A sudden shock
Back at Lanyue Bay, Wen Lingyi sank into the spacious office chair, her gaze fixed on the vibrant garden outside the window. Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but since Zhou Jianxing had taken over, the flowers and plants seemed to have taken on a new life, their branches and leaves stretching out, their greenery thriving.
Thinking of Zhou Jianxing, Wen Lingyi felt annoyed. She hadn't expected to run into Zhou Jianxing by chance at Chen Chiguan's coffee shop. What trouble had that idiot gotten into that he still wanted compensation?
Did the way she left at that time look a bit like running away in Zhou Jianxing's eyes?
How could Wen Lingyi not feel Zhou Jianxing's passionate, scalding gaze that almost burned through her. It was always sticking to her like a shadow, with an undisguised focus that made her feel uncomfortable all over, as if she was under the spotlight, with nowhere to hide.
"What I want is...a relationship with a future." What nonsense.
That's why Wen Lingyi deliberately ignored Zhou Jianxing for a few days to prevent him from having some unrealistic fantasies.
Su Qing was right. Someone as simple-minded and stubborn as this was truly not to be provoked. How could a simple teasing lead to such deep sincerity? That reckless seriousness was truly...
So annoying.
The future? What future? Everyone's future lies in the cold underground, so the only thing to do in life is to enjoy it while you can.
She scratched her hair irritably, unable to tell whether it was the word "future" itself or Zhou Jianxing himself that made her even more uneasy.
What irritated her most was that she thought she'd almost forgotten Zhou Jianxing after these few days of deliberate "withdrawal." But when she saw him today, that foolish man's face, his clean, slender hands, his lean waist, his straight, long legs... all sorts of images began to replay uncontrollably in her mind, so clearly that it made her panic.
Wen Lingyi picked up the glass of water on the table and took a big gulp. The cold liquid slid down her throat, but it couldn't quench the restlessness in her heart.
Zhou Jianxing, whom I met in the afternoon, seemed a little different from usual.
The image of Zhou Jianxing that she saw in Bai Ye Narrative today appeared in her mind. Why did it seem that the little fool's sunny face, which always seemed a little heartless, had dimmed a little?
Is it because she hasn’t seen Zhou Jianxing for too long? Why does she feel that he looks a little haggard?
The word haggard doesn't fit Zhou Jianxing at all. For some people, haggardness can convey a sense of brokenness, but for Zhou Jianxing, it simply conveys the utter dejection of a horse or ox ravaged by life, a feeling of sexual exhaustion.
Such a heartless fool, and I haven't bothered her in the past few days, what else could make her unhappy? It can't be that... I miss her so much, right?
He kept saying he liked her, but what happened? When she didn't initiate contact, Zhou Jianxing was like a piece of wood, not even thinking of contacting her. He hadn't even sent her a message in the past few days.
Thinking of this, Wen Lingyi frowned even tighter, and unconsciously reached out and pressed hard on her throbbing temples.
Originally, she had only coveted Zhou Jianxing's body, but who could have known that things would develop to this point? The phrase "a future relationship" was like erecting an invisible wall in front of her, more like a silent coercion, trying to make her take responsibility?
Is this crazy? Doesn’t Zhou Jianxing know that she is married?
A relationship with a future? What does it mean to have a future? Even if they were a normal couple, wouldn't normal couples break up one day? So what does it mean to have a future?
What kind of fairy tales are in Zhou Jianxing’s mind?
Normally, Wen Lingyi shouldn't be thinking about this, let alone being bothered by such childish questions. But the problem was, she'd been thinking over and over again about what it meant to have a future in a relationship these past few days. Perhaps Zhou Jianxing's foolish words had had too much of an impact on her.
It could also be because it had been a long time since anyone had discussed the word "future" with Wen Lingyi, and in such a serious manner...
Is Zhou Jianxing too foolish, too naive? Could this idiot have never even been in a relationship? Why is he speaking so idealistically?
But she had to admit that Zhou Jianxing's words seemed to put an invisible shackle on her, adding an inexplicable psychological burden, making it difficult for her to face Zhou Jianxing.
Wen Lingyi hates any form of restraint.
She didn't want to enter into a relationship with anyone, and her interest in Zhou Jianxing was just a temporary whim, and she wasn't sure when the interest would disappear.
Realizing that just seeing Zhou Jianxing easily brought up all these messy thoughts, Wen Lingyi felt unprecedented irritation. She hurriedly lit a slender ladies' cigarette, took a deep puff, and the pungent smoke swirled in her lungs before she slowly exhaled.
Looking at the carefully tended garden outside the window, Wen Lingyi's thoughts drifted to the last time Zhou Jianxing was sweating profusely here.
Tomorrow... Zhou Jianxing seems to be taking a break too? How about... asking her to come over and take care of the garden? These damn flowers and plants grow too fast. If they're not taken care of for a while, they'll grow wild and unruly.
More importantly... her deliberate avoidance these past few days was not so much an attempt to ignore Zhou Jianxing, but rather... she herself was avoiding seeing Zhou Jianxing.
What was there for her to escape from? She didn't care about Zhou Jianxing.
This deliberate avoidance actually made her seem like she... cared a lot.
This thought made her even more depressed.
The sudden ringing of her cell phone interrupted her thoughts. Wen Lingyi glanced at the lit screen and saw that the caller ID was from her nominal husband, Su Zhe.
"Hello? My dear wife. I..." Su Zhe's address made her so disgusted that she almost got goosebumps all over her body. Did this guy take the wrong medicine again?
"What's wrong with you?" Wen Lingyi interrupted him coldly.
"Tsk. So cold?" Su Zhe sounded like a whining young wife on the other end of the phone. He occasionally liked to act like this to disgust Wen Lingyi, but he quickly returned to his composure. "I had planned to come back this week, but I had something tricky to deal with, so I have to postpone it to next month. Don't miss me too much."
"Who cares when you come back? It's better not to come back." Wen Lingyi was already in a bad mood and did not hide her disgust.
If Su Zhe returns to China, it means that she will be forced to play the role of "loving couple" in front of both sets of parents again, which is annoying just thinking about it.
It's funny to say that the Wen family and the Su family are old friends. Wen Lingyi, Su Qing and Su Zhe grew up together. When Wen Lingyi was dating Zhu Yang in college, she used Su Zhe as a cover. It was because of this familiar relationship that she had a marriage of convenience with Su Zhe.
As a result, in the eyes of both their families, their marriage was a match made in heaven for childhood sweethearts, and after marriage they were a model of mutual respect and a love stronger than gold.
"Tsk. I'm telling you to be careful not to let anything slip. It's absurd for a wife to not even know when her husband will return, isn't it?" Su Zhe had long been immune to her harsh words. He paused and added casually, "No matter what, you are my wife in name only. You should still visit those two old guys from time to time."
So that's why. Wen Lingyi blew out a puff of smoke in annoyance. Lately, her mind has been tied up with Zhou Jianxing and her work, so it's been a while since she's been at the Su family.
"Got it." Wen Lingyi agreed, "Anything else?"
"without……"
“Beep—beep—”
Before Su Zhe could even ask, "Anything else," Wen Lingyi had already decisively hung up the phone. Although the three of them grew up together, Wen Lingyi and Su Zhe weren't close. The only person she had a genuinely close relationship with was Su Qing. Acting in front of others was exhausting enough, and she didn't even bother to say a single word to Su Zhe in private.
Speaking of which, it's time to go visit the elders of the Su family. Also...it seems like it's been a while since I last saw Su Qing, and I really miss her.
Wen Lingyi suddenly realized that since meeting Zhou Jianxing, she and Su Qing had contacted much less. Most of her free time seemed to be occupied by the little maintenance worker, even on her days off, she was thinking about how to tease him without making a fuss.
When she was in college and was in love with Zhu Yang, Su Qing scolded her for "putting love before friendship." Now that she thinks about it, she wasn't wrong. She neglected Su Qing for a jerk like Zhu Yang. Now thinking about it, it really wasn't worth it.
After the last quarrel, Zhu Yang changed his phone number countless times to harass her, causing her to instinctively hang up whenever she saw an unfamiliar call.
Wen Lingyi hated the shameless crazy woman so much that she really wanted to dig a hole and bury Zhu Yang with her own hands.
Compared to Zhou Jianxing, a scumbag like Zhu Yang is not even as good as a strand of Zhou Jianxing's hair.
Huh? Why did she compare Zhu Yang and Zhou Jianxing?
Zhou Jianxing...Damn Zhou Jianxing!
Wen Lingyi, sulking herself, opened her phone's photo album to vent her anger, pulling out the photo she'd taken of Zhou Jianxing pruning flowers. She was ready to use the harshest language to "criticize" this face.
Not that pretty. Her eyes are big, but like a cow's, and they look silly. Her eyelashes are quite long, but they don't curl at all, and you can't really tell from the front, which is equivalent to not having any. Her nose isn't delicate either; the bridge is high, but the tip is round and blunt, giving her a childish look. Her lips are indeed beautiful, round, plump, and healthy-looking, and they look very kissable. So sweet.
No, why are you praising me? She came to her senses and continued to criticize.
Her skin is not fair, and the only advantage is probably that it is delicate and smooth.
Wen Lingyi's eyes unconsciously lingered on the candid photo, her fingertips unconsciously magnifying a part of the photo. Looking at the curve of Zhou Jianxing's focused profile, the corners of her tightly pursed lips unconsciously curved upwards, and her eyes softened a little.
Forget it, she didn't want to find fault with him. To be fair, Zhou Jianxing was indeed quite good-looking, even... good-looking. Otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen Zhou Jianxing in the first place.
I don't know what Zhou Jianxing, that idiot, has been doing lately. Wen Lingyi couldn't help but click on Zhou Jianxing's circle of friends, but to her surprise, Zhou Jianxing's circle of friends hadn't been updated for several days...
Isn’t that person eager to post her flowers and plants three times a day?
Never mind. She hadn't expected to run into Zhou Jianxing today, even under these circumstances. Perhaps this was fate? Perhaps it was her destiny that she couldn't escape Zhou Jianxing?
Since you can't avoid it, you might as well face it calmly.
Wen Lingyi opened the WeChat dialog box with Zhou Jianxing, quickly edited a message with her fingertips, and sent it out.
Shuiyue Gallery - Wen Lingyi: "Master Zhou, please come and help me take care of the garden tomorrow morning."
She dropped her phone on the table and looked out the window again, her fingertips tapping unconsciously on the armrest as she waited for a reply.
Time passed by, the phone screen dimmed and brightened again. After a long while, a new message notification sounded.
Wen Lingyi quickly picked up the phone.
What does Zhou Jianxing mean?
Xingxing: "Mrs. Wen, I'm so sorry, I have other plans and can't come tomorrow. Also, I have other work arrangements on Saturdays and will not be able to continue to provide you with garden care services. I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience this may cause you. I wish you a happy life."
Wen Lingyi stared at the words on the screen, reading them several times as if she didn't recognize them. The tapping of her fingertips suddenly stopped.
His breath seemed to stagnate in Wen Lingyi's chest.
What did Zhou Jianxing mean by this? Was she angry because he hadn't spoken to her during the White Night Narrative? Was she being petty?
Is Zhou Jianxing so stingy?
Is there really something else that is so important that he has to turn down her work arrangements... or... he simply doesn't want to see her anymore?
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