Gaoling Flower
Text/Lishajiang
Cheng Kou was wearing a simple and elegant commuter outfit, standing on the roadside waiting for the bus. Calculating the time, it was exactly ten minutes before the next bus arrived. Yesterday was her first time taking the bus home, and she changed buses twice, which took a total of one hour, forty-seven minutes and twenty-nine seconds.
Thinking about how it would be the same every day at work, she felt really sorry for herself.
Originally, she drove her family's dingy old SUV to work, but she got off to a bad start on her first day at work a few days ago and almost rear-ended someone. Mother Cheng was so scared that she immediately confiscated the car keys.
Cheng Kou was reduced to taking the bus to get off work every day. At around 6am and 5pm, the bus was filled with office workers like her. Most of the women were dressed in bright and beautiful clothes, and the men were also in suits. But such a group of people had to squeeze together like sardines, and they could stand steadily in the car without the help of any objects. It was simply miserable.
But it was Cheng Kou's own fault. She had always insisted that the car accident that did not happen was due to waking up too early and being sleepy, and she even hid it from her parents. In fact, only she knew that she only glanced at the figure of the person answering the phone in a white BMW parked on the street, and she was distracted and almost hit the rear end of the car in front.
Cheng Kou was not sure whether that man was Su Yan, whom she had long admired, but just a similar profile was enough to influence her to this extent.
Cheng Kou has had a crush on Su Yan since her freshman year of high school, and it has been ten years now.
Even she was surprised at her own long-lasting love for a classmate from the neighboring class whom she knew little about and had not seen for seven years. Even so, the silent and handsome figure in her heart never faded.
Cheng Kou had been looking for the white car on the street whenever she passed by it these past few days, but to no avail. She thought it might just have happened to be parked there that day. She was thinking of giving up, but she didn't expect that she was so lucky that day that she really encountered it.
The two cars passed each other for only a dozen seconds. This time, Cheng Kou opened his eyes wide. He first noticed the hand holding the phone, with long, slender fingers and distinct joints. Then he moved his eyes to his eyes that were like stars, and was surprised to find the cold anger hidden under them.
Before Cheng Kou could see clearly, the bus had left the stationary BMW some distance behind, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not see clearly.
Su Yan sat in the driver's seat, and the warm breeze blowing in from the rolled-down window did not dispel his remaining anger at all. But he was Su Yan after all, and the tolerance he had been taught since childhood allowed him to maintain a superficial calm at this moment.
It was unknown what the person on the other end of the phone said. Su Yan laughed in anger and said slowly, "As you wish, Qin Shan, you take care of yourself."
Not wanting to hear the other party continue to explain, Su Yan was very frugal with his words and said, "I'm hanging up."
Then he threw his phone onto the passenger seat, ignoring the deafening ringtone. After taking a deep breath, he pulled out a royal blue velvet box from his suit pocket, frowned, and threw it onto the back seat, out of sight, out of mind.
Cheng Kou kept thinking about Su Yan's appearance all the way. In his impression, Su Yan was always calm, rarely smiled, and was gentle and polite to others, but he had great prestige among his classmates. They envied and admired him, so they would not get particularly close to him, and he always kept to himself.
Cheng Kou was so absorbed in thought that she didn't even hear someone calling her name three times.
Shen Yinran trotted a few steps and patted her shoulder vigorously, "Hey!"
Cheng Kou was startled and gave her a reproachful look, "You'll scare me to death sooner or later!"
Shen Yinran smiled evilly and deliberately misinterpreted her meaning, "Koubao, I think you must be suffering from another disease, such as lovesickness."
Cheng Kou didn't want to pay attention to her. The two of them entered the gate one by one and punched in at the door.
Shen Yinran was Cheng Kou's roommate from college to graduate school, and is also her current colleague. After graduating from college, Cheng Kou continued her postgraduate studies at the same university, and then interned at the best magazine in City S. One year after becoming a regular employee, she decided to resign and return to City C.
To be fair, she had lived a very good life in S City in recent years. If her mother hadn't urged her, used all kinds of persuasion and threats on her, she would have really settled down there.
Less than a month after she returned to her hometown, City C, she quickly secured a new job at a well-established magazine company in City C. It wasn't that Cheng Kou had no other choice, but the Nanshan Magazine had a good reputation, and its magazine sales were among the best in the city. Besides, she had good friends by her side, so it became Cheng Kou's first choice.
Cheng Kou and Shen Yinran arrived ten minutes early. Taking advantage of this time, they both opened WeChat, clicked into their Moments, and first browsed through the content posted by others.
Either they show off their love or show off their baby, Cheng Kou feels a little tired and unloved.
Shen Yinran was probably in the same situation, and she shouted angrily, "Show off, show off, show off! Are you going to give single guys some time to gain a sense of presence?"
Cheng Kou smiled. Shen Yinran's straightforward and impetuous personality really suited her taste. Thinking that she hadn't posted a circle of friends for a long time, she took a photo of the desk in front of her, added some text, and clicked send.
Soon, her post about “a new beginning” received several likes, and her old classmates who she hadn’t contacted for a long time teased her - Are you finally willing to come back
To be honest, the speed at which these people liked the posts made Cheng Kou wonder if they were sitting by their phones 24 hours a day, poking at the three words "friends circle" over and over again.
During work hours, a colleague handed over a folder, saying it was a task assigned by the editor-in-chief. This project was originally done by someone else, but before Cheng Kou came to the company, that senior resigned, so the editor-in-chief handed this task to her.
Cheng Kou turned to the first page and prepared to study the information carefully. Just as she started, Shen Yinran slid over to her side, saying with envy, "Koubao, you are so lucky. This Mr. Su is one of the most sought-after bachelors in City C."
"Oh?" Cheng Kou was not very interested and asked casually, "Is it the Su from the Twin Towers?"
"Yes." Shen Yinran explained to her, "Both brothers in this family are tall, rich and handsome. The elder brother, Su Lei, is known as the Big Su, but unfortunately he is already married and has children. The young Su, Su Yan, is single, but according to rumors..."
Cheng Kou grabbed her arm and asked in disbelief, "Su... Yan?"
She exerted some strength in a hurry. Shen Yinran felt pain and quickly flipped through the information and pointed at the photo to show her, "Look, that's him."
The ink-printed photo was of Su Yan, whom Cheng Kou had passed by in the morning.
Cheng Kou arrived at the Su's Twin Towers on time at the appointed time. She identified herself to the front desk and someone took her to the top floor to check the new list of issues with Su Yan's secretary.
Su Yan's secretary was young and pretty. She frowned slightly when she saw Cheng Kou. After learning the reason for the change, she politely and distantly asked Cheng Kou to wait in the rest area. She knocked on the door and came into Su Yan's office to report the matter to Su Yan. It was rare for Su Yan to accept an interview with a magazine. The person who had been negotiated before was quite famous in the industry. Even if they changed the person at the last minute, Su would definitely not want to let an unknown new reporter do it.
Su Yan was silent for a few seconds, "Has the person arrived?"
The secretary nodded and said, "I'm waiting outside."
Su Yan looked out through the one-way viewing glass and saw the figure sitting outside in an orderly manner. Her long black hair was loose, with bangs that made her look younger, and her face was plain and bright. He was unusually silent for a moment, and then said, "No need to change the person, let's go with her."
Cheng Kou was very nervous while waiting. She sat on the sofa for half an hour, repeatedly proofreading the interview outline, fearing any mistakes. She also drank a whole paper cup of water brought by Su Yan's secretary, but she still couldn't calm down. After all, she was only separated from Su Yan by a wall, so how could she not feel nervous
Soon after the internal phone rang, the secretary came over and said that Su Yan was done with his work. She said nothing more and led her to the general manager's office. Cheng Kou followed behind her, her fingers unconsciously grasping the interview manuscript, and the edges of the good paper were wrinkled by her grip. She always cherished the pages of books, but at this moment she had no time to care about them.
"Mr. Su, this is Miss Cheng from Nanshan Magazine." The secretary dutifully brought her in and left the room at Su Yan's signal.
Cheng Kou was so nervous that she was at a loss. She knew Su Yan was staring at her, but she just couldn't look him in the eye.
"Ms. Cheng, please take a seat." Only after hearing Su Yan's pleasant and polite voice did Cheng Kou muster up all her courage to raise her head and meet his gaze.
This time Cheng Kou really saw the face that was unclear in the morning. He had not changed much. His handsomeness had become more steady. His pair of black eyes as thick as ink were still as cold as they were ten years ago, as if they had never been stained with a smile.
Seeing that Cheng Kou did not move for a long time, Su Yan frowned slightly, then suddenly relaxed. He got up from the chair and stood up.
At this moment, the phone on his desk rang, waking up the stunned Cheng Kou and breaking the subtle atmosphere in the room.
"Sorry, it's a work call." Su Yan nodded slightly to her. Cheng Kou seemed to see a very faint smile across the corners of his lips, which disappeared so quickly that it made people doubt the authenticity of the memory.
The call lasted for 20 minutes. It was the first time Cheng Kou saw Su Yan at work. It sounded complicated, but he was still able to handle it with ease. This was very similar to him when he was the monitor ten years ago and helped the teacher handle class affairs, but there was something different.
Cheng Kou suddenly realized that this was the power of time. The handsome and indifferent boy has now grown into such a calm and cold person.
After Su Yan put down the phone, he spoke to her in a calm and gentle tone, "I'm afraid it won't work today. I have a meeting later. I'll ask my secretary to make another appointment with you."
"Oh, OK." Cheng Kou nodded in agreement. It was already past five o'clock, and her mother was going to host a banquet at home today, and she had specifically told her not to be absent. So she didn't want to work overtime today, and... she wanted to see Su Yan again. She and he were strangers, and such opportunities to meet were rare. She felt lucky to have an extra one.
It’s just that Su Yan has to attend a meeting after get off work. The president is really busy...
Cheng Kou turned and walked outside, but unexpectedly he heard his clear voice behind him.
"Cheng Kou, wait a moment."
Cheng Kou turned around in surprise, only to see Su Yan adjusting his tie, walking out from behind the desk and standing beside her.
"I'll take you down."
"Oh, thank you..." Cheng Kou responded dazedly. They were too close, so close that she could see his thick, curly eyelashes and the eyes as deep as a pool of water just by raising her eyes.
Cheng Kou followed him out of the office door, and heard voices when they were a few steps away from the tea room. When they got closer, Su Yan suddenly stopped. Cheng Kou didn't understand why, so he also stopped.
The door of the tea room was ajar, and perhaps no one inside noticed. Cheng Kou didn't want to eavesdrop, but those words were clearly and uncontrollably transmitted into her ears.
Employee A who started the topic: "Boss Su's scandal is on the entertainment page again. Boss Su never has a girlfriend. Is it true that he likes men as rumored?"
Employee B, who is cautious but can't help gossiping, said: "Shh, stop talking nonsense. If someone hears you, will you still want your job? Although, I also think that Mr. Su is a gay. His aura is too obvious..."
Employee C who tried hard to expose the news: "Have you heard that President Xiao Su and President Rong of Rong Corporation are a couple..."
Employee D, who feels regretful and sad: "Boss Su's aloof and abstinent temperament is so admirable. Why are all the tall, rich and handsome men gay?"
Su Yan was obviously used to it, not even frowning. Cheng Kou stood beside him, feeling mixed emotions. She glanced at his expressionless face, and after the initial shock, she felt embarrassed. What the Su employees were talking about was the sensitive topic of Su Yan's sexual orientation. Imagine that the person you like only likes men, and even the only fantasy is broken, it is really a tragedy with no way out.
She wanted to kill herself rather than stay here with him and listen to other people gossip about him.
Obviously, she likes him so much.
Could this world please be a little kinder to her