Chapter 49
Mo Daoyan retreated.
After scanning the entire room, he decided to look for Qiao Zhuoqun. Although Sister Zhuoqun was not the most ideal candidate, and was not in the same boat as Ye Yimo, they were both experienced in marriage and had their own experience in how couples get along. If he could persuade her from this perspective and not to drown her sorrows in alcohol and harm her body, it might be effective.
"Are you a friend of Qiao Zhuocheng?" He was about to turn around when the door to the private room opened and the familiar female voice stopped him in his tracks. "Please tell him I'm not feeling well and will be leaving first. I'll thank him for his kindness another day."
Mo Daoyan stiffened slightly, his breath catching as he turned. The woman before him was in her early thirties, with wavy hair that reached her ears, framed by thin-framed glasses, and a slightly plump, pear-shaped figure... She bore no resemblance to the figure from the snowy night. Had he truly misjudged her that night? Or had he made a mistake in deciphering the handwriting? Or perhaps both? Yet, the figure he had seen from afar in the library was also completely different from his cousin's wife.
It’s not that he was disappointed, but the deviation between his expectation and reality made him dazed for a moment, and he didn’t know where he went wrong.
Seeing that he was stunned and silent, the other party thought he was reluctant: "Forget it, I'll talk to him myself."
He was a little slow before saying, "Please, I'll pass it on for you."
"Thank you."
"Miss Ye..." Seeing her walk out, he followed her, "If you like drinking white wine, you might want to try Bamboo Leaf Green. Add honey or ice cubes to make the drink more flavorful. Don't mix it with other wines."
"Thanks for the recommendation, but..." She turned around and smiled at him, "My last name is not Ye, it's Cheng, and my given name is Yuan."
Her smile was unexpectedly sweet. From the poems she loved, he had thought she was aloof and aloof. "Cheng Yuan, your name is Cheng Yuan?"
"Although it's pleasant to chat with a handsome man, my last name is not Ye, and this is indeed my given name." She looked at the silver fungus tea in his hand, tilted her head and smiled, "When I invite Zhuo Cheng back some other day, you must come. If you find Miss Ye by then, you can bring her along."
"My wife's last name is..." Thinking of Tong Yufei's surname being Ye, Mo Daoyan couldn't help but laugh. This subtle mistake somehow suddenly became completely right. "Okay, I'll take her with me."
Cheng Yuan left gracefully.
Mo Daoyan watched the figure disappear around the corner of the hall, his mind a blur. Cheng Yuan? Ye Yimo? If she wasn't Ye Yimo, then who was the real Ye Yimo? Why was their handwriting so similar? He wanted to chase her down and ask her if she could dance, if she had any poetry excerpts. But then he felt something was amiss. Who Ye Yimo was wasn't his concern.
He came to the karaoke bar to put out the fire in his heart, but unexpectedly, the fire was rekindled by an unintentional breeze, which made him quite upset.
"Daoyan, I know you don't like dancing, but at least do me the honor of having a couple of drinks." Qiao Zhuocheng had put his arm around his shoulder without him noticing. "Some old classmates are here, let's go meet them."
"Your cousin's wife went back first. She asked me to tell you something." He was half-pushed forward by Qiao Zhuocheng, half-thinking, and said incoherently, "Her name is Cheng Yuan."
"I know she's gone. The waiter told me. What did you talk about with your sister-in-law? Why did you talk for so long?"
"Why is her name Cheng Yuan? Why isn't her last name Ye?"
"Why else? My ancestors didn't have the surname Ye, so why do you think she should have the surname Ye? Last time you got your cousin's age wrong, and now you got her surname wrong again. Where did all these ideas come from?"
While other people signed their calligraphy and paintings with seals, she used ink to dot a leaf. He took it as her signature, part of the artistic conception, wondering if she was breaking with convention and experimenting with new concepts. Crossing the aisle, his shin bumped against the table and chair next to him, and the sudden pain sobered him up: "It doesn't matter what the last name is, it doesn't matter who it is."
"Of course it doesn't matter. No matter how good my sister-in-law is, she's still my sister-in-law. Besides, she can never be better than Tong Yufei."
When he heard the name "Tong Yufei", he couldn't help but look down at his watch. It was already nine thirty-five. Would she still come?
The dining area was bustling with people and the atmosphere was bustling. At the most lively table sat their common high school classmates, several of whom were now Qiao Zhuocheng's business partners. Everyone knew that the new company where Mo Daoyan worked was doing very well, and its products were selling like hot cakes as soon as they were launched on the market. Looking back on the past, it was the friendship between classmates, and looking at the present and the future, it was the business inside and outside the door. Those who wanted to enter the home appliance market, and those who intended to take advantage of the machinery factory or the propaganda department, all wanted to reshape their "deep friendship" with him.
Mo Daoyan was not overwhelmed by the attention he received. He was very clear that three points of these attentions were directed at Chen Huaili, five points were directed at his parents, and the remaining two points were directed at him. Today was Qiao Zhuocheng's home court, and it was not appropriate to talk about business, nor was it possible to steal his limelight. Therefore, every time someone turned the topic to cooperation, he would transform into a food critic, commenting on everything from fine wine to condiments, and easily changing the subject.
Since it was a party, Tong Zhaoyang was naturally one of the participants. However, due to Tong Zhaoyang's taciturn personality and that special emotional experience, there were very few classmates who still kept in touch with him. For example, He, who was sitting next to Qiao Zhuocheng, was originally a classmate of Tong Zhaoyang, but had a closer relationship with the two of them.
Because of that past event, any word about Tong Zhaoyang always causes heated discussion.
When He Tong saw Tong Zhaoyang for the first time after many years, he saw him inseparable from a woman, dancing and drinking with her. He sighed with a scholarly tone, "No matter how crazy you are about love in your youth, when it comes to the end, you don't know where the person is, but the peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze."
Qiao Zhuocheng's eyes rolled up: "That's Tong Zhaoyang's biological sister. His vision in finding a girlfriend isn't that special."
Another student named Zhao then chimed in, "Do you know who Tong Zhaoyang hit and got expelled?"
Qiao Zhuocheng and He Tongxue said in unison: "Isn't he an unemployed vagrant outside the school?"
"No, everyone knows this guy, Guan Fei from Class 3."
"Guan Fei, the Guan Fei from our class?" He's pupils trembled. "Guan Fei is Tong Zhaoyang's deskmate and his best friend. How did you offend him? And how did you know?"
"Guan Fei's father had a stroke and became paralyzed in his early years. He has two younger sisters at home, and his mother made woven bags for others to support the family. He didn't finish high school and got a job in a boiler factory through connections. The money he earned from burning boilers still couldn't make up for the bottomless pit of money. Occasionally he had to borrow money to make ends meet. I was his creditor several times. Once we were drinking, and he mentioned that incident half drunk and half awake. He said that when Tong Zhaoyang had just broken up with his girlfriend, he had seen that girl. At that time, she hadn't climbed up the social ladder yet and encountered some difficulties. He kindly went to help, gave money and labor, but when Tong Zhaoyang found out, he beat him up and broke two fingers, leaving him disabled for life. So, it's not unfair for Tong Zhaoyang to sacrifice his future because he was too impulsive."
He was full of doubts: "What kind of help is this? Would Tong Zhaoyang beat someone half to death for this? It can't be that simple."
"Don't be impatient. It's not over yet. I asked him too. Being jealous is not the right thing to do. Is brotherhood so worthless? I waited until I got to the bottom of it before he told me the truth. He went to the girl's house to help. That night, the girl was walking around in front of him in a short skirt. He couldn't control himself and touched her. Later, I don't know how it was reported to Tong Zhaoyang, and it turned out like that." Student Zhao drank the wine in the glass, cleared his throat and said, "If you ask me, Tong Zhaoyang is unlucky, and Guan Fei is unlucky too. A girl of sixteen or seventeen, who gave birth to a child and made two men fight to the death for her, how could she be a chaste and heroic woman? I believe she seduced Guan Fei and they got involved because they couldn't agree on the price. Maybe it wasn't just the two of them. I don't know how many men she has been fooling around with behind her back..."
"Bang!" Mo Daoyan's can was crushed to the point of being deformed. He lifted the splattered drink and splashed it accurately in Zhao's face. Before Zhao could question him, he heard him coldly say, "A shameless bastard who harassed his best friend's ex-girlfriend and talked nonsense. You're so eager to excuse him. Have you done the same immoral thing as him, or did you witness her seducing him with your own eyes? Do you know her well?" He clapped his hands and raised his chin. "Tell us what you saw. It'll be a good snack for everyone to enjoy."
Student Zhao was stunned, unable to understand why he had angered Mo Daoyan. He had the impression that he was a man of few words and not so obsessed with mysophobia that he couldn't stand any gossip about women. So why would he stand up for a woman he didn't even know?
"Can't tell?" Mo Daoyan pressed on, his eyes sharp as a knife, forcing Zhao to shrink her neck. Then he raised his hand and threw the can at her. It hit her shoulder with a "clang". "Making up things you haven't seen is slander. You slander a little girl with empty words, are you still a man?"
Mo Daoyan kicked the stool away and walked out without looking back.
While wiping the wine stains off for Zhao, He whispered, "You went too far in the last few sentences. Tong Zhaoyang is also in Xinli now. He was recommended by Mo Daoyan. They are very close now. He must be protecting Tong Zhaoyang, and naturally, his ex-girlfriend as well. Besides, it's hard to say what that girl is like without having seen her. Apart from anything else, you shouldn't bully a friend's wife. Guan Fei was wrong to enter that door."
Qiao Zhuocheng seemed to understand something from Mo Daoyan's reaction. He turned around and angrily scolded Zhao: "You bastard, I shouldn't have let you come."
---
At the door of the karaoke bar, Tong Yufei, who came in hurriedly, bumped into Mo Daoyan.
His clenched fist finally loosened slowly, and without saying anything, he grabbed her wrist and said, "Come back with me."
Tong Yufei was stunned for a moment: "Did you finish dancing so early?"
"I already told you Chen Jueyao wouldn't come. It's a waste of time for you to look for Qiao Zhuocheng. He won't say a word against Chen Jueyao. If you want to dance, go home and dance wherever you want."
"If you're tired, go back first. I want to go in and take a look. Maybe I can meet some more friends."
Mo Daoyan laid his cards on the table directly: "Chen Jueyao was anonymously reported for a teacher-student relationship. This party tonight was an outlet for Qiao Zhuocheng to vent his frustration. Now you know the truth, but this matter cannot be published."
Teacher-student romance, anonymous reports, and separation from Qiao Zhuo… Tong Yufei hadn’t even digested this explosive news when she was dragged into Mo Daoyan’s car. Next to the passenger seat, she spotted a calligraphy scroll. She opened it and was surprised: “Why do you have this calligraphy scroll that Sister Cheng Yuan wanted?”
Mo Daoyan's fingers on the steering wheel suddenly tightened. "Do you know Cheng Yuan? What does 'want' mean? Who did she ask for this calligraphy?"
"She was my colleague, and now my boss. She asked me to write this calligraphy, saying it was for her lover's distant cousin. Are you the distant cousin she mentioned? Are you related? Actually, I always feel that I tried too hard when writing it, and it's not as natural and smooth. Fortunately, it only fell into your hands." Her fingertips gently stroked the ink leaf where the signature was. "I learned calligraphy from my adoptive father, and this signature is also his original creation. I copied the basics, but it can't match his vigorous and freehand writing."
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