PSMD – Chapter 42

Shen Ningruo’s eyes curved into a smile, but she didn’t answer the question. She felt any answer would be inappropriate, so she simply steered the conversation back: “You gave me the photo, so shouldn’t you take responsibility?”

Here we go again, here we go again.

Qiu Yang was cornered and had no temper left. She met Shen Ningruo’s gaze, thought for a long time, and finally nodded: “Okay.”

Shen Ningruo’s eyes and brows were filled with a smile. She stood up, walked directly to Qiu Yang’s side, pulled out a chair, and sat down: “So when are you free?”

“I’m not as busy as you,” Qiu Yang lowered her eyes, looking at the cover of the folder in front of her, which was blank. The next second, her mood dropped, her eyelashes fluttering, hiding her emotions.

This sentence meant she was letting Shen Ningruo decide the time.

Shen Ningruo understood her meaning, so she pondered for a few seconds before giving an answer: “How about Thursday evening?”

“Okay.” Today was only Tuesday.

“Then we’ll keep in touch.”

Qiu Yang replied with another “Okay.”

The meeting room was spacious and bright. Now, only the two of them sat side by side. From their angle, they could see the clear blue sky outside.

Yuncheng had sunshine again today. It was nearing noon, and the sun hung high in the sky, its warm rays finding every gap without reservation, spreading everywhere.

Shen Ningruo felt that Qiu Yang’s mood wasn’t quite right. Her fingertips on the conference table tapped the surface lightly, but she couldn’t figure out why. She then turned to look at Qiu Yang’s profile and asked cautiously, “Did something upsetting happen?”

She had seemed fine just a moment ago.

Qiu Yang lowered her eyes and said calmly, “No.”

“Yes, it did.”

“It’s written all over your face.”

Qiu Yang’s delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly. She turned her head to face Shen Ningruo’s exquisite face, silent for a few seconds, still fixated on the previous question: “Do I look easy to deceive?”

“Do I?”

Even Qiu Yang’s questioning tone was gentle, but this gentleness caused an even greater impact on Shen Ningruo.

She knew why Qiu Yang’s mood was off—

Tao Sixian had deceived her for three whole years.

The casual excuse she had just made up was completely poking at Qiu Yang’s still unhealed wound, making Qiu Yang feel pain.

Shen Ningruo shook her head and answered very seriously, “No.”

The light in Qiu Yang’s eyes was diminishing little by little. She softly asked back, “Isn’t it?”

Shen Ningruo gave the answer again: “No.”

“Then why…” Qiu Yang couldn’t continue, as if all the strength had been drained from her body. She thought she could manage not to care anymore, but now she was dwelling on it.

Did she look easy to deceive? Perhaps. Otherwise, Tao Sixian wouldn’t have targeted her in the first place, and wouldn’t have deceived her for three years.

Thinking about this now made Qiu Yang feel a bit nauseous. She showed an apologetic expression, then smiled wearily: “I’m sorry, Director Shen, I think I need to go back to the company.”

After saying that, she stood up and called Peng Kaimiao as she walked out. Shen Ningruo remained seated, deeply regretting the casual excuse she had pulled out.

The good atmosphere and good mood were ruined by her.

Ke Yezi was somewhat surprised by Qiu Yang’s expression. She secretly glanced at the closed meeting room door before swallowing and escorting Qiu Yang and Peng Kaimiao downstairs.

She guessed that Qiu Yang and the director had a disagreement, maybe about work?

Ke Yezi speculated but didn’t know the answer.

Qiu Yang’s face was pale, and even the thoughtless Peng Kaimiao could see it. He had been waiting for his milk tea in the pantry, but when he received Qiu Yang’s call, he was startled by her tone saying “Let’s go” before he could even speak. He didn’t wait for the milk tea and immediately came out to meet Qiu Yang.

“Peng Kaimiao.” Downstairs, Qiu Yang tried to keep her voice steady, “I’m not feeling very well and want to walk around by myself for a bit. You can arrange your time freely for now. Be at the company on time this afternoon to report on the work with me.”

Peng Kaimiao was a little worried: “Xiao Qiu Jie, are you okay?”

Qiu Yang’s smile was forced and tired: “I’m fine.”

After parting ways with Peng Kaimiao, Qiu Yang took out her umbrella from her bag.

The heat from the ground was rising, and the wind in the air felt like it came from the Flaming Mountains, but Qiu Yang only felt cold now.

Shen Ningruo didn’t know the details of what happened between her and Tao Sixian, but as the person involved, she remembered everything clearly. She didn’t want to take her anger out on Shen Ningruo, but she couldn’t help but be angry at herself.

How useless she was. But she still couldn’t let go of the fact that Tao Sixian had deceived her for so long.

Qiu Yang walked along, feeling lost.

She knew Shen Ningruo’s joke was just a casual remark, because Shen Ningruo was like that around her, and she had gotten used to it.

But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t react at all.

Strictly speaking, it had only been 24 days since she broke up with Tao Sixian.

Less than a month. To expect her to be indifferent to the hurt she had suffered would be asking too much.

Perhaps it was because she was currently on her period, making her emotions fluctuate greatly, thus amplifying the details of the awakened memories and magnifying the hurt.

Car after car sped down the road. It wasn’t quite noon yet, and this section of the road wasn’t congested. When a car passed, it stirred up leaves from the ground, tossing them gracefully into the air, letting them fall freely.

Qiu Yang walked a short distance, then hailed a taxi and gave her residential complex address. She had no appetite now and just wanted to sleep for a while to recover.

Shen Ningruo returned to her office with a gloomy face. She looked at Qiu Yang’s contact in her phone book, hesitated for a long time, her finger hovering over the dial button, and finally pressed back.

She knew Qiu Yang definitely wouldn’t blame her, but she felt guilty every time she thought about it.

Any joke that the person involved doesn’t find funny is not a joke.

Shen Ningruo wanted to apologize formally. She wanted to tell Qiu Yang it wasn’t like that, that Tao Sixian deceived Qiu Yang not because Qiu Yang was easy to deceive, but because Tao Sixian was insidious.

But she also knew that what Qiu Yang needed more right now was time to calm down on her own. Calling her now might make things more complicated, or perhaps be completely useless.

This wasn’t Qiu Yang throwing a tantrum; the root cause was with her.

If only she hadn’t made an excuse and had been more direct.

This was the first time Shen Ningruo regretted something so much. She should have realized it earlier. It had only been about twenty days since Qiu Yang broke up, which was incomparable to the three years she had genuinely loved Tao Sixian.

Shen Ningruo actually wished Qiu Yang could move on from the breakup so quickly.

Therefore, Shen Ningruo reflected on herself. Ultimately, it was because her recent interactions with Qiu Yang had been too smooth, leading her to become a bit complacent and think her influence was strong.

In reality, it wasn’t.

In reality, Qiu Yang would still get hurt.

After enduring until the end of the workday, Shen Ningruo drove to Qiu Yang’s residential complex. She arrived at Qiu Yang’s door and knocked.

No one answered.

Shen Ningruo stood there, and finally called Qiu Yang, but no one picked up.

Shen Ningruo’s brows furrowed deeply. An unprecedented sense of powerlessness swallowed her, leaving her disoriented.

Since when did she care about Qiu Yang this much?

She didn’t know.

She looked at the closed door again, feeling even more lost.

It was only then that Shen Ningruo realized she didn’t actually know much about Qiu Yang.

For example, she didn’t know where Qiu Yang would go when she was in a bad mood, otherwise she wouldn’t be so helpless now.

About ten minutes later, Miao Yi returned and saw a tall woman standing at Qiu Yang’s door.

At first, she didn’t see the face and was startled, thinking Tao Sixian had returned. It wasn’t until her gaze shifted from her phone to Shen Ningruo’s face that she completely relaxed.

Shen Ningruo thought this person was just a regular neighbor and had no intention of approaching to ask.

Until she saw Miao Yi walk up to her: “Hello, may I ask who you are?”

“I…” Shen Ningruo paused, “Qiu Yang’s friend.”

She looked at Miao Yi, who was a bit shorter than her, and suddenly remembered that the night Qiu Yang drank, she said she was drinking with another friend. From the current situation, that friend was likely the person in front of her.

“Okay.”

“Are you looking for her for something?”

“Do you know where she went?”

Miao Yi carefully observed the beautiful woman standing before her. She was wearing a casual suit, clearly just back from work, holding her phone tightly in her hands, with a hint of anxiety in her expression.

“I don’t know,” Miao Yi said apologetically, “Yangyang sent me a WeChat message this afternoon asking me to feed her cat. She said she wouldn’t be coming back tonight.”

“Friend?”

“Yes.” Miao Yi then confirmed, “Are you the one who came to pick her up after she drank that night?”

Shen Ningruo nodded affirmatively: “It was me.”

“Ah.”

“I thought she went to your place, but it turns out she didn’t.”

Shen Ningruo’s brows furrowed tighter. Her connection with Qiu Yang was so limited. The only friend of Qiu Yang’s she knew was the one in front of her, and she had just met her.

Where could Qiu Yang possibly go?

Just then, Miao Yi’s eyes lit up: “I remember now. This afternoon she casually mentioned she was going to find our senior.”

“But I don’t know where the senior lives now,” Miao Yi quickly added.

“…Senior?” Shen Ningruo narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Yes. Back in university, Yangyang and that senior were the closest. She would go to the senior for anything, and the senior took good care of her,” Miao Yi reassured her, “Yangyang is definitely fine. You should go back first.”

Shen Ningruo was worried, but she really couldn’t reach Qiu Yang right now, so she had to thank her and leave first.

Qiu Yang didn’t go to the same university as her, so she didn’t know who this senior was.

But from this moment on, a sense of anxiety began to rise in her heart.

Miao Yi’s words enlightened her.

Actually, for Qiu Yang, there were many ways to distract herself, or many people she could turn to.

She was just one of them.

She was just someone she connected with physically.

Realizing this, Shen Ningruo gripped the steering wheel tighter when she got back in the car. She felt extremely uncomfortable now—

First, because she had reminded Qiu Yang of painful things; it was her fault, and she hadn’t properly comforted Qiu Yang.

Second, because she wasn’t the only one. It turned out Qiu Yang would also confide in others.

Yes, many people confide in their best friends after a breakup, but Qiu Yang only mentioned her ex in front of her when she had been drinking.

It was like this in Xicheng, and it was still like this after returning to Yuncheng.

She should have realized it earlier. Qiu Yang still had a long way to go before forgetting Tao Sixian. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have called out the wrong name on the phone after drinking last Friday night, and wouldn’t have needed to confirm whether Tao Sixian had ever truly loved her.

Shen Ningruo became anxious like never before.

Her lips were tightly pressed together, blocking out everything external. She was originally going to drive home, but her emotions were fluctuating quite a bit now, so she had to pull over and park on the side of the road to calm down.

She was taking deep breaths, but Qiu Yang’s face kept appearing before her eyes. She wanted to grasp it but couldn’t.

It felt like she was getting further and further away.

It was at this moment that Father Shen’s call came. Shen Ningruo answered with her head resting on the steering wheel, her eyes tightly closed: “Dad, what is it?”

“Shen Ningruo, did you break up with Guo Ming’an?” Father Shen questioned immediately.

“Yes.” Shen Ningruo’s thoughts returned, but her eyes remained closed. She asked in a low, clear voice, word by word, “Shen Yuankai, can you please leave me alone?”

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