Chapter 76

“Boss Bai, are you still waiting for a friend? How about we give you a ride to the city on our way out? It’s easier to catch a cab there.”

In the No. 2 Factory office, someone with a bag slung over their shoulder smiled and asked Bai Kou as they clocked out.

This sudden “Boss Bai” truly caught Bai Kou off guard. Lu Tongtong had told her about it—this factory had a habit of addressing anyone who didn’t look like a clear-cut laborer as “Boss” or something similar.

Last time, Lu Tongtong had been called “Boss Lu” and shivered on the sofa for ages after getting back.

“It gave me goosebumps all over!”

Bai Kou came back to her senses with a smile and stood up. “No need, my friend is almost here. Thanks anyway.”

An hour later, aside from the night shift foreman whose computer screen was still lit, the office was basically empty, filled with the unique factory scent of rust and plastic mingling together.

Bai Kou left her phone on the desk to charge and yawned out of boredom. She stood up, rubbed her neck, and twisted her waist.

Outside the factory, a taxi pulled up. A person in zoo uniform with a dark gray denim jacket over it got out, hurried steps scanning the factory gate before heading right, knock knock knock, tapping on the security booth’s glass.

“Hello?” Her phone rang—a landline number. Bai Kou picked up, listened for two seconds, and hurried outside. “Oh yes, yes, it’s you. Have her wait a moment, I’ll be right out.”

It took about fifteen minutes to walk from the No. 2 Factory office to the gate. Bai Kou spotted the figure standing outside the retractable barrier from afar.

She waved with a smile. “Pei Yue—”

On the way to bring Pei Yue into the factory, Bai Kou sent Lu Tongtong a WeChat message: 【Where are you?】

She scrolled up.

About twenty minutes earlier, she had sent one too.

Logically, driving straight from Heyan should take just over an hour. Lu Tongtong usually messaged her right after getting off the highway, but today there was no word at all, and no reply?

Bai Kou frowned at her screen as Pei Yue walked beside her in silence.

“Driving so intently, huh…” Bai Kou muttered.

“Tongtong hasn’t arrived yet?” Pei Yue asked.

“Mm.” Bai Kou nodded, then suddenly thought of something and let out an “Ah.” She turned to meet Pei Yue’s gaze. “Is it because of Friday traffic? Was the road congested on your way here?”

“Not too bad.” Pei Yue smiled. “No jam when I took a cab to the high-speed rail station, just a little on the way out of Xinrong.”

Back in the office, Bai Kou had borrowed their space to wait for people and felt bad about just sitting idle, so she ordered more than twenty cups of milk tea via delivery. Three were left now.

She picked them up and offered one to Pei Yue. “Want one? There’s iced and hot.”

Bzzz bzzz, bzzz bzzz—

The factory office was very sealed, no windows. Once they quieted down, they could only hear the mechanical hum from the nearby workshop.

Bai Kou held a cup of milk tea in both hands, condensation dripping onto the back of her hand unnoticed as her gaze drifted blankly to the printer nearby, lost in thought.

Until a clang like metal dropping echoed from outside. Someone took a slow breath and asked very softly.

“Bai Kou, you’re not quite comfortable being alone with me right now, are you?”

The door was ajar. Perhaps because she was staring at the A4 paper, the ink smell in the air suddenly thickened.

Bai Kou’s eyes darkened for a second before she turned to Pei Yue with a chuckle. “Pei Yue, why do you keep asking these questions I can’t answer lately?”

Pei Yue smiled sideways without turning back. “That reaction of yours confirms it.”

Bai Kou set her milk tea cup on the corner of the desk, stood to grab some tissues, and wiped her hands. “It’s been so many years.”

Pei Yue nodded flatly. “Mm, true.”

“It’s pretty normal.” Bai Kou finished wiping, crumpled the tissue, and tossed it in the trash with a laugh in her voice. “Back when I first made up with Lu Tongtong, wasn’t I awkward for ages too? Time heals it slowly. We all have an emotional foundation, after all.”

Pei Yue didn’t respond. After a moment, she turned to look at her. “So you think we’ll make up?”

Pei Yue’s eyes held her usual calm, yet not quite—Bai Kou clearly sensed the undercurrent surging beneath that calm. She could also distinguish that the “make up” in Pei Yue’s words differed from her own meaning.

The room fell quiet for a few seconds.

Before Bai Kou could speak, Pei Yue cut in. “But you’re right.” She gripped her milk tea cup tighter, the plastic cracking. “It takes time. Has Tongtong replied to you yet?”

“Pei Yue, if you mean as friends, I think we will make up.”

After a brief hesitation, Bai Kou didn’t take Pei Yue’s out. She didn’t evade; instead, she walked right up to Pei Yue, looked down into her eyes, and stated frankly, “As for anything else, I can only say it’s been eight years. I don’t have those thoughts right now.”

Pei Yue blinked.

She stood, and Bai Kou stepped back to let her.

They stood face-to-face. Pei Yue hadn’t asked those questions expecting an immediate answer from Bai Kou—or rather, the answer wasn’t the point.

She just wanted to know: “Got it. Then, if—” if I approach you later with clear intentions, “if I still have those thoughts, would you mind? Would it make you uncomfortable?”

Creak—

The wooden door behind her suddenly sounded.

Bai Kou glanced back—no one entered. Probably the wind.

Then she met Pei Yue’s candid eyes again.

For a while now, just as she had told Lu Tongtong, she had zero thoughts about Pei Yue—completely clear and done.

And Pei Yue didn’t cling like back when they both liked each other. She was distant and mild, though subtle moments occasionally puzzled Bai Kou. Still, she figured Pei Yue felt the same: perhaps guilt or nostalgia for their past, but it was over.

Yet today, Pei Yue had suddenly called her and rushed over alone from Heyan.

Bai Kou sighed, averting her gaze for two seconds as long-buried resentments resurfaced.

“A few days ago, you asked if I regretted it. I said no, and I hope you’re doing well. But since we’re talking about this today, Pei Yue, I have to admit—when you inexplicably told me you felt tired and didn’t want to drag it out or pressure me, it really hurt. It felt like the biggest blow. I was trying so hard to…”

Bai Kou paused, switching tracks. “We’ve had each other’s contacts all these years, but I never reached out. I blocked your Moments because I truly didn’t understand a lot back then.”

“Hoping you’re well doesn’t mean I don’t resent you.”

“’Resent’ might be too strong. Anyway, you never contacted me either, right? Maybe to you, we were oceans apart. Giving up on me was also relieving your own pressure. So no matter the reason, after weighing it all, I was the one you gave up on, right?”

Pei Yue stayed silent.

Bai Kou laughed easily again. “But rationally giving up on someone isn’t wrong. I just want to say that’s why—whether you have thoughts or not, I won’t mind. What you think is your business. Right now, I’ll only see you as a friend. That’s my answer.”

Pei Yue’s chest rose and fell slowly. She looked up at Bai Kou with calm eyes.

“Mm, thanks for saying that to me. Before coming back, I thought about a lot, feared a lot. I was afraid you’d turn and walk away when you saw me, or that you weren’t doing well… Luckily, none of that happened.”

“Pfft.” Bai Kou suddenly laughed.

Pei Yue frowned in confusion. “Hm?”

Bai Kou crossed her arms. “You wouldn’t—hope I was doing badly, would you?” She joked. “After all, I’m like half your ex-girlfriend?”

Pei Yue blinked rapidly in panic, waving her hands frantically. “No no no! How could I? I swear!” She started to raise her right hand.

“Okay okay, just teasing.” Bai Kou pressed her hand down. “I just didn’t want the mood to stay so heavy.”

Pei Yue held it in for two seconds before bursting into laughter too. “How are you still like this?”

“Dunno.” Bai Kou shrugged. “Maybe I have serious awkward syndrome.”

“You’re always super serious in meetings with the director. Not awkward then?”

“Okay.” Bai Kou smiled. “It’s serious awkward syndrome with people I know.”

Just then, her phone on the desk chimed as it charged.

“Probably Tongtong’s here.” Bai Kou walked over in two or three steps, unlocked it. “…” A Park District blueprint group message with an all-at-mention.

“Is she at the gate?” Pei Yue approached.

“She says the big meeting’s moved to eight-thirty Monday morning.” Bai Kou showed Pei Yue the group message.

They exchanged glances and laughed.

“The signal here’s bad. I need to step out and call her.” Bai Kou grabbed her phone and headed out. “Way too slow. Still stuck on the highway?”

Pei Yue stayed put, leaning her lower back against the desk edge, and called out, “Bai Kou.”

Bai Kou turned back.

Pei Yue braced her hands behind her on the desk, gazing softly at her. “Since you don’t mind, my words stand. You treat me as a friend like you said. Don’t avoid me when we get back, okay?”

Bai Kou sighed helplessly. “I don’t avoid friends. Don’t worry.”

She smiled, waving her phone. “Sit tight. I’ll be back after the call.”

Under the hazy moonlight, Bai Kou walked to a spot with full signal and first sent Lu Tongtong a text: 【Stuck in traffic?】

Unexpectedly, WeChat ignored her, but the text got an instant reply: 【Kou-jie, I’m repenting.】

Bai Kou: 【Huh? Repenting what?】

Lu Tongtong: 【Can you take a video call?】

The screen connected, and Bai Kou was baffled. “You? How are you at home? We’ve been waiting for you!”

“You all?” Lu Tongtong blinked. “So Yuqiao-jie is there? Then why don’t you know why I’m home?”

“What?” Bai Kou felt like she’d heard a tongue twister but caught the key. “Bai Yuqiao’s coming?” She paused, her voice suddenly louder. “It wasn’t your voice on the call?!”

Of course not.

Lu Tongtong had been sitting with Bai Yuqiao discussing work. She’d just replied to Bai Kou that she could pick up when someone knocked. She never imagined Yuqiao-jie would answer for her…

And told her not to tell Bai Kou until arrival.

After hearing it, Bai Kou rubbed her forehead. “My god, Lu Tongtong, you teamed up to trick me?!”

“Kou-jie! Kou-jie! Kou-jie!” Lu Tongtong begged with one hand. “This is absolutely not tricking! Look, I didn’t reply a single word to you! At most, I’m an accomplice… And it’s Yuqiao-jie… How could I say no…”

Bai Kou: “Whose car is she driving? Yours? Does she know it well?”

Lu Tongtong: “Don’t worry about that. She took your keys and drove yours.”

Bai Kou sighed inwardly. She knew Bai Yuqiao had driven for years, longer than her, and with modern tech and navigation, she wouldn’t get lost.

“Do you know when she left?” After calming for two seconds, Bai Kou’s expression softened.

“She went to the director’s office after replying to you… Probably left a few minutes later.”

“So around six-ten…” Bai Kou muttered to herself.

Now it was nearly eight. Almost two hours.

Bai Kou wasn’t the worrying type. She always assumed the best, and traffic delays were normal—she never overthought.

But if it was Bai Yuqiao…

…

Maybe it was her innate over-worrying. She hung up the video, hand on hip, pacing in place.

Her mind flooded with images of crashes, accidents… Yet she didn’t dare call, lest she distract Bai Yuqiao if nothing was wrong.

One could only say that the care Bai Kou had deliberately ignored for eight years exploded out of control in that instant, like a tornado ravaging her thoughts into chaos.

Bai Yuqiao finally arrived at the factory entrance in the car.

The gate guard approached and tapped her window. She smiled and nodded, handing over her ID and a stamped Park District pass.

Spotting the No. 2 Factory sign, she parked, sent Bai Kou a WeChat, then dialed a video call.

“…”

Bai Kou, who had just replied, hung up on her without a word.

Bai Yuqiao frowned and got out of the car.

“Bang.” With a light sound, hurried footsteps rang out synchronously not far away.

Bai Yuqiao looked over and saw, to her surprise, that it was Bai Kou running toward her. She couldn’t help but smile, quickening her steps as she circled around to the front of the car—

In the dashcam with its red light blinking, the person charging in from the right first tightly hugged the very startled person on the left.

Then, just as the other tried joyfully to hug back, she shoved her away and scolded her sternly.

“Bai Yuqiao! Do you know how worried I was? You’re not allowed to do this next time!”