Chapter 81: Together

Watching Zhao Qiping's figure as he hurried away, Wang Yan strolled around the vicinity with his hands behind his back.

It was nearly six o'clock by the time he returned to Ode to Joy, and the little bit he'd eaten in the afternoon had long since digested. In high spirits, Wang Yan bought some groceries and cooked another meal for himself. Eating his side dishes and sipping his little wine, he found contentment and joy in the moment.

Over on Sister Andi's side, she had a bite to eat with Wei Wei, after which she was taken to the Science and Technology Museum. Seemingly having forgotten the pain of this past period, or perhaps to vent, Sister Andi had a great time.

Wei Wei, who had been keeping a close eye on her, was also very happy and felt a huge weight lift from his heart. For this past week or so, he had been thinking of Sister Andi with his eyes open and Sister Andi with his eyes closed; he was damn near going crazy from it.

"Scientists have always been dedicated to researching... that is not the Blue Star we are familiar with; humans did not exist yet. One day, a small asteroid flew over from the distant horizon..."

Wei Wei and Sister Andi sat together watching the educational film, and he noticed Sister Andi beside him staring intently and with slight curiosity at the screen in front. Taking advantage of the moment the asteroid struck the Blue Star—with the screen erupting like fireworks, gravel, wildfires, and magma—and accompanied by the narrator's voice, Wei Wei said, "How beautiful." At the same time, he reached an arm around and rested it on Sister Andi's shoulder.

Feeling the touch on her shoulder, Sister Andi instinctively stood up, pushed Wei Wei away, and immediately ran out.

The beauty from before was like the moon in the water or a flower in a mirror, vanishing in an instant, and at this moment, the Blue Star on the screen was also shrouded in thick volcanic ash, no longer blue. Wei Wei lay on the ground, dumbfounded, watching Sister Andi doubt her life. Seeing her run off, he snapped out of it and hurried to apologize and chase after her.

Walking up to Sister Andi, who was soothing her emotions, Wei Wei hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Sister Andi, what's wrong? Are you angry?"

Glancing at Wei Wei, Sister Andi said, "I'm sorry." With that, she turned and walked away.

Wei Wei followed closely behind, saying a few words in an attempt to figure out why Sister Andi had such a strong reaction, but having no luck, he had no choice but to take Sister Andi back to Ode to Joy.

On the way, Sister Andi didn't say a word. Even though Wei Wei had a thousand things to say in his heart, it was to no avail; he had no opportunity to blather on.

Sitting in the car, watching Sister Andi walk away, Wei Wei's heart grew colder and colder, feeling as if it were being twisted by a knife, in immense pain. Letting out a long sigh, Wei Wei returned in a decadent mood to his river-view mansion, leaning against the wide, bright floor-to-ceiling window to lick his shattered heart.

…………

Sister Andi drank large gulps of water, leaning against the bedside, thinking about what had happened today.

Aside from being touched by Wei Wei, she really felt very happy. She had forgotten about her younger brother still in Daishan, forgotten about those unspeakable little thoughts, forgotten about work, and forgotten about her exhaustion. She thought, if her childhood had been happy, would she have been like other children brought out by their parents?

Shaking her head, Sister Andi turned her thoughts to Wei Wei. They hadn't known each other long; counting today, they had only met three times. Despite the unpleasantness, she did have feelings for Wei Wei, but what happened today made Sister Andi see reality clearly to some extent. That wasn't the feeling she had thought it was; it was just a spiritual sustenance while in a foreign land with no one to accompany her, not the destination she had imagined.

Both being men, Sister Andi couldn't help but think of Wang Mou upstairs. From the noise incident and the elevator incident, all the way to her brother's situation, Sister Andi thought about the things that had happened in this short time and compared them with Wei Wei.

She discovered that she had an unconscious reliance on Wang Yan, and she had long ago discovered that she didn't feel repulsed by physical contact with him…………

After thinking for a long time, comparing the two, Sister Andi understood her own heart. She finished the water in her hand in one gulp, went out, and went upstairs.

Seeing it was Sister Andi when she opened the door, Wang Yan turned and walked back to the dining table: "You came at just the right time. Have you eaten?"

Sister Andi, who had casually closed the door, said, "Not yet."

"Sit, let's eat a little together." As he spoke, Wang Yan got a bowl and chopsticks for Sister Andi and poured her a glass of wine.

Seeing Sister Andi silently picking at her food, Wang Yan asked, "Do you have something on your mind?" He didn't know that Sister Andi had gone out with Wei Wei today, and of course, even if he had known, he wouldn't have cared.

"I've thought about it seriously for a long time. I've discovered that I don't resist your touch, and I always unconsciously want to share my affairs with you... Wang Yan..." After saying quite a bit in one breath, Sister Andi looked into Wang Yan's eyes and said, "Perhaps we... could try getting to know each other?"

Seeing Wang Yan looking at her without speaking, Sister Andi explained, "You know my situation. If you refuse, I won't say anything; I just..."

She still had a bit of sense and didn't take it for granted, so Wang Yan interrupted, "Are you confessing?"

"You could consider it that. So, what do you think?"

Wang Yan smiled and raised his glass: "What do you think I think?"

Relieved, Sister Andi smiled and clinked her glass with Wang Yan's.

The two continued to eat and laugh, and washed the dishes together.

Lying down on the balcony floor with his arms around Sister Andi, looking at the rare starry sky outside, Wang Yan told Sister Andi about the identity the system had arranged for him so she could understand. Once they started talking, they talked until past eleven.

Although it wasn't early, absolutely no other stories occurred.

After an awkward kiss, Sister Andi, with a blushing face and eyes full of smiles, returned downstairs. After a simple wash, she lay in bed with wild thoughts, not knowing when she fell asleep.

Knowing that the "getting to know each other" Sister Andi spoke of was truly getting to know each other, Wang Yan wasn't in a hurry; they hadn't known each other long, and wasn't it just a matter of time?

Wang Yan was not a good person—he never had been—and the most extreme thing one could say was that he wasn't bad. This was just Wang Yan's patience improving, plus it had only been a little over a month since the actual distance from the last world, and he hadn't recovered yet; otherwise, Sister Andi would definitely have been lying there today. This stuff had nothing to do with age; never mind that he was actually over 100 years old now, even if he were over 500, he was old in heart but not in body. If the person wasn't old, then the spear was still like a dragon; what was there to be old about in the heart?

In fact, combined with the plot and Sister Andi's reaction, Wang Yan already knew what was going on. As for Wei Wei, he was sorry, but it was highly likely they wouldn't meet again, and he couldn't be bothered to specifically mess with Wei Wei; just let it be.

The next day, Monday, Sister Andi, who had been lovey-dovey all day, took Guan Ju'er to work, feeling refreshed.

In the car, Guan Ju'er said, "Sister Sister Andi, you look really good today."

The corners of Sister Andi's mouth turned up: "Really? I think it's alright." She didn't say that she and Wang Yan had gotten together; since no one asked, she didn't feel the need to rush to say it.

Guan Ju'er didn't think anything of it, because Sister Andi had always been like that. Remembering something, Guan Ju'er said, "By the way, Sister Sister Andi, don't you think Yingying has changed too much lately?"

"I asked Wang Yan about this. Let me tell you his answer." Sister Andi remembered something and said with a smile, "He said that Xiao Qiu has indeed made progress, but her temperament hasn't changed much. As for why I feel Xiao Qiu has changed, it's purely because of Xiao Qiu's high-intensity work and non-stop learning; she doesn't have enough energy and has no heart to care about anything else."

Once this was mentioned, Guan Ju'er stood up for Qiu Yingying: "Sister Sister Andi, when you have time, you should persuade Yingying..."

Just as they arrived at the office, they saw Tan Zongming leisurely flipping through a book there: "Old Tan, why are you here again?"

Turning his chair around, Tan Zongming said, "What? You don't welcome me?"

"No, it's just that you don't come to the company often. Last time it was because of my brother's situation; what is it for this time?"

"The board members are meeting in a while to discuss the Red Star matter. By the way, you've been doing the Red Star project all along, so you're the most familiar with it; you should sit in as an observer." Having said this, Tan Zongming looked carefully at Sister Andi, who was nodding: "You're in a very good state today, much better than before. What good news is there?"

Sister Andi nodded and smiled: "Wang Yan and I... are together. I'll introduce you another day."

Hearing the name Wang Yan, even though he knew the result, he still felt a bit uncomfortable. After Tan Zongming had rolled around twice last time, he had fiercely investigated Wang Yan again, but the result was still the same—there wasn't a single brilliant point. In the end, after weighing it, he just let it be.

Very well concealing the unnaturalness on his face, Tan Zongming said in a loud voice, "Mm, very good, Sister Andi. Seeing you like this, I'm relieved, and happy for you. It seems I found a good house; even a marriage has been formed."

Sister Andi shook her head and said, "It's not that exaggerated; we've just started getting to know each other, it's still early."

Although he had only met him once, he had confidence in Wang Yan, but he didn't want to say more. Tan Zongming didn't want to chat anymore, raised his hand to check his watch, and said, "Let's go, time is almost up." With that, he left first.

Sister Andi didn't feel anything was wrong, picked up the documents, and followed.

At noon, Sister Andi called Wang Yan to have lunch.

Wang Yan naturally had no objections, so he simply went ahead to a restaurant not far from Sister Andi's company and ordered a few dishes to wait for her. After all, she was a woman, and since they were in the heat of it, she just wanted to talk when she had nothing to do; it was understandable.

Sister Andi arrived late and said apologetically, "Kept you waiting, I was busy with the acquisition, there were too many things."

"Here, the dishes just arrived." Wang Yan gestured to the waiter behind her who was carrying the dishes, handed the bowl and chopsticks to Sister Andi, and said, "I don't know what's good here, these are all signature dishes. Try them and see how they taste?"

Taking the chopsticks, Sister Andi tasted a bite and said, "It's alright, but honestly, it's a bit worse than your cooking."

Sister Andi was really about right; his cooking was on par with the master chef here. Wang Yan smiled: "Get off work early tonight, I'll cook."

Sister Andi nodded, picked up a chopstick of food, and said, "I have a subordinate who makes me very irritable. Everything she does always has errors; there are problems big and small, and no matter what I say, it has no effect."

"Tell me in detail."

While eating, Sister Andi told him about the subordinate's situation: "I really can't understand how she managed to get to this position."

After listening, Wang Yan had an idea, took a sip of soup, and said, "Sister Andi, I won't talk about the problem with your subordinate; I want to talk about you."

"Me?" Sister Andi was puzzled; she didn't understand what problem she had.

Nodding, Wang Yan said, "Your handling method is problematic; even in America, there's no one like you. So, how did you get to this position?"

Wang Yan spoke very bluntly, but Sister Andi wasn't angry and signaled for him to continue.

"Never mind being subtle or influencing people like a gentle breeze, you can't just scold people face-to-face in front of so many people like that. Shouldn't you be more tactful? If you're dissatisfied with him, you should find him privately to talk and see what the situation is that led him to be like this."

"If there's a problem, solve the problem. If you can't solve it, put it on the table, and everyone can think of a solution together. If no one has a way, you can't blame others; that's your problem as a leader."

"If it's entirely a problem of his personal ability, then the capable should take the position. If you scold people like that and force them to work overtime so hard, what if something happens? Who's responsible? Do you dare say you're innocent?"

Sister Andi pondered for a while and nodded: "I've learned, thank you."

Seeing that she wasn't in high spirits, it was likely he had hit a sore spot. He hadn't even said the harsher things yet. Wang Yan shook his head, changed the subject, and silently guided the atmosphere between the two back to normal.

"Brother Wang, Sister Sister Andi."

Just as they were about finished eating, Guan Ju'er and her two colleagues also arrived at this restaurant.

"Xiao Guan?" Wang Yan, being in the middle of it, always felt this scene was a bit familiar, but he didn't think about it anymore and continued: "We have the fate but not the luck today; we've finished eating."

"It's okay, Brother Wang." As she spoke, Guan Ju'er introduced her two colleagues.

Nodding to them, Wang Yan said, "I just remembered I still owe you a big meal; I've been so busy lately I forgot. Let's coordinate our time tonight, give Xiao Qiu a day off, and we'll go out for a feast."

Guan Ju'er still wanted to refuse, but thinking about giving Qiu Yingying a day off, she pondered for a moment and nodded: "Okay, then it's settled, Brother Wang. Bye-bye, Sister Sister Andi."

Wang Yan took Sister Andi and left. When they reached the door, after asking what they had ordered, he added two hearty dishes and settled the bill.

At this moment, he remembered; wasn't this the scene where Sister Andi first met Wei Wei? He didn't know if this was the same shop; the thought flashed by, and it was just what it was.

Sister Andi saw Wang Yan's actions of adding dishes and paying the bill, but she didn't say anything. The two strolled for a while to digest their food and then parted ways.

Guan Ju'er in the restaurant watched them walk out the door and said, "You've met Sister Sister Andi; the Brother Wang just now is the rumored boyfriend you were talking about, who lives upstairs from us."

The short-haired colleague opened her mouth and spoke, sounding very reasonable: "This man looks stronger than the last one; not to mention anything else, just his age and height crush the other. As for looks, there isn't much difference between the two, but Brother Wang's eyes are particularly spirited, which adds a lot of points. Dressed in casual sportswear, his posture is upright; I imagine his physique should be quite good. I can't tell what brand his clothes are, but judging by the fabric, it shouldn't be cheap. Your female neighbor is truly formidable; they are all high-quality good men."

"Not to mention anything else, it's one thing not to see the brand without a logo last time. How did you practice this skill of seeing the fabric from a distance?"

"Hehe, talent; you can't envy it."

The group laughed and joked, and the dishes they had ordered earlier arrived. Seeing the extra meat and vegetable dishes, the long-haired colleague said, "Did you bring the wrong order? We didn't order these two dishes?"

"That's correct, ladies. The gentleman who was sitting at that table just now added these two dishes for you and has already settled the bill." As the waiter spoke, he pointed to the seat Wang Yan had just occupied.

Watching the waiter leave, the short-haired colleague said, "Wow, bonus points. He's much better than the last one; why don't I have a neighbor like that?"

Guan Ju'er ignored the two and hurriedly took out her phone to call Wang Yan. With her little skills, she was smoothed over by Wang Yan in two sentences.

The long-haired colleague picked up a chopstick of food and said, "If he treats you, just eat; what's there to be embarrassed about?"

"I don't want to owe too much; I can't afford to pay it back."

The short-haired colleague interjected: "It's very obvious, you're overthinking it; he never thought about making you pay it back."

In the afternoon, Sister Andi returned to the company to talk to Liu Siming for a while—that was the employee who died suddenly at Shengxuan, the subordinate Sister Andi had mentioned at noon.

No one knew what they talked about; that day, Liu Siming resigned and was compensated with three months' salary.

If Liu Siming knew the cause and effect, Liu Siming: I damn well thank you, you let me save my life.

…………

Zhao Qiping greeted them enthusiastically: "Come, come, come, sit, sit. Is this Sister Andi? Oh my, Boss Wang is quite lucky in love."

This was Tuesday, at a restaurant with a relatively quiet environment.

Zhao Qiping already knew that sending WeChat messages wasn't effective, as Wang Yan usually saw them a long time later, so he had called directly yesterday to invite them to dinner because the patient had been saved.

"Thank you, Doctor Zhao."

"You're too polite, too polite." Zhao Qiping waved his hand, turned to Wang Yan and said, "But you move quite fast; I remember when we met, you were still single."

"No choice, the charm is there."

Sister Andi rolled her eyes at Wang Yan and didn't speak.

"Shameless." Zhao Qiping raised his wine glass and smiled: "Alright, drink, drink. Celebrating you, Boss Wang, leaving the single life, and also celebrating that the patient was saved."

The three of them had a drink, and Wang Yan said, "Alright, you saved the person; I spent the money to buy peace of mind. If I can help, I'll help, just like that."

Zhao Qiping didn't care either; no matter what, the money was there and the person lived, which was a good thing.

After chatting and laughing for a while, Wang Yan asked, "Aren't you single? What are your thoughts?"

Zhao Qiping said while eating: "No thoughts, just wait for fate." As he spoke, he gestured to Sister Andi beside him.

Shaking her head, Sister Andi said, "Don't look at me; he didn't lie to you just now, he really is charming; I was the one who confessed first. You still have to strive for it; look at fate, who knows how long you'll have to wait."

"Oh? Tell me quickly, what's going on?" Zhao Qiping leaned forward and asked gossiping.

Sister Andi then roughly explained what happened.

After listening, Zhao Qiping raised his wine glass and said, "I admire your boldness and frankness; this glass is a toast to you, Sister Andi."

Seeing the two of them drinking, Wang Yan accompanied them with a glass on the side and said, "Actually, we also saw eye-to-eye; don't listen to Sister Andi, I've also been thinking about this for quite a long time." Although it was all a joke, this kind of thing really couldn't be let the woman bear, and it wasn't worth bragging about; behind this frankness was a bit of heartache.

Sister Andi smiled and looked at Wang Yan, didn't say much, and finished the wine in her glass.

"Let's talk about you; fate is hard to seek. If you had to choose, do you prefer the plain-as-water harmony of a zither and flute, or are you more inclined toward the hollow and boring passion?"

Zhao Qiping pondered for a moment and said, "I'd rather neutralize the two."

"Understood, you'd better wait for fate. Let's not talk about it, drink."

After drinking a glass of wine, Zhao Qiping said helplessly: "I also know it's hard to find, but if it's just these two, I prefer the former."

Sister Andi interjected: "But doesn't your work need the latter more?"

"It's meaningless; it's okay to relax and be happy for a short time." Zhao Qiping shook his head: "I can't accept being together for a long time. I prefer reading, listening to music, or watching anime to relieve stress."

As the taxi carrying Zhao Qiping drove away, Sister Andi tilted her head and said, "Do you think he and Xiao Guan are a good match?"

"Don't know, have a chance to let them meet and see what happens." Pulling Sister Andi into his arms, Wang Yan said, "Never mind them, let's go home."

Thus, the relationship between Wang Yan and Sister Andi slowly warmed up; they ran and had breakfast together in the morning, and picked vegetables and cooked together in the evening, with firewood, rice, oil, and salt, occasionally tasting tea and drinking wine, chatting, reading books, and writing calligraphy. It wasn't very passionate, but it was warm, and Sister Andi was deeply immersed in it.

As for Wei Wei? He was just about at the heel; it didn't make much difference. ===== CHAPTER 82 =====