Li Chuan’s Past

Chapter 23

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In the blink of an eye, it is the end of the year. CG holds a formal party every year before Christmas, inviting employees and family members to attend. I found a few things in my closet that I hadn't used in a long time: a black dress, a silver-gray handbag with green lace trim, a pair of blue denim flats with amphibole. The latter two were bought by Li Chuan for me when he returned from Switzerland six years ago. In addition, he also gave me a small and exquisite watch with three circles of small diamonds inlaid on it. It is very valuable at first glance. I am afraid of losing it, so I only wear it on important occasions. In fact, the so-called important occasions, I have not encountered a few times. It seems to have only been worn once at a classmate's engagement party.

After breaking up with Li Chuan, my body stopped growing. For a whole year, menstruation was disordered. After eating countless bottles of Wuji Baifeng Wan, I gradually recovered. Oddly enough, the thing that has changed the most about me is my eyesight. From the perfect vision six years ago to the current 4.5 in the left eye and 4.0 in the right eye. I wear a pair of contact lenses on weekdays and often forget to take them out when I sleep. I love to rub my eyes at work, and often get them off. All I have are a pair of onyx resin glasses that I keep in my bag as a spare.

On Christmas Day, I wore light makeup. Seeing my female colleagues are all dazzling and gorgeous. I hid on a sofa and drank three cups. I became addicted to cigarettes and sneaked to the balcony to smoke again. When I came back, dinner had already started. I hurriedly found a seat, and Emma came over with a smile and sat next to me.

"Look, apart from Mr. Zhang—his wife is on a business trip—only you and I are alone. Why, did you quarrel with Xiao Guan?"

"No."

"As soon as you walked in, do you know how many people in the translation team screamed a little bit in their hearts?"

I was startled, and quickly took out the mirror, looked left and right: "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with my face?"

She rested her chin on her hand and looked at me. She didn't speak for a long time. After a while, she slowly said: "Sister Emma, tell you frankly, what's behind your back."

"What background? I have no background. Look at me like this: I eat fast food at noon, go to the bar at night, and my phone never rings. Does this look like I have a background?"

She pointed to my handbag: "Did you buy this bag yourself?"

I didn't study fashion, but I knew that the things Li Chuan sent would not be cheap, so I just shook my head: "It's a gift from someone else."

"Is that 'ex-boyfriend' again?"

I didn't say anything, I was a little annoyed by her. Emma's biggest hobby every day is reading fashion magazines and buying designer clothes. Seeing that I didn't want to respond, Emma twisted her red lips into a circle, her eyes were blurred and full of gossip: "Who is your 'ex-boyfriend'?"

"You don't even know it."

"Try me."

Emma is a seasoned lover with a wide circle of friends. I continued to remain silent, thinking that she would retreat in spite of the difficulties, but she stared at my shoes again and said, "These shoes are also good! Your sister and my income were the highest in the industry when I first started. But I I've never been able to afford these things." She took a sip of the wine, and the purple wine swayed in her glass, "What kind of vision is Jiutong, what kind of vision is CG? Why are you the one who came here? Hmm? Just because of your two types A university diploma? Students from Peking University and Beijing Foreign Studies University are sacred even when they leave school, but they are like crucian carp crossing the river when they come here. You can’t get in even if you sharpen your head. If you say you don’t have a backer, who will believe it?”

I hissed and smiled: "Sister Emma, what university did you graduate from?"

"I entered Peking University's junior class at the age of fourteen and obtained a master's degree in French. I won the first prize in a national competition."

"I am a champion of the college entrance examination in the old city. I didn't get into Peking University because my score is not enough, but because my family has no money. I am also a master, and I have also won the first prize in the national competition. Sister Emma, heroes cherish heroes, why bother about the origin? "

Seeing me annoyed, she laughed again: "Sister Emma cares about you. Seeing that you don't have a boyfriend, I want to introduce one to you. Naturally, you have to inquire about the situation of your predecessor first. The boyfriend has also made the price too high, making it difficult for those of us who want to help you."

It turned out to be like this. I was discouraged as soon as I heard it, and I retracted my body into the sofa and continued to drink: "Sister Emma, I have been hurt by others. In this life, I will not fall in love."

"Hey, I'm so young," she laughed, "Why are you making such a poisonous oath? How many good men are there in this world? You can't take them too seriously. If you take them seriously, you will suffer. I have met them a few times this month. Xiao Guan, people always ask about you."

In fact, Xiao Guan has always taken care of me. Especially for helping me improve my English, I am grateful. In addition, he is both talented and beautiful, successful in his career, and not obnoxious if not perfect. It's only my fault that I have long been used to Li Chuan's gentleness and humility when he treats me, so I really can't develop a good impression of Xiao Guan's "dominant" aura.

I pretended to be hungry, and ordered a piece of roasted black pepper beef that was medium-rare. I cut it vigorously, and took the opportunity to change the subject: "By the way, Emma, I want to ask you something. The engineering department sent a software engineer over yesterday. All the files on my computer have been copied, do you know why?"

She said in a low voice, "I heard that something went wrong in Wenzhou. Someone disclosed our design plan to Jiayuan International."

Jiayuan International Architectural Design Group is currently the biggest competitor of CG in Wenzhou project. After hearing this, I was secretly startled.

"The bosses are all in a hurry, and sent people to track down who has seen the design drawings." She squinted at me, "You are in charge of translating the design instructions, and if you have the opportunity to contact the drawings, you will naturally be found."

I have indeed translated many design schemes and design instructions, and of course there will be drawings in the attachment. But I was only looking for the English words in the drawings, and I couldn't remember which one belonged to which project. I'm not only worried that I accidentally leaked the secret. CG has strict operating procedures in terms of drawing management, and I implement them carefully every time, and there is no possibility of mistakes. What I worry about is whether the websites I visit during working hours will leave a record, although I remember to clear the history in the browser before shutting down every time. Fortunately, my original manuscripts have always been stored in the USB flash drive, and there is no backup in the computer in the office. Even so, I was terrified and a little guilty.

I was thinking wildly, when I heard Emma say, "Actually, it's too late to check now. There are only 12 days left before the deadline for bidding. Now it's the end of the year and the holidays, and I want to start all over again. I have neither the time nor the thought." The reconstruction of City C cost more than 300 million yuan, and the exterior and gardens were designed by Mr. Jiang and Mr. Zhang himself. The chances of success were good. The loss of CG this time is not small. Mr. Jiang used to come to this year-end party. Didn't you realize that Mr. Jiang is not in the company these days?"

I am a small translator and only do what I do. I don't care whether the boss comes to the company or not. I speeded up my meal and found that many people were still chatting in the hall. I pretended to go to the bathroom when I was really trying to sneak home and write. When I walked to the door, I suddenly heard someone calling me: "Annie!"

I hurriedly turned around and saw that it was Zhang Shaohua, the vice president of CG.

"boss Zhang."

"Annie, the company has something to do recently, can you go on a business trip during Christmas?" he said with a stern look on his face.

"Of course." I looked at him, somewhat guilty. Wondering if it was my working hours to write about the incident.

"Sorry, it's reasonable to come to you at this time." He said, "But the English translator in the company, you are the only one who is single. Everyone else has husbands and children."

"It's all right. Where? When are you leaving?"

"Wenzhou. The plane is at eleven o'clock tonight. We have already booked a hotel."

I look at my watch, it's just seven o'clock.

"Then I'll go back and pack my luggage."

"I'll give you one hour to prepare, is that enough? I'll send the driver to take you back, and then I'll pick you up at the airport at eight o'clock sharp."

"OK."

"Maybe you have heard that something happened to the company's design plan, and there is not much time left, so this extraordinary action will be taken."

"Totally understand."

"Then, see you at the airport."

I rushed back to the apartment to change into a set of everyday clothes, and packed my luggage as fast as I could. I was a little dizzy from drinking too much alcohol, so I washed my face in cold water. When I walked out of the apartment, Mr. Zhang's car had already arrived. He was standing outside the car smoking a cigarette, obviously he had been waiting for me for a while.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know I would be on a business trip tonight, I may have had a few more drinks." When I entered the car door, I bumped my head against the car window, looking silly.

"It's okay." He smiled, "Miss Zhu from the translation department used to be a good drinker."

All the way without words.

When the car arrived at the airport, I stepped out of the car, and was blown by the cold wind, and most of the wine sobered up. Then, I suddenly found that my eyes were blurred.

I'm not wearing contact lenses!

Probably lost it while washing my face.

I subconsciously touched my handbag, the spare glasses were not there, they were put in the small bag Li Chuan gave me. I am now carrying a canvas backpack for work on weekdays. I like to use it because it is light and has a lot of interlayers.

I secretly comforted myself, it doesn't matter. Wenzhou is such a big place that there is no shortage of glasses for sale. The first thing to do tomorrow morning is to find a shopping mall to get glasses. Then I dragged the suitcase and followed Zhang Shaohua like a shadow.

After a while, we met several other people at the entrance. All I could see was a group of vague figures. Zhang Shaohua called out, "Boss Jiang."

These people stopped not far from me, and they couldn't tell their faces. I can vaguely recognize the architects and drafters of Mr. Jiang and CG. Everyone has a laptop in their hands.

"The plane has arrived?" Zhang Shaohua asked.

"Here we are, they may be taking their luggage." Jiang Haotian replied.

It turned out that they had to wait for another group of people.

The pick-up port is very noisy. I endured the faint smell of alcohol in my throat, and followed the crowd to wait silently outside the fence. After about half an hour, Jiang Haotian and Zhang Shaohua suddenly stepped forward, and the rest of the people followed. Apparently, they had picked up someone who was waiting and were shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries there. I couldn't see anything clearly, but I felt that there were many people's heads shaking, many signs were waving, some people were hugging, some people were screaming.

This scene reminds me of something. Six years ago, I waited for Li Chuan here. His plane arrived at one o'clock, so I rushed to the airport at nine o'clock for fear of being missed. After waiting for so long, it was Li Chuan who saw me first. I hugged him tightly and refused to let go for a long time. At that time, I really just wanted to fold him into a handkerchief and put it in my pocket forever.

Now, how many days have passed? Everything is at a loss.

I was thinking silently when the crowd in front of me suddenly parted.

I looked up and saw a figure walking towards me.

In fact, it was just a dark figure in a coat. I recognize him because I am all too familiar with the way he walks.

Then I saw a face, very close to me, but I couldn't see it clearly.

It dawned on me how lucky I am to be without glasses today.

I heard Jiang Haotian introduce this person: "Mr. Wang, this is our new translator, Ms. Annie. A talented student in the English Department. She is here to take over the job of Ms. Zhu. Annie, this is Mr. Wang Lichuan from the CG Zurich headquarters. .”

A hand reached out to me, and I reached out too. Hands are still cold; the faint breath is still the smell of lavender.

"Hello," he hesitated, "Annie."

I felt that my body temperature dropped to zero in an instant, and the blood that rushed to the top of my head froze.

I heard myself answer very calmly: "Hello, Mr. Wang."

Then, a person behind him was pushing the luggage, and also freed his hand to shake my hand: "Hello, Anne, I am Su Qun, Mr. Wang's assistant."