On My Way - Chapter 14

Chapter 14 - Romance Novels Don't Belong to the Poor

When Cheng Xia was wheeled out, his face was deathly pale, and he was left with only a trembling, fragile breath.

The doctor said he was still in danger and needed to stay in the hospital for observation.

Logically, I should have stayed by his side, attending to his every need without rest.

Isn’t that how it’s written in romance novels? If you take meticulous care of a man during his most vulnerable moment, he will love you to death.

But the blueprints had been finished with such great difficulty, and we were in a race against time to meet the schedule. My phone hadn't stopped ringing since I turned it back on.

I said to Cheng Xia, "I've brought you a change of clothes, and I've hired a professional caregiver. I need to head to the construction site."

He spoke slowly now: "It’s fine. I’m okay now, you go and get busy."

"Then I’m leaving."

I took one last look at Cheng Xia. He was wearing his hospital gown, staring at me blankly, with a stray lock of hair resting on his forehead, looking like a disheveled little puppy.

...I don’t know why, but I felt like I should have kissed him before leaving.

Just as I was lost in thought, I heard Yu Shixuan’s shouting: "Cheng Xia, why are you sitting up! Lie down quickly!"

She was carrying a bucket of chicken soup. Even with light makeup, she couldn't hide her dark circles—it looked like she had stayed up all night.

"I took two days off from Engineer Yu. I’ll be the one taking care of Cheng Xia for these two days; you don’t need to come by anymore, Big Sister."

After she set down the soup, she insisted on seeing me out, but I knew this declaration was the real point.

I said, "Then I’ll leave him in your capable hands."

Romance novels are always about Cinderellas, but at the end of the day, only those who aren't short on money can afford to play the game.

After returning to the site, I spun around like a top. It was four days later before I could finally catch my breath.

Yan Lei sent me a WeChat message. It was a photo: in front of the red building, Cheng Xia was opening the car door for Yu Shixuan. Yu Shixuan was looking up at him, her smile as bright as a little sun.

Yan Lei: A match made in heaven.

I let out a long sigh. It seemed he had been discharged; I still hadn't managed to pick him up.

I remembered when Cheng Xia had first woken up. I sat beside him, looking at his test reports and Googling what each abnormal result meant.

How could he have so many ailments? None of them were fatal, but all of them were dangerous.

"How can a wage-earner not have any health problems?" he said, mocking himself. His skin was still pale, which made his eyebrows and hair look exceptionally dark.

"Not every wage-earner has sudden heart attacks, okay?" I closed the report and said, "I know you might blame me, but I just messaged your mother."

I had always had his mother’s WeChat, though I only sent greetings on holidays and never talked otherwise.

But since he had been rushed into surgery, I had to notify her; after all, we couldn't even sign the consent forms ourselves.

He didn't speak, just watched me quietly.

"She hasn't replied yet," I said. "When she sees it, she’s definitely going to give you an earful."

"She won't reply," he said. "She passed away. Three years ago."

My hand loosened. The half-peeled apple in my hand fell to the floor with a thud and rolled far away.

"Was it illness?"

"Murdered."

The small city in the Northeast where we grew up was called Jinbo.

Cheng Xia’s mother was the manager of the Jinbo Hotel.

When I was very young, I thought it looked like a palace—magnificent and glittering. The waitresses in their uniforms looked like they had walked out of a foreign movie. I had only ever looked longingly at their Christmas tree through the glass windows.

No one ever thought that such a large, beautiful hotel would one day cease to exist.

And it happened for no apparent reason.

Cheng Xia’s mother was laid off because of it, but that didn't affect her much; she opened a beauty salon and spent most of her time taking care of Cheng Xia.

But for others, it was a devastating blow.

Back then, the waitresses at Jinbo were as beautiful and noble as peacocks. When Jinbo fell, these peacocks scattered, working as nannies, cleaners, sales clerks...

The murderer was a woman named Zhao Lijuan. She was thirty-six the year she was laid off. She went to work as a cleaner at a private hotel, but she had a proud, stubborn nature and was fired every few days.

What do you do when you’re fired? Her husband was paralyzed in bed, and she still had a son in his rebellious teenage years to support. So, she began wandering into the barbershops on the street...

She lived in a haze for over a dozen years. Her husband passed away, her son went to live in another city and refused to acknowledge her, and she was old and sick. Her pension and seniority records were all messed up.

Who could she go to? She didn't know anyone else; she only remembered Manager Song from back then.

To Manager Song, everything at Jinbo was just a long-forgotten dream. Suddenly, a fierce, raving woman came to demand an explanation. Song had explained it softly and politely.

And in exchange, she got a steel blade plunged into her chest.

She was stabbed six times.

Cheng Xia said, "When I got back, I didn't even recognize my mom. She was such a beautiful woman."

"Was the murderer caught?"

"She committed suicide."

Another silence followed.

I reached out and pulled Cheng Xia into my arms, whispering, "I'm sorry."

His voice came out muffled: "What are you apologizing for?"

"I should have been there with you back then."

I didn't know how he had faced all of that.

His entire life had been so well-protected by his parents; he only needed to study and take exams. And his studies had gone smoothly—he had never been hindered by fate.

Yet, he had to suddenly face a murder, and the agonizing realization that his enemy was already dead.

"Yeah, at the time, I kept thinking: if only you were there, how good that would be," he whispered in my arms. Tears slowly dampened my clothes.

What was I doing at that time?

I might have been busy screaming on a construction site, or perhaps I was preoccupied with calculating data. In any case, I must have been rushing around for my livelihood.

Just like now.

I loved him very, very much. I had loved him for many years. When his life was in danger, I would have died for him. But once he was out of danger, I had to go back to scrambling for my daily bread.

Perhaps a girl like Yu Shixuan, who had been waiting for him all along, was more suitable for him. At the very least, the love she could offer was pure and fearless.

When I snapped back to reality, Yan Lei had sent another message: "Do you remember you owe me a meal, Manager Ren?"

I replied: "How about lunch? My treat."

This time, I chose a very high-end Western restaurant. How high-end? It was 1,000 per person.

Old Feng once taught me: the more important the thing you need to say, the more expensive the restaurant you must choose.

Yan Lei said exaggeratedly: "Big Sister, are you going to propose to me by going all out like this?"

"Propose to whom? You?"

"That’s unnecessary," he joked. "For me, McDonald's would suffice."

I didn't play along. I lowered my head to order, then said, "Come to think of it, the first time I ever ate Western food in my life was when Cheng Xia’s parents brought me. I didn't know how to use a knife and fork, so his mother cut my steak and taught me."

Yan Lei looked a bit embarrassed: "You were that close when you were kids!"

"You could say that. His parents were the type who had so much love they didn't mind sharing it with others." I laughed self-deprecatingly: "Including their son’s suitors."

"Huh?" Yan Lei was genuinely surprised: "I thought he was the one chasing you!"

I smiled: "Why would you think that?"

He answered hesitantly: "Nothing, it’s just that you’re quite pretty, and generous. It seemed incredible that you would be chasing a gloomy guy like Cheng Xia."

"That must be because you saw him working so hard on my project, right? After all, doing the work of three people and finishing ahead of schedule—that really isn't easy."

Yan Lei’s smile froze. He asked: "Dongxue, what do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you didn't touch a single stroke on those blueprints."

I had been wondering why Cheng Xia was so exhausted. Only after carefully looking at the blueprints did I understand: all the revisions had been completed by him alone in just three days.

Engineer Yu was nearing retirement and didn't care about our mess. Yu Shixuan was lazy and just an assistant. And Yan Lei, every meeting, would only rephrase Cheng Xia’s opinions—he was simply putting on a show of diligence while being actively lazy.

Cheng Xia was the one who was truly worried, staying up late to finish the work that should have been theirs.

"And you don't have any interest in me. You just thought it would be very impressive to steal his goddess right in front of him," I said. "Bullying people like that is wrong."

Especially bullying my 'white moonlight.'

I had ten thousand ways to get back at him, but I chose the most elegant one.

Yan Lei’s usually smiling face turned cold: "What are you saying? I don't understand a word of it!"

I said: "Actually, we are the same kind of people. Our talent isn't quite enough, and our family background isn't great, so we have to suck up to leadership and pull some little tricks. But when Engineer Yu retires, he won't be replaced by you. Do you know why?"

Yan Lei looked at me coldly, saying nothing.

I pulled up a photo on my phone and handed it to him. It was a group photo of the Dean of their Architectural Institute and a group of middle-aged men, captioned 'Young and Ambitious.' The next photo was Cheng Xia’s family portrait.

I pointed to one of the men and said: "This man is Cheng Xia’s father. He was a university classmate of your Dean."

Yan Lei stared at the photo in shock, then looked at me in disbelief.

"After he joined the institute, you bullied him without restraint. What’s so special about S University? What’s so special about having strong professional skills? Wasn't he still being trampled under your feet?" I looked into his eyes and curled my lips into a smile: "Do you know now? He was just humoring you."

The subtext was: You’re just a clown.

Yan Lei’s face went red then white. He forced a calm tone: "He’s aloof, he disdains to fight, so you’ve come to stand up for him?"

I laughed: "Actually, I’m doing this for your own good, Yan Lei."

"I told you, we are the same. When it comes to sucking up and guessing the boss's intentions, I am an expert among experts. But I soon realized that these are just tricks played by the poor to tear each other apart. Those born in Rome will always receive the fairest treatment."

"So don't take this path; it’s useless." I smiled: "Believe me, you envy Cheng Xia and treat him as an enemy, but in the end, the only one who will suffer is you."

After speaking, I got up to grab my coat. It was clear that we were no longer in a position to share lunch—fortunately, I had only ordered a single serving.

Every bit saved helps; I still have a mortgage to pay.

Finally, I looked back at Yan Lei to finish the last round of psychological manipulation: "To win against these people, you don't rely on petty tricks, but on doing the things they don't want to do, and daring to do the things they don't dare to do. This is the only path society gives us. These are words from the heart—you can take them or leave them."

Yan Lei sat there, his face pale. It was clear he had taken it to heart.

Very good.

It was worth the effort to deceive him so carefully.

Though, it wasn't really a deception.

Yu Shixuan had indeed said that Engineer Yu had always favored Cheng Xia—sycophants are cute, but someone who can carry a whole team still needs a bit of real talent.

Cheng Xia’s father and the Dean did indeed graduate from Tsinghua, just in different departments—law and architecture—and they didn't know each other.

That group photo was one I had Photoshopped.

After all, middle-aged men all look roughly the same. Yan Lei just took a glance at it; he wouldn't remember.

Who told him to be in the Dean's WeChat circle when he wasn't?

Like I said, when it comes to sucking up, he wasn't even qualified to be my apprentice’s apprentice.