A heartbeat, a lifetime

Chapter 40 The Most Familiar Stranger (4)
"Yeah." I wiped a lens and put it away carefully, my back was so sore that I almost couldn't stand up.

"Are you going to accept Roewe's offer?"

"Not yet." Xu Zhuo squatted with me, "Why did you come back suddenly?"

In front of my best friend, I couldn't control my emotions, and my eyes started to turn red again.

Xu Zhuo was taken aback, and asked repeatedly: "What's the matter?"

Even the best friend, I still feel that I can’t talk about it——

What to say?

Let’s just say I’m really stupid like this, I knew early on that my parents got into a car accident and left because of his words, and even Xu Zhuo tried to persuade me again and again, “Do you really want to do this”, but I still did it without hesitation up.

I was crying more and more loudly, I could barely breathe.

Xu Zhuo just hugged me tenderly, "It's okay, I'm still here."

I cried and said with a sob, "I'm really sad..."

"Is it... because of the things mentioned in the newspaper?" Xu Zhuo asked hesitantly, "There are also some on the Internet. Are those people talking about your relationship with Shen Qinjun?"

I really don't have the energy to care about what those paparazzi who are chasing after me and what people on the Internet say. The almost anxious shame and pain have covered all my emotions at the moment.Only the embrace of a good friend makes me feel a little warmer.

Xu Zhuo didn't dare to ask any more questions, and helped me to sit on the sofa, then got up and went to the kitchen to pour water.

I gradually stopped crying, and suddenly I heard Xu Zhuo's surprised voice, "...is that Shen Qinjun's car?"

I froze, and looked back.

"The license plate ends with 1111, is it his car?"

While I was hesitating, there was a bang on the door.

Xu Zhuo rushed to open the door before me. There was no sound from the entrance, only she pretended to be lively and said, "Mr. Shen, are you here to look for Bai Xi? I'm just going down to buy soy sauce, so please talk slowly."

I didn't even have time to stop her before the door slammed shut.

The footsteps were soft, and he came to the side. My eyes were still swollen, and I didn't know what expression to use to look at him. My body was as stiff as a stone sculpture.

Only the brain was running wildly, wondering why he came here.

Is it to humiliate me in person again?

……

"Why didn't you answer the phone?" His voice was flat and slightly hoarse.

I didn't speak.

He leaned over abruptly, grabbed my hands, seemed to check them, and let them go again.

I subconsciously withdrew my hands, and under the shadow of his body, I just said, "I don't want to see you."

"Really?" His voice returned to that cold and calm, "I just want to make sure that you have moved out."

Perhaps this is just my remaining dignity, I said word by word: "I will not go back again."

He smiled softly, "That would be great."

We had nothing to say anymore, I heard his footsteps leaving and called him, "Shen Qinjun."

His footsteps stopped.

I summoned up the courage to look up, looked at his strange and handsome face, and said softly, "I'm really sorry about your parents."

He slightly raised the corners of his lips, smiling ironically and coldly.

"But like you, I have no parents. Besides, why I lost them... We all know the reason."

He was startled.

"If I held grudges like you..., I wouldn't be fooled by you at all." I tried to smile, "Shen Qinjun, you are just deceiving...someone who is willing to believe in you."

In the room where needles could be heard falling, we faced each other like this until he left without any response, and I stood there for an unknown amount of time, when the sudden light hurt my eyes.

"Bai Xi, what's wrong with you?" Xu Zhuo screamed in fright, "What are you doing standing here alone? Why don't you turn on the light?"

It turned out to be very late.

The burning pain in my knee finally came back, I smiled at her, "It's nothing, I figured out one thing."

"What did Shen Qinjun tell you?" She sat next to me, "Did I tell you how to compensate you? Or between you..."

"There is nothing between us." I said nonchalantly, "By the way, last time you said that your law firm is donating books to some schools in mountainous areas?"

"Yeah..." Xu Zhuo hesitated, probably because he didn't know why I asked this all of a sudden.

"I still have some money on hand, and I want to donate a few libraries to them."

"That would be great. I'll help you get in touch."

"Get in touch now." I stared at her with piercing eyes, "Right now."

Xu Zhuo opened his mouth slightly, but he didn't refute me, he just said, "Okay."

I moved my laptop, sat next to Xu Zhuo, and started logging into various bank accounts to check the balance.Part of the dividend that Shen Qinjun gave me before was spent on the stamp duty and commission for the equity transfer, and the rest remained unchanged.

"Are you all going to donate?" Xu Zhuo looked at me in surprise, "All?"

"I saved some money from my own work. Besides, Mai Zhendong invited me to work in his studio." I said lightly, "Why do you keep so much money?"

After all, he is my good friend for so many years. Xu Zhuo didn't say anything, just sent emails one after another, contacting me about the donation, and didn't wake me up until early in the morning, "Go to sleep. We will reply to the news tomorrow. Then contact me about buying books."

After a whole day of tossing and falling, I am indeed tired.

When I fell asleep in this long-future room, I suddenly felt that life had drawn a big circle, and no matter how bad it was, I would just return to this origin.

Bai Xi, you still have to cheer up and live a good life.

I woke up very early the next day.

There was still no movement in Xu Zhuo's room next door, so I went downstairs to buy breakfast and came up, turned on the computer to check emails.There have been several replies sporadically, and I was about to click in when an automatic pop-up window popped up suddenly.

I saw the headlines of the entertainment section for the first time.

Qin Mou's agent hinted to the media that the misunderstanding between her and her ex-fiancé has been resolved, and the wedding may be held again at a suitable time.

Just one night later, I suddenly felt that these were not important to me anymore.

It is true that only Qin Mou is worthy of Shen Qinjun.

My mind is so scheming like theirs, life is really too tiring, I really can't do it.

Anyway, I had already clicked in to read it, so I clicked into the financial section again, and the reporter of the website made a special feature, reporting the whole story of the incident in great detail.After reading it word by word, my name was mentioned in the middle of the text.

Whether the Shen family or the Gao family can have the last laugh depends on a low-key shareholder on the board of directors of the group.Both sides took a lot of effort to fight for it.Takasaki offered a purchase price that was much higher than the market price, but due to personal emotional reasons, the shareholder finally transferred all the shares in his hand to Shen Qinjun, who had a tight capital chain at the time.

……

According to an insider who did not want to be named publicly, Shen Qinjun spent a lot of effort in the process of "winning" the support of the female shareholder.Some people also said that the cancellation of Shen Qinjun's previous engagement was related to this female shareholder surnamed Su.According to the announcement issued by Roewe, this part of the equity is the original stock. The reporter speculates that this person should be the daughter of Su Xiangyang, the first chief engineer of Roewe.For more than ten years, Ms. Su has been very low-key...

Most of the content in the report is quite true, but the reporter's position is somewhat interesting.

On the surface, it was saying that Shen Qinjun had won a complete victory, but it seemed to point out that his methods were quite despicable.Of course, as mentioned at the end of the full text, Shen Qinjun's attempt to digest all of QL's shares may not be a matter that can be resolved overnight.

When he was in a daze, Xu Zhuo came out sleepily, seeing me sitting in the living room, he was a little surprised, "Why did you wake up so early?"

I turned off the webpage as if nothing had happened, "You go to work after breakfast."

"I've asked for leave, let's go with you." Xu Zhuo yawned.

I knew she was afraid that something might happen to me, so I was silent for a while, "But you just changed companies, is it not good to ask for leave?"

"It's okay, who is not in a hurry?" She said carelessly, "I'll wash my face first."

For a whole day, we traveled all over the book wholesale markets in Feihai, and ordered the reference books and extracurricular books that the other school urgently needed.

When paying the deposit, the sum of money was withdrawn from the account, and I felt very happy.

On the contrary, Xu Zhuo grinned with distress.

"You will come back after all the money is gone." She muttered in a low voice while checking the list.

I couldn't help laughing, "I have dinner with Mai Zhendong tonight, do you want to come together?"

"Really?" She was a little skeptical, "Where is the appointment?"

I could only show her the text message, and she was finally relieved, "Then I won't bother you. I'd better go back to the company, there are still some things to finish."

Xu Zhuo escorted me to the door of the coffee shop before leaving.

I ordered a blueberry muffin, which was delivered deliciously, and I munched on it.Mai Zhendong sat down in front of me and said with a smile, "You look in good spirits."

"How bad can it be?" I motioned him to sit down opposite the booth, and said vaguely, "Do you want to try it? This muffin is quite delicious."

Mai Zhendong casually threw the car keys on the table, sat down and took a large piece of it rudely.

"Last time you said you were going to Swiiya for a filming project, can you still sign up?"

With a large piece of muffin in his mouth, Mai Zhendong's expression froze.

"Are you kidding me?" I frowned, "I've thought about it, and I want to try it."

"I just said that casually at the time." He was a little embarrassed, "Besides, it was an NG project, and it was very different from the portraits you took before."

"I found out about it on the Internet. Are you going to the rainforest? I'm very interested, even if it's a shot." I took a big sip of coffee and stared at Lao Mai, "Master, help me to talk about it. You also know that I have good basic skills."

"Nonsense." He thought for a while, and finally said, "Well, the fashion week will start again in two weeks, and you and I will go to Europe to fight."

"I'm not going." I shook my head.

His eyes popped out, looking like he was about to get angry.

I lowered my head to stir the coffee, and the silver spoon hit the cup wall from time to time, making impolite ding ding dong dong sounds.

The surface of the dark brown liquid tremblingly reflected my face, which looked slightly sad.

"Bai Xi, I'm just talking about the NG project. It's too dangerous there, and the political situation is unstable recently. The people who go there are old men..."

"Is it more dangerous than here?" I said quietly. "Is it more dangerous than these invisible hearts?"

He was speechless for a moment.

In the days that followed, I was much busier than usual.

In addition to contacting the library, I also went to the headquarters of NG for an interview. Of course, it was Lao Mai who accompanied me to go. The so-called familiar people are easy to handle. Soon I was confirmed as a photography assistant and returned to my old job.

Because of the unstable political situation in Swiya, and the tropical rainforest area of ​​the Congo Basin, mosquito epidemics are also prevalent. Before we left, NG gave many safety lectures.My partner is a senior photographer from NG. Compared with the photographers in the fashion circle, they are another kind of existence.

If the bigwigs in the fashion circle are exquisite and delicate, and have an obsessive-compulsive pursuit of beauty, then the photographers of NG are rough, and they have a fanatical pursuit of that kind of brutal and full of vitality. Gentlemen.They also smoked cigarettes, especially strong ones, and they spoke very rudely, and they seemed to have no distinction between men and women in their eyes.When discussing shooting techniques in the conference room, it is common to slap the table and curse.

But this kind of life seems really good.

At least I don't have time to pay attention to those gossip news, and I don't have the energy to spare to think about what happened before.

The preparatory work was carried out for about two months, and the work in the library was also going smoothly. The school sent a photo, saying that it had set up an extracurricular reading class in the student curriculum, and invited me to attend the inauguration ceremony of the library.I declined one by one, but whenever I receive such feedback, I am always happy in my heart.

Two days before departure, I lay in bed and reviewed the materials.

The subject of this shooting is the political chaos in Swiya, which forced a large number of refugees into the tropical rainforest. The virgin forest began to be destroyed at a visible speed. The existing information is already shocking. I don’t know what I will see when I get there. .

When I was engrossed in watching it, the mobile phone thrown by the pillow vibrated, which shocked me in the quiet night.

The number is not unfamiliar.

I thought about it and picked it up anyway.

I still remember Xiao Xie, Shen Qinjun's assistant.

"Miss Su, about the bachelor apartment that Mr. Shen bought under your name..."

I'm not even interested in listening to it, "Whatever you want to do with it."

"...There are some procedures that require you to sign. There are also private houses on Huashan Road..."

I can't figure out what else those houses have to do with me, I just don't want to have any connection with that person, even if he suddenly becomes a nice guy again and wants to return the house to me.

"I won't be in the country soon. Let's talk about those things later."

The next morning, Lao Mai came to see me off in person.

Along the way he drove silently, and we rarely talked.

"It's too late to regret it now." While waiting for a red light, he suddenly said.

I pouted, "Do you know how many vaccinations I have had during this time? I don't want to suffer in vain."

"You have to follow the big army, don't just walk around." He thought for a while, but still took care of me, "I'll give you Mo Jiaming's phone number. he."

"Mo Jiaming?" I still remember that handsome young jeweler.

"He often travels to Africa to buy jewelry, he is a local snake." He came down to help me carry my luggage, and then took me to the waiting hall.

"Huh? I saw they were all there. I'm leaving!" I put my backpack on and waved at him, "I'm going."

Mai Zhendong came over and hugged me, his cheek brushed against my hair, and my neck was itchy.

Because I was afraid that it would be inconvenient to take a shower there, I cut my hair short a few days ago, I gently hugged him back, and finally heard him say: "Bai Xi, I'm sorry."

"what?"

"At that time you asked me to resign, I should keep you." He said in a low voice, "This way there won't be anything later..."

I smiled bitterly silently, Shen Qinjun had already decided to get close to me, even if I didn't go to work in Rongwei, I think the ending would be the same.

"I'm really gone." I patted him on the shoulder easily, "Isn't it just a month? I will send you photos at any time to help you update the "Alive" column."

He let me go and patted my shoulder hard, "Okay, waiting for your photo."

The plane began to taxi on the runway, and the slight pressure from the back trapped me in the seat.

I closed my eyes and recalled the scene of going to the cemetery to see my parents yesterday afternoon.

My mood has calmed down a lot. Looking at my father's photo, I remembered many things from my childhood.

Dad worked late every day, and he was so tired that he had stomach bleeding several times and was sent to the hospital, but whenever Shen Qinjun came to my house, he would happily take us out to play.I think when he sent back those data from abroad, he didn't expect that the accident would cause such a tragic consequence, and when he returned to Roewe, he really wanted to make up for it.

——I took these words to the bottom of my heart, even though it sounded like I was defending my father, he was still my father after all.

——He is my father, so I willingly bear the consequences of original sin.

Everything in the world is balanced, good and bad, happy and depressed... When I get so much out of thin air, I should think that one day I may sink to the bottom.

The balance on the account was exhausted, the only thing they left me in this world, and I did good things with it.

The eardrums felt slightly swollen. In the feeling of weightlessness, I faced out the window and said silently, "Mom and Dad, goodbye. Shen Qinjun...the person I liked, goodbye."

(End of this chapter)