In the early morning, Ruan Jiu Jiu woke up early for work.
She prepared two bentos, putting one in her lunchbox. The other, she waited for to cool before putting it in the fridge. At some point when she wasn’t paying attention, Cheng Jun emerged from his study. He wearily rubbed his eyes. With a hand in his pocket, he walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of Yakult. His gaze followed Ruan Jiu Jiu as she bustled around, moving from the cutting board on the left to the bentos on the right. He seemed incomparably at ease.
Ruan Jiu Jiu looked out of the corner of her eye at the extremely idle Cheng Jun. She suddenly grew depressed.
She always had this feeling that she was the bread-winning hubby who tirelessly rose early and returned late, and Cheng Jun was the pampered wife who ate his fill, drank his fill, and spent all their money.
Ruan Jiu Jiu: “…”
But spending money to support such a good-looking man like Cheng Jun really wasn’t a loss. …If only his EQ were a bit higher.
Upon thinking of her dung beetle ball… bah! her black pebble, an old hatred welled up inside her and she shot him a glare.
Cheng Jun innocently looked at her and didn’t understand where her fury came from so early in the morning.
“I’m going to work. Be good and wait at home for me.”
Cheng Jun was very obedient. “Okay.”
He watched as Ruan Jiu Jiu put on her shoes and walked out with a spring in her step. The door slammed shut and the house suddenly fell into a deathly stillness. Cheng Jun’s lonely figure sat on the dining table chair. He suddenly realized that hiding his identity wasn’t that good of an idea.
Once again, the house would be empty for the entire day.
Cheng Jun took a sip of Yakult and lowered his eyes. His eyelashes were long and thick. After a long while, a light sigh slipped from his lips.
“So cold.”
He should have let the Yakult sit out for a bit.
……
Ruan Jiu Jiu took the taxi as usual to work. She had never learned how to drive. Lately, because getting to work was such a headache, Ruan Jiu Jiu couldn’t help but consider whether she should get her license and buy a car.
Before, she didn’t get her license because she was afraid of car accidents. But now she had thought it through. Her life was in fate’s hands. It wasn’t up to her to decide how long she would live.
Today, she left a bit late and there was traffic on the road. Even though the taxi driver pulled out all the stops to try to come up with a detour to avoid the traffic jam, he still couldn’t get Ruan Jiu Jiu to work on time.
Ruan Jiu Jiu gave Mr. Meng a heads up ahead of time. She definitely would be running late and getting her pay docked was only right.
Mr. Meng had a very good attitude. He sent a voice text, telling Ruan Jiu Jiu with a chuckle not to hurry. If in her rush, she didn’t eat breakfast, then she should grab a bite before coming.
Ruan Jiu Jiu: “…” The company management really was too nice.
By the time she got off the taxi and was rushing towards the office, Ruan Jiu Jiu was half-running and no longer cared about appearances.
She rounded the corner of a building. Jiacheng’s offices weren’t much further. She carried a lunchbox in one hand and her shoes thudded on the ground.
Then, she almost bumped into someone.
Ruan Jiu Jiu promptly apologized, “Sorry, sorry.”
The other person first let out a yelp and then immediately after she grabbed a hold of Ruan Jiu Jiu in disbelief. “How could you be here?”
It was unexpectedly Xu Bi Ying.
This path was in Jiacheng’s direction. Xu Bi Ying instantly turned pale with fright. She didn’t understand how Ruan Jiu Jiu could enter a company like Jiacheng.
Ruan Jiu Jiu was puzzled. “Why can’t I be here?”
Xu Bi Ying’s hands were icy and her grip was tight. Ruan Jiu Jiu had to use all her strength to shake her hand off. She furrowed her brows. She really didn’t like Xu Bi Ying’s impolite behavior. “I’m about to be late for work. Please step aside.”
“Work?!”
Xu Bi Ying found that even harder to believe. “You? Work?” The idea that someone like Ruan Jiu Jiu could work at Jiacheng was the biggest joke ever.
From the start, Ruan Jiu Jiu didn’t want to pay her any heed. But from Xu Bi Ying’s perspective, this entirely looked like she had something on her conscience and didn’t want to admit anything.
Xu Bi Ying coldly laughed. “No wonder you changed your style. So you used your looks to get in.”
At first, Ruan Jiu Jiu was taken aback. But then she found it laughable and ridiculous. Then at the thought that Xu Bi Ying’s words were an acknowledgement of how pretty she looked, Ruan Jiu Jiu was no longer annoyed.
It wasn’t that long ago when Ruan Jiu Jiu yearned for the day when someone could curse her out like that.
[You think that just because you’re rich, you’re all that?]
[You think that just because you’re pretty, you’re all that?!]
Ruan Jiu Jiu expressed that she was indeed all that.
She gave an insincere smile. “Yup, I used my looks to get in. How about you give it a go?” This hot mama is the sexiest beast under the heavens. Ruan Jiu Jiu was just that shameless.
Xu Bi Ying took her joking words seriously.
She ground her teeth. “I’m not inferior to you!”
In her last life, she had constantly quietly compared herself to Ruan Jiu Jiu. Xu Bi Ying happily concluded that although she couldn’t best her in the looks department, she still had her character and skills. Ruan Jiu Jiu was a pretty face with a horrid personality; she was an idiot who couldn’t match up.
But now, the feeling of disparity between them made Xu Bi Ying incomparably resentful.
Xu Bi Ying looked on helplessly as she saw Ruan Jiu Jiu pass her, looking refined from every possible angle. She looked on helplessly as Ruan Jiu Jiu confidently walked through Jiacheng’s doors. Even the security guard was very cordial with her. Then, she disappeared into a place Xu Bi Ying could never lay a foot in.
“…”
Without even realizing it, her hands had clenched tightly into fists.
This was the first time Xu Bi Ying was jealous of Ruan Jiu Jiu. In order to latch onto Gu You’s thigh, no means were below her. It was all to see Gu You enter Jiacheng one day and commence his glorious career. But now, Ruan Jiu Jiu’s flippant attitude was a little hard for Xu Bi Ying swallow.
Xu Bi Ying was beside herself as she returned home. She invited Gu You to meet up with her.
She sat in the café and looked at Gu You, who was looking a bit haggard. His right hand was still bound in gauze and he had a bruise on his chin. His beard wasn’t shaven clean and there was even a small cut if you looked closely. He didn’t look the least bit like a hero in his sorry state. He was like a setting sun about to sink into the icy ocean, never to see the light of day again.
Xu Bi Ying clenched her fist. “You-gege, I hope you can pull yourself together!”
Gu You flattened his lips and blinked. “Thanks.”
His low spirits broke her heart. His negative emotions tightly encircled her, making it hard for her to breathe. More and more, she doubted whether Gu You would really be able to reverse his fortunes. After all, there huge differences between this life and her previous life had cropped up. Moreover, she had smothered any opportunity for his future wife to appear while it was still in the cradle.
A single flap of the butterfly’s wing was able to change many, many things.
Xu Bi Ying fixed her gaze on him and spoke steadily. “If you continue like this, even I
might give up on you.”
Gu You blinked once, totally aloof.
Xu Bi Ying was angered by his calm indifference. She didn’t hold back and let her mouth run away from her a bit. “Fine, very well then. If you want to be trash, then go ahead! You can stay like this for your whole life. I really misjudged you and thought you could succeed!”
One slip of the tongue, and Xu Bi Ying immediately regretted it.
Because… The childhood friend she had known for over 10 years was no longer looking at her with that tender, loving gaze he always used; his eyes finally lost all trace of the last remaining bit of leniency he had.
He stared at her as if staring at a stranger.
Gu You said, “If you want to invest, then apologies. This stock has dropped beyond the daily limit and halted trading. There won’t be any more miracles.”
Xu Bi Ying’s back suddenly grew cold she immediately began to stammer, trying to explain herself. “No, that’s not what I meant. I…”
Gu You looked at her with abnormally cold eyes and threw down a sentence.
“The one with only fame and success isn’t the real me. It’s best that you find someone else.”
Once he dropped that line, he turned and strode out without even turning back.
……
Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, another two weeks passed. Ruan Jiu Jiu slowly became acclimated to the work life, and she began to enjoy it.
Besides the employees who attempted to hit on her at every opportunity, everything else flowed very smoothly.
Ruan Jiu Jiu happily calculated her salary and how much time she’d worked. Her mind wandered as she thought of her future as a rich little lady. If she wanted to get married, then she would. If not, then she’d just date around. This was the life of her dreams.
Lately, Tu Nan was away on business trips and she only had Mr. Meng left to chat with. Mr. Meng was an uncle who lived in the 2D world. Once the topic turned to the history and development of manga, he could get extremely eloquent and well-spoken. One time, he bragged that there was a time when he didn’t wash his hands for a week because those hands shook the hands of Hayao Miyazaki, so he couldn’t bear to wash them.
Ruan Jiu Jiu: “…”
When she thought of the fact that Mr. Meng was a guy, and that when guys went to the toilet… Sorry, she’ll excuse herself. Suddenly, Mr. Meng became some unkempt old uncle in her mind.
Mr. Meng complained about the anime adaptation. He ranted saying that he didn’t want to see any romance between Ai Haibara and Conan. Ruan Jiu Jiu’s brain grew numb as she listened. Using the excuse of wanting to go out on a walk to stretch her legs, she managed to avoid Mr. Meng’s brainwashing.
There was still a lot of work to be done in the afternoon. Ruan Jiu Jiu wanted to just get some vitamin D before returning to work.
Outside, the sun shone at just the right angle. Ruan Jiu Jiu had to squint her eyes. Unexpectedly, she saw a familiar shadow. To her surprise, it was Gu You.
He stood outside the main entrance, his body looking a bit frail. He had a blank expression on his face and didn’t seem to notice Ruan Jiu Jiu’s existence.
Ruan Jiu Jiu was a bit shocked.
Strange, were those two people on watch and rotating shifts? Why’d another one show up after the first one left, both standing dumbly in front of Jiacheng’s doors?
Ruan Jiu Jiu walked up. “Gu You.”
Gu You’s vacant expression suddenly focused. He straightened his posture and turned his head, discovering Ruan Jiu Jiu with a resplendent smile across her face. He didn’t know when she appeared next to him.
“You are…”
“Oh.” Ruan Jiu Jiu pointed at the building behind her. “I work here. Creative department.”
The answer was a bit out of his expectations but his expression quickly relaxed. “When they were recruiting computer graphics illustrators, entrant no. 233 placed first. That was you.”
“You somehow remember? I’m honored.” Ruan Jiu Jiu thought Gu You had regained his spirits and thought things through. She smiled as she looked at him. “What about it? Want to go in? It’s just that the CEO Tu Nan isn’t here today.”
“…”
Gu You fell into silence.
Only
Today, he had planned to give Jiacheng once last glance before bidding this absurd yet disappointing part of his life goodbye. But now that Ruan Jiu Jiu was smiling, speaking in such an easygoing manner, he couldn’t say anything.
She thought that he was resilient. He originally thought so too.
Looking at Ruan Jiu Jiu’s high-spirited manner, Gu You thought of Liszt. What sort of steel determination did that man possess? As for himself? He was only twenty something and already planned to give up on his meaning of life.
It was so embarrassing he couldn’t even say it.
“What is it?” Ruan Jiu Jiu asked.
“Nothing.”
His voice was a bit hoarse and wasn’t as tender and easy on the ears as usual. But when he lifted his head once more, there was another layer of meaning it in.
“I won’t give up.” Gu You repeated, as if swearing to himself.
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