“President Gu, there are no more business class tickets to Spring City this coming Friday. Is it okay if I book you one for Saturday morning?” Secretary Zhou stood in front of the office desk.
Gu Sheng stopped tapping her fingers on the keyboard and raised her eyes. “What about economy?”
Secretary Zhou quickly flipped through the booking software. “Yes, there are still economy flights at 7 PM and 9 PM.”
“Book the 7 PM one.”
As expected, she knew President Gu would never choose Saturday, but she still had to go through the motions and ask.
After finalizing President Gu’s weekend itinerary, Zhou Qing stepped out of the CEO’s office and returned to her workstation.
Zhou Qing had been at this company for three years, working exclusively as President Gu’s secretary. This was simply a heavenly job.
How so? To put it simply: no time-punching for clocking in and out, great welfare and benefits, and the entire company was a strict, all-around non-smoking zone. For someone like her who was allergic to the smell of tobacco, this was practically paradise.
Regarding smoking, she figured it must be a major landmine for President Gu. President Gu particularly despised smoke. Once, while discussing a partnership with the CEO of another company, because that CEO lit a cigarette during the banquet, President Gu directly left the table and rejected the partnership.
President Gu herself was an exceptionally hard-to-find boss who did not engage in psychological manipulation or exploit her employees, rewarded and punished fairly, and possessed formidable personal competence, running this subsidiary under Yunfeng Group with thriving success.
Although President Gu wore a cold face devoid of emotion, looking at this face every day made Zhou Qing feel that work was full of motivation.
Though President Gu rarely smiled, she was truly beautiful.
While sighing with emotion, Zhou Qing booked the hotel and round-trip air tickets according to the itinerary. She was extremely proficient at this routine, considering she had to book a trip almost every week.
She roughly knew that President Gu seemed to have been searching for someone all these years, but she didn’t know who specifically, and she didn’t dare pry blindly.
Friday at 10 PM.
Gu Sheng sat on the airplane, looking down through the window. The changes in Spring City over the past few years were something she felt most deeply from the air, from just a few scattered glowing lights at the beginning, to the dense interweaving of lights now spreading out like a giant web laid across the ground of this city.
She was going to find Wen Ye within this giant web. As long as she kept looking, she would definitely be able to find her.
After finishing washing up, Wen Ye leaned against the bed and looked at her phone. The supervisor said there was an on-site repair order this Sunday that specifically requested a female worker, and asked if she had any free time.
Wen Ye looked at her schedule for Sunday and replied to the supervisor: [Yes, is 4 PM okay?]
[The client said any time that afternoon is fine, so I will assign the order to you.]
[Okay.]
Wen Ye turned off her phone and tucked herself into bed.
Sunday morning, Gu Sheng stepped out of the airport. The driver was already waiting by the car. Seeing Gu Sheng come out, the driver pulled the door open in advance, closed it after she got in, and placed her suitcase into the trunk.
Gu Sheng sat down in the seat, the physical and mental exhaustion seeming to drain her hollow, another fruitless return.
The driver steered the car smoothly. Already fatigued, Gu Sheng quickly fell asleep.
When she woke up again, the car had already parked inside the courtyard. The driver didn’t wake her; he got out and stood guard outside the vehicle.
Gu Sheng opened the car door and told the driver, “There is no itinerary this afternoon. You can go back.”
“Alright, President Gu.” The driver took the suitcase out of the car and handed it to the housekeeper.
The housekeeper took one look at Gu Sheng’s complexion and knew the result. Sighing inwardly, she wheeled the suitcase over and said to Gu Sheng, “Eldest Miss, go take a shower and rest first. I will have the kitchen cook some lily soup so you can have it when you wake up later.”
Gu Sheng nodded casually and went upstairs by herself.
After showering, Gu Sheng took a nap.
“Gu Sheng, I am sorry I am late again.”
Inside a coffee shop, Gu Sheng looked up to see a tall girl with wheat-colored skin walking in, smiling apologetically at her. Although the face was blurry, she knew deep in her heart that this was Wen Ye.
Gu Sheng was sleeping very lightly. She clearly realized this was a dream. In her half-awake, half-asleep state, she tried not to think too much to avoid waking up from the dream too early.
Gu Sheng got up and pulled Wen Ye’s hand. Her heartbeat was fast; she was very nervous and shy, but extremely happy.
Before she could say anything more, the scene shifted. The surroundings were noisy and bustling, but Wen Ye was no longer there.
Gu Sheng slowly opened her eyes, dazed for a moment, and raised a hand to wipe the tear tracks near her temple. It was another similar dream. For the past two or three years, she always dreamed of Wen Ye. In every dream, Wen Ye looked slightly different: her hair varied in length, her height in stature, and her skin from dark to fair. But at the end of every dream, Wen Ye would suddenly disappear.
Lacking deep sleep, her head still felt heavy, but she no longer felt sleepy. So Gu Sheng simply got up and went to the study to work.
After a while, Gu Sheng heard a knock on the door. “Come in.”
The housekeeper entered. “Eldest Miss, the repair technician says the order requires your personal signature and confirmation. She is at the door. Would you like to let her in?”
Gu Sheng wasn’t overly averse to women entering her personal space. “Please let her in.”
Gu Sheng continued looking at the computer without raising her head. She heard light footsteps walking up to her desk, and a tablet was pushed toward her. Gu Sheng took it. Occupational habit made her check the entries above the signature line. Confirming there were no issues, she raised her hand to sign, then handed the tablet back.
The other person was very polite, stretching both arms out to receive it.
Gu Sheng’s gaze followed the movement of the tablet, catching sight of a pair of slender, distinctly jointed hands, just like the hands of Wen Ye in her dreams. Gu Sheng thought to herself that she must have gone crazy missing Wen Ye, seeing her in everyone.
Along with the movement of the other person’s hand, her sleeve shifted upward, and a bracelet slid out.
When Gu Sheng saw the bracelet, her first reaction was whether she really should go see a psychiatrist like her father said, seeing that she was already hallucinating.
Faster than her rational reaction was her hand. Before she even had the capacity to think, her hand had already lunged forward to grab the bracelet-wearing hand before her.
With a mix of hope and terror, Gu Sheng looked up. She was afraid that the greater the hope at this moment, the greater the plummeting disappointment would be afterward.
She finally saw the person clearly. Unlike the Wen Ye in her recent dream, she did not have wheat-colored skin, but rather a cool, fair complexion. The only thing that matched her memory was those clean eyes. She tentatively opened her mouth to call out to her, but the moment she spoke, she stumbled and couldn’t even complete Wen Ye’s name properly.
“Wen Ye.” The person before her introduced herself. Looking at her as if looking at a stranger, she nevertheless said her name was Wen Ye.
Gu Sheng only had one way to confirm with one hundred percent certainty whether this was Wen Ye. She walked right up to her, disregarding all decorum as she rolled up her sleeve.
Then she saw them: several circular scars of varying sizes. Their distribution, shape, and quantity, Gu Sheng would never remember them wrong. These scars didn’t just exist on Wen Ye’s arm; they were forever branded onto her own heart.
Unable to restrain herself any longer, Gu Sheng pulled Wen Ye into a tight embrace. She was afraid that if she let go or closed her eyes for even a second, Wen Ye would vanish immediately just like in her dreams.
After holding her for a moment and feeling Wen Ye gently push against her, Gu Sheng finally remembered that she hadn’t revealed her identity to Wen Ye yet. With tears in her eyes, she looked up. “Wen Ye, I am Gu Sheng.”
Astonishment instantly flooded Wen Ye’s eyes.
She wanted to open her mouth to call Gu Sheng, but felt her throat tighten. She could only stand frozen in place. It turned out that someone whose emotions reached the absolute peak of agitation completely lost control over their body, just like her right now, unable to even lift a hand to embrace Gu Sheng back.
Seeing Wen Ye standing completely motionless, Gu Sheng blamed herself inwardly, wondering if her overly intense emotions had scared Wen Ye.
Composing her mood, she retracted her arms from around Wen Ye and started a conversation as naturally as possible. “Wen Ye, you have grown much taller than me now.” As she spoke, she even raised a hand to gesture in midair, realizing she now only reached Wen Ye’s nose.
Wen Ye’s nose was truly pretty, and her eyes were pretty too. Gu Sheng gazed at her with lingering attachment.
Wen Ye’s throat moved. She could finally breathe and produce a sound. She softly called out her name: “Gu Sheng.”
Wen Ye stepped forward, pulling the retreating Gu Sheng back into her embrace, resting her head against Gu Sheng’s hairline. “Gu Sheng, I missed you so much.” Her voice trembled slightly, carrying grievances and insecurity.
Gu Sheng was startled at first, then hurriedly raised her hand to stroke her back.
The housekeeper considerately exited the study and closed the door. Some things really do just fall into your lap without effort. I wonder if the clothes dryer downstairs needs to be worshiped now.
Inside the room, the two of them embraced quietly, accompanied only by the sound of Wen Ye’s soft sobs.
In truth, Wen Ye had already calmed down from her emotional turbulence, but she knew her face must look a total mess from crying. She was trying to figure out how to naturally lift her head away from Gu Sheng’s neck.
Fortunately, Gu Sheng didn’t rush her, just continuing to stroke her back rhythmically.
Gu Sheng was still this gentle.
Wen Ye noticed the clothes Gu Sheng was wearing, a silk-like material. Her own work uniform was so rough; she hoped she wouldn’t scratch Gu Sheng’s clothes.
Wen Ye pulled back slightly to create some distance from Gu Sheng, then quickly used her elbow to block her eyes. “Gu Sheng, don’t look at me just yet. Let me pull myself together for a second.”
She heard Gu Sheng give a soft chuckle, followed by the sound of tissue paper being pulled.
Holding a tissue, Gu Sheng looked at the person acting like an ostrich before her, the tenderness in her eyes overflowing.
Wen Ye hadn’t changed at all.
Gu Sheng gently tugged at the fabric around Wen Ye’s elbow. “Stop using your clothes to wipe.”
Once Wen Ye lowered her hand, Gu Sheng took her by the hand and led her over to the sofa in the corner of the study, having her sit down before gently dabbing away Wen Ye’s tears with the tissue.
Feeling embarrassed, Wen Ye reached out to take the tissue, muttering under her breath, “I can do it myself.”
Gu Sheng pulled her hand away. “I will help you wipe. You can’t see.”
Fine. Wen Ye sat up straight, her eyes occasionally meeting Gu Sheng’s before quickly darting away.
Finally, the wiping was done.
Gu Sheng tossed the tissue into the trash can, walked back to the desk, and used the intercom to tell the housekeeper to send up some tea and pastries.
Wen Ye held the cup of tea; the temperature was just right, and she finished the cup in a few gulps.
Seeing her finish, Gu Sheng raised her hand to refill it for her.
The two of them carried on like this, one drinking head-down, the other continuously pouring, until the pot of tea was almost at the bottom. Wen Ye finally couldn’t drink anymore. Glancing at her phone, she wondered if she should just leave, but deep down, she was a little reluctant. She hadn’t expected to ever see Gu Sheng again, having already given up hope.
She really wanted to continue being friends with Gu Sheng, but would Gu Sheng want that? Gu Sheng said she had been looking for her all this time, but now she wasn’t speaking, what if she suddenly realized how ordinary Wen Ye actually was?
Gu Sheng was oblivious to the endless turns of thought in Wen Ye’s mind. She was busy thinking about how to bring up having Wen Ye move into her home in a way that sounded natural, afraid that being too direct would scare Wen Ye away.