Yaping remained silent, lowering his head to eat the xiaolongbao.
After a while, Yaping began to tidy up the mess.
After a while, Yaping started working and stopped paying attention to Lijuan.
Lijuan planned to maintain this very natural smile until Yaping took the initiative to explain what had just happened. When Yaping was stammering and perhaps incoherently explaining everything, Lijuan would deliberately squint her eyes into crescent moons with a charming smile and say, "I didn't say anything, why are you so nervous? It's just colleagues sharing food, I do that at work too!" In the meantime, Lijuan would comfortably pull over a chair, put her legs up, and pretend to be enjoying reading.
Not a single word from the magazine entered her mind.
Her mind was filled with how to respond to every possible word Li Yaping might utter. She even rehearsed the perfect expression she should make when Li Yaping was away.
For example, if Li Yaping said, "She and I are just ordinary colleagues."
Lijuan replied, "I can tell. Do you have any unusual colleagues?"
For example, if Li Yaping said, "We're nothing."
Lijuan would say, "I don't see anything between you two! Why are you making such a fuss?"
For example, if Li Yaping said, "Why are you behaving strangely?"
Lijuan would laugh and reply, "I'm behaving perfectly normally. On the contrary, I think you're acting strangely. It's just sharing some food with a female colleague, why make such a fuss? Who's acting strangely between us? If you have nothing to hide, why are you so nervous? I see you're sweating buckets." Then she would dramatically wipe Yaping's face with a handkerchief.
Lijuan had even prepared her concluding remarks: "Darling, I'm not worried at all. In this world, men are trees, and women are lamps. A tree cannot have many lamps, but a lamp can illuminate many trees. Therefore, between the two of us, it's you who needs to be careful, not me!"
Li Yaping remained silent, saying nothing. This silence made Lijuan feel restless and uneasy, which in turn fueled her anger. How could Li Yaping, who had made a mistake, act as if nothing had happened?
The scenario that Lijuan had planned hundreds of times, where Yaping should have been at a loss, cautious, and acting according to Lijuan's whims, never actually happened.
This drove Lijuan almost crazy.
Around ten o'clock, Li Yaping said, "It's getting late, let's call it a day! Let's go home." Then he grabbed his coat, pulled Lijuan out the door, and left.
Finally, in the taxi, Lijuan couldn't help but ask, with a smile, pretending to suddenly remember, "Hey! Who was that little girl today?"
"Which little girl?" Li Yaping pretended to have no idea.
"It's the one who was busy dividing the dishes with you as soon as I walked in."
"Oh! Xiao Wu. The customer service representative who answered the phone. Come and bring me my food."
"Is she bringing you food, or feeding you? I think she's practically poking your mouth with her chopsticks."
"Haha, Lijuan, I knew you couldn't hold back. I just wanted to see how long you could hold it in before asking. You probably didn't do anything all night but think about this, right? I could tell from the rustling of your pages every three minutes. Aren't you just asking for trouble? I don't want to explain, lest I feel like I've made some huge mistake. Just figure it out yourself and tell me what my relationship with Xiao Wu is."
Lijuan suddenly felt that she was completely transparent in front of Yaping. She had thought she was on par with him, but she could never beat Yaping. So she got angry, said nothing, and turned her head away from Yaping.
Yaping started whistling in the taxi, a smug look on his face, as if he knew Lijuan inside and out.
"Sister Cai, I was so angry yesterday! Yaping said he had to work overtime, and I felt sorry for him, so I brought him lunch. But when I got to his office, he didn't need my food at all. The young lady was serving him food right up to his mouth, she was practically feeding him!" After finishing her morning work, Lijuan couldn't let go of what was on her mind, so she couldn't help but complain to Sister Cai.
Do you think they have something going on?
"Impossible. Those young girls, recruited from out of town, who answer the phone, earn no more than 600 a month and have at most a high school education. Li Yaping would never lower herself to that level."
"If you don't think it's a big deal, what's there to be angry about?"
"I..." Lijuan was speechless.
"Lijuan, it's not that I didn't want to remind you, but don't be so self-satisfied. This might be a bit of a blow, but as someone who's been there, let me tell you, marriage might require a good match in terms of social standing, but love isn't always the case. There have been stories of 80-year-old men marrying 20-something-year-old girls. Li Yaping might not intend to marry her, but that doesn't mean he doesn't intend to have an affair. When have you ever seen wealthy families choose concubines based on social status? Looks are all that matter. Li Yaping might not be interested in the young girl, but that doesn't mean she's not interested in your Yaping. In her eyes, Yaping is a technician, about to be promoted to manager, high-paid, and young..." "Handsome. Even if your Yaping has no interest, he can't resist her advances. A little bit of teasing is enough to make you feel disgusted for half a day. Besides, why don't you and your mother-in-law get along? You both look down on each other. Your mother-in-law thinks you're a pampered city girl who doesn't know how to manage a household, and you look down on your mother-in-law. This kind of girl doesn't know how! Maybe she's exactly what your mother-in-law wants—capable and good at flattering. You can't underestimate those country girls. The poorer they come from, the better they are at seizing opportunities. I'm not trying to scare you, but after a few considerations, she might just balance you out." Sister Cai's hands didn't stop moving as she busied herself organizing documents, and her mouth didn't stop either.
"Sister Cai, I haven't seen any signs yet, but now that you mention it, I need to keep a closer eye on Yaping. I've noticed you haven't been working overtime lately and are going home on time. Is it because your mother-in-law has left? And your relationship with your husband has improved?"
Sister Cai was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Did you hear something?"
"What did you hear?"
"Oh! No, it's because I've realized this principle that I've decided to put aside the conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and focus on reconciling the family first. Lijuan, you need to think things through before you do them. Don't let your temper dictate your actions; you need to consider the bigger picture. For example, if you believe a man is a good person at heart and someone you can entrust your life to, don't give him up because of other things. Being too headstrong isn't a good thing."
"Xixi, Sister Cai, has your professor also found a mistress?"
"No. He has neither money nor power, and he's far from being a mistress."
Not many days had passed since my conversation with Sister Cai. One day, while I was in the restroom, I ran into Accountant Liu from the finance department. Accountant Liu stopped me and asked me all sorts of questions: "Hey! You were sitting across from Editor Cai, did you hear what she said?"
"No? What did you say?"
"Oh my! You were sitting so close to her! Didn't you know? I suspect the whole publishing house knows. These past few days, all the rumors have been about her family!"
"What is it?"
Xiao Liu kept it a secret, saying, "I can't tell you. You're so close to her, if it gets back to her, you'll have betrayed me."
"Fine, if you don't believe me, that's fine. I can't guarantee it either. The whole publishing house knows, and sooner or later I'll find out, and she'll find out too."
"Oh dear! Something's happened to her Professor Wang! Do you know what happened?"
"What is it?"
"Sigh! I'm too embarrassed to say it!"
"Just say what you want to say, stop talking nonsense! If you don't say anything, I'm leaving! You know I'm impatient, why are you stammering?" Lijuan patted Xiao Liu on the shoulder.
"Her husband, Professor Wang, was arrested for soliciting prostitution!"
"Huh?! What nonsense are you spouting! I'd believe you if you said it was our boss, I was just kidding! Her husband, Old Wang, absolutely not. You've never seen him, have you? He'd fall over in a gust of wind, I doubt he even has that kind of ability, haha..."
“I told you, but you didn’t believe me! Do you know who bailed Old Wang out when he was arrested? It was your Old Cai!”