The warm and soft new home is a duplex house. It is not large, but there is plenty of usable space. She studied design herself, and this set of houses is considered her graduation project, also a graduation reward for herself.
After graduation.
She hasn't really lived here much, but the furniture is complete. They had someone come to clean in the morning, so it's spotless; there's no need to clean it again.
Now, Warm was packing her suitcase.
Ji Xi was just lying on the sofa, holding her phone, laughing uncontrollably, and while laughing, she still wanted to say to Warm, "Soft, you really left the chat too early, otherwise you could have seen quite a show."
"After your remark, no one spoke in the group for a long time."
"Later, Li Jiao said—," she cleared her throat and put on a tone, "'Some people have really thick skin, she talks about everything, and now the main person has publicly embarrassed her. Isn't it awkward?' She provoked Su Lan Lan into leaving the group on the spot."
Ji Xi laughed until tears came to her eyes, "I used to think that that girl from the Li family was boring, now she seems quite feisty. I should invite her out for a drink in a few days."
Warm smiled, but didn't say anything.
Su Lan Lan was too impulsive this time, probably knowing that she was too excited about her divorce from Lin Qinghan, forgetting her own image.
But-
In the future, that group, those people, have nothing to do with her.
Ji Xi looked through the chat records again, feeling no real interest, so she put away her phone, sat up, and asked, "Is there anything else to tidy up?"
After speaking, she noticed a stack of drawing paper.
She originally thought it was a design drawing, just wanted to see what Warm had recently designed, but upon looking at it, it was all portraits of Lin Qinghan.
Estimating, there were at least a few hundred, with a somewhat naive style at the beginning and becoming more and more skilled later, spanning several years.
She took a sneak peek at Warm, who was still packing, sighed, she knew, Soft must still be reluctant in her heart, otherwise why would she bring all these portraits here?
She was about to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.
She re-stacked the portraits on the table. She was about to help tidy up the clothes for Warm when the phone rang, it was her mother.
"Hello."
After a few words, Ji Xi hung up the phone. Then, looking at Warm, hesitated, "Soft, my mom is asking if you want to come home for dinner."
Just by hearing this, Warm knew that her divorce from Lin Qinghan had already spread in the older generation's circle. She smiled, without any extra reaction on her face, and said softly, "I won't go today, I'll visit Aunt Xu in a few days."
Ji Xi nodded and said, "Sounds good."
She didn't want Warm to go home at this time. Her mom was fine, but the other older relatives at home were very annoying. If she went later, they would bother her with one thing after another.
Let's wait a few days.
When everything was packed, it was getting late.
Ji Xi had a family dinner today and couldn't miss it. As she was leaving, she was still instructing Warm, "If you're scared to be alone, call me later, and I'll come to keep you company. Remember to eat dinner. If you don't want to cook, you can go down to the restaurant, or order takeout."
Finishing her words, she blinked, "Soft, do you know how to order takeout?"
Since high school, Warm had always brought her own lunch every day, and the Lin family's five-star standard, although balanced in nutrition, was also very bland. Even in college, her meals were all taken care of by a professional.
She even suspected.
Since high school, after the incident where Soft and her ate street food, Lin Qinghan caught them, she might not have eaten fried foods again.
Looking at her helpless face, even if she hadn't eaten pork, she had seen pigs run, was it really possible for her not to know how to order takeout? At least she had managed to persuade Ji Xi to leave, so she closed the door, looked at the suddenly quiet room, and sighed softly.
But soon.
She smiled again, patted her face, and encouraged herself, "Warm Soft, in the days to come, you have to work hard."
The kitchen was still cold, and there wasn't much in the fridge.
After some thought, Warm decided to just order takeout. In fact, she had used a takeout app before, when she was still in school. At that time, she indulged herself with takeout every day. Eating the nutritious meals prepared by the Lin family caused her to lose her appetite.
Encouraged by Ji Xi's push, she had takeout for several days, then went out to eat street food with someone else.
What a coincidence.
She was caught the first time she went out.
Since being brought to the Lin family by Grandpa Lin, Warm knew that she was no longer the pampered little princess from before, free to act willfully and indulge herself. She had to be careful, she learned to disguise herself.
Especially after hearing that Lin Qinghan liked elegant and knowledgeable girls from somewhere, she made herself an "elegant" persona.
To what extent? Whether at home or at school, she always wore a little skirt, with her hair tied back, using a little hair clip. She should not eat more than seventy percent full, and chew each bite twenty-some times. Even if she didn't like those things, she had to smile and eat them.
But that day?
She was afraid of being seen, so she skipped class with Ji Xi, her hair in a ponytail, wearing Ji Xi's tattered jeans, holding five skewers of meat in her left hand and fried potatoes, and fried rice cakes in her right hand. From time to time, she would stretch her neck to take a few sips of Ji Xi's pearl milk tea.
Her mouth was full of sweet and sour sauce.
Her mouth was full, filled with pearls and red beans.
Then—
She saw Lin Qinghan and his friends walking from not far away.
When they saw her, Lin Qinghan and his friends were all stunned, probably because they hadn't seen her like this before. His friends immediately started to laugh.
Lin Qinghan didn't laugh, he didn't even say a word, just frowned at her.
But even so.
Wen Ruan was still afraid, afraid that Lin Qinghan doesn't like her, afraid that Lin's family would think she is not good.
She refused to eat anything, found a place to cry, and went back home with red eyes, promising Lin Qinghan that she would never eat those things again.
Her thoughts returned.
Wen Ruan smiled, a faint smile on her lips. She felt that her past self was really too naive. If someone doesn't like you, no matter how elegant you become, no matter how custom-made you are, you won't get any feedback from them.
She looked at the variety of takeout shops.
Suddenly, Wen Ruan felt that she should retrieve all the missing parts of her past, and as for this first day, let's start with—
getting some spicy skewers and soda for fatso!
***
It's late at night.
The Lin Group's lights were still on.
The secretaries were shivering outside, and the company's internal group messages didn't stop, with an occasional one popping up.
[Wu wu wu, what's wrong with the boss? I thought I'd get a hefty bonus and take a long vacation after getting that project in France, who would've thought I'd have to work overtime now?]
[I want to cry too, I told my boyfriend to leave work early and have dinner with him, now I'll probably have to work until midnight.]
"So, does anyone know what's going on with the boss these days? I've been with the company for three years, and I've never seen him so angry."
[@Lin Secretary]
[Lin Secretary: I don’t know either, Li Assistant didn't say anything, let's stop chatting, I'm afraid to say anything now, for fear of the boss's glare.]
Li wasn't in the group, but when he saw a few secretaries occasionally signaling to him, he also knew what was going on. He sighed, picked up a cup of coffee, knocked on the door, and waited until a low voice from inside said, "Come in."
Then he walked in.
Compared to his desolation in the morning, Lin Qinghan was now back to his former self, sitting on the chair, head down, still reviewing the documents.
But it was just too normal, which made people worry.
Li put down the coffee and looked at the pile of files that were almost sorted out, he moved his lips and said softly, "Boss, it's almost ten o'clock."
Lin Qinghan paused his signing, looked at his watch, 9:55, then glanced outside, furrowed his brows, and spoke, "Let them all go home."
Li responded softly, then added, "You, should also go home and rest."
Lin Qinghan didn't lift his head, "I'm aware, you go home too."
Then he continued reviewing the documents.
Knowing his temperament, Li didn't dare to advise further. He walked out and closed the door.
When the lights outside were all off, the entire building turned dark, only the top floor of Lin Qinghan's office was still brightly lit. He was like a tireless machine, working until the final document was reviewed.
It was already 11:50.
Lin Qinghan put down his pen, rubbed his sore neck, stood in front of the french window, looking outside. The traffic was still busy, and the lights were still on. He usually would have slept in the rest area inside at this late hour, but for some reason, he picked up his car keys and went downstairs.
While waiting for the elevator.
He took out his phone and saw many messages, calls, and WeChat messages.
Normally, he would have ignored them, but today he looked at each one carefully. Most of them were from friends in the circle and some elders, inquiring about what was happening between him and Wen Ruan.
He didn't feel like replying, pursed his lips, and continued scrolling through.
Until he reached the bottom, in the WeChat conversation box with Wen Ruan, who usually sent the most messages, today, there wasn't a single message from her.
The elevator had arrived.
Lin Qinghan didn't enter, he stood in the corridor, head lowered. He tapped on the conversation box marked [Wen Ruan], most of which were messages from Wen Ruan. He would occasionally reply with only one word.
He scrolled up one message at a time—
[Qinghan, are you still working overtime?]
[Qinghan, today is our anniversary, I've prepared a table full of dishes, please come home early.]
[Qinghan, have you arrived in France?]
[Qinghan, take care of yourself outside, don't stay up all night, I'll worry about you.]
[Qinghan, I miss you.]
Words of concern and affection, appearing unfiltered in front of him. Lin Qinghan tightened his grip on the phone. In the dimly lit corridor, he stood with his head slightly lowered, looking at the message [I miss you], his heart suddenly stirred.
For some unknown reason, he called Wen Ruan.