40
In the bathroom, Meng Shuyu quickly covered the speaker of his mobile phone with one hand, turned down the volume with the other hand, and looked around hurriedly.
I finally breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that several bathroom stalls were empty.
I received a new message in front of the washbasin just now. I wanted to press the voice-to-text button, but my hands were still wet from fresh washing, and the touch screen was not sensitive, so I just clicked it and it played.
Zhou Jun's name has been called out. If there is a cleaning lady at this time, at least three versions of the story about her and Zhou Jun will spread in Sendai tomorrow.
Meng Shuyu let out a long sigh and turned his attention back to the message. He gradually became distracted as he thought about what Chen Xing said about "the next thing".
When they came back from the supermarket last Saturday, Zhou Jun cooked a meal for her in a nice and gentle manner as usual, but she still didn't give him a good look.
On Sunday, Zhou Jun continued to come to her house to report, and she continued to be on edge.
After two days of this cycle, she lay in bed last night thinking about all sorts of things, and always felt that something was wrong.
She felt really good when she confronted him, fought back, and saw him get humiliated.
But after that excitement, just like after a farce is over, the surroundings become quiet, leaving only fatigue and the question of "why did I have to make such a fuss?" - After so many days, the initial anger and hatred subsided a little, and she suddenly felt a little confused.
For example, tonight, she found that Zhou Jun would look at her every few minutes, as if he was afraid that she would leave without saying a word.
She was feeling happy just a moment ago - do you also feel scared sometimes
Then she asked herself again - but how could she have noticed him looking at her every few minutes if she hadn't looked at him
Two conflicting emotions pulled at her, making her upset.
So just now she sent a message to Chen Xing without any context: I feel it’s so boring to be with Zhou Jun now.
Then Chen Xing asked her if she had done anything to Zhou Jun.
Does her feeling that “it’s so boring” mean she is “boring” to Zhou Jun
At the beginning, when she told Zhou Jun to "pursue her if he wants", she wanted to see what other tricks he could play, and wanted to suppress him to vent her anger. Now that Zhou Jun has stopped playing tricks and is just so obedient, she suddenly thought of -
If one day in the future, when she gets used to Zhou Jun like this, and he gives up pursuing her, will she feel relieved or will she be sad again
Just like when she was playing truth or dare that day, she drank water as soon as she felt something was wrong. She drank so much water that she didn't even know if the truth in her mouth was mixed with water. Now she seemed unable to answer this question.
Not being able to answer means it's unsafe, which means there's a possibility that the pleasure she's having now is an overdraft and she'll have to pay it back one day.
I don't know either, maybe I should just calm down recently. - After typing this in the message box, Meng Shuyu picked up his bag and walked out.
He paused at the door and looked back.
The lights in Zhou Jun's office were off and no one was there.
Zhou Jun stood behind a wall around a corner, listening to the clatter of high heels on the tiled floor that gradually faded away, each sound bringing up an echo so empty that it made people feel uneasy.
Until the sound completely disappeared, the voice-controlled lights in the corridor went out. Except for the indicator light of the emergency exit, there was no light around, and even the shadows were swallowed by the darkness.
The whole person is like being trapped in a black hole of the universe, unable to see, hear, or sense the existence of "existence".
Zhou Jun stood at the foot of the wall with his hands hanging down. He didn't know how long he had been there when the phone in his palm vibrated.
Meng Shuyu took the initiative to send the first non-work message in so many days: You don’t have to pick me up recently. I’m very busy at the end of the month and I want to concentrate on work.
Every autumn rain brings a chill. Several rains have fallen one after another, and as October has passed and November has arrived, the chill of late autumn in Hangzhou has become even stronger.
On windy days, the whole park is filled with dead leaves, which float to the ground in pieces and are then swept to the sides of the road by humans. Looking around, there is a thick pile of leaves, and the whole scene is bleak.
From preparing for the business review and analysis meeting at the end of the month to implementing the improvement plans of various departments proposed at the analysis meeting at the beginning of the month, Meng Shuyu was busy for two consecutive work weeks. He originally planned to return to Nanhuai on the first weekend of November.
As a result, as soon as I opened my eyes on Friday morning, I received a message from Mr. Cai, saying that he would accompany his granddaughter to Hangzhou to attend an event this weekend, and would also come to visit Sendai.
Meng Shuyu immediately gave up his plan to go home, and as soon as he arrived at the company, he started to cram. He informed everyone that President Cai would be coming to inspect at the weekend, and asked all departments to make preparations in advance.
Although she is Mr. Cai's person, Mori Dai's indecency is also the result of her work. No one can avoid the vulgarity of doing superficial work.
After a busy day with his mind full of the "lawsuit", Meng Shuyu finally had some free time towards evening. He sat quietly in his seat, thinking silently about what else needed to be checked and supplemented.
It was at this time that Tang Xuanxuan quietly walked to her workstation and said to her, "Sister Shuyu, I didn't feel comfortable disturbing you since you've been busy all day... You should know that today is CEO Zhou's birthday, right?"
The rain in Mengshu stopped.
It was like being suddenly pulled from one world to another, and a vague image appeared in my mind.
Of course she should know.
On the first day she received Zhou Jun's resume, she told Tang Xuanxuan the date. It had nothing to do with personal feelings at the time; it was purely a work requirement, but the impression was left after all.
November 5th.
Today is November 5th.
She should have put a lot of thought into this day in advance.
Meng Shuyu nodded after a long silence: "Yes, I know."
"It's like this," Tang Xuanxuan continued, "I ran into the Tan Department today and asked casually if the CEO had any personal plans for his birthday next week. If so, we won't bother you. If not, can everyone express their gratitude?"
"In the end, Tan Bu said that he was not being polite to us. Mr. Zhou never celebrated his birthday, so we should not wish him a happy birthday. It would be more appropriate to pretend that we didn't know. I think it's okay not to celebrate his birthday, but it's weird not to mention it. However, we are not that close to Mr. Zhou after all, so we will listen to Tan Bu. Sister Shuyu, if you..."
Meng Shuyu lowered her head and picked at her fingernails, when she suddenly heard Tang Xuanxuan calling her name twice.
She came back to her senses and asked, "What?"
Tang Xuanxuan looked at her carefully and said, "Nothing, I just want to tell you about this."
Meng Shuyu glanced towards the office diagonally opposite.
Zhou Jun sat there as usual, showing no special emotions on this day.
In fact, he hadn't shown any particular emotion in the past two weeks.
That day she said, "You don't have to pick me up recently," which actually means "Don't pursue me for the time being."
Zhou Jun is so smart, of course he can hear the hidden meaning in her words.
But he still replied to her that day and said, "Okay, let me know when you're done and I'll pick you up."
Later one day, she worked overtime until very late and took an online taxi home alone. She accidentally found Zhou Jun's car following her. He followed her all the way to the vicinity of the community, but he stopped in the distance and did not come forward.
I don’t know whether that day was a pure coincidence or she just discovered it by chance.
Meng Shuyu retracted his gaze and smiled at Tang Xuanxuan: "Isn't my relationship with Mr. Zhou the same as yours? Just listen to the Tan Department, let's not talk about it."
At eight o'clock in the evening, Meng Shuyu returned to the apartment alone, opened the refrigerator which was empty again, picked up the last bag of noodles, and made himself some noodles.
Just as I was about to eat, my cell phone rang.
A name that I haven’t seen for a long time popped up—Lou Wenhong.
Meng Shuyu felt annoyed before answering the phone. He controlled his emotions and said "Hello" when he pressed the answer button.
"Shuyu, I'm Lou Wenhong."
"Well, what's up, Mr. Lou?"
"My colleagues and I came to your place for dinner. We happened to pass by your neighborhood. I recently received a few boxes of dried fruit specialties from the north. I can't finish them all by myself, so I brought some to you."
"No need, Mr. Lou, you can give it to your colleagues."
"I'm already downstairs at your house."
Meng Shuyu frowned and walked to the balcony to look downstairs: "Now?"
Well, yes, she saw Lou Wenhong's car.
"Yes, there aren't many things this time, don't worry." Lou Wenhong said with a smile.
Meng Shuyu pulled his hair in pain.
Fine, if he insisted on pretending not to understand, she would explain it all at once.
Meng Shuyu hung up the phone, put on a tweed coat and went downstairs.
As I walked out of the apartment, I saw Lou Wenhong standing by the car carrying two boxes of dried fruits.
Before Meng Shuyu took the dried fruit, Lou Wenhong had already smiled, as if he was sure that she would not hit someone who smiled at him: "I was not considerate when I sent you fruits and flowers last time. It must have been difficult for you to pick up the package when you were sick, so I troubled Mr. Zhou to help."
Meng Shuyu was about to let bygones be bygones when he was suddenly stunned: "How do you know it was Mr. Zhou who brought the package for me?"
She probably just said that day that a colleague helped her get it.
"Oh, I thought you lived in the same neighborhood. Mr. Zhou must have helped you out." Lou Wenhong explained with a smile, "So many of your colleagues live here?"
Meng Shuyu frowned: "Boss Zhou and I live in the same neighborhood, how did you know that?"
Lou Wenhong's eyes flickered: "Now that you mention it, I can't remember clearly. I think it was you who mentioned it before?"
Meng Shuyu didn't think he had ever mentioned it before.
She had no reason to talk more about Zhou Jun with Lou Wenhong. She was already embarrassed, so how could she tell him that she and Zhou Jun lived in the same community
Meng Shuyu looked at Lou Wenhong, and in a flash he thought of something, and raised his head to look at the building opposite.
There seemed to be a vague figure standing in front of the French window on the seventh-floor balcony opposite.
Although he couldn't see clearly where he was looking, Meng Shuyu intuitively felt that it seemed to be here.
A creepy palpitation suddenly came over me.
Meng Shuyu took two steps back: "Then I also mentioned to you, isn't today Mr. Zhou's birthday?"
"Is today Mr. Zhou's birthday?"
"Boss Lou, if you chose today to come here on purpose, I want to tell you clearly that it is unnecessary, because—" Meng Shuyu paused here and took a deep breath, "What happens between Boss Zhou and me is a matter between him and me, and has nothing to do with you. Even without Boss Zhou, you and I would not be possible."
"Shuyu, you misunderstood. I really didn't know what day it was today..."
"Let's not talk about today," Meng Shuyu felt more and more frightened the more he thought about it, "the time you came to deliver hot pot to me, how long did your car stay downstairs of my house?"
"I… "
"After I enter the elevator, will you leave immediately, or will you leave your car here for a while that will make people daydream?"
Lou Wenhong said nothing more.
Meng Shuyu nodded: "Boss Lou, thank you for your hard work for me, but I still stick to what I said at the beginning. I have no plans to develop a relationship with you. You can take these specialties back. From today on, I hope we won't even be friends."
Going back upstairs, Meng Shuyu kicked off his slippers in anger and poured himself a glass of water.
After drinking a glass of water, she picked up her cell phone and looked through Wenhong's call records from last month.
I opened Zhou Jun’s message box again and read the sentence “I drank too much last night” in the chat history.
After comparing the two times, it was indeed after Lou Wenhong's car had stayed for too long downstairs of her house that Zhou Jun sent this message.
Meng Shuyu blocked Lou Wenhong in no time.
I took a look at the pile of noodles on the cooking table and suddenly lost the mood to eat.
In a blink of an eye, he saw the balcony. Meng Shuyu walked over slowly, lifted a corner of the curtain and looked across.
The balcony opposite was empty, with no one in sight.
After standing in front of the window for a while, Meng Shuyu took down the home clothes hanging on the balcony and turned to go to the bathroom to take a shower.
After taking a shower, I went to the balcony to wash clothes.
I was busy going back and forth like this until after ten o'clock, but no one showed up on the balcony opposite.
Time ticked away, and soon it was approaching midnight.
Meng Shuyu didn't know what he had done all night. When he saw that it was already so late, he went back to the bedroom and lay down on the bed.
November 5th is almost over.
Soon it's a new day.
Meng Shuyu lay on his back, looking at the dark ceiling. He felt like his mind was filled with a lot of things, but when he thought about it carefully, his mind seemed blank.
As I was lying there, I suddenly heard a strong wind outside, making the clothes hangers on the balcony rattle.
Meng Shuyu turned over and covered his ears with the quilt, but the sound of wind and knocking sounds still continued.
Finally I had no choice but to compromise and close the window.
As soon as I reached the balcony, the brightly lit windows on the seventh floor opposite came into view again.
It’s still the same, only the lights but no people.
Meng Shuyu moved the window closer, and the moment he turned around, he suddenly noticed that the door of the apartment on the first floor of the opposite building shook.
Looking closely, a figure walked out.
The night was dim, with only the street lights illuminating that area, but even at such a high and far distance, even if he had to squint hard, Meng Shuyu still believed that he was not mistaken.
What is Zhou Jun doing outside at this time
Besides, he didn't turn off the lights at home and didn't go to the basement to drive. Where was he going by going through this door
It doesn't look like she's coming to her building...
Zhou Jun walked to the street light, paused, and then slowly walked away. His reaction speed was too slow, which was not right.
Meng Shuyu stroked his hair and suddenly had a bad thought.
She was sure that Zhou Jun saw her meeting Lou Wenhong tonight.
Today is his birthday again. From what Tan Qin said, his birthday is not a good day for him.
No matter which of the two reasons is true, Zhou Jun might drink tonight.
Is he conscious now
While Meng Shuyu was still thinking about all this, he had already walked out, picked up his cell phone, put on the tweed jacket that was draped over the sofa, and hurried out the door.
When she walked downstairs, she saw Zhou Jun approaching the gate of the community from afar. She jogged after him, but she could no longer see him when she reached the street outside the community with shops.
Meng Shuyu picked up her phone and was about to call him when she suddenly heard a male voice coming from very close to her: "I want a birthday cake."
She paused while dialing the number and looked towards the source of the sound.
This is a 24-hour convenience store, and Zhou Jun is standing in front of the counter talking to the cashier.
Meng Shuyu stood by the door and looked at Zhou Jun's back. He saw the cashier said to him apologetically, "I'm sorry, sir, we don't have birthday cakes at this time. You have to make a reservation in advance."
"I just want one for one."
"We don't have the smallest size anymore. I'm really sorry sir."
"Then—" Zhou Jun pointed to the refrigerator, "This one."
"This is just an ordinary triangular mousse cake, not a birthday cake." The cashier emphasized.
Zhou Jun nodded, scanned the code and paid.
The cashier took out the cake and prepared to pack it.
Zhou Jun suddenly said, "I'll eat here. Can you give me a candle and a lighter?"
The cashier looked at him strangely: "Then I have to look for it."
Zhou Jun looked up at the clock in the store: "I'm a little bit in a hurry, please help me."
Meng Shuyu picked up his phone and checked the time.
There are only five minutes left until November 5th.
The cashier bent over, opened the cabinet door and started searching.
Zhou Jun stood there, clenching and unclenching his hands at his sides.
Meng Shuyu became anxious for some reason at the door and subconsciously touched his pocket.
But of course there would be no candle or lighter in her pocket.
There are only two minutes left.
The cashier finally straightened up: "Found it, the candle and lighter you asked for."
Zhou Jun hurriedly thanked the person, turned around and sat down at an empty table in the convenience store.
Meng Shuyu hid against the wall and continued to watch him in the darkness.
Watch him light the thin candle with a lighter and then stick the candle into the small triangular mousse cake.
Because of his eagerness, his hands trembled slightly, and the candle oil dripped down and hit the back of his hands.
Meng Shuyu raised his breath, but saw that he was unaware of anything. After lighting the candle, he quickly clasped his hands.
The cashier seemed to finally understand why this inexplicable man was in a hurry. He quietly walked to the wall and turned off half of the lights in the store for him.
The convenience store was half bright and half dark. He just sat there quietly in the place where light and shadow intersected, lowered his head and closed his eyes, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he was saying something seriously in his heart.
Meng Shuyu frowned and walked in slowly.
It took her ten steps to walk the short three-meter distance.
The moment Wusheng stood in front of Zhou Jun, Zhou Jun happened to open his eyes and raised his head.
His dazed and thoughtful expression told Meng Shuyu that he was indeed a little drunk, but perhaps not too drunk.
Because the next moment he seemed to react, and suddenly looked at her and laughed and murmured: "It's really so effective..."
Meng Shuyu's eyelashes trembled, but his brows knitted even tighter: "... What wish did you make?"
A man who never celebrated his birthday, in the last fifteen minutes of his twenty-eighth birthday, rushed out of his home where he was alone, walked into a simple convenience store, bought a triangular mousse cake for twelve dollars, and lit the candles at the last minute - what wish did he make
Zhou Jun stood up from his chair and smiled at her: "I don't celebrate my birthday very often, don't let me fool you, isn't it said that birthday wishes will not come true if they are spoken out loud?"
The author has something to say: When I was writing this chapter, I was playing Jay Chou's "Maple" on repeat: The slowly falling maple leaves are like longing/I light candles to warm the autumn at the end of the year/Why must I win back someone before winter comes