Chapter 104 Did she really make that decision?
Around four o'clock in the afternoon, in a simply furnished conference room of the national security department, a routine cross-departmental intelligence and situation analysis meeting had just ended. The attendees packed up their materials and left one after another, but Huo Zheng remained seated, quickly flipping through a non-public "Summary of Personnel Dynamics for Key Positions in International Organizations" in front of him.
This kind of internal reference information helps to grasp some subtle shifts in power in international chess games. His gaze moved quickly across the list, and suddenly, a familiar Chinese name in pinyin, interspersed among a string of foreign names, caught his eye.
Song Zhiyi. Position: Senior Coordinator (Language and Political Affairs). Secondment Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. Assigned Department: Department of Peace Operations. Remarks: Involved in the Middle East peace process.
Huo Zheng's gaze lingered on that name for a few seconds. A faint, knowing sigh escaped his lips. He had long known that, given her qualifications and temperament, she would never be satisfied with the relatively formulaic work of the translation department, much less be confined for long to the seemingly stable but actually cramped life brought about by the Huo family's arranged marriage. But this step was taken more decisively and further than he had anticipated. Directly venturing into the forefront of the UN's most crucial and intractable peace process required immense courage and professional confidence.
This aligns perfectly with his understanding of Song Zhiyi—still waters run deep, but the direction of the flow never changes; once the time is right, it surges forward unstoppable.
He recalled the increasingly undisguised anxiety and attempts to get closer to his nephew over the past few months. This secondment letter was like a bolt from the blue for Yanli, who was struggling to process the past and redefine their relationship.
From an official standpoint, this is a normal personnel change and deserves attention. From a personal standpoint… Huo Zheng frowned slightly, tapping his fingers lightly twice on the table. He picked up his phone and walked to the window.
The phone rang several times before being answered by Huo Yanli. The background sound was somewhat empty and echoing, as if it were in a large venue.
"Uncle?" Huo Yanli's voice came, tinged with surprise. Huo Zheng rarely contacted him at this time for personal matters.
"Outside?" Huo Zheng asked.
"I just finished looking at a site for a science and technology cultural complex in the eastern new district, which is about to be approved. Is there something you need?" Huo Yanli's tone sounded relatively calm.
"Well, I have something to tell you." Huo Zheng organized his thoughts, trying to make the news sound less abrupt. "I just saw a work briefing. Zhiyi... has a new job transfer. She's been seconded to the United Nations, to the Department of Peace Operations, to be responsible for negotiating and coordinating a peace process in the Middle East. The secondment period is two years. The official appointment letter should have already been sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."
The other end of the phone fell into complete silence.
Even the faint sounds of traffic in the distance seemed to have been muted.
After a long while, Huo Yanli's voice came again, as if it had drifted from a great distance, dry and tense: "United Nations...Middle East? Two years?"
“Yes.” Huo Zheng could imagine his nephew’s expression on the other end of the phone. “She must have applied for and pushed for it herself a long time ago, and the process took a long time. The ministry recommended her, and the United Nations also approved all the reviews. From a career development perspective, it’s a rare opportunity, but also a major challenge.”
He tried to describe it as a purely positive career advancement, but he knew that for Huo Yanli at this moment, that was not the point.
Another suffocating silence followed. Huo Yanli seemed to have moved to a quieter place, where even the last trace of background noise had disappeared.
"She..." Huo Yanli's voice was very low, with a hoarseness that Huo Zheng had never heard before, almost like someone who was exhausted, "It's already decided? There's no... room for maneuver?"
"The secondment letter just arrived, and the final approval procedures at the ministry may still be underway, but the UN has already formally nominated her, which means that both sides' top officials have approved it. Unless extremely special circumstances arise, it won't change." Huo Zheng stated the facts without mincing words, "Given her personality, since she's come to this point, she must have considered everything carefully and is determined to do it."
A trembling breath, strained to be suppressed, came from the phone. Then, Huo Yanli spoke as if to himself, or perhaps seeking a non-existent answer, his voice filled with a cold helplessness:
"She just... made that decision on her own?"
Without revealing a single word, without seeking any opinion, and without giving him even the slightest time to prepare, while he was still clumsily learning how to get along with her, still calculating the remaining days of the agreement, and still anxiously contemplating the possibilities of the future, she already held the pass and was about to embark on a journey that he could never reach.
Looking at the brilliant cherry blossoms outside the window, Huo Zheng sighed even harder. He could completely understand Song Zhiyi's actions. In her value system, personal ideals and professional mission always came first. Especially in a relationship that began as an agreement and whose feelings were not yet clear, she had no need to report her major life decision in advance. She had her own path and rhythm.
But he couldn't ignore the clear pain and bewilderment in his nephew's voice. It was the immense disappointment of starting with all your might only to find that your target had already prepared in another dimension.
“Yanli,” Huo Zheng’s tone softened, carrying a hint of barely perceptible consolation, “this is her job, this has always been her direction. You should know this better than I do.”
"I understand." Huo Yanli's reply was quick and stiff, as if he were reciting some cruel theorem. "Of course I understand."
However, knowing the facts clearly and accepting the emotional impact of those facts are two different things. That kind of rational "clarity" only makes the emptiness and coldness in one's heart even sharper and harder to bear.
"Find a suitable time to have a good talk with her," Huo Zheng suggested. "Not to question or obstruct her, that's pointless and disrespectful. But... at least find out her specific plans, and see what you, or your family, can do for her. Given her personality, even if she needs something, she probably won't ask for it on her own."
“…Mm.” Huo Yanli responded with a short, muffled sound. “I understand. Thank you, Uncle.”
After hanging up the phone, Huo Zheng placed it on the windowsill, watching a few cherry blossom petals drift down in the spring breeze.
Some people's life trajectories are destined to point to a wider sky. To be able to intersect with each other on earth for a period of time is already a gift from fate.
···
On the other side of the city, in a development zone, at the edge of a vacant plot of land awaiting development.
Huo Yanli stood motionless for a long time, phone in hand, in the slightly chilly early spring wind. The distant roar of the construction site and the rustling of the wind through the weeds nearby became indistinct; only a few words echoed repeatedly in his ears:
United Nations. Middle East. Two years.
Each word was like a block of solid ice, thrown into his heart lake which had just begun to warm slightly with the arrival of spring, instantly freezing all ripples.
That's what she decided.
It wasn't a discussion, nor was it an announcement; it was a calm, independent decision, made after all preparations had already been completed.
In the grand scheme of her life, his existence, the fragile agreement between them, and even all his cautious probing and changes during this time, are perhaps just insignificant side notes, light and fleeting, easily turned over at any moment.
He remembered her saying "there's no difference," the clarity and determination in her eyes when she planned "the path I want to take five years from now," and her ever-gentle and polite demeanor, yet always maintaining an unapproachable distance.
An unprecedented and profound sense of powerlessness, like icy seawater, surged up from the soles of his feet, gradually engulfing him. No matter how fast he ran, how much he expanded his boundaries, it seemed he could never keep up with the speed of her thinking and progress.
She is like a ship destined for a long voyage, her lighthouse illuminating the vast ocean. And he, perhaps, is just a marker in the harbor, gradually being left behind by her.
The countdown continues its indifferent ticking.
Four months and... how many days? He had already lost count.
Now, he has even lost the stance and courage to ask, "Can we not go?" or "Can we go later?" Because he already knows the answer, and that answer is written in every glance she gives into the distance.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com