Fang Bai: Then why did you hide the letter?
Xiao Ji: Because I wanted to hide you away.
Late bonus chapter T_T My bad for typing too slowly~
Chapter 50
The scenery outside the window kept receding, and the beauty created by the blurry images failed to fill the heart that sought solace; instead, it only made the heart feel increasingly empty and tasteless.
Fang Bai didn't try to capture the fleeting scene anymore. He turned around and focused his attention on the blue glimpse in his peripheral vision.
From the time she arrived at school until she boarded the bus, Ji Yuning remained silent the entire way.
Ji Yuning is aloof and taciturn, while Fang Bai also prefers solitude. It's common for them to be silent when they're together, something Fang Bai has long been used to.
But at this moment, Fang Bai's mind became uneasy because of that woman's appearance.
Fang Bai wasn't sure if Ji Yuning had seen the woman, or rather, whether she had seen the woman's face or recognized her.
Lu Raomei, General Manager of Lu's Group, is the biggest villain in the story, a femme fatale.
It can be said that most of the plot lines concerning Ji Yuning in the text are filled by her. In the original text, the real confrontation between Lu Raomei and Ji Yuning only officially began after Ji Yuning went to the capital. However, before Ji Yuning went to the capital, Lu Raomei also did some things that she considered insignificant.
For example, the car that was tampered with at the Fang family's house last time.
Fang Bai frowned. Lu Raomei's words, "It was so hard to find you," must mean that Lu Raomei had found out that she was the one who sent the anonymous email.
Otherwise, how could a heavyweight villain like Lu Raomei have noticed her, given that the original owner was cannon fodder who died so early? The two of them had no interaction at all in the story. Now, Lu Raomei suddenly appears and tells the cannon fodder that they will meet again.
Remembering what Lu Raomei whispered in her ear, Fang Bai rubbed her brows. She hadn't even dealt with the main character yet, and now she'd messed with the villain.
"..." Fang Bai let out a breath.
Fang Bai took a piece of candy out of his bag and put it in his mouth whenever he felt anxious or down; it seemed to have become a habit.
The sweet aroma of lychees candy wafted through the carriage with the sound of plastic wrapping being torn.
"Xiao Ning." Fang Bai's voice was somewhat muffled, with a candy in his mouth.
Ji Yuning's fingers, which were resting by her legs, twitched slightly, and her eyes darkened. "Mm."
Fang Bai took the candy out of his mouth and asked, feigning confusion, "Do you know the woman who asked me for directions at school earlier?"
Ji Yuning suddenly turned her head.
Asking for directions?
She thought—
Knowing that Fang Bai was waiting for her downstairs, Ji Yuning completed the task He Wei had given her in the shortest amount of time. After she walked out of the teaching building with her schoolbag on her back, she glanced at the place where Fang Bai had waited for her before, and then her gaze stopped in the distance.
From Ji Yuning's perspective, the red and black figures in the distance were closely intertwined, whispering sweet nothings to each other, even their farewell was reluctant to end. Fang Bai's eyes followed the departing car closely.
Ji Yuning had never seen the person in red, nor had she seen what that person looked like, but the distance between that person and Fang Bai had already exceeded what she considered an intimate distance in the fitting room.
Remembering that Fang Bai had said she didn't like women, Ji Yuning knew that he couldn't be her lover, but they were so close, were they just friends?
I think so.
After all, Fang Bai would greet everyone so warmly, like moonlight scattered on the ground. As long as you remove the obstacles in front of you, you will receive the moon's warmth.
Having received the purity of moonlight, how could one be attached to the darkness in the corner?
Ji Yuning couldn't explain what she felt after that scene came into her eyes; she only knew it was unprecedented and indescribable.
Ji Yuning couldn't figure it out, so she could only remain silent and process what she had seen.
But now, Fang Bai says the other person is a stranger.
Was what she saw different from what she thought?
Ji Yuning clenched her fists and said in a low voice, "I didn't see it clearly."
Hearing the answer, Fang Bai breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Ji Yuning didn't see that it was Lu Raoman and wouldn't misunderstand that she was related to the villain, that was fine. Otherwise, given Ji Yuning's cunning, she might think that she was being nice to her at this stage because the villain was behind it...
Fang Bai put a mouthful of candy in his mouth and said to Ji Yuning, "Next time you see her, stay away from her."
Hearing this, Uncle Li, who was driving, asked first, "Miss, what happened?"
"Mmm." Fang Bai chewed on a candy, met Ji Yuning's gaze, and stated, "She pulled my hair."
Her tone was flat, but Ji Yuning sensed immense grievance within it.
Remembering how Fang Bai cherished her hair in the fitting room, Ji Yuning asked in a hoarse voice, "Does it hurt?"
Fang Bai was taken aback. What hurts?
When Fang Bai realized that Ji Yuning was looking at her hair when she asked the question, she smiled and said softly, "It doesn't hurt, she didn't use any force."
Ji Yuning turned her gaze, her expression cool and aloof: "Mm."
It was as if she wasn't the one who cared about Fang Bai just a second ago.
Yuan Yizhen closed her laptop and looked at the person at the desk not far away.
After nearly half a year of getting to know each other, Yuan Yizhen clearly understood Ji Yuning's character: intelligent, stubborn and resilient at heart, and very enthusiastic about learning.
Yuan Yi knew very well how heavy the workload of high school was, and Ji Yuning was able to learn high school knowledge while also taking university-level courses from her. It sounded absurd, but Ji Yuning did it brilliantly and perfectly.
Before getting to know Ji Yuning better, Yuan Yizhen only regarded this trip to Hushi as a project assigned to her by Chairman Lu. However, as Ji Yuning repeatedly refreshed her understanding, Yuan Yizhen couldn't help but feel genuine emotions.
At this moment, Ji Yuning's calm expression did not reveal her thoughts, but her eyebrows, which were as lightly drawn with an ink brush, were slightly furrowed, and her dark eyes stared at the ornaments on the table for a long time. Her expression completely betrayed her state.
Ji Yuning was lost in thought.
This wasn't the first time Yuan Yizhen had noticed that Ji Yuning was emotionally unstable. In the past few days, although Ji Yuning hadn't made any mistakes in her studies and always completed her assignments on time, the problem was that, whereas Ji Yuning used to hand in her assignments immediately after finishing them, she now often needed to remind her.
Yuan Yizhen got up from the sofa and walked towards her desk. Her footsteps were particularly abrupt in the quiet room, but the person at the desk didn't hear them. It wasn't until Yuan Yizhen pulled out the chair opposite her, making a screeching sound as it hit the floor, that Ji Yuning indifferently withdrew her gaze and handed the A4 paper she was holding to Yuan Yizhen.
Yuan Yizhen didn't check it as usual. After taking the paper, she turned it upside down on the table. Seeing the hint of doubt in Ji Yuning's eyes, Yuan Yizhen asked directly, "Miss Ji, have you been having something on your mind lately?"
Ji Yuning lifted her eyelids slightly: "No."
Yuan Yizhen had anticipated this answer. Ji Yuning was not someone who would readily reveal her true feelings; she was very guarded.
Pushing up her glasses, Yuan Yizhen said seriously, "Then I hope Miss Ji can focus her attention more in the future, since from today onwards, the company will develop under your decisions."
Ji Yuning paused for a moment, "?"
Yuan Yizhen knew the notification was sudden; she had just received the email herself.
“No matter how well you master this knowledge from books, it’s just empty talk. Only practice can prove your ability,” Yuan Yizhen said. “I have reported your progress over the past few months to Chairman Lu, and he is very satisfied, which is why he made this decision.”
Yuan Yizhen placed her hands on the table and said, "Chairman Lu has also set a goal for you: to get the company into the top five in Huzhou City within a year."
The office fell silent for a few seconds.
Ji Yuning twirled the pen in her hand and said softly, "Mm."
What Yuan Yizhen admires most about Ji Yuning is her calm and composed attitude towards everything, as if nothing can affect her.
At only seventeen years old, her temperament was already so remarkable; Yuan Yizhen thought that perhaps it was due to the things she had experienced.
“It’s okay if you fail, you don’t need to feel pressured.” Yuan Yizhen revealed, “I will stay by your side throughout this year.”
Ji Yuning looked at Yuan Yizhen and nodded: "Thank you."
Yuan Yizhen smiled slightly, "Miss Ji, are you still leaving at six o'clock?"
"What's up?"
Yuan Yizhen nodded: "Yes, I have a plan I'd like to discuss with you."
"…Can."
While Yuan Yizhen was getting the documents, Ji Yuning took her phone out of her bag, wondering if she should send Fang Bai a message saying she would be back a little later.
While Ji Yuning hesitated, Yuan Yizhen had already sat down in front of her with the documents. Then the folder was unfolded on the table, and Ji Yuning could only put down her phone and focus her attention on the paper.
The event ended later than Ji Yuning had anticipated; by the time she left the company, it was already completely dark.
Streetlights illuminated both sides of the street, and the towering buildings were adorned with neon lights. The early winter wind felt like blades scraping against my face.
Yuan Yizhen walked up to Ji Yuning with her briefcase. "Let me drive you there."
Ji Yuning shook her head: "No need."
Although it was delayed by an hour and a half compared to usual, there were still buses to get back.
Yuan Yizhen knew that Ji Yuning meant no, so she didn't insist and said softly, "See you tomorrow then."
"Um."
After saying goodbye to Yuan Yizhen, Ji Yuning slung her schoolbag over her shoulder and headed towards the bus stop.
The street near the station is quite remote, with a few residential buildings nearby. The road is dappled with tree shadows, and occasionally, a few cat meows can be heard from the dark corners.
As you venture deeper into the street, several stalls selling converted tricycles appear along the roadside.
Ji Yuning hadn't eaten dinner. Although she wasn't very hungry, the aroma of fried skewers and sweet potatoes mingled with her appetite on the street. However, she walked past the stalls without looking at them or stopping.
After taking a couple of steps, Ji Yuning took out her phone and opened WeChat. She had deleted all the chat windows in the list when she got off the elevator, so it was now empty and blank.
In other words, she hasn't received any new messages since she joined the company.
Just as Ji Yuning tapped on her contact list, which only had four friends, she lowered her eyes as she looked at the cat avatar.
A minute later, as Ji Yuning was about to put her phone away, a kind voice called out to her, "Little girl."
Ji Yuning looked up and saw a tricycle parked by the roadside, piled high with corn, some peeled and some wrapped in green leaves. At the back of the tricycle stood a large bucket, which was used to boil the corn.
Beside the car, a woman in her fifties was smiling at her. "I bet you're a student. Why aren't you home yet, so late?"
Ji Yuning pursed her lips and remained silent.
Seeing that Ji Yuning didn't speak, the woman just smiled and said, "Want an ear of corn? It's very sweet and it'll warm your hands."
Ji Yuning said coldly, "No."
Seeing this, the woman realized that Ji Yuning had misunderstood her meaning, and quickly said, "Auntie will take you."