The meal has been fully prepared, just waiting for Yunli to sit down and eat.
Faced with this situation for the first time, Yunli felt embarrassed and didn't know how to get along with someone sitting opposite her who she had given up pursuing.
Fu Shi looked at her quietly, the light and shadow passing over his face.
Yunli knew that for him, this was just a meal with his colleagues, which was a very normal thing.
She swallowed and moved at an extremely slow speed. As the cold and emotionless face gradually came closer, time seemed to be put on a speed reducer, and it passed slower and slower.
She walked to the position diagonally opposite Fu Shize and pulled the lunch box that was originally next to him in front of her.
"I can just sit here." Yunli whispered, pulling out the chair and sitting down.
Yunli lowered his head and ate his lunch box.
The people beside him didn't move much, and the two of them didn't speak in tacit agreement.
They get along as usual.
As long as she raised her head, she could see his dark eyebrows.
Yunli was sitting on pins and needles, the emotions of the past few days were flooding back at this moment. She moved her chopsticks and pretended to take out her mobile phone, "My colleagues are looking for me. I will go back to the office to eat."
The atmosphere is a bit stiff.
Fu Shize was silent for a while and then stood up, without directly exposing her lie: "You guys stay here, I've finished eating."
His lunch box was almost untouched, he closed the lid and left the lounge without saying anything.
He should have noticed her discomfort.
He was taking care of her emotions.
Yunli felt a little guilty. After all, the whole thing was just that she gave up her pursuit, and Fu Shi did nothing wrong from beginning to end.
She couldn't get along with him as calmly as Fu Shize, but she also didn't want to be a petty person, causing him to have to give in at every turn for her emotions.
As soon as the door closed, she searched for answers online.
[We are all adults. If you fail in pursuit, you will fail. Be more open-minded!]
[It’s normal for the other person not to like you. There’s no need to worry too much. Just get along as colleagues. There are always colleagues you don’t like in the company, right?]
[Put yourself in the question’s shoes and imagine that your colleagues may also want to socialize and work normally.]
Knew it.
Most people think so, and it’s a commonplace thing that doesn’t go out of style.
Fu Shi is different from her. There are many suitors around him. For him, it is normal for him to refuse to pursue, or for others to give up pursuing.
It's just that she cares too much.
…
As the end of the year approaches, there are more trivial matters in EAW, and many projects have reached the end of the year assessment. Yunli heard He Jiameng complain about the nearly crazy overtime situation recently. As an intern, she also had to borrow information from other departments to sort out information.
The technical department needs to submit a report tomorrow, asking Yunli to complete the final integration, proofreading and typesetting of the materials. Different colleagues were responsible for the materials, and by the time they sent them to her, it was already close to the end of the day.
He Jiameng came to Yunli's workstation after get off work and looked at it: "Do you want to integrate this report? Do you want to work overtime?"
Yunli sat for a day and said tiredly: "Yes..."
He Jiameng encouraged her: "Come on!"
"By the way," she did not forget to remind Yunli before leaving, "I heard from others that there seem to be perverts in the surrounding residential areas. Do you live near here?"
Yunli sounded a little nervous: "What kind of pervert is this?"
"The kind that just wears a thick coat, walks up to you, and—"
"Okay, okay, stop talking." Yunli shook her head quickly.
He Jiameng held the bag and warned: "Then remember not to leave it too late. If it doesn't work, ask someone to pick you up."
"good."
Except for Yunli, everyone else in the HR department was packing up and getting ready to get off work. Yunli couldn't handle the greetings from others before getting off work, so she sneaked into the lounge to make tea in advance.
Opening the door, Yunli saw Fu Shize sitting on the lazy sofa. A video seemed to be playing on his mobile phone. The color of the barrage was somewhat similar to that of Station E.
Before Yunli could see the content clearly, Fu Shi calmly turned off the screen.
Yunli didn't want to repeat the embarrassment she had while eating, so she took the initiative and said, "Aren't you getting off work yet?"
Fu Chize: "What about you?"
Yunli: "Not that fast."
Not wanting to continue the conversation, Yunli filled the hot water and left.
After staying up for three hours, Yunli processed the materials she had received as required. Another colleague said that she hadn't finished it yet and would wait until she got home before sending it to her. Yunli still hasn't received it yet.
Having been staring at the screen for a long time, Yunli lay on the table and closed her eyes to rest, thinking about waiting a little longer.
-
At early nine o'clock, Fu Shize came out of the lounge.
The light in the HR department was still on, so he went over and knocked on the door, but no one answered.
After opening the door, the office seemed empty, but slight breathing could be heard.
Fu Shize came closer and found that Yunli was lying on the table, facing the other direction, and the computer keyboard was pushed by her.
She looks very small, taking up only a small part of the office chair.
Her other hand was still half-holding the mouse, and the earphone in her left ear fell on the table between her ear and elbow because she was lying on her stomach, while the other earphone was still on her right ear.
Fu Shi reached out and picked up the earphone from Yunli's elbow and put it on his left ear.
Soft piano music came from the headphones.
Fu Shi lowered his eyes and looked at Yunli. Her face was small, her eyelashes were tightly fluttering, and she looked well-behaved and harmless.
He stood there quietly, and after a while, he took off the headphones and put them back on the table.
Fu Shi spoke softly, "Yunli."
Yunli remained motionless.
Fu Shi pursed his lips and said again: "Yunli."
Yunli remained motionless.
There was no other way, so Fu Shize had no choice but to reach out and take off the earphone from her right ear, and shouted: "Yun Lili."
Yunli remained motionless.
There was no other sound in the office, except for the few times he deliberately lowered his voice and called her.
Fu Shize didn't want to wake her up, so he leaned down and got close to her right ear.
Before she could speak, Yunli suddenly opened her eyes, looking sleepy. When she saw Fu Shize's face in front of her, she squinted her eyes.
Fu Shize was stunned for a moment, then straightened up silently.
Yunli didn't respond: "Did you call me just now?"
Fu Shize's absent-mindedness only passed for a moment, and now he has returned to his usual indifference: "You are asleep."
When Yunli heard this, her face burned again: "Oh..."
"What's the matter?" Yunli sat up straight.
Fu Shize said frankly: "I saw the lights on here."
"Are you leaving?" Fu Shize returned the earphones to her.
Yunli was a little surprised: "Do you want to go with me?"
Fu Shi nodded.
Yunli felt uncomfortable: "I can just go back by myself..."
Fu Shize: "It's not very safe recently."
Hearing what he said, Yunli hesitated again. After all, personal safety is the most important thing. She lowered her head and thought for a moment: "But I still have to wait for the documents from my colleagues, so why don't you leave first."
Fu Shize: "Waiting for you."
There was no unnecessary emotion in his tone, and he seemed to think that this matter should be taken for granted and was just a piece of cake.
Yunli tried her best not to think too much, but her heart was in a mess.
Fu Shize stood nearby for a while and then left.
When Yunli finished processing the documents and left, he had just turned off the lights when he saw Fu Shize walking out of Xu Qingsong's office opposite.
Fu Shize: "Let's go."
"Um… "
When passing Fu Shize's office, he said "Wait a minute", turned back and took two caps from the solid wood coat rack at the door. They were similar in style and shape, except that one was black and the other was blue.
He put on his blue peaked cap and pressed it down. His hair is not long, and his facial features are clearer after wearing a hat.
"It's cooled down." Fu Shize handed the hat to Yunli.
The hat was a bit too big for Yunli. After putting it on, she adjusted the size and saw their figures reflected on the glass. They were nearly a head apart and looked like two middle school boys.
At night, the temperature in Nanwu dropped to three to four degrees, and the high humidity after the rain intensified the winter chill.
Yunli followed Fu Shize. He put his hands in his pockets and could tell that he was walking easily. Perhaps due to his influence, her mood improved a lot.
The nostalgic moment didn't last long. When Yunli came back to her senses and was already downstairs, Fu Shi nodded towards the apartment and motioned for her to go back.
Yunli said softly: "You should also go to bed early."
Then he walked back as if fleeing.
After the busiest period, EAW ushered in a year-end trip. This year, the venue was a B&B, and several departments traveled at staggered times. The time arranged by the Human Resources Department was Monday and Tuesday of the week after Christmas.
Not long after learning the news, Deng Chuqi called.
"Xia Xia said that you are going to their B&B next Monday and Tuesday, so we should go there early on Friday night." Deng Chuqi said in a cheerful tone, "I just resigned, and Xia Xia and the others are going to help me celebrate my escape from the sea of misery."
Yunli stirred the noodles in the pot, "Will Uncle Xia Xia go?"
"I asked Xia Xia who was there, and it seems that her uncle may not be free. There are a lot of things at the end of the year." Deng Chuqi joked, "Why, if uncle Xia Xia doesn't go, you won't celebrate with me either?"
"That's not what I meant..." Yunli hesitated, turned off the fire on the stove, and poured himself a glass of warm water. After everything was ready, he told everything that had happened before.
Yunli had the foresight to move the phone further away from her. Within a few seconds, Deng Chuqi's voice amplified several times: "Lili! Are you kidding me!! Have you asked him in person? In case he wants to make a date. Yes, what about you!"
Yunli: "Because that's a girl I've known for several years, so it's definitely not me."
Deng Chuqi disagreed: "No, isn't this what others said? You should ask him face to face."
Deng Chuqi's temperament has always been straightforward. Yunli suddenly lost her confidence and said bluntly: "Then I have been chasing him for so long. He has been rejecting me. He has rejected all my invitations."
Yunli's tone was low: "And this happened two weeks ago. He didn't take the initiative to find me in the past two weeks. Maybe he didn't even know that I deleted his WeChat account."
"Damn it." Deng Chuqi blurted out: "Did you delete his WeChat account?"
Yunli: "Well..."
Deng Chuqi: "You are still in the same company, and you may have intersections in your life occasionally. Meeting like this would be a big embarrassing show."
Yunli: "Actually, I feel a little regretful now... How about I add you back secretly?"
Deng Chuqi: "..."
Yunli said to herself: "Maybe he hasn't discovered it yet..."
Deng Chuqi said nothing.
Yunli thought for a moment and then said: "What if he has already discovered it, wouldn't it be even more embarrassing. Forget it."
Deng Chuqi fell into silence for a long time. After a while, she comforted Yun Li: "It's okay to draw a clear line with him. If you don't want to come, just don't come. It's not a big deal."
Yun Li said honestly: "We have drawn a clear line... But I only have a few of you friends in Nanwu, and I don't want this to affect my normal life."
"It's okay." Deng Chuqi tried to ease her anxiety and joked, "Let Xia Xia find two single colleagues to come together..."
Hearing this, Yunli's tone became more relaxed: "You can't look for her, and I won't go if you do."
The atmosphere between the two became much more relaxed. Deng Chuqi started playing outside, and together with Xia Congsheng, they confirmed the arrangements for that day.
Yunli returned to the kitchen and lit the fire. The noodles had become limp and tangled in a pile. She plucked them with chopsticks.
She remembered the scene when Fu Shize sent her home a few days ago.
In the end, she couldn't help but look back.
Fu Shize was still standing in the same place, his slender body seemed to blend into the winter night. The moment she turned back, she unexpectedly ran into his calm and soft eyes.