Chapter 366 Familiar
Gu Yan's company has now moved into a new high-rise office building, occupying two whole floors. The number of employees has increased several times over, and the office is always filled with the sounds of telephones ringing and typewriters clicking.
He delegated most of the tedious daily management and business coordination to his two capable vice presidents. In the past few months, he has rarely done things personally like he did in the early days of his business, and he rarely attended various drinking parties and dinners to secure contracts.
He would only personally intervene in projects that involved the real big boss and were crucial to the company's long-term development.
Gu Yan walked through the open office area, nodded slightly to a few employees who greeted him, and strode quickly toward the elevator, carrying a black briefcase.
The elevator descends directly to the underground parking lot.
The company now has four official vehicles, two sedans, and two vans.
Knowing that Chen Jun would most likely drive away in his usual black sedan after get off work, Gu Yan walked to another car, started it, and drove out of the parking lot.
His destination was Nguyen Van Tinh's factory.
He parked his car on the side of the road not far from the factory gate, sat in the driver's seat, rolled down the window, and stared intently in the direction of the factory gate.
This wait lasted for a very long time.
From the last rays of the setting sun until the sky was completely pitch black.
The incandescent light hanging high at the factory gate had been on for a long time, and the flow of people coming and going gradually thinned out. Just when he was about to lose patience, he finally saw that familiar figure.
Ruan Wenjing, wearing a beige long woolen coat and carrying a brown leather shoulder bag, walked out of the factory gate alone.
As the evening breeze blew, the hem of her coat swayed gracefully, her long hair flew in the wind, and a touch of melancholy inexplicably crept into her.
Gu Yan pushed open the car door and walked over quickly.
Ruan Wenjing was lost in thought when she suddenly noticed someone blocking her way. She looked up and saw it was him. Her expression froze for a moment, and she stopped in her tracks.
It's been almost a week since our last unpleasant encounter.
She looked at his hair, which was a little messy from the wind, and his eyes, which were staring intently at her, and felt a pang of sadness.
"You...how did you get here?"
Gu Yan was momentarily speechless.
The last argument was because her parents were urging her to get engaged to the son of a family friend. She tried to argue her case, but it caused her mother to become so emotional that she almost fainted.
In the end, she gave in and went to see the boy she had grown up with.
She didn't hide anything from Gu Yan and confessed everything to him.
But Gu Yan was a proud man. Even though he understood her predicament, the anger of being offended and belittled, as well as the deep sense of powerlessness, still made him speak recklessly. After a fierce argument, the two parted on bad terms.
Looking at the weariness in her eyes, Gu Yan couldn't bring himself to say the words that were stuck in his chest.
The night wind whistled through the gap between the two, carrying the chill of winter.
Gu Yan tentatively reached out to put his arm around her shoulder, but Ruan Wenjing gently took a step back.
Gu Yan watched as she instinctively stepped back, and sighed, "It's cold here, let's get in the car first."
Ruan Wenjing also felt that her reaction just now was somewhat hurtful.
They haven't seen each other properly in so long... it's inevitable that they'll feel awkward.
She lowered her eyelashes and took two steps forward. "Let's go, get in the car first."
Gu Yan silently followed behind her, and the two got into the car one after the other.
He started the car, turned his head to ask her, and said softly, "Let's go to Panxi Restaurant and have some of your favorite snacks." It was a place they used to frequent.
Ruan Wenjing shook her head, her gaze fixed on the rapidly receding street scene outside the window.
"I've already eaten at the factory canteen. You... take me home first. I have something I want to tell you."
Gu Yan's knuckles tightened slightly as he gripped the steering wheel, a bitter smile appearing on his lips.
"good."
As the car entered the villa area near Dongshankou, rows of small buildings with different styles were nestled among the green trees.
Ruan Wenjing didn't let him drive all the way to her house. At a quiet intersection some distance from the Ruan family home, she called out, "Just park here."
Gu Yan did as instructed, pulled the car over to the side of the road, and turned off the engine.
The car was plunged into a dim silence, with only the dashboard emitting a faint light that illuminated the profiles of the two people, each lost in their own thoughts.
He placed his hands on the steering wheel, looked ahead, and awaited the final verdict.
Ruan Wenjing took a deep breath, gathering enough courage.
“Gu Yan, I… I can’t go against my parents’ wishes… especially my mother, her health…”
Before she could finish speaking, tears welled up in her eyes, dripping down her chin and onto her clothes, leaving dark stains.
Gu Yan took a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her, "Don't cry, tell me slowly, I'm listening..."
Ruan Wenjing did not wipe away her tears, letting them flow freely.
She choked back tears, finally uttering the words that had been swirling in her heart for so long: "Yes, Gu Yan... I give up. A relationship without our parents' blessings can't last. I... I can't be so selfish..."
Despite having a premonition, hearing those words with his own ears caused Gu Yan a severe tightness and pain in his chest.
He knew her family, and he knew the expectations of her parents and the pressure that came with their heavy love.
He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, all that remained in his eyes was a weary calm.
"Yes, I understand your difficulties."
His throat tightened, and he used all his strength to say the last words: "Then... let's still be friends, okay?"
The word "friend" was like a blunt knife, cutting open Nguyen Van Ching's heart.
Looking at his feigned calm face, she thought of all the sweet moments and arguments they had shared, and of the bleak and hopeless future...
Overwhelmed with grief, Ruan Wenjing threw herself into Gu Yan's arms.
Gu Yan used his arm to pull her over and sit her on his lap.
As soon as Ruan Wenjing was in his arms, the familiar temperature and body heat enveloped her, causing all her rationality and pretense to crumble.
She clung tightly to his neck, buried her face in his shoulder, and sobbed uncontrollably, "Gu Yan... take me away... let's leave this place..."
Gu Yan gently stroked her back, his voice low and tender, "Okay, I'll take you away..."
He knew in his heart that this was just something she blurted out in a moment of emotional breakdown. She couldn't possibly abandon her family, the factory, and her responsibilities... to run away with him.
Ruan Wenjing stopped speaking, but her tears flowed even more fiercely, quickly soaking her clothes.
Gu Yan didn't say anything more, silently holding her and letting her vent her sadness and reluctance in his arms.
After an unknown amount of time, Ruan Wenjing's crying gradually subsided, turning into soft sobs.
She slowly lifted her head from his embrace, her eyes red and swollen, avoiding his gaze. "I...I should go back."
Gu Yan hummed in agreement, released his arm, and took out a velvet ring box from the inside pocket of his coat, handing it to Ruan Wenjing.
"It was prepared a long time ago. Your initials are engraved inside. Keep it... as a memento."
Ruan Wenjing's vision blurred as she looked at the small box, and the tears she had just stopped flowing burst forth again.
They had once planned their future so seriously and discussed the details of their wedding.
That year, Gu Yan humbled himself and visited her parents time and time again, trying to win them over with his sincerity and ability, but all he got in return was either polite estrangement or direct rejection.
He was exhausted, and she, too, had exhausted all her courage in this hopeless tug-of-war.
She reached out her hand, trembling, "Please...put it on for me...just one last time."
"Um."
Gu Yan opened the box and took out the diamond ring, which was engraved with RWJ on the inside.
With gentle, solemn movements, he slowly slipped the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand.
After putting it on, he gently stroked the back of her hand with his fingertips for a moment.
"Wenjing, I hope... you will be happy in the future."
After saying that, he leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead.
Ruan Wenjing closed her eyes, two lines of clear tears sliding down her cheeks, her voice completely hoarse.
"I don't know... I don't know if I can still be happy... Gu Yan, I'd rather... I'd rather you be the one who's happy..."
She was too exhausted to say anything more, and once again leaned on his shoulder until her tears seemed to have truly dried up, leaving only a vast and empty pain.
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