After the weekly meeting ended at 9:30 am on Monday, Mr. Xie kept Sheng Yiqing alone.
There have been rumors of salary cuts in investment banks since this year. In addition, the economic downturn has made the market situation worrying this year, especially in the first half of the year. There are many projects coming in through Hong Kong IPOs, but few can be sold. Some projects are dead, some are stopped, and the situation looks good, but there is chaos behind the scenes.
So far, Mr. Xie's biggest project is Sun Ning's Meiwuxian. Judging from the current situation, the company's pre-IPO effect is good and there is a high probability that it can be completed.
The previous failures have made this project the focus of Mr. Xie. As soon as the weekly meeting ended, he asked about Sheng Yiqing again. When he talked about Sun Ning, he frowned: "So you haven't contacted her yet?"
Sheng Yiqing was also depressed. Everything was ready, but Dongfeng just didn't want to come.
Mr. Xie said, "It is said that Sun Ning went to Shanghai this week. I have made several appointments with her before, but she was not available. You should think of a way. In this situation this year, many investment banks have started to lay off employees. Fortunately, our team can still hold on for now. But if you want to be promoted, you still have to show results."
Sheng Yiqing said yes.
At this point, Mr. Xie mentioned again, "By the way, He Jiajia is leaving. Do you think you should hire another intern?"
Mr. Xie usually doesn't care about interns, just because He Jiajia is considered a VIP of the law firm. His father is the director of the previous IPO project. In order to win the subsequent projects, Hesheng directly sent an offer to the client's daughter. Sheng Yiqing knew this truth very well. She worshipped this ancestor and never let He Jiajia do more work no matter how big or small the matter was.
She thought it was a good thing that the eldest lady left, and she would find a capable intern for the next intern.
Sheng Yiqing was busy all afternoon before she had time to look at the email - HR issued a recruitment notice for new interns in the morning, and more than a dozen resumes that had been screened were sent.
Sheng Yiqing scanned the pages as she walked, and found a person named Chen Ziang. She felt that the name was familiar, but where had she seen him before?
Confused, she looked at the school again. It was just a finance department of a 985 science and technology university. She shook her head and swiped past it.
August in Beijing is the end of summer. When September comes, the weather will be hot and cold, and it's time to wear long sleeves. August is the peak of electricity consumption in the year. Air conditioners and fans are turned on all day in every household, and the air is so dry that it's dead.
Since the day the whitening warehouse was shipped, he had been disdained and placed in the second bedroom. He was too lazy to even open the packaging. He even posted a link to the exclusive store on Xianyu, with a sentence of free delivery to the door in the same city, hoping that someone with a blind eye would buy it.
I thought the matter was over, but it was actually posted in the company's weekly report. The title was jokingly called "A handsome man and a beautiful woman win the whitening warehouse together, and the couple has the same hole and whitens it up!" by a friend in the publicity department. ", and even accompanied it with a photo of him and Sheng Yiqing accepting an award on Family Day with an embarrassed look on their faces. Because the man and woman in the photo were indeed eye-catching, and the title was eye-catching, this post quickly spread beyond the Asia-Pacific region and even became popular in the headquarters.
When his colleagues saw him, they couldn't help but tease him: "Mr. Chen, you've become whiter."
He was originally low-key, but because he felt a little ashamed about this matter, he didn't want to go to the company for several days, and even had a rebellious heart, so he went online to check how to get darker. When Yu Youyang learned about it, he happily gave him a bottle of tanning oil, and was quite attentive, "If you use this, you can go running when the sun is the hottest every day, and you won't get sunburned easily. I'll give it to you for free, just treat me to a meal."
Chen Zhuan took the oil, shook it, turned the bottle to take a look, and replied to Yu Youyang: "Get lost."
…It's all expired for half a year.
However, he didn't go to the gym these two days. He took advantage of the scorching sun and sunbathed downstairs for two days. When he got a layer of black, he staggered to the company.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he got out of the elevator, he saw the boss and his group of people surrounding a middle-aged man wearing glasses. The two of them were facing each other, and the boss immediately introduced: "Eric, this is our creative vice president Chen Zhuan, the one who won the whitening cabin. Chen Zhuan, this is Eric."
Eric smiled first without waiting for Chen Zhuan to respond, "It's you, why are you darker than in the photo, have you had lunch? Let's go together."
At that time, Chen Zhuan was stunned for a few seconds, and then realized that the thing that he thought was completely hopeless was revived.
He called Sheng Yiqing as soon as possible, but the woman's phone was turned off.
He had to leave a message: I'm having dinner with Eric now, I plan to take the opportunity to talk to him about the recommendation letter. Do you want to come over and meet him first, and then find a chance to meet Sun Ning?
Sheng Yiqing didn't reply.
The dinner was a great pleasure for both the host and the guest. Eric agreed to the recommendation letter and asked Chen Zhuan to draft it and send it to him directly, so that he could sign it directly. Chen Zhuan had been waiting for Sheng Yiqing's reply, but the woman seemed to have disappeared and hadn't replied for more than an hour. When lunch was over and Eric was about to leave, Chen Zhuan had no choice but to chase him out. In the elevator, he gritted his teeth and added, "By the way, my wife asked me to tell your wife that the whitening cabin is very useful and she likes it very much. I wonder if there is a chance to invite you and your wife to dinner together?"
Eric was stunned, and then said, "Thank you for your wife's love, but it's a pity that Sun Ning has gone to Shanghai."
As soon as Eric left, the boss said twice, "You are really fierce. He is the boss of the Asia-Pacific region. You have the nerve to invite him to dinner directly."
Chen Zhuan knew that this move was presumptuous, and touched his nose, "There is no way, I have to fight for my wife."
The boss said, with a look of being fed dog food. The afternoon sun reflected from the window glass, Chen Zhuan's phone vibrated, and he looked down-
Sheng Yiqing finally replied to WeChat.
The woman was brief and to the point, and only replied: "It's okay, I can handle my own affairs."
Chen Zhuan didn't reply.
Sheng Yiqing finally made it to Shanghai, and thought that everything would be fine after meeting Sun Ning, but she didn't expect that the rival investment bank also heard the news and came. The original light meal felt like a palace fight. Surrounding Sun Ning, everyone was talking behind their backs, tit-for-tat, and wanted to slam the table and have a big quarrel.
In the end, both sides lost. Not only did they fail to get close to Sun Ning, but Sun Ning was annoyed and left in a hurry.
Sheng Yiqing was so angry that her stomach hurt. She complained to her colleagues on her mobile phone all afternoon, and completely forgot about Chen Zhuan.
It was not until the end of the get off work day that she received a message from Chen Zhuan, who said sullenly, "Let's have dinner together tonight? I want to talk to you."
Sheng Yiqing replied, "Oh, I'm on a business trip. Didn't I tell you? I'm in Shanghai."
Chen Zhuan had already placed the order for the dishes, and had been holding his anger for the whole afternoon. He wanted to talk to her at dinner, but he saw this message. His chest was raging, and he called her, and the first thing she said was, "Why didn't you tell me about your business trip?"
Sheng Yiqing looked confused, "When did I report to you about my business trip?"
He was choked, and paused for a few seconds before he managed to say, "Husband, husband and wife...shouldn't we report everything? I haven't seen you for several days..."
"Hey, you have something to talk to me about, I'll hang up first."
The rest of the words lingered on the tip of his tongue, and he was forced to swallow them down, and a beep came from the receiver. Chen Zhan was furious. He threw his bag heavily on his workstation and cursed: "You only think about yourself in everything. You didn't even tell me that you were on a business trip. We only see each other a few times a week. You might as well get a divorce!"
Since Sheng Yiqing was not around, Chen Zhan was too lazy to go home. He saw Xiao Zhang from the finance department right away. He thought it was just right and greeted him: "It's time to get off work. Do you want to play games?"
Unexpectedly, Xiao Zhang shook his head and said, "No, no, no, I'm rushing home."
Chen Zhan was surprised: "You? Rushing home? What's wrong?"
Aren't you bothered by your wife and children this time?
Xiao Zhang pouted, and before he could answer, the receptionist interrupted him: "Mr. Chen, don't you know? Xiao Zhang was caught by his wife playing games in the company under the pretext of working overtime! The two had a big fight last time! Starting from last week, he goes home on time. What a virtuous woman!"
Xiao Zhang couldn't bear it, so he said: "It's not all about this. Now the two daughters have grown up, the elderly at home come to help, and my wife also lets me play games at home. Every day when I go home, it's lively. After dinner, the two daughters lie at my feet one by one, and I'm very happy."
"Oh, family happiness." The receptionist laughed.
Xiao Zhang waved his hand and left. Only Chen Zhuan was left in the huge creative department, which was a little depressed.
The receptionist was curious and asked: "Mr. Chen, why are you not leaving at this time today?"
Chen Zhuan subconsciously replied: "Why are you going home so early? There's no one waiting for me at home."
.
It was the next night when Chen Zhuan received Sheng Yiqing's call again.
After 7:30, he still didn't leave. As usual, his life routine was: eat a healthy meal after get off work, rest for an hour before going to the gym, take a shower, play games, watch movies or read a book before going to bed after returning home.
But these two days, especially these two days after knowing that Sheng Yiqing was on a business trip, his whole life seemed to be disrupted.
It was as if a small screw in his body was loose, so that he relaxed as a whole, too lazy to exercise, too lazy to live seriously, just wanting to use up this time quickly.
For the first time, he sat in front of his workstation and browsed his phone for an afternoon, waiting for the sky outside the window to turn from azure blue to dark blue, the computer screen was faintly lit with blue light, and the company's homepage was scrolling with news that he and Sheng Yiqing won the title of "the most beautiful family" on family day. He hesitated for a moment and clicked in for the hundredth time.
The man and woman on the screen smiled restrainedly, clearly frowning, but had to show a business smile. He rolled down the mouse calmly, and it was a photo of Sheng Yiqing making cherry sandwiches. She lowered her head, bit her lips slightly, and her face was solemn, drawing all the attention to it - this woman, she was serious in everything she did.
Scrolling down, it was a three-legged race. He and Sheng Yiqing cooperated tacitly all the way, far ahead. After all, they had been rehearsing for a whole week. During those days, although she had just moved out of her home, they would meet in the community after get off work every day. After practicing the three-legged race, they would go to a nearby shopping mall for dinner, go back to one of their homes, take a shower, and then sleep in each other's arms...
"Damn!"
Thinking of this, Chen Zhuan suddenly understood: "So that's it!"
.
"You're done, brother, you're used to having a woman at home." In the bar, Yu Youyang, who was called out temporarily, heard Chen Zhuan's words and made the final decision.
"Is that so? You're just used to it, right?" Chen Zhuan looked at Yu Youyang as if he had found a savior: "I was wondering why she suddenly went on a business trip and I felt uncomfortable all over. In fact, she often goes on business trips, but the previous few times, I didn't react and she came back. But since she moved out, I...something is wrong..."
"Women are scary." Yu Youyang touched his glass and imparted his experience: "From the beginning, you can't let her come in. Oh, no, you can't let her move into your house."
"But when we first lived together, I was very depressed."
"You ceded land and paid compensation at that time, of course you were depressed, but people are mean, especially you, my friend." Yu Youyang commented on Chen Zhuan with a sincere face: "People It is warm and alive, but the house is cold and dead. People who have been lonely for a long time, once they get used to having someone at home and the warm expectation, they will be happy even if it is a trouble. "
"How is it possible? I have always been used to being alone."
"People want freedom on the one hand, but they are addicted to company on the other. That's why marriage is called a siege. People in the city want to get out, and people outside the city want to get in. Everyone loves to make a fuss. "At this point, Yu Youyang repeated the unpleasant words again: "I said, people are mean, especially you, buddy."
"Shut up." Chen Zhuan hastily touched Yu Youyang's glass: "Thank you so much."
"Don't deny it." The two of them drank.
Chen Zhuan lowered his head, "Since I can get used to two people, I can get used to one person again. Look, she got used to it."
"Yes, Sheng Yiqing is much calmer than you." At this point, seeing that the wine glass was empty, Yu Youyang called the waiter to bring another bottle: "Well, it just so happens that my new girlfriend also stood me up tonight. We agreed that we won't go home until we are drunk."
"Okay, I won't go home until I am drunk."
"Ding——" The glass cups collided, accompanied by the vibration of the pocket, Chen Zhuan lowered his head to look at the phone, and only said: "I'm home. Have you eaten?"
.
Sheng Yiqing's community is not small. There are small gardens and fitness equipment between the buildings in the community. There is an abandoned pavilion with dense vegetation, which is only separated from the community where Chen Zhuan lives by a wall. In the past, Chen Zhuan only needed to duck through the damaged railing and go through it in just a few meters to reach the pavilion.
Since he was urging her to drive fast, she parked the car in the underground garage with a tailspin. She paid the bill, but she didn't stop. She walked to a corner of the yard and came over from the other side of the low fence.
Just a few meters away, she smelled a familiar fragrance.
Chen Zhuan's pace was unconsciously faster.
The evening breeze of early autumn night was blowing. Sheng Yiqing sat on the stone bench in the pavilion, and there was a portable steam pot on the table. A bowl of instant noodles was boiling in the pot. There was an empty bottle of mineral water on the side, and the smell of junk food was wafting.
When Sheng Yiqing saw him, she took out an egg from her pocket, put it in the pot, and asked, "Do you want to eat it?"
"... You're doing this again. I'll have to clean it up for you later." He took the eggshell she handed over and threw it into the garbage bag beside him.
"Beijing is the most beautiful these few days. When I got off the plane, I saw that the moon was round again. I was hungry, and I remembered that we secretly cooked instant noodles downstairs last year. So I hurried to call you. Why did you get off work so late?"
Chen Zhuan was stunned for a moment and nodded, "Well, I'm a little busy recently. So I always eat late." After that, he pulled a stone bench and sat down opposite her, and asked her, "Why did you come back a day early? I wanted to pick you up tomorrow."
"I don't believe it." Sheng Yiqing sneered, "You didn't pay much attention to me these two days, I thought you were cheating. Come back early to catch the adultery."
"What's in your mind."
The hand in his pocket shook again and again. Chen Zhuan didn't look, but he knew without thinking that it was Yu Youyang - he was scolding Chi Wei in the group for his crime of cheating and abandoning.
The aroma of instant noodles overflowed. Sheng Yiqing's cooking posture was clumsy, and she looked like she was struggling with the pot and afraid of being burned. He couldn't bear it, frowned slightly, snatched her chopsticks and served her, muttering: "You are so old, why do you like to eat junk food? Remember to take vitamins when you go back later."
"I know, I'm so annoyed recently. The market is too bad, and there is little money and a lot of work. I thought I would definitely gain something from my trip to Shanghai, but it backfired." Sheng Yiqing said this, took out a can of sparkling water from her bag and handed it to Chen Zhuan, dragged a chair behind him, put her hands on his waist, and clung to him, "So, I have to come to see you and cheat some good luck!"
Chen Zhuan's hand paused for half a second, and the person behind him pressed against his back, breathing softly. I just felt that the pent-up energy of the past two days was strangely melted away.
After a while, Chen Zhuan whispered: "When you go on a business trip, tell me."
"Ah?" Sheng Yiqing didn't expect him to say this suddenly, and turned her head to look at him.
Chen Zhuan turned off the fire, handed the chopsticks to Sheng Yiqing, and pulled her to sit down: "I want to
After a while, I thought that since we are husband and wife, no, since we have decided to continue to be husband and wife, we should act like a husband and wife. For example, we should be together more often and see each other more often, not like before, when I didn't even know you were on a business trip. "
Chen Zhuan paused for half a second, because he found that Sheng Yiqing was squinting and looking at him with a strange look. He quickly changed his words, "Well, what I mean is, as your first-line guardian, I would feel very uncomfortable if I couldn't always know your location and situation. And... since we are husband and wife, many things are our business, and we can do more things together. For example, this time, when I saw Eric, the first person I thought of was you, but you went directly to Shanghai to find Sun Ning without telling me... you..."
Chen Zhuan stopped because Sheng Yiqing's eyes were too strange. The next second, Sheng Yiqing held his face with both hands. Chen Zhuan subconsciously leaned back, "You..."
The moon on the night of September was brighter than usual, and the light of the street lamp was dim. It was not until the two people came close to talk that Sheng Yiqing seriously saw the face of Mr. Chen, who had not seen him for three or four days.
In order to confirm her discovery, she even picked up her mobile phone, turned on the flash, and shone it on Chen Zhuan's face--
"What's wrong with you?" Chen Zhuan grabbed her hand, a little unhappy, "Did you hear what I just said?"
"You..." Sheng Yiqing stared at Chen Zhuan in a daze, and after a while, she spoke in despair:
"Fuck you, why are you so dark? ! "
.
Chen Zhuan said "good night" and left.
He was stopped by Sheng Yiqing after walking two steps, pointing at the bag of garbage: "Help me throw it away. Our community needs to sort garbage. It's so troublesome."
He turned around in a bad mood, and the two looked at each other. Sheng Yiqing said again: "Can't you go back white? I always like your white face."
This time, the man was furious even from behind.
He threw the garbage away, and just after entering the community gate, he found that Yu Youyang had removed him from the group chat. He quickly pulled a three-person group again and started to complain: "Fuck, is there something wrong with this woman? I'm talking to her from the bottom of my heart, and she's tearing her heart apart with me! She insisted that she didn't like me because I was dark and ugly!"
Yu Youyang quickly appeared and added insult to injury: "Oh yes, I saw you today, and I also found that you were dark."
Chi Wei also jumped out: "How dark is this guy?"
"Several years older. "Yu Youyang tutted his tongue twice, and became enthusiastic. "I was drinking tonight, and the girl next door started to stare at me. You also know that Chen Zhuan originally recruited people with that delicate skin and tender flesh."
"How about we get together tomorrow night? I want to see it, too."
...
Chen Zhuan got out of the elevator and subconsciously glanced at Sheng Yiqing's house. The lights were still dark. Although he was angry, he still waited in the corridor for a while. After a few minutes, the living room of Sheng Yiqing's house was lit. He then went into the house.
The two old men in the group continued to chatter:
"Then go back for nothing. Women are visual animals."
"Well, the era of male beauty."
Chen Zhuan sneered, "I don't care. I want to be dark. And how do I know how to whiten my skin?!" As he spoke, he opened the door of the apartment. With a click, the lights came on. He took off his shoes, threw his phone away, and looked up to see the quiet and huge whitening cabin in the second bedroom.
"I'm desperate too, you know? Tonight, my husband lost his best quality - handsomeness. "
Sheng Yiqing complained to Qiu Zining on WeChat as soon as she entered the house.
She put the messy pots and stoves in order, and unpacked the suitcases in the entrance. While she was busy, she heard the sound of taking out keys from outside the door. Sheng Yiqing was stunned. She has lived in this community for three years and knows that the community has strict flow restrictions and generally does not allow outsiders to enter.
Is it Chen Zhuan?
Then he shouted at the door: "Aren't you angry? Why are you here again? I don't want to see you if you are ugly."
As he said, he stood up and was about to open the door. As soon as his hand was on the door handle, he heard the phone vibrate. It was a WeChat message from Qiu Zining: "Baby, men can deceive you about everything, but handsomeness can't deceive people. "
She smiled and was about to open the door when she heard rustling sounds outside the door -
No, it couldn't be Chen Zhuan.
She suddenly became alert, holding her phone, kicked the door hard, and asked sternly: "Who is it!"
The movement at the door stopped instantly.
She wanted to look through the peephole, but didn't dare to. While she was hesitating, the sound started again, this time it turned into a knock on the door, knocking hard on the ground.
She was already nervous and asked loudly: "Who is it? "
No one answered outside the door.
However, the knocking sound continued. It even got louder.
A prank?
Thinking of this, Sheng Yiqing became alert, swallowed her saliva, walked to the door with light steps, took a deep breath, and looked out carefully-
There was a loud "pop" sound, as if it hit her forehead. She was startled and stepped back. She almost screamed, and with the sound, the cat's eye lit up and then suddenly darkened.
A chill crept into her heart, and she realized:
Someone deliberately covered the cat's eye with his palm.