Chapter 85 Common People
With less than a week until his birthday, Lin Yu no longer had the same expectations as in previous years.
Her relationship with Jiang Chuan seemed to have become an endless rainy season, with damp moisture filling the air, so thick that it was hard to breathe, and she was trapped in the gloom he had created.
On weekends, Lin Yu no longer stayed overnight at Jiang Chuan's house as usual. Instead, he would lie on the bed in his rented room, playing Zelda for six or seven hours at a time, using the excuse of having to work overtime.
Staring blankly at Link running and flying freely across the Hyrule Plains, I suffered from insomnia night after night.
During a meeting during the day, Chief Engineer Wang banged on the table and called her name three times, criticizing her in front of everyone without any politeness.
They said she's really something else, even spacing out during the morning meeting, completely out of sorts first thing in the morning. They even criticized her, saying that for the sake of a flashy but impractical patent, she's probably almost forgotten what her actual job is.
Chief Engineer Wang is a hot-tempered middle-aged man with sharp eyes and deep frown lines on his forehead. He is a heavy smoker and drinker, and his hair is already completely white even though he is not yet sixty years old.
However, he is indeed impeccable in his professional field. He is an expert that the company poached from a state-owned design institute at great expense, and he is specifically responsible for overseeing the technical issues of the entire design institute.
However, he was conservative by nature and always scoffed at the technology research and development award established by the company.
They believe that having someone with a design background do research and development is a waste of their talents and utterly absurd, and even suspect that the company is just trying to defraud the government of subsidies.
Therefore, he has never been kind to his colleagues who put too much energy into technological research and development, including Lin Yu.
Especially a few days ago, she listened to Jiang Chuan's advice and withdrew the patent, which made Chief Engineer Wang feel even more that this young girl was impetuous and not a down-to-earth person who was good at technology.
I mentioned it to Dean Li several times behind his back, suggesting that he stop letting Lin Yu waste time doing experiments in the headquarters workshop during working hours. The design institute has so many projects; if you leave them all to your subordinates, problems will inevitably arise sooner or later.
Lin Yu was criticized for no reason and felt simmering with anger with nowhere to vent. As a result, around noon, he got into a big argument with the project company's engineer over the phone over some construction details.
Now, everyone on the floor could feel Lin Yu's recent low mood. Even Dong Wenbin, who had been deliberately avoiding her, took the opportunity during lunch to come over and check on her.
"Mr. Lin, are you feeling unwell?" Dong Wenbin asked, carefully sitting down opposite Lin Yu with a tray in his hand.
Lin Yu knew he meant well, and despite having huge dark circles under his eyes, he forced a smile. "Didn't I withdraw the patent I issued mid-year...?"
"I got stuck at a certain point during optimization, and no matter how I debugged it, I couldn't get past it. I've been working overtime for almost a week, and I might have overdone it."
Dong Wenbin nodded knowingly and advised, "Invention patents don't come that quickly. It's normal to make revisions repeatedly. Don't be too anxious."
"Besides, you know Chief Engineer Wang, he speaks so bluntly to the chairman. People who are good at technology tend to have low emotional intelligence, so don't take it to heart."
Lin Yu smiled and nodded, then heard him ask, "Are you and your boyfriend doing well? I heard from your colleagues that you're getting married soon?"
When Jiang Chuan was mentioned, Lin Yu seemed lost in thought for no apparent reason, then gave a perfunctory smile. "That's just talk. Right now, work is more important to me."
After hearing this, Dong Wenbin gave her a meaningful look, then asked, "I heard your boyfriend is a lawyer?"
Lin Yu nodded upon hearing this, and then heard him continue, "It's good, but actually I think that people like you and me who work in technology might not be able to handle it."
"I saw him pick you up that day, he looked quite nice. You might not even notice if he's eyeing other things... right?"
While observing Lin Yu's expression, Dong Wenbin cautiously continued, "Of course, I didn't mean anything by it. I just feel that we've known each other for so long, and I've always thought of you as a very simple person, Engineer Lin."
"Girls should be more careful when they're out in the world. When it comes to dating, you can't just focus on the present; you should find someone reliable and dependable."
Dong Wenbin was clearly trying to recommend himself, but his words struck a nerve with Lin Yu. She had no interest in responding and just kept her head down, drinking her soup.
When Lin Yu did not respond for a long time, Dong Wenbin could only say a few words of encouragement, then excused himself, saying he had some urgent business to attend to at the project, took his plate, and got up to leave.
Lin Yu didn't hear a word he said, just mechanically agreed. After he left, he ate a couple of bites haphazardly and hastily finished his lunch.
As a result, she was out of sorts all afternoon, with Dong Wenbin's words echoing repeatedly in her mind.
Finally, I made it to the end of the workday, unplugged the power, left the mess of work on the turned-off computer, packed my things, and got up to leave my workstation.
After a quick bite at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant downstairs in the residential complex, Lin Yu returned to his apartment early, took a hot shower, and prepared to rest.
But when she closed her eyes, all she could see in her mind was Bai Qianhe's face, wearing a red dress and laughing wildly. Annoyed, she got up again, grabbed the game console, and continued the task she had only half-finished yesterday.
The map still has the markings left by Jiang Chuan. He knew that Lin Yu had a poor sense of direction and was worried that she would not be able to find the location of the temple, so he marked the coordinates of each place for her in advance.
In a fit of pique, Lin Yu erased all the dots he had drawn one by one, changed into the clothes he had upgraded at the Great Elf's expense, and went to the shore of Lanier Bay, quietly waiting for Nierlong to appear.
The campfire lit up and went out again and again, time kept ticking, day and night alternated, just as she repeatedly checked in her heart whether she could still wait for a turning point in their relationship.
In these days, she began to selectively reply to Jiang Chuan's messages, deliberately avoiding his calls and letting her phone vibrate in her bag until things calmed down again.
Lin Yu wouldn't let herself dwell on one thing for too long, but she really hadn't figured out how to handle the relationship between the two of them yet.
She had thought Jiang Chuan's love for her was honest and unconditional. In the end, she might just be a substitute he used for amusement.
Thinking of what he had said to him in Japan: "Before you, there was no one but you," Lin Yu couldn't help but sneer.
The fortress of security that I had so firmly believed in turned out to be nothing more than a tower in the sand dunes, so fragile and vulnerable in the sudden storm.
The image of her perfect boyfriend crumbled, followed by a profound sense of disillusionment. The sweet memories of the past became sharp instruments of torture, held in Jiang Chuan's hands, turning into blades that could wound her.
Under the daily pressure of work and emotions, Lin Yu's patience finally reached its limit.
......
That day, Jiang Chuan finally finished his business trip and drove to Lin Yu's company building to pick her up and have dinner with her.
The two hadn't seen each other for a few days, and dinner was arranged at a restaurant that Lin Yu had mentioned several times, showing that he was deliberately accommodating her. However, she was absent-minded throughout the meal, answering questions but never initiating any conversation.
Have you encountered any problems at work?
Jiang Chuan pushed the peeled shrimp meat in front of Lin Yu. Although he guessed that her recent unhappiness was mostly related to him, he obviously did not realize the seriousness of the problem.
Lin Yu sighed softly, not wanting to act too impulsively, and decided to give each other some leeway before clarifying their future.
She paused, then began to talk about being publicly reprimanded by her boss at the meeting today, deliberately amplifying her frustrations at work and in life, hoping to get some emotional comfort from Jiang Chuan.
“Last time I heard you say that your company is undergoing a transformation.” He placed his hand on Lin Yu’s hand, which was resting on the table, half guiding and half advising.
"What are your thoughts on your future career plans? Do you want to continue in design or switch to project management? You should plan ahead."
She stared at their clasped hands; the soft restaurant lights cast a cold shadow on Jiang Chuan's eyelashes.
Lin Yu suddenly found it laughable. He was always like this, always rational, always right, and always handling everything in the most appropriate way.
She was already holding a grudge against Jiang Chuan, and when she heard him speak in such a businesslike tone about topics that made her anxious, her attitude turned cold, and she replied sarcastically, "No, we won't starve to death."
Jiang Chuan pursed his lips after hearing this, his jawline slightly tightening, a habitual gesture he made when controlling his emotions. "Take some time these next few days to prepare a resume and send it to me. I'll help you revise it. Send it out and see what the market thinks."
He put down his chopsticks, his tone calm, but his attitude turned cold. "And you should keep in mind the patent ownership issue I mentioned to you before."
“Don’t let yourself fall into a passive position, indulging in…” He paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully. “Cheap pleasures.”
Jiang Chuan always believed that useless entertainment was a form of spiritual castration for the proletariat, and he didn't want to see her go astray and have her willpower destroyed by endless fragmented entertainment.
But these words sounded incredibly ironic to Lin Yu. She abruptly looked up, her gaze piercing Jiang Chuan. So he had always looked down on her, which was why he could always stand on his moral high ground and look down on her.
"Attorney Jiang seems to really enjoy being a life mentor to others."
Lin Yu sneered, his mind flashing back to his chat history with Bai Qianhe. He had once advised her in the same tone not to be a full-time housewife, as it would put her in a very passive position during a divorce.
They are like-minded people, appreciating highbrow culture, while I am destined to be a commoner, destined to struggle in the mire.
“I’m nothing special, just an ordinary person.” She said, enunciating each word clearly, her fingertips digging into her palms. “You knew that from the very beginning.”
"Banban..." Jiang Chuan withdrew his hand, rubbed his throbbing temples, and sighed helplessly. "I will always be there to support you, but you can't expect others to feed you all the time."
"Only by picking up the bowl yourself can you eat the food you want."
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