Secretary Sun Xi paused at first when she heard Song Yancheng ask such a question, but immediately regained her composure to mobilize her memory. She knew Qin Yue. Although he was only the deputy manager of a small department, she had still been impressed by him because of his handsome appearance, tall and straight figure, and smooth means. She sorted out her thoughts and answered respectfully.
“President Song, that person is Qin Yue, the deputy manager of the information department.”
Her facial expression remained the same, but her mind was already contemplating what their relationship was. She had been around Song Yancheng for almost a year. He had a cold personality and never paid much attention to others. Now he was suddenly asking about Qin Yue. What must have happened?
Song Yancheng nodded his head. He still chose to believe in the instinctive reaction of his body. After all, the subconscious couldn't deceive people. He wouldn't feel personally detested for no reason. There would always be a reason.
Sun Xi carefully glanced at Song Yancheng, and her heart raced. The saying, 'keeping company to a king is like keeping company to a tiger' was absolutely true. It didn’t matter whether Song Yancheng laughed or didn’t laugh, spoke or didn’t speak, she would still think this person was terrible. When that silly little roommate of hers, Bai Tian, had encouraged her to seduce Song Yancheng, Sun Xi had shivered in response. She still cherished this life very much.
Reaching his office, Song Yancheng still felt conflicted in his heart. Somehow, things seemed fine but something still didn’t feel right. He shook his head and shook off those emotions.
***
Tong Jia didn't have class tomorrow, so she packed her clothes and went back to her home. As soon as she entered the door, she saw her younger brother, Tong Ming, sitting on the sofa eating instant noodles. She asked while changing her shoes, “Where are Mom and Dad?”
Tong Ming didn't take his eyes off the match he was watching as he answered, “Dad went to help substitute a night lesson class, and Mom went to the movies with Aunt Zhang.”
The Tong residence was very large, with three rooms and two halls with more than a hundred square areas. This was the house that had been given to Father Tong by the school when he had been a teacher. In the year Tong Jia went abroad, Father Tong had been promoted to director. It was said that the students were very afraid of him because Director Tong would often walk around when he had nothing to do. Every day, he would catch students who would either play on their mobile phones until they were sleeping or read idle books in class. Tong Jia's mother worked in a state-owned enterprise and was now very relaxed. She would go shopping with her best friend and watch movies when she was free. She lived a very luxurious life. Her brother, Tong Ming, was two years younger than Tong Jia and still in college.
“Eating too many instant noodles is not good for the body. Put that down, I’ll make you something to eat.”
Tong Jia walked up to Tong Ming and frowned when she smelled instant noodles.
“Don't be so troublesome, I’ll just make do with it.” Tong Ming thought for a while before he added, "There are watermelons in the fridge that Dad has cut and sprinkled with sugar left for you to eat.”
“Stop eating that. I'm a little hungry, so just wait a bit. I’ll make something good.”
Tong Jia reached out to take the instant noodles from Tong Ming's hands, casually covered it with a lid, and went to the kitchen. Her relationship with her younger brother had always been great. Father Tong adhered to the rule that his daughter should be rich and his son poor. He had always been very strict with Tong Ming but pampered Tong Jia. Father Tong told Tong Ming, just as he had gone to college, that it was impossible to expect him to buy a house in the future because the money at home would be divided into two parts, one for Tong Jia as a dowry and the other for him.
Perhaps Father Tong's constant emphasis on making way for his sister from an early age had stuck to Tong Ming, so he listened and even said that he would give his share to his sister. Those were Tong Ming's sincere words.
Tong Ming followed Tong Jia to the kitchen. He leaned against the door and watched Tong Jia put on an apron to wash vegetables.
He licked his dry lips and asked, “Sister, that brother Yue asked me for your address two days ago and I gave it to him. Are you two good now?”
“You wait till I teach you a lesson.”
Just the thought of it irritated Tong Jia. If Qin Yue had just wanted to catch up with her, it would be fine, but what he had said was so bad that she didn't want to be “good” with him at all.
She really didn’t believe that people could still be friends after breaking up, but she and Qin Yue had known each other for more than ten years. It wasn’t impossible for them to get together once in a while whenever she would come back to China. But she obviously couldn’t see Qin Yue when he had a girlfriend but still pretended to be passionately devoted to her.
Since they were fairly close, Tong Ming knew her very well. So when he heard this from Tong Jia, he had a troubled expression. Qin Yue was really good to him. When he was a senior in high school, Qin Yue sent him review materials and asked him to go out for dinner from time to time.
Tong Ming struggled for a while before he replied, “Sister, I won't let him invite me to dinner in the future.”
Tong Ming thought it was all his sister's business, plus his sister's attitude was so obvious. If he wanted to help outsiders, Dad would beat him to death once he found out, so he decided not to get involved in this trouble.
“Xiao Ming, I don't like Qin Yue anymore.”
Tong Jia cut the red pepper, and her voice was very soft but unusually firm.
Maybe she had never liked him from the beginning. She couldn't tell whether the feelings she had were love or not, but this was no longer important because she and Qin Yue had separated a few years ago.
It was the first time that Tong Ming had heard Tong Jia express her feelings. He hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and smiled.
“Well, I know, elder sister. I’m on your side, and I will never turn out my elbow.”
Tong Jia heard the words and smiled. After reading many posts of 818 best family members on the forum, she felt that she was so happy to have such a warm and harmonious family.
Father Tong came back at night with a frown. He went to the living room and slammed his briefcase onto the sofa.
“I caught several students smoking in the toilet today. Those students hardly studied and they smoked! They still think smoking is a cool act! I’ve invited their parents to come over tomorrow.”
Tong Jia gave Tong Ming a meaningful glance. The latter immediately got up and poured a cup of warm water. After Father Tong drank the water, his anger subsided a little. Sitting on the sofa, he began to clap his thigh and frowned.
"What's so good about smoking? It’s bad for your health. It’s bad for the people who inhale it. Also, it doesn't smell good.”
Tong Jia had just noticed that her father was really old. He rambled about the bad habits that the students had learned, and his temples had some white hair. Father Tong really cared about teaching and educating people, but his students were too young to understand his pains at all. They would probably understand when they grew up.
***
The next day, Ye Jiayi went shopping with Tong Jia. Ye Jiayi worked at her own family’s company, so she could get out almost every day.
When she met Tong Jia, she remembered something that had happened a few days ago and asked, “Tong Jia, the more I think about it, the more it doesn’t make sense. Did something happen?”
Zhou Yanchen had died in a car accident some time ago, and Tong Jia was so sensitive about Zhou Yanchen's affairs that Ye Jiayi got confused.
Tong Jia took Ye Jiayi's hand and smiled faintly.
“It's all right, really, it's all over.”
All that had passed. Whether there was regret in her heart or not, Zhou Yanchen was gone, and her life would continue.
Ye Jiayi looked at Tong Jia's face carefully. She sighed and said, “Yes, it's all over, Tong Jia. After that day, my heart was always restless, and I always felt sorry for Zhou Yanchen.”
How could people like Zhou Yanchen easily confess if they didn't really like Tong Jia?
Tong Jia chuckled, her eyes filled with melancholy.
“No, Jiayi, it has nothing to do with you.”
Perhaps timing was really important. If she had known, with her experience and mind at that time, she might have handled that matter in a worse way. Maybe she was destined to miss this person in her life.
“Then, what about you and Qin Yue?” Ye Jiayi continued.
“It's impossible. I was too immature in the past. I finally broke up with him. We can still greet each other when we meet, but it's impossible for me to be with him again.”
She had a hunch that Qin Yue would not do so. After all, the two had known each other for more than ten years, and she also understood what kind of character Qin Yue was. Tong Jia could feel a headache coming.
***
“Hello, President Song.”
The beer-bellied person in charge of the mall went to Song Yancheng and bowed.
He was so anxious that he was sweating profusely. Every time the Big Boss came, he would lose a few pounds when he came home to weigh himself. Faced with such a boss, the pressure was too great.
Song Yancheng was holding the elevator. With an enchanting smile, he gently nodded to say hello.
“There’s a newly opened shop in front, let's go take a look. I want to try the new color.”
Ye Jiayi pulled Tong Jia forward, and Tong Jia was resigned to her fate. Ye Jiayi was a lipstick maniac. Basically, every time she went shopping, she would always buy lipstick. Tong Jia inadvertently looked up, just in time to see Song Yancheng standing by the railing on the third floor. Their eyes met.
“Hurry up!” Ye Jiayi called out as she walked faster.
Tong Jia looked away, her eyes dropping slightly. Although she kept up with Ye Jiayi, her mind wandered off to the glance just a few seconds ago. Was she just imagining things?
People would sometimes get this indescribable feeling. The more they couldn’t describe it, the stranger it would become.
Song Yancheng's mind turned blank. He rushed to the elevator without thinking and trotted downstairs. He looked at the pedestrians at a loss. The feeling at that moment was too strange and had flown away too quickly. He couldn't catch it. Song Yancheng looked down at his palm, clearly aware of the loneliness breeding in a corner of his heart.
That girl just now… no, no, it was just a glimpse, but he had memorized her appearance. Ever since Song Yancheng woke up, he had been very calm in the face of everything, as if nothing could touch his inner world. However, what was that feeling that he was so desperate to catch just now?
“President Song?”
The secretary and the person in charge followed him. They came forward uncomfortably and called out.
Song Yancheng was pulled back to reality by the voice. He slowly clenched his fist, put on a calm look, and turned his head and left.