Although Bai Sijun’s fried rice was not bad, it wasn’t delicious enough to eat two meals in a row. So, they ordered takeout for dinner.
After cleaning up the takeout boxes, Bai Sijun left Mei Yuchen’s villa. It was only then that his restless mood finally returned to normal.
In the new week, the chief editor’s attitude towards him underwent a noticeable change. Even colleagues who usually liked to order him around started using a more consultative tone when asking for his help.
If these changes weren’t substantive enough, the newly hired intern completely rid Bai Sijun of his status as the company’s newbie.
Before this, Bai Sijun was the last fresh graduate hired by Hongtu Culture. Those who joined after him were experienced editors poached from elsewhere. Although nominally they were juniors, in reality, they were still seniors.
Li Lan’s resignation came unexpectedly, especially at the beginning of the year when the company was busy. In the end, the higher-ups decided to directly hire an intern.
The new intern was named Liang Ru, a senior from the university where Qi Yun taught. She majored in Chinese literature, had a solid background, and was assigned to Bai Sijun for guidance by the chief editor. Although Bai Sijun didn’t explicitly express it, he couldn’t help but feel a bit sympathetic towards Liang Ru.
Because, under his guidance, this young girl had to start from the basics, doing all the miscellaneous tasks.
Fortunately, Liang Ru was a sensible and clever girl. She quickly gained the favor of the female colleagues in the office within a few days.
“Bai Ge, this is your matcha milk tea.” After distributing tea to other colleagues, Liang Ru placed a cup of matcha milk tea on Bai Sijun’s desk.
Bai Sijun was momentarily surprised, saying, “I don’t remember ordering.”
“Shh.” Liang Ru lowered her voice, blinked, and said, “I’m treating you.”
Bai Sijun smiled and thanked her.
Instead of leaving, Liang Ru continued, “Bai Ge, can I call you something other than Bai Ge?”
Bai Sijun was puzzled, “Why?”
“Because I always think of pigeons in the square.” After saying this, Liang Ru laughed a few times.
Bai Sijun did find that his surname didn’t suit being called that way. He said, “That makes sense. Choose another name.”
“How about ‘Ge’?” Liang Ru suggested.
When Liang Ru said this, she seemed a bit nervous, and her eyes were filled with barely concealed anticipation.
Bai Sijun didn’t think too much about it at the moment and agreed directly, “Sure.”
“Okay, Ge!” Liang Ru happily ran back to her desk, took out her phone, and started chatting excitedly with someone.
Bai Sijun, belatedly, realized that calling him ‘Ge’ might be too intimate. He had only known Liang Ru for a few days, and to anyone who didn’t know, it might seem like they were very familiar with each other.
However, Bai Sijun didn’t care much about such small matters. After all, he and Liang Ru were in the same company, and over time, they would inevitably become more acquainted.
Mei Yuchen only asked Bai Sijun when he would come to pick up the down jacket. Bai Sijun replied that he would come over on the weekend. As the weekdays would involve staying overnight, and the weather had already warmed up, there was no hurry to retrieve the down jacket.
According to the plan, Bai Sijun was supposed to take Liang Ru to familiarize herself with the bookstore on Saturday.
On Friday night, Liang Ru took the initiative to confirm the next day’s schedule with Bai Sijun through WeChat. Initially, their conversation was strictly business, but out of nowhere, Liang Ru came up with a remark, “It seems like a date.”
Although Bai Sijun couldn’t fathom what Mei Yuchen was thinking, he was quite sensitive to the thoughts of the young girl.
This wasn’t self-love but rather the result of accumulated experience over the years.
Bai Sijun stared at the phone screen without replying. The message “The other party is typing” appeared several times, but in the end, Liang Ru only said, “I was just joking, hahaha.”
Bai Sijun replied with a laughter emoji, considering it as giving Liang Ru a way out.
Liang Ru didn’t leave it at that and continued, “Ge, do you have a girlfriend?”
Bai Sijun, perhaps influenced by Mei Yuchen, felt a bit afraid. Without much thought, he replied, “No.”
However, once the message was sent, he regretted it.
It was equivalent to telling Liang Ru that she had a chance, and the speed of his response made it seem like he was waiting for Liang Ru to ask this question.
But it was impossible to take it back now. Liang Ru instantly replied with a Shiba Inu acting cute emoji.
Bai Sijun, rubbing his temples, threw his phone aside. In that moment, lying on the bed, he suddenly realized that there might be something wrong with his psyche.
— He was clearly single, so why couldn’t he give a chance to a girl?
Giving a chance didn’t mean being in a relationship. Moreover, after getting to know each other better, Liang Ru might find that he wasn’t suitable, just like his ex-girlfriend Xiao Ai.
Thinking about this, Bai Sijun felt relieved. He even felt grateful for Liang Ru’s timely appearance; otherwise, he might not have noticed that something was wrong with himself.
At ten o’clock the next morning, Bai Sijun arrived punctually at the agreed-upon bookstore. Liang Ru was already waiting at the entrance. Normally, Liang Ru dressed quite conservatively for work, but that day, she wore a short jacket and a high-waisted woolen skirt. Her two fair legs were exposed, attracting attention.
Bai Sijun greeted her, and in a somewhat awkward attempt at conversation, asked, “Aren’t you cold?”
Liang Ru’s cheeks were rosy; it was unclear if it was from blush or the changing weather. She shook her head and looked up at Bai Sijun excitedly, saying, “Charm is more important.”
Bai Sijun immediately thought of the author who couldn’t stand the cold. Counting the days, the heating had probably been turned off, and he wondered how Mei Yuchen was coping.
“Ge?” Liang Ru reminded, “Aren’t we going in?”
“Sorry,” Bai Sijun snapped out of his thoughts, opened the bookstore’s door, and let Liang Ru in.
The bookstore had air conditioning, and the warm, yellowish light created a cozy atmosphere, making people relax instantly.
Bai Sijun explained the bookmaking process to Liang Ru and casually picked up a book, showing her how to read the information on the cover. The content he covered was basic, such as the difference between publishers and publishing companies, and what the numbers on the book’s code meant. However, every time he explained a point, Liang Ru would exclaim, “So amazing.”
Bai Sijun didn’t find anything amazing about it.
The girl hadn’t seen much of the world. Once she spent more time in the company, she would realize that he was just an ordinary person.
Approaching noon, Bai Sijun took Liang Ru to a nearby food street for lunch. As they walked and chatted, his phone suddenly vibrated.
Taking out his phone, he was surprised to see that it was Mei Yuchen.
For some reason, Bai Sijun always felt that these two words had a lingering presence. He had just seen this name several times in the bookstore. Although Mei Yuchen hadn’t released a new book in three years, his previous works were still on the bestseller list.
Of course, saying that Mei Yuchen’s presence was lingering might not be accurate. Mei Yuchen hadn’t really come to find him, but Bai Sijun couldn’t help but think about it himself.
At this moment, Liang Ru was searching for well-reviewed restaurants on Dianping, not paying attention to their surroundings. Bai Sijun answered the call, lowering his voice, and said, “Hello.”
Mei Yuchen’s lazy voice came through, “When are you coming over?”
Only then did Bai Sijun recall that he had told Mei Yuchen he would come over on the “weekend” but hadn’t specified “Sunday.”
He replied, “Tomorrow.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end. At that moment, Liang Ru, who was beside him, looked up and said, “Ge, this place that sells grilled lamb chops seems good.”
Bai Sijun was about to end the call. However, Mei Yuchen on the other end suddenly asked, “What are you doing?”
The tone was no longer as lazy as before, and the air seemed to have cooled by several degrees.
Bai Sijun vaguely sensed that Mei Yuchen didn’t seem too happy. He honestly answered, “Having a meal with a junior.”
Mei Yuchen continued to press, “A company gathering?”
“No,” Bai Sijun didn’t think much about it. “A new colleague who just joined.”
Mei Yuchen fell silent again. Bai Sijun’s intuition told him that the big brother wasn’t too pleased, but he didn’t know where he went wrong.
He didn’t dare to hang up, and soon, Mei Yuchen spoke again, “I’m hungry, come over and cook for me.”
Now?
Bai Sijun’s words got stuck in his throat before he could say them, and Mei Yuchen unceremoniously hung up the phone.
He stared at the phone screen in disbelief. After the call ended, the screen returned to the locked state, displaying the time: 11:32.
Disrespectful, unilaterally hanging up the phone without regard for time and situation.
Was this person limbless? If he was hungry, couldn’t he find something to eat on his own? Did he really need to run over from a distance to serve him?
A surge of anger rose in Bai Sijun’s heart. Liang Ru, sensing that his mood was off, asked cautiously, “What’s wrong, Ge?”
Bai Sijun realized that he was still out with someone. He took a deep breath and calmly said, “It’s nothing. Have you decided on a place?”
“Yeah!” Liang Ru nodded. “Let’s go to the lamb chop place.”
The restaurant Liang Ru chose was nearby, about a hundred meters away. They walked side by side. Liang Ru continued to talk about interesting stories from her school and classmates just like before, but Bai Sijun didn’t catch a single word.
Mei Yuchen said to come over, so he definitely wouldn’t order takeout himself. Taking the subway from here would take until at least 1:00 PM, meaning Mei Yuchen would have to stay hungry until then.
None of his business, Bai Sijun thought with resentment. He didn’t say he would go over today.
But…
He had said he would come over on the weekend, and Mei Yuchen might have interpreted it as Saturday. If Mei Yuchen had been waiting for him early in the morning and then, close to noon, saw that he hadn’t come over yet and called to ask, only to find out he was planning to have a good meal with his colleagues…
Damn it, why care so much about that unpredictable guy.
“Ge, we’re here!” Liang Ru pointed excitedly at a sign with a lamb’s head ahead. “It looks good.”
Bai Sijun stopped in his tracks and furrowed his brows slightly. “Sorry, Xiao Liang, I have something urgent. I’ll treat you to a meal next time.”
In Liang Ru’s puzzled gaze, Bai Sijun walked to the side of the main road and hailed a taxi.
