Intimate Trial Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Ye Chang did not come to the company today.

The door to the president’s office was closed, no one answered the internal phone line, and the secretariat only received a concise message: Mr. Ye has private matters to deal with today, and all matters will be postponed or decided by the designated vice president.

This is almost unprecedented in the Ye family, which is known for Ye Chang’s diligence and desire for control.The news was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, causing subtle ripples and many speculations among senior officials.But for most people, this is just an anomaly worthy of private discussion, and work must continue.

Except Silin.

From the moment she stepped into the company and learned of Ye Chang’s absence, Shen Shenlin felt like she was being slowly roasted on a slow fire, unable to sit still.

Her workstation was facing the direction of the president’s office, and the closed door was like a huge magnet, firmly attracting her anxious gaze.Every time the intercom phone rang, every time footsteps came from the corridor, she looked up suddenly like a frightened bird, her heart stopped, and then slowly and heavily fell back when she was confirmed that it was not Ye Chang, leaving a deeper uneasiness.

The information vacuum left after “Insomnia” disappeared completely enveloped her like an invisible net.Those cold words – “Who are you?” “The game is about to end.” “Leave or you will face something more terrifying” – were like a spell, lingering in her mind day and night.

Ye Chang’s absence today was like an ominous footnote, exacerbating her panic.

Is it because the “Xinghui” plan has been launched and Ye Chang has to deal with more core matters?Or…the “insomnia” warning is coming true?Has Ye Chang noticed something?Is that “something more terrifying” already quietly approaching?

She tried to numb herself with work and turned on the computer, but the screen was filled with the tampered and dazzling data from the “Starlight” report.She tried to organize the documents, but her fingertips were so trembling that she couldn’t even hold the paper steady.She went to the tea room to pour water, but the hot water overflowed and burned the back of her hand. She just stared blankly at the rapidly reddening skin. She didn’t feel much pain, only a numb coldness.

The occasional looks from her colleagues seemed to her to be full of inquiry and scrutiny.Did they know something?Is it “insomnia” or Ye Chang has spread the news about her?She even felt that the security guard at the front desk looked at her for a long time today.

At lunch time, she had no appetite and could only manage a few sips of soup.It felt like a piece of ice was stuffed in my stomach, sinking heavily.She hid in the stairwell of the fire escape, leaning against the cold wall, trying to calm her racing heartbeat.In the confined space, the only sound was her muffled breathing and the faint city noise in the distance.

The phone was in my hand, the screen dark.She clicked on the WeChat dialog box with Ye Chang countless times. The cursor flashed in the input field, but she couldn’t type a word.What could she say?”Mr. Ye, why didn’t you come today?” – Stupid.”Mr. Ye, I have some questions about the data reported by Xinghui…” – Seeking death.”Mr. Ye, do you know about ‘insomnia’?” – That would be a complete collapse.

She didn’t even dare to open the encryption software anymore, for fear that once she opened it, a new and more terrifying message about “insomnia” would pop up, or she would see a reminder that she had been completely blocked.

Time passed slowly in agony.In the afternoon, she was forced to attend an inter-department coordination meeting originally chaired by Ye Chang.She sat at the end of the conference room, listening to the reports from the heads of various departments, but the familiar business vocabulary became vague and distant in her ears.She tried hard to concentrate and tried to play the role of a competent assistant, but her distracted eyes and minor mistakes from time to time (such as misremembering an insignificant time point) still caused an imperceptible frown from the vice president who presided over the meeting.

Midway through the meeting, her phone vibrated in her pocket.

Shen Shenlin froze and took out her cell phone almost as if she was electrocuted.Not “Insomnia”, nor Ye Chang.Just a regular spam ad.

Great disappointment and a deeper fear seized her.She felt like a prisoner waiting for the final verdict, and both the judge (Ye Chang) and the executioner (Insomnia) were invisible, leaving her alone in the empty execution ground, swayed by invisible fear and unknown sharp blades.

It’s time to get off work.Colleagues left one after another, and the office area gradually became empty.

Shen Shenlin froze at her work station and did not move.She looked at the darkening sky outside the window and the city lights that came on one by one. For the first time, she felt an almost physical resistance to leaving the building and returning to the empty apartment.

There are no answers there, just a deeper silence and a fear that has no place to rest.

But staying here, facing that closed door that symbolizes all unknowns and dangers, is equally suffocating.

She finally packed up her things slowly and walked towards the elevator with sloppy steps.As the elevator descended, the feeling of weightlessness made her stomach churn.

When she walked out of the revolving door of the building, the early autumn evening breeze blew with a coolness, and she subconsciously wrapped her windbreaker tightly.Looking up, the floor where Ye Chang’s office is located is dark.

Where did Ye Chang go today?What are you doing?Is it related to “Insomnia”, “Xinghui”, and her Shen Shenlin?

These questions wrapped around her heart like poison ivy, tightening tighter and tighter.

She stood on the bustling street, watching the busy traffic and the crowds of people coming and going, but she felt more isolated and helpless than ever before.

The world was still moving, and only her time seemed to be stuck in the long and strange days when “Insomnia” disappeared and Ye Chang was absent, slowly sliding towards a bottomless dark abyss.

And she couldn’t even find the direction to grab a life-saving straw.

Ye Chang, who did not go to the company today, returned to the penthouse apartment after sending Su Yu to the examination room.

The huge space seemed particularly empty and quiet without the subtle sound of Su Yu’s wheelchair sliding and the occasional meow of the Ragdoll cat.Sunlight shines in through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, spreading bright but somewhat cold light spots on the smooth floor.

Ye Chang did not immediately get into the study as usual to deal with the seemingly endless tasks and calculations.She didn’t even change into home clothes. She was still wearing the simple off-white sweater and casual trousers she wore when she was taking the exam in the morning. Her long hair was tied loosely, and a few strands of broken hair hung down around her neck. She had removed all the sharp armor she usually wore, showing a rare, homely softness and…a trace of imperceptible emptiness.

She walked to the island in the open kitchen and glanced at the expensive but almost new kitchen utensils.After hesitating for a moment, she turned on her phone and started searching for “nutritious lunch for college entrance examination students”, “recipes to enhance immunity”, and “light diet suitable for heart load”.

Her fingertips slid across the screen, her expression focused and her brows slightly furrowed, as if she was studying a vital business contract.The colorful pictures and detailed step-by-step instructions on the screen formed a strange contrast with the cold data and complex strategies she dealt with on a daily basis.

“Chicken soup with codonopsis and astragalus… Step 1: Blanch the chicken pieces…” She muttered in a low voice, her eyes lingering on the word “blanch”, as if she was understanding this unfamiliar cooking term.Turning to another page, “Steamed sea bass…requires shredded ginger, scallions, steamed fish soy sauce…”

Her fingers curled up unconsciously.For Ye Chang, who is used to controlling the overall situation at the negotiation table and making drastic changes in the capital market, these trivial and pyrotechnic steps made her feel a strange… confusion far more than any business problems.

She tried to recall, but it seemed that no one had ever prepared three meals for her in such detail.parents?There are only endless quarrels and interests in their world.Sister Su Mian?She would tenderly care about her being fed and clothed, but those specific memories of “how to do it” had long been blurred in her distant childhood and the subsequent huge changes in her hometown.

Suyu needs it.The child was born with a frail heart and needed careful care.In the past, nutritionists and Wu Qi were responsible for these. She was only responsible for providing the best resources and focusing on results.But today, on this crucial day for Su Yu, in this blank space where she had deliberately withdrawn from the bloody chess game, some indescribable impulse drove her to want to… do something with her own hands.

Even if it’s just a meal.

She put down her phone, walked to the refrigerator, and opened the heavy door.It was neatly stacked with fresh ingredients replenished daily by the housekeeper, with a rich variety, but to her, it was more like a pile of unfamiliar symbols waiting to be combined.

She took out a box of beautifully packaged chicken breasts, a bag of green vegetables, and a few fresh tomatoes.Put them on the cooking table, and then… I don’t know where to start.

Should you wash the vegetables first or process the meat first?Do you need to peel the tomatoes?How should I choose vegetables?

These problems that would never trouble her for even a second in normal times were now like miniature checkpoints, lying in front of her.She picked up the sharp Japanese kitchen knife. The cold handle felt familiar in her hands – these hands had signed contracts worth billions and manipulated complex capital games, but at this moment, they looked a little stiff and clumsy when facing an innocent piece of chicken breast on the chopping board.

She tried to recall the steps of the recipe she had read, imitating the chef in her image, cutting the chicken into pieces.The movements are unfamiliar and the size is uneven.The water boiled, and she poured the chicken pieces in. Looking at the rolling water and the gradually rising white foam, she was a little unsure whether this was the so-called “blanching”.

The smell of raw meat and water vapor gradually filled the kitchen. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was incompatible with the refreshing cedar aroma on her body.There was a thin layer of sweat on the forehead, not from fatigue, but from a strange tightness caused by not being good at it.

Just when she was looking at the crookedly chopped tomatoes and hesitating whether to continue this “project” that was obviously beyond her ability, her eyes accidentally glanced at the corner of the kitchen table, where the bottles and jars that Su Yu needed to eat every day were placed in different categories – various vitamins, nutritional supplements, and heart-protecting drugs specially prescribed by doctors and needed to be taken with meals.

Those familiar drug names and dosage instructions were like a basin of ice water, instantly extinguishing the almost clumsy attempt at warmth in her heart.

What is she doing?

Using these unskilled and possibly error-prone methods to prepare Su Yu’s crucial meals that may affect her physical condition?What if there is too much salt, what if the heat is not right, what if… there is something unclean?

A huge sense of risk and powerlessness seized her instantly.This is not her area of ​​expertise.She can use her capital and strategy to build the safest fortress for Su Yu and provide top-notch medical care, but she can’t guarantee that the meal she cooks is absolutely safe and suitable for Su Yu.

My fingertips were still stained with the slightly cool tomato juice.

Ye Chang looked at his hands stained with fireworks and was silent for a moment.

Then, without saying a word, she turned on the faucet and washed her hands carefully and repeatedly with hand sanitizer until every finger was cold and clean.

She dried her hands, picked up her phone, and didn’t look at the recipes again.Instead, she clicked on the number of the person in charge of a top private chef that she almost never dialed.

“Hey, Chef Li. For today’s lunch and dinner meals, please prepare them according to Miss Su Yu’s customized nutritional plan. They are light and easy to digest, and help relieve tension and replenish energy. Yes, for two people. Deliver to the apartment before twelve o’clock. Thank you.”

Her voice returned to its usual clear and steady tone, with no emotion audible.

After hanging up the phone, she took one last look at the messy ingredients on the cooking table.No nostalgia, no regrets.She walked over calmly, took out the chicken pieces, not sure whether they were blanched, and put them into a garbage bag along with the chopped tomatoes and untouched vegetables, tied them tightly, and put them aside to be discarded.

Next, she expertly cleaned the countertops and sink, erasing any traces that were not part of her “expertise.”

The kitchen quickly returned to its original spotless, orderly and cold appearance, as if the brief attempt full of unfamiliar warmth had never happened.

Ye Chang walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the living room and looked out at the bright but distant sunshine.

When sending Su Yu into the examination room, the girl turned around and said to her, “Auntie, don’t worry, I will take the exam well”, which echoed clearly in her ears at this moment.

Don’t worry.

How could she not worry?

Worried about Su Yu’s health, worried about her performance in the exam, and even more worried… behind that child’s clear eyes, the premature knowledge and quiet understanding of everything she was going on in the darkness.

She raised her hand and touched her lips unconsciously with her fingertips.It had long since healed, leaving only a few tiny traces that were almost invisible.

What is Silin doing now?Are you tormented by the disappearance of “Insomnia” and her absence today?Are you afraid of the unknown consequences of that “last chance”?

These thoughts surged beneath her calm exterior like an undercurrent.

But soon, she forced them down again.

Today, she chose to leave it to herself and Su Yu.

Those conspiracies, calculations, hatred and judgments…for now, let them wait outside.

She only needs to wait for the private chef to deliver carefully prepared and absolutely safe meals, and then, perhaps in the afternoon when the sun is at its best, go to the study to read quietly for a while, or just sit by the window, thinking about nothing, waiting for the news that Su Yu has returned from the exam.

This is an extremely luxurious, brief and fragile moment of peace in the center of the storm.

And she needed this moment of respite.

For the next, more intense ending that is bound to come.