When I proposed acquiring the medium-sized scenic spot in the name of Yishou Travel, Jian Wei immediately frowned at me and sternly said, “Zhaoyang, tell me what exactly you’re trying to do. Don’t you understand at all that this is an opportunity we’re creating for the company by risking our capital?”
“I think such an opportunity doesn’t align with my development plan. I don’t need it.”
“You…”
Jian Wei was so angry that she was momentarily speechless, her gaze piercing as she stared at me. I avoided her eyes and, as usual, drew the curtains open, then cleaned my ashtray before returning to my office and lighting a cigarette.
After calming her anger somewhat, Jian Wei finally asked me again, “Then, Director Zhao, can you tell me your development plan?”
“As an investor, you don’t even know my development plan. On what basis did you decide to invest?”
Jian Wei, who had always been dominant, was caught off guard by my question and remained silent for a long time. At this point, I finally got up to make her a cup of coffee and handed it to her, saying, “Let’s not discuss this matter anymore. Although I’m very grateful for everything you and Director Yang have done for Luck, you once said yourself that this is a project with a commercial soul. So, can we let this project maintain its independent soul?”
My words left Jian Wei in a dilemma. Only after I finished my cigarette did she say, “I won’t force you to take that scenic spot project, but we at least need to go and take a look, otherwise it’s hard to explain to Uncle Yang. Is that okay?”
I didn’t want to make Jian Wei feel too pressured, so I finally nodded and agreed to look at the project, although the outcome was already certain.
Jian Wei continued flipping through my work notebook and asked, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally, “Did you stay up late last night?”
“Yeah, drank too much coffee and couldn’t sleep…”
“Why did you drink so much coffee? Don’t tell me you like working late with the help of caffeine?”
Her question made me somewhat embarrassed. In fact, I had drunk so much coffee the previous night, completely unrelated to work. I looked at her, not quite sure how to respond, when the phone suddenly rang. I hurriedly took it out from my briefcase—it was a call from Mi Cai. I felt delighted inside because we hadn’t spoken on the phone for a long time.
I answered Mi Cai’s call and softly asked, “Why are you calling me now?”
“I’m downstairs at your company. I bought you some lunch. Let’s eat together, and you can show me around your company.”
I felt flattered. Not to mention dating, since we had known each other, she had never personally brought me lunch at work. I hurried to the window and looked down, and indeed saw that red Q7. I told her, “The company is on the sixth floor. Come up.”
Mi Cai acknowledged and hung up. When I turned around, I suddenly realized that Jian Wei was still in the office. I could already imagine how awkward it would be when the two of them met, especially since Jian Wei didn’t know that Mi Cai and I had gotten back together. It seemed I was indeed overjoyed too soon.
Standing in front of Jian Wei, she had already closed the notebook and asked me, “Who is coming to your company?”
I didn’t answer directly, trying to dodge the question, “That… have you had lunch yet?”
Jian Wei looked at her watch and got up, saying, “It’s time for lunch. Are you having lunch with me? There’s a new restaurant downstairs that’s supposed to have good food.”
I felt a bit overwhelmed and said, “No, I need to catch up on some work I missed this morning.”
“Okay then, I’ll leave first…” She walked a few steps, then turned back, “We’ll probably go to that county together in about three days to check out the scenic spot. Don’t forget.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t forget.” I hurriedly replied, secretly hoping that Jian Wei would get on the elevator going down while Mi Cai took the elevator up, so they could miss each other and avoid the awkwardness.
I walked Jian Wei toward the office door when suddenly the elevator door opened upwards, and I saw Mi Cai in a business suit holding a lunch box. Almost at the same moment, she and Jian Wei noticed each other. Both showed expressions of surprise but didn’t stop walking, equally confident and equally expressionless.
Eventually, the three of us met and stopped, the atmosphere instantly becoming awkward, especially for me, as both of their gazes focused on me.
I said, “You both know each other, right? No need for me to introduce, right?”
Mi Cai finally smiled and said, “Good afternoon, Director Jian.”
“Hello, Director Mi… Didn’t expect to meet here.” She then glanced at the lunch box in Mi Cai’s hand and asked, “This is…?”
Mi Cai’s answer was as concise as possible: “Bringing lunch.”
Jian Wei looked at me and didn’t say anything else, then walked toward the elevator outside the company. Meanwhile, Mi Cai had already headed toward my office, leaving me standing there, still unable to react, under the gaze of many employees.
…
When I returned to my office, Mi Cai had already opened the lunch box and handed me a pair of chopsticks. She propped her chin on her hand, watching me but not mentioning the encounter with Jian Wei at all. Perhaps she didn’t really care, but she must have known that those photos had been provided to Weiran by Jian Wei. Her indifference puzzled me a bit, yet I didn’t want to speculate about this woman because all speculation would be in vain.
“You said we were going to eat together. Why aren’t you eating?”
“I’ll just have some fruit later.”
I looked at her and sighed, “You don’t have to be so slim. I can accept you being a bit fatter!”
“What are you talking about… I just had breakfast late.”
I suddenly remembered that she, like me, had stayed up very late last night. It was understandable that she had woken up late in the morning. I said to her, “Since you’re not eating now, why don’t you call CC and invite her to have coffee at West of the Old Town tonight? I’ll also invite Luoben and Teacher Wei later.”
Mi Cai nodded and took out her phone from her handbag, then dialed CC’s number. At this moment, I thought of Fangyuan again and was considering whether to invite him along.
But this consideration left me with an indescribable confusion. We were clearly friends for nearly a decade, so why was I hesitating to invite him to such a gathering? At one time, we could trust each other with our lives. When exactly did this distance emerge between us?
It seemed like it had happened after Jian Wei came back!
But why did this distance arise? I couldn’t figure it out anymore!
I didn’t force myself to think too much and still decided to invite Fangyuan and Yan Yan, as well as Jian Wei and Xiangchen. After all, we hadn’t gathered together for a long time. Even if there were some lingering grievances, the fact that we had spent our university days together was undeniable…
Thinking of this, I had an even bolder idea. I wanted Mi Cai to invite Weiran as well. It would be best if some things could be clarified. If not, at least they should be said once!
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