IMH - 44

The “Eleven” executive meetings never had a particularly serious atmosphere; the company culture was clearly relaxed.

Aside from those who started the business with Cheng Xiaonan and Shen Shen, the remaining executives were managers hired with high salaries to lead teams. After meetings, they occasionally agreed to go out for a meal or something.

________________________________________

Mid-meeting, Cheng Xiaonan suddenly stood up with his phone. Facing the gazes of Shen Shen and the others, he held the connected call to his ear and said to everyone, “One moment, please.”

With that, he pushed open the conference room door and left.

Several executives exchanged glances, struggling to seriously discuss one topic. Finally, they couldn’t help but huddle together and quietly ask Shen Shen, “Mr. Shen, what’s going on? Mr. Cheng seems to be in such a good mood lately.”

Shen Shen revealed a mysterious smile, like a mystic, and pinched his fingers, saying, “Hmm, recently, a peach blossom has fallen upon your Mr. Cheng...”

Before he could finish, Cheng Xiaonan pushed the door open and entered. Shen Shen’s mystical aura immediately dissipated, and he subserviently pushed the tea cup, freshly refilled with hot water by the assistant, towards Cheng Xiaonan’s seat. “Brother Nan, have some tea.”

Cheng Xiaonan glanced at him, said nothing, placed his phone face down on the table, and said with a serious expression, “Where were we?”

________________________________________

The meeting lasted all morning. By the time all issues were discussed, it was lunchtime.

As per usual, they would definitely eat together, so everyone began discussing where to eat lunch.

It was then that Cheng Xiaonan finally smiled, spinning his phone in his hand, “Let your Mr. Shen take you all out to eat. It’s on my tab. I won’t be joining.”

“Why not, Mr. Cheng? Do you have something urgent?”

“Come eat with us? It’s been a long time since we had lunch together.”

“Oh no, Mr. Cheng isn’t coming? Then half the company might be eaten up by us.”

“Last year when you didn’t come, Mr. Shen took us to a Michelin three-star restaurant, hahaha...”

“When you’re not here, no one can control Mr. Shen. He talks too much, and he always wants to eat bugs.”

Shen Shen, who loved silkworm pupae, stuck out his neck and cursed at them, “Get lost, you bastards! Why didn’t anyone complain about my talking too much when we ate at the Michelin restaurant? Silkworm pupae are high in protein, you don’t know a thing!”

Seeing that Cheng Xiaonan still hadn’t spoken, someone asked, “Is Mr. Cheng really not coming today?”

Cheng Xiaonan leaned back in the leather chair in a relaxed posture, a smirk playing on his lips, extremely smug. “No, I have something important to do.”

Someone indeed asked, “What important business—”

He smiled, “Nothing much. My girlfriend just agreed to move into my place, so I need to plan it out, like calling a reliable moving company or something.”

Shen Shen had just stood up from his seat, and Cheng Xiaonan’s display of affection almost made him stumble and fall under the table.

When most people had left, Shen Shen asked Cheng Xiaonan, “Brother Nan? Isn’t Yu Qian staying at a hotel? How much stuff could she have? Why call a moving company?”

Cheng Xiaonan stared at Shen Shen for two seconds, “Good point.”

“I know you’re happy Yu Qian agreed to move to your place, but this display of affection is a bit too forced, isn’t it? I just feel like you’ve been lately...”

“Shen Shen.”

“Huh?”

“Remember to reimburse the company for the Michelin three-star meal.”

“Huh?! Brother Nan! I have to pay myself? Haven’t you always paid when we go out to eat?! Brother Nan, you can’t do this to me! Ji Ran just found 2000 yuan of my private stash in the shoe cabinet yesterday! I’m poor, Brother Nan!”

Cheng Xiaonan remained unmoved, “Did Ji Ran find the bank card you hid in your dirty socks?”

“Not yet... Brother Nan, what are you doing? Why... why are you calling Ji Ran out of the blue?”

“Just chatting?”

“...Brother Nan, you’re really scary today.”

________________________________________

While having lunch with Yu Qian and Peter, Peter mentioned Yu Qian’s previous plan: she originally intended to sell her old house and buy a new one near Cheng Xiaonan’s place.

When Peter said this, Cheng Xiaonan was helping Yu Qian pick up food. Hearing it, he paused and asked quietly, with a hint of concern, “What’s wrong? Are you unwilling to live with me?”

Yu Qian’s tone was even, “No.”

She just felt that she wasn’t a very interesting woman.

If they truly lived together, Cheng Xiaonan might find it boring.

But she was clearly overthinking it; this younger man probably didn’t even know how to spell “boring.”

After Peter left, Cheng Xiaonan said he had nothing to do in the afternoon and decided to stay at the hotel with her.

He was lazily half-lying on the sofa in Yu Qian’s living room, one long leg stretched out on the armrest, the other on the floor. His height made the two-seater sofa seem especially tiny.

Yu Qian was doing yoga, and he chatted with her idly, one topic after another, giving her no chance to get bored.

“Hey? Is the house you’re selling the one I went to before?”

“Yes.”

“Han Chu lives across the hall?”

“Right.”

“Does he still live there?”

“He should have moved.”

“Then don’t sell it, just keep it.”

Cheng Xiaonan rested his head on his hands behind his neck, and suddenly seemed to remember something, a teasing smile on his face, “Back when I stood naked in your kitchen, didn’t you have any ‘improper thoughts’ about me?”

Yu Qian followed the yoga instructor in the video and changed to a new pose, from facing away from Cheng Xiaonan to facing him directly. She looked at him for a brief second, then tilted her head back, hands raised upwards.

She practiced often, so her voice didn’t falter with the difficult movement. She said calmly, “I did.”

The woman he liked, wearing close-fitting yoga clothes, and saying she had “improper thoughts” about him.

There were only the two of them in the room. Yu Qian had fine beads of sweat at her temples.

In this situation, who wouldn’t feel a little impulsive?

Cheng Xiaonan had just gotten up when Yu Qian, as if she had eyes on her chin, maintained her head-tilt, casually picked up a bottle of mineral water from beside the yoga mat, and threw it at him, hitting his chest, “Behave yourself.”

“...Alright, I’ll behave.”

He said that, but within a few minutes, he was back, leaning in, “Just one kiss? Sister?”

________________________________________

With nothing to do that afternoon, Cheng Xiaonan coaxed Yu Qian into going shopping, saying he needed a few winter clothes.

While trying on clothes at the mall, Cheng Xiaonan changed into a shirt and ambled out of the fitting room, not seeing Yu Qian.

“Sir, are you satisfied with this outfit? The same shirt also comes in dark blue, and it sells very well.”

Cheng Xiaonan frowned and looked around, “Excuse me, where’s the person who came with me?”

“Oh, over there.”

Following the sales associate’s指 (zhǐ - finger), Cheng Xiaonan stepped back and saw Yu Qian, hidden behind a pillar in the mall, talking to a woman.

Perhaps an acquaintance?

When Yu Qian returned, her expression was normal. She only said she had met an old acquaintance.

She started working early and was a native of the Imperial Capital, so meeting one or two acquaintances was normal. Cheng Xiaonan didn’t initially think much of it.

They shopped together, ate dinner, and even made a detour to a go-kart track for a couple of laps.

In the first lap, Cheng Xiaonan was afraid of crashing into Yu Qian, so he yielded, giving up his first-place position and only finishing second.

This was the first time Cheng Xiaonan had lost to a woman in go-karting, and he playfully teased her, a bit unconvinced, “Do you like being on top?”

Yu Qian said, “So-so.”

In the second lap, Cheng Xiaonan got serious. He finished first, and Yu Qian wasn’t far behind, coming in second.

Cheng Xiaonan shamelessly boasted to Yu Qian, “I’m humbled, I’m humbled.”

Throughout the day, Cheng Xiaonan didn’t notice anything amiss with Yu Qian.

He only discovered a clue in the evening.

________________________________________

The two of them were curled up in bed watching variety shows until 11 PM, and Yu Qian surprisingly wasn’t tired. Normally, she would have been asleep by then.

Moreover, the variety show had many funny moments, but her expression didn’t change at all. It was more like she was staring blankly at the screen than watching TV.

Later, Cheng Xiaonan tentatively asked, “Turn off the lights to sleep?”

“Mm.”

Cheng Xiaonan turned off the lights, pulled Yu Qian closer in the darkness, and asked, “Why are you so energetic today? Not tired?”

Yu Qian still gave a single-word reply: “Mm.”

Cheng Xiaonan thought for a while, then suddenly asked, “Was there something wrong with that woman you met this afternoon?”

This time, Yu Qian didn’t make a sound.

So Cheng Xiaonan knew the problem lay with that woman.

He thought about it and suddenly felt a bit annoyed with himself for not being observant enough.

Yu Qian didn’t have that many close old acquaintances. In the past, at school, there was only a bunch of jerks who bullied her. Now the little jerks had grown up into big jerks.

And some suspected big jerk had said something to Yu Qian that made her lose even her sleepiness.

A few days ago at the hospital, Dr. Lin told Cheng Xiaonan that Yu Qian’s mental stress was probably too high. Now that she was relaxing, feeling tired and wanting to sleep was normal and counted as rest. As long as she didn’t show symptoms of excessive sleepiness, there was no need to worry.

Later, he also confirmed with Peter. Peter said that Yu Qian’s sleep was indeed poor when she was abroad, always suffering from insomnia. Sometimes Peter would wake up from sleep, and Yu Qian would still be sitting in the living room, quietly looking at the night, lost in thought.

Cheng Xiaonan had thought then, that was fine too.

Abroad, by Peter’s side, or meeting Han Chu after returning to China, she never felt sleepy. As soon as she was with him, she felt sleepy, which meant she trusted him.

Now, only a few days later, after seeing a woman, well, she was insomniac again.

Cheng Xiaonan sat up, full of unvented frustration, and actually showed a hint of his old delinquent self from his school days: “Did that woman bully you before? What did she say to you today? Tell me, and I’ll beat her head in!”

________________________________________

In the bedroom, there was only moonlight. Half of Cheng Xiaonan’s face was hidden in the darkness, and the moonlight made his skin appear even colder and whiter. His fierce expression made him seem genuinely unapproachable.

Yu Qian watched him for a while, then laughed very softly, “No, she was my deskmate before I transferred schools.”

“...Oh, her.”

That girl wasn’t one of the people who bullied Yu Qian later, but at the crucial moment, she also didn’t help Yu Qian clarify things.

That girl was a victim herself, but it was wrong of her to drag Yu Qian down with her.

So Cheng Xiaonan had no good impression of this person either, and his tone became sharp, “What did she say to you?”

Yu Qian was a bit surprised to meet her former deskmate. The other person greeted her first, and Yu Qian simply nodded.

Later, the woman came over hesitantly, saying she had felt very guilty all these years, especially after hearing what happened to Yu Qian after she transferred schools.

Because of those circumstances, she had taken a year off school and only heard about it after the college entrance exam.

Later, she also heard that Yu Qian went abroad and had followed Yu Qian’s updates. Whenever she heard something bad about Yu Qian, she would feel anxious, but fortunately, Yu Qian always appeared strong in public, seemingly unaffected by any public opinion.

Yu Qian told Cheng Xiaonan that the girl said she had gained some courage from Yu Qian.

Cheng Xiaonan laughed in anger, “What nonsense? She even ‘borrowed’ some courage from you? Why didn’t she stand up in the teacher’s office back then to help you clarify things and give you some courage?”

The person who had endured so much pressure seemed unwilling to dwell on it further.

She quietly looked at the moonlight and simply said, “It’s all in the past.”

Whether she had truly moved on, Cheng Xiaonan didn’t know. He just felt a little annoyed. He pulled her into his arms, his arm encircling her. “I should have been born a few years earlier and been your classmate.”

“What for? To right wrongs for me?”

Cheng Xiaonan’s face was cold as he said that if he had known her earlier, whoever dared to spread rumors in school, he would have taken them down, no matter who it was.

“Didn’t you always want to be a top student? Which top student gets into fights?”

“That’s different.”

Cheng Xiaonan lowered his head and looked at Yu Qian seriously, “Being a top student to found ‘Eleven,’ or being a delinquent to fight violence with violence, depends on when I met you.”

No matter when he met her, putting aside matters of love, he would always be her best partner.

When she needed him, he would always be there.

Yu Qian actually believed this.

She recalled a viewpoint she had heard before and asked Cheng Xiaonan, “But don’t you think, with so many people in school, why was I the only one who got ostracized and cursed? It must have been something I did that made everyone ostracize and curse me. Don’t you think that?”

Cheng Xiaonan let out a heavy “tsk” sound, sarcastically saying, “That sounds exactly like a viewpoint Han Chu would have.”

________________________________________

As the night deepened, Yu Qian still showed no sign of drowsiness.

Cheng Xiaonan played with her hair, “Peter said your sleep wasn’t good when you were abroad, always insomniac. I thought about it, and it makes sense. You always keep so many worries to yourself to digest. When will you ever finish digesting them? If you’re willing, you can actually talk to me about them.”

He said, “Don’t always believe that ‘time heals all’ nonsense. Heals what? If it really healed, those psychologists would have been out of a job long ago.”

Speaking of psychologists, Cheng Xiaonan asked her if she told the doctor everything when she went for psychological counseling before.

Yu Qian shook her head, “Not everything, but some things I did.”

“Okay, so I know less than a psychologist.”

It was strange. Yu Qian had never tried talking to anyone about her heavy concerns. On such an ordinary night, she tentatively started telling Cheng Xiaonan some things.

It was like blowing away thick dust and turning over the box of worries hidden within.

Her opening line was simple: “Do you have nightmares?”

Yu Qian had nightmares; she dreamt a lot.

Sometimes she dreamt of Qu Liwen forcing her to practice her posture, sometimes of the incidents in the teacher’s office, and sometimes of the violence she experienced at school.

Actually, it was strange. Later, the rumors added to her by foreign media were more numerous and more regrettable.

In Yu Qian’s eyes, none of those caused her more sorrow than the ones she experienced at school.

She smiled and said, “Perhaps there’s a first time for everything. Once you’ve experienced it and gained experience, you won’t care as much anymore.”

Just like severely wounded skin, after it scabs and peels off, leaving a scar, it is always a bit thicker than its original state.

Yu Qian in front of the camera was glamorous, full of emotion, always confident and strong.

But in life, she wasn’t. She also possessed a soft heart.

I will always protect her, Cheng Xiaonan thought.

“Cheng Xiaonan.”

“Hmm?”

“Loosen up a bit. You’re hugging too tight; I’m almost being choked to death.”

“...Sorry, keep talking.”

________________________________________

Yu Qian said that among all her experiences, the most gruesome one was when someone used an art knife to slice off the fur and flesh from a mouse and put it in her textbook.

Dried bloodstains, black-gray fur stained with blood, and a metallic, rusty smell.

The mouse’s corpse was in her desk, its head either flattened by someone’s foot or crushed by something, baring its teeth.

Cheng Xiaonan was somewhat influenced by his upbringing. No matter how much he cursed in front of other men, he was always very restrained in front of Yu Qian, rarely swearing.

But even he couldn’t help but curse under his breath when he heard this.

Yu Qian looked puzzled, “What I don’t understand is, how did they do it?”

“What?”

“To disgust me, they personally cut a mouse to death with a knife? And even sliced its flesh? Isn’t that even more disgusting? How did they do it?”

Cheng Xiaonan was stunned for a long time, then suddenly laughed, “You’re right, your perspective is truly unique.”

If she hadn’t gone through all that, Yu Qian would definitely have been a lovely woman.

Perhaps she would have joked with classmates at school, standing under summer trees, holding soda or some other iced drink, laughing freely.

________________________________________

The two chatted late into the night, and Yu Qian finally showed a hint of sleepy fatigue. Cheng Xiaonan spread out the blanket, covering them both, preparing to hold Yu Qian as they slept.

As he leaned in, he met Yu Qian’s scrutinizing gaze in the darkness. He chuckled before explaining, “Sleeping while holding you, doing nothing else. The conversation has been so tragic, if my mind was still full of that, wouldn’t that be too improper? I’m not a pervert.”

Cheng Xiaonan said a lot, but Yu Qian still looked at him the same way.

“What? Don’t believe me?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you.”

The two of them were pressed close under the covers, somewhat like little squirrels or bear cubs huddling together for winter. No matter how the wind and snow rustled outside the window, they had their own warmth.

Yu Qian was good at ruining the mood. She calmly replied to Cheng Xiaonan, saying she didn’t not believe him, it’s just that she could feel he was aroused.

In the darkness, Cheng Xiaonan let out a “tsk.”