PSMD – Chapter 147

Wen Yuan being there was somewhat unexpected for Qiu Yang; she had thought she wouldn’t see him again.

“President Wen.”

“Manager An.”

Qiu Yang remained outwardly calm and unaffected: “I’m here to handle my resignation procedures.”

Besides Wen Yuan, only Manager An from HR was present. Qiu Yang directed her words to Manager An.

Wen Yuan looked a little thinner than the last time they met, but Qiu Yang felt no emotional stir.

Manager An wore a professional smile and handed over a sealed envelope: “Alright, Department Head Qiu, here it is.”

“Thank you.”

All work handovers were complete, and processing the resignation didn’t take long. Qiu Yang took the envelope and was about to turn and leave.

“Qiu Yang.” Wen Yuan spoke up then, looking at Qiu Yang’s face, “I’d like to talk to you alone.”

Manager An had been briefed beforehand and spoke up at the right moment: “Then, President Wen, I’ll go attend to something else.”

“Go ahead.”

Qiu Yang didn’t walk away immediately but remained standing. Manager An was quick and soon closed the door behind him.

Only Qiu Yang and Wen Yuan were left in the office.

“President Wen, I don’t think we have anything to talk about.” Qiu Yang was expressionless. She didn’t have a bad impression of Wen Yuan, but thinking of Qiu Yan, she felt she shouldn’t get involved with these people anymore.

Wen Yuan stood up, lowered his head slightly, and said in a deep voice, “I’m sorry.”

Qiu Yang’s brow furrowed slightly: “What do you mean by that, President Wen? I don’t deserve this apology, please take it back.”

Wen Yuan raised his head again and looked at her, his expression somewhat sad: “I never expected our reunion to turn out like that. It was all my presumption that led to that mistake. Your business trip was arranged by me, not Mom.”

Qiu Yang’s mouth opened slightly, and she uttered two words: “Forget it.” She thought for a second and added, “I think what you need to understand is that it’s not just about this one thing.”

“Not even compensation later?”

Qiu Yang met his gaze. She felt that Wen Yuan’s eyes were really similar to hers, especially now that he was showing a somewhat pitiful expression.

“It’s too late, and there’s no need. My life motto doesn’t include the word ‘late’.” Qiu Yang’s tone was light; she was calmer now. “President Qiu never thought of seeing me in the past nearly twenty-five years. That was made very clear during the last dinner. So I think… President Wen, you don’t need to bother with this anymore. I have no issues with you; you were a good superior. If we had truly reunited, you would definitely be a good younger brother, but it’s not possible.”

“I wish you increasing success in the future.”

Qiu Yang smiled as she said this and extended her hand: “I spent four years at Wanming, and the last two years were under your leadership. It truly made me feel good.”

Wen Yuan raised his hand and shook hers, but his heart was heavy. The moment their hands parted, he suddenly felt as if he had lost a lot.

When he was little, his home was often empty. He really wished he had an older brother or sister like some of his classmates, but as time passed, he had long gotten used to being alone.

He also yearned for family affection. He longed to see his family more often, in warm settings, not cold ones.

Unfortunately, despite the longing, he still didn’t experience much warmth.

After learning of Qiu Yang’s existence, he had hesitated, but ultimately decided to acknowledge her.

They shared the same mother; they were siblings. It was a normal thing to acknowledge each other.

But he had messed things up.

“I…” Wen Yuan blinked. His eyes felt a little sore, but he didn’t want Qiu Yang to see it, so he forced a smile, “Thank you for your recognition and approval. I will continue to lead Wanming forward.”

Qiu Yang nodded: “Okay.” She gestured towards the door, “I’ll head back now.”

Wen Yuan nodded, saying nothing more. After Qiu Yang turned around, he opened his mouth again: “Jie.”

Qiu Yang’s steps paused instantly.

“I didn’t know you existed when I was little, but when I found out I had an older sister working here, I was very happy. I wanted to tell you that.”

Qiu Yang lowered her eyelashes, not turning her head, and hummed in acknowledgment.

She had to admit, in terms of family affection, the only warmth she felt came entirely from Wen Yuan.

After acknowledging him, Qiu Yang continued walking, pulling open the door without hesitation.

It was all over. Qiu Yang breathed a sigh of relief. She pursed her lips slightly as she walked out. She had seen this office area for four full years, and after today, she would never see it again.

She wasn’t sure how she felt right now, but perhaps disappointment was the dominant emotion.

Because, after all, she wasn’t leaving Wanming because she was dissatisfied with the place.

Shen Ningruo didn’t wait long in the car before she saw Qiu Yang coming out of the lobby, holding an umbrella. She lowered the passenger window, watching Qiu Yang walk towards her more clearly.

Qiu Yang closed her umbrella and opened the car door. Shen Ningruo immediately said two words: “Congratulations.”

After saying that, she leaned over and gently hugged Qiu Yang, patting her back soothingly.

Qiu Yang’s voice sounded in her ear: “I’m fine.”

“It’s just that Director Shen will have to support me for a while.”

Shen Ningruo chuckled and sat back up: “My pleasure.”

Qiu Yang turned her head and looked at the office building again before withdrawing her gaze: “Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Today was the start of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. It wasn’t even rush hour yet, so the roads weren’t congested. Shen Ningruo drove smoothly the whole way.

Qiu Yang was replying to messages from many colleagues, her fingers tapping on the screen, but she wasn’t solely focused on that. She also told Shen Ningruo about her plans.

“I’ll look for a new job next month.” Qiu Yang looked at Shen Ningruo’s profile, “These next few days, I’ll be thinking about how to take good photos for the competition.”

“The deadline for registration is the 25th, right?”

“Yes.”

“What was the theme again?” Shen Ningruo had only glanced at Qiu Yang’s computer screen at the time.

“《Corners of Early Summer》.”

Shen Ningruo shook her head: “It feels like going back to when we wrote essays in school.”

“It’s similar in nature.” Qiu Yang’s brows furrowed slightly, “I haven’t figured out how I’ll shoot it yet.”

The photography competition was organized by Yuncheng’s Culture and Tourism Bureau, held every three years. If she missed this year, she’d have to wait another three.

They reached a red light ahead. Shen Ningruo pinched Qiu Yang’s cheek, offering encouragement: “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, but believe in yourself.”

“Mm, I know.”

This was the first photography competition Qiu Yang was participating in, and she took it very seriously, wanting to avoid any mistakes.

Even if she might be eliminated in the preliminary round, Qiu Yang felt that this competition held enough significance for her.

Pingzi was originally napping on the climbing frame, but hearing footsteps outside the door again, it became alert. In a few seconds, it saw familiar faces.

Pingzi immediately jumped down from the climbing frame, wagging its tail happily, only to receive bad news: “Pangpang, I’ll be staying home for the next twenty days. I’ll be supervising your weight loss.”

Pingzi’s round eyes widened. It looked at Qiu Yang, then at Shen Ningruo, unable to process the sentence for a moment.

Shen Ningruo squatted down and patted its head: “I can’t help you this time. After all, your mom is in charge in our house.”

Qiu Yang chuckled at that, then watched Pingzi turn around and immediately run to its food bowl, burying its head and eating ravenously.

Qiu Yang: “…”

Shen Ningruo: “…”

Due to the arrival of the Dragon Boat Festival, Yuncheng started getting lively in the evening, and a large number of tourists were also on their way.

Qiu Yang and Shen Ningruo had discussed how to spend the holiday before, but now they just wanted to lounge at home and go nowhere.

Yue Chu’s radio show was at 6 PM on Saturday. Three hours before that, Yao Yao arrived at Shen Ningruo’s place.

Qiu Yang opened the door: “Yao Yao Jie.”

“Yangyang.” Yao Yao handed over a bag, “These are zongzi. Consider it payment for petting Pingzi.”

Qiu Yang smiled: “Petting Pingzi doesn’t require payment.”

“Hahaha, Happy Dragon Boat Festival!” Yao Yao changed her shoes.

Pingzi sensed the arrival of a stranger and hid behind the sofa, but only for a few seconds before it strutted out again.

Yao Yao picked it up, and it didn’t hide.

Shen Ningruo came out of the kitchen and saw Yao Yao holding Pingzi and kissing its forehead. She raised an eyebrow: “If you like cats so much, why don’t you get one yourself?”

“No way, other people’s cats are more fun. If I got one myself, I’m afraid it would be too much trouble.” Yao Yao stated her thoughts, “Besides, when Chuchu and I are busy, we wouldn’t have much time to spend with it.”

Shen Ningruo didn’t believe her excuse: “Come on, Yao Yao, don’t I know you? You’ve even been jealous of a cat before. If you got a cat, you’d probably be jealous of it too.”

Yao Yao: “…”

She snorted lightly: “So what if that’s the case?”

Qiu Yang was a little surprised. She had genuinely thought Yao Yao was telling the truth, but Yao Yao admitted what Shen Ningruo said.

“Oh, right, Yangyang, do you know what Tao Sixian has been up to lately?” Yao Yao suddenly asked Qiu Yang.

“No, I haven’t been in touch with her.”

Yao Yao smiled: “It’s nothing, I just asked casually.”

Pingzi jumped out of Yao Yao’s arms at this moment and went straight to its food bowl, but the bowl was empty, containing nothing.

Seeing this, Yao Yao was startled: “Does it need more cat food?”

“It’s on a diet.” Shen Ningruo forked a piece of watermelon for Qiu Yang, “It’s almost eleven pounds. We need to control it; it can’t eat cat food whenever it wants anymore.”

Yao Yao sighed: “Pangpang is just fluffy.”

Shen Ningruo forked another piece of watermelon for herself. Just as she put it in her mouth, her phone, which was placed nearby, rang.

“I’ll take a call.” Shen Ningruo glanced at the caller ID and went to stand on the balcony with her phone.

After answering, the housekeeper’s voice was anxious: “Miss Shen, when I was cleaning just now, I saw blood in your father’s bedroom trash can.”

Shen Ningruo’s temples throbbed: “Blood?”

“Yes, quite a bit. I don’t know what happened.” The housekeeper was clearly a bit panicked.

Shen Ningruo became nervous: “Where is he now?”

“He said he was going for a walk in the park and told me to go back after cleaning and not make him dinner.”

“Auntie, you go back first then.”

After this call ended, Shen Ningruo called Shen Yuankai again, but a mechanical female voice kept saying, “The number you have dialed is switched off.”