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Yan Heyu handed the phone back to Wen Di. He then used his own phone to message Xiao Donghan, “Wen Di’s message was a slip of the hand, sent by mistake, don’t take it seriously.”
Xiao Donghan: “If it was sent to me by mistake, then if it was sent to you, it would be sincere?”
Yan Heyu deleted the chat box, having no time to argue with him.
After a brief moment of awkwardness, Wen Di said to Xiao Donghan, “CEO Xiao, I need half an hour to handle something.”
Xiao Donghan replied: “I’ll give you an hour. Talk everything through with him.”
Wen Di didn’t reply to Xiao Donghan again. She looked at Yan Heyu, “Let’s go for a walk. You’re so curious about Jiangcheng, I’ll take you around.”
Regardless of Yan Heyu’s reaction, she walked out first.
If they hadn’t broken up, when he came to Jiangcheng this year, he would have met her parents and seen the place where she grew up.
But now, things were different.
They walked side by side, separated by an unbridgeable distance.
Wen Di had both hands in her trench coat pockets, pondering which way to go. The pavement was damp; it had rained in the afternoon, and the wind was strong, blowing down half-yellow, half-green leaves everywhere.
Yan Heyu matched her pace. He noticed that the trench coats he and Wen Di were wearing today were the same as the ones they wore in London in May.
The weather was similar too—damp and a bit cold.
It was as if, in some unseen way, they were completing the walk they had left unfinished in London that day.
Wen Di looked ahead. “You’re investing in Jiangcheng, and you’ve brought the financial summit to Jiangcheng. I don’t know what other grand projects you have planned, but think twice. In the end, you’ll find it’s all for naught.” She added, “I’m referring to in terms of feelings.”
Yan Heyu turned his face to look at her. “Whether it’s for naught or not, I’ve thought about it.”
After that, he stopped thinking.
He made a mistake and wanted to do something, to atone. He couldn’t find any other suitable way.
“I can’t control you investing in Jiangcheng, but don’t go to my house again in the future.”
Yan Heyu was silent for a moment, then agreed.
What Wen Di was going to say next was also the reason she asked him out. “Don’t make things difficult for my dad in any business, don’t put pressure on him. What’s between us, don’t involve my family.”
“How could I? I wouldn’t.”
“I hope you’ll stick to your word.”
Wen Di slowed her pace. Not far ahead was Jiangcheng’s food street.
Jiangcheng’s city center looked large, but it didn’t seem that big either.
“If you have anything to explain, explain it clearly tonight. I don’t know if you think I’m unwilling to turn back because you didn’t explain clearly enough back then. Let’s talk calmly tonight, and once we’re done,” she finally looked at him, “Yan Heyu, we’ll be done.”
Yan Heyu stopped. They were right under a streetlamp.
Their two shadows overlapped, her shadow cast diagonally across him.
Regarding the engagement, he had nothing to defend. A mistake was a mistake.
But one thing, he wanted to say, “Wen Di, after the engagement, I didn’t intend to keep it from you forever, to make you...” be the other woman.
Some words, he couldn’t bring himself to say.
“How could such a thing be kept a secret? My family’s company has a partnership with yours, your mother and my mother are alumni, and Shen Tang is your best friend. They might not know about my engagement for ten days or half a month, but they’d surely find out within two or three months.”
That noon, on the day of the engagement, he came back to talk to her about breaking up. When he couldn’t bring himself to say the words, he knew that all paths ahead were dead ends. The only way was to break up with her.
But he still couldn’t let go.
After that, everything spiraled out of control.
Wen Di kept her head turned, looking at the wet fallen leaves on the roadside.
When the wind blew, withered leaves were swept and ran forward a few times.
“You think, when you broke up with your first love Jiang Yunxing, it didn’t kill you, so breaking up with me is just a simple matter.”
“Wen Di, if you had said that when we first broke up, I would have understood.” That’s why he never explained back then; she wouldn’t have believed him anyway.
“But now, at this point, how much you mean to me, you really don’t need to mock me or belittle yourself anymore.”
Yan Heyu paused, controlling his tone. “What you just said is your own thought.”
He had never thought that way. He knew breaking up with her would be harder, much harder.
But no matter how difficult, it would eventually pass.
This was his thought when he was making a choice between feelings and interests at that time.
Another gust of wind swirled past.
The leaf from before was swept into the puddle below the curbstone, now completely still.
“Wen Di, I didn’t deliberately not consider you. At that time, I wanted to make a clean break but couldn’t do it quickly. The engagement involved too many interests, and I had to sort them out little by little before resolving it.”
Before he could even start to resolve it, Tian Qinglu went to find her.
“I was clear in my heart that even after the engagement was called off, you would break up with me once you found out I had been engaged to someone else. But I still held a sliver of hope, wanting a future with you.”
Greed, selfishness, ruthlessness, fantasy, meanness, self-deception.
All the negative traits that others had, he had more of.
“As for the engagement, my family didn’t force me. There was no ‘no other choice.’ It was my own desire to share some of the burden for my father and the Yan family, to consider things more long-term. Sometimes, wealth is yours today, but not necessarily tomorrow. I’m used to being prepared for danger in times of peace. Now, I don’t think about it so much.” More accurately, he was willing to let go of some interests.
Wen Di didn’t interrupt him, listening quietly.
“He Yan asked me if I regretted the engagement. If I hadn’t gotten engaged, I wouldn’t be sure I had found something more important.”
But it was too late.
After a few seconds of silence, Yan Heyu said, “I’m trying hard now to become someone who isn’t so bad.”
“Then I wish your future partner encounters you when you are a good man.” Wen Di pointed to the intersection ahead: “Turn left for the food street, turn right for the commercial street. The night view is nice. Mr. Yan, if you’ll excuse me now.”
She gave a slight nod and returned the way she came.
On the food street, there was a restaurant she liked, which also served dishes he loved. Before they broke up, she had planned it all: once he came to Jiangcheng to meet her parents, she would take him to check out each restaurant on the food street.
The commercial street on the right was suitable for couples to stroll hand-in-hand at night.
She planned to stick close to him, shop around, and buy him a few pairs of cufflinks and order two watches.
However detailed her plans were then, the cut now felt just as sharp.
She returned to the restaurant where she was meeting Xiao Donghan an hour and ten minutes later.
Xiao Donghan was looking at documents, his gold-rimmed glasses resting on the corner of the table, not on his face.
Seeing her sit down, he lifted his eyelids. “Did you talk it through with him?”
Wen Di put down her bag and poured a glass of warm water. “That’s my business.”
No need to explain to you.
Xiao Donghan closed his documents. “It used to be your business, now it’s my business too.”
He checked his watch. “I waited for you for an hour and fifteen minutes, sitting here doing nothing. The longest I’ve ever waited for someone was twenty minutes, and that was for my grandpa.”
He said, “You’re my ancestor now.”
Wen Di: “...”
She suddenly laughed.
This person always said unexpected things.
Xiao Donghan showed her his phone’s chat interface. “You retracted the message. How do you plan to retract how I felt when I saw it?”
Wen Di looked him in the eye. He wasn’t wearing glasses, so she didn’t know if he could see her clearly. “Am I the first woman to send you ‘thinking of you’?”
Xiao Donghan picked up his glasses and put them on. “When others sent it, I didn’t care. I saw it but felt nothing.”
With his glasses on, his eyes were unfathomable. Wen Di calmly responded, “Are you planning to cling to me?”
Xiao Donghan: “If I don’t cling to you, who will I cling to? I can’t cling to Yan Heyu.”
Wen Di sipped some water. “Didn’t I say you have a chance to pursue me?”
Xiao Donghan handed her the stack of documents. “I also said I don’t accept women who don’t have me in their hearts.” He reiterated, “Do you insist on making me live in Yan Heyu’s shadow?”
He nodded his chin towards the documents. “Take a look. You have two and a half hours for questions.”
Wen Di opened the documents. “Didn’t you say it was only two hours before? Why is there an extra half an hour now?”
Xiao Donghan: “That half an hour has nothing to do with you. I waited for you for over an hour, so I’m compensating myself with half an hour.”
“...”
________________________________________
At eleven o’clock at night, Wen Di finally returned home.
After taking a bath, she poured a glass of red wine and sat at her computer desk to continue working.
She had chatted with Xiao Donghan for more than two and a half hours. There were too many questions she needed him to answer. A stack of A4 papers: the front side contained the information compiled by Secretary Lu, and the back side was where she had noted down her confusions, which she then filled with dense notes after consulting Xiao Donghan.
She had a total of twelve questions, and information for four more questions that she hadn’t had time to look at.
Xiao Donghan said that her free Q&A time was used up. For further questions, she needed to contact him proactively and invite him to dinner.
Wen Di organized the answers to the first eight questions in a document.
After typing the last word, it was already 12:30 AM.
She saved her work and closed her laptop.
Behind desire lie greedy human nature and lonely souls.
This was a casual remark from her second aunt during lunch.
Before going to bed, Wen Di habitually checked her phone messages.
Her older cousin had sent her a message fifteen minutes ago: [We have half a day off tomorrow afternoon. I’ll treat you to lunch.]
Wen Di: [Asleep yet?]
Older cousin: [Asleep, you woke me up.]
Wen Di teased: [Then you shouldn’t say you were just about to sleep.]
The older cousin retracted the message, re-edited it: [Just about to sleep.]
Wen Di laughed, no longer teasing him. [I’ll pick you up at school tomorrow noon. Call your brother, and you two can treat me.]
Older cousin: [He’s busy. He has a date with his girlfriend.]
[...Alright then. Good night.]
The older cousin didn’t reply again.
The next morning, Wen Di woke up naturally.
It was the weekend today, her father wasn’t going to the company, and the secretary’s office was also on holiday, so she had nothing much to do there. She spent the morning at home working on the script framework.
Her alarm rang at 11:30 AM, reminding her to pick up her older cousin from school.
Grandpa saw her dressed neatly, car keys in hand. “Meeting a friend?”
“No, I have lunch planned with my cousin.” Wen Di said, “I’ve told the auntie not to cook for me at noon.”
Grandpa casually asked, “Where are you eating?”
“The food street, a very popular restaurant.”
Wen Di drove to the school gate, arriving just as school was letting out.
In the crowd, her cousin’s height stood out.
She rolled down the car window and waved to her cousin.
Her older cousin resembled her ex-uncle-in-law, both in looks and personality.
After getting into the car, Wen Di asked her cousin, “Why did you think of treating me to lunch? Usually, I treat you two.”
Her older cousin buckled his seatbelt and said, “My brother gave you a piece of chocolate, and I’ll treat you to a meal.”
Wen Di understood; it was to comfort her after her breakup. They all thought she and Qi Mingche had only broken up in late August. They still thought she had come back this time to heal from heartbreak.
“Qi Mingche and I had an amicable breakup.”
Older cousin: “You don’t need to comfort me, I’m not heartbroken.”
Wen Di laughed and handed him her phone, asking him to make a reservation online now.
Her older cousin didn’t take her phone, using his own to make the reservation. “I said I’m treating today.” He had plenty of money on his phone; half of it went to support his brother’s dating life, but he still had a lot left over each month.
Wen Di said, “I don’t eat much, pick a restaurant you like.”
Her older cousin ignored her and still chose the restaurant Wen Di frequented.
He took a number; it showed twenty-plus people ahead in the queue.
This restaurant was never without a queue.
“Is Mom still asleep?”
Wen Di shook her head. “Not yet. She only gets one day off a week, so it’s rare for her to sleep in.”
Older cousin: “She didn’t sleep well the night before.”
“How do you know?”
“She said so herself. Said she was dealing with her first love that Friday night, and she drank a bit too much herself, so she didn’t sleep well due to a headache.”
Wen Di glanced at her cousin. “Second Aunt told you that?”
The older cousin’s expression was calm: “What’s wrong with that? Who doesn’t have a first love?”
Wen Di asked, “What do you think?”
“Think about what?”
“Guan Xiangmu came to Jiangcheng to find Second Aunt,” Wen Di explained, “Guan Xiangmu is Second Aunt’s first love.”
“As long as Mom’s happy, I have no other opinion.”
Wen Di said no more about Guan Xiangmu and her second aunt, instead discussing lighter topics.
There was no parking available on the food street, so she parked her car in the shopping mall’s parking lot across the street, and she and her cousin walked over.
Her older cousin checked his phone. “Probably have to wait half an hour.”
Wen Di: “No problem, let’s wait. Anyway, I have nothing to do this afternoon. After dinner, I’ll take you for a drive.”
On the first floor of the restaurant, there was a waiting area with several tables and chairs, offering tea and snacks.
After Wen Di entered, she paused.
Her older cousin looked at her feet; there was nothing there, so she couldn’t have twisted her ankle.
At a table against the wall in the waiting area sat Yan Heyu and Guan Xiangmu.
Yan Heyu was the first to see Wen Di. Guan Xiangmu followed his gaze, but what he saw was the tall boy in a school uniform next to Wen Di.
Yan Heyu had heard from Wen Di before that several restaurants on the food street served delicious food. Today, after finishing their morning work, he and Guan Xiangmu drove over.
Now, he and Guan Xiangmu had the most in common, and Guan Xiangmu was generally interested in the places he went.
Wen Di didn’t greet them. She and her cousin sat down at a table near the door, with their backs to them.
Guan Xiangmu said, “I shouldn’t have come today.”
He finally saw Wen Qizhen’s son. He didn’t know if it was the older or younger of the twins.
On the child’s face, he could see Qizhen’s demeanor and appearance, but on closer inspection, he also resembled the child’s father.
Yan Heyu said, “You don’t need to lecture me anymore.”
Sometimes, he seemed to see his own future in Guan Xiangmu, but he was also unwilling to accept it.
His phone vibrated. Kang Bo was calling him.
He was reporting that two projects related to the Jiang family had been suspended.
Yan Heyu: “Hmm, no amount of pleading will help.”
“Okay, I understand.”
Guan Xiangmu asked, “Are you serious about this?”
Yan Heyu hung up the phone and said, “I gave them a chance.”
________________________________________
The Jiang family’s two projects were suddenly halted. After the project managers failed to coordinate through their connections, they had no choice but to report back to headquarters.
Only Jiang Yunxing’s uncle in the Jiang family was involved in business, serving as the group’s helmsman.
He was infuriated for a long time after hearing the news.
After calming down, he felt it shouldn’t be so.
Yan Heyu shouldn’t have directly attacked his projects without a word. When he cooperated with Xiao Donghan, he didn’t know that Xiao’s competitor was precisely Yan Heyu.
The uncle called Jiang Yunxing, asking her if she knew about this.
Jiang Yunxing said, “I know.”
“You know and you still continue to cooperate with Xiao Donghan?”
The uncle pressed his temples in anger. “Yunxing, what on earth are you thinking?”
“Nothing. I just don’t want to listen to him for everything, and have to yield to his interests for everything.”
“You child, you’ve wasted all these years. Don’t you understand the law of the jungle? Which shrimp willingly gets eaten by a fish? Is this a matter of willingness?”
The uncle didn’t want to argue with her anymore. “Yan Heyu hasn’t brought up his father, so let’s not involve your dad either. Company matters, we’ll resolve ourselves. Don’t complain to your dad either.”
Jiang Yunxing didn’t say anything, picking up her coffee to drink.
“Yunxing?”
“I’m listening.”
“What’s the reason you want to continue cooperating with Xiao Donghan?”
Jiang Yunxing put down her coffee cup and told her uncle the truth, “I wanted to find you a successful son-in-law.”
The uncle was both angry and amused. He couldn’t enjoy that blessing. Even if his daughter was willing to marry Xiao Donghan, Xiao Donghan might not marry her. Xiao Donghan was someone who listened to no one. Back then, Old Master Xiao had to put in so much effort to barely control him. There was no way he would accept an arranged marriage.
“Yunxing, go and explain clearly to Yan Heyu. Clear up the misunderstanding, don’t delay the project progress. Do you know how much we lose if it stops for just one day?”
Jiang Yunxing responded to her uncle with silence.
The uncle sighed helplessly. He knew what his niece had in mind back then, thinking Yan Heyu would make concessions to her interests.
His niece thought it was just a small grab of Yan Heyu’s market, and he was making a fuss.
But she miscalculated.
He pleaded earnestly, “The project cannot stop. If it does, we’ll face breach of contract. Will Yan Heyu still make concessions for you? Think clearly, the past is the past, and now is now.”
Jiang Yunxing stood up, taking her cup to refill her coffee.
She would never do anything that trampled on her self-respect.
She told her uncle, “Don’t expect me to go looking for him.”
“Then who’s suitable to go? If someone else goes, he might not give face. Besides, he had someone notify you, but you insisted on confronting him.”
The uncle knew she was currently in Jiangcheng, and Yan Heyu was also there.
“Isn’t the financial forum opening on Thursday? You’ll definitely run into him at the banquet. Explain the misunderstanding to him in person. Our family can’t be friends with him, but I don’t want to add another opponent.”
“I’m busy.” Jiang Yunxing hung up the phone.
Evidently, she simply wouldn’t listen to her uncle’s advice and had no intention of seeking reconciliation with Yan Heyu.
Let the project be suspended, she’d see how long he could keep it suspended.
________________________________________
On Wednesday evening, people from the financial sector gathered in Jiangcheng.
Wen Di was at home petting her cat when she received a call from Xiao Donghan, who said he was free that night.
She still had four unanswered questions from the material she needed his help with. “You pick the restaurant.”
Xiao Donghan wasn’t familiar with Jiangcheng. He had been in Jiangcheng for over half a month, and other than the hotel’s buffet, all his other meals were for business.
He said, “You’re treating, so the guest follows the host’s preference.”
Wen Di asked him, “Have you been to a river view restaurant?”
“Pretty much every day.”
Wen Di decided to take him to another high-end Western restaurant, with an elegant ambiance, suitable for discussing work.
She called to reserve a table and sent the address to Xiao Donghan.
The restaurant was very close to Xiao Donghan’s hotel; she specifically chose this one for his convenience.
When she arrived, Xiao Donghan was already waiting for her.
His preference had shifted from coffee to water lately, possibly because of the daily social drinking, which he couldn’t stand.
She sat down and told him to order. “I thought you had a banquet tonight.”
“There’s a cocktail party tomorrow night.” Xiao Donghan ordered her meal as well, then closed the menu and handed it to the waiter.
On the table was a glasses case and an exquisite envelope. He pushed both towards Wen Di. “The invitation is for you, the glasses are on loan to you. Return them after use.”
Wen Di asked, “What invitation?”
Then realized it was a silly question. The opening tomorrow would naturally be the financial forum.
“I found a corner seat for you. If you want to write about business warfare, you can go and listen.”
Since it was a back seat, he lent her a pair of glasses.
It was his spare pair, the same style as the one on his nose, also with thin gold frames.
Wen Di was a little nearsighted and had never worn prescription glasses. Her eyesight wasn’t exceptionally good, but it wasn’t bad either.
“I probably won’t need the glasses.”
Xiao Donghan: “Keep them as a backup.”
Wen Di thanked him and put away the glasses and invitation. Before their food arrived, she took out the documents she needed him to clarify from her bag and asked him to look at them first.
Xiao Donghan took the documents but then nodded slightly to her diagonally behind, “What a coincidence.”
Wen Di turned her head and saw Yan Heyu and his group of childhood friends. His gaze swept between her and Xiao Donghan. Walking beside him was Jiang Chengyu.
This Western restaurant was the top choice in the vicinity. It was not surprising that she chose this place to treat Xiao Donghan, and he was also entertaining friends here.
Wen Di greeted Jiang Chengyu, “CEO Jiang, long time no see.”
After exchanging pleasantries, Jiang Chengyu said, “Tang Tang also asked me to bring you something. I’ll give it to you when I have time.”
“Okay, thank you.”
Their group walked past, and the two tables of people didn’t interact again after that.
The meal was quite relaxed. Wen Di resolved the remaining four confusing questions, and after Xiao Donghan’s serious explanations, her thoughts became even clearer.
However, she ate rather slowly. Xiao Donghan had finished his meal ten minutes ago, while she was still eating.
Xiao Donghan leaned back, holding his water glass as if it were red wine.
Half a glass of water later, there was still food on her plate.
He looked at her. “I’ve seen someone who eats slowly; he had dentures. Why do you eat so slowly too?”
Wen Di: “...”
She choked.
She put down her fork, quickly covered her mouth with a napkin, and turned her face away.
When she composed herself, “Xiao Donghan, don’t say anything when I’m eating next time.”
“Apologies.” Xiao Donghan didn’t mean to imply anything; he just didn’t expect her to react so strongly.
Wen Di took a sip of water to clear her throat. “My teeth couldn’t be more real.” Qu Pei used to say her teeth could endorse toothpaste without filters.
“Eat faster.”
“I’m not eating anymore. I’m full.”
Xiao Donghan reached out his long arm, picked up the fork, and brought it to her hand. He apologized again, “I wasn’t talking about you.”
Wen Di didn’t take it and put down her napkin. “I’m going to the restroom.”
As soon as she left, someone sat down in her seat.
Yan Heyu saw the fork still in his hand and said, “I remember CEO Xiao saying he wouldn’t go out of his way to pursue someone.”
There were still roasted tomatoes on Wen Di’s plate. Xiao Donghan speared one and slowly ate it, replying, “I am indeed going out of my way, but I’m not pursuing. There’s still a difference.”
Yan Heyu: “...”
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