SWG Chapter 27
by VolareThe taxi stopped steadily in front of The Fourth Kind of Primary Color. The girl jumped out with her bag and quickly turned around, saying, “I’ll pay you later. I’m going to work. I left my number on the note. Please, please.”
“Hey!” The driver waved Li Wan back. “You work here? This name sounds familiar.”
“Yes, yes, yes. It’s okay. Just text me if you have any ideas!”
Li Wan felt a headache coming on.
It was all her fault. Yesterday, while scrolling through Douyin, she vaguely noticed that the video randomly posted by that coser girl was going viral, but she just smiled and scrolled past it. Who knew that when she woke up this morning and casually swiped…
She actually saw marketing accounts had taken screenshots from the video, praising her beautiful teacher to the heavens as unique! Seriously!
She immediately felt uneasy. She checked her boss’s account, and after confirming the rapidly increasing number of followers, she knew things were bad. She stopped her usual routine of scrolling Douyin for twenty minutes every morning and jumped out of bed, rushing downstairs to take a taxi to work as quickly as possible.
Her boss only returned from Beishi yesterday afternoon and was about to start her National Day overtime journey today?!
Wouldn’t that mean a deduction in her salary!
Li Wan jogged and pushed open the door, still catching her breath, when she saw a woman in a loose white jumpsuit standing in the morning light, answering the phone.
The woman’s hair fell smoothly to one side. She leaned against the counter, a pencil in one hand, flipping through the list of packages with the other, gently introducing the shop’s packages to the people on the other end of the phone.
Seeing Li Wan come in, she only spared her a glance, nodding with a smile, gesturing for her to prepare, and then focused on the phone call.
“…Yes, the basic package includes basic makeup and retouching.”
“I’m sorry, our outdoor shoots are temporarily fully booked. If you want to come, you may have to wait until October 4th.”
“Yes, I know today is only September 29th, but you know, everyone is basically working their last day and planning their National Day holiday.”
“Okay, just call me later.”
“…” Xiao Wenyu ended the call, exhaling slowly.
It was only ten o’clock, but this was already the seventh call this morning. Why?
She looked at the poster on the opposite door.
Because of this? It shouldn’t be.
After all, Tonight Intoxicated’s business has been gradually entering the off-season recently.
Xiao Wenyu rubbed her hair, pressing on her lower back, and asked suspiciously, “Xiao Wan, what’s going on?”
Coming so quickly and urgently, she must know something.
Xiao Wan touched her head, walked over to pick up the landline, and said, “That coser girl from before, the video she posted randomly went viral.”
Xiao Wenyu looked at her in astonishment. “Viral, but that shouldn’t…” She lowered her voice because Li Wan had already held her phone up to her, showing a video from a marketing account.
It was posted last night, but in less than twelve hours, it already had more than 500,000 likes.
After a long while, Xiao Wenyu said in a low voice, “Do you young people wake up and immediately scroll through Douyin?”
Then why doesn’t a certain boss even have this app, or Weibo.
Li Wan smiled embarrassedly, then suddenly thought of something and said, “Teacher, haven’t you rested for a long time? You should sit down and rest. I’ll do it.”
As she spoke, she put away her phone, helping Xiao Wenyu to sit in the armchair next to her. “Take a break, both you and the baby take a break.”
Xiao Wenyu was a little bit amused.
Ever since she told Li Wan about her situation, this child has been treating her like a treasure, which was a bit over the top.
It’s only been a few months, there’s no need for such meticulous care, right?
Besides…
Xiao Wenyu flipped out her phone, seeing many new WeChat messages, so many that one person’s message was pushed to the very bottom.
The message was sent yesterday afternoon, and still hasn’t been replied to.
This neighbor is really unreliable.
Xiao Wenyu clicked her tongue lightly, putting away her phone.
Besides, she didn’t want to be idle. If she was idle, she would overthink.
If she was idle, she would miss her.
Suddenly, the person ordering takeout raised her voice and asked, “Teacher, have you had breakfast yet? Or is there anything you want to eat right now?”
Xiao Wenyu looked away, her expression indifferent, “I’ve already eaten. Just order your own.”
It was hard enough that a certain boss wasn’t here, so there was no need to push her three meals a day, let her be more free, and more at ease.
*About an hour later, Yecheng*
Ruan Shengyi dragged her hungover body out of bed, her steps so weak that she had to lean on the sink while brushing her teeth to avoid falling directly.
She looked at the mess in the mirror and sighed deeply.
Logically speaking, she shouldn’t get drunk, but last night, to reject that person, she downed the Martini in her hand in one gulp. Although she only had one glass, the aftereffects were too strong.
Ruan Shengyi scratched her hair, so miserable that she wanted to bury herself.
That’s right, what did she say last night?
She seemed to say—
“Sorry, there’s someone at home, no thanks.”
The girl with pink highlights in her hair was stunned for a moment, a hint of regret in her eyes, “Such a beautiful girl, what a pity.”
“Please consider your wording.”
Ruan Shengyi’s face turned cold. She raised her glass and gently tapped it against hers, then drained the liquor in one gulp, showing her the empty glass.
Her refusal was obvious.
The girl shrugged. “Okay, farewell.”
Chen Yuexin, who was standing nearby, smiled knowingly after hearing the first sentence. When the girl left, she hooked Ruan Shengyi’s neck. “Looks like you really like her!”
Yes, she really likes her.
She believed that if one day she had the courage to tell Xiao Wenyu about her past, she would receive the same words she heard in the sunset that day, instead of fear and escape.
“-It’s 2024 now, you’re 27 years old, you’re great, and you’re amazing. You make me admire you from the bottom of my heart, and I want to tell you from the bottom of my heart-”
-“You really have grown into an excellent adult.”
Based on this one sentence alone, Ruan Shengyi was willing to sell the rest of her life to her to work as a slave.
Ruan Shengyi swayed, slowly spitting out two words: “Dizzy.”
Chen Yuexin rolled her eyes at her. “You downed a Martini in one gulp, and this one was dry. If you’re not dizzy, who is?”
“Come on, I’ll help you back. Go back and rest for a while.”
She pulled Ruan Shengyi’s arm, placed it over her shoulder, took off her glasses to prevent them from being stepped on later, and helped her get up.
The woman suddenly tightened her arm, sitting on the sofa, unwilling to move.
“Ruan Shengyi? Don’t you hate moving when you’re drunk? Be good.”
But she seemed to have taken root, fixed in place, not moving an inch no matter how much Chen Yuexin dragged.
Just when Chen Yuexin was about to give up and let her sit here all night, the person nailed to the sofa shook slightly, raised her hand, and pressed it to her forehead.
“I’m also afraid of some things…” she mumbled.
“I got into that school too, but I didn’t go.”
“If I had gone, I would have been her junior. At least, we would have had college to talk about, and a lot of life to talk about.”
She covered her face with both hands, propping herself up, muttering in the gaps, “But life is so unfair, but I…”
I seem destined to miss her for a certain amount of time.
I am destined to miss my redemption for so long.
This is all retribution from God.
Isn’t it?
Chen Yuexin was silent.
She knew most of Ruan Shengyi’s past and knew the source of her pain.
She leaned down, gently hugged the girl’s shoulders, patting her softly, just like she did seven years ago, and said softly, “You’ve already left that place. You’re free. Everything is the best arrangement.”
Ruan Shengyi repeated in a low voice: “…Everything is the best arrangement.”
…Is it?
Time returned to the present.
Ruan Shengyi looked in the mirror, gradually remembering what happened last night, wailing in frustration, losing all her strength, leaning on the sink to avoid falling.
Chen Yuexin will definitely laugh to death at her, being drunk like that, so embarrassing!
She had no heart or face to look at the person in the mirror, quickly rinsed the foam from her mouth, turned around, leaned against the sink, and sighed lengthily.
How could she have said it, so embarrassing.
The phone suddenly rang. Ruan Shengyi resignedly picked it up. It was Chen Yuexin.
Chen Yuexin: “I figured you’d be awake. Come on, there’s a training session on legal provisions today, bring a notebook.”
“…You…”
Chen Yuexin: “Don’t say anything, just come.”
“We’ll talk about the rest over lunch.”
Ruan Shengyi didn’t say anything else, quickly tidied herself up, picked up her phone, and briefly looked at the messages.
An extremely eye-catching message was buried at the bottom of the page, received yesterday afternoon, and had been ignored for almost a day.
It was from Xiao Wenyu!
She quickly grabbed her phone and opened the chat box.
Xiao Wenyu: Are you on a business trip to Yecheng?
Crap.
She knew drinking would mess things up!!
Ruan Shengyi: Sorry, I forgot to take my phone yesterday. Yes, there’s a training session in Yecheng.
She thought for a moment and sent a series of pictures.
Ruan Shengyi: Although Yecheng in autumn is in the north, look, it’s so beautiful.
Ruan Shengyi: If you have the chance, should we come together?
Ruan Shengyi flexed her fingers.
What else could she say? What else could she say to make her apology sincere enough?
But she didn’t reply to Xiao Wenyu’s message in time, so naturally she couldn’t demand that Xiao Wenyu reply to her message very promptly.
But that wasn’t a reason not to reply to her message all day, right?!
Could she be so angry?
Ruan Shengyi secretly glanced at her phone. The account she cared about hadn’t reacted at all, but a lot of other miscellaneous messages had come in.
“Xiao is still ignoring you?”
The sudden voice startled Ruan Shengyi so much that she almost dropped her phone.
Chen Yuexin sneered at her in disdain. “Give her a call, are you stupid?”
Ruan Shengyi hooked her fingers. “If I call, what if she doesn’t answer?”
“It’s off-work hours now, she’s busy.”
Chen Yuexin held her chin and looked at her, gently kicking her leg. “So you’re this cowardly when you’re in love? Where’s the Ruan Shengyi who used to act decisively?”
“…Okay, I’ll call.”
The tactic didn’t work.
But Chen Yuexin’s tactic is always useful.
But…
Ruan Shengyi deflated, taking back her phone. “No one’s answering.”