Chapter 50 Part 1

If that was really the case… then she should be quite happy.

But after being asked like that, she felt no joy at all.

Fang Nianchen didn’t know what was wrong with her. The moment she heard the question, her emotions all tangled up together, leaving only a pitiful mess that she could grasp.

She still hadn’t found anything about herself that could attract Yu Wan.

Sure, she had suffered some flesh wounds to save Yu Wan, but people weren’t that easily moved, nor should they be.

If it were her, she would only feel grateful and take extra care of the other person, working tirelessly without complaint until the debt of gratitude was fully repaid.

Just like what Yu Wan was doing now.

She was the one being cared for and looked after, and she was the one feeling the warmth.

Fang Nianchen didn’t want to take all the advantages and then twist someone else’s efforts with her own delusions.

Her rationality was fully online, and it was excessively calm.

Actually, it was as simple as pondering two straightforward questions:

Why her? Could it possibly be her?

And in this situation, was this the most suitable moment to “confess”?

Clearly not.

So she subconsciously concluded that Yu Wan was joking.

Then she wouldn’t overthink it and responded in a joking tone.

That way, no one would feel awkward.

Lifting her eyes, she could see Yu Wan’s smile, dazzling to an excessive degree.

Fang Nianchen deliberately turned her head away with feigned ease, chuckling lightly: “I can’t make any plans…”

She had no fondness for the unknown. Just thinking about it made unease spread all over her body, let alone making any assumptions.

Before the results came out, any speculation was foolish. The more expectations invested, the more heart-wrenching the disappointment.

Her self-protection mechanism finally started functioning normally, not daring to advance rashly.

Yu Wan didn’t quite get it: “What do you mean?”

“It means I’ve never thought about it, so… this question is a bit too advanced for me. I can’t figure out how to answer.” Calm and indifferent, she deflected the question with the poise of four taels diverting a thousand catties.

Incidentally making it so no one would feel the desire to ask a second time.

Yu Wan felt a strange sensation filling her heart, like a clump of cotton stuffed in her throat—emotions swelling to the point of overflowing, only to be sucked away entirely, leaving a damp, heavy thud at the bottom of her heart. It felt awful.

Though she hadn’t really planned to get any response at this critical juncture anyway.

She had slipped a bit of true feelings into the joke, only for it to be ruthlessly packaged up and kicked back, smacking into her with a sting.

Besides, confessing at the hospital entrance was either heroic or utterly chuunibyou.

Yu Wan comforted herself and still smiled: “I was joking. Don’t take it to heart.”

Perhaps having anticipated it, Fang Nianchen believed it without a doubt and nodded: “I know.”

On the way back, though she was still riding in Yu Wan’s car, their mindsets were completely different.

Fang Nianchen leaned against the seat with her eyes closed, not the least bit sleepy, feeling the scorching in her brain.

Occasionally, when the car sped up and she knew Yu Wan wouldn’t notice, she dared to sneak a glance at her by tilting her head.

Only now did she realize how desperately her heart longed for those words not to be just a joke.

The ride was silent all the way, until Yu Wan dropped Fang Nianchen off at home.

When they arrived downstairs, Yu Wan insisted repeatedly on walking her up. Her home was on the top floor—high up with no elevator—and with her waist injury, it was quite inconvenient.

Fang Nianchen walked slowly. As they passed Auntie Liu’s door, it opened.

A very familiar face poked out. Guo Zhen was carrying a bag of trash and yelling loudly at someone inside: “I told you I’m studying! Can’t the trash wait!”

Auntie Liu didn’t hold back in scolding him: “Your room stinks like a dump! Socks unwashed for months, trash not taken out—you trying to breed cockroaches in the house?!”

The scolding grew louder and louder, grating on Guo Zhen’s nerves. He slammed the door shut hard and turned around slowly in his slippers.

Catching sight of Fang Nianchen out of the corner of his eye, he froze for a few seconds before grinning: “Morning, Xiaochen.”

Fang Nianchen replied to him expressionlessly: “Morning.”

Guo Zhen glanced at her, then at Yu Wan following behind her, immediately recalling their encounter a few weeks ago.

It seemed Yu Wan had ruined his plan, causing Fang Nianchen to stop listening to him.

So he shot her a hostile glance.

Yu Wan didn’t care at all, not even sparing him a look.

Her gaze was fixed worriedly on Fang Nianchen, concerned about her waist injury.

Guo Zhen, sharp-eyed, noticed something off about Fang Nianchen and asked with concern: “What’s wrong? Leg hurting?”

“I’m fine.” Having the previous experience, Fang Nianchen found him annoying.

Though she’d already explained to Yu Wan that she and Guo Zhen had nothing to do with each other, being pestered like this still made her worry Yu Wan might overthink.

She didn’t even know where this inexplicable complex of hers came from.

“Aren’t you supposed to take out the trash? I’m heading up first.” For the first time, Fang Nianchen put on a cold face toward an outsider.

Or rather, this was her original self.

Occasionally being her most authentic self felt pretty good.

Guo Zhen realized she’d heard his mom yelling at him and felt a bit embarrassed and annoyed. He nodded stiffly twice, grabbed the trash bag, and hurried downstairs.

Once inside the door, Yu Wan naturally crouched down to get her slippers for her.

“Don’t…” Fang Nianchen started to stop her, but Yu Wan looked up at her.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t… don’t worry about me so much. It’s really not a big deal.” Fang Nianchen couldn’t exactly tell her not to squat, since she wasn’t used to looking down at Yu Wan.

Yu Wan curved her lips: “Even now, do you still want to draw these lines with me? Can’t you just accept my care with peace of mind?”

Even though that was what she said, Fang Nianchen truly couldn’t achieve “peace of mind.”

She slipped on the slippers uncomfortably and sat down on the sofa.

This was Yu Wan’s third time at Fang Nianchen’s home. Pan-fried Dumpling and the little cats at home were all very familiar with her now, crowding around eagerly to rub against her, wanting pets—even more enthusiastic than toward their own litter scooper.

Yu Wan petted them one by one, greeting them all, then looked up to see Fang Nianchen spacing out.

“What’s wrong?” She walked over too, sitting beside her. “Want some water?”

Fang Nianchen shook her head.

In the quiet, the little cats hopped up one after another, gathering around the two of them.

“Worried about taking leave?” Yu Wan could always see right through her thoughts.

“Yeah.” Fang Nianchen nodded. “Xiazhi-jie gave me a task the day before yesterday. I’m afraid it’ll delay progress.”

She never betrayed trust, but more importantly, she didn’t want to lose face for Yu Wan.

Director Yang’s words that day were still weighing on her, and from the very start, she’d secretly resolved to redouble her efforts.

Accidents always came without warning, but work only cared about results. The moment she entered society, she lost the chance to be coddled.

“Your health is more important. They’ll understand.” Yu Wan suggested kindly. “Worst case, I can talk to them. No one will blame you.”

“No need…” Fang Nianchen suddenly got stubborn. “I’ll handle it myself.”

Having Yu Wan step in for everything would make her feel dependent.

Seeing this, Yu Wan lowered her gaze: “Alright, I won’t meddle then.”

Meddle? How could she think she was meddling?

Had she said something too harsh?

Fang Nianchen panicked and glanced at her, wanting to explain, but not a word came out.

She turned her head back, staring silently at the coffee table.

After a while longer, the two sat in silence. Aside from Yu Wan boiling water during that time and bringing her a full cup to the living room, Fang Nianchen spent the rest zoning out from time to time.

Each was doing their own thing, yet neither could focus.

After all they’d been through, they should have had plenty to talk about, but after that morning incident, the atmosphere felt inexplicably awkward.

Approaching noon, Yu Wan stood up and brushed off her clothes: “You rest. I’ll head back first.”

She was just leaving like that?

Well, yeah—if she didn’t, just sitting there would be pointless.

But she clearly wanted Yu Wan to stay with her longer.

“Do you have something later?” Fang Nianchen blurted out inexplicably.

“Hm?”

“Just asking…” Fang Nianchen’s fingertips rubbed against the sofa.

“Nope. Need me to do something?”

“No, I don’t have anything to do either. The doctor said to rest more, so I’ll obediently stay put.” As she finished, Fang Nianchen even smiled, like a kid forced to be good.

“If you really can’t sit still, you can call me.”

“Really?” Fang Nianchen’s eyes lit up.

Then, realizing she’d gotten too excited, she shyly looked away.

“Of course it’s real.” Yu Wan smiled. “When have I ever lied to you?”

Though she’d gotten the promise, Fang Nianchen wouldn’t disturb her without reason.

Over the two days she rested at home, Yu Wan would come visit after work, worried she couldn’t cook alone, so she specially ordered meals delivered to the door.

Fang Nianchen texted that it wasn’t necessary, but Yu Wan subtly indicated that if she didn’t accept them, she’d be very angry.

Although she didn’t know why she was angry, Fang Nianchen didn’t dare refuse again, so the food at home was quite good for those two days.

Excluding commute time, her work efficiency actually improved. She completed the tasks Su Xiazhi had assigned her, and when she was really bored with nothing to do, she watched movies.

She finished watching Green Book, the one she had seen with Yu Wan last time, then searched for some other highly rated films. But no matter how glowing the online reviews were, she couldn’t resonate with any of them.

In the end, she still felt Green Book was the best, so she rewatched the unsubtitled version twice more.

She had plenty of ways to kill time, but in any case, she didn’t call Yu Wan.

Two days later, when she returned to the company and saw her, Su Xiazhi asked with concern, “Is your waist okay? If you’re still feeling unwell, you can take another couple of days off. Work isn’t urgent.”

The reason Su Xiazhi said this was entirely because Fang Nianchen hadn’t slacked off during her two days off at home. She had submitted her tasks on time, and done them quite well—not like a newbie who’d only recently started on planning work.

It even made Su Xiazhi want to assign her some tougher tasks.

“I’m really fine.” Fang Nianchen insisted emphatically that there was no issue, and only then did Su Xiazhi relax.

At lunch, she went to the cafeteria to eat, and Yu Wan sent a message asking if she was tired on her first day back at work.

Fang Nianchen wasn’t sure if her pained expression that day had scared Yu Wan, making her think she was very fragile and leaving the impression of someone weak and wind-buffeted.

After emphasizing several times that she was fine, she had nothing else to say and asked in return why Yu Wan wasn’t having lunch.

Because she hadn’t seen her at the restaurant.

Senior Yu 0720: 【I’m on a business trip, not at the company】