The adults sat in silence. Hu Ziyuan was sleeping, while Ning Yue sat by the bedside, occasionally wiping her child’s forehead with a warm washcloth. Though the fever was under control, this action served more to ease her inner anxiety.
“Stop wiping!” her mother-in-law couldn’t bear to watch anymore. “You’ll disturb the child’s sleep.”
Ning Yue paused, feeling resentment rising from her chest. She stopped but only to stand up and change the basin of warm water, then resumed dampening the cloth and placing it on the child’s forehead.
The mother-in-law looked to her son for support. Hu Cheng gestured to calm his mother, then after some thought said, “Dad, Mom, why don’t you head back first? You can come back this afternoon when Ziyuan wakes up.”
The elderly father nodded in agreement and stood up. The mother-in-law wanted to say something more, but her son’s look stopped her, and she reluctantly left with her husband.
Ning Yue maintained her position, watching her son sleep as if she would stay that way until the end of time. Hu Cheng wanted to say something but ultimately left the room.
As the door closed softly, Ning Yue let out a relieved sigh. She blinked, and tears once again blurred her vision. She didn’t bother wiping them away, letting them flow freely—after all, her son was asleep, and no one else was there to see.
He Kuan searched for quite a while before finding this women’s and children’s hospital hidden in the park. Instead of crowds, he found a waiting area as beautiful as a playground and quiet, spacious corridors adorned with children’s paintings.
He had heard that Ning Yue came from an impressive background—it seemed true! He Kuan thought to himself as he admired the beautiful children’s oil paintings along the walls, envying the fortune of today’s children while following the nurse’s guidance to the inpatient ward.
Standing outside the door, He Kuan took a deep breath, adjusted his expression, and raised his hand to knock, then hesitated and withdrew it. When visiting a patient, it wouldn’t be good to wake them if they were sleeping. He Kuan peered through the glass, seeing a blurry figure inside. He pushed gently, finding the door unlocked. Inside, a child’s bed stood in the center of the room with high guardrails, draped with sheets for windbreak, obscuring the patient. But Ning Yue, leaning by the bedside watching her child, came clearly into view.
Her light blue sweater had blended into the room’s background color. Her slender neck tilted against the bed’s railing, suddenly reminding He Kuan of a swan with a broken neck, struggling with its last strength against the branches. Ning Yue was startled by the sound of the door opening, and looking up, she was equally surprised to see He Kuan.
He Kuan saw the tears on Ning Yue’s face. Not just two streams, but a face full of tears, with interweaving tracks that the window light traced—some crystal clear, others dimly hidden.
They both stood frozen, speechless for a long moment.
Finally, He Kuan broke the silence, pretending not to notice Ning Yue’s tears. He blinked and said, “Hope I’m not disturbing you. I came to check in.” He held up the fruit basket he was carrying. He had specifically asked colleagues with children for advice, knowing that bringing snacks when visiting sick children would incur mothers’ hatred, so he had deliberately chosen this fruit basket. Children could always benefit from more fruit!
Ning Yue quickly stood up, and in the moment she turned away from the stool, she had already wiped away her tears. She accepted the fruit basket and invited He Kuan to sit and talk. After He Kuan asked a few questions about the child’s condition, his heart sank completely. He had hoped Ning Yue could return to the company soon, or if not that, at least help him handle the negotiation matters directly.
Ning Yue knew his purpose. In the past, if she had been sick unless she was unconscious, she would have attended meetings and written documents as usual, not letting anything slip. But now it was her child who was sick, and while some people might handle work duties while watching over a sick child’s bed, Ning Yue couldn’t do it. While Hu Ziyuan slept, it was her time to take care of things around him. When he was awake, she needed to talk with him, play games, and read books—not just to pass the boring hospital time, but to help him forget the pain brought by illness as much as possible. Moreover, in her current state of mind, she didn’t have the capacity for those other matters. She had tried opening her email on her phone, but all the text appeared blank before her eyes. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate, she couldn’t focus enough to handle even a single sentence!
She wouldn’t tell anyone about her helplessness, so even knowing He Kuan’s purpose, she could only maintain an apologetic silence.
He Kuan naturally wouldn’t force the issue and tried to find other topics to discuss. But as a single person, he really couldn’t think of any questions about children, so he awkwardly asked, “Are you doing okay? Taking care of a child must be tiring.”
Hearing such a greeting suddenly, Ning Yue’s reaction wasn’t gratitude but rather a tragicomic sense of absurdity. Life’s magic lies in how it defies our imagination. Whatever you wish for will not be what you get. Even our reactions are unexpected!
He Kuan was startled by Ning Yue’s expression, thinking he had done something wrong, and hurriedly continued, “I just heard from the nurse that the child developed a fever in the middle of the night, and you carried him in yourself—they were quite surprised.” Seeing Ning Yue looking down, He Kuan had to continue, “Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry!”
Ning Yue shook her head. But He Kuan noticed a flash of light in the corner of her eye, which quickly disappeared.
“It’s fine! You get used to it,” Ning Yue said. “Thank you for coming.”
“Oh, right,” He Kuan remembered something, “this is for you.” He took out a half-sphere from his pocket. “I saw this while buying the fruit basket. They said it’s a preserved flower. I thought it looked pretty, and it doesn’t take up much space—you can put it anywhere to brighten things up.” But he kept one thought to himself.
The moment he saw this flower, it reminded him of Ning Yue.
It was a fist-sized crystal half-sphere containing an unnamed blue flower. The flower was half-bloomed, quietly resting on a black velvet base, with gold dust glittering on its petals.
“Thank you,” Ning Yue accepted it, feeling something stuck in her throat, and blurted out, “With all the times my child has been sick, this is the first time anyone has comforted me!”
He Kuan said, “Mothers have it the hardest. When children are sick, they just sleep, unaware of anything, but mothers endure every minute and second—it’s not easy.”
Ning Yue raised her eyebrows slightly, surprised by He Kuan’s understanding. She certainly knew that He Kuan was not only unmarried but didn’t even have a girlfriend.
He Kuan smiled awkwardly: “Actually, I heard this from my mom.”
They both smiled. These words were probably what He Kuan’s mother used when scolding him, and he remembered and used them here.
He Kuan, being in sales, had solid basic conversational skills. However, Ning Yue’s attention remained mostly on her child, becoming distracted after speaking just a few sentences. He Kuan sighed inwardly—Ning Yue truly wasn’t in any condition to work. But after some thought, he felt it was better to ask for her opinion: “Lawyer Yan has signed, but she hopes we can all have a chance to talk together.”
Ning Yue made a sound of acknowledgment, and seeing He Kuan’s eager expression, asked curiously, “Hasn’t she already signed? What else is there to discuss?”
He Kuan made a bitter face: “This project is just our entry point. Their group has a nationwide network requirement below, which is our real focus for follow-up.”
“You mean she might give us trouble in the next project?”
“Q1 is almost over, right? The boss is pushing us to supplement our performance numbers. If we can get some commitment on that big project, we can account for this quarter. So, the boss said we should at least sign a framework agreement.”
“A framework agreement? Don’t we have a template? Or we could use theirs,” Ning Yue said indifferently. “It’s just a framework, is it really that difficult?”
He Kuan nodded: “Lawyer Yan made too many changes to the framework agreement, and after our lawyer Zhong and our boss reviewed it, they thought President Luo should take a look, but President Luo didn’t agree.”
“Then let their legal department handle the negotiations.” After working with Qin Can for so long, even her way of speaking showed a sense of separation from the group.
“President Luo said we still need to do it ourselves. Then Lawyer Zhong went to negotiate with Lawyer Yan, and they talked for half an hour, spending fifteen minutes pounding the table.” He Kuan finished with a sigh.
Ning Yue thought of Yan Hui’s demeanor and couldn’t help but smile—Yan Hui indeed could drive people crazy.
“Lawyer Yan said she’ll only deal with you, no one else!” He Kuan had already known Ning Yue couldn’t do this, but still said it.
Ning Yue shook her head. Was Yan Hui still holding a grudge from when she had outmaneuvered her?
“Does she know I’m on leave?” Ning Yue checked the time—from midnight last night until now, it had only been half a working day. Yan Hui probably wasn’t deliberately making excuses.
“Don’t know. Lawyer Zhong only found out after coming back from the meeting.”
Ning Yue took a deep breath and smiled self-mockingly: “Well, I’m honored! But, as you can see, I really can’t participate.” She frowned, looking at her sleeping child, feeling somewhat conflicted. Perhaps she could look at the documents? But she immediately rejected the idea. She no longer had the spirit for it, so why force herself? Wasn’t Qin Can still in the legal department? If others couldn’t handle it, he certainly could.
So, Ning Yue said, “I really can’t. To be honest, last night before bed, my child told me he wasn’t feeling well. I was busy with my things and just brushed him off. I had planned to take his temperature before bed, but I was so tired. So I just went to bed and fell asleep. If I hadn’t suddenly woken up in the middle of the night, I don’t know what would have happened! I don’t dare think about it, I’m truly terrified! So, I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything except take care of my child. I don’t want to have even the slightest negligence—I couldn’t bear it!” After a pause, Ning Yue added, “I’ll give Yan Hui a call.”
He Kuan breathed a sigh of relief: “I understand. I’ll explain at the company.” How could He Kuan not see that Yan Hui harbored resentment towards Ning Yue? With Ning Yue willing to take the initiative to resolve this knot, it would save him no end of trouble!
After He Kuan left, the nurse came in. Ning Yue quickly checked the IV bottle—only half had dripped through. The nurse took the temperature and said softly, “It’s gone down a bit.” Ning Yue had already checked with the ear thermometer and nodded gratefully. The nurse said, “Normally it should be gone by tomorrow. Just keep observing today.”
Following the nurse was an administrative staff member with yesterday’s bill for Ning Yue to sign. Ning Yue glanced at it, mostly incomprehensible various examinations and complex drug names, with Chinese-English translations filling the page. But the final number at the bottom was strikingly clear.
After signing, the room returned to silence. Ning Yue’s tense nerves felt like they were gradually descending from a mountain peak, now basically reaching the halfway point. Then, she remembered a question that had been overlooked earlier: neither she nor Hu Cheng had mentioned the woman who answered the phone last night.
Though they didn’t bring it up, someone else did.
Last night, more than one person had called Hu Cheng, and not everyone could remain as calm as Ning Yue in explaining things clearly. For instance, Hu Ziyuan’s grandfather, after confirming he had indeed dialed his son’s phone, heard a woman’s voice through the receiver, paused for a moment, and then hung up.
After leaving the hospital, the elderly couple insisted on getting off at the market. Watching Hu Cheng’s car drive away, they browsed the market while chatting. As they talked, they brought up the person who had answered the phone.
“Who do you think it could be?” Hu Cheng’s mother asked curiously. “How did Hu Cheng end up with her? Hmph, I bet she’s throwing herself at him!”
Hu Cheng’s father remained silent, walking past various vegetable stalls with his head down. After a long while, he finally looked up and said to his wife, “I heard Hu Cheng had someone outside when Ning Yue was in postpartum confinement.”
Hu Cheng’s mother’s eyes widened: “Someone outside? How would outsiders know our family business?”
Hu Cheng’s father glared: “So you did know! If you don’t want others to know, don’t do it in the first place!”
“It must have been that nanny who told!” Hu Cheng’s mother said bitterly. “I didn’t like her from the start. If Ning Yue hadn’t stopped me—”
“Just be quiet!” Hu Cheng’s father’s face turned ashen. “If you hadn’t indulged Hu Cheng, he wouldn’t be like this now!”
“Like what! Like what, explain yourself! When the child is doing well, it’s because of your Hu family genes, but when something’s wrong, it’s because I didn’t teach him properly. How convenient for you!”
The elderly couple started arguing at the vegetable stall. A vendor came over to mediate, and Hu Cheng’s father stopped, storming out of the market in anger. Hu Cheng’s mother wanted to follow but couldn’t swallow her pride. Instead, she took quick strides to get ahead of him, walking home in a huff.
At the intersection, she stopped. Hu Cheng’s father walked up beside her and sighed: “Let’s go! We’re at this point now, arguing won’t help.”
Walking side by side, their previous hostility gave way to worried expressions. They looked at each other, both understanding each other’s thoughts but sighing and shaking their heads at the lack of solutions.
Hu Cheng’s mother said, “Last time, even though the argument was fierce, everything turned out fine in the end, didn’t it?”
Hu Cheng’s father gave his wife a look: “That was the first time, this is the second!” After thinking, he added quietly, “Who knows which time this is!”
Hu Cheng’s mother had sharp ears and glanced at her husband: “You seem experienced!”
No one acknowledged the irrelevant comment. After fuming for a while, Hu Cheng’s mother’s thoughts returned to the matter at hand: “They won’t… divorce, will they?”
Hu Cheng’s father shook his head: “Hard to say. This Ning Yue has her mind. What we can do now is hold onto Hu Ziyuan. First, she’s still Doudou’s birth mother, so there’s room for reconciliation for the child’s sake. Second, if worst comes to worst, we keep Doudou, and she can leave if she wants!”
Hu Cheng’s mother nodded: “Exactly! There are plenty of women in the world. She’s just a corrupt official’s daughter, acting all proud like she’s something special!”
Hu Cheng’s father suddenly stopped and glared at his wife: “And you! Can’t that broken mouth of yours say less? You complain every day that no one sees your work, but if you’d just say less, who wouldn’t remember your efforts!” He walked a few angry steps, then turned back to lecture his wife, “And be nicer to Ning Yue. When she married into our family, she became one of us. If you don’t care for her or support her, do you expect her to seek others? To be honest, if you two had less conflict as mother and daughter-in-law, Hu Cheng wouldn’t be so reluctant to come home!”
Hu Cheng’s mother became angry, “Listen here, Hu, let me tell you, if your mother had been half as good to me as I am to Ning Yue, I wouldn’t have fought with her. She made me wash my clothes before my postpartum confinement was over, causing my hands to cramp up every winter to this day. When you, you heartless man, got caught by the police for visiting prostitutes, I was the one who brought you back! All your mother did was play mahjong…”
“Enough!” Hu Cheng’s father cut off his wife’s nagging. “We don’t talk about the past anymore. Let’s focus on now—we both need to be mentally prepared. Hope for the best, but be ready for the worst.”
Hu Cheng’s mother was still angry. She pursed her lips, left the old man behind, and strode away.
While Hu Cheng’s parents were arguing, Ning Yue took advantage of her child’s sleep to make a phone call in the hallway.
Yan Hui answered the phone. After hearing that Ning Yue was taking leave due to her child’s illness and wouldn’t be handling the project, she was silent for a moment before saying: “Lawyer Ning, you really shouldn’t be working. Your work attitude is not only irresponsible to your colleagues but also has a very negative impact on clients. I’m direct in my speech—your work abilities are very strong. I had originally wanted to meet with you in person, hoping you would come to our company. But this casual attitude toward taking leave surprises me. I know many working mothers around me who can handle documents and even travel when their children are sick. I really can’t understand you just dropping everything like this.”
Ning Yue smiled bitterly—how could anyone plan for a child’s illness?
Yan Hui continued: “I don’t think you’re ready to work, but if you are ready, I still hope you’ll consider trying at our company. We can discuss compensation and benefits—your abilities are evident.”
Ning Yue shook her head: “Thank you, but salary and benefits aren’t my main concerns right now.” She paused, feeling the need to express herself, “Many things don’t require perfect preparation before starting. Being pushed into something is often the norm, which is why some people are lucky and others aren’t. I know my work condition is much worse than usual. But fortunately, my boss can accept this, and my colleagues give me space. These things are more important to me than position and salary.”
Yan Hui seemed to disagree, made a “tsk” sound, politely ended the topic, and hung up.
Ning Yue thought she had probably lost an opportunity for career advancement.
The company had its leave application process. Ning Yue submitted her leave request through the internal mobile app, and after Qin Can approved it, it went to HR. HR usually didn’t interfere, just recording it for salary calculations at month-end and bonus considerations at quarter and year-end. So when Qin Can saw HR’s notice, he blinked hard and read it carefully again to make sure he wasn’t seeing things wrong.
“Hey, Old Qiu, what are you playing at? I need people right now, how could you lay off Ning Yue?”
It turned out that while the leave request was approved, HR had immediately followed up with a layoff list, with Ning Yue’s name prominently featured.
“The company’s been laying people off recently, as you know. Cost-cutting measures!” Manager Qiu laughed it off on the phone. “Besides, this list wasn’t made arbitrarily—all departments submitted names based on their situations.”
Qin Can furrowed his thick brows: “How many were laid off from Legal?”
“The group’s legal department hasn’t laid anyone off in years, other departments have been complaining a lot. Your President Luo had no choice, right?” Manager Qiu’s words were all pleasant, but they made Qin Can’s blood boil.
“Can it be reversed?”
“It’s final.” Manager Qiu suddenly lowered his voice mysteriously, “Lawyer Qin, I asked President Luo if we needed your opinion on laying off people from your department. She said you don’t have hiring authority.”
Qin Can opened his mouth but was stuck. He didn’t have hiring authority! At most, he could submit requirements, but after headquarters confirmed and signed off, the group’s legal department would uniformly report to HR. How to use people and where to assign them weren’t Qin Can’s decisions. Just like at the beginning, even though he was a hundred percent dissatisfied with Ning Yue, he had to accept it. Now, even though he desperately didn’t want to lose this person, he had no right to say “no”!
Qin Can hung up the phone, grabbed his coat, and rushed out.
Zhong Tianming was startled by the door slamming, looking up from his case files just as Pan Jie came in from outside: “What’s wrong? Who upset him again?”
Pan Jie pursed her lips: “Who else but President Luo?”
Lawyer Qian had been called back to handle documents these days and was frowning every day. Listening to his wife’s nagging at home every day, he desperately needed a business trip to relieve some pressure. He also stopped work to gossip: “Luo Yating? How did she upset him?”
“This quarter’s layoff list came down, Ning Yue’s on it.”
“All this fuss over an administrative staff?” Lawyer Qian was rarely in the office and didn’t understand many things.
“It’s not about who it is, it’s about who made the decision!” Zhong Tianming explained, “I heard the entire group legally only laid off one person, turns out it’s her! I’ve been wondering if I should update my resume these past few days!”
Pan Jie walked back to her seat, saying meaningfully: “If it were you being laid off, the boss might not even bother to care!”
Zhong Tianming gave Pan Jie an innocent look, earning himself a slap.
How sharp was Lawyer Qian? Years of litigation experience had trained his keen ability to read between the lines. “What do you mean? Isn’t Ning Yue married with a child? Besides, there’s such an age gap between them…” Lawyer Qian suddenly stopped, “Wasn’t it said that little Zhong liked Ning Yue?”
Zhong Tianming was bewildered: “What? What are you all talking about?” Then he quickly stood up, raising three fingers to Pan Jie, “I swear I’ve never messed with other women! I only mess with one!”
Pan Jie swatted his hand away, “We’re in the office, be professional! Mess with whoever you want after work, but during work hours, just focus on completing the summary analysis for the subsidiaries! I want it tomorrow!”
Pan Jie sat at her desk, propping her chin, staring blankly at her computer. Qin Can and Ning Yue? She didn’t want to believe it either, but the way Qin Can looked at Ning Yue and his attitude towards her just wasn’t right! Switching hands, Pan Jie thought of something else—what was the relationship between Ning Yue’s husband and that investment banker woman called Tian Qiuzi? By this time, Zhong Tianming had already explained to Lawyer Qian how the rumors between him and Ning Yue started. He stood up, leaning on Pan Jie’s cubicle wall: “Jie, you’ve got to help me think of something, someone’s reputation is ruined!”
A face sponge flew out, which Zhong Tianming deftly caught, saying seriously: “Don’t you find it strange? How did this spread so quickly?”
Pan Jie also seemed to suddenly realize: “Yeah, it is strange. Do you remember how Ning Yue came here? She didn’t go through recruitment at all, just pushed in from above! And HR was told to be flexible about her leave and work hours. That means Ning Yue has connections. Plus, last time when Chief Qin wanted to fire Ning Yue, a department immediately went to President Luo about wanting her. President Luo usually doesn’t pay much attention to things below. I bet she doesn’t even know there’s someone called Zhong Tianming in our department, but how did she specifically notice Ning Yue?”
Zhong Tianming and Lawyer Qian looked at each other, deeply agreeing with Pan Jie’s words.
Although Qin Can’s department was part of the subsidiary, it shared the same building with headquarters. They were on the 14th floor, while the Group Legal Center led by Luo Yating occupied the scenic 18th floor. From the 19th floor up were the senior executives’ offices, with their exclusive elevator access.
Though Luo Yating held the title of Vice President, she wielded far less real power compared to other vice presidents, serving at best as an advisor—and often an ignored one at that.
Qin Can stormed up to the 18th floor and directly knocked on Luo Yating’s office door. Her secretary couldn’t stop him and rushed in behind him. Luo Yating was on the phone; she waved for her secretary to leave first, then gestured for Qin Can to sit.
Qin Can remain standing stiffly at her desk, waiting for her to finish her call.
Luo Yating didn’t mind and quickly ended her call, smiling as she asked what brought him here.
Luo Yating was not just not ugly, but quite beautiful. Her beauty had edges, an outward-radiating androgynous appeal. While charisma is hard to define, some people blend into crowds while others stand out among thousands. Luo Yating was the latter.
Unfortunately, this kind of striking beauty wasn’t to Qin Can’s taste—in fact, he strongly disliked it. One person’s honey is another’s poison; what others found captivating, Qin Can found jarring. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. Those who had tried to match them up later regretted giving up, while Qin Can thought they were all blind. As for Luo Yating…
Legend had it that once when Luo Yating was drunk, she discussed Qin Can with friends: “There’s a type of man who acts like a son to his mother at home, then marries and acts like a son to his wife, all while claiming to be the breadwinner. For such men, ‘bride’ just means ‘new mother’! His mother passed him on to me, so I became his new mom! Such men are fundamentally selfish to the extreme—they won’t even show consideration for their mothers!”
Somehow these words reached Qin Can’s ears. Though he showed no reaction at the time, from then on, his previously subtle attempts to overthrow Luo Yating’s rule became open rebellion. Under these circumstances, Qin Can’s department stood out among all departments under the Legal Center, different in every way.
Qin Can get straight to the point, explaining his purpose in a few words.
Luo Yating maintained her composure, never rushing anything, and had her secretary bring Qin Can water. Then she said, “It’s just a minor administrative position. HR insisted I provide one name, but which department in the center has spare capacity? We can only let go of administrative staff like this.”
Just then, Luo Yating’s secretary entered with tea, properly placing it before Qin Can and about to withdraw. Qin Can suddenly pointed at her: “Fine! She’s also administrative staff—fire her and keep Ning Yue for me!”
Even Luo Yating’s good temper couldn’t prevent her eye from twitching. The young secretary naturally knew what they were discussing; hearing this, she forgot her place and stood frozen in the middle of the office instead of leaving. Only when Luo Yating reminded her to close the door on her way out did she snap out of it and retreat.
Luo Yating took a deep breath. To be fair, while Qin Can proudly waved the banner of disobedience, he had never acted maliciously, and his workability was outstanding among all lawyers. Truthfully, given time, Qin Can’s capabilities far exceeded those needed for a mere subsidiary’s legal director. He could probably even handle her position.
However, Luo Yating had no intention of yielding. She believed she could fully manage someone like Qin Can. Let him make trouble—when work needed doing, he’d do it properly. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t escape her control. Take this internal transfer—despite Qin Can’s many complaints, its progress to this point satisfied Luo Yating. Thus, she didn’t want to completely alienate Qin Can, always leaving some room for maneuver. Meanwhile, she understood that Qin Can was proud of his abilities and only respected those with real capability. Power, influence, and rank not only failed to suppress him but earned him contempt.
Though Luo Yating could no longer smile, she maintained her composure, pulling several papers from a folder and tossing them to Qin Can: “Director Qin, these are attendance records for all administrative staff in the center over the past six months. Someone with Ning Yue’s level of leave-taking is unique not just in the center but in the entire group.”
Qin Can didn’t even look, snorting coldly: “She has a young child at home, naturally she needs to leave to care for them.” Then he looked askance at Luo Yating and asked, “Lawyer Luo says it’s unique in the entire group—did you check everyone? I recall Director Wang from Marketing also has young children, and I often can’t find her. How’s her attendance record? Oh, right! I forgot—at her level, she just handles things without needing leave.” Qin Can clapped his hands, “Ah, most administrative staff are unmarried young women. They might not take leave, but what about the turnover rate—people leaving within a year? Have you calculated that?”
Luo Yating smiled instead of getting angry, “No need for Director Qin to worry about these matters. The internal transfer is nearly complete—I look forward to your team’s results.”
Qin Can: “Ning Yue cannot go!”
Luo Yating: “The company has its arrangements!”
Qin Can has never seen Luo Yating so “unreasonable,” experiencing firsthand how to rank Trump. Though disgusted enough to vomit, he could only endure it. He pushed back his chair, stood up, and slammed the door as he left.
If Qin Can have stopped there, he wouldn’t be Qin Can. Back in his office, he stubbornly dug through company web pages, searching for relevant regulations.
Just then, Pan Jie came in: “Director Qin, here’s our department’s quarterly budget. I’ve organized it—please review it. If it’s acceptable, I’ve already emailed it to you. Once you sign, we can submit it.”
“Leave it here.” Qin Can suddenly paused, eyeing the stack of forms in Pan Jie’s hands.
Pan Jie looked fearfully at what she was holding—was it a bomb?
Qin Can smile: “Hah! Luo Yating! Let’s see how this plays out!”
Around three in the afternoon, Manager Qiu stretched, rubbing his back as he stood up. Looking up, he saw Qin Can approaching with a smile: “Lawyer Qin! What brings you here?”
Manager Qiu was always polite, speaking with a servile tone regardless of whether addressing executives or youth. Zhong Tianming secretly said he must have been a traitor in his past life and hadn’t completely shed that nature in this reincarnation.
But Qin Can knew that in this group, many people couldn’t last five years, and even after ten years couldn’t stay on, but only this Old Qiu remained firmly rooted while group presidents came and went, and HR directors moved up and down.
“You’re too kind.” Qin Can smiled, walking alongside Manager Qiu out of the office, through the small hall. The HR floor had a large balcony where people smoked or sunbathed morning and afternoon. People used to do yoga there until the smoke drove them away.
Around 3:30, there weren’t many smokers. Qin Can took out a pack of cigarettes and handed it to Manager Qiu. Old Qiu looked at it: “Oh! Soft Zhonghua! I can’t accept this!”
Qin Can smiled, took it back, removed one for himself, lit one for Qiu Huancheng, then pushed the whole pack at him: “It’s just half a pack of cigarettes, what’s there to be afraid of!”
Qiu Huancheng was an old smoker, daring to accept even more expensive gifts. But receiving from Qin Can was like a mother hen accepting a weasel’s postpartum gift—wanting to refuse for fear of angering it into eating her, yet afraid accepting might be a trap he’d regret jumping into.
Seeing Qiu Huancheng’s hesitation, Qin Can smiled and withdrew it saying, “If you won’t smoke it, forget it.” He reached out to pull the lit cigarette from Qiu Huancheng’s mouth too, “Let’s not smoke at all!”
“No!” Qiu Huancheng quickly stopped him. “Young Qin, you’re just too hot-tempered. Youth, too much fire!” He continued puffing away at the lit one while pocketing the unlit one. Qin Can said, “You laid off our person, and now our department is short-staffed—what should I do?”
Qiu Huancheng just chuckled, his face obscured by smoke.
“If I convert Ning Yue to outsourced staff, can we keep her?”
Qiu Huancheng suddenly understood—so that’s what the young man was thinking. “There’s no problem with the system. The department director decides whether to keep or let go of outsourced staff and just needs to file it with HR. However, the outsourcing company must be designated by HR.”
“That’s no problem. I’ll follow your lead—you wouldn’t make things difficult for me, right?”
“Of course not. Also, outsourced staff costs come from the department budget.” Qiu Huancheng looked worriedly at Qin Can, “Your department’s budget isn’t very high, is it?”
Qin Can gritted his teeth, “Let’s not consider that for now.”
Qiu Huancheng knew about Qin Can’s conflict with Luo Yating and nodded without asking more. Then he remembered something else: “Oh right, many people won’t accept outsourced employment. You need to ask Ning Yue’s opinion first.”
“What’s there to disagree with? Isn’t it all the same working for the company?” Qin Can looked confused.
Qiu Huancheng showed a hint of pride—finally, something the great Lawyer Qin didn’t understand: “Of course it’s different. Company employment means you’re a formal employee. Outsourced staff contract with external labor companies and are sent here to work—they have no relationship with the company. Put it this way: whenever the company gives out holiday gifts, holds events, raises salaries, or gives bonuses, outsourced staff gets nothing. But they do just as much work. If the company has problems, they’re often the first to be blamed.”
“Like auxiliary police!” Qin Can immediately found an analogy.
There was recent news about someone arguing with a uniformed officer at a police station. When it made the news, the investigation revealed the uniformed person wasn’t police but auxiliary police—unrelated to the station!
Qiu Huancheng had seen it too and nodded: “Yes, like temporary workers. They do the hard work and take the blame. Honestly, management wants more outsourced staff. But who’s that stupid? No one wants to do it!”
Only then did Qin Can realize his idea might not be such a good solution after all.
The company’s storms meant little to Ning Yue in the hospital.
Her daily routine was simple yet tedious.
Starting the previous evening, she woke three or four times each night to help nurses monitor her child’s temperature changes. In the morning, she supervised the child’s various tests, medication, IV drips, nebulizer treatments, and massages as required by nurses. During doctor’s rounds, she had to accurately answer questions and raise any concerns, like sudden rashes appearing on the child’s body. During IV treatments, she arranged suitable games to help pass the time and maintain stable emotions, trying to avoid TV or video games. When her mother-in-law came to see her grandson, Ning Yue could briefly tend to personal hygiene, but after the first shower when her mother-in-law complained about delaying her return home to cook, Ning Yue stopped showering altogether. After lunch came more IV treatments, and Ning Yue had to rack her brains for ways to entertain the child.
Her elderly in-laws, needing afternoon naps until four and dinner after, basically didn’t come in the afternoons, so Ning Yue would sneak in some computer time for the child while she zoned out or read a bit. Hu Cheng usually came after 4:30 PM, staying until after dinner, mainly to play with the child. During this time, Ning Yue primarily managed the child’s meals, pre- and post-meal routines like hand-washing, mouth-rinsing, and teeth-cleaning, tidying the room to remove odors, plus washing and cleaning—barely getting a break. If she had any time, it was just enough to eat her meal.
After Hu Cheng left, mother and son would play games before bedtime, during which there was still nebulizer treatment, back-patting, and various medications to take. Once Hu Ziyuan fell asleep, Ning Yue would quietly climb out of bed and feel her child’s forehead. After confirming there were no changes, she would softly turn on the bathroom light, take her phone or a book inside, and only after closing the door could she finally exhale deeply, enjoying one of the few moments of freedom in her day.
Do you know why women insist that home bathrooms must be clean and tidy? Because that’s where mothers can find spiritual relaxation each day!
Ironically, though Ning Yue and Hu Cheng were husband and wife, their usual monthly time together didn’t match the duration of their child’s illness. Even when they did meet, there was a sense that not meeting might have been better. Looking at each other awkwardly, they were more distant than strangers! Besides accompanying their child, Hu Cheng only played with his phone. However, whenever Hu Ziyuan saw him on the phone, he wanted to play too, so after a few rounds, Hu Cheng gave up on his own.
Ning Yue noticed this and silently added a point in Hu Cheng’s ‘father’ column. Based on this point, she felt the urge to ask about the woman who answered the phone. But being just an impulse, it passed with some restraint. Ning Yue knew clearly that who it was didn’t matter; what mattered was what she would do after asking. Hu Cheng had become habitually unfaithful; he wasn’t bothered by being “caught,” relying only on “maintaining this family”!
Hu Ziyuan’s illness seemed to force out the “small” in Ning Yue’s character. During her reveries, she wondered if she was too lazy, too vain. For immediate comfort, she endured a scoundrel’s repeated deceptions, and traded her love for current wealth and leisure! Though legally married with a certificate, they lived cautiously, like illicit lovers who couldn’t face the light!
“For the child’s sake, endure it for now!” Was this her excuse, or had she truly denied herself?
Ning Yue didn’t know.
Before finding the answer, she didn’t want to rashly anger Hu Cheng, much less break the family’s balance. So, better not to ask for now! Whether Tian Qiuzi or Tian Chunzi, treat them like storms passing outside. She would close the door, light her fire, and warm herself! Looking at her sleeping child again, Ning Yue drew strength to carry on from that angelic, peaceful sleeping face!
Occasionally, Hu Cheng would ask how Ning Yue cared for their child.
Hearing that Ning Yue had to wake up several times at night to take the child’s temperature or assist nurses with monitoring, he told her not to get up, to let the nurses handle it, saying firmly: “You’re making our money go to waste doing this.” Ning Yue understood herself: whether nurses came or not, she would wake from her dreams every two or three hours and reflexively feel her child’s temperature. Otherwise, she couldn’t sleep. Hearing Ning Yue’s explanation, Hu Cheng furrowed his thick brows, saying with some displeasure: “Then I can’t help. What do you want me to do?”
At such times, Ning Yue felt the despair of a dead-end conversation: I don’t need you to tell me what to do! I just want to talk! Just find a “person” to talk to!
But she wasn’t a little girl anymore. The fragile thoughts flashed by, and she quickly consoled herself: if he wasn’t protecting her, why would he think of solutions? Wouldn’t playing deaf and dumb be better?
However, this thought only tortured her more. She didn’t like this. It wasn’t that she disliked Hu Cheng’s gentleness or his protection; she just couldn’t bear the pain that came with them. All her strength, accumulated over the years, had become a towering mountain to bury this pain. It could withstand wind and sun, endure heaven’s collapse and earth’s rupture, but couldn’t bear even a hint of Hu Cheng’s care!
Just a bit of tenderness could ignite the flames within the mountain’s breast. It was hellfire, erupting from the earth’s core, from within the mountain’s belly, from the abyss, swiftly destroying everything! All Ning Yue’s strength couldn’t stop this fire because it was the fire of her humanity, of her womanhood!
Her desires, her emotions, and her instincts were all in this fire!
Afterward, Ning Yue became increasingly careful in maintaining distance from Hu Cheng. Silence and a fixed smile became her trademark. Hu Cheng wasn’t stupid; he felt as if they were back home, seeing again the Ning Yue who willingly hid in the shadows.
Hu Cheng strongly disliked this version of Ning Yue. That detachment and politeness made his blood boil, yet he couldn’t express it. He couldn’t understand why, when he was so good to Ning Yue, she always seemed to keep her distance. Did she know something? No! Hu Cheng believed that with Ning Yue’s pride, if she knew about these things, she would immediately turn against him!
On Hu Ziyuan’s fourth day in the hospital, Hu Cheng didn’t come. Ning Yue went to the pharmacy to buy masks for Hu Ziyuan so he could walk briefly in the hospital corridor. Seeing a scale in the pharmacy, she weighed herself and found she had lost three jin.
Meanwhile, Hu Cheng spent the night at Tian Qiuzi’s place.
Tian Qiuzi told him that Ning Yue was on the company’s layoff list. When mentioning how President Chen gave her face and granted all her requests, those slender, passionate phoenix eyes glanced sideways at Hu Cheng. Hu Cheng saw, knowing he should ask why, but he didn’t care now.
“Oh. Is that so?” Hu Cheng responded, indifferent to anything as long as he didn’t have to repay money.
He felt somewhat bored. At home was an emotionless, uninteresting wife, and before him was an overly clever mistress. After conquering these women, he found they weren’t as excellent as he had imagined, always having various flaws that made them tasteless.
Hu Cheng’s silence irritated Tian Qiuzi, who blurted out: “For President Chen’s money, we need to give him some sweeteners. Otherwise, it might not last long.”
Hu Cheng glanced at Tian Qiuzi, saying with an ambiguous smile: “Fine! Whatever amount you say. Just ask the accountant directly.”
Tian Qiuzi suddenly remembered her recent visit to Hu Cheng’s company, where the accountant had worn a tearful expression at the mention of money, saying they were losing heavily, almost burning through investors’ money, even begging Tian Qiuzi to find more investment!
Only remember me when there’s no money! Tian Qiuzi didn’t mind about repaying—it wasn’t her money anyway. However, she had an ominous feeling, vaguely sensing she had forgotten something. This made her hesitant when speaking to Hu Cheng now. Hearing his evasion, she probed: “President Chen’s money is different. You needed it urgently then, just as a temporary cover. I know business is tough for you now, but if you could cooperate with President Le, things could work out with President Chen too.”
Take President Le’s investment money to repay President Chen’s loan. Hmm, plus interest! Hu Cheng felt unhappy—even if I secure investment, why should I repay your favor? The high-interest loan was your arrangement; if it needs repaying, you repay it, it’s not my business! However, he knew these words would only anger Tian Qiuzi and her backers, and he still needed this money.
Hu Cheng smiled, with pointed meaning: “With you there, things will naturally work out with President Chen.” He reached out to embrace Tian Qiuzi, intimately tapping her nose.
Just a lover’s intimate gesture could melt the millennia of ice in a woman’s heart. Hu Cheng was confident, and Tian Qiuzi didn’t disappoint, softly nestling into his embrace, giggling, seeking more tenderness. Hu Cheng went along with it, but after a brief entanglement felt bored, pushed Tian Qiuzi away, and made an excuse, planning to leave after a few perfunctory words.
Tian Qiuzi sensed Hu Cheng’s subtle change and suddenly remembered Ning Yue’s words “You won’t be the last,” making her heart jump: old love never matches new romance—had she become like that yellow-faced Ning Yue in Hu Cheng’s heart? At least Ning Yue had a wife’s status and a child, but what about her?
Tian Qiuzi touched her stomach, and that previous thought grew stronger.
She stood up too, went to the wine cabinet, turned, and handed Hu Cheng a glass of red wine, blocking his way. With a gentle push, Hu Cheng sat on the window-side sofa. Tian Qiuzi knelt beside his feet, looking up slightly, incredibly humble yet devout, saying: “Brother Cheng, you’ve only known me for five years, but I’ve known you for eight.”
Hu Cheng was stunned.
Tian Qiuzi continued: “Eight years ago, I had just graduated and come to this city, without any foundation, unable to close any deals. The company was about to fire me, and the landlord wanted to evict me, and my family also… anyway, I seemed to have no way out. Then I met you, in a bar. You drank with me and told me it wasn’t a big deal even if I couldn’t close deals and got fired. The experience itself was wealth. You said not every basketball needs to go through the hoop to have meaning—the arc of the ball’s flight through the sky itself has meaning. I remembered that. Later, I changed jobs, moved into a basement, accepted everything, and started over.”
Hu Cheng smiled: “I had such poetic moments? I thought I must have rescued you from being fired, given you a big deal or something, to be worth remembering for so long?”
Tian Qiuzi looked up seriously: “A big deal could only save me temporarily—could it save me for life? My work ultimately depended on myself to continue. But without those words of yours, if I had stayed stuck in my mindset, my life’s endpoint would have been when I walked out of that bar.”
Looking at the serious Tian Qiuzi, Hu Cheng also became solemn: “Really? I did go to that bar you mentioned, but I don’t remember meeting you or saying those things.”
Tian Qiuzi smiled, relaxing: “You were drunk talking, I was choosing between life and death. Of course, you don’t remember, but I’ll never forget.”
Tian Qiuzi gently raised her jade-like arms, softly hanging them around Hu Cheng’s neck, her beautiful eyes full of emotion yet unusually firm as she gazed at Hu Cheng, placing a kiss without any seductive intent on his brow.
Hu Cheng only felt the moisture between his brows, then heard intimate murmuring in his ear: “Thank you!”
So many unspoken meanings, so much tender affection, all fell upon his eardrum with that “thank you,” playing gently, echoing slowly… Hu Cheng felt a surge of heroic spirit suddenly arise, followed by a hot flow in his lower abdomen, his whole body trembling, his arms that had been lazily hanging at his sides now like steel bars gripping Tian Qiuzi’s waist. Tian Qiuzi let out a soft “ah,” her body lifted, then fell onto the large bed in the bedroom…
One glance from you and my life is forever changed.
On one side was boundless spring scenery, on the other was facing the cold moon alone, yet each found its place, neither envying the other. Ning Yue didn’t care whether the moon outside was full or waning; she only cared about the thermometer in her hand.
“The fever’s gone!” the nurse said softly. “No fever since two this afternoon—should be fine now.”
“Thank you!” Ning Yue’s lips curved upward uncontrollably, her eyes stinging. Fortunately, the room was dim, sparing her the embarrassment of being seen.
“Get some good rest. These past few days have been tiring.” The nurses, now familiar with Ning Yue, consoled her gently.
That night, Ning Yue truly, properly fell asleep.