Water and Fire~Chapter 83: Come Here

 

Chapter 83: Come Here

Returning home that evening, Ren Yan packed his luggage. This time, he brought a few more clothes.

Quickly finishing, he dragged his rocking chair to the window. It turned out his mood was no longer gloomy, and even his work became faster and more efficient.

Night fell outside the window, neon lights illuminating the night sky. Traffic snaked along the street, sometimes congested, sometimes unblocked. This city was bustling even at night. He had previously dismissed this bustle as relevant to him, and therefore never experienced it. Now, sitting by the window, lighting a cigarette and slowly smoking it, watching the hustle and bustle of traffic and the vibrant neon lights outside, he felt a sense of the excitement of life.

He smiled silently. After his cigarette burned out, he stood up and stubbed it out in the ashtray. He picked up his phone, found Lei Zhenzi's profile picture, and made a video call.

The phone rang briefly, and the call connected. In the video, Lei Zhenzi sat shirtless on the bed, his hair disheveled, his eyes still half-closed, his usual radiant bloom still brimming with love, barely blooming. He cursed furiously, "Ren, give me a good reason to wake me, or I'll cut you off immediately."

Ren Yan curled his lips into the phone. Lei Zhenzi jumped. He immediately pulled the blanket over his armpits, his peach-shaped eyes widening as he grumbled.

"Damn you, Ren? You've taken the wrong medicine, right? You're giving me that lecherous grin!"

After yelling, he noticed Ren Yan still had a smile on his face, a comforting smile that made him feel like something had finally been settled.

Lei Zhenzi uttered a "Huh!" and held up his phone, glancing back and forth at Ren Yan.

"Why do I feel like you've changed a little?"

"What's different?" Ren Yan asked.

Lei Zhenzi: "It's like someone about to hang themselves suddenly decides not to, and gives the world a slap on the face, a smile that says, 'I've decided to live.'"

Ren Yan smiled again, his face quirking. Then, his expression turning serious, he said to Lei Zhenzi, "I'm going to tell you something now. Don't be too surprised."

After hearing Ren Yan's words, Lei Zhenzi's mouth remained open.

After a long pause, he pounded the bed and exclaimed, "F*ck!"

Just now, Ren Yan had told him that he had decided not to suppress his feelings anymore. If he liked a girl, he could like her. If he wanted to see her, he could see her openly. If he wanted to talk to her, he could talk to her.

Lei Zhenzi pounded the bed, saying, "F*ck, you should have done this a long time ago." He paused, then let go of the bed and his hand. The sleepy, vengeful expression he'd had a few minutes ago vanished, replaced by a look of shock that slowly digested the information, a sigh growing in his voice as he shook his head.

"It wasn't easy, it wasn't easy."

After sighing for a while, he suddenly glared at Ren Yan with his peach-shaped eyes and said, "Wait, according to your nature, you wouldn't rush to tell me when you make a decision. You're not as servile to me as I am to you. So, what I see on your face right now is, uh, doubt."

Ren Yan watched him and guessed, silent.

"So, you're wondering if we're not married, while Qian Miao is. Should you express your feelings for her?"

Ren Yan nodded, indicating he was right.

"You know, because of my life circumstances, I feel like marriage is a shackle and will bring unhappiness, so I've always chosen not to marry. But lately, I've been thinking about this for a long time. If I don't marry someone, I'll lose her, and the pain of losing her could even be greater than the impact of my past circumstances. So, I want to explore the possibility of marriage. But if I choose to give up on not marrying, wouldn't that be a betrayal of my past?"

"Who am you betraying, and what am I betraying?" Lei Zhenzi said speechlessly. "Friend, not marrying is a state of mind. States, you know? States can change." After a pause, he began to talk about principles and values. "People have different perspectives at different stages of their lives, and each perspective can lead to a change in state of mind. It's more important to figure out what you want than to cling to a certain state of mind."

Lei Zhenzi became addicted to reasoning and couldn't stop. "Actually, I've always said that your not marrying is different from mine. You're driven by the hurt and stimulation of your environment, and you're not marrying out of fear. I'm not marrying because I don't want to sacrifice my personal freedom for marriage. Ultimately, you're afraid of marriage, not strictly not marrying."

After a pause, Lei Zhenzi, with a rare serious expression, said to Ren Yan, "Ren, I've been wanting to say this for a while now. I hope you can heal your fear. That way, you can develop a healthy personality and stop living like a city ascetic. It makes me feel suffocated just watching you. And healing your fear is actually trying to accept marriage. It's called desensitization therapy in psychology, right?"

Ren Yan smiled and asked, "You've got a girlfriend who's a psychology major, haven't you?"

Lei Zhenzi looked utterly astonished. "You're going to die if you're just a little bit stupid?"

Ren Yan teased him, then stopped laughing and thanked him earnestly. "What you said just now has relieved my psychological burden. Thank you. It's hard for you, a non-marriage advocate, to persuade another non-marriage advocate to become marriageable."

Lei Zhenzi waved his hand, "Don't be so polite! You're giving me goosebumps." After a pause, he spoke earnestly, "As long as you can step out of your shell, live your own life, and become a normal person with flesh and blood and desires, I'll thank God."

Towards the end of the conversation, Lei Zhenzi asked Ren Yan what he planned to do next.

"Want to confess? I have "The Thirty-Six Strategies of Confession," "The Art of War," and "How to Confess Your Love Without Losing." I can lend them to you for free.

Ren Yan told him, "Thank you. Keep the books for your battle of wits with your new girlfriend, a psychology major."

"Now's not the right time. I can only secretly support her. She needs to pass the insurance agent exam as soon as possible and register as an official insurance agent on a project. Only then can we make it public."

Lei Zhenzi was puzzled. "Why?"

"Because," Ren Yan said, "Litong doesn't allow office romances, especially between superiors and subordinates. If they're discovered, they'll have to leave."

"Now's not the right time. If I pursue her and it gets out, either she leaves or I do. I'd rather leave, but if I leave now, she won't be fully developed and it will be difficult for her to advance in the future. So, we have to wait until she becomes an insurance agent. By then, even if someone finds out, I'll leave and she'll stay. By then, as an insurance agent, she'll be able to stand on her own, even without my protection."

Lei Zhenzi looked at Ren Yan for a long moment before sighing, "She's really grown on you. Ren, you're doomed!"

Chu Qianmiao was surprised that Ren Yan would be traveling with a few of the project guys the next day.

She thought he had a meeting, but he'd been sitting in the due diligence office all morning.

She also thought he had some special arrangements, but when she arrived at the company, everyone was still at their usual positions, with no new changes to their work.

This made Chu Qianmiao a little confused and curious.

She quietly sent a WeChat message to Qin Qianyu, asking, "Brother Qin, why did President Ren suddenly come with us on this business trip?"

Qin Qianyu immediately replied, "You idiot, it must be because of Kan Qingzhou! Kan Qingzhou just messed with President Ren yesterday. If President Ren stayed at the company, the mere sight of him would be annoying. It's better for him to be out of sight and out of mind."

After hearing Qin Qianyu's words, Chu Qianmiao felt the case was solved. She began to feel at ease and returned to her work.

The restructuring of Liya was complete, and next came the in-depth due diligence phase. Everyone needed to be vigilant, carefully searching for potential problems even in seemingly flawless documents.

Chu Qianmiao spent the entire morning staring at the materials, her eyes dazzled. After lunch, she didn't rush upstairs. Instead, she strolled in Li Ya's courtyard, circling the office building, doing eye exercises as she went.

A tall wall stood to the side of the office building, separated by a tree-lined path. It was a quiet place at the moment, and as Chu Qianmiao reached it, she suddenly felt the scenery was beautiful: the high wall, a row of lush green trees, a narrow path flanked by vibrant spring wildflowers.

She pulled out her phone, intending to record a video of the scenery and send it to Gu Miaoyu later, so she could watch it online.

She stared at the screen and pressed the round record button on the bottom. As she recorded, she rotated the circle, centering herself and with her arm as the radius, to frame the scenery on the screen.

Suddenly, a figure entered the frame.

The spring afternoon was warm. The figure wore no suit jacket, only a shirt and tie. The two legs, clad in suit trousers, looked appalling in the camera lens.

He stood not far from her on the narrow path, one hand tucked into his trouser pocket, the other suddenly raised to her, a beckoning gesture.

Chu Qianmiao was startled by Ren Yan's beckoning gesture on her phone screen. She immediately looked up, looking at him from the real world.

"Come here," he waved.

She put away her phone, sprinted over, and stood before him.

A lock of long hair swung over her shoulder, and she lifted her hand to brush it back. He watched, his eyes narrowed.

After finishing her hair, Chu Qianmiao asked, "Mr. Ren, what can I do for you?"

Ren Yan half-lowered his gaze at her, then suddenly asked, "Do you and Tan Shen have any special relationship?"

Chu Qianmiao was startled by the words. Then she was startled again.

No matter how you think about it, this is a personal topic.

"Leader, why did you think of asking this? Is it related to our work?"

Ren Yan nodded at her. "Yes, he works at Eagle Capital, a shareholder of Liya. You're helping Liya go public. It's best to clarify your relationship upfront, just for the record."

"But what's there to record? She could even team up with Tan Shen to dismantle Liya from within."

She felt like Ren Yan was lying to her.

But his expression was so upright, so selfless, so righteous, that she felt like she'd be derelict in her duty if she didn't answer the question properly.

After a pause, Chu Qianmiao said, "Leader, although I kind of feel this is a personal question and I shouldn't be obligated to answer it, since you've asked, I'll answer it." After a pause, she said, "Tan Shen and I don't have any special relationship."

She saw Ren Yan raise an eyebrow.

"I don't want any special relationships with anyone of the opposite sex either."

She saw Ren Yan's eyebrows raise a little higher than before.

"I've said it with all my heart that I wouldn't even consider a relationship until I become an insurance agent and have my own office."

She saw Ren Yan's eyebrows raise almost to the sky.

"What's wrong, boss? Did I exaggerate? Did I make you laugh?"

Ren Yan, hands in his pockets, half-lowered his head as he looked at her. He snorted, "No." Then, "Great."

After a pause, he lowered his nasal tone to a normal tone. "You want to take the insurance agent exam? That's great."

Chu Qianmiao grinned at the two compliments.

"You have to pass the exam this year. It's a mission," Ren Yan suddenly added.

"Chu Qianmiao felt that when Ren Yan added this, his tone was like that of an emotionless killer. If she didn't obey and failed the exam this year, he would kill her.

"What if, what if I don't pass the exam?"

"Then I'm leaving." He paused. "I can't wait."

""

Why can't you wait? Why can't you wait?

"No reason," Ren Yan said coldly. "Just work hard."

""

Are you a worm spirit? There's no need to know everything she's thinking and respond to it.

Chu Qianmiao went upstairs dejectedly, phone in hand.

Ren Yan stood there, a silent smile curled up his lips.

If you don't pass the exam this year, I can't wait any longer. I'm going to give you that brooch, and you stay. I'm leaving.