When it comes to vitality and spirit, Li Anna definitely takes the cake. She had already made an agreement with Wang, the general agent of Zhuo Yuan, before the Lunar New Year to sign a contract this afternoon. She also received WeChat messages from Lu Kuo, the “Finance Prince” of Tingjing Finance. During the Spring Festival, she sent a New Year’s message to Lu Kuo, who replied that he would visit Lan Shan Law Firm after the holiday, which was also a sure thing.
Shu Tinglan had a noisy morning, but she started working in the afternoon after calming down. There were many emails in her inbox that needed to be processed.
As soon as her mind settled, Wang, the general agent of Zhuoyuan, came to look for Li Anna to sign a contract. Hearing the name Zhuoyuan gave her a headache. What’s worse, Xiao Xin saw Li Anna’s smug look and was very angry, so she whispered…
“Mr. Zhu, aren’t you being a little too generous? Giving such a large contract to an outsider without even considering us?” Although that general agent isn’t from Zhuyuan Technology, it was all thanks to Mr. Zhu’s word that it was given away to someone else.
“Did you two have a fight?” Xiaoxin’s gossipy nature kicked in, rarely seeing Lawyer Shu behave with such a “little woman” demeanor in the workplace.
“Are you free?”
Xiaoxin just thought that Lawyer Shu had a bit of a feminine charm, and immediately he showed his true colors again.
“Busy, busy, so busy.” He hurried back to his seat to work, lest he be assigned more tasks.
When it was almost time to get off work, Shu Tinglan received a WeChat message from Zhu Yu’an.
I’ll pick you up.
Shuting Lan replied coldly, “No need.”
I thought, what’s the point of going back? Just keep staying out all night.
Zhuo Yuan was also quite unlucky. Out of brotherly affection, he told Lu Kuo the news about Cheng Chen’s upcoming marriage. Unexpectedly, this angered Ting Lan, who now gives him the cold shoulder.
It’s not that he deliberately didn’t return home at night. After Lu Kuo came back from Qining, he looked like a lost soul and kept looking for him to drink. He couldn’t ignore him.
Lu Kuo has always been an open book, but this time he was surprisingly silent. He wouldn’t reveal what happened, just kept quiet and drank his sorrows away.
Zuo Yu’an was afraid he would drink himself to death, so he had no choice but to accompany him. He only dared to go home after he calmed down.
Actually, Lu Kuo isn’t the kind of person who can keep things hidden. This time, he just felt a little contempt for his own weakness and timidity. He was being too cowardly, so he didn’t want to talk about it. When he heard from Zhuo Yu an that Cheng Chen was getting married, he got impulsive and ran to Qining. At the time, he didn’t know what he wanted to do, just that he felt you couldn’t get married like this quietly and without a word. Without my consent, how could you possibly get married?
Although he was carefree and friendly to everyone, he hadn’t had a serious relationship in all these years. It wasn’t because he was a heartbreaker, but because he hadn’t met anyone like Cheng Chen who made his heart skip a beat.
When he left, he had a fleeting urge to take Cheng Chen back when he saw her. He firmly believed she still loved him; hadn’t she come to Senzhou to start a business for him? Didn’t she confess her feelings to him?
Deep down, there was still a sliver of confidence, the confidence that as long as she snapped her fingers, Cheng Chen would inevitably come back.
So he waited at her doorstep for a long time, until finally, he saw her car drive in from the alley and park in front of the house. As he was about to call out to her in the darkness, he was startled to see a tall man behind the wheel, with her sitting in the passenger seat.
She was about to unbuckle her seatbelt and get out of the car, but a tall man in the driver’s seat suddenly pulled her close. In the dim light of the car, they kissed passionately, unwilling to let go.
The whole world was pitch black, with only the car’s lights piercing through, like the blurry slow-motion shots from old movies. Lu Kuo was completely engulfed in darkness, he didn’t intend to pry into others’ privacy, yet he found himself unable to look away from her.
She looked so petite and indulged in the man’s arms, her hands even reaching to unbutton his uniform, only to be stopped by him. After a long while, they finally separated, and she laughed, the man laughing along with her.
He saw that her eyes held both passion and desire. She wasn’t settling for a man, nor was she choosing him out of necessity. This was true love. And, indeed, with Chen Cheng’s personality, he would never allow himself to be treated poorly; otherwise, how could they have reached this point?
Lu Kuo despised himself, he was too cowardly. Just one step, and he didn’t have the courage to take it. All of Nining Li’s previous confidence collapsed at this moment, Cheng Chen and him were already a distant memory.
There is another reason he lacks the courage to take this step: what can he offer Cheng Chen?
He did like her, from high school to now, but he was used to playing the field. When he pursued her before, he found fault with her ambition and restlessness, saying she was too focused on her career. Later, when she became more composed and steady, he worried she was only interested in marriage. He just wanted to date, not get married, which was a major reason why he rejected her confession.
Knowing I’m a jerk, I don’t want to waste her time.
Today, seeing her finally find her happiness, he should be happy for her. But this heart of his, it’s being clutched by something, aching with every beat.
Cheng Chen got out of the car, smiling and bidding farewell to the man. Then she watched as he drove her car slowly out of the alley and disappear. She stood there for a long time, motionless.
At that moment, Lu Kuo almost thought he saw her, or knew he was right beside her watching her.
She stood there for a long time, but never looked in his direction. For at least ten minutes, she stood alone like that, and for those same ten minutes, Lu Kuo remained motionless in the dark alley beside her.
And then, her weakened figure gradually disappeared into that door.
It was late, and he caught a midnight flight back to Senzhou. He’d flown this route between Qining and Senzhou countless times, every trip for her. He’d see her once, then fly back in the dead of night.
He thought this was his last time walking this route, before boarding the plane he sent Cheng Chen his final message.
“Cheng Chen, I wish you happiness.” Though it hurts, it’s heartfelt.
For a long time, Cheng Chen didn’t reply. Until he returned to his home in Senzhou, it was already midnight. When he looked at his phone again, he saw her reply.
“Thank you! And thank you for not appearing just now.”
So, she knew he was standing there then?
So, she stood there for ten minutes, was she waiting for him to show up?
But he backed down in the end.
He suddenly understood that at the time, although Cheng Chen didn’t explicitly agree to be his girlfriend, she had implicitly accepted their relationship. It was his own foolishness that he hadn’t realized it.
Missing it is missing it, the two people have never been on the same page and their future directions are completely different.
It seems he brought this upon himself, so even facing Zhuo Yunan, he had nothing to say.
It’s just as well he didn’t say anything, otherwise if Zhuo YUAN knew that he was willing to upset Ting Lan to tell him about Cheng Chen, and yet cowered away when it came to facing him, Zhuo YUAN would have truly broken off their friendship.