After delivering the letter to Quan Cige and returning to the HR department, Fang Nianchen walked all the way to the door of the director’s office.
Yu Wan had told her to come to the office after delivering the letter. Though in Fang Nianchen’s view, there was no need to discuss such a trivial matter in person.
Fang Nianchen raised her hand, about to knock.
Faint voices of conversation came from inside the room—not just one person. Her hand froze abruptly.
By sheer coincidence, a colleague approached from the front. Seeing her standing at the door, he lowered his voice and asked, “Director Yu looking for you again?”
The “again” carried a loaded implication. Fang Nianchen hesitated and nodded. “Yeah.”
“A few people just went in. You should wait a bit.” After saying that, the colleague looked at her with sympathy. “Director Yu’s only been in the position for four days, right? She’s already called you in twice. Is she deliberately picking on you?”
In his eyes, being summoned by the boss was never good news.
Fang Nianchen wanted to roll her eyes but barely held back. “It’s just normal work stuff.”
Would Yu Wan, who was so busy, deliberately pick on a little employee like her?
He probably thought work was like those TV dramas, full of scheming, backstabbing, and intrigue, with bosses who thrived on chaos.
Actually, if Yu Wan hadn’t called her in on her first day and made her change her old work habits, none of the subsequent issues would have arisen.
It had started with work, nothing questionable there. The rest was all coincidence.
She said, “Then I’ll come back later.”
“Oh, you go ahead with your stuff. I need to deliver these to Manager Zuo. See ya.” The colleague smiled at her and walked off with his files.
Fang Nianchen returned to her workstation with Quan Cige’s signed photo, unsure what to do with it.
To a fan, it was a priceless treasure, but to her, it was just a piece of paper with nowhere to put. Tossing it casually felt like a waste if it got damaged.
Qiao Yan came back from the bathroom and passed by. Her attention was immediately drawn to it.
“Hey? She even gave you a signed photo?”
“Yeah.” Fang Nianchen leaned back in her chair and held the photo up between them. “What should I do with it?”
“I think I have an empty picture frame…” Qiao Yan got it without needing explanation. She crouched down and pulled open a drawer.
A moment later, she poked her head out. “Here.”
Fang Nianchen slipped the signed photo into the frame. It fit perfectly. She placed it in an inconspicuous corner of her desk, as if trying to hide it.
“That’s no better than not displaying it at all.” Qiao Yan ruthlessly teased.
“I don’t even like her,” Fang Nianchen said, then felt it sounded off and corrected herself. “I mean, I’m not a fan of hers.”
Qiao Yan wasn’t sure what expression to make. She quirked her lips. “What’s wrong with liking her? She’s really pretty.”
The topic had gone completely off track.
Fang Nianchen waved her hand, shooing Qiao Yan away.
The attendance sheet she’d made before had been completely rejected by Yu Wan, and now it was nearing the end of the month for reviews. Fang Nianchen had no choice but to stay late and catch up.
By the time she finished her work and glanced toward the director’s office, Yu Wan had already left.
She hadn’t seen her stay late once these past few days.
Fang Nianchen clocked out. Night had fallen over the entirety of North City.
Leaving the Yunqi building, she turned back for a look at the brightly lit skyscraper. An inexplicable melancholy welled up in her heart.
Maybe it was work fatigue, or certain people suddenly appearing and disrupting her routine—or both. Either way, it left her feeling at a loss for the moment.
“Staring that long, neck not sore yet?”
Fang Nianchen snapped her gaze back. She’d already recognized the voice. She steadied her breathing with effort. “It’s fine.”
It was a pleasant surprise and a shock. She’d thought Yu Wan had gone home long ago.
She stood silently, her neck stiff like a rusty gear decades old, but she couldn’t just walk away without a word.
With difficulty, she turned toward Yu Wan. She was caught off guard to see a smile tugging at her lips—the first vivid expression on Yu Wan’s face since they’d reunited, completely different from her demeanor at work.
The atmosphere eased Fang Nianchen’s tension.
“It’s getting late.” Under the cover of night, Yu Wan’s voice was exceptionally gentle. “Let me drive you back.”
This was the second time Yu Wan had offered to drive her home. The first could be chalked up to concern for a sick person. But this time? Concern for an overtime subordinate?
“No need, it’s too much trouble. You should head home early.” Fang Nianchen refused on instinct.
She wasn’t good at accepting others’ kindness, even if refusing every time seemed deliberate.
But with Yu Wan, there was an extra reason: she was afraid to be alone with her.
Some thoughts popped up out of nowhere—like whether Yu Wan had come to North City alone or with a boyfriend.
Fang Nianchen bristled at the word “boyfriend.” Just thinking it made her brush it aside quickly.
But if Yu Wan had come with a boyfriend and they lived together, would Xiao Ning’an still have asked her to look after Yu Wan?
Not necessarily.
Xiao Ning’an’s worries were her own. Maybe that boyfriend just seemed unreliable to her?
The more she thought, the more tangled it got. Fang Nianchen’s brows furrowed slightly, unaware of it herself.
What was she randomly imagining now?
Yu Wan glanced at her troubled expression. “No worries. I live alone. It’s fine if I get back a bit late.”
Alone.
Catching that key info, light sparked in Fang Nianchen’s dull eyes. “Really?”
…
Yu Wan was a little startled by her reaction and nodded slightly.
“I mean…” Fang Nianchen’s face heated up. She stammered, “What I mean is, if it’s not too much trouble for you, then… then please give me a ride. Thanks.”
Luckily it was night with no reliable light around. No one would notice how red her face was.
Fang Nianchen had spouted a string of illogical words. She’d meant to refuse, but it ended up the complete opposite.
Fortunately, Yu Wan didn’t mind. She jingled her keys at her. “My car’s still parked in the usual spot. Let’s go.”
Her “usual spot” was the same parking space from when she’d picked up stomach medicine for Fang Nianchen last time—exactly the same position.
In the car, Fang Nianchen placed her hands neatly on her lap, sitting primly in the back seat like an elementary schooler.
She stole a glance at Yu Wan’s back, then quickly ducked her head.
It was her first time riding in Yu Wan’s car—nervous and thrilling.
The car didn’t have any overpowering car freshener scent. Instead, there was a faint baby’s breath fragrance from Yu Wan that relaxed the mind.
Before starting the car, Yu Wan asked, “What music do you want to listen to?”
Her service was so attentive it scared Fang Nianchen a bit. After thinking, she replied:
“Jazz.”
“Jazz?” Yu Wan’s voice overlapped.
Fang Nianchen froze.
Unable to see Yu Wan’s face, she only saw slender fingers turning the dial. The music gradually became clear.
Fang Nianchen really wanted to ask how Yu Wan knew—or guessed it.
But that question pointed in a weird direction, like Yu Wan was paying special attention to her.
Yu Wan didn’t pursue the topic, and Fang Nianchen stayed quiet, relaxing into her seat.
The upbeat jazz did nothing to lift the quiet atmosphere in the car. Streetlights flashed by, illuminating the interior in flickers. Fang Nianchen turned to watch the passing scenery, suddenly remembering something.
“That letter…”
“Are you free this Saturday?”
They spoke at the same time, though Yu Wan was a tad faster.
Afterward, she asked, “What letter did you say?”
Yu Wan’s reaction was quick. Fang Nianchen didn’t have time to think and blurted out, “The letter for Teacher Quan. I’ve already given it to her.”
“Thanks for the trouble.”
“Not at all. Teacher Quan is really nice. It went smoothly.” Fang Nianchen didn’t mention the later part and didn’t think she’d care, incidentally answering her question. “I’m actually busy this Saturday and have to go out.
Yu Wan didn’t ask what for. She just said, “Do your thing first. We can talk later when you’re free.”
“Next weekend works. I haven’t planned anything.” Fang Nianchen had already promised Xiao Ning’an. If Yu Wan needed something, she couldn’t ignore it.
Thinking that, she explained, “After all, I promised Xiao Ning. You’ve just arrived, unfamiliar with the place. It’s only right for me to help. Don’t worry about troubling me.”
After speaking, there was a second of silence.
“So you’re only helping me because you promised Xiao Ning?”
Yu Wan’s serious tone made Fang Nianchen feel like this answer mattered a lot to her.
Fang Nianchen hesitated. “Kind of…”
She had to admit, Xiao Ning’an was the perfect excuse.
At the same time, Xiao Ning’an was a shackle, preventing her from imagining if she wouldn’t help Yu Wan without her.
Yu Wan asked again, “So if it weren’t for our past connection, you wouldn’t help me like this, right?”
Her tone was more like stating a fact, because that’s the vibe Fang Nianchen gave her.
Always emphasizing her promise to Xiao Ning’an, as if the memories that once existed just between them didn’t count.
As if without Xiao Ning’an, she wouldn’t be nice to her.
Fang Nianchen fell silent, unable to answer for the moment.
“You’re tacitly agreeing?”
“No!” Fang Nianchen refuted anxiously. “Even considering our past relationship, I would still help.”
She spoke with a somewhat deliberate tone, as if trying her hardest to hide something.
For instance, what role she had played in that relationship.
Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Yu Wan stopped pressing and got back to the matter at hand. “Actually, it’s not a big deal. I want to raise a cat. I’d like you to take me to the local pet market to look around, but I have a lot of requirements, so it might be troublesome.”
Wanting to raise a cat really wasn’t a big deal.
Fang Nianchen calmed down some. It happened to be right in her wheelhouse, and she was interested too—it directly overrode her usual unease around Yu Wan.
She also needed to buy food for the gluttonous bunch at home anyway, and she’d already been thinking about heading there recently.
Fang Nianchen agreed on the spot. “Sure, it’s a deal then. Let’s go together next Saturday.”
When it came to anything cat-related, Fang Nianchen had a lot to say, and the tension vanished from her tone.
“Raising a cat requires caution.” Fang Nianchen didn’t dare claim she knew cats better than anyone, but she definitely had plenty of experience with it. “Whether they have long fur or short, if they’re aloof or clingy, how their stomachs handle things, whether they can tolerate some destruction—these all need careful thought.”
Often, the simpler the matter, the less people considered, and it was precisely because they skipped figuring these things out that so many abandonments happened.
After she finished, she looked toward Yu Wan, unsure if the driver focused on the road had even heard her.
She was always so tense around Yu Wan that even this brief silence left her panicking. She ventured cautiously, “What I just said… it wasn’t nonsense, was it?”
She hadn’t meant to, but her tone had come off a bit preachy.
“No, it wasn’t nonsense at all. I really do need to think these things over.” Yu Wan replied quickly this time.
Only then did Fang Nianchen relax a little. “Mm… Do you have any specific requirements for the cat? You can tell me ahead of time—I can give you some pointers.”
They happened to stop at a red light.
“Any cat will do.”
“Hm?” Fang Nianchen wondered if her ears had gone bad.
After all, Yu Wan had just said she had lots of requirements.
Yu Wan repeated patiently, “Any cat you pick will do.”
“I trust you.”
