Water and Fire~Chapter 68.1: Are You Tempted?

 

Chapter 68.1: Are You Tempted?

Chu Qianmiao was startled by the question mark and exclamation point combination.

She slapped her forehead, remembering the weekly report. Yesterday, she'd been feeling down, feeling like she'd forgotten something. Turns out, she'd forgotten to submit it.

She quickly worded the message, "Sorry, Mr. Ren, I was busy yesterday and forgot. I'll get back to you."

But just as she finished editing the message, before she could click send, something changed in the dialog box.

The next second, the three words with two punctuation marks on the phone screen vanished as if by divine hand, leaving only a row of small gray characters.

"Ren Yan" withdrew the message.

Chu Qianmiao

While she was stunned, a new message landed in her place.

"Weekly report."

Chu Qianmiao: "..."

This time it was a period.

She sent the line she had just edited.

Then, a message popped up above the dialog box: "The other party is typing," but it stayed on for a long time, and Chu Qianmiao didn't receive another message.

She wondered if Ren Yan was composing a harsh critique of her, wondering if each time he composed a sentence, he felt the criticism wasn't strong enough to express his anger, so he deleted what he had already written and re-edited it with something more forceful.

Chu Qianmiao shuddered a little. She quickly typed a few words to reinforce her apology: "I'm sorry, Mr. Ren. I won't do this again."

The message "The other party is typing" at the top of the screen disappeared.

Finally, the dialog box fell silent, and no new messages were thrown at her.

Chu Qianmiao should have breathed a sigh of relief, but after staring at the other party's input for so long, with nothing coming in, she felt a sense of suspense and uncertainty.

She patted her face, gathered her composure, turned on her computer, and began writing her weekly report.

After writing the weekly report and sending it to Ren Yan's email, she thought for a moment before sending a message to Qin Qianyu.

Chu Qianmiao asked, "Brother Qin, how does President Ren typically use punctuation in his messages?"

Qin Qianyu replied, "Why are you suddenly asking such a curious question?"

Chu Qianmiao said, "I'm trying to understand our master's intentions by analyzing the rules of punctuation."

After a moment's pause, Qin Qianyu sent her a screenshot. It was a record of past conversations between Ren Yan and him.

Ren Yan: "Come to my office."

Qin Qianyu: "Right away."

Ren Yan: "I'm on a business trip next Tuesday. Book the tickets, both yours and mine."

Qin Qianyu: "Got it."

Ren Yan: "You wrote the prospectus with your eyes closed."

Qin Qianyu: "Sorry, Mr. Ren, I'll fix it right away."

Qin Qianyu then sent a message: "See? Mr. Ren basically only uses commas, periods, and question marks."

Chu Qianmiao thought for a moment and asked, "Hasn't he ever used an exclamation mark?"

After a long pause, the screen popped up with a new message. Qin Qianyu replied, "I've thought carefully and reviewed it, no."

Immediately, another message appeared: "Given Mr. Ren's personality, if he used an exclamation mark, it would mean he was extremely excited. That doesn't fit with his indifferent personality."

Then another message appeared: "What's wrong, Qianmiao? Did Mr. Ren use an exclamation mark on you? You can't be so lucky to be the first to receive Mr. Ren's exclamation mark."

Chu Qianmiao thought for a moment and replied, "No, I was just asking casually. I wanted to test my boss's limits."

So, is this limit the weekly report?

After some thought, she asked, "Brother Qin, do you ever forget to submit your weekly report?"

Qin Qianyu said, "I often forget when I'm busy, but if I forget this week, I'll make up for it next week with the biweekly report. It's no big deal."

Chu Qianmiao stared at her phone, lost in thought.

So, his limit wasn't the weekly report.

So, did she do something that upset Ren Yan, causing him to get a little upset, allowing him to exploit the situation for a moment, then withdraw the message, maintaining his usual calm demeanor.

She had to think carefully about how she had offended him.

That week, Chu Qianmiao spent her daytime due diligence at Taoye Academy. In the evenings, she had dinner with Tan Shen, after which Teacher Tan Shen would come online to help her with the questions.

Sometimes, they would go for a stroll in the evening. As he'd said, Tan Shen slowed down his pursuit. When they were together, he no longer constantly talked about getting back together or constantly urged her to give him another chance.

He stopped saying these things and began expressing his feelings through actions.

This Tan Shen, his frivolity gone, earned Chu Qianmiao a new level of respect for him.

During the week that Tan Shen was on a business trip in Shanghai, Chu Qianmiao's financial skills improved dramatically. She hadn't expected that the ever-changing Tan Shen, when he became Teacher A Shen, would be so patient and knowledgeable.

But sometimes, Teacher A Shen would leave Chu Qianmiao feeling a bit amused and confused. He was so stubborn and persistent. If she asked him a problem and he couldn't solve it, he would study it without even eating or talking. He wouldn't ask anyone else, and of course, he wouldn't let her ask anyone else. He would always figure out the correct answer on his own and then share it with her. To the point where, sometimes, when she found a problem difficult, she hesitated to present it to Tan Shen. She feared he'd spend the entire night awake, lost in thought, staring at the problem, leaving her unable to tell whether he was struggling with the problem or with himself. Chu Qianmiao sometimes wondered if he was doing it on purpose, deliberately failing to solve the problem, deliberately dragging her along with him.

But perhaps it was precisely because of this unwavering determination, as Li Tang had said, that the project she and Tan Shen had both competed for was ultimately won by Tan Shen.

Tan Shen had to return to Beijing the same evening he signed the contract, as he had to report the matter to his company bosses the next day.

He took the last high-speed train back to Beijing. Before leaving, he asked Chu Qianmiao to have dinner with him.

His request sounded like a farewell: "I'm leaving tomorrow, but you have to stay here. We don't know when we'll see each other again, so please have one last meal with me tonight, okay?"

Hearing his mournful tone, Chu Qianmiao almost thought she'd never be able to return to Beijing.

She feinted a kick at Tan Shen. "I won't refuse to eat with you if you speak nicely. It's not like I'll never return to Beijing unless I work on this project."

Chu Qianmiao asked Tan Shen what he wanted to eat. Tan Shen replied, "Whatever you want, I want to eat."

Chu Qianmiao argued, saying, "I want to eat dirt."

Tan Shen responded, "Then I want to eat bricks."

Chu Qianmiao laughed and kicked Tan Shen. "I want to eat that internet-famous hot pot."

Without a word, Tan Shen simply said, "Let's go."

He pulled Chu Qianmiao to the side of the road and hailed a taxi.

Not far to their right, a short distance away, stood a young couple.

After waiting for a while, an empty taxi finally pulled up a short distance to their left. Tan Shen stretched out his arm and shook it up and down. The taxi, sensing his shaking signal, immediately pulled over to the side of the road.

But the driver seemed reluctant to apply the brakes. The car didn't stop in front of Chu Qianmiao and Tan Shen, but slid forward a bit. When it finally came to a stop, it landed right in front of the other young couple.

The couple were unceremonious; they simply opened the door and got in.

Tan Shen immediately pulled Chu Qianmiao over and hurried over, saying to the two people in the car, "We stopped this car first. Please get out."

The young couple rolled their eyes at him. "Hey, can you please be reasonable? The car was parked directly in front of us. So, if you see a car and claim it's yours, then is this street yours? Is this city yours? So, if you're so arrogant, stop taking a taxi and drive your own car."

Tan Shen glared at them coldly, then stepped in front of the car and said to the driver, "We stopped it first. You should have pulled us over first."

The driver leaned out the window and laughed. "But sir, look, they've already boarded. Please, do me a favor and stop blocking my way." He glanced back, then turned back and pointed his thumb toward the back of the car. He said to Tan Shen, "Besides, sir, look, there are two more empty cars coming up behind us. It's the same if you take any of the ones behind. Why make such a fuss? Parking is not allowed here. The traffic police will fine me if they see it. Sir, just move aside. Thank you."

Chu Qianmiao also felt that both the driver and the two young men and women who had gotten there first were somewhat unkind. However, Tan Shen had a train to catch later, so considering priorities, she felt it would be better to drag him to the empty car behind.

But Tan Shen was even more stubborn than her. He insisted on arguing. He stopped in front of the car and insisted that the young couple get off. The traffic behind was already a mess.

The driver, helpless, turned back and pleaded with the young couple in the car, "You two, why don't you just get out?"

The couple refused, clamoring, "Why not?" If we're going to block the road, let's all do it together.

Chu Qianmiao truly felt that if this stalemate continued, Tan Shen would miss his train.

She tried to persuade Tan Shen to calm down and go eat first. Tan Shen patted her hand, which was holding his arm, smiled, and said, "I'll let it go on my own, but I can't let you suffer this with me."

Chu Qianmiao sensed he was determined to fight to the end. Her anxiety grew even greater.

The entire street was filled with honking horns.

Someone in the back was already cursing.

The taxi driver, driven to panic, begged the two people in the back seat to get out.

"I'm not going to pull any of you over, please. Please, get out quickly. The traffic police are here and I'll get a parking ticket."

The couple in the back seat refused to get out.

Chu Qianmiao noticed Tan Shen suddenly smile, a smile that had a hint of cunning and mischief. She thought he must have been planning something while they weren't paying attention.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, a traffic officer approached to issue a ticket.

The taxi driver tried to explain to the officer over the blaring of horns from the entire street, but the officer didn't even pause in writing the ticket.

Tan Shen, pulling Chu Qianmiao in his arms, turned and walked away, reaching the intersection and hailing another taxi.