Chapter 38
The light from the streetlight was like a bean. Xu Qingtang’s heart skipped a beat as she looked at Teacher Qi across the street.
“Mom.”
Xu Qingtang’s voice was neither loud nor soft, melting into the cold wind. She felt an indescribable sense of unease. She looked up at Gu Yizhi and firmly held her hand.
Gu Yizhi also held her hand back and whispered in her ear, “I’ll go with you.”
As she walked up to Teacher Qi and Auntie Zhou, Xu Qingtang was also muttering to herself, wondering if they had been seen. If they had, she would have to think carefully about what to say in the future…
Teacher Qi frowned slightly, her gaze lingering on them for a few seconds. Xu Qingtang had a guilty conscience and felt numb all over, as if she were on pins and needles.
After a moment, she forced a smile on her face. “Mom, why did you suddenly come over so late?”
“Didn’t you say you were going on a business trip the day after tomorrow?” Teacher Qi’s voice was a little hoarse. “I was thinking of bringing you something to eat.”
Her gaze swept over the two of them again, a little displeased. “Qingtang, it’s so cold. Why are you letting Yizhi stay out here in the wind with you?”
A false alarm.
Xu Qingtang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was Gu Yizhi who answered first. “I was just giving Tangtang a ride home. We just arrived.”
Teacher Qi nodded, her voice still hoarse. “It’s getting late. Yizhi, you should go back. It’s not safe to drive at night.”
Gu Yizhi was unhurried. “Alright. It’s been cold recently. You should take care of yourself.”
Xu Qingtang’s gaze followed Gu Yizhi. Gu Yizhi smiled at her. When the car had driven far away, Teacher Qi coughed and asked, “When are you coming back from your business trip?”
Xu Qingtang answered honestly, “Probably at the end of the month.”
Teacher Qi was thoughtful. “Have you had your birthday yet?”
Xu Qingtang said, “I have, but it’s fine. You know I don’t like to celebrate my birthday.”
Auntie Zhou, who had been silent all along, suddenly smiled and said, “It’s normal. Not many young people like to celebrate their birthdays nowadays.”
Teacher Qi suddenly asked out of the blue, “Will Gu Yizhi be going with you?”
“How could she? She has to work too. Besides, why would she go with me?” Xu Qingtang’s smile was a little strained.
Teacher Qi didn’t say anything upon hearing this, just told her to work hard, and then went back with Auntie Zhou.
*
The later it got, the colder it became. The bright leaves of the plane trees were blown by the wind to the front window of the taxi, then fluttered and fell into the cracks of the windshield wipers.
The driver turned his head back. “Miss? Are you still waiting? It’s already this late. I’m guessing the person you’re waiting for won’t…”
Xu Qingtang took out her phone and scanned the QR code. A voice sounded in the car: Alipay received xx…
After receiving the money, the driver couldn’t say much. In front of them was a very famous star-rated hotel in Lin City. He looked at Xu Qingtang with a hint of sympathy.
Xu Qingtang guessed that he had made up a tragic story of catching a cheater, but she didn’t explain. After receiving a message from Gu Yizhi, she pushed open the car door and got out.
The cold air floated outside the window. Xu Qingtang’s eyes looked towards the hotel entrance. Through the glass revolving door, she could vaguely see Gu Yizhi’s figure.
Xu Qingtang took a little detour, took out her phone, and called Gu Yizhi. “Are you done?”
“Yes, just finished. You’re not at home?”
Gu Yizhi was very sharp. Xu Qingtang stopped in her tracks and did not admit it. “No, is there a sound? I’m on the balcony. It’s too stuffy in the room with the heater on, so I came out for some fresh air.”
The closer Xu Qingtang got, the more clearly she could see Gu Yizhi’s back. Her long hair swayed slightly, and her figure was tall and slender.
She began to give out false information to confuse her. “I miss you so much, but I can’t disturb your work, so I can only stay at home alone.”
With that, Xu Qingtang smiled. “By the way, close your eyes. I’ll show you a magic trick, okay?”
“What?”
A living person appearing out of thin air.
“A living person appearing out of thin air?”
Gu Yizhi said what was on Xu Qingtang’s mind. Not only that, but she also turned around, raised her hand and pinched Xu Qingtang’s cheek, and said with a calm expression, “What a surprise, great magician Xu.”
Xu Qingtang: …
She hung up the phone. “How did you know?”
Gu Yizhi tilted her head and said, “If I were a little blinder, a little deafer, and a little dumber, I probably wouldn’t have known.”
Xu Qingtang inexplicably felt that she was being shaded. She shot her a glare, feeling a sense of disappointment. “Are you allergic to romance!”
Her script had been well-planned—Gu Yizhi would close her eyes and stand there, and she would go up and give her a big hug. In the winter night, it would be a completely romantic idol drama.
But it had been turned into a sand sculpture by Gu Yizhi.
Gu Yizhi smiled without saying a word. After a moment, she asked, “Why the sudden visit?”
Xu Qingtang really, really wanted to say that she missed her, that she wanted to be with her, especially after smelling the alcohol on her.
But after such a scene, she turned her face away and said, “Oh, it’s nothing. I just suddenly heard that you were missing me so much that you couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning at night, hugging your pillow and calling my name, crying foolishly, calling me ‘darling’ over and over again. Not only did you use up several boxes of Golden Throat lozenges, but I heard that your pillow was so wet it sprouted? Ai, I really couldn’t stand it anymore, so I kindly came to see you, lest you become obsessed with me and go crazy.”
The more she spoke, the stranger Gu Yizhi’s expression became.
It was as if she was trying to hold back a laugh.
At first, Xu Qingtang didn’t understand, but she soon did—because a few more people walked out from behind the revolving door, looking at Xu Qingtang with curious and complicated expressions. One of them asked, “CEO Gu, who is this?”
Gu Yizhi said, “She’s my girlfriend.”
The few people: ???
Xu Qingtang: …
She hid behind Gu Yizhi. The few people’s expressions became even more curious and complicated. Gu Yizhi said again, “She’s a little cold. I’ll take her back first. We’ll talk another day.”
Sometimes, people really don’t have to be so stubborn.
Xu Qingtang was now regretting it, very much so.
Gu Yizhi said that those few people were sent by the Zhishang headquarters for inspection and assessment. They had just arrived today, so she had to have a meal with them and go through the motions.
Seeing that Xu Qingtang hadn’t spoken even after getting in the car, Gu Yizhi smiled. “I did remind you.”
Yes, she had reminded her. Not playing along with her magic trick was already a form of reminder, afraid that Xu Qingtang would be embarrassed. But she hadn’t understood and had stubbornly spouted a bunch of nonsense, further upgrading the sand sculpture script to a sand sculpture social death script.
Very good. Xu Qingtang looked up at the sky and suddenly felt that living didn’t seem to have much meaning anymore.
After a long while, she finally got over the embarrassment, turned to look at Gu Yizhi, and asked, “You just admitted it like that? Will it affect your work?”
“No,” Gu Yizhi held Xu Qingtang’s face, her expression serious and earnest. “My girlfriend is so cute. I want everyone to know.”
Xu Qingtang felt a little like crying, not because she was touched, but because she was embarrassed. “That’s what you say, but I feel so embarrassed…”
Others couldn’t possibly believe that Gu Yizhi would cry until her pillow sprouted, but they would definitely think that she, Xu Qingtang, was a complete and utter sand sculpture…
“It’s not embarrassing. I like you just the way you are,” Gu Yizhi gently stroked her hair and comforted her, “You can bring surprises and fun anytime, anywhere. How is that embarrassing? To be more precise, it’s a kind of sentiment. Tangtang, of all the people I’ve met, I’ve only ever seen you, and I only like you.”
“It’s a rare thing for life not to be so boring. To me, you’re very cute.”
Not only was Gu Yizhi’s voice and movements, but even her eyes were filled with a gentleness that made Xu Qingtang herself feel—she was one in a million, not a sand sculpture, but a rare treasure.
Of course, people still have self-awareness. Xu Qingtang quickly broke free from this giddy feeling and said, “Alright, alright. Whatever you say is good.”
Gu Yizhi shot her a glance. “Why the sudden visit? Don’t you have to go to work tomorrow morning?”
Xu Qingtang said, “I missed you. I wanted to see you.”
Gu Yizhi smiled. “Tangtang is a clingy person.”
Xu Qingtang’s face had already been trained. She said righteously, “Yes, I’m just that clingy. What’s wrong with that? I wish I could hang on your neck.”
Gu Yizhi was amused by her.
Xu Qingtang sat in the driver’s seat, was silent for a moment, and said, “Alright, it’s true that I missed you, but it’s also true that I have a question for you.”
“Go on.”
“Just now, in front of my mom, I didn’t say anything about us. Will you be angry?”
This was the main reason why Xu Qingtang had specially come to wait for Gu Yizhi tonight.
Gu Yizhi had never hidden their relationship from the people around her, but she…
Now was not a good time, but if Teacher Qi really found out about them, Xu Qingtang would not back down. But since she hadn’t, she wanted to wait a little longer.
Just now, in front of Teacher Qi, she couldn’t say much. She was afraid of not being able to explain it clearly on her phone, of not being able to tell from her words when Gu Yizhi was unhappy.
So she had asked Gu Yizhi for her address and had come secretly.
She didn’t want any misunderstandings.
“No.”
Xu Qingtang blinked. “Really?”
“Of course. Xu Tangtang, you’re so good tonight.” Gu Yizhi moved a little closer. Xu Qingtang could smell the faint scent of alcohol on her, and her voice tickled her ear. “What did you just say about me? Missing you so much you couldn’t sleep?”
“Then will you let me sleep alone?”
Xu Qingtang’s breathing deepened. “Let me drive properly first.”
Gu Yizhi sat back in her seat, leaned against the car door charmingly, and her face had that smile that made Xu Qingtang’s teeth itch. “I just asked you a question. How did it become me affecting you?”
“Miss Xu, it seems your dao heart is not stable. What are you thinking about all day?”
Xu Qingtang gritted her teeth. “Making you cry.”
In the years to come, Xu Qingtang got her way in many things, but this one thing, she never got her wish.
*
The next day, Xu Qingtang started to get busy as soon as she got off work. She went to a flower shop and bought a potted plant and some rose seeds. On the way to the airport on the third day, she gave them all to Gu Yizhi.
Xu Qingtang mentioned the roses she hadn’t been able to give her, feeling very regretful. She had tried her best to keep those roses alive, but unfortunately, she hadn’t succeeded and had to throw them away in the end.
She looked at Gu Yizhi expectantly. “Help me take good care of them. Maybe they’ll bloom by the time I get back.”
Gu Yizhi laughed. “It won’t be that fast.”
Xu Qingtang: “Then we’ll wait for spring.” She added, “I’ll give them all to you then. Don’t flowers have to be named when they’re cultivated? I think we should give them a new name after they’re grown. Let’s call them ‘Gu Yizhi’s roses.’ What do you think?”
Gu Yizhi put away the flower seeds. “Why do I have to grow them if they’re a gift to me?”
Xu Qingtang spouted a bunch of nonsense. “Because these are Gu Yizhi’s roses, and Gu Yizhi belongs to Xu Qingtang, so it’s normal for you to help Xu Qingtang grow them.” Then she took out a necklace from her side pocket and put it on Gu Yizhi’s neck. “I’m not a skinflint. This is your labor fee. This deal isn’t a loss, is it?”
Gu Yizhi’s eyes crinkled. “I’ve profited.”
The journey to the airport was a bit long, but no matter how long, it eventually had an end. She had told Gu Yizhi about her business trip a long time ago. At that time, she had treated it as a small matter, but when it was time to part, she was so reluctant.
Xu Qingtang stood in the airport lobby, the sound of announcements echoing above. She pulled Gu Yizhi’s hand, her reluctance reaching its peak at this moment. “Gu Zhizhi…”
Xu Qingtang: “I won’t be able to see you for a long, long time. You have to miss me.”
Gu Yizhi pulled Xu Qingtang into her arms and whispered in her ear, “I’ll miss you very much.”
“Take care of yourself. Don’t be so reckless. Remember to call me if you need anything.”
“Alright.”
*
When she arrived in City C, Xu Qingtang could clearly feel the difference in temperature between the north and the south. She felt as if she was about to be frozen into a sculpture by this world of ice and snow.
After getting her luggage with her senior apprentice-sister and getting on the airport shuttle bus, Xu Qingtang put her phone against the window and took a picture. Her senior apprentice-sister teased from the side, “Qingtang, reporting your itinerary?”
Xu Qingtang said, “Of course not. Senior Sister, you make me sound like a henpecked wife.” As she spoke, she sent it to Gu Yizhi.
Her senior apprentice-sister commented with a “tsk, tsk.” “Can’t be tough for more than three seconds.”
The staff dormitory of the City C Peking Opera Theater had moved. The new address temporarily had no extra decorated rooms, so the two of them were arranged at the old address.
It wasn’t far from the Peking Opera theater, just two or three alleys away. Apart from the dim light when they entered, there were no other problems.
At night, Teacher Qi even made a video call to ask her about the environment. Xu Qingtang took a video of the house. Her senior apprentice-sister happened to come out of her room, and the three of them chatted for a few sentences before Xu Qingtang used the excuse of taking a shower to hang up.
The days on the business trip were very busy. Xu Qingtang and her senior apprentice-sister were busy with performances every day. They only had a little time in the evening. After getting to know the people at the theater, they would often go out for gatherings and team-building activities, so time passed quickly.
On Christmas Eve, it happened to be Xu Qingtang’s birthday. She received many birthday wishes at midnight.
In fact, Xu Qingtang’s real birthday was on June 1st next year. Because it was filled in incorrectly when she was a child, she had just gone along with it and had always celebrated her birthday on this date.
Besides the blessings from her friends and family, there was also a very annoying message.
Xu Qingtang felt it was very unlucky. After thinking about it, she immediately went to cancel her phone card and get a new one during the day.
Even though she quite liked the way Gu Yizhi was jealous, since she knew she minded, and the other party would cause trouble from time to time, Xu Qingtang couldn’t just let it be.
There was nothing to do at the theater today. Her senior apprentice-sister was probably tired from being busy recently and seemed to have forgotten about Xu Qingtang’s birthday. She made plans with her colleagues to go out and play at night and also invited Xu Qingtang.
Xu Qingtang finally had some free time and wanted to leave the evening for Gu Yizhi, so she refused.
Usually, her senior apprentice-sister was around. Even if they didn’t live in the same room, the soundproofing of the house was not good, so Xu Qingtang didn’t dare to say much.
Night fell.
Xu Qingtang put on a cotton coat, wrapped herself up tightly, and walked out of the theater, walking towards the dormitory in the cold wind. As she entered the first dark alley, she took out her phone and skillfully dialed Gu Yizhi’s number.
After it connected, Gu Yizhi’s voice sounded a little cold. “Hello?”
Xu Qingtang coughed and deepened her voice, starting to recite a joke she had seen online. “Hello, is this Gu Yizhi? I know, I’ve investigated you. I’m the boss of a listed company, but unfortunately, I was harmed by a villain. My subordinates abandoned me, and the shareholders drove me out. Now, I’ve been reborn and have decided to take revenge. If you want to support me, then come and find me. I’ll tell you my revenge plan. When I take back everything, I’ll make you the second shareholder.”
Gu Yizhi’s voice became gentle again. “What’s in it for me?”
“Isn’t being the second shareholder a benefit?” Xu Qingtang clicked her tongue. “I’ll let you have a mature woman on your left and a hot girl on your right. Is that a good enough benefit?”
“The consequences of telecommunication fraud are very serious, Xu Qingtang. Say that again.”
Xu Qingtang: …
“Can’t you just pretend you don’t know it’s me?”
“Yes.” Gu Yizhi: “Tell me your revenge plan.”
And then she’ll give her a whole business plan, right? Who’s the boss here?
Xu Qingtang gritted her teeth and scoffed. “You come and find me first. Anyway, my plan is brilliant. It’s a good investment.”
“Oh? How brilliant?” Gu Yizhi’s voice sounded interested. “Could it be that the mature woman is you, and the hot girl is also you? That sounds quite brilliant. If you show me, I think I’d be very interested.”
Xu Qingtang: “What do you mean, ‘show me’?”
Gu Yizhi smiled. “Don’t you know how to cosplay?”
The alley came to an end. Xu Qingtang began to slowly walk up the stairs, the sensor lights lighting up one by one. This woman had suddenly become so sassy. Xu Qingtang only felt the surrounding cold air begin to melt, and her body slowly heated up.
“Gu Yizhi, you’re so sassy.”
“CEO Xu, you’re not very sincere.”
Xu Qingtang started to talk nonsense. “I’m very sincere, but I’m just short on funds. When I make a comeback, I’ll definitely show you.”
“Is that so…” Gu Yizhi’s charming smile began to ring in Xu Qingtang’s ears again. “It’s fine, I can sponsor you. Hmm, what do you want? Is it a teacher, a secretary, or a housewife? I can also give you a sailor or a maid.”
“Or, do you want them all?”
There was no one in the dormitory building, so Xu Qingtang spoke more boldly. She hummed twice, refusing to back down. “I want them all. Gu Yizhi, don’t you dare close your eyes and not look then.”
Trash talk, who can’t do that?
Even if Gu Yizhi really got them, could this bitchy woman force her to wear them?
Gu Yizhi suddenly asked, “Is it very cold where you are?”
The topic changed suddenly. Xu Qingtang nodded. “It’s quite cold.”
“No wonder.”
“No wonder what?”
“Your mouth is so hard.”
???
Xu Qingtang’s hand was on the doorknob. She twisted it open, her voice fierce. “What do you mean by that? It’s just that you’re not in front of me right now. Otherwise, I’d definitely make you meow and see whose mouth is harder. A top can be killed but not insulted, don’t you know that!!”
Click.
The wall lamp turned on.
Xu Qingtang looked towards the living room, and her phone immediately fell to the ground with a “thud.”
In the living room, her senior apprentice-sister and a few colleagues were sitting around a big cake with a few candles on it. It was a very warm scene, but it couldn’t hide their shocked expressions…
