Chapter 48
As soon as he entered the elevator, Li Qingyao realized that the office building in this industrial park was quite simple. When we got to the floor of Luo Huaizheng's company, this feeling improved slightly. The building was still very shabby, but Luo Huaizheng's half floor looked clean, simple and comfortable. Although it is not luxuriously decorated, it looks surprisingly good.
A young employee came up to them with a smile and said, "You must be Mr. Luo's friend. He is waiting for you in the conference room. Please come this way."
Chen Pu and Li Qingyao walked through their office. It was not big. At 8 o'clock in the evening, there were still more than a dozen people there. They were all working very attentively or discussing in low voices. No one paid attention to the two uninvited guests. The whiteboards next to it were filled with densely packed schedules.
If the appearance of employees can represent the temperament of a company, then this small company is obviously full of market and practical spirit.
The employee took them to a meeting room in a corner, which was a room with floor-to-ceiling glass windows. A man wearing the simplest white shirt and black trousers was drinking water from a cup with his back to them.
The employee knocked on the door of the conference room, pushed it open, and said, "Mr. Luo, your friend is here."
Luo Huaizheng turned around and nodded: "Thank you, you can go."
He was not wearing a tie. His textured white shirt was tucked into his trousers. His cuffs were rolled up a little, revealing his wrists. He looked very lean and tall, with not a single cumbersome line on his body. The hand holding the disposable teacup was also white and slender, with blue veins visible on the back of the hand. A faint glow from the lamp covered him from head to toe, and his temperament was exactly the same peaceful as when he was in high school. Those flickering lights are hidden in the tips of hair, in the corners of eyebrows, in fingertips, and in all the tiny details.
Li Qingyao realized one thing.
All these years, she had never imagined what Luo Huaizheng would be like if he grew up normally, did not go to jail, and studied and worked normally. Now seeing the man in front of her, she suddenly realized that he had not really changed. If all that had not happened, he would still be the elegant, handsome, quiet and dazzling person he is today. However, he might be more confident, more unbridled and free, and he would stand on a higher and better stage instead of standing in an ordinary industrial park in a corner of Xiangcheng.
Suppressing the bitterness and emotion in her heart, she looked at him and gave him her first cautious smile since their reunion. She realized that when she could see Luo Huaizheng's true appearance without emotion, she was actually not that angry.
Luo Huaizheng was no longer in the embarrassed and awkward look he had when they met at the hotel entrance more than an hour ago. They were all adults, or perhaps they were standing on their own territory, which gave him more courage. He also smiled calmly at them and said, "Two officers, please come in."
Of course, he still looked at Li Qingyao one more time. Seeing that she didn't seem angry anymore, his smile became more relaxed. He was already handsome and elegant, and when the 25-year-old Luo Huaizheng smiled sincerely, he looked even more like an orchid, warm and bright.
Li Qingyao was stunned for a moment.
Chen Pu's voice rang out beside him: "Just talk as you wish. I won't go in. Turn on the voice and record."
Li Qingyao replied "OK" without looking at him, walked into the meeting room and closed the door.
Luo Huaizheng had already poured three glasses of water. Seeing that she was the only one coming in, he showed a puzzled expression: "Officer Chen..."
Li Qingyao said: "Old classmate, let's chat first."
Luo Huaizheng stared at her for two seconds and replied, "Okay."
Li Qingyao and Chen Pu had already dialed the voice call, and put it on the table in front of Luo Huaizheng. At the same time, he put down the recorder, opened the record book, and said, "The conversation must be recorded. I'm telling you."
"I see."
The night outside the window is quiet, and the office is also quiet, with soft and bright light. The conference table was not big, and Luo Huaizheng sat opposite her, with a straight-line distance of only a little over one meter. Li Qingyao suddenly realized that this was the first time in seven years that the two of them were alone together.
The last time they were together was in a high school classroom. At that time, they were much closer than they are now. Their arms were touching, and their faces would sometimes get close to each other while discussing topics. Their hands would sometimes be secretly clasped under the table without anyone in the class seeing.
Later he was imprisoned and she never visited him once. She is probably the most cold-blooded and heartless woman in the world. She didn't even think about whether he would be desperate or in pain in prison because of her heartlessness. Just because she didn't dare, she didn't look back at him.
Li Qingyao had thought of many issues along the way, and he was particularly businesslike, cold and polite, because he was still angry at the time. But at this moment, when she really sat down and faced the quiet Luo Huaizheng, she suddenly was not so anxious to ask about the case.
Her first question was: "How have you been these years?"
It was a stupid and cliché question, but she just wanted to ask it.
Luo Huaizheng probably didn't expect her to start like this. After a moment of shock, he slowly smiled, and his handsome eyes were filled with a tenderness that Li Qingyao was very familiar with. His eyes were still as bright as ever, although his facial features were already weathered.
"I..." He spoke very slowly, almost word by word, "These years have been pretty good. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to open this company. A lot of people helped me, both in prison and after I got out. There are a lot of kind people, and everyone treats me very well, and I'm also very good, so... don't worry."
Li Qingyao's eyes and nose suddenly felt incredibly sore and swollen. She wondered what she had been competing with the person in front of her for the past few days. She clearly understood everything in her heart, but until today, when he clearly told her about his days and life, she seemed to finally realize that there was a gap of seven years between her and him, and that he had already embarked on another path from which there would be no return, and he was still working very hard to walk this road full of ups and downs and thorns.
Li Qingyao also smiled with red eyes and said, "That's good. I know, I know that you will be excellent wherever you go. I won't be polite with you. If you need me for anything in the future, please feel free to ask. Although I am just a small policeman, there are also ways I can help you - as long as it does not violate the principles."
But he did not respond or thank her for her promise, but just looked at her very seriously. Although they had met several times after their reunion, it seemed like the first time for him to take a closer look at her current appearance. His eyes gradually turned red, and tears were gathering.
He asked: "How have you been these years?"
Am I...doing well?
One sentence seemed to have asked all the days and nights, and pierced through spring, autumn, cold summer and cold summer. Over the past seven years, Li Qingyao had so many words in his heart that he wanted to say to the man in front of him; he had shed so much pain and tears that he fantasized that one day he would be able to lie in his arms and talk to him. In that fantasy, he was not a murderer in prison, and she was not the only one still standing in the daylight, heartbroken.
But things have changed and people have changed. Those words, those fantasies, have long been buried in the difficult days. Now she can no longer mention it to anyone, including him.
Li Qingyao raised his head and said softly, "I'm fine too. I've always been fine. I got into the university I wanted and met a lot of good people. I've been looking forward since a long time ago. So, don't worry, Luo Huaizheng. You know, I've always been a very strong person. I don't need anyone to worry about me, really."
She said it very casually, but before she finished her words, her tears started to fall like beads that had broken off the string, one drop after another, and she couldn't stop them.
Luo Huaizheng's eyes had turned red without him noticing, and he stared at her face intently. Finally, he turned his head away and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand, several times. Finally, he lowered his head and awkwardly took a few tissues from the tissue box on the table. With the other hand, he gently pushed the tissue box in front of her.
Li Qingyao also lowered her head. She looked at her tears, which dropped onto the table, leaving small blobs one after another. She sobbed very suppressedly, took out a tissue and kept wiping herself, but the tissue was soon soaked. Finally she simply took a handful of paper and pressed it against her eyes.
This time, it won’t get soaked again, she thought. She just leaned one arm on the table, pressed a tissue against her eyes, and didn't speak or move. Just like a person pretending to be blind, as long as she doesn't open her eyes, she can't see the same collapse of two people.
After a while, Luo Huaizheng's tears stopped, but his eyes were still frighteningly red. He raised his head and looked at Li Qingyao. There seemed to be no emotion in his eyes, but it also seemed as if he was hiding the deepest and most persistent emotions. Gradually, his expression changed, his brows softened, and his eyes became calm and focused. Li Qingyao covered his eyes and didn't know.
In the conference room, time seemed to stand still again between the two people. She was crying, and he looked at her quietly with red eyes.
Outside the meeting room.
Chen Pu was also watching, looking at the two of them.
The straight-line distance between him and the two of them was actually only five or six meters, separated by a glass wall. But this transparent wall seems like an insurmountable chasm. He wore headphones and listened to the conversation between the two, from greetings to silence, and finally to Li Qingyao's sad sobs. His gaze first fell on her thin and pitiful back, and then on the man's red and stubborn eyes.
Chen Pu had a very strange feeling. He could actually feel his heart contracting again and again, making it difficult for him to breathe. But it was clearly fine, beating in my chest. All changes are silent. The shy and stupid branch that once grew in her heart was like a warrior with congenital underdevelopment. Before it could go on the field to compete, before it could proudly show its grace to its beloved, she had ruthlessly cut off its water source and pulled out its roots. It didn't even have time to utter a feeble cry for help before it dried up and fell to the ground. Slowly, slowly, it curled up into a small ball and shrank into his equally tightening and aching heart, and disappeared. ◆
Chen Pu couldn't bear to watch it any longer. He went against his work principles, took off his headphones, turned his head to look out the dark window, and suddenly he felt that the whole world was so quiet, so quiet that it made him feel empty inside. He thought, that’s it, I understand, Li Qingyao, I don’t want to think about it anymore.
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