When I Meet the Moon - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

The meal had already been fully prepared, with only Yun Li remaining to sit down and eat.

Facing this kind of situation for the very first time—with someone she had already given up on pursuing sitting right across from her—Yun Li felt awkward and had no idea how to conduct herself.

Fu Shize gazed at her quietly as the play of light and shadow swept across his face.

Yun Li knew that to him, this was merely eating a meal with a colleague, the most ordinary and mundane thing in the world.

She swallowed, moving at a glacial pace. As that cool and indifferent face gradually drew closer, time seemed to be fitted with a decelerator, its passage growing increasingly sluggish.

She walked over to the spot diagonally opposite Fu Shize and pulled the lunchbox that had originally been sitting beside him over to her own side.

"I can just sit here," Yun Li murmured softly, pulling out a chair and sitting down.

Yun Li lowered her head to eat her meal.

The person beside her made very little movement, and the two of them maintained a tacit understanding, keeping silent.

They interacted just as they usually did.

Whenever she so much as lifted her head, she could see his ink-black brows and eyes.

Yun Li felt as though she were sitting on pins and needles. All the emotions of the past few days welled up inside her at that moment. She shifted her chopsticks and feigned preoccupation as she took out her phone. "A colleague is looking for me. I'll go back to the office to eat."

The atmosphere turned somewhat rigid.

Fu Shize fell silent for a moment before standing up as well, choosing not to expose her lie directly. "You guys stay here, then. I'm finished."

His lunchbox remained virtually untouched. He snapped the lid back on and left the breakroom without saying another word.

He must have noticed her unnaturalness.

He was accommodating her feelings.

A twinge of guilt pricked at Yun Li's heart; after all, in this entire ordeal, she was simply the one who had given up her pursuit, and Fu Shize hadn't done a single thing wrong from beginning to end.

She couldn't manage to interact with him as calmly and naturally as he did, but neither did she want to be petty and small-minded, causing him to constantly back down and make concessions just to accommodate her moods.

The moment the door clicked shut, she turned to the internet in search of answers.

[You're both adults. If pursuit fails, it fails! Just be broader-minded about it!]

[It's totally normal for the other person not to like you. There's no need to take it too to heart; just treat each other like regular colleagues. Aren't there bound to be coworkers you don't click with in any company?]

[Put yourself in their shoes, original poster. Your colleague probably just wants to socialize and work normally, too.]

Indeed.

Most people felt this way—it was nothing more than a thoroughly mundane occurrence.

Fu Shize was different from her. He was never short of suitors. To him, rejecting a pursuer or having someone else give up on pursuing him was the most ordinary thing in the world.

It was simply because she cared too much.

...

As the year drew to a close, EAW's miscellaneous chores also piled up, with many projects reaching their year-end review milestones. Yun Li had heard He Jiameng complaining about the near-madness of recent overtime work, and as an intern, she too was required to pitch in across other departments to organize materials.

The Technical Department needed to submit a report by tomorrow and required Yun Li to handle the final integration, proofreading, and formatting of the materials. The files were managed by different colleagues, and by the time they finished sending them over to her, it was already close to off-work hours.

Before leaving for the day, He Jiameng stopped by Yun Li's workstation to check on her. "Are you the one integrating this report? Are you going to be working overtime?"

Having sat there all day, Yun Li felt a wave of fatigue. "Yes..."

He Jiameng cheered her on: "You can do it, hang in there!"

"Oh right," she didn't forget to remind Yun Li before leaving, "I heard from others that there seems to be a weirdo hanging around the nearby residential area. Don't you live right around here?"

Yun Li felt a prickle of nervousness. "What kind of weirdo?"

"You know, the kind who only wears a thick coat, walks right up in front of you, and then—"

"Alright, alright, stop, don't tell me." Yun Li shook her head rapidly.

He Jiameng adjusted the strap of her bag and instructed, "Well, just make sure you don't stay out too late, and if worst comes to worst, call someone to come pick you up."

"Okay."

Aside from Yun Li, everyone else in the Personnel Department was packing up their things to leave for the day. Unwilling to deal with the parting pleasantries of her coworkers, Yun Li slipped away early to the breakroom to make some tea.

Pushing open the door, Yun Li saw Fu Shize sitting on the lazy sofa, seemingly playing a video on his phone. The comment scrolling on the screen (danmu) bore a color scheme quite similar to the one on Station B.

Before Yun Li could clearly make out the content playing on the screen, Fu Shize unhurriedly blanked the display.

Unwilling to repeat the awkwardness of lunchtime, Yun Li took the initiative to speak up: "Aren't you leaving yet?"

Fu Shize asked: "What about you?"

Yun Li replied: "Not anytime soon."

Not wishing to drag out the conversation, Yun Li finished drawing her hot water and left.

Hanging in there for three whole hours, Yun Li processed the materials she had already received according to the specified requirements. There was still one colleague who claimed they hadn't finished yet and would send their part over once they got home, but Yun Li still hadn't received it yet.

Having stared at the screen for a prolonged period, Yun Li slumped over her desk to close her eyes and rest for a moment, figuring she would wait just a bit longer—

A little past nine o'clock, Fu Shize finally emerged from the breakroom.

The lights in the Personnel Department were still on. He walked over and knocked on the door, but received no response.

Pushing the door open, the office appeared entirely empty, yet the faint sound of breathing could be heard.

Fu Shize walked closer and discovered that Yun Li was currently slumped over her desk, her face turned in the opposite direction while her computer keyboard had been shoved aside.

She looked tiny, occupying only a small fraction of the office chair.

One of her hands was still half-clasping her computer mouse. The earbud in her left ear had fallen out due to her posture, resting on the desk right between her ear and her elbow, while the other earbud remained planted in her right ear.

Fu Shize reached out, picked up the stray earbud from beside her elbow, and placed it into his own left ear.

Soft piano melodies flowed out from the earbud.

Lowering his gaze, Fu Shize looked at Yun Li. Her face was small, and her dense eyelashes fluttered gently, making her look well-behaved and completely harmless.

He stood there in silence. After a moment, he took the earbud out and laid it back down on the desk.

Fu Shize spoke in a low voice: "Yun Li."

Yun Li didn't move an inch.

Fu Shize pressed his lips together and tried again: "Yun Li."

Yun Li still remained completely motionless.

With no other choice, Fu Shize had to reach out and remove the earbud from her right ear, calling out softly: "Yun Lili."

Yun Li still didn't budge.

There were no other sounds whatsoever inside the office, save for those few times he had called out her name with his volume intentionally lowered.

Not wanting to startle her awake, Fu Shize leaned down, bringing his face close to her right ear.

Before he could even speak, Yun Li suddenly snapped her eyes open. With the hazy look of someone still caught in sleep, she squinted upon seeing Fu Shize's face right in front of her.

Fu Shize paused for a second, then straightened up in silence without a word.

Yun Li hadn't caught up to reality either: "Were you calling me just now?"

Fu Shize's momentary lapse in composure vanished in a flash, and he had already returned to his usual aloofness: "You fell asleep."

Hearing that, Yun Li's face burned up again: "Oh..."

"Is there something you need?" Yun Li sat up straight.

Fu Shize answered honestly: "I saw the lights were still on."

"Ready to go?" Fu Shize handed her earbud back.

Yun Li looked somewhat startled: "Are you walking back with me?"

Fu Shize nodded.

Yun Li felt a sense of awkward discomfort: "I can just go back by myself..."

Fu Shize stated: "It's not very safe lately."

Hearing him put it that way, Yun Li hesitated once more. After all, personal safety came first. She lowered her head to ponder: "But I'm still waiting for a colleague's document. Why don't you go ahead first?"

Fu Shize replied: "I'll wait for you."

His tone carried no superfluous emotion, making the gesture seem completely natural—nothing more than a simple act of convenience.

Yun Li tried her best to stop her mind from wandering, but her thoughts were a tangled mess of knots.

Fu Shize stood off to the side for a short while before walking away.

When Yun Li finally finished processing her files and left the office, the moment she switched off the lights, she spotted Fu Shize stepping out of Xu Qingsong's office across the way.

Fu Shize said: "Let's go."

"Yeah..."

As they passed by Fu Shize's office, he dropped a "Wait here for a moment," turned back, and picked two baseball caps off the solid wood coat rack by the door. Their styles and shapes were nearly identical, save for the fact that one was black and the other blue.

He placed the blue baseball cap directly onto his head and adjusted the brim downward. His hair wasn't long, and donning the cap made his facial features appear even sharper.

"The temperature dropped." Fu Shize handed the remaining cap to Yun Li.

The hat was a bit too large for Yun Li. After putting it on, she adjusted the size and caught sight of their reflections in the glass. With nearly a full head difference between them, the two of them looked like a pair of rebellious youths.

In the dead of night, the temperature in Nanwu had plummeted to three or four degrees Celsius, and the high humidity following the rain intensified the chill of winter.

Yun Li trailed behind Fu Shize. With his hands tucked into his pockets, his strides looked effortless. Perhaps influenced by him, her own mood lifted considerably.

This cherished time didn't last long. Before Yun Li could fully snap out of her daze, they had already arrived at her apartment building, and Fu Shize nodded toward the complex to signal her to head inside.

Yun Li softly murmured: "Get some rest early, too."

Then, as if fleeing, she hurried toward her building.

Following the most hectic stretch of work, EAW ushered in its year-end company trip. The destination selected for this year was the Stealing Leisure Wine-Tasting Guesthouse. The various departments were scheduled to travel in staggered shifts, and the slot arranged for the Personnel Department was Monday and Tuesday of the week following Christmas.

Shortly after learning the news, Deng Chuqi gave her a call.

"Xiaxia says you guys are heading to their family's guesthouse this coming Monday and Tuesday, so let's head over early on Friday night," Deng Chuqi said in a cheerful tone. "I just handed in my resignation, and Xiaxia and the others are planning to help me celebrate escaping bitter misery."

Yun Li stirred the noodles in her pot. "Will Xiaxia's little uncle be going?"

"I asked Xiaxia who's coming. Her little uncle might not necessarily have the time; year-end always brings a lot of work." Deng Chuqi joked, "What, is Xiaxia's little uncle not going, so you aren't going to celebrate with me either?"

"That's not what I meant..." Fidgeting, Yun Li turned off the stove's burner, poured herself a glass of warm water, and only after getting everything settled did she recount everything that had happened previously in detail.

Exercising good foresight, Yun Li held her phone a little further away from her ear. Within seconds, Deng Chuqi's voice amplified severalfold: "Lili! Are you kidding me?! Have you ever asked him face-to-face?! What if the person he wanted to invite was you!"

Yun Li reasoned: "Because it's a girl he's known for many years, so it definitely couldn't be me."

Deng Chuqi disagreed: "No way, isn't that just what someone else said? You should've asked him directly."

Deng Chuqi had always been straight-shooting and direct by nature. Lacking confidence all of a sudden, Yun Li blurted out: "Well, I chased him for so long, and he kept rejecting me. He turned down every single invitation I made."

Her tone dipped into despondency: "Besides, all of that happened two weeks ago, and he hasn't proactively reached out to me once in these past two weeks. He probably doesn't even know I deleted him on WeChat."

"Crap," Deng Chuqi blurted out. "You deleted him on WeChat?"

"Yeah..."

"You guys are still in the same company, and you occasionally cross paths in daily life. Running into each other like that—isn't that just one massive awkward theatrical performance?"

"Actually, I'm starting to regret it a little bit... Should I sneakily add him back?"

"..."

Yun Li muttered to herself: "He probably hasn't noticed yet..."

Deng Chuqi remained silent.

After pondering for a moment, Yun Li added: "What if he's already noticed? Wouldn't that make it even more awkward? Forget it."

Falling into a prolonged silence, Deng Chuqi eventually pacified Yun Li: "Drawing a clear boundary with him is fine, too. If you don't want to come, then don't come. It's no big deal."

Yun Li answered honestly: "We did draw a clear boundary... but you guys are the only friends I have in Nanwu, and I don't want this matter to disrupt my normal life."

"It's fine, Lili." Deng Chuqi attempted to soothe her anxiety, joking lightly, "I'll have Xiaxia round up a couple of single coworkers to come along..."

Hearing that, Yun Li's tone lightened as well: "Don't you dare. If you find anyone, I'm not going."

The atmosphere between the two friends grew much softer. Deng Chuqi turned on her speakerphone, and with Xiaxia joining in, they went over the arrangements for that day.

Yun Li walked back to the kitchen and reignited the stove. The noodles had already gone soft and tangled into a clump, so she poked at them with her chopsticks.

She remembered the scene from a few days ago when Fu Shize walked her home.

In the end, she still hadn't been able to resist turning back.

Fu Shize was still standing right where he was, his slender figure seemingly blending into the winter night. The moment she looked back, she had crashed defenselessly into his calm and gentle gaze.