Chapter 57
Lately, Qi Baizi would stare at Gu Yuetong’s profile picture for a while every day, then close their chat window and turn off her phone.
Her hair had grown past her shoulders. With the recent heat, she had to wrap it up and wear a hat when frying chicken over the hot oil. Even with the air conditioning on, it made her scalp feel stuffy.
Pei Ran saw her scratching with her wrist and asked, “Why didn’t you cut your hair this year?”
Qi Baizi’s hair had always been kept at a certain length. Pei Ran had known her for many years and knew she had a habit of getting regular haircuts. At first, she went to a ten-yuan quick-cut shop in the mall’s basement. Later, perhaps even ten yuan became a burden, so Qi Baizi started cutting it herself. At first, it looked like it had been chewed on, but later she got the hang of it, and each cut was more even than the last.
“It’s fine not to cut it. I think you look good with long hair.” Without giving Qi Baizi a chance to speak, Pei Ran turned her gaze back to her phone screen. She had grabbed the landlord position in this round. “By the way, there are two interviewees tonight. Do you have time?”
“I do…” Qi Baizi never turned down work, and besides, she was idle anyway. Pei Ran couldn’t manage two stores by herself, so she would help out more here.
But before the words of agreement could fully leave her mouth, a message notification suddenly appeared at the top of her screen. She tapped on it and saw it was from Gu Yuetong.
She had sent a restaurant address with the message: Let’s have dinner together at seven tonight. You can ask Store Manager Pei to come along.
Qi Baizi felt nothing in her heart. She turned and held her phone up to Pei Ran’s face, asking, “Are you going?”
Pei Ran had just played her cards, and the two farmers couldn’t beat her. Without moving her eyes from the screen, she glanced at the phone. “What’s this? I’m going home to sleep.”
“See for yourself.” Qi Baizi said with emphasis, blocking Pei Ran’s screen with her own phone.
Pei Ran paused when she saw the message, then shifted to the side and muttered, “I’m not going. I’m not getting involved in that Asura field.”
Qi Baizi was stunned and confused. “What Asura field?”
“You and Gu Yuetong.” Pei Ran said with a nonchalant look. “Aren’t you two dating and on the verge of a breakup?”
Qi Baizi’s chest tightened. How did Pei Ran know?
Hearing no movement behind her, Pei Ran looked at the Happy Beans she had just won, closed the Fight the Landlord mini-program, and turned around. “You didn’t think I’d notice?”
“Is it that obvious?” Qi Baizi frowned, clutching the hat she wore for frying chicken in her hand, squeezing it tighter and tighter. Clearly, she didn’t want to hear Pei Ran say that she had unintentionally exposed herself.
But Pei Ran dealt her a heavy blow. “I’ve met countless people. Judging by your recent state, you can only be heartbroken.”
“You’re always out of it, staring at Gu Yuetong’s chat window on your phone whenever you have a free moment. The other day I got close and saw she was even sending you ‘good morning’ and ‘good night.’ You’re just a little assistant reassigned to a fried chicken shop. Does President Gu have nothing better to do than to greet you every day?”
“…Can’t we just be friends?” Qi Baizi asked.
Pei Ran sneered. “Friends with a one-sided crush?”
“I don’t have one.” Qi Baizi didn’t like hearing that; it made her sound like she was chasing after her.
“Alright then, I’ll start sending President Gu ‘good morning’ and ‘good night’ every day too. Hopefully, one day she’ll see me as a friend just like you—”
“You can’t do that!” Qi Baizi suddenly became agitated, standing up. “Don’t bother her.”
Pei Ran pursed her lips and shrugged, then turned and slipped into the air-conditioned room.
Qi Baizi watched her back, gradually calmed down, and fell into thought. Was Gu Yuetong’s worry not without reason?
That evening, Qi Baizi handed the task of interviewing the new staff back to Pei Ran, rushed back to her residence for a shower, and changed her clothes.
The person in the mirror had a normal complexion, but her lips were pale and her eyes were dull, making her look a bit listless.
Not wanting to leave such an impression on Gu Yuetong during their first meeting after half a month apart, Qi Baizi bought a color-changing lip balm at the Watsons near her residential complex and applied it. The color was very light, but it was better than nothing.
From a distance, she saw Gu Yuetong’s car parked in front of the restaurant and quickened her pace.
“You’re here!” To her surprise, it was Li Yi who got out of the car to greet her.
“Where’s President Gu?”
“She went up. She wanted me to meet you down here.” Li Yi said, striking a pose of looking around in all directions. “After observation, everything is safe. Comrade, please follow me—”
Qi Baizi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Are you shooting a movie?”
The two went upstairs and into a private room. Qi Baizi had thought Li Yi would be eating with them, but after leading her in, she left.
At the large round table, only two people were seated, one on the left and one on the right.
Qi Baizi observed Gu Yuetong carefully. Today, she was wearing a light cyan suit with a white shirt underneath, the collar tied into a knot, looking gentle and refined.
“How have you been lately?” Gu Yuetong was the first to speak, a smile appearing on her face.
Qi Baizi replied, “Alright.”
She had seen this kind of smile from Gu Yuetong before, at Huo Bu’s anniversary celebration. It was a smile of feigned friendliness for the sake of politeness.
How had they suddenly fallen into such an awkward situation?
They had shared a bed not long ago, but now they were so distant. A wave of stuffiness flashed through Qi Baizi’s chest.
“President Gu seems to have lost weight. Has the company been very busy lately?”
“I guess so. I even got a little sick from being so busy.” Gu Yuetong raised her teacup for a sip, then suddenly froze and asked Qi Baizi, “What about you? Are you still healthy?”
“…Very healthy.”
As Qi Baizi spoke, she covered a cough. She had been smoking more frequently lately, and her throat would get itchy from time to time. Pei Ran was a long-time smoker with chronic pharyngitis and kept a box of Golden Throat Lozenge in the store. She would grab one to eat after smoking.
Just now, she had run a few steps from the subway station, and her throat was now extremely dry.
Gu Yuetong said no more. Following her example, she also took a sip of tea.
After putting down her teacup, she asked Gu Yuetong, “How is Wang Lin? Has she gotten away from Huo Bu?”
“I guess so.” Gu Yuetong frowned slightly. “Huo Bu found her and wanted her to expose some things about our past to threaten me. After we talked, I gave her a sum of money, and she promised to leave Jingzhou for a while.”
Qi Baizi gave a bitter smile. “You trust her that much?”
“She and her mother need money.”
Qi Baizi said “oh.” “No wonder they had to sell the guesthouse.”
Gu Yuetong was stunned. Her lips moved, but no words came out.
Seeing this, Qi Baizi smiled, her tone slightly comforting. “That’s right, I’ve already seen what was in the camera.”
“The owner said the camera was left by the previous guesthouse owner. I figured that must be Wang Lin and her mother.”
“I’m sorry, Little Bai…”
“No need to be sorry, President Gu.” Qi Baizi’s eyes suddenly brightened, interrupting her. “None of this is important to me. I only have one question.”
“What is it?”
“Can we still be together?”
Just as Qi Baizi finished speaking, footsteps were heard in the hallway, followed by a knock from a waiter. “May we serve the dishes now, esteemed customers?”
Qi Baizi got up and opened the door.
One exquisite dish after another was brought to the table. The waiter thoughtfully refilled their teacups, bowed, and retreated, not forgetting to close the door for them.
Gu Yuetong remained silent throughout. Qi Baizi knew her question was difficult, and perhaps this meal would be one of the few times they would see each other in the future.
She let out a deep sigh and tried to organize her thoughts, wanting to ask if she could take Milk Ball with her after they broke up. But then she heard Gu Yuetong say, “Haven’t we always been together?”
The private room fell silent for a few seconds. Qi Baizi hesitantly met Gu Yuetong’s gaze.
Gu Yuetong’s expression suddenly turned somewhat defeated. She stood up, walked over to sit beside Qi Baizi, and gently took her wrist.
“I still have to say I’m sorry… It was I who acted too uncertainly, giving you the false impression that you had lost me.”
Qi Baizi froze, a flash of disbelief in her eyes.
For half a month, a full half a month after moving out of the Old Fortress, their only communication had been daily morning and evening greetings, yet Gu Yuetong said they were still together.
Qi Baizi couldn’t understand her rules of love, yet she couldn’t help but feel a thrill of surprise at her words.
“Huo Bu’s ambition is huge. Although the physical industry is in decline right now, Gu Corporation has a deep and stable foundation, and we’ve caught the internet bandwagon. It’s inevitable that he’d get jealous seeing that.”
“Gu Hezhu is currently immersed in her own world and has developed an avoidant mentality towards things that are out of control, namely the group. She has already decided to let go and hand over the important things to me.”
“Huo Bu is an external threat, and Peng Chunlai and a few other shareholders are an internal worry. I can’t make a single mistake, or everything Gu Hezhu has relinquished will be taken over by outsiders.”
“A-Qi… I’m sorry, just give me a little more time.”
Gu Yuetong said a lot, and Qi Baizi committed it all to memory. The most memorable part was Gu Yuetong’s almost pleading words: “Wait for me, A-Qi.”
The food on the table was barely touched. Li Yi, having just given up on her plan to queue at the popular internet-famous shop next door, returned dejectedly. Learning that she hadn’t eaten, Gu Yuetong immediately had her sit down and eat with them.
Li Yi hesitated for a moment, afraid of disturbing them, but seeing their natural and open interaction, her worries were dispelled, and she could finally eat her fill.
***
That night, Qi Baizi had a dream.
In the dream, there was Gu Yuetong, and also Milk Ball. The three of them were drifting on the sea.
Huge waves crashed against them, one after another. Milk Ball’s fur was soaked, and it huddled in the compartment of the wooden boat. Gu Yuetong leaned on Qi Baizi’s shoulder, exhausted.
Another massive wave came rushing towards them. Qi Baizi instinctively wanted to shield Gu Yuetong with her body, but Gu Yuetong suddenly broke free, jumped into the water, and started pushing the boat towards the shore.
Qi Baizi’s heart was in her throat, not knowing how to help her. After some time, she finally woke up in a state of collapse to the sound of her alarm.
The central air conditioning had been turned off at some point. She was drenched in sweat. After calming down for a moment, she jumped out of bed to press the remote.
After pressing it a few times with no response, Qi Baizi rushed into the bathroom to wash her face. Only when she came out did she realize the power was out in the room.
Her first thought was that she hadn’t paid the electricity bill. Qi Baizi checked the meter and saw the four-digit electricity fee was still ticking.
No, it wasn’t a power outage. The moment she realized this, someone suddenly covered her mouth and pushed her to the ground.
When she came to, she found herself in the small storage room of the house.
A woman was sitting in front of her.
Because of the backlighting, Qi Baizi didn’t recognize her as Han Zhiyu at first glance.