Water and Fire~Chapter 67.1: Forgot to Submit the Weekly Report

 

Chapter 67.1: Forgot to Submit the Weekly Report

Ren Yan pulled a tissue from the tissue box on his desk and wiped his hands. He could faintly hear the laughter of two people waiting for the elevator not far behind him.

Tan Shen asked, "Why don't you ask me, a commoner, why I'm so happy tonight?"

Chu Qianmiao smiled and replied, "Because you won a battle against a naughty kid."

Tan Shen's tone seemed to tinge with pride. "Naughty kids are creatures that can't be spoiled. Of course, even if it's a real bear, if it dares to provoke you, I'll fight it to the bitter end." After a pause, his voice took on a touch of sentimentality. "I can make the whole world my enemy for you."

Ren Yan's hand wavered, spilling some more coffee.

A ding-dong sound behind him signaled the elevator's arrival. He listened as they entered the elevator behind him, the doors closed, and they ascended with the elevator.

He cleaned the coffee stain on the table, slowly clenched his fist, then unclenched it. He shook his head and smiled.

The only thing that mattered today was the flurry of well-wishing messages from bank, insurance, and mall members. Those messages had made him mistakenly believe that today was the day he should see her. She had reminded him, and he, too, had this day to live.

But now it seemed that his fuss was not only unnecessary but also a bit of a fuss. She had lived up to her words; she had let him go. She had kept her word, and he should have breathed a sigh of relief. It was the best outcome for everyone.

But why, seeing her and Tan Shen chatting and laughing together, seeing how happy she was with him, did he spill his coffee on the table, leaving a bittersweet stain?

He planned to finish the rest of his coffee, then check out at the counter and rush back to Beijing overnight.

Ren Yan was sitting at a booth in the coffee shop, taking the last sip of his coffee when a figure flashed across from him.

Someone sat down across from him.

He put down his coffee cup and raised his eyelids to look down at the person with a cold expression.

Tan Shen, sitting across from him, smiled at him, a smile filled with a sense of taunting and unyielding.

"Senior Ren," Tan Shen said, smiling at Ren Yan and greeting him. His tone was neither friendly nor cold, his attitude neither humble nor overbearing. He said, "I saw you as soon as I came in, but I didn't say anything. And—" He paused, then spoke more directly, "I deliberately moved to Qian Miao's right, blocking her view of you."

Ren Yan looked at Tan Shen with a cold, distant look. He didn't respond, making his monologue seem pointless.

But Tan Shen didn't care. When Ren Yan didn't respond, he directly demanded a response. "Senior Ren, I want to talk to you."

Ren Yan looked at Tan Shen and suddenly curled up the corner of his mouth into a smile.

This time, he spoke. His voice, like his expression, was cold and reserved, with a hint of sarcasm.

"Is there anything we can discuss?"

Tan Shen nodded. "Of course," he said with a hint of provocation. "After all, we both like the same person, right?"

He stared directly into Ren Yan's eyes.

Ren Yan stared back, neither averting nor dodging his gaze, neither acknowledging nor refuting his conclusion.

In the silent confrontation, the air seemed to be swirled into two tense currents, ready to collide, leaving the other side bloodied and defeated.

During the standoff, Tan Shen uttered, "Silence means you admit it, haha." Tan Shen tilted his head, smiled, then turned back to face Ren Yan. He smiled and said, "Actually, I don't want to talk much with you. I just wanted to remind you again that Qian Miao and I were once a couple, and I'll reconcile with her in the future."

Ren Yan chuckled back, "You were such a flirt when you were abroad. We were all in the same study abroad circle, and everyone saw it."

Tan Shen's smile faded, his face darkening. "The past was the past, but this time is different. I'm completely devoted to her now."

Ren Yan looked at him, his eyes narrowed slightly.

Tan Shen suddenly chuckled, "Senior Ren, you're not married, are you?" A hint of coldness flashed in his eyes. "Since you're not married, you should draw a line between you and her and keep your distance, right?"

Ren Yan stared at him, expressionless, and silent.

Something seemed about to explode in their silent standoff.

The sound of high heels stomping on the floor echoed. A cool female voice followed, "What a coincidence! I was working overtime upstairs and felt sleepy, so I came down to get some coffee. I didn't expect to run into you two."

Li Tang approached, smiled at Ren Yan, and gently called out, "Ah Yan." He then turned to Tan Shen and asked, "What are you two talking about? You're so lost in your conversation. I hope I didn't disturb you two."

Tan Shen smiled and replied, "Of course not. Okay, Senior Ren and I have finished what we needed to talk about. Now, I'll give you some alone time, Senior Li Tang."

Li Tang snorted at him, "You don't have to rush off. What a fuss."

Tan Shen smiled tactfully and said, "My name is Tan Shen, not Lamp."

Li Tang: "So, thank you."

Tan Shen stood up, buttoned his suit, said, "You're welcome," and walked away.

Li Tang leisurely sat down in the seat he'd just occupied.

She leaned forward slightly and softly addressed Ren Yan, "Ah Yan."

Ren Yan was about to tell her he had something to do and had to leave.

But Li Tang spoke first, stopping him. "Let's sit down for a while." Her voice was unusually gentle, a hint of pleading in it. "We haven't had a proper sit-down talk since we broke up."

"I'd really like to hear about what kind of girl Chu Qianmiao is," Li Tang quickly broached the topic.

Ren Yan had already bent his knees, ready to rise, but after a second's hesitation, he relaxed his grip.

He sat back down in the booth, his elbows resting on the armrest, his hand resting on his cheek. He asked nonchalantly, "What do you know about what she does?"

Li Tang's eyes burned at him, not dodging the question. "Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory, isn't it?"

Having finished her answer, Li Tang smiled. It turns out that one of the signs of her time with him was her later habit of using rhetorical questions.

"I don't understand her," Ren Yan said, looking at Li Tang indifferently. "There's no need for you to go out of your way to understand her."

But this didn't reassure Li Tang. Instead, a faint look of hurt settled on her face.

"Ah Yan," Li Tang's voice trailed off, the question stuck in her throat. It seemed like digging those words out of her throat was an agonizing experience. Li Tang's voice was a little hoarse. "Are you protecting her? You think I'll hurt her, so you're making decisions for me. I don't need to understand her." Li Tang shook her head, her usual cool demeanor completely gone, her face tinged with sadness. "You never used to make subjective judgments about others."

She suddenly laughed again. "But she might not be as weak as you think. You saw how brave she was at our international student reunion. Maybe I'm the weaker one between the two of us."

Ren Yan raised one corner of his mouth, sighed silently, and smiled faintly.

He glanced at his watch. It was already late. If he dawdled any longer, he wouldn't be able to return to Beijing tonight.

So, he looked up and said to Li Tang, "Li Tang, since we've broken up, let's not dwell on the past." His voice wasn't loud, but every word was powerful. "Everyone should read it first."

He said goodbye to Li Tang, stood up, went to the front desk to check out, and then walked to the elevator to retrieve his luggage.

He didn't look back again.

Li Tang's eyes followed his back, from the moment he stood up to the front desk, from the moment he walked from the front desk to the elevator, until he was lifted off and out of sight.

She watched him without blinking.

Ren Yan returned to Beijing at midnight that night. On the way back, he replayed his conversation with Tan Shen in his mind.

The next day was Friday, and everyone emailed him their weekly work reports. But Chu Qianmiao didn't.

He didn't remind her all day, wondering when she would finally realize the problem.

In Shanghai, thousands of miles from Beijing, Chu Qianmiao went downstairs early on a Friday morning. As she passed the hotel lobby, she smiled and greeted the waiter on duty. Suddenly, she was stopped. The waiter approached with something to tell her.

"Miss Chu, right? Last night, a very handsome man, claiming to be your colleague, asked me to call your room. It seemed like something was up, but he later sat in the cafe booth for a while and then checked out. I'm not sure if he's contacted you since then. To avoid missing anything important, I thought I'd share this with you."

Chu Qianmiao: "..."

She was startled by the sound. Then she asked, "Excuse me, how old did that gentleman appear to be?"

"In his early thirties," the waiter replied.

"Do you remember his last name?" Chu Qianmiao pressed immediately.

"I remember," the waiter said. "When he checked in, my colleague, taking his ID card, called out his name with the fourth tone. He even told my colleague that the character in his name was pronounced with the second tone, the same as Ren Yan, who said people's words are scary. Because he joked about it, I remember it very clearly."

Chu Qianmiao was stunned for a moment.

She thought he was quite good at making fun of himself behind his back.

"People's words are scary." That was a joke she'd made behind his back when he'd caught her red-handed. She'd almost laughed him out of frustration at the time.

The words "people's words are scary" made her heart pound. Suppressed memories threatened to revolt, bursting forth.

She pressed her chest, her emotions instantly returning to normal.

She thanked the waiter and, as she walked out of the hotel, pulled out her phone to call Ren Yan.

The line rang for a long time before it connected.

She called out, "Mr. Ren," and asked, "Were you in Shanghai yesterday? The waiter told me you looked for me, but Mr. Ren, why didn't you call my cell phone? I left it on. Mr. Ren, is there anything you need from me?"

Ren Yan's voice sounded cold, almost distant. "Nothing special. I just wanted to ask about your project. But something urgent had to happen, so I had to return to Beijing."

Chu Qianmiao thought to herself, "You're really a pushover!" but she spoke respectfully, "Let me tell you about the project here."

Ren Yan was silent for a moment, as if thinking, then said, "Just the key points. You'll report the rest of the details in person when I go to Shanghai in a couple of days."

His voice was firm and measured.

Chu Qianmiao immediately outlined a few key points. Ren Yan asked her to follow up on these points, and without further ado, he hung up.

Taoye Cinema Line was not far from the hotel, and Chu Qianmiao walked there. She breathed in the cool air of Shanghai's winter morning as she walked.