TGSS - Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Long Time No See
After saying this, Chu He left Wen Xiaoying with a meaningful look and drifted away unhurriedly. It was a long while before Wen Xiaoying stood up. The smile on her face had long since vanished without a trace, and there was even a hint of gloom in her eyes, quite at odds with her fresh and elegant aura. Her fists were clenched tight inside her sleeves.
Liang Zhouyi? Why does someone who has already disappeared have to show up in her life again? This is really unpleasant.
"Good news, Zhou Yi, look at the group chat. Team Leader Xu says Xiaoying is treating everyone to dinner tonight. She wants to get to know us all first." The speaker was the editor Sen Sen. Holding his phone, he sat down excitedly beside Liang Zhouyi. "Xu Lu made a small group and added everyone from our project team."
As he spoke, the way he looked at Liang Zhouyi turned a little odd. As far as he knew, although Liang Zhouyi's scriptwriting was decent enough, the projects she had taken on before were all for small influencers. Letting her test the waters with an influencer of Xiaoying's caliber, he was afraid they just wanted to use her as a scapegoat.
Although he thought this in his heart, his face remained amiable. "Zhou Yi, you can't bail at the last minute again today. Strictly speaking, this dinner is actually part of work."
Liang Zhouyi found it funny inside. She raised her eyes and glanced at him. "I know." It was just a dinner. Although she usually had little private contact with colleagues and avoided these kinds of events whenever she could, she could not get out of a work dinner personally invited by leadership. Was there any need to be so passive-aggressive with her?
Seeing that Liang Zhouyi still had that lukewarm attitude, Sen Sen gave a dry laugh. Holding the coffee Wen Xiaoying had treated them to, he suddenly felt uncomfortable. If he did not have to work closely with Liang Zhouyi in the future, he would not bother trying to cozy up to her. Who was she putting on that act for? She probably had a completely different face when she was sucking up to Xu Lu and Chu He.
Not long after Chu He finished talking with Wen Xiaoying, she received a private message from Xu Lu. He put on a very considerate front, worried that Chu He was still unwell, so he did not dare disturb her by asking her to come. As for what would be discussed tonight, he would report it all to her tomorrow.
How thoughtful of him. Chu He ignored the long essay he was still sending and replied that she would go too.
Messages crackled nonstop in the small group chat, but Liang Zhouyi and Tan Qing did not say a word. Chu He seriously suspected that if it were not for Liang Zhouyi and herself, Tan Qing might have already patted his butt and left. When she had poached Tan Qing, it could be said both sides were willing. Tan Qing was tight lipped about his former collaborator Wen Xiaoying, saying only that there had been some misunderstanding, but Chu He could see a trace of disgust in Tan Qing's eyes.
Wen Xiaoying had originally booked a hot pot restaurant for the dinner, thinking a livelier place would make it easier to break the ice. As soon as she heard that Chu He's ribs were injured and had not fully healed, Wen Xiaoying immediately changed the restaurant to a Zhejiang cuisine place near the company.
Everyone readily agreed. That restaurant nearby was known for its beautiful environment, high prices, and difficulty getting a reservation. That Wen Xiaoying could decide to go there just like that showed she probably had her own connections.
Chu He was amused by the endless flattery in the group chat. She had no idea how much sincerity any of them held, each one laying on the rainbow flattery more earnestly than pearls were real. She watered the money tree on her desk, then picked up her phone and chimed in sociably with a couple of compliments.
The restaurant they came to that evening was indeed very elegant. The interior was overall in a refined black tone, and through contemporary art installations and the play of light and shadow, the whole space felt fluid. The private room was very quiet, with a beauty unique to Jiangnan. Spring water flowed over bluestone, giving the room a poetic haze of mist and rain.
Chu He sat with Wen Xiaoying and Tan Qing on either side of her. Liang Zhouyi's seat was very far away, almost directly across from her.
After a few rounds of drinks, Xu Lu's face was red and his emotions began to run high. He reached out to pull Liang Zhouyi beside him to introduce her to Wen Xiaoying. "Xiaoying, this is Liang Zhouyi, a director I trained myself. Her ability is really quite good. I hope you will give her more guidance in the future."
Liang Zhouyi subtly dodged his arm, stood up and nodded politely to Wen Xiaoying, her expression carrying a very natural admiration that revealed nothing unusual.
Chu He was not drinking. She still held her chopsticks in her hand. She noticed Wen Xiaoying's knuckles whiten noticeably as she gripped her wine glass before she smiled. "Hello, Zhou Yi. I'll have to trouble you from now on."
"No trouble, it's part of the job," Liang Zhouyi said lightly.
Hearing her say this, Wen Xiaoying stared straight at her. She stared so long that everyone began to sense something was off. Tan Qing, who knew some of the inside story, was even busier, his gaze flicking between their faces, his gossip loving heart burning fiercely.
Noticing the varied expressions of the crowd, Wen Xiaoying came back to herself with a smile as if slightly tipsy from drink. Wine stained her lips, making her look a little alluring.
Liang Zhouyi stood amid the clinking glasses, and when she saw the almost imperceptible malice in Wen Xiaoying's eyes, she suddenly found it hard to breathe. She said apologetically, "Excuse me for a moment, please go ahead without me."
As soon as Liang Zhouyi left, Sen Sen, as if he had drunk too much, flushed red and joked to Wen Xiaoying, "Zhou Yi is really something. Look at our President Chu, the injury she got a while ago was from going to look for her. You would think Zhou Yi usually has little interaction with us, but privately she is quite close with President Chu."
Chu He's gaze fell on the drunken man's face, disdain spreading. Her voice was cool and clear. "Liang Zhouyi is part of our department. Shouldn't I go look for her? What are you trying to say?"
Sen Sen raised his face and looked at Chu He, frightened into a cold sweat by the chill in her long eyes. He really must be muddled from drink, to actually start gossiping about the person right in front of her.
"So President Chu and Zhou Yi are very close," Wen Xiaoying said in a very soft voice, with the unique gentle warmth of a Jiangnan woman. She turned her face to look at the woman beside her, a bit of inquiry and contemplation in her eyes.
"So-so," Chu He said lazily as she looked around. "Relationships between people still have to be compared. If you compare them with all of you, then my relationship with Liang Zhouyi can indeed be called pretty good."
Tan Qing, holding his wine glass and watching the show, sneered in his heart when he heard this. Their relationship was just so-so. He finally understood: in Chu He's heart, he was not worth a damn.
Liang Zhouyi did not come back for a long time after she left. Seeing that Wen Xiaoying also found an excuse to slip out, Chu He sat in her chair and took a deep breath, trying hard to suppress the anxiety in her heart. She gulped down a glass of cold water before she gave up on the idea of following them.
"Long time no see." As soon as Liang Zhouyi finished washing her hands and came out, she was blocked by Wen Xiaoying standing in the corridor. She still wore that friendly and amiable look, only her tone carried a bit more sarcasm than it had in the private room.
"Do we know each other?" Liang Zhouyi raised an eyebrow, with a perfectly natural puzzlement.
"You..." Wen Xiaoying dropped her hand from the wall and looked at Liang Zhouyi with a dark face. "Zhou Yi, we haven't reached the point where we pretend not to know each other and act like mortal enemies when we meet, have we?"
Liang Zhouyi said, "I don't understand what you're talking about. We're just ordinary new colleagues."
"Liang Zhouyi!" Wen Xiaoying called her name, looking at the strangely unfamiliar woman before her, feeling extremely uneasy inside. "What are you trying to do sneaking into Dark Color Culture?"
"What are you saying?" Liang Zhouyi looked as if she had heard some wild fantasy. She looked Wen Xiaoying up and down for a few seconds and let out a scoff. "I've been at the company for three years, and today is the first time I've learned that I joined because of you."
Wen Xiaoying pressed her lips tight, her whole state very alert. "Is that so? Is it not because of what happened with your stepfather back then that you want to...?"
Bang, before she could finish the sentence, Wen Xiaoying's shoulder was pressed down hard. Liang Zhouyi gripped her shoulder and slammed her against the wall, her eyeballs a little bloodshot with anger. She cast off her usual indifference and said almost through gritted teeth, "What right do you have to mention back then to me? Wen Xiaoying!"
"Hahahaha." Wen Xiaoying was stunned by the pain at first, but when she heard Liang Zhouyi's words she immediately burst into peals of laughter, trembling like branches in the wind. The pain from her shoulder blade did not stop her from laughing so hard that tears squeezed from the corners of her eyes. "You're so angry, don't tell me you're blaming your stepfather's whole affair on me? Liang Zhouyi, you have to understand his death was all caused by you, you brought it on yourself..."
Wen Xiaoying, halfway through speaking, saw Liang Zhouyi's terrifying, sharp gaze and calmed down a bit. She bit her lip and coldly avoided her gaze, only warning in a cold voice, "I think you've had enough of the lesson from back then. If you stick to your duties and work properly, I won't try to destroy you, and we can still be good colleagues. Remember, don't go causing trouble again... Liang Zhouyi."
Her tone was soft and sweet, yet it carried a chilling malice. After speaking, she forcefully shook off Liang Zhouyi's restraining hand, moved her shoulder, and was too lazy to keep pretending with her. She sneered coldly, "Haven't seen you in a few years, and you've ended up in such a pathetic state. You really are as contemptible as ever."
After delivering that harsh line, Wen Xiaoying walked away without looking back. Liang Zhouyi's hand still hung in midair before she clenched it into a fist, her body trembling uncontrollably. It was a long while before she steadied her ragged breathing.
When the party broke up, only Chu He was still sober. Because of her injury she had justifiably not touched a drop of alcohol. The others had either been plied until they could not walk, or like Xu Lu, had drunk themselves into a high. When everyone had almost left, Liang Zhouyi still had not returned.
When Wen Xiaoying came back from the restroom she had already paid the bill. Now she looked at Chu He with a flushed face and a drunken air. "President Chu, shall I give you a ride?"
"No need, I'm waiting for someone," Chu He said with a half smile as she glanced at her, as if trying to find traces of Liang Zhouyi on her face.
Wen Xiaoying did not insist. She nodded understandingly and silently took half a step closer to Chu He. "President Chu, can I call you Chu He? I find we really hit it off. I really admire your sharp insight into our industry."
"Of course," Chu He said, her long hair blown by the wind. She turned her face to look at Wen Xiaoying, who was gazing at her with starry eyes, and smiled. "It certainly is fate."
Isn't it? Chu He's smile did not reach her eyes. Perhaps this fate all came from Liang Zhouyi.
After Wen Xiaoying invited Chu He several times and was refused, she finally got into the car and left reluctantly.
Chu He stood at the doorway with her hands tucked in, waiting for almost half an hour more. If there had not been only one exit, she would have suspected Liang Zhouyi had slipped away somewhere. Was catching up so hard that she had to stay in the restroom that long? Thinking of this, she clicked her tongue in indignation.
Liang Zhouyi did not arrive until Chu He's feet had gone numb from waiting. When she finally appeared, she looked briefly surprised to find Chu He still waiting for her, then slowly walked toward her.
"Why did you take so long? I thought you had vanished into thin air," Chu He said, pulling the slow moving Liang Zhouyi and complaining with dissatisfaction.
"You were waiting for me?" Liang Zhouyi's eyes still looked a little red, and her voice was dry and hoarse as she asked.
"I wasn't waiting for you," Chu He shook her head and looked behind her. "I was waiting for a ghost."
Her cold joke made Liang Zhouyi try to curl her lips, only the smile looked worse than crying.
Looking into Chu He's bright eyes, Liang Zhouyi suddenly asked her, "Chu He, why are you waiting for me, and why do you insist on... being friends with me?"
"Haven't you asked me this question before?" Chu He looked at Liang Zhouyi with some surprise. As if sensing her dejection at this moment, she first smiled and then said solemnly, "Because... you are the most special person in this world to me." So special that she had poured the little patience and fondness she had in two lifetimes entirely into Liang Zhouyi alone, sincerely hoping she would live better and better.
Liang Zhouyi's mind exploded from the weight in those words. She could feel Chu He's sincerity, so her whole being was in chaos, and in her panic she subconsciously took half a step back.
Intense panic rose from the bottom of her heart. It was like returning to that afternoon in childhood, looking at the exquisite toy in the shop window, longing for it in her heart but only daring to stroke the glass, without even the courage to ask the price.
Seeing her retreat, Chu He said nothing. She extended her fair hand, palm up, and just quietly waited for Liang Zhouyi to take the initiative to walk toward her and take her hand.
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