Water and Fire~Chapter 49.1: A Little More Touched

 

Chapter 49.1: A Little More Touched

Ren Yan told Chu Qianmiao, "That brooch is quite beautiful. You should keep it and wear it."

Chu Qianmiao was startled by the words.

She watched Ren Yan turn to leave and quickly said, "Senior! This isn't appropriate..."

But her questioning failed to interrupt Ren Yan's smooth departure. He took two steps, and his voice drifted over: "Then just deal with it as you please."

With that final word, Ren Yan disappeared through the doorway of his office.

Qin Qianyu, while clearing the paper cups on the table, said to Chu Qianmiao, "Qianmiao, take this! You're the only woman here." He craned his neck to peer outside the conference room, making sure it was safe, and continued, "Mr. Ren is a glamorous bachelor. Giving this to him is just like he said. He has no one else to give it to. A grown man like him owning a brooch seems like a total jerk."

Chu Qianmiao: "..."

She noticed that the young investment bankers who had been drinking at noon were quite bold, even using the Chinese-English idiom "gay" to describe their leaders.

Chu Qianmiao finally took the brooch home. But she didn't dare remove the transparent packaging.

After dinner, she and Gu Miaoyu sat on the sofa, working overtime and chatting. She was rummaging through her bag for her mouse when she saw the brooch.

She paused, then took the brooch and began to fiddle with it.

Gu Miaoyu saw it and asked, "Did Tan Shen give it to you?"

Chu Qianmiao replied, "No."

She quickly thought about what she would say if Gu Miaoyu asked, "Which sl*tty guy gave it to you?"

Gu Miaoyu's thoughts were unpredictable.

"Shuishui, let me tell you, this is the first time I've eaten seafood at that barbecue restaurant! I didn't even know they had seafood!" Gu Miaoyu said, her face full of surprise.

Chu Qianmiao: "..."

Talking about lunch, Gu Miaoyu then brought up Tan Shen: "Shuishui, based on my observations this afternoon, I think Tan Shen is quite a person. He's handsome and funny. He's a talkative person, and sometimes he can be quite sharp-tongued, sulking when he's upset, but he's not really mean to be. If you confront him for a while, he'll give in. And I can tell he seems to care about you quite a bit, and clearly wants to rekindle your relationship. I think you two are actually quite compatible, a perfect pair of happy enemies." After a pause, she asked, a bit puzzled, "So you really broke up with him simply because he was so talkative and loud? Was there no other reason?"

Chu Qianmiao sighed, swung her arm around Gu Miaoyu's shoulders, and said, "Nothing escapes your eyes." Her free hand unconsciously rubbed the petals of her brooch through the transparent packaging, and she carefully told Gu Miaoyu, "How should I put it? He's a bit impatient, always eager for novelty, and his enthusiasm for everything is fleeting. Especially when it comes to girls, if he can last until the fourth minute, I'd give him the Best Endurance Award. If he can continue to treat me with such passionate devotion for over three months like he did today, I'd immediately get married to him without hesitation!"

"Is that so... Was your breakup a tragic one?" Gu Miaoyu asked wistfully, as if she could predict her own breakup with Shao Yuan from the tragic scenes of others.

Chu Qianmiao said, "Not tragic at all. It was as easy as discussing the weather."

"Let me think about it." She recalled the scene of her and Tan Shen's breakup, and it was a bit difficult to recall.

Gu Miaoyu looked at Chu Qianmiao's face, which looked as if she was constipated by memories, and thought to herself that it seemed that her relationship with Tan Shen was not particularly unforgettable, otherwise she wouldn't even be able to remember the scene of their breakup.

"It seemed like that," Chu Qianmiao recalled, "he was going abroad and asked if I planned to go. I said no, I was going to find a job right after graduation to help ease the burden on our family. He probably thought I was broke, so he told me to go abroad after graduation too. He'd pay my tuition, and even if we broke up overseas, I wouldn't have to pay it back. I said no, thank you. He got mad and asked, 'What's wrong?' I just looked down on his money. Then he threatened me, saying he might not come back after he went abroad, and there were so many sexy, busty, and fashionable girls out there who wouldn't need me. But if I broke up with him, I'd never find anyone as handsome as him again. I said, 'You can't find anyone prettier than me,' he said. He didn't believe me, and I said, 'Just try!' So, to see if he could find a girlfriend prettier than me, we broke up." After a pause, Chu Qianmiao added proudly, "Although we broke up, we didn't have a falling out over it. We're still friends."

Gu Miaoyu: "………………"

Gu Miaoyu choked for a long time.

"You two broke up so hastily!!!!" Gu Miaoyu yelled after a while.

Afterward, she asked Chu Qianmiao, "So, after all these years, is there still a chance for you and Tan Shen?"

Chu Qianmiao turned the brooch over and over. The petals of an unknown flower looked more and more beautiful, making her want to fall in love. She casually replied, "No."

"Are you disgusted by his other girlfriends?" Gu Miaoyu asked.

"What era is this? Why would I be disgusted?" Chu Qianmiao replied casually.

Gu Miaoyu tutted her tongue several times. "If you're disgusted, it means you're jealous, and you might still have feelings for him to some extent. But if you're not disgusted at all, then you probably really aren't attracted to him at all."

Chu Qianmiao turned to look at her. "Little Daogu, why are you acting like a relationship expert tonight? Come on, tell me what it feels like to be moved."

Gu Miaoyu thought for a moment and said, "When I can't see him, I miss him, but when I see him, I pretend nothing's happened. Your heart beats faster when you think of him. You remember everything he says, and you feel like there's a deeper meaning beyond the surface, but that deeper meaning is meant only for you."

Chu Qianmiao stared at Gu Miaoyu in amazement. She felt this way. But not towards Tan Shen.

She rubbed the petals on her brooch with her hands, unconsciously increasing the pressure.

Clutching the brooch, she told Gu Miaoyu, "Little Daogu, I have these feelings for someone else. But what should I do? It seems unlikely we'll ever be together."

Gu Miaoyu was startled and quickly asked Chu Qianmiao what was going on.

Chu Qianmiao replied, "I've told you before, I had a crush on someone in college. I even ranked him above the F4 and made him my F0. But this F0 senior didn't choose me. He later went abroad, so I let him go and started a relationship with Tan Shen."

"But then... I met him again. Our initial reunion made me feel familiar, but once we started working together, I realized he was more unfamiliar than familiar. He was different from what I'd imagined—more mature and more charming. We were actually getting along again. As we got along, I could almost feel myself being drawn to him."

This was the first time Chu Qianmiao had faced her feelings since reuniting with Ren Yan. When she was alone, she'd always avoided facing this attraction; now, in front of Gu Miaoyu, she had to force herself to face it.

"Ordinarily, you know my personality. If someone rejects me, I'd completely move on. But why haven't I moved on from this F0?"

Gu Miaoyu listened for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Is it Ren Yan?"

Chu Qianmiao's hand trembled, and the brooch dropped to the ground. She picked up the brooch and lashed out at Gu Miaoyu, "Shut up! I didn't ask you to guess who it was!"

Gu Miaoyu nodded obediently, "Oh, okay, okay. I'm stupid, I couldn't guess it was Ren Yan, don't worry!"

"Shut up! I'll beat you to death!" Chu Qianmiao raged even harder. "Stop talking nonsense. Just help me analyze what's going on with me. I'm a bit confused by the situation."

Gu Miaoyu reached up and stroked Chu Qianmiao's head like a cat, saying, "Shui Shui, it's actually very simple. Your love for F0 before was just a fanboy's liking, no different from your love for F4, Andy Lau, or the like. But your love now is truly a true love that has evolved from a crush to love."

After digesting Gu Miaoyu's words, Chu Qianmiao agreed with the conclusion drawn by this outsider.

"So, what do you think? Should I take action?" she asked.

She had always been a woman of action. If she liked someone, she'd go for it. If she didn't, she'd say it. She wouldn't wait for someone to pursue her even though she clearly liked them. Life is only a few decades long, and two-thirds of it is spent sleeping. After deducting work and bathroom breaks for the remaining third, there's no room for pretentiousness.

"Do you think he likes you?" Gu Miaoyu asked.

"I feel like he treats me differently than he treats others." Chu Qianmiao paused, then added, "But I'm not too sure. You know girls, when they think someone likes them, they assume they treat them differently. I'm actually worried that my feelings are too subjective, leading to a bit of self-conceit."

Gu Miaoyu thought for a moment and asked, "Is he single?"

Chu Qianmiao replied, "He just said this afternoon that he doesn't have a girlfriend." He paused, "But his ex-girlfriend recently returned from abroad, and I'm feeling a sense of crisis."

"How about," Gu Miaoyu said, "if you really like him, why not take action? Try telling him you like him and see how he reacts. It doesn't cost anything!"

"Really... try?" Chu Qianmiao balked again.

"If you don't try, what if you miss out? Didn't you say his ex-girlfriend is back? If they get back together too quickly, you'll have no chance. If you give it a try, what if it works?" Gu Miaoyu said.

"What if it doesn't?" Chu Qianmiao said with a hint of trepidation.

"If it doesn't work out, just get over it once and for all! You'll be quick and decisive when you do, which is better than all this guessing and dragging your feet. It won't delay your search for the next person or relationship."

Gu Miaoyu knew Chu Qianmiao best. If she had a desire, she wouldn't give up unless she gave it a try. She'd have to ram herself against the wall and bang her head against it. Once she did, the path would be clear. If she tried and found it impossible to get through, she wouldn't drag her feet and would decisively seek another path to a solution.

She figured that since Chu Qianmiao had genuinely fallen for Ren Yan, she should just give it a try. It was better than living in this state of confusion and speculation. We were all adults, so whether or not we succeeded wasted our youth.

Chu Qianmiao clutched the brooch and made a decision.

"Okay! The next time I feel attracted to him, I'll tell him straight up!"

Before going to bed that night, Chu Qianmiao thought for a moment and transferred half the meal money to Tan Shen.

Tan Shen called, his anger so intense that he didn't even have time to choose a video call.

As soon as the line connected, Tan Shen began to interrogate her, "Chu Qianmiao, what do you mean? Are you going to split the bill with me? You're going to pay me so much for a whole meal? Do you even realize what you're doing? You're hurting my feelings!"

Chu Qianmiao quickly interrupted him, fearing he'd nag her all night.

"No, we agreed to treat you. How could I ask you to pay? I was afraid you wouldn't accept the full amount. I've only paid half, and you're already so angry."

"Chu Qianmiao," Tan Shen began to yell. "You never let me spend money on you before, so why are you still like this now? You'll kill me if you let me spend some money on you!"

Chu Qianmiao retorted, "What are you yelling about? It's the middle of the night. If you have too much money, just donate it. Don't try to save face in front of a woman!"

Tan Shen was furious. "I'm trying to save face in front of you??? I'm actually trying to pursue you again, okay? Okay, Chu Qianmiao, you heartless bastard, we'll never have any contact again!"

With that, he hung up.