Nightingale Rose
The air conditioning in the office was turned up quite high. Wen Lingyi had just finished a long overseas video conference and was rubbing her swollen temples when her phone suddenly vibrated.
The name "Chu Wei" was jumping on the screen.
She had just swiped the phone to answer it, but before she could even open her mouth, Chu Wei's scolding came crashing down on her head through the receiver, his tone urgent and aggressive.
"Wen Lingyi! Are you sick? Why are you bothering Zhou Jianxing?"
Wen Lingyi was stunned by this nonsensical scolding and frowned.
She reached out and took out a slender cigarette from the cigarette box on the table, lit it, took a puff, and then slowly said: "Speak clearly. What's wrong with me?"
"Humph!" Chu Wei sneered on the other end of the phone. "Ask me what's wrong? Why don't you ask yourself what nonsense you said to Zhou Jianxing! She actually came to ask me if I'd like to accompany her to the hospital for a hysterectomy!"
Chu Wei's tone suddenly rose: "Wen Lingyi! Are you really crazy?!"
"Because your lousy ex-girlfriend was married and had children, it left a psychological scar on you..."
"So Zhou Jianxing has to perform a hysterectomy to prove her loyalty to you? To prove she's different from everyone else? What kind of perverted logic is this?"
Wen Lingyi's fingers holding the cigarette shook violently, and a piece of burnt ash fell down and landed on the expensive silk shirt on her chest.
She slowly sat down on the large office chair, and her free hand unconsciously reached out, her fingertips lightly touching the cold computer start button.
After a few seconds of silence, Wen Lingyi spoke into the microphone: "Then what did you tell her?"
"What did I say?" Chu Wei was so angry that he almost laughed. "Of course I told her to get out! The farther the better!"
"Very good." Wen Lingyi nodded to herself, her eyes calmly looking at the tall buildings outside the window. "Next time, if she dares to bring up such irrelevant things with you again, just tell her to get lost."
"The farther away the better." He said this almost with gritted teeth.
·
In the evening, in the villa restaurant.
There were several exquisite home-cooked dishes on the table, still steaming hot.
Zhou Jianxing was concentrating on peeling a shrimp with his head down, and then he naturally put the peeled shrimp meat into Wen Lingyi's bowl.
The atmosphere was originally warm and peaceful, with only the occasional sound of dishes and chopsticks colliding.
Wen Lingyi put down the spoon, and the porcelain hit the edge of the bowl, making a crisp sound.
She raised her head, her eyes fell on Zhou Jianxing's face opposite her, and suddenly said, "Did you tell Chu Wei that you wanted to have a hysterectomy?"
Zhou Jianxing's hand holding the chopsticks shook, and the piece of pork ribs he had just picked up almost fell back onto the plate.
She suddenly raised her head, a flash of panic in her eyes, then she lowered her head guiltily, staring at the rice in her bowl: "Why did she tell you everything? I... I was just asking casually, I haven't really decided to go..."
"Zhou Jianxing!" Wen Lingyi's voice suddenly rose, and she slammed her chopsticks against the edge of the bowl. "What are you thinking about all day? Do you know that a woman's uterus has far more functions than just giving birth?"
"I know." Zhou Jianxing put his hands down from the table, placed them neatly on his knees, and lowered his head even more.
She swallowed, her throat rolling slightly.
"You know?" Wen Lingyi leaned back on the chair, her fingertips unconsciously tapping the skin of her upper arms, as if playing a silent piano.
Each tapping movement revealed a restrained irritation.
"Knowing this, you still dare to have such thoughts? Look up and look at me."
Zhou Jianxing raised his head hesitantly and slowly.
Her eyes were very light in color, like clear amber, and all her emotions floated on the vitreous body, like a frightened little animal cowering, or like a child waiting to be scolded by his parents or teachers.
"Zhou Jianxing, I want you to remember," Wen Lingyi stared straight into her eyes, speaking each word clearly and forcefully, as if to drill it into her mind, "Always, always put loving yourself first."
"If you don't know how to take care of yourself and respect your body, then I won't love you." Wen Lingyi hadn't spoken to her in this tone for a long time.
The more you give, the more people will take it for granted. She doesn't want to take Zhou Jianxing's kindness to her for granted.
She wanted to remember every bit of kindness Zhou Jianxing had shown her, treasure it in a corner of her heart, and savor and chew it over and over again.
"The premise and foundation of loving others is to learn to love yourself first. Do you understand?" Wen Lingyi said, standing up from her seat and walking to sit next to Zhou Jianxing.
She stretched out her hand, placed her warm palm on Zhou Jianxing's slightly cold cheek, and gently stroked her protruding cheekbone with the tip of her thumb.
"I just," Zhou Jianxing pursed his lips, "I don't want you to have any worries."
She wanted to prove to Wen Lingyi that she would not betray her, and would not marry a man and have children like Zhu Yang.
She knew what Wen Lingyi was worried about, and she knew where the insecurity deep in Wen Lingyi's heart came from.
So, whether it was making their relationship public, tattooing Wen Lingyi's name on his heart, or even having such extreme thoughts as having a hysterectomy.
She had only one original intention.
Zhou Jianxing wanted to give Wen Lingyi 100% sense of security.
Even if doing so means leaving no way out for yourself.
But her love has always been unconditional and all-consuming.
"Mingming," Wen Lingyi's nose was so sour that her voice began to change. "Mingmingly, I didn't do well enough. I didn't give you enough sense of security..."
"That's why you have such outrageous thoughts..."
"Zhou Jianxing," she took a deep breath, suppressed the lump in her throat, raised her chin, looked directly into Zhou Jianxing's eyes and asked, "Do you believe me?"
"Yes," Zhou Jianxing nodded without hesitation, "I believe you."
"I will love you forever." Wen Lingyi stretched out her arms, hugged Zhou Jianxing's back, and buried her face in her neck.
Where Zhou Jianxing couldn't see, warm tears finally couldn't help but slide down silently, soaking a small piece of clothes.
"I will always love you."
"Then I will love you forever," Zhou Jianxing gently stroked Wen Lingyi's trembling shoulders, "a little more."
She must always love Wen Lingyi more so that she can feel secure in their relationship.
"No," Wen Lingyi raised her head, held Zhou Jianxing's face, and looked into her eyes seriously, "You have to love yourself more than you love me."
Wen Lingyi's mood at this moment was like the rose in Wilde's fairy tale that was born with the nightingale's blood and sweat.
She longed to be loved so passionately, just like a rose longs to bloom.
Yet, I am also afraid that love comes at the cost of the other person's self-consumption, just like a nightingale trapped by thorns in the moonlight and dies after singing.
Wen Lingyi wants to be the stable and shining star in Zhou Jianxing's world, but she refuses to be the center with strong gravity that forces others to deviate from their own orbit.
"Zhou Jianxing," she spoke again, her tone softening. "Listen, in this world, I only believe what you tell me in person. As long as you say it, I believe it."
"I will give you my complete and unconditional trust."
"So, promise me," Wen Lingyi's fingertips gently brushed across Zhou Jianxiu's straight nose, "never think of hurting yourself again, okay? I will always trust you, only you. I won't believe anything anyone else says."
Everything Zhou Jianxing did for her was the embodiment of love.
There is nothing more credible in the world.
·
In the general manager's office, Huang Haifu folded his hands on the large mahogany desk, leaned forward slightly, and looked at Zhou Jianxing who was sitting opposite him with a smile.
"Xiao Zhou," Huang Haifu said in a kind tone, "you're a celebrity now. How about advertising for our company?"
Huh? Advertising? Zhou Jianxing was stunned for a moment, a look of embarrassment on his face.
She doesn't like to be the center of attention by nature, and is more accustomed to focusing on practical work.
But as the boss, Huang Haifu seemed to have always been quite nice to her and took good care of her at work.
She lowered her head and hesitated for a while, then finally gritted her teeth and nodded.
"Great! Great!" Huang Haifu's smile widened, and he clapped his hands crisply. "I'll have Xiao Liu take you to change clothes later. Come over and show me the results. Let's try out the look first."
Zhou Jianxing was a little nervous, but still followed the administrative staff, Sister Liu, to the locker room.
However, when she saw the "advertising suit" handed to her by Sister Liu, she froze.
She wore an extremely tight dark blue cropped T-shirt with the words "Schindler Maintenance" and the company logo sewn in large letters on the left chest. The fabric was extremely elastic and tightly wrapped around her body curves.
The lower body is a matching low-waist miniskirt of the same color. The hem is surprisingly short, probably only reaching the base of the thighs.
Zhou Jianxing suspected that if she bent down even slightly, she would be in danger of exposing herself.
She pinched the thin pieces of cloth, her face turning red and white, and stood there for a long time without moving.
"Hurry up, Mr. Zhou, the boss is waiting!" Sister Liu urged.
Zhou Jianxing took several deep breaths and finally put on the clothes. Standing in front of the dressing mirror in the dressing room, she felt uncomfortable all over.
She returned to her boss's office hesitantly, almost trudging.
Huang Haifu's eyes lit up when he saw her. He touched his chin and nodded repeatedly, his eyes scanning her body. "Not bad! Really good! Our Xiao Zhou looks really good in this outfit with her looks, figure, and long legs!"
"I wonder how eye-catching the poster will be once it's released..."
"Boss," Zhou Jianxing couldn't help but interrupt his reverie, "I think it's very inappropriate to wear this outfit to advertise the company."
Even if Huang Haifu asked her to wear this dress to dance and make some noise at the company's annual meeting, she might be able to accept it.
But this is serious external advertising, representing the company's image and professionalism. This is totally inappropriate.
"Our company is a formal maintenance company," she said, subconsciously raising her excessively low waistline. "I'm also a professional maintenance worker, and I make a living by my skills."
"I think such clothing is suggestive and misleading, and it's disrespectful to us female practitioners."
"What do you know?" The smile on Huang Haifu's face disappeared instantly. He didn't like being directly contradicted by his subordinates, especially when he felt that he had come up with many clever ideas.
He slammed the table and stood up. "Xiao Zhou, you've been studying optical technology all day long, and you've made yourself stupid! You don't understand modern marketing at all! You don't understand traffic!"
"If we don't create some contrasting gimmicks, if we don't do something eye-catching," he said with a wave of his hand, "how can we stand out from all the ads? How can we attract traffic and attention?"
Huang Haifu firmly believed in the content of the expensive marketing courses he signed up for online.
"Besides," Huang Haifu glanced gloomily at Zhou Jianxing, who stood upright with a wrinkled face, and softened his tone with a hint of persuasion, "We'll find a regular advertising company to shoot the film. The process is very standardized."
"Look at you, you're so timid, like someone's trying to take advantage of you! Am I that kind of person?"
"Boss, that's not what I meant." Zhou Jianxing continued to defend himself, "Our ultimate goal in advertising is to promote our business and attract customers who actually need repairs."
"Dressing like this only draws attention to the clothes themselves, blurring the professional and reliable message we want to convey."
Although Zhou Jianxing did not understand the complicated marketing theories, she instinctively felt that there was something wrong with this matter from beginning to end.
"Besides," she clenched her fists and mustered up the courage to finish what was on her mind, "there are only a few women in our field, and the nature of our work requires us to be on-site."
"We female maintenance workers also make a living by our own abilities. I think wearing such clothes for publicity will cause unnecessary misunderstanding and discrimination against female practitioners in our industry."
"So you mean you don't agree to filming?" Huang Haifu folded his arms, looked at her coldly, and said in a harsh tone, "The company has spent so much effort to cultivate you and give you opportunities."
"Now that we need you to contribute to the company, you start making excuses and talking to me about respect and discrimination?"
"Boss," Zhou Jianxing frowned, his back straight, showing no sign of backing down. "I'm sorry, I can do my best to cooperate with you on anything else. But this is a matter of principle. I really can't do it."
She couldn't agree to that.
She didn't want to bring discredit to all the female colleagues behind her who were working hard and trying to prove themselves in this industry just because of herself.
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