Water and Fire~Chapter 122.2: He Says He Doesn't Remember

 

Chapter 122.2: He Says He Doesn't Remember

The spring evening breeze was still a bit chilly. She had rushed downstairs, wearing only her coat and no pants. Now, her legs were still bare beneath her nightgown. The spring night breeze blew. Her upper body, tightly embraced by him, didn't feel cold, but her lower body shivered from the wind.

Ren Yan noticed something was wrong with her and loosened his grip. He glanced down, his eyes darkening.

Her smooth, slender legs, as white as porcelain, formed a breathtaking sight against the dark night.

He said to her with a mixture of annoyance and rebuke, "It's so cold at night, why aren't you wearing pants?"

Chu Qianmiao muttered, "I was just anxious to get down here to accompany you."

Ren Yan's lips curled slightly, and he turned and pulled her into the back seat.

Once inside, Chu Qianmiao felt much warmer. She was about to turn to speak to Ren Yan, but as she did, his lips were captured with a precise grasp.

His breath carried the chill of the cool night outside, and his lips felt slightly cool. But his kiss burned more deeply and scorched her than the strongest liquor.

He carried her to him, letting her kneel on him, her legs spread wide against the seat. He pinched her slender waist and kissed her passionately.

Her heartbeat was like thunder, so intense, the thumps threatening to connect the dots in her ears.

She had felt cold just a moment ago, but now her whole body was hot and irritated.

He kissed her, causing her to gasp for air.

She was dizzy from his kiss, unsure if it was the nightgown itself or his large hands that were the culprit. It wasn't until she felt the invasion of her body that she snapped back to consciousness. As if struck by lightning, she couldn't believe what she was seeing, or what Ren Yan was pulling her into.

Despite the black film covering the backseat of the car, despite the car being parked in the darkest corner of the moonlit night, this was still too bold, too shocking.

When she regained consciousness, she saw the mess on the back seat. She let out a muffled cry and covered her face.

She had never imagined she'd one day be in a car with Ren Yan. It was too wild.

She glanced at him through her fingers. He had already dressed. Immaculately dressed, his demeanor austere. He was cleaning the back seat with a tissue, using his fingers, which could transform anything he touched into a work of art.

Chu Qianmiao's legs were still wobbling as she climbed the stairs. He had just held her down and kissed her enough before letting her go upstairs.

When she opened the door and entered the house, Gu Miaoyu was still hunched over the coffee table in the living room, drawing.

Seeing her return, Gu Miaoyu looked up with an exaggerated expression. "Did you go downstairs to sit with him for a while, or did you do it for a while?"

Chu Qianmiao felt guilty, and her face flushed.

Gu Miaoyu dropped the mouse when she saw her like this. The fat cat curled up in her lap was startled awake, raised its head, and meowed unhappily, as if accusing Chu Qianmiao of taking so long to "do" it.

Gu Miaoyu scooped up a piece of fat cat and placed it on the sofa.

"Oh my god, I was right!" She stood up and ran to Chu Qianmiao's side, sniffing her up and down. "It's definitely the smell, the smell of excessive l*st."

Chu Qianmiao felt her face burning hot.

"Little Daogu, shut up!"

Gu Miaoyu didn't shut up. She grinned and bumped her shoulder against Chu Qianmiao, winking, "Hey, buddy, are you in the car?"

The blood from Chu Qianmiao's neck suddenly rushed up, and her head was boiling hot.

After angrily yelling, "Get lost!", she murmured a soft, vague agreement, "Hmm."

Gu Miaoyu's eyes widened. "You going wild!"

After a pause, she asked, "Where's Ren Yan?" After a quick "Hmm," she left.

Chu Qianmiao blushed and nodded.

Gu Miaoyu grinned. "It seems he's just h*rny in the middle of the night and wants to vent with you. Tsk tsk, old men are really scary when they start messing around."

Chu Qianmiao was mortified and slapped Gu Miaoyu, "Boss Gu, just be a good person and shut up!"

Chu Qianmiao didn't know what had happened to her, but the more she thought about what Gu Miaoyu said, the more she felt like there was nothing wrong with it.

He just wanted to vent with her in the middle of the night.

After passing the on-site inspection, Chu Qianmiao's project was immediately submitted to the core review meeting.

Except for Kan Qingzhou, all the core team members who attended the core review meeting praised Chu Qianmiao for her solid and excellent work. Her project had the fewest issues of any project submitted to the core review meeting in the past year. Even if there were any issues, Chu Qianmiao had prepared foolproof solutions in advance, ensuring they wouldn't affect the project's application in the future.

In the end, the core review meeting went smoothly.

The project was one step closer to submission.

After the core meeting, Hou Lin was so happy that she even walked like a butterfly, dancing with joy.

Hou Lin followed Chu Qianmiao into the office. Qin Qianyu was away, having recently been on a business trip on a project, so it was just Chu Qianmiao and Hou Lin in the room. Hou Lin's face was filled with joy, unabashed.

Chu Qianmiao asked her why she looked so happy, saying it was just a core meeting.

Hou Lin took the opportunity to express her feelings to Chu Qianmiao. "This isn't just about passing a kernel meeting. Let me put it this way, Boss. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to work with you. No, I'm incredibly lucky."

She spoke with sparkling eyes. "My classmate also works in investment banking, and he's at another brokerage firm, also working on IPO projects. He says ours are different because he feels he works for a seasoned insurance agent, while I work for a seemingly inexperienced, pretty girl. Don't worry, Boss, I got mad at him the moment he said that. He feels the difference between us is huge, that he's so much better than me. Boss, you don't know. When we first started, his air of superiority was so overwhelming. He even claimed he could make it in a year, while I'd have to wait five or three years to make it with you. And the rest of my classmates agreed with him. It pissed me off. But now, the situation is slowly turning around for us."

Hou Lin's story was vivid and engaging, and she also knew how to create suspense, piqued Chu Qianmiao's eagerness to listen.

"How did it turn around?" Chu Qianmiao asked with a smile.

Hou Lin, leaning over her desk, said gleefully, "My classmate also had many problems with his project, but his insurance agent wasn't decisive enough to resolve them, causing the project to stall again and again. It's been ages, and they're still in a seemingly endless mentoring period. Meanwhile, I've almost gone through the entire IPO process with you, and I'll soon have an IPO project on my resume."

She cupped her cheeks in her hands and confessed to Chu Qianmiao, "Boss, I really love you. You're so willing to teach me, and you're so generous. I've learned so much from you about business skills, interpersonal skills, and the fundamentals of life. I consider it the greatest blessing of my life to have been able to follow you since I started in the industry." After confessing her feelings, she stood up straight and proudly told Chu Qianmiao, "I went to a class reunion last week, and they all said I was a different person. When it came to practical matters, there were project processes they hadn't experienced, and they still had to ask me about a lot of things. Especially my classmate who joined a senior insurance agent. Now our positions have reversed. My professional skills are much higher than his. When I graduated, I was an average student, but now I'm at the top of my class, a leader."

Hou Lin's cheeks flushed with joy. She hugged Chu Qianmiao's arm and shook her, unsure how to express her love.

Chu Qianmiao smiled like a kind aunt. She, too, was extremely happy and relieved.

She had improved, and so had the people she led. That was wonderful. Progress shouldn't be selfish. When everyone improves together, that's the true success of a leader's leadership.

The afternoon after the core meeting, Li Tang suddenly arrived at Chu Qianmiao's office.

She was still the same beautiful, cold beauty, with an air of superiority and pride emanating from her. Whenever Chu Qianmiao saw Li Tang, she'd always been captivated by her aura and couldn't help but look up to her. But since when, despite Li Tang's arrogance, she no longer managed to attract her admiration.

Chu Qianmiao felt that given their current status, even the fact that she could even look at Li Tang's arrogance with a level gaze was a sign of great respect.

She smiled and asked Li Tang what was going on.

Li Tang said, "How about some coffee?"

Chu Qianmiao knew that drinking Li Tang's coffee was definitely more than just coffee. But she was in a good mood after the core meeting, and she wanted to see what Li Tang could do with coffee these days.

She followed Li Tang downstairs to the cafe on the first floor of the building.

As they each held a latte, Li Tang smiled coldly.

"Why don't we just have a frank chat?" Li Tang took a sip of coffee, looked up at Chu Qianmiao, and smiled.

Chu Qianmiao shrugged, using her body language to convey, "Whatever you want."

Li Tang put down her coffee cup, clasped her hands, and placed them on her crossed legs. Her posture was graceful, her figure beautiful. With a graceful smile, she said something that had nothing to do with elegance. "Do you know Ren Yan? He's a non-marriageist. When we were dating, the moment I mentioned marriage, he broke up."

She looked at Chu Qianmiao, her eyes fixed. "To be honest, he's so steadfast in his insistence on not getting married. I think there's a girl in his heart. Perhaps he's hurt her, or perhaps she's hurt him, and that's why he's like this. And I want to tell you, if he had this knot in his heart, whether he was dating me or you, he wouldn't have easily gotten married. Can you tolerate that?"

Chu Qianmiao knew Li Tang was using her eyes like a microscope, observing every nuance of her expression. If she could detect a hint of jealousy or suspicion on her face, she'd surely be delighted.

But Chu Qianmiao thought, I'm so sorry to disappoint her.

"Manager Li, why are you suddenly telling me all this nonsense again?" Chu Qianmiao smiled calmly, holding her coffee cup. "Don't you think it's rather ridiculous that you're telling me all this for no reason?"

Li Tang smiled too, as if she'd understood something.

"Stop hiding it," she looked at Chu Qianmiao, her smile almost eerie. "I know you two are together."

She looked straight at Chu Qianmiao. Chu Qianmiao saw from the certainty in her eyes that she truly knew about her relationship with Ren Yan. It didn't seem like she was simply trying to trick her.

Realizing this, she didn't panic at all, as she'd imagined she'd be exposed. Instead, she felt a sense of relief, as if the other shoe had finally dropped.

"If you're so bold as to guess we're already together, then why not go even further and guess that he's mentioned marriage to me and asked if I'd agree?"

She said this with considerable skill. To outsiders, it sounded like she was just playing along with Li Tang's wild guesses. But from Li Tang's perspective, she understood that Ren Yan had taken the initiative to propose marriage.

Li Tang's expression changed, and she almost lost her composure as she asked, "Have you reached this point?" But she quickly controlled her slight gaffe and smiled. "Did he introduce you to his family?"

Chu Qianmiao's heart skipped a beat at that moment.

If Li Tang hadn't mentioned it, she wouldn't have realized that Ren Yan had never mentioned his family to her, nor had he ever mentioned introducing her to them.

It even occurred to her that she hadn't even been to his real home.

All her interactions with him had taken place solely within that apartment.

The moment she realized all this, she couldn't describe the feeling. It was earth-shattering, indescribable. Just when she felt she had become incredibly close to someone, she suddenly realized that a vast chasm still separated them. He had simply covered it up, hiding it from her. Now, she had lifted the veil and seen the gap. She felt a pang of pain.

But she couldn't let this pain show in front of Li Tang.

She smiled, her coffee cup in hand, a smile more elegant and relaxed than Li Tang's. "Manager Li, you're overthinking. Mr. Ren and I are just colleagues. He doesn't necessarily need to take every one of his colleagues to meet his parents."

Li Tang laughed at this, a smile that hinted at triumph, even anticipation. "Sure enough, he hasn't taken you to meet his parents either. He never even mentioned taking me to meet his parents before. If you date someone with a past, secrets, and no desire to get married, you might end up like me."

Hearing this, Chu Qianmiao knew Li Tang was still deceiving her. She imagined Li Tang must be tormented lately, watching her rise to prominence, receiving promotions, salary increases, successful projects, and recognition of her abilities. If she also found success in love, she would be furious.

Unable to bear the thought of her having everything right, Li Tang had no choice but to come and fill her with unhappiness.

Unfortunately, she didn't know that Ren Yan's parents were no longer around.

It was Xiao Daogu's father, her godfather, who had asked about it. When Dad and Mom Gu came to Beijing, they happened to be eating at the same table. Dad Gu asked if there were any other people in Ren Yan's family. Ren Yan replied that only his grandmother was left. He also said that his grandmother's personality was similar to his.

At the time, Dad and Mom Gu thought she and Ren Yan were a couple and secretly worried about her. They said that if the elderly woman had a personality similar to Ren Yan's, she would probably be quite cold and difficult to get along with. They worried that she would not be well-liked by Ren Yan's grandmother in the future. But later, amidst their worry and turmoil, they tried to teach her that no matter how difficult she was to get along with, she was still an elderly woman, and it wasn't easy, so she had to be more accommodating.

She wasn't with Ren Yan at the time, and she thought her godfather and godmother were overthinking and worrying about it. But now, hidden emotions were stirring within her.

She had been dating Ren Yan for over a year, and she hadn't even had the chance to find out if his grandmother was difficult to get along with. She was quite careless. If Li Tang hadn't brought it up today, she wouldn't have even realized this.

However, this was something she and Ren Yan would discuss privately later. For now, she still had to present Li Tang with the most impeccable presence to repel her probing attacks.

She smiled and said to Li Tang, "It's really a little early for Senior Li Tang to want to meet Senior's parents."

I'm afraid we'll have to wait another fifty years."

Li Tang's face darkened at this. "What do you mean?" She thought Chu Qianmiao was taunting her, saying she wasn't worthy of Ren Yan's parents meeting her.

Chu Qianmiao calmly told her, "Senior Li Tang, don't you know that Senior Ren Yan's parents passed away a long time ago?"

Li Tang's expression nearly collapsed.

Chu Qianmiao almost felt a little sympathetic towards her.

So, how did she and Ren Yan get together? She didn't even know about it. Since it was such a heart-breaking relationship, why did she keep dwelling on it until now, only to make herself look ugly bit by bit in vain?

Chu Qianmiao couldn't help but speak to Li Tang from the bottom of her heart. "Senior Li Tang, with all due respect, you really should let go of this past. I can sense that you don't love Ren Yan right now. If you truly loved him, you wouldn't show it this way. You would fight for him, not provoke me. But right now, you're more jealous of me than you are of him; so I think your heart isn't really with him anymore; you're just feeling resigned to being with me."

She saw that Li Tang's expression remained cool and elegant, but her fingertips were trembling.

"Senior Li Tang, have you ever thought about what you really want? What kind of future do you want?" Chu Qianmiao asked her, word by word. "Which is more important, wanting me to have a good life or wanting yourself to have a good life? Have you ever thought about it?"

Li Tang looked at her, her expression cold. But Chu Qianmiao saw a hint of confusion in her eyes.

She herself had probably never seriously considered this question.

Chu Qianmiao shook her head and smiled. "If you want me to have a hard time, honestly, it's a little difficult. I work very hard, and you can't defeat me or break me. So why don't you let go of your worries and live your life well, and live for your future. "

After Chu Qianmiao finished speaking, she saw Li Tang smile. Her smile was a mixture of mockery and anger.

"Ms. Chu has truly become a leader. She's so skilled at scolding people now."

Chu Qianmiao smiled calmly, "Ms. Chu isn't just skilled at scolding people. She's also unbeatable when it comes to sharp words." After a pause, she downed the coffee in her cup and raised it towards Li Tang. "So, Senior Li Tang, don't buy me coffee anymore. Every time you do, you're just making things difficult for yourself." "

She stood up and left gracefully. Her sixth sense told her that Li Tang was looking at her with a look of dejection, sadness, and resignation.

She really wanted to tell Li Tang that if she didn't work harder, even Hou Lin, whom I led, would surpass her.

Although she hadn't lost the fight with Li Tang, Chu Qianmiao's mood had been somewhat affected for the entire afternoon.