Chapter 50 Part 2

A business trip? When did that happen?

Fang Nianchen racked her brains through her memories, wondering if she’d forgotten.

Until Yu Wan uncertainly asked: 【Didn’t I tell you?】

Fang Nianchen was certain she hadn’t told her.

Her heart suddenly went cold, unsure what exactly she was mad about.

Mad that Yu Wan hadn’t told her about the business trip? But on what grounds should she have?

On one hand, she was making excuses for Yu Wan—she was so busy with work, and when things piled up, it was normal to forget one or two minor things.

Besides, it wasn’t anything important, and telling her now didn’t make a difference.

But on deeper thought, she felt aggrieved. Clearly, last time Yu Wan was only going to be out of the office for a single day, and she’d given her advance notice.

With that comparison, the disparity was obvious.

Fang Nianchen unwillingly asked: 【How long will you be gone?】

Senior Yu 0720: 【A week】

A week… that was really quite long.

Fang Nianchen poked at the rice in her bowl, unsure if her tastes had gotten picky, but in any case, the food tasted like nothing.

She replied: 【Take care of yourself】

Then she didn’t want to look at her phone anymore.

Unexpectedly, Yu Wan didn’t reply either.

At first, Fang Nianchen kept glancing at her phone from time to time, thinking Yu Wan was just busy for the moment and would chat with her once she had free time—but no.

For some reason, the situation felt oddly familiar.

If she didn’t take the initiative to message, Yu Wan wouldn’t come looking for her anymore.

It seemed like during that previous stretch when Yu Wan had always been the one proactively chatting with her, she’d been spoiled into taking it for granted, leaving her feeling depressed now.

Was it just routine concern?

Once she was better, the guilt and self-blame were gone.

It made sense, but she didn’t want to accept it.

At this moment, Yu Wan was ruthlessly indifferent enough to rival her own.

During the week Yu Wan was away, there weren’t many ups and downs in her daily life. Aside from occasionally passing by the HR department and glancing inside, wondering if Yu Wan might suddenly return.

But aside from some former colleagues and Zuo Anfeng, she didn’t see the person she wanted to see.

With Yu Wan gone, Zuo Anfeng naturally became the boss, strutting around like he didn’t know north from south, barking orders at his subordinates. At lunch, Qiao Yan complained about wanting to smash him dead with the printer.

After cursing him out, she sighed over how great Yu Wan was, muttering to herself, “When is Bodhisattva Yu coming back…”

Out of nowhere, Qiao Yan turned to Fang Nianchen: “Don’t you know?”

“Know what?”

“Didn’t President Yu tell you when she’s coming back?”

Fang Nianchen was baffled: “Why would she tell me?”

“Last time you even took the initiative to send President Yu home. I thought you two were on pretty good terms.” Qiao Yan shot her a gossipy look. “Tell your sister the truth—are you trying to pursue Bodhisattva Yu?”

Fang Nianchen smiled and shook her head: “Don’t make wild guesses.”

Though she knew that since Qiao Yan was bringing it up to her, it proved she’d already cooked up plenty of wild scenarios in her head—enough to write a whole book.

Telling her not to guess was just to keep it in her own mind, not say it out loud.

She didn’t want to hear it.

After finishing her meal, Fang Nianchen stood up with her tray: “She’ll be back next week.”

It was her soft heart acting up, giving people a bit of hope.

“Hm?” Qiao Yan had just shoved a mouthful of rice into her mouth and stared wide-eyed.

Before she could ask more, Fang Nianchen had already walked far away.

She knew those two were definitely not simple!!!

—

In the blink of an eye, it was Friday again, and Yu Wan still hadn’t said a word to her.

The chat was completely empty. Fang Nianchen stubbornly flipped through Yu Wan’s Moments again. Aside from that one line about the sun, there was still no trace of her daily life.

Driven by a strange impulse, she hadn’t left the HR department group. If not for seeing the announcement Yu Wan had posted in the group yesterday afternoon, she might have thought her account had been hacked.

Fang Nianchen suspected she’d done something wrong, which was why she was suddenly being treated so coldly.

But racking her brains, she was just an honest and dutiful patient. What outrageous thing could she have done?

Not to mention doing anything—she was so mild-mannered now that she wouldn’t even say a harsh word.

Now that she’d transferred to the planning department, even if she screwed up her work, it wouldn’t affect HR’s performance.

No matter how she thought about it, the odds of her offending President Yu were zero.

After getting off work and heading home, Fang Nianchen’s waist barely hurt anymore. It didn’t affect her work or sleep, but she still didn’t dare lift heavy things and was careful even bending over.

In the past, to spare the delivery guys trouble, she’d have them leave the cat food and litter at the door pickup point, then carry it upstairs herself. This time, injured as she was, she couldn’t move stuff, so she had them deliver right to the door and tipped them extra as hardship pay.

Someone had helped bring the stuff up, but organizing and sorting it was still on her.

After dinner, Fang Nianchen simply sat on the floor, unpacked everything, sorted it into categories, and put it away. Her movements were slow and deliberate, and it took her the whole evening.

When she was busy, she didn’t check her phone, just focused on finishing up so she could go to bed.

By the time she lay down and saw Yu Wan’s message, several hours had already passed.

Just seeing the little red dot on the profile picture filled her with indescribable excitement, like a lottery she’d persisted in buying for years finally hitting— even if it was just a couple of cents, it felt like the jackpot.

Senior Yu 0720: 【I’ll be back in North City tomorrow】

Back tomorrow—and then what?

Fang Nianchen silently waited. The text above kept showing “The other party is typing…”, but after a long time, no message came through.

In the end, even that indicator disappeared.

With no lead-in, no context, no topic, Fang Nianchen really didn’t know what to reply.

Say “Welcome back”?

As if North City was her house.

She felt Senior Yu had been acting strange lately, suddenly going cold on her and leaving her at a loss.

She wasn’t someone hard to satisfy, but this time she’d encountered a result she absolutely didn’t want to accept.

The thrill of winning the lottery was quickly overshadowed by dissatisfaction at how small the prize was. She even wished she could go back to before the draw—or better yet, that she’d never bought the ticket at all.

Fang Nianchen was full of grievances again.

After tossing and turning for a while, she sent back a perfunctory “Mm-hmm” emoji, equally cold.

The next day, when she went to the hospital to see Chen Yuyang, she ran into Yin Chi.

The other woman was extremely enthusiastic at parting, dressed to the nines despite being at the hospital—clearly showing off to her.

Fang Nianchen wasn’t in the mood to be happy.

On one hand, seeing Chen Yuyang filled her with rage; on the other, last night’s single message from Yu Wan had kept her up again. She knew she was coming back today, but not when they’d meet again.

Not to mention Yu Wan didn’t seem all that eager to meet.

“Who bullied you? That whole face screaming annoyance.” Yin Chi teasingly poked her. “Tell me, I’ll get revenge for you.”

“No one bullied me.” Fang Nianchen gave her a flat look. “Aren’t we going to see Chen Yuyang?”

“Yeah. I didn’t say we weren’t.”

“Then why’d you buy flowers for him?” Fang Nianchen was being petty now—even a bouquet grated on her.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s just that our families have some recent business dealings, so I need to keep the relationship warm.” Yin Chi soothed her mood. “I don’t meddle in the elders’ affairs. I’m definitely on your side, don’t worry.”

“Let’s go.” Fang Nianchen had never doubted Yin Chi; she just thought it was a waste to give flowers to a scumbag like Chen Yuyang.

Chen Yuyang had been diagnosed with a mild concussion and needed to stay in the hospital for observation for a week.

The police had taken a statement from him after he woke up, but seeing that he was still undergoing treatment and it was just an ordinary civil case, they didn’t take any further action for the time being.

They went upstairs, opened the door, and entered. Chen Yuyang was in a VIP ward. There was still a patch of gauze on the back of his head. He was tilting his head against the bedhead, looking at his phone with a listless expression.

He turned and saw Yin Chi, his expression showing a bit of shock. “Miss Yin…”

He tugged at the corner of his mouth and sat up straight. Only then did he notice Fang Nianchen standing behind her, and his brows furrowed.

“Your brain didn’t get damaged, did it?” Yin Chi immediately voiced her impolite concern.

The flowers were tossed onto the bedhead like garbage.

“No, no, this is already plenty.” Chen Yuyang was wary of the Yin Family and didn’t dare show any dissatisfaction. He gave an awkward smile and expressed thanks. “Thank you for coming to see me.”

“Hmph.” Yin Chi let out a cold laugh. “I’m only here for the sake of the money. No one actually thinks you’re the aggrieved party. Just for hurting my little sister’s waist, I’m not done with you yet.”

Chen Yuyang lowered his head unwillingly. “That really was my fault… Sorry.”

“If you truly know you were wrong, then don’t provoke Yu Wan anymore. Didn’t I make it crystal clear to you that day? There are plenty of people better than you who like Miss Yu. You don’t have the qualifications to compete with her—not to mention Miss Yu doesn’t like you at all. Following her around like a stinky cockroach is annoying as hell.”

Yin Chi’s words were too direct, and Chen Yuyang’s face immediately turned ugly.

He retorted with some temper. “Miss Yin, you can’t put it that way.”

Yin Chi sneered disdainfully. “Then how would you put it?”

“Do you know what Yu Wan’s mom does? She used to be a deadbeat debtor who owed a massive amount in usury. Without me paying it off for her, she would’ve vanished from this world ages ago.” Chen Yuyang’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “She’s still the same now, hasn’t changed a bit. Over the past few months, she’s taken three million from me piecemeal.”

“Three million, Miss Yin—that might be pocket change to you, but do you really think Yu Wan can pay that back right now? Not to mention her mom probably borrowed from other people too.”

“Her mom’s started borrowing usury again. Without me around, who would put up with a mom drowning in debt like that? Don’t let her current glamorous surface fool you—she’s a director and all that now, but who knows how long that’ll last.”

Chen Yuyang’s hoarse voice turned vicious. “Even if it means selling her off, her mom has to sell her to me.”

Sell…

What right did he have to talk about Yu Wan like she was so cheap?

What right did he have to dress up that holier-than-thou attitude as like, as love?