Back Then, I Adored You

Beijing was a thousand miles away.

Qin Zhi’ai had been to Gu Yusheng’s company once before, so she was quite familiar with the route to take to the Gu Company. She drove to the Gu Company’s underground parking lot and took the elevator up from the front desk.

The staff of the top floor had stopped her when she had tried to come in the last time. In the end, the big boss had to give them special orders to let her in. This time, the front desk hadn’t received any special instructions, so they were hesitant to let her enter. They didn’t dare to let Qin Zhi’ai in without permission. “Miss. Liang, Master Gu isn’t in the office today.”

“He’s not here?” Qin Zhi’ai was a little disappointed. She asked, “Do you know where he is or who he went with?”

“I think he went on a business trip, but I don’t know exactly where he went,” the staff member at the front desk said.

“Oh,” Qin Zhi’ai responded, disappointed. She paused for a second before she gave a courteous smile to the staff. She said thank you to the staff and walked away.

After she got back to her car, Qin Zhi’ai absentmindedly hit the gas and drove slowly out of the underground parking lot.

She drove back the same way she had driven here. As she drove back, she kept glancing at the cell phone that was laying on the passenger seat.

When she drove to the second major intersection, Qin Zhi’ai suddenly changed lanes and stopped her car on the side of the road.

She stared ahead of her, with both of her hands on the steering wheel, and waited for a moment. In the end, she reached her hand out to grasp her cell phone and searched for Gu Yusheng’s number. She took a deep breath and called his number.

The phone rang a couple of times before it was finally picked up. There was no one talking, and only a static sound could be heard on her end. It sounded like someone was struggling to connect a pair of Bluetooth earbuds.

Qin Zhi’ai waited until it became quiet on Gu Yusheng’s end, but Gu Yusheng didn’t keep quiet. Instead, he said softly, “Yes?”

He was talking to her. Did that mean he wasn’t actually that mad at her?

Qin Zhi’ai had been anxious before she had made the call, worried that he would refuse to talk to her, so she was slightly calmer after he answered her. She asked, “Where did you go on your business trip?”

“Shanghai.” Gu Yusheng’s voice was still soft. The way he talked made it seem like nothing had happened between him and her the day before.

“Oh,” Qin Zhi’ai responded simply. She wanted to ask him when exactly he would be back, but she swallowed the words down after thinking about how she would be leaving the next day, making it pointless to find out. She was quiet for a while as she gripped the phone harshly. She said into the phone, “Wait for a second.”

She moved the phone away from her ear and quickly connected the phone to the free wifi in the area. After it connected, she checked online for plane tickets to Shanghai that day. She found out that there was a flight to Shanghai at 3:00 in the afternoon and booked it without any hesitation. After the payment went through successfully, she raised the phone back up to her ear.

As she called Gu Yusheng’s name, Gu Yusheng, who had been waiting on the other end, seemed to have something to tell her and called out her name, little troublemaker, at the same time.