lu Ming returned to his office chair and sat down, clearly not planning to leave now.
Wen Xue took a step closer, frowning as she looked at him: "Lu Ming, if you don't like her, you shouldn't give her hope."
“If you had been able to come back from the birthday banquet, this wouldn’t have happened,” Lu Ming said coldly.
Wen Xue moved her lips, realizing she was in the wrong.
Lu Ming told her everything that had happened between him and Wen Chu during this time, including that night when they spent the night together and almost had sex, without any concealment.
She felt a little uncomfortable after hearing this, but she had nothing to say.
She knew best about Lu Ming's situation in the Lu family and Lu Mingxiao's attitude towards him. She was Lu Ming's only outlet for confiding in him and the person who understood him best.
Therefore, Wen Xue was not surprised that Lu Mingxiao would do such a thing, and even felt sorry for him.
She knew that Lu Ming must have been in a lot of pain at the time, so she had no right to blame him.
Before that, the other party had called her many times, asking her to come back, but she was too busy with work to care about these things and even lost her temper with him. They had a cold war for a while after that, and she didn't think about solving the problem immediately. It wasn't until something happened at the company that she thought of him and realized that they hadn't been in contact for a long time.
She took a deep breath, deciding not to dwell on what had already happened: "So what? Quite some time has passed, and the public outcry won't last that long. How long do you plan to keep this going? I think this kind of thing will only get more troublesome the longer it drags on, which is bad for both of you. This solution was wrong from the start."
Looking at the budget sheet left by Wen Chu, Lu Ming lowered his eyes and said softly, "I have my own plans."
"What are your plans? What's the difference between saying it now and saying it later?"
Lu Ming gave a succinct reason: "I just brought her to the banquet. It's not appropriate to break up so soon; it will affect her."
Wen Xue was taken aback for a moment, then relented: "Okay, what you said makes sense."
"I know you're always sensible, I was just being nosy. Now that I've finished what I needed to say, I'll be going." Wen Xue picked up her bag from the sofa.
After Wen Xue left, Lu Ming looked at the table in his hand with an unchanged expression. The table, which was more than ten pages long, was very detailed. He wanted to discuss some of the materials that had been added to it with someone, so he subconsciously walked to the glass window and raised his hand to knock on the glass.
His gaze froze for a moment before he belatedly realized that this had actually become a habit.
He shouldn't have been cultivating these subtle actions with Wen Chu.
Lu Ming pursed his lips, thinking that since he had already knocked, he might as well let it go, but he should be more careful next time.
He waited for five minutes but received no response. Lu Ming sighed, thinking the other person was throwing a tantrum, and got up to go to the next office, only to find no one there.
Lu Ming asked around and found out that the other person had left half an hour ago without saying where they went.
He took out his phone to ask, but hesitated when he put his hand on the keyboard. In the end, he put the phone back and went back to his office to look at it slowly.
'I'm telling you, Lu Ming, as long as you exist in this world, the only person you can love is me.'
The wound at the corner of his mouth had scabbed over and was slightly swollen. Although it was almost healed, he could still clearly recall the pain when the woman bit him. He lowered his head, his expression revealing a faint weariness. He gently tapped his forehead a few times with the paper form in his hand, his thoughts wandering, yet the lingering scent of the woman on the paper still wafted into his nostrils.
Lu Ming felt a surge of frustration, but he didn't know what was bothering him.
It's a very happy thing that Wen Xue came back to find him.
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