Shu Chi had been restless for the past few days.
On Friday, the Marketing Department Supervisor even specifically asked Jing Yuqi, who was rarely in the office, about it.
Jing Yuqi still had to travel this week to see a new brand’s show. Rarely slacking off, she had actually been working diligently for a few days.
She looked up. “You mean Shu Chi?”
The Marketing Department Supervisor was an old employee, one Jing Yuqi had swindled into joining years ago.
All these years later, having gone from a fresh-faced graduate to a married career woman, her relationship with the two bosses remained excellent.
She said, “She seems fine, not sick or anything.”
Jing Yuqi stood outside the livestream room watching. Shu Chi usually never came for regular broadcasts. For some reason, these past two days she’d suddenly been paying close attention, making the streamers a bit anxious.
Shu Chi held the title of Boss. Even though the company was now packaged as some mid-to-high-end brand, the corporate culture was still very down-to-earth. Even a down-to-earth boss supervising still made people uncomfortable.
“Really? I feel like she’s been acting strange.”
The Marketing Supervisor was named Yan Ni. Dressed quite casually, she stood next to Jing Yuqi peeking inside.
It made the assistant inside the livestream room nervous, afraid some mistake had occurred to bring the other boss here too.
“Hasn’t she always been like this? Sometimes fretting over the company, sometimes just exiling herself.”
Jing Yuqi knew Shu Chi always harbored a noodle shop dream, itching to rent a storefront even if she only opened it for two hours a day.
If the company weren’t so busy lately, she might really have taken that purchased storefront to chase her dream.
Yan Ni wiggled her eyebrows and asked, “I thought she went on another blind date.”
Working people weren’t on the clock 24/7; gossip was always the talk during downtime.
New hires at the company usually asked the same question. Wellpond had been around for so many years, interns coming and going in waves, yet both bosses were still single.
But Yan Ni never worried about Jing Yuqi. That person dressed like a peacock every day, and no one knew why she was so keen on strutting her stuff, specifically hunting down shady younger men.
Shu Chi and Jing Yuqi gave people the feeling of a Daoist temple and a brothel operating next door—completely mismatched, yet under the catalysis of time, they had an eerie harmony.
Having been together all these years and become like family, Yan Ni was more concerned about Shu Chi. They were around the same age, after all, and Yan Ni had already had her second child while Shu Chi had never even dated.
Jing Yuqi said, “Nope. Haven’t heard anything about her family arranging blind dates either.”
Jing Yuqi had introduced Shu Chi to potential partners before, both men and women. Shu Chi refused them all.
Even at mixers, if someone was interested in Shu Chi, it was like she had “Do Not Disturb” tattooed on her forehead, ready to ascend to the heavens at any moment.
Her face simply held no worldly desires. Anyone interested in her would find their enthusiasm instantly deflating.
After that, Jing Yuqi stopped trying.
But Shu Chi wasn’t without parents or family. Relatives back home worried too. Even though Shu Chi only went back for a few days each Lunar New Year, they managed to arrange things for her perfectly. Returning to work after the holiday, she looked completely drained of energy.
Even if Shu Chi won the battles, her face showed no joy in resisting her family.
Yan Ni clicked her tongue. “Seeing her this distracted, I thought you’d introduced her to some stunning beauty.”
Jing Yuqi swatted her. “Why not a stunning handsome guy?”
Yan Ni stared at Shu Chi inside. The heating was on indoors. Even though it was freezing after a snowfall outside, inside was warm like spring.
Shu Chi wore a fitted sweater, the company’s new seasonal piece. It was a bit short, revealing a strip of her waist when she reached for something.
Boss Shu was only thirty, yet more into health maintenance than the company’s cleaning aunties. She steeped goji berries in red dates year-round, insisted on night runs, and had a hobby of fishing in the dead of winter. Her figure was quite good.
People were somewhat lascivious. Even though Shu Chi’s face looked fierce, the staff had long known her personality and boldly looked.
Yan Ni let out a lecherous laugh. “Looking like that, how could she be with a guy?”
Jing Yuqi: …
She really wanted to refute that, but she truly couldn’t.
Mentioning this reminded her of the online romance Shu Chi had talked about while they were drinking.
Jing Yuqi and Shu Chi both lacked higher education, never having attended a proper university. They were classic “factory girl” representatives among entrepreneurs.
Only, Shu Chi was more extreme, having only completed compulsory education.
“Yan Ni, let me ask you something.”
Jing Yuqi bumped Yan Ni’s shoulder. Yan Ni was nearly knocked over by this woman who, years ago, could fight off an entire street while pregnant.
“Talk properly, don’t use force.”
Jing Yuqi simply put her arm around the other’s shoulder. “Did you ever have an online romance back in school?”
The question was a bit abrupt. Yan Ni glanced at her in surprise, her face showing a strangely zen-like glow of mercy. “Don’t tell me you’ve stooped to online romance scams?”
She even added an ‘Amitabha’ at the end.
“What are you talking about? Would I even need online scams?”
Jing Yuqi snorted. Yan Ni said, “Then why ask? I’m even less likely to have online romanced. Was busy studying in school, who had the time?”
She looked exactly like a model student. Jing Yuqi sighed, feeling she’d asked the wrong person.
Yan Ni narrowed her eyes. “What’s up? Don’t tell me Shu Chi’s having an online romance? With that mouth that can’t speak, you think going online would make her charming?”
Jing Yuqi: “You’re the same age as her. I thought you might have some common ground.”
Yan Ni looked up in surprise, pointing at herself. “Me and Boss Shu? If she didn’t say her age, I’d think she was five or six years older.”
It wasn’t Yan Ni exaggerating.
Back when she interviewed at this small company, hardly thirty years old, the two bosses sat together. No matter how you looked, the dark-faced, grim-reaper Shu Chi seemed more steady. Looking at Jing Yuqi alone, she’d thought she was being tricked into a pyramid scheme.
Though Shu Chi didn’t look like she ran a clothing company either; more like a debt-collection agency.
It nearly made newly-graduated Yan Ni bolt out the door.
Jing Yuqi sighed, then looked inside again. Shu Chi was talking to a streamer.
The new streamer was in her early twenties, wearing delicate makeup, looking up nervously at Shu Chi.
Though Shu Chi didn’t like initiating conversation, she was quite proactive at work.
The industry evolved daily. Jing Yuqi worried she couldn’t keep up, not expecting Shu Chi to adapt so quickly. Even though she never appeared on camera herself, she would watch her company’s streamers outside and compile feedback for meetings.
“Then let me ask you, if when you were young…”
Yan Ni glared at her. Jing Yuqi corrected herself: “I mean, you had an online romance before, someone you really liked. Then you lost contact, but you still like them. Do you think if someone else pursued you now, they could win you over?”
The question was highly pointed. Yan Ni let out an ‘Ah.’ “Boss Shu looks so earnest, yet she actually…”
She was as jumpy as ever, nothing like the commanding presence she had in meetings with her subordinates. “Wait, someone’s pursuing Shu Chi right now?”
Jing Yuqi rubbed her chin. “Sort of.”
Yan Ni: “Who? Do I know them? How old? Guy or girl?”
Right then, the wall beside them had a poster—promotion for this collaboration project. Jing Yuqi pointed at it. “From this company.”
Yan Ni let out a “Whoa.” “Should’ve gone with you that day for the meeting.”
She asked curiously, “Was it love at first sight that day?”
Jing Yuqi: “I don’t think so, but you know Shu Chi doesn’t like to talk.”
Yan Ni: “What do you think of this person?”
Jing Yuqi had only met Ding Ya once. She just felt her appearance didn’t match her age, though this industry was very new, so a young supervisor wasn’t strange.
“Hmm… not tall, looks like a college student, quite cute, has dimples, voice is sweet too.”
Yan Ni let out an “Oh.” “So there’s a nice size difference then.”
She patted Jing Yuqi. “Is there even a question? An online romance you don’t know whether you’ve been heartbroken over for years, or a cute girl you’ve just started interacting with? Obviously you choose the one you can touch?”
Jing Yuqi: “You’re not Shu Chi.”
Yan Ni rolled her eyes. “Then why the hell are you asking me?”
After a pause, she let out an “Hey.” “This project’s first phase is almost done. Isn’t there a team-building event at the end of the month? Want to invite their company? We’re partners anyway.”
Jing Yuqi: “Wouldn’t that be too formal?”
Yan Ni: “Then do it informally. The way you’re asking, I feel like Shu Chi isn’t that opposed to being pursued?”
Jing Yuqi looked thoughtful. “Let’s see. Shu Chi always finds a way to mess up any opportunity I set up for her.”
Just then, Shu Chi looked up and locked eyes through the glass window with the two people discussing her love life with total confidence.
Shu Chi thought something was up and walked out. “What’s going on?”
The cuffs of her pants were wide, but that didn’t diminish the pressure her figure exuded.
Jing Yuqi and Yan Ni, feeling guilty, quickly waved their hands.
Shu Chi let out an “Oh.” Jing Yuqi said, “I’m flying to Shanghai tonight. Don’t forget to pick up my kid for me.”
Shu Chi shot back, “Am I your nanny?”
Yan Ni had already slipped away. Jing Yuqi said, “The kid likes you, what can I do? Besides, you can ask me for money.”
Shu Chi laughed. “What would I ask you for money for? Save it for Xiaohu. She’s just afraid you’ll find a stepdad and forget her.”
Jing Yuqi: “I wouldn’t. Then I’m counting on you. I’m heading straight to the airport later.”
Shu Chi hadn’t arranged a full weekend schedule. To pick up the child, she even left work early.
Ding Ya hadn’t sent her a WeChat message today, causing Shu Chi to subconsciously open the app even during work.
Ding Ya was a very lively person.
It wasn’t that Shu Chi hadn’t met this type of girl before. Over the years, anyone interested in her had been rejected. Even those unyielding ones who persisted barely lasted a few days before fading away on their own.
But with Ding Ya, from the end of the year, the first phase of the collaboration project had been completed.
From morning to night, Ding Ya loved sending Shu Chi WeChat messages whenever she was free.
The ‘good morning’ and ‘good night’ messages were routine. So were photos of her dog.
Shu Chi felt like she’d watched Ding Ya’s dog grow up.
Its ears had even stood up now.
Shu Chi’s sleep wasn’t long. She’d wake up, finish her morning run, and be cooking breakfast by the time Ding Ya’s ‘good morning’ message arrived.
Ding Ya slept very late, occasionally working overtime at night. Their WeChat conversations would always end up interrupted.
Though there were never many continuous ones to begin with. Mostly half-hour gaps.
Sometimes Shu Chi genuinely didn’t see the message. Sometimes she truly didn’t know how to reply, and then just forgot.
Shu Chi seemed like a frog that Ding Ya was slowly boiling in warm water.
In their casual chats, both having post-millennium online romance experiences, it was as if they’d become fellow patients.
Ding Ya would talk to Shu Chi about her “husband” who died of cancer. Certain fragments of memories and games they played always strangely matched Shu Chi’s own online romance experience. But this match wasn’t one hundred percent.
This was also what made Shu Chi certain Ding Ya was not her wife “Bean Sprout.”
Perhaps it was just that people in that era said similar sweet nothings.
Across the internet line, “I love you” came easily, with no accountability.
But Ding Ya was trapped by that dead “husband.” She told Shu Chi she couldn’t move on.
Recently, with that “husband’s” account showing signs of life, she’d asked Shu Chi how to reply.
Now the situation had progressed to the point where that husband hadn’t actually died at all; he’d just lied to her.
And as a fellow patient, Shu Chi occasionally asked Ding Ya hypothetical questions.
What her wife, who suddenly came online, meant by a simple “Long time no see.”
Waiting for Xiaohu at the school gate, Shu Chi couldn’t help herself and sent Ding Ya a WeChat message—
“Are you very busy today?”
By the time she picked up Xiaohu and went to the supermarket along the way, Ding Ya still hadn’t replied.
Ding Ya was at a supermarket with her older brother, who was in Bramble City on a business trip, buying groceries.
Ding Shuqing asked, “Your phone got a message. Not gonna check it?”
Ding Ya glanced at it and locked the screen again, smiling faintly—
“I looked. Nothing worth replying to.”
Let’s see just how cooked you are, you stupid frog, and whether you’ll call me.
