After Mi Cai and the woman in red left, I felt trapped at the event site. In fact, I didn’t really enjoy such overly formal occasions. However, Jian Wei and Yang Congrong were different. As shareholder representatives, they each delivered impressive speeches at the subsequent press conference. Naturally skilled in business, they easily pushed the opening ceremony to its climax, as evidenced by the flashing cameras constantly going off.
With the luncheon ending, the company’s grand opening celebration officially concluded. I returned to my office, opened all the windows, and let sunlight shine unobstructed onto my desk. I began dealing with some formal paperwork, marking the biggest difference from my past life—I had lost some of my previous freedom, but my career was now developing in a more structured and professional direction.
After spending several hours reviewing reports and proposals, I gathered all company staff for a development exchange meeting. Although we had only 18 employees at the time, they were all top professionals handpicked by Jian Wei and Yang Congrong from their previous companies. While I chaired the meeting, most of the time I spent learning from them—learning how to develop products, how to manage, and how to strategically run a company.
When the meeting ended, it was exactly time to leave work. Liu Yisan, our marketing department manager and formerly deputy marketing manager at Jian Wei’s advertising agency, said to me, “Mr. Zhao, shall we have a dinner party with Jian Wei’s Simi Advertising tonight? In this city, our two companies can be considered like brothers!”
I thought for a moment and replied, “Let’s do it next week. Didn’t we just have lunch together today?”
Ruan Hua, the vice president transferred from Yang Congrong’s company to assist me, added, “Mr. Zhao, the significance of inviting them to dinner next week will be different from doing it today. From our company’s establishment to its operation, Jian Wei and her advertising company have contributed a lot. We should have invited them on the very first day of our opening to show our sincere gratitude.”
Liu Yisan chimed in, “Exactly what Mr. Zhao should do.”
Though reluctant inside, I understood this was a business etiquette rule and didn’t want to offend Ruan Hua and Liu Yisan, so I finally nodded and said, “Then you two arrange it.”
Liu Yisan smiled and said, “Mr. Zhao, this call really should come from you personally.”
Although I was so familiar with Jian Wei, now things had become so formal, which felt a bit strange to me. Still, I took out my phone and dialed Jian Wei’s number. She answered shortly.
I asked, “Hey, your company isn’t working overtime tonight, right? Let’s grab dinner together.”
Jian Wei seemed to be in a good mood and replied with a laugh, “You actually remembered to call me and invite our whole team out for dinner! Since Mr. Zhao is so thoughtful, even if I have to work overtime, I’ll make an exception this time.”
I coughed slightly, walked to another corner, and lowered my voice to speak to Jian Wei, “By the way, can we keep our gathering short tonight? I’m pretty busy in the evening.”
“What are you busy with?”
I lowered my voice even further, “Just now Teacher Wei called me, saying she wants to introduce me to a great university teacher. We agreed to meet at 8 o’clock, and I already promised. You know I can’t possibly stand her up, right?”
Jian Wei’s tone immediately turned displeased, “Zhao Yang, what are you thinking about all day?”
“Can’t I have some personal time? Besides, I’m doing all these things without affecting my work. Do you really need to have such a strong reaction?”
“Forget it then. Your personal love life is important, and our dinner is trivial. I certainly wouldn’t want to delay you…”
Before she could finish, I interrupted, “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Madam Jian, for understanding. We’ll owe you this dinner and I promise to treat you another day!”
“No appetite for such luxury!”
Jian Wei hung up. I didn’t feel any particular emotion. I thought to myself that Jian Wei and I were just too familiar with each other; a simple dinner really didn’t need to be made such a big deal about. I returned to the others and said, “I just called Madam Jian. She’s not available tonight. Maybe another time.”
Ruan Hua and Liu Yisan looked slightly disappointed but still smiled and said, “We’ve done our part properly. If Madam Jian really doesn’t have time, it’s okay. We’ll have the opportunity to thank her with a dinner sometime in the future!”
…
Driving the Audi A6 provided by the company, I aimlessly drove through the streets, then bought a bowl of spicy cold noodles from a roadside vendor and sat under the shade of a tree eating it, waiting for time to pass before heading to the date arranged by Wei Manwen at 8 o’clock.
Actually, I couldn’t really say I was looking forward to it. I had simply treated marriage and having children as a task for this stage of my life. I had even questioned whether this approach was right. But seeing everyone around me settling down, I instinctively felt a pressure to conform. I couldn’t resist this pressure, especially after Mi Cai had moved further and further away.
Finally, it was 7:30 PM. I drove to Wei Manwen’s residence. Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the agreed coffee shop and started chatting while waiting. However, we didn’t mention the girl I was supposed to meet; we only talked about Luoben’s recent situation regarding participating in a talent show.
It was already 8:15 PM, and the girl still hadn’t arrived. I finally asked Wei Manwen, “Teacher Wei, do you think this girl is reliable? It’s been fifteen minutes already!”
“I’ll give her a call to check.”
I nodded. Wei Manwen immediately dialed the number. After a brief conversation, she hung up and apologized to me, “Zhao Yang, I’m sorry, Miss Ji had an unexpected emergency and couldn’t make it…”
“What kind of emergency?”
“She didn’t explain clearly.”
“Come on, why don’t you call her again to confirm? Are we just going to sit here like fools?”
“She might have encountered something urgent.”
I didn’t mind too much, but suddenly I felt somewhat guilty toward Jian Wei. I recalled that whenever I needed her, she always appeared before me promptly, offering help and comfort. In the past, we had been inseparable, never making me feel this kind of neglect or disappointment. Sometimes I wondered, if she hadn’t accepted Xiang Chen’s proposal the moment she returned from the U.S., would there still have been a chance for us to return to the past?
Even now, I still believed she was the woman I had deeply loved, but over the years, we had drifted too far apart!
I thought of Mi Cai again. Even during our relationship, when she was often busy with work and couldn’t give me much attention, she would still go out in winter to eat cold ice cream during her period just so I wouldn’t feel disappointed. She would also sit with me on the rocking chairs in front of convenience stores and chat casually. She had never ignored our arrangements so casually like this Miss Ji did.
At this moment, I truly understood why Jian Wei said I was degrading myself. Could I really expect a complete stranger to care for my fragile male pride the way my first love had? It was only natural for such a date to be stood up!
Finally, I lit a cigarette and said to Wei Manwen, “Teacher Wei, would you like something to eat? Let me order for you. We can chat a bit longer.”
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