Chapter 102 You and Zhou Yue lately…
The rain in Shenzhen seemed to tear through the sky, pelting down in dense, continuous downpours.
Zhou Yue got out of the car and subconsciously wiped his face. Rainwater dripped from his hair onto his collar, sticky and damp, typical of the South.
Once inside the terminal, Zhou Yue took out his phone and sent a message to Xia Zhiyao: "I've arrived at the airport. It's raining quite heavily."
He could almost picture Xia Zhiyao's reaction when she saw the message. She was probably curled up on the sofa in her office, her brows slightly furrowed, scrolling through her phone to check the weather while rubbing her temples with her other hand.
Sure enough, the message came back quickly: "[Yeah, I see your flight is still showing as delayed...]" It ended with a pouting emoji, like the way she habitually pursed her lips when she encountered trouble.
Zhou Yue looked out the floor-to-ceiling window. Several planes lay like stranded whales in the distance. He sighed and tapped his thumb on the screen: "[I guess so too. They probably won't be able to fly until after noon.]"
"Then go and get something to eat first, it's almost noon." Xia Zhiyao's voice came from the speaker, a little hoarse, with a soft trailing tone at the end.
Zhou Yue held the phone close to his ear and listened again. She must have stayed up late again last night, as her voice held a languid quality of not having had enough sleep, yet she still remembered to remind him to eat. This kind of subtle care, like warm water, slowly seeped into his chest.
"Okay," he replied quickly, a smile unconsciously spreading across his face.
Zhou Yue ordered a roast goose rice and a cup of milk tea. After sitting down, he habitually straightened his cutlery and placed his chopsticks parallel to each other. This was his obsessive-compulsive disorder, which Xia Zhiyao always teased him about, saying that he treated even eating like a meeting.
Thinking of this, he raised his phone, found an angle slightly above and below, so that the image included light and shadow, the steam from the food, and the hazy rain outside the window.
[Airport breakfast, just for you to see.]
Xia Zhiyao replied with a smiley face: 【Sure, I plan to have the same thing as you for lunch】
Zhou Yue suddenly had a whimsical idea. He turned on his camera and recorded a short video, from the window blurred by raindrops to the white steam rising from the mouth of the milk tea cup, to the moment the roast goose was cut open, and finally the camera turned to himself.
In the video, Zhou Yue's face was turned to the side, his jawline was particularly clear in the backlight, and there was a faint smile on his lips. He watched it twice and thought it was pretty good.
The message had barely been sent when Xia Zhiyao replied: 【Why are you acting like a little girl making TikTok videos?】
We haven't had Cantonese food in a long time, let's go eat it when you come back!
When was the last time the two of them ate Cantonese food together? Zhou Yue thought, it seemed to be when he was still wearing his overcoat. He ordered a table full of dishes, and in the end, more than half of them were left over. He remembered the satisfied expression on Xia Zhiyao's face when she squinted her eyes while eating shrimp dumplings.
Airport announcements blared, a mechanical female voice broadcasting a series of flight delays. Sighs rose and fell in the waiting hall as people made phone calls and dragged their suitcases toward the lounge.
Zhou Yue felt that all this noise was like looking through a layer of glass, blurry and distant. Finally, he typed a line: "Go eat quickly, don't keep thinking about work."
Zhou Yue picked up the milk tea and took a sip. He rarely ate sweets, but for some reason, he wanted to try the flavor that Xia Zhiyao liked.
He saw his blurry reflection in the glass window, a man waiting alone at the airport on a rainy day, but because there was someone on the other end of the phone, he didn't seem so lonely.
Outside the window, the rain seemed to have lessened a bit, and planes lined up one after another on the runway. He knew that no matter how long he had to wait, a plane would eventually take him to her city, where there was the same rain, the same sky, and someone waiting for him.
The female voice on the loudspeaker sounded for the third time, this time with an undeniable urgency: "Boarding for flight CA1308 is now beginning..."
Zhou Yue stood up from his seat, shifted his shoulder, and pulled up the handle of his suitcase. His phone vibrated in his palm. It was a message notification from the work group.
After replying, he frowned and found Zheng Xiaotian's chat box: [I'll be back this afternoon, we'll talk tonight.]
Zheng Xiaotian replied quickly with a yellow OK sign.
A long queue had already formed at the boarding gate. Zhou Yue boarded the plane and sent a message to Xia Zhiyao saying he had boarded. A moment later, he switched his phone to airplane mode.
Zhou Yue sat down by the window and looked out at the raindrops forming streams on the wings. He closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the seat.
For some reason, I felt a vague unease, a lingering unease that I couldn't shake off.
At the same time, the rain in Beijing had stopped. In late summer and early autumn, a single autumn rain brings a chill, and the air outside was very fresh.
Xia Zhiyao said she was going to eat the same Cantonese food as Zhou Yue. As soon as the elevator doors opened, she saw Zheng Xiaotian strolling to work.
"What, you came to the company without even adjusting to the time difference?" Xia Zhiyao looked at the dark circles under his eyes and said in a half-joking tone.
Zheng Xiaotian rubbed his neck and laughed, "I always use American time. It's been two days already, so it's about time." Then he turned to look at her, "Are you going down for lunch?"
Xia Zhiyao nodded and waved to him: "You haven't eaten either, have you? Let's eat together."
The two walked side by side to the shopping mall next door and found a small Cantonese restaurant. Xia Zhiyao ordered roast goose rice and a cup of milk tea without hesitation. Zheng Xiaotian had actually eaten brunch, but Zhou Yue had instructed him to come out with Xia Zhiyao and order a few snacks such as chicken feet, shrimp dumplings, and fish balls.
"I'll just eat with you," he said with a smile, pushing the menu back. "I really can't eat that much."
Xia Zhiyao poked open the straw of her milk tea, looked up at him, and said with a hint of teasing in her eyes, "It seems that the United States benefited a lot from this before."
Zheng Xiaotian raised an eyebrow, leaned back in his chair, and tapped his fingers on the table idly: "It's just so-so. Meeting clients during the day and having meetings at night. It looks glamorous, but it's actually more tiring than back home."
Xia Zhiyao hummed in agreement and took a sip of her milk tea: "Fortunately, the information flow is now open. I'm also in talks with those companies you're dealing with. This will make decisions much faster in the future."
"The new energy demonstration zone is progressing quite fast," Xia Zhiyao said, picking up his phone and showing him a few pictures. "We're currently discussing a second round of subsidies, and the government has hinted at adding another tranche."
Zheng Xiaotian looked down at the screen, his eyes focused: "I can tell you're keeping a close eye on things. After I finish organizing the data from the US, I'll hold a sharing session for your team."
"That's great," Xia Zhiyao nodded with a smile. "This gives us more confidence for the next round of bidding."
As Xia Zhiyao talked about the details of the project, she lowered her head and stirred the ice cubes in her milk tea, her voice steady and familiar.
Zheng Xiaotian seemed a little distracted, his gaze drifting towards her almost imperceptibly. His gaze carried a strange temperature, as if he were scrutinizing her, or perhaps hesitating, mixed with some complex emotion that she couldn't quite decipher.
Xia Zhiyao ate a few bites of roast goose rice, then looked up at the person opposite her: "What's wrong with you today? Something feels off."
Zheng Xiaotian's fingers paused on the table, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. He forced a smile, but the smile didn't reach his eyes: "Did I?"
“It’s very obvious.” Xia Zhiyao put down her chopsticks, crossed her hands to support her chin, and looked straight at him. “What big thing have you been keeping from me? Is it a work-related issue or a personal relationship problem? Let’s not be shy.”
Zheng Xiaotian picked up his lemon tea, using the act of drinking to avoid her gaze. "Work and relationships, I guess." His voice was low, as if he were talking to himself.
The laughter and chatter from other tables in the restaurant faded into the background, and even the footsteps of the waiters sounded exceptionally clear.
Zheng Xiaotian's fingers unconsciously traced the rim of the glass, as if hesitating whether to speak. Finally, he looked up and asked, "You and Zhou Yue have been... doing well lately, haven't you?"
This question came so suddenly that Xia Zhiyao blinked, trying to keep her expression natural: "Why are you suddenly asking this? Everything's fine, what's wrong?"
Zheng Xiaotian paused for a moment, his smile turning into a somewhat helpless one. He raised his hand and shook his teacup: "Hey, it's just that I'm worried Zhou Yue might overthink things since you work with Heyi every day."
He asked with a slightly gossipy expression, "Didn't we have a fight?"
Xia Zhiyao sighed and said, "How could we not argue? But we've made up for it again."
Zheng Xiaotian nodded and said, "Every monkey has its own way of being chained up, and he'll fall for your trick." He paused, then casually asked, "By the way, has he met that person?"
“When he picked me up last time I was socializing with investors, he took a picture with me.” Xia Zhiyao couldn’t help but smile. “Zhou Yue even provoked him, saying that he would send me an invitation to his wedding.”
Zheng Xiaotian chuckled: "As expected of a young man, he's quick-witted and eloquent."
Xia Zhiyao chuckled, then casually looked up, a sly glint in her eyes: "What if Miss Lin sends you an invitation?"
Zheng Xiaotian was taken aback, his teacup pausing in his hand for a moment before he raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, "Oh, that's a pretty direct question. Well, it depends on whether the invitation is for a wedding or a trap, right?" He smiled, but a glint of light flashed in his eyes that no one else could see.
Xia Zhiyao tilted her head, a mischievous smile playing on her lips: "You two haven't made any progress yet?"
While picking at the scallions, Zheng Xiaotian rolled his eyes and said, "They've already blocked me on WeChat, what progress is there?"
Xia Zhiyao smiled helplessly: "So you've finally met your match? I thought you were invincible."
Zheng Xiaotian snorted, raised his head, and pretended to be indifferent: "Hey, who doesn't make a few mistakes when they're young? It's normal for me to get blocked."
Xia Zhiyao took a sip of milk tea, her eyebrows curving slightly: "I didn't realize you had such a reflective spirit."
Zheng Xiaotian smiled and spread his hands, a smirk playing on his lips: "Reflecting is one thing, but the next time I see her, I'll still have to shamelessly pester her."
After lunch, the two strolled back to the company and got back to work. Around 4 PM, Zheng Xiaotian's phone vibrated. He picked it up and saw a message from Zhou Yue: "[Arrived in Beijing. I'll pick up Xia Zhiyao for dinner tonight, then I'll talk to you.]"
Zheng Xiaotian stared at the line of text for a few seconds, and finally replied with "ok".
Xia Zhiyao was busy when her phone vibrated on the table, and Zhou Yue's name popped up on the screen. She answered the call.
"I'm getting in the car." Zhou Yue's voice was lower and hoarse than usual, as if he had just woken up. "I'll pick you up from downstairs at your company for dinner, and then I'll go back to my company."
Xia Zhiyao heard the unconscious softness in her own voice, paused for a second, and added, "Call me when you arrive. See you in the parking lot."
She got off the elevator and walked towards her car, and saw a familiar figure walking towards her from the other side.
Zhou Yue was wearing a dark suit jacket, with the top two buttons of his shirt undone. He was also carrying a business trip bag. The sunlight after the rain shone through the vents and fell on his shoulders, creating a soft glow.
As he walked, he raised his hand to rub his temples, his steps revealing the weariness of his journey. When he saw her, his brows and eyes slowly relaxed, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Xia Zhiyao unlocked the car door. "Hi," she said, her voice still tinged with laughter, "Get in."
The two got into the car, and the next second, Zhou Yue's hand reached out and placed his palm on the back of her neck.
"Zhiyao." He only called her name, his voice hoarse.
He leaned down, his forehead lingering briefly on hers, like a prelude to gathering strength. The next second, he suddenly leaned down, his nose brushing against hers, his breath hitting her face with an almost scorching heat.
Xia Zhiyao smelled the mixed scents on him: a faint smell of tobacco and perfume, and that unique aura of his, accompanied by a rapid heartbeat.
The moment he approached, the entire car seemed to be filled with his presence. When he kissed her, he no longer held back. The instant their lips met was almost predatory, filled with urgency and a long-suppressed desire.
Xia Zhiyao leaned back in the passenger seat, her breath instantly taken away by him. She was forced to look up and meet his lips. Her fingers subconsciously climbed onto his shoulder and then slid down to the back of his neck. She tried to push him away but was firmly held by his strength.
Zhou Yue half-stepped over the center armrest, placed his hand on her lower back, and braced his other hand against the car window, almost trapping her in the narrow space.
The kiss was passionate, urgent, and undisguised, like two rivers that had been separated for too long in the storm finally merging, colliding and stirring up undercurrents.
Xia Zhiyao's heartbeat quickened with his presence, her breath filled with his presence, and even the world around her became blurred into a low murmur.
Zhou Yue's thumb rubbed against the side of her neck, where her pulse was pounding. He could almost feel the trembling and her warm skin with his fingertips, as if confirming that she was truly in his arms.
Occasionally, the sounds of other vehicles passing by could be heard outside, their tires splashing through the puddles. But all of this seemed to belong to another world; at that moment, time seemed to stand still.
When they parted, Xia Zhiyao's eyes were a little wet. She wasn't sure if it was because she had held her breath for too long or because of something else, since Zhou Yue's forehead was still pressed against hers.
Zhou Yue stepped back a little and looked at her intently. Her lipstick was smudged, her cheeks were slightly flushed from the kiss, and her eyes were bright and sparkling, like stars after the rain. He reached out and helped her tidy her disheveled hair.
"Have you had lunch?" he asked.
"I ate it, the same as yours," Xia Zhiyao answered honestly.
Zhou Yue paused for a moment, but quickly resumed his normal movements: "Then have something else to eat with me? I've only had the meal at the airport since this morning. After I finish eating, I'll go back to the company."
"good."
He started the engine, and the car slowly drove out of the parking lot. Xia Zhiyao leaned back in her seat, turned her head to look at his profile. His jawline was taut, and there were faint dark circles under his eyes, the result of fatigue from continuous business trips. But the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, as if he had finally put down some heavy burden.
The road was still wet, reflecting the neon lights. Neither of them spoke again, but they let this long-lost companionship fill the carriage.
An old song was playing on the radio, its melody gentle and lingering, like this evening after the rain.
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