Chapter 74: Clarification People can change, feelings can fade with time…

In the spacious changing room, Fang Chuning stood in front of the mirror buttoning up her shirt. Today she would start working at the company, but she wasn’t quite sure what position Fang Hong had given her, so she decided not to dress too formally.

“Young Miss, the family head is waiting for you,” Manager Ye reminded from outside the changing room.

“Alright, I know.”

After getting dressed, Fang Chuning went downstairs, glanced at Fang Hong who was reading the newspaper, and walked towards the dining room.

After finishing breakfast and returning, Fang Hong was still sitting there, no longer reading the newspaper but smoking. Her eyes, strikingly similar to Fang Chuning’s, were slightly narrowed. Red lips exhaled white smoke as she leaned back on the sofa, her demeanor lazy, lacking her usual composed and steady posture.

At over forty years old, she looked like she had just entered her thirties. Standing next to Fang Chuning, they could be mistaken for sisters.

There were still ten minutes before work hours, and on the first floor of the Century Building, men and women rushing to work hurried by.

Zheng Hao was one of them. He had just finished breakfast outside and was sweating profusely. Instead of going straight to the elevator, he stood against the wall, wiping away the sweat that kept pouring out with a tissue. Halfway through, he got goosebumps from the cold air conditioning in the lobby.

“It’s like they don’t want electricity,” Zheng Hao muttered. Suddenly, someone patted his shoulder. He turned to see a colleague from the same unit. “Senior, you just arrived too?”

The colleague nodded, “Why aren’t you going up? What are you doing standing here?”

Zheng Hao smiled, “I sweated a lot. Since it’s not work time yet, I’m just resting a bit before going up.”

“Eh? Don’t you drive to work?”

Slightly clenching the tissue in his hand, Zheng Hao felt a bit embarrassed, “I just started working, I don’t have a car yet.”

The colleague, seemingly not noticing his embarrassment, smiled and comforted him, “It’s okay, if you work hard, you’ll soon have your own car.”

Zheng Hao just smiled without saying anything.

At that moment, a group of people in elite attire entered through the main entrance of the lobby. Those who hadn’t made it to the elevators instinctively made way. Zheng Hao was also pulled closer to the wall by his colleague. Having worked here for several days, this was the first time he encountered such a situation. “What’s going on?”

“Shh,” his colleague gestured for him to be quiet. Zheng Hao became more curious and peeked over the shoulder of the person in front of him. He saw a woman walk in from outside. She was handsome-looking, with a calm demeanor and full of mature charm. Zheng Hao couldn’t help but marvel at his consistently good eyesight.

Then he saw a young woman following behind her, who looked about his age. The two had strikingly similar features. Zheng Hao was stunned, and by the time he reacted, they had already entered the private elevator for the upper floors.

The excited colleague whispered in his ear: “I can’t believe how lucky we are today, to run into the big boss! This is only the second time I’ve seen her!”

“The person just now was… the big boss?”

“Yes!”

“Then…” Zheng Hao remembered the younger woman following behind. Recalling her beautiful and cold features, he felt his face flush and his heart race. “Who was the one following the boss?”

“That’s the big boss’s daughter! Haven’t you been following the recent hot topics online? She just returned from abroad. I heard she’ll be taking on the role of CEO in the company. Maybe we’ll have a chance to see her at work in the future. By the way, she looks even better in person than in the magazines!”

Zheng Hao hadn’t seen the magazines, but he agreed with her words because this was the first time his heart had raced so fast for a woman.

“If you could connect with someone like that, it would truly be a step to the top.”

As his colleague’s wistful voice echoed in his ears, Zheng Hao looked towards the upper floor elevator, his eyes showing longing beyond his station.

“Let’s go, it’s almost time to clock in.”

Zheng Hao smiled slightly, “Mm.”

…

Fang Chuning was assigned an office, just below Fang Hong’s office, and was also given an assistant. The office was large, with a collective employee work area outside. The entire building, except for Fang Hong’s floor which was a sole office, had employee areas on other floors.

Fang Chuning quickly immersed herself in work. The data reflected on her computer screen was imprinted on her glasses. She was used to wearing blue light filtering glasses when looking at the computer during work.

There was a knock on the office door. Fang Chuning thought it was the new assistant and didn’t look up.

Until she felt someone walk to her side, her eyes finally left the computer and looked up. They were very close, and the familiar fragrance wafting from the man made her momentarily dazed.

“How is it? Any parts you don’t understand?”

The low, sexy voice made her eartip tingle slightly. Fang Chuning tilted her head slightly, moving a bit further from him, “Why are you here?”

Li Yipeng lowered his gaze, looking at her somewhat hurt, “Do you dislike seeing me that much?”

Fang Chuning glanced at him, her gaze falling back on the computer, “No, but you could have told me before coming.”

“With just a ceiling’s distance between us, telling you might not have been quick enough.”

What an excuse, Fang Chuning said impatiently: “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing, just wanted to come see you.” He paused at this, his lowered gaze lingering on her face, his tone nostalgic, “After all, we haven’t seen each other for a long time.”

His words were very straightforward.

Five years ago, Fang Chuning would have just thought he was being eccentric again, but after three years together, even if she was slow to react, she had long noticed that this person liked her.

Countless people liked her, but this was the first time she felt troubled by someone’s affection. If it were anyone else, she could pretend not to know anything and just ignore it.

But this person happened to be the one who had taken care of her for three years and saved her life several times.

This kind of emotion made her very uncomfortable, the kind she couldn’t respond to and didn’t want to respond to.

After holding back for a while, Fang Chuning typed on the keyboard and said in a muffled voice, “We have no possibility.”

“I know,” Li Yipeng replied quickly, without hesitation. Seeing that she was still unwilling to raise her head and face him, he felt a mixture of sorrow and helplessness in his heart, “I just wanted you to know, that’s all. You don’t need to respond to me or feel any pressure.”

This was a mature adult’s way of silently protecting the girl he liked.

Perhaps he would feel jealous or envious, but she didn’t need to know that. It was enough for her to know that he would always stand by her side.

Fang Chuning hesitated a little, slowly raising her head, “Is that really how you feel?”

The man propped one hand on the wooden desk, bending his slender waist, his narrow eyes twinkling with a smile, his tone much lighter, “That’s really how I feel. If you feel sorry for me, why not treat me to a cup of coffee?”

At this, Fang Chuning suddenly wasn’t sure if he was joking or what, but the pressure did lessen.

“Coffee is simple.”

Fang Chuning stood up and walked to the office door, opened it and called out to the assistant outside, “Hey you, help me brew a cup of coffee and bring it in.”

After the coffee arrived, Fang Chuning took it and personally brought it to the table, looking at the man, “Here, drink slowly. If it’s not enough, just tell me.”

Li Yipeng laughed, striding over to sit on the sofa, “Join me?”

“Maybe later, I still have some work to finish.”

Fang Chuning returned to her desk. A moment later, she couldn’t help but frown and turned to look at the man, “Why are you staring at me?”

Li Yipeng took a sip of coffee and said leisurely, “I just think your return to the country this time will be quite lively.”

Fang Chuning: ??

Li Yipeng’s eyes darkened, “The news of your engagement to Jiajia, and the hot search topic today where your ex-boyfriend confirmed your past relationship online. You two are now the main characters of the hot topic.”

Her signing hand paused, but Fang Chuning remained unaffected, “That’s his business, it has nothing to do with me.”

Li Yipeng looked at her for a long time, his thin lips curling up slightly, “Indeed, you don’t need to care about these trivial matters.”

She was already standing at the highest point, overlooking everything. How could the storms of the outside world catch her eye?

In the afternoon, Fang Chuning didn’t return with Fang Hong, but got into another car, with Liu Yi, whom she was familiar with, as the driver.

Since she got in the car, Liu Yi hadn’t stopped talking. Fang Chuning could understand her gratified feelings and let her speak, occasionally responding with a word or two.

Today’s sunset was particularly red. Through the gaps between the towering buildings, one could see the setting sun. Fang Chuning suddenly felt a bit of mood, “Liu Yi, it’s still early, I want to go to the seaside.”

“Eh, alright.”

The car turned in a new direction. As it sped along, the car drove onto the coastal bridge. The sunset became clearer, with clouds and the crimson sunset reflecting on the sea surface, like a painting, desolate yet romantic.

Fang Chuning stood on the bridge, took out a cigarette from her pocket and put it in her mouth, lit it with a lighter. She heard light footsteps beside her but didn’t look, just slightly raised her chin and gently exhaled white smoke.

Until she had smoked half the cigarette, the person beside her didn’t speak, and neither did she. Fang Chuning extinguished the cigarette, her voice showing no fluctuation, “You don’t need to go to the trouble of following me, it’s meaningless.”

These words were undoubtedly hurtful. Xu Muzhou’s heart felt like it had been pricked by a needle. He pressed his lips tightly, his voice hoarse and choked: “Ning Ning……”

Fang Chuning turned to look at him. Today he wasn’t wearing a baseball cap. The sunset added a hint of hazy beauty to his appearance. His head of short pink hair was blown by the summer breeze. This color would be hard for most people to pull off, but on him it was stunningly beautiful. His skin was snow-white, his features exquisitely gorgeous, completely like a character who had walked out of a color manga.

Five years had passed, and the boy’s features had matured. A hint of indescribable allure shone through his pure appearance. He seemed to not dare meet her gaze, lowering his eyelashes timidly when she looked over.

Five years ago, Fang Chuning might have been captivated by him.

Xu Muzhou glanced at the cigarette butt in her hand, his pale lips moving slightly, “You… didn’t smoke before.”

“You followed me all this way just to say that?” Fang Chuning tugged at the corner of her mouth, taking out another cigarette and lighting it in her mouth, “People change, it has nothing to do with you.”

Nothing to do with you

With you

Nothing

The woman’s voice kept echoing in his mind. Xu Muzhou instantly lost his voice, his heart aching painfully. He didn’t even dare to look her in the eye, afraid to see the indifference in her eyes.

“I… looked for you for a long time…” he struggled to say, stopping halfway through, afraid she would say it had nothing to do with her.

Over the past five years, he had spent four years looking for her, going from disappointment to despair. He never knew that a person’s emotions could be tormented to such an extent.

Fang Chuning looked at him, her face showing no ripples.

That youthful restlessness of their teenage years had long faded with time.

“In a while, I have an engagement party. If you’re interested, come and attend.”

Without paying any more attention to his heartbroken gaze, Fang Chuning returned to the car and drove away.