Chapter 32 – Phone Call
Novel Title: 我们已经分手了 (We Have Broken Up)
Author：御小凡 (Yu Xiaofan)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 刘帆 (Liu Fan -MC), 陈谦 (Chen Qian -ML)
*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
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Liu Fan knew that Chen Qian originally had no such plans, so this sudden change of mind made him a bit curious. But Liu Fan didn’t think it was inappropriate for Chen Qian to visit Li Yu. So he just said “Oh” and changed the subject.
As they continued talking, he noticed Chen Qian’s expression wasn’t looking good.
What’s wrong with him?
Liu Fan only wondered in his mind. With Liu Mengjiao present, he couldn’t ask this oddly thin-skinned guy, so he pretended not to notice. The car inexplicably fell silent until Chen Qian found a parking spot. Even as the three of them went to eat, the atmosphere didn’t liven up.
Sitting across from the two, Liu Mengjiao felt suffocated by the stiff air around her, eating without getting the taste of the food. Liu Fan seemed oblivious to this and was puzzled by her behaviour.
Liu Mengjiao: “…”
After boldly finishing her meal, Liu Mengjiao wiped her mouth before chuckling a few times, and said, “I just remembered there’s some…- there’s something I need to do back at the office. I’ll head back first.”
Liu Fan silently watched her slender figure quickly leave, not knowing what had gotten into her.
Chen Qian sighed and picked up some pork trotters with yellow beans for him, “Don’t overthink it.”
Liu Fan: “…?”
“Li Yu’s mother came to my company to find me, saying he wasn’t in a good state and insisted that I go see him. Seeing that she’s quite old, I went along with her wishes and tried to persuade him. I only stayed for ten minutes. Um, after leaving the hospital, I went to take care of some business. I was busy all morning,” Chen Qian said in a gentle voice, looking at Liu Fan reassuringly. His face clearly showed a ‘You’re jealous again, I don’t know what to do with you’ expression. “Then I came to find you. Here, eat more.”
He picked up another piece of pork trotter for Liu Fan.
Liu Fan: “…You don’t need to explain. I’m not bothered by it.”
Chen Qian’s chopsticks, halfway to Liu Fan’s bowl, made a half-circle turn to his own bowl.
Liu Fan: “…”
“You’re not bothered by it?” Chen Qian’s face turned gloomy. He asked unhappily, “Do you know what he said to me?”
Liu Fan, with his chopsticks suspended in mid-air, asked: “Did he confess to you?”
Chen Qian: “…”
He seemed to lower his voice in exasperation: “You knew? And you don’t care?”
Seeing his greatly aggrieved look, Liu Fan quickly said, “No, no, I absolutely trust you. So I don’t care what he does. Besides, I was the one who first told you he had feelings for you. So I’m not surprised that I guessed it.”
Chen Qian snorted as he put down his chopsticks, seemingly having lost his appetite completely. Liu Fan ate secretly while sneaking glances at him, watching his expression change from indignant to melancholic, looking like a big dog who had been bullied.
What’s there to be angry about? Liu Fan thought, wavering between going along with him and not. Sometimes he felt Chen Qian was really hard to please. Did a relationship need to be this complicated? Besides, they were practically an old married couple in their circle. Wasn’t it better to just talk things out straightforwardly? But Chen Qian insisted otherwise. He seemed to enjoy making Liu Fan guess his thoughts.
Back in high school when they first got together, Chen Qian already showed this tendency. He’d make a fuss over their relationship, knowing full well they couldn’t let others find out, yet still demanding they act like a normal couple. Even though he knew Liu Fan wouldn’t have other intentions, he’d still get needlessly jealous.
When he flared up, Liu Fan would smooth things over – once in a while it could be considered playful. But doing this all the time was just being difficult.
Relationships certainly have their sweet moments. But with Chen Qian constantly making a fuss and refusing to settle down, it put a lot of pressure on Liu Fan, who also had no control over their future. Towards the end, even the easy-going Liu Fan’s temper worsened. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have had such a big fight.
This person wasn’t so fussy and crazy in other areas, so why was he like this?
Liu Fan was a lazy person. He found this troublesome.
On the other hand, while Chen Qian had a bad temper and liked to make a fuss, why should everything in a relationship be as carefree and indifferent as Liu Fan? It might seem cute for a short while. But over time, anyone would find it annoying.
Neither should criticise the other. True love is being able to live with each other’s flaws.
Liu Fan chuckled a couple of times.
Chen Qian darkly questioned from the side: “What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing. I was just thinking, do you feel that if I don’t get jealous over trivial things, it shows I don’t care about you?” Liu Fan looked at him, “How long have we been together? Why do we still need to fuss like this?”
Chen Qian seemed at a loss for words.
But without some fuss, how could it be called a relationship? Looking at this man who was sometimes like a lion and sometimes like a child, Liu Fan felt he could be in a relationship with him for a lifetime. “You know I hate trouble.”
Chen Qian sighed, his expression softening. His anger seemed to dissipate. His eyes showed a mix of gloomy compromise and indulgent helplessness, as if silently complaining. “Fine, you win. What can I do? I only like you.”
“I can’t control what Li Yu wants to do with you,” Liu Fan said, resting his chin on his hand and smiling sideways at him. “I’m only responsible for liking you. You can handle the rest yourself.”
Chen Qian raised an eyebrow at him.
Liu Fan narrowed his eyes, making a gesture asking for a hug, and was then pulled into Chen Qian’s embrace.
“…You’re taking advantage of the fact that I only like you,” Chen Qian mumbled, kissing the top of his head.
Liu Fan chuckled secretly in his arms, not pointing out that Chen Qian was doing the same thing. If it weren’t for the fact that Liu Fan liked him so much, would Chen Qian dare to throw tantrums so often? Hmph!
***
Appendicitis was indeed a minor surgery. Li Yu was discharged from the hospital soon after. When he returned to the company, Chen Qian reassigned him as an assistant to the sales director. He didn’t say much about it and simply accepted it.
Standing in front of the desk, Li Yu asked expressionlessly, “Who should I hand over my work to?”
“Xiao Zhou,” Chen Qian said. “I’ve already told him.”
Li Yu nodded with a blank face, offering no objections. “Also, Qian Feng’s side hasn’t transferred the payment yet. It’s been delayed longer than usual.”
“I know.” Chen Qian was also a bit troubled. It wasn’t just Qian Feng. Several other developers were doing the same. In the past, when housing prices were sky-high and people were rushing to buy, these developers were flush with cash, throwing millions into advertising without hesitation. This year, with the market downturn and houses not selling well, their cash flow was tight. Thus, small fry like Chen Qian were also affected.
Li Yu pressed his lips together, unable to help saying, “Wang Bo and I had suggested earlier that investing too much of your liquid capital into developing new advertising media was too risky.”
The real estate industry had made a lot of money in the past two years, and Chen Qian had profited accordingly. But even with annual sales of tens of millions, after deducting costs, kickbacks, sales commissions, and dividends for several shareholders, the remaining profit was significantly reduced.
Moreover, Chen Qian always believed that spending was necessary to earn. The company’s hardware facilities had been upgraded several levels, and even the company cars included some worth hundreds of thousands. They were used specifically for major clients. Fanyu’s liquid assets were far less abundant than what was shown in the company profile.
This wasn’t even the biggest expense. The most significant outlay was for new media. The resources within the city had long been occupied by other large national companies. Buying new community-based media in the city was very costly, not to mention that Chen Qian had negotiated deals not just in City C, but in several other first and second-tier cities as well. They had paid initial deposits, and for their current situation, the subsequent installation and maintenance fees were also quite headache-inducing.
In fact, if all payments were received, these expenses wouldn’t be a big problem. The company’s cash flow wouldn’t be disrupted. And once the new advertising spaces started selling in multiple cities, the company could reach a new level.
But man could only propose. It was God who disposed of it. Now they couldn’t sell the new advertising spaces, and the money earned from the old spaces couldn’t be collected. Chen Qian knew he had been too aggressive.
But thinking about this now was useless. Chen Qian said calmly, “Keep urging them. You don’t need to handle this anymore. Let Xiao Zhou do it.”
Li Yu said, “Alright, I’ll tell him when I hand over the work.”
After a pause, he continued, “I need to request some leave.”
Chen Qian nodded, “Sure, how long?”
“To help my parents move some things. They plan to rent a place here for a while.” Li Yu’s brows were furrowed as he said this. He was clearly disagreeing with the idea.
“That’s good,” Chen Qian was momentarily surprised. But then nodded, “Is one week enough?”
Li Yu calculated, “It’s enough. I’ll get Wang Bo to sign the leave request and then give it to you.”
They were no longer direct superiors and subordinates. But company policy required leave requests of more than two days to be approved by the general manager. However, Li Yu now needed the sales director to sign his leave request first.
With business concluded, he left the office without a second glance at Chen Qian.
Chen Qian leaned back in his chair, turning towards the window. Looking at the sky, he felt somewhat unsettled.
He picked up his phone and fiddled with it for a while. He then unlocked the screen, scrolled to the bottom of his contacts, and clicked on Zhao Rou’s name. He stared at the phone icon next to the number, lost in thought.
As if his finger accidentally touched it, the call suddenly went through. The dialling interface lit up. But no one answered for a long time. Chen Qian waited with furrowed brows.
“Hello? Who is this?”
A gentle female voice could be heard. But Chen Qian seemed startled and didn’t speak for a long time. When the other party inquired again, he hurriedly hung up the phone.
He turned and tossed the phone onto the desk, resting his elbow on the table and pressing his forehead, feeling a tightness in his chest.
The phone rang. Chen Qian saw the caller ID: Zhao Rou.
Chen Qian didn’t answer, just staring at the phone as it rang and stopped. It then rang again. Finally, the ringing ceased, replaced by a text message.
— Is this Chen Qian?
Chen Qian didn’t know if Zhao Rou was always thinking of him, hoping that a silent stranger’s call might be him. Or if there was some psychic connection between mother and son.
But what Chen Qian knew even less was whether he was ready to face everything he had once fled from.
He sighed deeply as he picked up the phone and put it back in the drawer.
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*Translator’s Note: There was a moment when I was estranged from a family member as well. It wasn’t pretty and it did hurt somewhat. But sometimes, not all family members are good to be interacted with. That was just my personal opinion. It might be different with CQ’s family though. -K
Next update: 2024.10.07
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