Water and Fire~Chapter 99.2: Am I Good to You?

 

Chapter 99.2: Am I Good to You?

Back home, he stood by the window, hands on his hips, staring out.

The night was silent, only the neon lights stood brightly, guarding the city's night.

If time could go back to the moment she'd accused him, he'd definitely hold her and apologize. He'd also tell her that the silent torment he'd endured from beginning to end was no less than hers.

But he was stunned by that comment about disrespecting his age. Was he "old" in her eyes?

Was he no longer worthy of her youthful years?

He raised his hand and rubbed his forehead. There wasn't a trace of fine lines on his forehead; it was perfectly smooth.

How did he age?

He shook his head, giving a silent, bitter smile.

Growing increasingly baffled, he simply walked back to his desk, scooped up his phone, and video-called Lei Zhenzi.

When the video call connected, Lei Zhenzi, dressed in a suit and tie, was leaning back in the large leather chair of his overseas office, beaming at the screen.

"What's wrong, brother? Calculate the time. It's the dead of night back home. What's keeping you awake all night? Is it some kind of insane desire?"

Ren Yan didn't bother to deal with his nonsense.

He asked him directly, "Do you think I'm old?"

Lei Zhenzi's peach-shaped eyes narrowed. "Where did this question come from? Why so suddenly?" He paused, then smiled brightly again. "You're definitely not old. We're the same age. If I admit you're old, wouldn't that be indirectly admitting I'm old?"

Ren Yan asked him, "Let's take you out of the picture and just talk about me. Am I old?"

Lei Zhenzi's grin faded, replaced by a thoughtful expression. "Ren, what's going on? What's irritating you?"

Ren Yan's indifferent expression indicated to Lei Zhenzi that he had no answer to the question. He also raised an impatient eyebrow, urging Lei Zhenzi to answer the question he should answer and stop asking unnecessary questions.

Lei Zhenzi couldn't stand his silent expression, so he quickly said, "You're so disciplined, you don't drink much, and now you've even quit smoking. Why did you quit smoking? And then, you don't have a habit of going out late at night to swanky places. You keep fit, eat a simple diet, and don't get easily angry or emotional. You don't smile easily, so you can't squeeze your face or eyes, and therefore don't have nasolabial folds or crow's feet. With your self-disciplined, ascetic life, you want to age, but where do you start? Tell me the path to aging."

Lei Zhenzi's words grew increasingly unbearable. "Besides, you're not blind. Can't you look in the mirror? Look at your face. It's smoother than my desk!" Lei Zhenzi said, slapping the surface of his desk with a thumping thud, as if he were hitting Ren Yan's face.

Ren Yan's expression remained unchanged, but his brows, which had been furrowed with a hint of desire, finally relaxed.

Lei Zhenzi noticed his mood had lifted, and quickly seized the opportunity to gossip, "Brother, did Qian Miao pass the exam this time?"

Ren Yan looked at his phone screen and nodded slightly.

Lei Zhenzi slammed his desk hard, so hard it almost bounced him off his feet.

He jolted off his leather chair and fell back down, even more excited than Ren Yan himself. "Damn, it's done, big brother! You can finally have s*x!"

Ren Yan's brow, which had been furrowed in l*st until then, furrowed deeply at Lei Zhenzi's words.

Lei Zhenzi noticed his expression darken, and asked in surprise, "What's wrong again? Did something go wrong again? I've heard your love and l*st journey is quite bumpy. Why don't you just become a monk?"

Ren Yan frowned, saying, "She's mad that I rejected her back then, and now I'm provoking her again."

Lei Zhenzi's playful mood faded. He turned serious. "She doesn't have the same information as you. She doesn't know the details of your life. Once she knows everything about your past, she'll understand you."

Ren Yan chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"So, I told her I wanted to be with her, and wondered if she'd reject me again out of anger."

Lei Zhenzi shook his head. "You clearly know Qian Miao better than anyone, yet you're asking such a question now. It really shows that when it comes to emotional tension, those involved become fools." Taking a breath, he said seriously, "Qian Miao isn't someone who acts out of loyalty. On the contrary, she's the most generous, open-minded, and insightful girl. She always knows what she wants. She's not the kind of person who'd reject you just to get back at you because you rejected her before."

"Ren," Lei Zhenzi said, almost earnestly, "Don't overthink it. If Qian Miao really rejected you, it could only be because she genuinely doesn't like you now. But do you think that's possible? I definitely don't think it's likely. After all, I saw it clearly when I was hanging out with you guys at Litong. When that girl looked at you, her eyes were full of you, and when she wasn't, her heart was full of you."

Ren Yan's frown gradually relaxed.

"Tell her straight away. As long as she still likes you, she'll definitely agree."

Ren Yan's frown not only relaxed, but his expression also began to relax.

Lei Zhenzi observed Ren Yan's expression and saw that he was in a state of disbelief.

By the time I finished counting the days, it was almost dawn.

I got home from get off work that evening, and Gu Miaoyu was home, a rare sight. She said she wanted to celebrate Chu Qianmiao's birthday, so the two of them went grocery shopping and, back home, cooked a delicious meal together.

Chu Qianmiao felt like ages had passed since they'd enjoyed such a hearty meal and chatted about random things together.

Gu Miaoyu was busy with her company, while she herself was busy working on a project. They were both busy improving themselves, becoming better versions of themselves, and had no time for anything else.

Tonight was another chance for them to have a long, intimate chat. They chatted over crisp pears.

Gu Miaoyu said, "Shui Shui, I'm going on a blind date on Sunday."

Chu Qianmiao was stunned. "You've gotten over that guy?" She didn't dare mention Shao Yuan's name directly.

Gu Miaoyu said, "He's invisible and intangible. I have to have my own life, right?"

Chu Qianmiao nodded. Everyone in this world should live for themselves first. Risking your life for others is the most worthless thing.

Gu Miaoyu asked her, "Shui Shui, do you want to go on a blind date with me?"

Chu Qianmiao almost spit out the crisp pear she had just eaten. "How lucky would that person be? Seeing us both together, he'd be absolutely ecstatic!"

After she finished, Gu Miaoyu and she burst into laughter.

After laughing, Chu Qianmiao said to Gu Miaoyu, "Guzi, Ren Yan seems to be flirting with me."

Gu Miaoyu slammed the crisp pear down on the coffee table, turned to look at Chu Qianmiao, and asked, "What's he going to do? Didn't he reject you? Why is he acting so suddenly?"

Chu Qianmiao thought for a moment. "If my sixth sense is correct, I think he likes me."

Gu Miaoyu took two seconds to react, her tongue clenched. "So, what do you think?"

Chu Qianmiao recounted what Qin Qianyu had said to her that afternoon.

Gu Miaoyu sighed after hearing this. "This guy is quite insightful. But he and his wife are so sweet, it makes me, a single woman, extremely uncomfortable."

After a pause, she said, "Shuishui, my attitude is the same as Brother Qin's. Just do what he says. In short, follow your heart." Suddenly, she raised her voice, "Oh, no, there's another big problem, Shuishui. Isn't Ren Yan a stickler for marriage? Then why is he flirting with you?"

Chu Qianmiao smiled at this. "Guzi, let me tell you, I really don't care about marriage anymore. I've seen so many examples of betrayal on the project. My former roommate and senior had a fairytale marriage, but it's now broken up. So, what can marriage really protect in this world? Nothing. The emotional connection is gone, and everything becomes an ugly, painted facade. It's better to part ways amicably and respectfully without the constraints of marriage."

After a pause, Chu Qianmiao concluded, "So, Guzi, I reject marriage now."

Gu Miaoyu stared at Chu Qianmiao for a long moment.

Then she shook her head repeatedly, "It's over, it's over, it's over. You've become a non-marriageist without any real guidance."

That night, before bed, Chu Qianmiao unexpectedly received a call from Tan Shen.

Chu Qianmiao thought her day had been truly full, her mind swamped with thoughts and emotions, nearly bursting with them. And before she went to sleep, she had to receive Tan Shen's congratulatory message.

Tan Shen said to her on the phone, "I heard you passed the exam. Congratulations, Qianmiao."

Chu Qianmiao said, "Thank you," then added, "You're so well-informed."

Tan Shen smiled and said, "You're awesome. I'm working hard too, for you. When you have your own office, I'll build a career for you, too."

Chu Qianmiao felt that tight feeling in her chest again. A pressure imposed by others, weighing down her chest.

"Ah Shen," she paused, then said carefully, "Just live for yourself and strive for yourself. Don't impose your goals on others, okay?"

Tan Shen was silent for a long moment on the other end of the line. Then he said, "I'll do my best. Good night."

The call ended.

Chu Qianmiao was filled with exhaustion and helplessness.

The next day, upon arriving at the company, Qin Qianyu informed her, "Bring your notebook and pen to the conference room for a meeting. President Ren will be assigning us new tasks."

She hurriedly followed everyone into the meeting room.

Ren Yan first summarized everyone's work progress from the previous period, then began to lay out the next steps.

But to Chu Qianmiao, these arrangements seemed completely irrelevant to her.

Ren Yan assigned everyone in the department, except her, to the large-scale IPO project Qin Qianyu had mentioned.

Ren Yan said they would spend the next two weeks familiarizing themselves with the target company's information at Litong, and that the information would be emailed electronically to everyone's email address later. The official start-up will be in two weeks.

After making these arrangements, Ren Yan turned to Chu Qianmiao.

"Chu Qianmiao, please don't work on this project for now. Everyone else can go back to work. Chu Qianmiao, come with me to the office."

The others filed out of the conference room to go back to work. Chu Qianmiao followed Ren Yan and entered the office with him.

Ren Yan entered the room and sank into his leather chair, motioning for Chu Qianmiao to take a seat in the chair in front of his desk.

Chu Qianmiao obediently took the seat.

Before she could say anything, Ren Yan spoke. His tone was completely businesslike. "General Manager Li Si's department is planning a private placement project for a listed company. Previously, a guarantor in his department signed off on our IPO project and was promoted to underwriter. It was the same one Sun Yi and his team worked on. As a courtesy, I've negotiated with General Manager Li to get you to sign off on their department's private placement project this time."

Chu Qianmiao suddenly remembered that night, after drinks and hot pot, when Ren Yan stood in the moonlight and said to her, "I have something to tell you."

Then he said he might second you to another department.

Thinking back, it turns out Ren Yan was already planning her signature project back then.

Her heart skipped a beat.

She heard Ren Yan continue, "This additional issuance project will go quickly. You've worked on three IPOs, so it'll be easy."

He paused, glanced at the door. No one was passing.

Then he looked back at her and continued, "Just focus on your project with Li Si. Once it's finished, I'll have something to talk to you about. Until then, those behaviors you thought were flirting that bothered you won't happen again."

He looked at her deeply.

The author has something to say. The next chapter, chapter 100, will definitely be a confession, as planned. No matter how many words it takes, it will cover this plot. He keeps his word. Ren Yan, I'm about to kiss my wife for the second time. I'm so excited.