Chapter 88, "You".
On a weekend evening, Wen Chu was in her bedroom researching information related to Wen Xue's overseas business. She found the company that had chip dealings with Wen Xue. On the surface, it appeared perfectly normal, but Wen Chu still found some unusual information. She wanted to follow the trail and find out who was behind it so she could contact them and see if they could cooperate.
However, the issue of information permissions is a bit tricky and will require more time.
Qi Siyan suddenly called her.
Wen Chu swiped to answer the call and turned on speakerphone: "Hello?"
He coughed twice, unable to suppress his urge, before asking, "What are you doing?"
"Work."
"Working so late? You'll have health problems if you keep doing this." The man's voice sounded a little hoarse.
"The project is on a tight schedule." Wen Chu typed a few lines on the computer, then came back to her senses and asked, "What's wrong with your voice? It sounds a bit strange. Are you sick?"
"If I said yes, would you be willing to come see me now? We haven't seen each other for a week." Qi Siyan had just finished speaking in a light tone when she couldn't help but cough, sounding like she was in a lot of discomfort.
Wen Chu glanced at the time; it was just past 7 p.m. She asked first, "Where are you? Home?"
Qi Siyan first hummed in agreement, then paused and said, "I was just kidding. You go ahead and do your thing. I was just feeling a bit bored lying here and wanted to chat with you. I sent you a text message, but you didn't reply."
Wen Chu glanced at her phone and explained, "I really didn't look at my phone. Do you have a cold?"
Qi Siyan said nonchalantly, "I have a bit of a fever. I don't know how it happened, maybe it's because the seasons are changing."
"Fever? Still has a fever? Have you taken any medicine?"
"Of course, it's nothing serious. A good night's sleep should make it better."
"Then you should go to sleep."
"I just wanted to chat with you because I couldn't sleep?"
Qi Siyan paused for a moment, then sighed self-deprecatingly, "Okay, do you want to hear the truth? I'm probably calling you because people become more vulnerable and sentimental when they're sick, and hearing the voice of someone they like makes them feel better."
In short, I just miss you a little.
The large room was dark. Qi Siyan sat leaning against the headboard, his face showing a faint weariness and illness. He coughed again, tilted his head back and said, "I'm starting to regret it. If I had known I would see you so much less after being discharged, I would have stayed in the hospital for a year or two."
Wen Chu pursed her lips, unsure how to respond. She had indeed been immersed in her own world lately, rarely paying attention to others' feelings, and had refused Qi Siyan's repeated invitations.
She was thinking that, out of concern for her friend, she could indeed go and see the other person, but the other person was a man who liked her, and she didn't know if that would be crossing a line.
If Qi Siyan doesn't misunderstand, she can go and take care of him, since he's been the one comforting her for the past week or two.
She was somewhat conflicted about these social interactions, as if once love was involved, it was impossible to separate things into their own categories.
Just then, their conversation was interrupted for a moment, indicating that another call was coming in. She glanced at it and her heart skipped a beat; it was Lu Ming.
Surely this person isn't trying to make things difficult for her by calling her so late at night, or asking her to work overtime on the weekend? She hung up and continued talking to Qi Siyan.
"Who called you just now?" Qi Siyan asked.
"No, it's a work call," Wen Chu casually brushed it off. Just as she finished speaking, the phone rang again. Wen Chu frowned, hung up again, and asked, "Have you eaten?"
"No, I don't have much of an appetite."
"When you're sick and don't eat, your white blood cells don't have the energy to work."
Qi Siyan chuckled, seemingly uninterested in the conversation, and asked again, "Is someone urgently looking for you?"
"No." Wen Chu became absent-minded. It seemed that Lu Ming and Qi Siyan were naturally incompatible, and he always came to bother her when Qi Siyan was looking for her.
Suddenly, the system in his mind said: "Side quest refreshed: Please go to the second male lead's house to deliver dinner."
Wen Chu was taken aback again. Well, this time she didn't need to weigh any morals or boundaries. Overall, she breathed a sigh of relief, because at least she wasn't being asked to accept the other person's confession.
"Where do you live? I'll buy you some food later and bring it over. Maybe the smell of the food will whet your appetite," she said gently.
"Are you really going to come find me?"
“My friend is sick, so it’s only right that I check on him, right? Anyway, it’s the weekend, and I’ve almost finished what I was doing.” Wen Chu explained her reason in detail to avoid the other person overthinking things.
Qi Siyan chuckled again, a bittersweet sound tinged with helplessness. She seemed to understand the meaning behind her words, but still didn't refuse: "Alright. Then I'll trouble this beautiful lady to make the trip to see me, her patient."
Wen Chu hung up the phone and glanced at the two missed calls she had disconnected. She sat in her chair for a while, then checked her text messages and found that the other party hadn't sent her any messages.
Logically speaking, if it were work-related, they should have sent a text message if they couldn't reach her by phone. Wen Chu couldn't say whether she was calm or not. Even though she had completely given up hope on the person and was quite repulsed by them, people are inevitably curious about the unknown. She still wanted to know what the other person wanted to do by contacting her and what kind of trouble they were up to.
After waiting for several minutes without any further news, Wen Chu finally ran out of patience and stopped thinking about it.
The computer screen was stuck at the username and password input interface. She thought the quickest way was to get the company's internal employee account to find out what was going on, and obviously, using a tool to gain access was the simplest way.
However, she needs to think carefully about whether it's worth using the access card on this, and whether she'll definitely get the information she wants.
Let's finish watching Qi Siyan first and then talk about it.
She turned off her computer, changed her clothes, grabbed her car keys, and went out. As she reached the door, her phone rang again.
The caller was still Lu Ming.
Wen Chu's heart skipped a beat.
They hadn't spoken for a long time. Wen Chu answered the phone and asked indifferently, "What's up?"
"Hello, is this Ms. Wen?" came the voice of an unfamiliar man from the other end of the phone.
Wen Chu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Yes."
"I'm a waiter at Strawberry Bar. Mr. Lu Ming has had too much to drink at our bar. I noticed that you were the first person he recently called on his phone, so I called you. Would it be convenient for you to come and pick him up?" the waiter politely requested.
"Me? He's drunk?" Wen Chu frowned. How much more could he have drunk?
Her dad kept getting him drunk, but he was only seven-tenths drunk, while she herself could drink until she couldn't walk.
And what happened to him that required him to drink so much? Was it a business dinner?
"Yes, we can't find anyone else right now. Would it be convenient for you to come and pick him up?" The waiter added, "Mr. Lu has indeed had a bit too much to drink."
Wen Chu had many questions in her mind. The waiter had just mentioned that her most recent contact was Lu Ming, meaning the first two calls were very likely made by him. Otherwise, she and Lu Ming hadn't been in much contact lately, and there was no way she would be at the top of his call log. She wondered what he was up to. After hesitating for a moment, she finally agreed, "Okay, I'll go now."
"Okay, thank you!" the waiter said, giving her the bar's address in detail and confirming it with her several times before hanging up, afraid she wouldn't be able to find it.
She agreed to pick up Lu Ming, which meant that Qi Siyan would be late. Wen Chu realized this and regretted her impulsive agreement.
Wen Chu felt a little guilty, so she called Qi Siyan and told her that something had come up and she would be late, and asked her to rest first.
Qi Siyan said okay and told her to go ahead with her own business, which was very considerate.
Wen Chu quickly headed to the bar.
Half an hour later, she parked her car on the side of the road, confirmed the address was correct, and went inside to look for the person. The bar was blasting deafeningly loud DJ versions of sad love songs as Wen Chu searched for the person in each booth.
Every next second, the other person's figure might come into view, making her heart jump without her even realizing it—what should she say after seeing him? What if he's really drunk? Should she care?
Unfortunately, all the concerns and doubts vanished in the next second.
She saw Lu Ming, and she also saw Wen Xue sitting opposite her.
Wen Xue had her back to her, blocking Lu Ming's view.
Wen Chu didn't know what Lu Ming's expression was at that moment; she could only see that they were extremely close, like intimate lovers. Then, dramatically, Wen Xue leaned down slightly, bringing her face close to Lu Ming's, and the two seemed to kiss.
A sharp, stabbing pain spread from her brain to her bone marrow, making it almost impossible for her to breathe for a few seconds. Just like that, the last glimmer of hope she had was completely extinguished, leaving only the ashes of a burnt-out fire.
She quickly looked away, her eyes devoid of any warmth, and almost without hesitation, turned and left the bar.
His back view was more resolute than ever before.
Back in the car, Wen Chu gripped the steering wheel, stared at a vague, indistinct point in silence for a while, then turned her head and chuckled before starting the car and heading towards Qi Siyan's house.
People really shouldn't meddle in other people's business.
She knew that the moment Lu Ming allowed Wen Xue to kiss him, there was truly no chance left for them. Before, she could deceive herself a little, but now, it was really over.
When she arrived at Qi Siyan's house, it was already past eight o'clock in the evening. She rang the doorbell, waited for a while, and then the door was opened.
The strong smell of alcohol made Wen Chu frown. Qi Siyan, wearing a white and gold bathrobe with his chest half-exposed, smiled at her with his blue eyes slightly glazed with drunkenness: "I thought you weren't coming."
"How could that be? You've been drinking? Weren't you running a fever?" Wen Chu walked in and subconsciously reached out to check the other person's temperature, but stopped halfway through, realizing it was inappropriate. She tried to pull her hand back, but the man grabbed it and placed it on her forehead.
The other party's unexpected actions and burning body temperature startled Wen Chuxin.
She used a little force to subtly withdraw her hand, trying to maintain a normal atmosphere between them: "It's so hot, why are you drinking? Are you crazy?"
"Are you concerned about me?" Qi Siyan looked at her intently.
"Of course, go back and lie down. How long ago did you take your medicine? Do you want to take it again?" Wen Chu pushed him inside.
Qi Siyan was pushed back to the bedroom without saying a word and lay back down on the bed at Wen Chu's command. However, she still stared at Wen Chu with a gaze that was sometimes cold and sometimes sad, and was much more silent than before.
Wen Chu was in a state of confusion and did not notice his unusual behavior.
Empty aluminum cans, crushed and carelessly discarded, were scattered everywhere, including by the bedside and on the floor. The homeowner seemed to have been particularly irritable and angry lately.
The man didn't hold back; it seemed he intended for her to see all of this.
"Have you been having any troubles lately?" Wen Chu asked, puzzled.
"I ran into him," Qi Siyan replied somberly.
"What is it?" Wen Chu was about to ask if there was anything she could do to help when she heard the person utter a single word: "You."
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