Chapter 15 Gazing at Each Other (Next Chapter v) Zhu Meng stared intently at Jiang Shan, his thin lips slightly parted...
Gao Ming regretted his loose tongue; he hadn't managed to hide the matter from his boss: "It's a long story..."
"Jiang Shan, you've finally arrived! I've been waiting for you!"
Jiang Shan rushed to Zhao Yi's conference room, only to be greeted not by Zhao Yi, but by Xu Qing's sarcastic and rude tone.
He put his hands in his pockets, his eyes full of disdain.
Jiang Shan was already feeling unwell, and when Xu Qing shouted at him, his legs went weak and he almost lost his balance.
"Jiang Shan, stop pretending to be unconscious! Wasn't it embarrassing enough when you fainted and fell into President Zhu's arms last time?"
Xu Qing assumed she was "using the same old trick": "You women are all the same. You keep shouting about gender equality, but every time it comes to dirty or tiring work, you say you're not feeling well. Jiangshan, if you're so weak, go to the hospital and take care of yourself. Why are you competing with me for an employee position?"
Zhao Yi raised her hand to stop his unreasonable nagging.
"We're talking about whether my relationship with Jiang Shan is clean, why are you bringing up gender equality?"
Xu Qing choked up, then shrugged with a "heh".
"Fine, fine, I can't argue with you women."
...Isn't this just normal competition for positions within a company? How did Xu Qing elevate it to such a grand level as gender equality?
"Xu Qing, didn't you say you had evidence?"
Jiang Shan exhaled a breath of hot air, hot from a low-grade fever: "Take it out."
She was weak and had insufficient blood and energy, so her face was always pale and she always spoke weakly. But at this moment, her cheeks were slightly pink due to a low fever, and her eyes were as bright as newly polished knives.
"...Of course I have evidence, not just pictures, but also videos!" Xu Qing barked like a dog whose tail had been stepped on. "But why would I show it to you? I don't want to settle things with you privately!"
Jiang Shan slowly closed his eyes: "Then what do you want?"
Xu Qing banged on the table twice: "Call President Zhu over, and I'll produce the evidence!"
Zhao Yi's face turned pale and then purple.
"Do you think you can just summon General Manager Zhu whenever you want? Get to the point, or shut up. Jiang Shan is still on vacation, and he rushed to the company because of your word. You insist on General Manager Zhu coming before you can produce any evidence? Isn't that just playing games with people?"
"Ha, I don't care!"
Xu Qing plopped down in the office chair, clearly intending to act shamelessly: "I won't say a word until President Zhu arrives!"
Jiang Shan was racking his brains for a solution when his cell phone suddenly started jumping around in his pocket.
She hadn't realized that her phone had been on silent mode for the past two days in the rented apartment, and people were calling her very loudly.
The ringtone of a cell phone is like a fresh, plump fish that has just been transported from the sea in the morning, jumping around in a small basin of water in a vegetable market, splashing water all over the people coming and going to buy vegetables.
"I'm looking up at the moon... and there's..."
This was a work environment, and it wasn't appropriate for his phone to ring so loudly. Jiang Shan hurriedly pulled out his phone, intending to turn off the annoying ringtone, only to see "Mom" displayed on the caller ID.
Zhao Yi glanced at her sideways: "If it's urgent, go out and meet her. Anyway, there's no way to handle this now."
Jiang Shan nodded and said "thank you," then slowly retreated to the stairwell.
"Oh, Mr. Jiang, you're finally answering the phone!" As soon as the call connected, Mom's voice came through the receiver impatiently, "I sent you so many messages from Guangxin, but you didn't reply. Are you that busy at work?"
Jiang Shan originally wanted to explain to his mother in a nice tone that he was in a hurry to get to the company and didn't have time to check the message.
But the intermittent cramps in her lower abdomen were really draining her strength and energy. She pressed her cold hands against the thin fabric of her top, trying to get the heat pack closer to her aching stomach.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
Jiang's mother nagged on and on: "Why are you talking to your mother like that?... Of course, I know you're tired from work, that's understandable, but you can't ignore my messages. I'm so worried about you all alone in S City..."
"I know you're worried, Mom."
Jiang Shan didn't know if the painkiller hadn't taken effect yet, or if he had taken too many painkillers and developed a resistance. He waited for almost an hour and a half, but he still felt like a needle was churning inside his lower abdomen, leaving it riddled with holes, like knitting a sweater and pricking the fabric.
She involuntarily folded her upper body down, curling up like a shrimp.
Jiang Shan was sweating profusely. He just wanted to shut his mouth and eyes and focus on resisting the pain. His mouth felt like it was glued shut, and he didn't want to open it at all.
It's incredibly rude to leave your own mother hanging on the phone without answering.
She practically forced each word out of her mouth: "But my period is coming, I'm not feeling well, and I have things to do at work. Mom, if you don't have anything else, I'll hang up now."
"Is something wrong, Xiaoshan? I wouldn't dare call someone as busy as you if nothing was wrong."
Jiang's mother was not tall, about 1.5 meters, and dressed in a way that made her look younger. Her face and voice also seemed to be aging in reverse. She taught Chinese, and when she spoke at length, it was as if she were telling her heartfelt story.
"Isn't your cousin Chen Feng supposed to be in S City today? His flight is tonight. Your uncle just said that the preceding flight was delayed due to weather, so Xiao Feng might not arrive until tomorrow. Xiao Feng posted the flight number in the group chat. You're a science student, so you should know better than Mom how to use mobile apps to track flight information, right? Remember to keep an eye on it!"
Jiang Shan leaned halfway against the wall, enduring the pain and cold, and quietly listened to his mother's long tirade. He forced a silent smile.
Which of these sentences is related to her?
Although she had long known that her parents were not the fairytale-like parents who cared deeply about her life and would call or text to check on her even when she had a cold or fever.
But she never imagined that when she clearly said she was not feeling well, and when her mother knew that she was having menstrual cramps, her face was pale and she was sweating profusely, and in severe cases she would even vomit and have diarrhea, her mother would still laugh and tell her about other people's affairs.
There wasn't even a single word related to her.
Ah, what is she expecting?
"Hmm," fortunately, there weren't many expectations in the first place, like a few scattered leaves hanging on a tree in the northern winter, just a handful. Now, it completely confirmed what I had thought. Jiang Shan was disappointed, but only a little. It was just that there was an emptiness in his heart, as if something was missing. "I understand."
"Okay, that's good! Have you added Xiaofeng as a friend yet? Xiaofeng told his mom yesterday that he doesn't have your contact information and it's hard to communicate with you. Try to add him when you have some free time at work. You know our Xiaoshan is the best!"
Jiang Shan was so familiar with the words that he was practically sick of them.
Whenever her mother wanted to use the title of "Mom" to order her to do something, she would refer to herself as "Mom" and end with the phrase "Our family is the best."
They are even unwilling to put in the effort to rephrase the same words in a different way.
Putting aside her self-proclaimed title, every time she hears the phrase "Jiangshan is the best," she wants to retreat into her shell like a snail... She's just an ordinary person; how could she possibly be the best under any circumstances?
"I won't disturb your work anymore, bye."
Jiang Shan doesn't remember how he managed to put his phone, which was off, into his pocket and return to the conference room. He only remembers that as soon as his butt hit the chair in the conference room, he completely lost consciousness.
Until, in a daze, I caught the sound of clattering leather shoes.
Who's making noise?
As consciousness returned, the pain in his lower abdomen returned. Jiang Shan frowned, slowly opened his eyelids, and met a pair of phoenix eyes with bloodshot whites.
It is a blessing.
He stared at Jiang Shan for two seconds, then looked around the entire conference room. His thin lips were slightly pursed, as if he had a thousand words to say. But after a moment, he closed his eyes slightly, raised his left hand, and hooked four fingers inward.
"Come on, let's have a meeting."
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