Yi Mantian put down his pen and softened his expression. "You shouldn't be thanking me. I just saw him being interviewed. If you really care, you should call Zhengwei and ask him."
Song Qing lowered her head, her nose stinging with tears.
Yi Mantian remained silent for a long time before sighing and saying, "Zhengwei really didn't do a good job. That day, Aunt Zhou told me that he had disappeared without a trace, and I wanted to curse him on the spot. But Xiaoqing, you are husband and wife, so don't be too strong-willed. Men sometimes do have a lot of helplessness and are forced to do things."
“I don’t blame him, Dad. I know very well how you treated me and Fuhua.”
Yi Mantian pointed at her, then helplessly began to look at the documents again.
Aunt Zhou broke the silence as she came in. "You're back! Come quick, I just heated up some soup. Oh, why do you look so pale? What would you do if you were pregnant now?"
"Go quickly, drink your drink and go to bed early. If you don't have anything to do tomorrow, go check out the banking sector," Yi Mantian instructed.
“Yes, sir, aren’t you supposed to have your routine medical check-up tomorrow? We can’t miss it.” Aunt Zhou slapped her forehead and remembered.
Song Qing immediately said, "Dad, I'll go with you."
"Where are you going? The most important thing is for you two to finish your work. I don't even know if you've tired my grandson out these past few days."
Song Qing smiled and went out with Aunt Zhou. After drinking the soup, she went upstairs and took a hot bath. As soon as she came out, Aunt Zhou brought her some ginger soup to drink.
"It's perfect to drink after a shower, and then go to bed early."
Song Qing felt a warm glow in her heart. She snuggled into the cozy bed and felt much better from her cold. She wondered if it was because she had drunk some wine, taken a hot bath, or drank the ginger soup prepared by Aunt Zhou.
She was half asleep, her mind racing with the question of whether or not to call Yi Zhengwei. But before she knew it, Yi Zhengwei had called her.
"Sorry, I thought you weren't asleep." Yi Zhengwei regretted it as soon as he heard Song Qing answer. He had just returned to his place, had been busy all day, and finally had some free time, so he dialed without thinking.
"It's alright, how did things go?" Song Qing got up.
"Well, it's alright. I'll stay for another two days, and they can handle the rest themselves." He lit a cigarette to stay awake, but his hands were trembling. He was afraid that Song Qing would stop talking to him.
How stubborn she is! If something else were to happen between them, would they still be able to chat so calmly as they are now?
Has the cause of the accident been determined?
He frowned, took a deep drag on his cigarette, and said, "We're starting to see some progress."
Song Qing was puzzled; he shouldn't have been so vague.
"Was it an accident or...?" she asked immediately.
"I'll call you again. Go to sleep. Goodnight."
Okay, good night.
Song Qing hung up the phone absentmindedly. But she couldn't fall asleep.
What she really wanted to say was, "Forget it, Zhengwei, stop investigating and come back."
Guo Sheng assured her firmly that it couldn't have been a worker's mistake.
But now, she prefers to believe it was an accident.
She then thought that perhaps it was because she had been outmaneuvered by Yan Xunan last time and failed so badly that she had become too sensitive and overthinking. So she kept trying to convince herself, and slowly, without realizing it, she fell asleep again.
Chapter Fifty-Five: Not that I don't care
“Miss Shen is a sentimental person, which is why she has suffered such misfortune today. If possible, you can try living in a new environment and see if you can find a more suitable path. I would be very happy to help you with this, if you are willing.”
-Song Qing
After the situation had basically stabilized, Song Qing received a call from Yi Mantian, who said that his health had been quite poor recently and the doctor had suggested that he stay in the hospital for observation for a few days.
After finishing his business at headquarters, Song Qing took some documents and drove to the bank.
She spent the whole morning signing some necessary documents. She kept the ones she had questions about, planning to ask Yi Mantian for his opinion when she went to the hospital at noon.
At noon, she rested for a while, turned on the TV, and switched directly to the Cambridge channel. The fire had been classified as a major incident by the Cambridge local police and fire prevention department. Yi Zhengwei's workload was very heavy. When interviewed, he looked tired, with faint traces of ash on his chin, and he seemed to have lost a little weight.
After the interview, Yi Zhengwei hurriedly drove away.
She turned off the TV, got up and stood by the window to look at the scenery, and for some reason, her mood became very depressed.
Bill came to see her and suggested they have lunch together. She smiled and said, "I wanted to spend some time with you after I've been busy for a while. You've been back for so long and haven't come to see me. How have you been doing?"
Bill put his arm around her shoulder and sat on the sofa, looking very comfortable. "Firstly, I don't want to disturb your new life. Secondly, I've made a really fun friend in Linchuan, haha. Of course, most importantly, I want to observe closely whether Yi Zhengwei is bullying you."
Although he was joking, Song Qing was still moved. She leaned against his chest, tears welling up in her eyes. "Thank you, Bill."
"Lianxin, you're different from before. Sometimes when I look at you, I feel like I don't really know you anymore."
Her expression had softened, becoming more peaceful and composed, but also tinged with a subtle melancholy and inner turmoil. She was no longer the stubborn and naive woman she once was, whose life was defined only by that heavy relationship and responsibility. What had changed in her now? Bill wondered.
"Bill, I've realized I don't know how to handle our relationship. He's good to me, but it feels so heavy, I don't know how to accept it. It's like there's a thorn stuck in my heart, it hurts so much. I've tried to change things, but we can never go back to how we used to be so open with each other. Bill, I'm so tired."
"You've fallen in love with him?" Bill jumped, his brow furrowing in alarm.
Song Qing shook her head frantically, "No, I didn't."
How could she fall in love with him? No, they could. Talking about work and collaboration was possible, but when it came to love, there were too many unknowns and obstacles. He had someone else in his heart, and she had someone else in hers. They were both burdened by heavy pasts; how could two people like that have love? It was impossible.
“Lianxin, I really don’t know what to say. You absolutely cannot let yourself get hurt. You’re too stubborn. Yan Xunan has hurt you for over a decade. I really don’t want you to get hurt again. I hope you can love, but I’m also afraid of you loving. Oh, Lianxin, I’m even more conflicted than you.” Bill grabbed his hair in frustration and paced around the room.
Song Qing pulled him back, both amused and exasperated. "Alright, alright, Bill, I'm just not quite used to my marriage with him yet. It's not as complicated as you think."