On My Way - Chapter 59

Chapter 59 - She Should Also Be Properly Pursued Once

The campus of North-South University was quite dilapidated.

The old buildings from the nineties lacked any aesthetic beauty, their walls mottled and covered in moss.

Yet, the atmosphere of youth was still surging. Girls laughed and played in groups of three or five, while boys, flip-flops dragging on the ground and still bleary-eyed, walked back to their dorms from the internet cafes. Occasionally, they would brush past a couple, leaving a faint scent of gardenia in their wake.

They were truly fortunate. Or perhaps, it was truly fortunate to be able to spend one's youth in a university.

The biggest regret of my life was that I never went to college.

Yu Shixuan rolled her eyes and said, "That’s easy to solve. Why don’t you take the entrance exam for Professor Cheng’s graduate program? Then you’d be staying on campus, wouldn’t you?"

"Shut up. I haven't settled the score with you yet—how did you end up getting mixed up with him?"

"What do you mean 'I' with him? He was the one who approached me."

Very well. I gritted my teeth: "So, was setting up the EPC company also his idea? And yesterday afternoon at Vegetable Market Street..."

I was halfway through my sentence when Cheng Xia walked over carrying a tray, asking, "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing in particular."

He sat down across from me. In that instant, it felt as though I had returned to many years ago, when he was still studying at that university in the seaside city. I had crossed half the city to find him, and it was just like this—sitting across from me, also eating spicy hotpot.

But everything had changed. I was no longer that girl who was crazed by love, and I no longer had the appetite I once did.

And the spicy hotpot cost a full fifty yuan per serving.

"What made you think of becoming a university professor?" I asked Cheng Xia.

"The industry is in a slump, and my dad is getting on in years. As it happened, North-South University was hiring, so I gave it a try."

In the end, he, too, had chosen the safest path.

I sighed and joked, "No longer aiming to be the next Le Corbusier?"

Cheng Xia paused for a moment, and we shared a smile that only childhood friends could understand.

Back in high school, his eyes would shine as he clenched his fists and mentioned that name.

He immediately followed up, "Who knows? Maybe I can cultivate a few Le Corbusiers of my own."

From the side, Yu Shixuan said coldly, "Who doesn't want to be Le Corbusier? Professor Cheng, you were the one who asked for me, and you were the one who blocked me. What exactly is your game?"

Cheng Xia sighed: "If I hadn't said it, and President Wu had brought it up instead, the result would have been even more difficult to salvage."

That was true. What the big boss said would directly affect everyone’s judgment.

"Your design is indeed unique, but firstly, you have to understand the client's needs. Secondly, your library could be placed on any campus, but you still haven't solved the problem of how to reflect the uniqueness of North-South University."

Yu Shixuan didn't speak, instead sulkily poking at her rice with her chopsticks.

I said, "She’s a Southerner who just arrived here, and it was such a sudden report—how could she have possibly considered everything so comprehensively?"

Cheng Xia sighed, his eyes still on Yu Shixuan as he said, "If it were her working as the service provider, this situation absolutely would not have happened, because she knows that she has nothing to fall back on."

My heart skipped a beat. He was talking about me.

Yu Shixuan looked back and forth between us and said sarcastically, "Dongxue is perfect in every way, of course—that’s why she became your ex-girlfriend!"

With that, she stopped eating, stood up, and left.

I quickly chased after her, but she didn't pay me any mind. She walked all the way outside the school gate and waved for a taxi.

"He was just saying it casually; you’re really going to take it to heart?"

"Didn't we agree that a service provider can't have a 'pampered young miss' temper..." My muttering came to an abrupt halt.

Because I realized she was crying.

It wasn't that kind of sobbing aloud; her eyes were just shimmering with tears. There weren't many, but she was afraid I’d notice, so she kept her head turned toward the window.

I didn't speak again. We remained in silence, with only the scenery outside changing rapidly.

After getting home, she immediately went into her bedroom and locked the door.

Grandma was startled and gestured to me with her chin, whispering, "What’s wrong with this young lady again?"

I said: "Nothing! She ate too much and has an upset stomach."

"Oh, then I’ll cook some porridge for her tonight."

"Sure."

Her natural intelligence, wealth, and beauty had made her the darling of the examination-oriented education system since childhood, and her innate talent had been the icing on the cake. She had been hurt, but she had never lost.

And now, the real world was welcoming a princess.

I tidied up my things, washed up, and went to work.

As soon as I walked into the office, I heard my assistant crying and making a scene: "What does this have to do with me? Ren Dongxue did it all. I’m worked to the bone every day and still have to take the heat from both sides!"

When I stepped through the door, I saw Manager Wang looking ashen. A group of people were in the room, and my assistant was there, crying like a wilted flower in the rain.

"Ren Dongxue! Are you blind? Can’t you see the data is off by that much!"

A stack of papers was thrown at me. I lowered my head to pick them up and discovered it was about the standing water in the foundation pit caused by measurement errors.

Of course, I couldn't possibly have caused this issue.

The assistant looked at me with a guilty conscience; she hadn't expected me to arrive at such an opportune moment.

Manager Wang looked at me, his lingering rage still apparent. But if you looked closely, you would see he was winking at me—everyone was watching.

I gathered up the scattered documents and finally said, "I’m sorry, I will strictly verify everything in the future."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Manager Wang cursed me a few more dirty times before leading everyone out.

The assistant walked to my desk and mumbled, "Sister Dongxue..."

"Stop. Get to work."

I had only been gone for the morning, but the documents on my desk had piled up like a mountain. I didn't get a chance to catch my breath until the sun began to dip below the horizon.

Manager Wang came to my office and poked his head in with a grin: "Busy?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks for the hard work!" He gestured: "Let’s go."

The assistant walked out, coyly clinging to Manager Wang’s arm, not forgetting to call out to me: "Sister Dongxue, coming to eat with us?"

"Dongxue is busy!"

I rubbed my throbbing temples and said to Manager Wang, who was addicted to flirting: "Manager Wang, forging a signature is a major taboo. In serious cases, it leads to jail time."

I hadn't signed that data at all because the ground levels were uneven and required verification.

She had forged my signature anyway and sent it out directly—presumably just to get off work early?

I knew this point, she knew it, and Manager Wang clearly knew it too.

He waved his hand impatiently and said: "That’s in the past! Don’t bother with the nonsense anymore."

Then, he walked away with the assistant. She shot me a provocative look before slamming the door shut.

She had never had much respect for me to begin with.

Things were certainly going to be even more difficult from here on out.

I leaned back in my chair, my mind suddenly wandering. I had wanted to take Manager Wang’s company to act as a subcontractor on the North-South University project.

But somehow, a contractor like this felt like a massive disservice to those vibrant university students.

I worked overtime until nine o'clock and finally finished everything I had owed from the morning.

I sat on the bus heading home, feeling light-headed and wondering if Yu Shixuan had eaten yet.

When I opened the door, I found the living room brightly lit.

It was Zhou Ting. He was sitting on the sofa, holding an apple and chatting with Grandma.

Seeing me, he jumped up in a panic.

This...

"Why are you only back now! Little Zhou has been waiting for you for a long time!" Grandma chided me repeatedly from the side.

"No, no..." he said. "I only just arrived. This... I was just about to leave!"

I was truly astonished. After that epic, awkward meeting with Cheng Xia, I thought he wouldn't come looking for me again...

After all, anyone with eyes could see that my relationship with Cheng Xia was a total mess.

"Um, when I ran into your friend yesterday, he mentioned that you’d been to Inner Mongolia and stayed there for quite a long time," Zhou Ting began hesitantly.

"Oh... yes."

That was the time that had witnessed the period when Cheng Xia and I had the deepest feelings for each other.

"I just thought you must love Inner Mongolian lamb, and it just so happened that the kitchen got some in, so I brought you a leg of lamb." He blushed slightly and said with a smile: "Do you know how to cook it? I can come over in a couple of days to make it!"

I froze.

Grandma was on the side, moved to the point of tears. She rattled on: "How can you say that? Little Zhou is such a child! He’s just too good! Dongxue, with you having him, my heart can finally..."

I hurriedly cut off her babbling and pulled Zhou Ting away: "Um, aren’t you about to leave? I’ll see you out!"

Long after Zhou Ting had left, Grandma was still muttering, hitting me as she did so: "Don't you be ungrateful! This child is just so good!"

I took off my coat and retorted: "You thought Cheng Xia was good back then, too."

"I never thought so," she said. "That child was alright when he was young, but as he grew up, he was like someone hiding a dagger in his smile. You never knew what he was thinking. Besides..."

She straightened my clothes and said, "My granddaughter, a girl as wonderful as you, should also be properly cherished by someone. What’s the point of always chasing after someone else?”