Back Then, I Adored You

“In the past, I always wanted to stay by Wu Hao’s side, but now the mere sight of him reminds me of Jiang Qianqian. From that moment on, I knew I would always remember Jiang Qianqian if we continued to be together. I feel like I’m going crazy.”

“Xiao’ai, do you know that, right now, Wu Hao is rotting my heart?” Xu Wennuan lifted her hands up and jabbed at where her heart is. “If I were to remove it, I wouldn’t be able to live. But if I don’t, it will always hurt me. I really don’t know how I should proceed with Wu Hao from here.”

Xu Wennuan finished the bottle of alcohol in her hands and stood up. Walking over to the fridge, she took out yet another bottle of beer and tilted her head back to gulp it down. Unable to stand it anymore, Qin Zhi’ai began to urge her to stop. “Nuannuan, stop drinking. Drinking too much will make you feel terrible.”

“Terrible? Even the person I care about the most isn’t concerned about whether or not I feel terrible, so why should I care about myself?” Xu Wennuan giggled but, in the next moment, she was hugging the table and bawling hard.

After a bout of crying, she finally calmed down.

Pulling out a tissue, she dried her tears and looked up at Qin Zhi’ai. “Xiao’ai, I’ll be leaving Beijing tomorrow.”

A look of shock flashed in Qin Zhi’ai’s eyes.

Tomorrow? Why so sudden?

Xu Wennuan’s eyes were still glazed with tears, but she smiled wryly at Qin Zhi’ai and said in a self-mocking tone, “Before the new year, when I learned that you were leaving for the U.S. next month, I was so sad that I even cried over it. To think that now I’m actually leaving before you.”

“Where are you going?” Qin Zhi’ai asked.

After a long silence, Xu Wennuan shook her head with some uncertainty and said, “I don’t know. Anywhere.”

“When are you coming back?”

“I don’t know that either.” Xu Wennuan’s gaze seemed far away. “I said the same thing to Wu Hao. I told him we’d discuss matters after I return.”

After Qin Zhi’ai had left, Wu Hao proposed a drinking session with Gu Yusheng that night.

Like Qin Zhi’ai, Gu Yusheng did not respond and behaved as if Wu Hao didn’t exist. Getting into the driver’s seat, he drove straight home.

On the day that Xu Wennuan left Beijing, however, Gu Yusheng, along with Lu Bancheng, still accompanied Wu Hao for a drink that night.

The only reason he agreed to go was because of A’s letter, which he had received when it was almost time to get off work.

Xiaowang had delivered the letter to his office when he was in the middle of a video conference.

After Chinese New Year, the Gu Company had started a new project, and Gu Yusheng had been kept on his toes. Hearing a knock on his door, Gu Yusheng looked up at Xiaowang while continuing to chat on his video call. His temples visibly twitched as he touched the thick pile of documents from Xiaowang. It appeared that he’d be working overtime again tonight.

Knowing how busy Gu Yusheng was, Xiaowang did not disturb him and left after delivering the documents. After a while, he returned again, though, and his frequent trips began to annoy Gu Yusheng. Frowning, he ignored Xiaowang but glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and caught him placing something on top of his desk.

By the time the video conference ended, it was already 7:00 p.m.

As all the employees from the secretaries’ office had gone home, he had to make himself a cup of coffee. Returning to his desk, he prepared to look through the pile of documents that Xiaowang had delivered, but the first thing he noticed was a mail package that had been placed beside the documents.