Chapter 67: It Pulled at Her Heart, Making It Ache.
One thunderclap after another rolled and exploded in the depths of the clouds, like several giant beasts roaring in the sky. The downpour suddenly poured down, determined to drench this international metropolis.
The pitter-patter of the rain became more and more dense, and louder and louder.
Under the thick night, the rain was like a curtain.
In Huai Xing’s apartment, the landmark building not far away could only be seen as a blurry light and shadow, and the specific words could not be seen clearly.
“This rain is too heavy,” Lu Xianyue said, sitting on the soft blanket, sighing as she sent a message to Wen Shiwei.
The rain had started when they were still on the road.
Originally, they had planned to go to a restaurant for dinner, but the heavy rain poured down, drowning everything, and the three of them were in no mood. So they returned to the apartment and made do with the ingredients in the refrigerator.
Huai Xing and Lu Xianyue were not very good at cooking, but Lu Zhenyue was.
The two of them had pieced together the ingredients from the refrigerator, and now they were waiting in the living room for Lu Zhenyue in the kitchen to call them.
The smell of food gradually wafted out. Huai Xing was also sitting on the soft blanket. She casually scrolled through the trending topics about the Haicheng downpour on the hot search, her expression blank, and she “mm”-ed along.
More than half an hour ago, after her simple conversation with Lu Zhenyue had ended, she had just remembered that she hadn’t hung up on Chu Wantang’s call. When she looked at her phone, Chu Wantang had already hung up, and her mind was still filled with Chu Wantang’s “don’t be afraid, Xingxing.”
She wasn’t afraid. She had never been afraid.
But at that time, she had forgotten to explain, and she had also forgotten to warn Chu Wantang not to call her “Xingxing.”
As she scrolled through the trending topics, Lu Xianyue at the side seemed to have just remembered. “President Chu and the others should be back from the neighboring city by now, right?”
“They’re back.”
“Did she tell you?”
Huai Xing: “…Mm.”
Otherwise, why would she call and ask her if she had heard the thunder? It wasn’t raining heavily in the neighboring city.
“It’s good that they’re not stuck on the road.”
Lu Zhenyue held a spatula in the kitchen and poked her head out. “Come and get the dishes.”
In the past few years, such a scene had also happened many times.
The two people in the living room immediately propped themselves up and went to the kitchen to get the rice and dishes. In less than two minutes, three dishes and a soup were on the table. The ingredients were all from the last time the cleaning lady had come, and there were many varieties and they were fresh.
When Lu Xianyue swallowed her first mouthful of food, she couldn’t help but wail again, “Sister, on what grounds? On what grounds is your cooking so delicious?”
“It’s a talent.”
“Why don’t I have this talent?” Lu Xianyue was on the verge of tears.
Since she was a child, she had been inferior to the carefully cultivated Lu Zhenyue in all aspects. Even when she had participated in Lu Xuerong’s successor training plan, she had taken the initiative to ask for it. She wanted to prove her ability.
Now that her ability had been proven, she had also let it go. But when it came to food, this picky person could never let it go.
Huai Xing comforted her friend at the side. “I think you have this talent. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have managed your food account to this extent.”
Lu Xianyue often explored restaurants and posted her opinions on food online. Her evaluations were very unique, and since she was not short on money and did not rely on this for a living, her main focus was on authenticity. Over time, her food account now had a six-figure number of followers.
Lu Zhenyue glanced at Huai Xing and echoed with a grin, “That’s right. You’ve been so successful with just a casual effort.”
Lu Xianyue’s mood immediately turned from cloudy to sunny, and she “hehe”-ed. “You’re right.”
The sound of the rain outside showed no sign of stopping. The three of them chatted lightly about life and work while they ate.
When they put down their chopsticks at the end, the thunder had already completely receded.
Huai Xing turned her head to look out the floor-to-ceiling window. After thinking for a moment, she still picked up the phone on the table.
She came to the window, her figure clear on the windowpane. The light from the phone screen was reflected on her face. She first dialed Ding Rong.
As soon as the other end answered, her voice was steady as she said, “Ding Rong, ask Xiao Li and the others if they have returned to Haicheng.”
Xiao Li was the employee who had taken the “Lan Ling” team to the neighboring city to see the silkworm farming base.
Ding Rong immediately answered, “They came back at seven in the evening, President Huai. She told me.”
She asked with some confusion, “Did something happen, President Huai?”
“It’s raining so heavily now. I was worried that they would be stuck on the road and have an accident. It’s good that they’re back.”
“I’ll go and confirm again.”
“…” Huai Xing swallowed the “no need.” “Alright, let me know when you have the result.”
After the call ended, Huai Xing was still standing by the window. She listened to the continuous sound of the rain, her expression unclear.
“Xiao Xing,” Lu Zhenyue called her from the living room.
Huai Xing turned around. “Sister Suisui, what’s wrong?”
“I bought this sunflower desktop ornament from an old lady when I was shopping. One for you and one for Xianyue,” Lu Zhenyue said, taking out a gift from her suitcase and smiling at Huai Xing. “I’ll give it to you now, lest I forget when I go to Xianyue’s place.”
This was a small crocheted ornament. In addition to the flower, there were also two leaves and a brown pot underneath.
Small and exquisite.
Lu Xianyue took another tulip-style one and held it in her palm, asking very seriously, “Wow, so cute. Is this hard to crochet?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t tried,” Lu Zhenyue answered.
Huai Xing cleared her throat and said, “You can try, Xianyue.”
Hearing her tone, Lu Xianyue knew what she was thinking. She raised an eyebrow and did not say whether she would try or not.
Huai Xing took the small ornament, a faint smile on her face. “Thank you, Sister Suisui.”
“I just bought it on a whim. You don’t have to be so polite with me.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Huai Xing’s phone vibrated. She glanced at the caller ID and once again came to the floor-to-ceiling window to swipe the screen.
She still did not speak first, and the person on the other end was also silent.
A dozen or so seconds later, Chu Wantang finally parted her lips lightly. “Don’t worry. We came back to the hotel a long time ago.” It was only raining outside, and her fear had dissipated a lot. But she had broken out in a lot of cold sweat and was a little sticky. She was now waiting for the hotel staff to change the bedsheets.
Huai Xing’s tone was business-like. “Okay.”
“Then when should I give you the jacket tomorrow? I have to go to your company’s silk factory in the suburbs in the morning, and I’ll probably be back at night.”
“Then at night.”
“Okay,” Chu Wantang said with a forced smile. “I hope it won’t thunder and rain again tomorrow night. Otherwise, it will have to be delayed.”
Just as she finished speaking, she heard Lu Zhenyue’s voice from the other end of the phone. Her nerves immediately tensed up, and her breathing became a little difficult. She couldn’t help but ask, “Are you at home now?”
“If there’s nothing else important, let’s end this call here,” Huai Xing said, even omitting any form of address.
Chu Wantang sat on the sofa, her long lashes lowered.
Although the lights were on in the room, she felt as if she couldn’t sense any light, as if she were still in the darkness. She loosened her tightly pressed lips and finally remembered something. She asked, “Can you open your Moments permissions for me, President Huai?” Her tone was deliberately light. “I’m afraid President Huai will speak ill of me behind my back, and my Moments permissions are open to President Huai. This is not very fair.”
“You’re overthinking it.”
“Can’t President Huai even be this frank?”
Huai Xing was too lazy to argue with her and ended the call neatly.
She turned around, and Lu Zhenyue had already packed her suitcase and was about to go back to their own room with Lu Xianyue.
Seeing that Huai Xing had finished her call, the two sisters said goodbye to her. “See you tomorrow.”
After the two of them left, Huai Xing placed the sunflower ornament on the small side table by the sofa.
Thinking of Chu Wantang’s goading, her brows furrowed slightly. She had originally set the Moments permissions for Chu Wantang and Su Cheng because she felt it was unnecessary. But now that she had a good relationship with Su Qiao, and she also had a business cooperation with Chu Wantang.
In that case, she would open the Moments permissions she had set for them. Even though she knew it was Chu Wantang’s trick, she didn’t want to seem not frank enough.
In the past few years, she had been enjoying life and had shared many of her daily life on her Moments. But her Moments were only public for three months, and others couldn’t see what was before that.
She briefly scrolled through it. The last time she had posted on her Moments was at the Nancheng exhibition, when she had had dinner with Lu Xianyue at a seaside restaurant and had casually taken a picture of the scenery outside.
It had been a while.
Thinking of this, she took the small sunflower ornament from the side and placed it in her palm.
She took a picture of it and posted it on her Moments, with a sunflower emoji as the caption, and nothing else.
Soon, someone liked it. She didn’t look at it much and put her phone down to take a shower.
When Chu Wantang came out of the shower, her brows were still not relaxed, and a hint of sadness was on her face.
One was because of the intimacy between Huai Xing and Lu Zhenyue, and the other was because she didn’t know if her goading had worked.
She leaned against the head of the bed and once again opened Huai Xing’s profile picture.
And this time, she clearly saw that the Moments were no longer a blank space, but had some color.
She sat up a little straighter and opened it.
The latest post was a small crocheted sunflower ornament, standing steadily in Huai Xing’s palm.
It was clearly an unremarkable small ornament, but it made her freeze in place, and her fingertips felt cold—
Recently, she had not missed Lu Zhenyue’s account on public platforms.
Even tonight, after she had hung up on Huai Xing’s call, she had also gone to Lu Zhenyue’s Weibo to see her posts, and this small sunflower ornament had appeared in Lu Zhenyue’s latest post.
Her heart was racing, and her breathing was also rapid.
Chu Wantang stared at the small ornament, her brows furrowed even tighter, and she even forgot how to blink. Her thoughts were scattered. One moment, she felt that it was impossible for Huai Xing to like someone else after liking her, because her conditions were considered excellent, right?
But at this moment, she also had to admit, was Lu Zhenyue any worse than her…
The background of the Lu family in Jingcheng, her looks, education, and figure, which one of them was not presentable? She was also a theater actress who pursued her ideals and was at the top of her industry.
The words Wan Yi had said before suddenly popped into her mind, hitting her one by one.
She closed her eyes and once again advised herself to calm down.
It was just a small ornament. What could it prove?
The downpour outside still hadn’t stopped. It was May, and the begonias planted in Haicheng were almost past their flowering period. At this moment, they were floating in the vortex of heaven and earth.
The petals were flying in the rain, like butterflies that had lost their souls.
The next day, the sky did not clear up, and the rain was sometimes heavy and sometimes light.
Huai Xing had an appointment with a client in the morning. She wanted to develop the company’s business wider and more refined. After discussing with her team, she was preparing to launch a craftsman inheritance plan, cooperating with the Huaxiu Intangible Cultural Heritage Office to establish a craftsman studio, and then use this channel to open up the name of “Silk Season.”
This project not only complied with the intangible cultural heritage protection policy, but also contributed a little to this industry.
At this moment, in a club, she was talking to the people in charge opposite her very seriously. “In terms of the construction of the inheritance system, I think there can be a three-year, nine-level training system, and also a dual-mentor system. For example, let the intangible cultural heritage inheritors teach the techniques, and the professors of the National Academy of Fine Arts teach the design aesthetics…”
“In terms of the product matrix, it is divided into heirloom collections, contemporary high-end customization, and light luxury derivatives. As far as I know, the most serious problem that most intangible cultural heritage craftsmen are currently facing is that they put in a lot of effort but get little in return…”
In these five years, she had never really relaxed for a moment. She talked about these things with ease, pushing forward the project plan as she spoke, and finally ended in a pleasant atmosphere.
When she came out of the club, Huai Xing shook hands with the people in charge and then got into the car.
The driver was driving steadily in the driver’s seat, and Ding Rong was flipping through a tablet in the passenger seat, on which was Huai Xing’s work schedule for this week.
Huai Xing was rubbing her brow in the back seat. When the car stopped at a red light, she finally opened her eyes slowly.
She looked at Ding Rong and then asked, “Is it still Xiao Li who is taking the ‘Lan Ling’ people to the suburbs today?”
“Yes, President Huai,” Ding Rong said, pulling up the weather forecast. “It’s estimated that it will rain heavily again tonight. I’ll ask her to be more careful.”
Huai Xing nodded. “Safety is the most important thing.”
As she spoke, she lowered her eyes, unlocked her phone, and first replied to some messages. Coincidentally, Lu Xianyue sent a message in the next second.
Lu Xianyue asked: [How about this flower?]
The attached picture was a bouquet of flowers in an envelope, with several types of flowers with a bright yellow as the main tone.
But this envelope’s decoration made Huai Xing’s long lashes tremble slightly.
She pressed her lips together and could only answer truthfully: [Very beautiful.]
She then asked: [Who are you giving it to?]
[My sister,] Lu Xianyue replied.
[She has a lot of people at her promotional event today. I’m afraid she won’t receive any flowers, so I’ll have Zheng Lan help me send a bouquet over in a while.]
Huai Xing: [Why did you think of giving such a thing?]
Lu Xianyue: [President Chu’s profile picture.]
Lu Xianyue: [I searched online and found that this kind of envelope bouquet is very beautiful.]
Huai Xing looked at the message and didn’t know what to say for a moment.
After a long while, she finally replied: [Wait, how could Sister Suisui not receive any flowers?]
According to Lu Zhenyue’s popularity, she should be receiving more flowers than she can handle, right?
Lu Xianyue: [Because I received flowers.]
Lu Xianyue: [My good best friend just drove over to give me a bouquet of flowers.]
Huai Xing: […]
She wanted to delete Lu Xianyue’s friend.
But she couldn’t stop the smile on her lips. She didn’t know what the progress was between Lu Xianyue and Wen Shiwei, but from her perspective, it was very interesting.
And this bit of fun was already extremely rare in her life, and she cherished it very much.
After exiting her chat with Lu Xianyue, Huai Xing then saw the withered bouquet profile picture at the bottom of the message bar.
A withered flower would not return to its original vibrant color. This was a principle that even a child understood.
…
Haicheng was very large, and the silk factory in the suburbs of “Silk Season” was nearly forty kilometers from the city center.
Because the weather was not good today, it was almost dark at six o’clock. Chu Wantang and her team got in the car to go back. When they were halfway there, an accident happened—
The business car broke down.
At the same time, a muffled thunder sounded in the sky again, and a downpour was about to come.
Xiao Li, who was also the driver, turned on the hazard lights, parked the car on the side of the road where it would not obstruct traffic, and then took out the warning sign from the trunk and placed it. The others contacted for rescue.
The group of five had no choice but to get out of the car and stand in a safe place.
Chu Wantang held an umbrella and listened to the thunder, her lips pressed together tightly, her body a little stiff. The frequency of her long lashes trembling was much faster than usual.
But in this anxious and dark night, no one noticed.
Xiao Li at the side was calling Ding Rong to report the situation. After hanging up, she said to the “Lan Ling” people, “The company already knows about this. They’re sending someone to pick us up now. Don’t worry.”
Chu Wantang did not want her current state to be noticed by outsiders. She lowered her umbrella a little and replied nonchalantly, “Okay.”
She eased her nervousness. After her breathing was a little more regular, she opened Weibo again. The first thing that came into her sight was Lu Zhenyue’s post. It was Lu Zhenyue holding a bouquet of envelope flowers, with the caption: [Thank you all for coming to see me today. Today was very beautiful.]
The string in her heart tightened again, pulling at her heart, making it ache. She lost all perception of her surroundings.
What was this? Was it a return gift from Huai Xing to Lu Zhenyue? Then had she said the exact same thing?
Would she change “Chu Chu” to “Suisui”?
Her mind was like a muddled water at this moment, and that bit of reason had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a piece of turbidity and confusion.
Suddenly, a drop of water appeared on the screen, magnifying the bouquet. Chu Wantang lifted her eyes slightly and looked at the umbrella that was covering her tightly.
It turned out that this downpour and her tears had fallen at the same time.
The wind is rising, Chu Wantang.
