Chapter 76 Hearing that you dreamed about him…
With the phone pressed to his ear, Zhou Yue spoke in a very low voice: "Hello."
Zheng Yaotian's calm voice quickly came from the other end, carrying his usual unquestionable competence: "One of my project managers is pregnant and not in good health. After thinking it over, I've decided to have you come over and take over to see if you can stabilize the situation."
Zhou Yue's brow twitched, and he subconsciously looked up, his gaze sweeping over Xia Zhiyao at the opposite table, then across to Zheng Xiaotian, who was sitting casually on the sofa armrest. The fleeting emotion in his eyes was quickly suppressed.
Zheng Yaotian's calm voice continued from the other end of the phone: "I will explain things to Xiaotian. You don't need to put your project at Tianxing aside for now. We can hand it over to them once they find a suitable person."
The office was eerily quiet. Xia Zhiyao held the pen gently in her palm. Zheng Xiaotian's eyes darkened slightly, but he continued to swing his legs as if nothing was wrong.
“Okay.” Zhou Yue replied in a deep voice, the smile in his eyes long gone, his voice crisp and low, “Then I’ll go over this afternoon.”
Zhou Yue placed his phone face down on the table, remained silent for a moment, and then recounted the contents of the call. He continued, "I'd like to go check on things this afternoon. If it doesn't work out... I'll split up and go to one side in the morning and come back to Tianxing in the afternoon."
He spoke calmly, but his tone still carried a hint of unconscious inquiry. His gaze fell on Xia Zhiyao, and after a moment's hesitation, he finally asked, "Do you think it's okay?"
Xia Zhiyao raised her eyes, her smile carrying a hint of cold mockery: "Shouldn't you be asking your little boss?"
Zheng Xiaotian chuckled upon hearing this, lazily spreading his hands: "My brother is his boss. I was just borrowing it from him. Now that he wants it back, can I stop him?"
Zheng Xiaotian stopped laughing, and his tone finally became more serious: "Alright, enough joking around, let's get serious. We really need to discuss this matter properly." He paused, "I'll ask my brother to come along, and we can grab a bite to eat and rip him off."
From that day on, Zhou Yue's life was suddenly cut in two.
In the morning, he arrived at Zhengyuan's office on time to take over the various follow-up tasks of the project. The team there was polite to him, their tone respectful, but still somewhat hesitant and tentative.
He could only stabilize the situation little by little through calm judgment and swift efficiency. In the afternoon, he returned to Tianxing. At the meeting, his tone when asking questions was as usual, as if he had never been affected by the other party's affairs in the slightest.
However, after get off work, he would often park his car downstairs at night, with a cigarette burning until his fingertips were hot, before he would suddenly come back to his senses.
He never spoke of the weariness of being pulled in two directions, but it was clearly written in the shadows between his brows.
At the same time, Tianxing is also actively recruiting.
On the surface, Zheng Xiaotian remained nonchalant and joking, but privately he was already discussing with Xia Zhiyao: "Zhou Yue can't keep running around like this forever. Sooner or later, we'll have to find someone new to take over the investment director position. Do you think we should promote someone from within or poach someone from outside?"
As Xia Zhiyao flipped through the documents, she said calmly, "There are no suitable candidates internally, so we have to look externally. This position is too crucial; not only must one understand investment, but one must also be able to withstand external pressure."
Zheng Xiaotian, with a pen in his mouth, half-jokingly said, "Isn't that your standard? Calm, rational, and with a bit of shrewdness."
Xia Zhiyao smiled gently, not replying, but instead pushing a resume in front of him. The paper gleamed faintly under the lamplight, heralding the start of a new round of selections.
Xia Zhiyao originally intended to go downstairs to the convenience store to buy something. As soon as she stepped out of the building, Zhou Yue's car was quietly parked under the streetlights with the windows half open.
A wisp of smoke hung in the air, and Zhou Yue leaned back in the driver's seat, a cigarette between his fingers, his brows furrowed with exhaustion.
Xia Zhiyao paused, then walked over and asked softly, "Why aren't you going up?"
Zhou Yue looked up at her, his eyes deep, but a forced smile appeared on his lips: "Have a smoke."
As soon as he finished speaking, he looked down and stubbed out his cigarette, then casually opened the car door. The next second, he reached out and pulled her into his arms.
Zhou Yue didn't respond immediately. He simply lowered his head slowly, his tall figure looming over her, pressing down on her shoulders with a heavy weight that made her heart sink. His voice was low and muffled: "I don't want to leave."
Xia Zhiyao's heart tightened, and she comforted him in a low voice as if coaxing a child: "It's not like you won't come back at night. You'll be busy during the day, and at night... we'll still be together, won't we?"
Zhou Yue didn't answer immediately, but his breath was hot and rapid on her neck. After a moment, as if he could no longer hold back, he suddenly tightened his arms and pulled her into his embrace.
After an unknown amount of time, Xia Zhiyao finally gently nudged him: "Let's go upstairs."
Zhou Yue seemed to be pulled back from the depths by her voice. His shoulders trembled slightly, and he slowly released her. He looked down at her, his eyes still showing lingering weariness, but also a hint of reluctance and peace.
On a rainy night, the iron gate to the stairwell was pushed open, and a cold wind carrying a damp scent rushed in. Xia Zhiyao shivered, and as soon as she looked up, she saw a familiar figure under the dim streetlights, leaning against her car, Zhang Luyuan with an unlit cigarette between his fingers.
She could recall that face even with her eyes closed; it belonged to the man who had left seven years of scars and tenderness in her life.
Xia Zhiyao's steps froze on the steps. A chilling sensation struck her heart, a feeling of familiarity and past entanglements washing over her like a tidal wave. For a moment, she could hardly tell whether this was reality or an echo of memory.
Zhang Luyuan raised his head, his voice low and hoarse, mixed with exhaustion and an undisguised plea: "Zhiyao, come back to me, okay?"
He hurriedly added, "I'm handling it... give me some time." It was the same old line, a familiar excuse.
“There’s no need for that.” Xia Zhiyao’s lips curled up slightly, but her smile was as cold as frost. Her eyes were like a stagnant pool, silent and cold, without a ripple.
"In these seven years, I haven't asked you for anything."
Zhang Luyuan's brows furrowed suddenly, his expression revealing barely suppressed anxiety. He took a step forward and reached out to grab her arm.
Xia Zhiyao instinctively stepped back, raindrops sliding down her hair, her eyes as cold as ice: "Don't touch me."
In that instant, his face drained of color, contorting slightly, and his eyes flashed with confusion, hurt, and disbelief. He gritted his teeth and growled, "You weren't like this before!"
Xia Zhiyao gazed at him quietly. "Yes, seven years." Her voice was low, trembling with suppressed emotion. "I've lived my life as your shadow, revolving around you, waiting for your promise, waiting for a future that will never come."
Zhang Luyuan's breathing became rapid in an instant. "Zhiyao..." His voice trembled, like a drowning person grasping at their last breath, suppressed and filled with despair, "Can you really bear to do this? Seven years, how can you cut it off so cleanly?"
Xia Zhiyao did not answer immediately, but just looked at him quietly. The rain slanted between the two of them, like a silent curtain, separating them into two worlds.
She exhaled slowly, her shoulders slumped slightly, but her eyes were clearer than ever, and her tone was resolute and firm: "It was me who never let myself go. But from today onwards, it will stop."
Zhang Luyuan's face turned deathly pale under the dim yellow light of the rainy night. His lips trembled slightly, as if he wanted to explain something, but his voice was stuck in his throat and he couldn't say it for a long time.
Xia Zhiyao raised her hand, decisively cutting off his unspoken words: "In the past, I made my own choice." Her voice was cold and steady, carrying utter resolve, "So today, I will end it myself."
As soon as she finished speaking, she turned around abruptly, opened the car door, and did so cleanly and decisively without the slightest hesitation.
Zhang Luyuan's expression suddenly turned panicked, and almost instinctively he rushed to the front of the car, spreading his arms to block its path.
Xia Zhiyao's eyes suddenly turned cold, and the anger in her chest was completely ignited. Without uttering a single word, she simply raised her foot and slammed the accelerator to the floor. The engine roared, and the car lurched forward.
But the next instant, the piercing car horn gradually faded into the distance, and the lights of the rainy night seemed to be stripped away layer by layer until they disappeared completely. A deathly silence fell all around.
Xia Zhiyao suddenly opened her eyes. The room was quiet. It was just a dream, just an old dream recurring.
She sat up abruptly, her breathing rapid. Cold sweat trickled down her temples. She instinctively reached out to touch her side, only to find a cold, empty sheet. Zhou Yue was not there.
Xia Zhiyao's heart was still gripped tightly by the dream, and she was so panicked that she didn't even bother to put on her slippers properly before running barefoot out of the bedroom, calling out urgently, "Zhou Yue!"
The living room was quiet. Zhou Yue was sitting at the dining table, looking at the data on his laptop.
Hearing her voice, he turned around abruptly, his gaze meeting her pale and flustered appearance. He froze, instinctively standing up: "What's wrong?"
His tone was a little tense, then he lowered his voice as if to reassure her, with a hint of helplessness: "I saw you were still sleeping, so I came out to revise the plan."
"Are you... having a nightmare?" Before she could finish speaking, he had already walked over and gently pulled her into his arms. His embrace carried the chill of his body and the scent of tobacco, but the firm strength of his embrace gradually calmed her heart.
Xia Zhiyao's chest was still heaving, her fingers unconsciously clenching the hem of her clothes. The coldness of the floor, where she wasn't wearing slippers, made her slightly more awake.
“It’s nothing…” she lowered her eyes, her voice low, as if afraid of being seen through, “It’s just… a dream.”
Zhou Yue frowned and reached out to tuck a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. "What did you dream about? You're so scared." His tone was very soft, but it revealed his unconcealed worry.
Xia Zhiyao's breath hitched. She couldn't say the name. She didn't dare to look him in the eye and could only stare down at her bare feet.
Looking at her, Zhou Yue's brow furrowed even deeper. He didn't press her further and went inside to get her slippers: "Next time you wake up, call me first. Don't wander off on your own."
In that instant, Xia Zhiyao's eyes welled up slightly, and the panic in her heart was replaced by a complex emotion that made her speechless with bitterness.
Seeing that she was still shaken, Zhou Yue sighed softly, pulled her into his arms, and patted her back gently. His tone carried a hint of half-joyful complaint: "I told you, don't sleep too long at noon. Sleeping until the afternoon makes you more prone to nightmares."
Xia Zhiyao was still reeling from the shock of waking up, her breathing ragged, her fingers unconsciously gripping his sleeve. After a long silence, her voice hoarse, she forced out a sentence through gritted teeth: "I... dreamed about him."
Zhou Yue's hand paused slightly, but he still restrained himself and continued to stroke her back, his movements slow and gentle, as if he wanted to pull her back to reality little by little from her nightmare.
But no matter how gentle the comfort was, it could not erase the shadow left in her heart.
Zhou Yue remained silent for a long time before finally tightening his arms around her. His chin rested gently on the top of her head, his breath hot and suppressed, his voice hoarse and almost a whisper: "Zhiyao, I don't blame you, but you have to understand, hearing that you dreamed about him really hurts me."
He took a deep breath, as if trying his best to suppress the bitterness and sharpness surging in his heart. His tone softened little by little, with a hint of restrained determination: "I know you need time... It's okay, I'll wait for you."
Xia Zhiyao felt a lump in her throat, almost suffocating. She leaned against him, saying nothing, yet it seemed as if she had completely exposed her most vulnerable side.
Zhou Yue understood that her dream was merely an echo of her memories and did not represent her current choice. However, beyond reason, the uncontrollable jealousy and resentment still followed her like a shadow. Even if it was just a dream, the shadow of someone else still lingered in the deepest part of her subconscious.
But he didn't say it out loud. "It's alright," he said in a low, hoarse voice, almost a whisper. "As long as you wake up and see me, that's enough. By the way, what do you want to eat tonight?"
Xia Zhiyao raised her head. Originally, only the word "whatever" was left in her throat, but when she saw the expectation that Zhou Yue was carefully suppressing in his eyes, her heart tightened slightly, and she suddenly couldn't bear it.
"Spanish paella, please." As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt a little awkward, so she pursed her lips and smiled faintly, "I know a place with a nice atmosphere, come with me."
As if it were just a casual invitation, Zhou Yue felt a warmth in his heart, reached out and ruffled the top of her head, and said in a low voice, "Okay, wherever you want to go."
Zhou Yue looked at her, his gaze lingering for a moment on her feigned calm eyes. He could tell that she didn't actually have much of an appetite.
But she still chose a seemingly sophisticated answer, and even added that the environment was nice, as if she was deliberately creating an excuse. In fact, he knew better than anyone that she was considering his feelings.
Zhou Yue reached out and ruffled her hair, his tone softening unconsciously: "Okay, wherever you want to go."
Xia Zhiyao slapped his hand away and gave him a reproachful look: "Don't mess with my hair."
Zhou Yue smiled, a very faint smile, but the satisfaction in his eyes was unmistakable. He silently thought to himself, "She still cares about me."
In that instant, he suddenly felt that no matter who it was in his dream, as long as she was sitting in his lap at that moment and said, "Come with me," that was enough.
As the car drove out of the residential area, it was already getting dark. The evening rush hour traffic was lined up in a long queue at the intersection, and the lights were turned on one after another, casting ambiguous shadows on the slightly wet road surface after the rain.
Xia Zhiyao leaned against the passenger seat, her gaze fixed on the scenery outside the window, lost in thought. It wasn't until the car turned onto the main road that she casually remarked, "I haven't been to Sanlitun in a long time either."
Zhou Yue gripped the steering wheel with one hand, glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, and replied in a low voice, "Indeed, it doesn't feel as good as it did a few years ago."
He paused, then smiled, with a hint of casual teasing: "It used to be so crowded, but now it's much better; you can even get a seat at a restaurant."
Xia Zhiyao curved her lips into a smile, leaned back in her seat, and said softly, "Yes, it's like a completely different city." Her voice carried a hint of indescribable emotion.
After parking the car, they walked into Sanlitun under the cover of night. Pushing open the door, they found the restaurant decorated like a garden, with vines hanging down, soft lighting, and green plants and flowers adorning the tables and chairs.
They sat down near the flower wall, and Xia Zhiyao took the menu, her gaze lingering on the page for a moment.
She looked up at the waiter, her tone becoming lighter again: "I'd like a Spanish seafood paella, a fruit and shrimp salad, grilled beef tongue... and this Moroccan-style braised shrimp."
Zhou Yue watched her quietly, and the oppressive gloom in his eyes finally eased a little. Her serious expression as she ordered the food, and the long-lost vitality in her eyes, warmed his heart.
“Let’s order some more to take back,” he said casually, his tone gentle. “Sandwiches, hamburgers, or something like that would be convenient for breakfast tomorrow.”
Xia Zhiyao paused for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, then I'll take the salted egg yolk and shrimp one."
She casually turned to a page, then turned to look at him, her eyes filled with a hint of probing: "There's a chicken and avocado one, do you like it?"
Zhou Yue smiled faintly, his voice low and firm: "Okay."
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