Paper Lover At Old Town Bookstore Chapter 25

Overthrow the storm

The warm light in the tea room shone softly on her face. She clutched the disposable paper cup, exerted a slight force on her fingertips, and repeated with a bit of temptation and grievance in her eyes: “Qiu Sheng, you haven’t come to chat with me for almost a month. Can you tell me why?”

The word “Qiu Sheng” is like a soft feather gently scratching the tip of my heart, with a sharp sting.This is the first time in a month that she has called me by this affectionate name. The respect in the workplace has faded away, leaving only the frankness when chatting about gossip.

My Adam’s apple moved. I avoided her clear gaze and looked at the rainy scenery outside the window. My voice was a little dry: “Recently… I have been too busy at work and have no time to go downstairs.” This excuse was so pale that I couldn’t even deceive myself, especially under her candid gaze, which made me feel guilty.

She was silent for a few seconds, put down the paper cup gently, and said in a lower voice: “It’s because the president came to talk to you, right?”

I suddenly turned my head to look at her, my eyes full of astonishment.

She avoided my gaze and unconsciously rubbed the rim of the cup with her fingertips: “I heard my colleagues talking about it, saying that the president reminded you not to be too special to me… so you deliberately distanced yourself from me, right?” She paused, looked up at me, with a trace of imperceptible loss in her eyes, “Even just now, you were so cruel to Chang Wen just to avoid suspicion, right?”

The air in the tea room solidified instantly, and the dust floating in the warm light seemed to have stopped.I opened my mouth, but found that any explanation seemed pale – admitting that it was because of the president’s words would be equivalent to telling her “I care about other people’s opinions more than you”; denying it could not explain the deliberate alienation for this month.

Silence enveloped us like a tide, and the disappointment in her eyes gradually spread. Her fingers gripping the edge of the cup gradually tightened, and her knuckles turned white.I looked at the way she was hesitant to speak, the flash of grievance in her eyes, and my heart felt like it was blocked by something, making it painful.

It turns out she knows everything.He knew what his colleagues were talking about, he knew what the president said, and he even knew that I was deliberately distant.But she didn’t question it, she just asked me gently “why” in a hopeful tone.

The rain was still falling outside the window, and the sound of knocking on the glass was particularly clear, making the tea room even quieter.My Adam’s apple rolled countless times, but in the end I couldn’t utter a single word. I just looked at her with heavy eyes, filled with guilt, concern and unspeakable struggle.”Xingruo, are you okay?” Yang Changwen’s voice suddenly broke the silence in the tea room. He opened the door and barged in. His eyes glanced back and forth between me and Xu Xingruo, with deliberate concern, “Mr. Song was so fierce just now. I was afraid that you would be wronged, so I came here to have a look.”

His intrusion was like a sharp blade, cutting through the tense and ambiguous silence between us.Xu Xingruo subconsciously leaned closer to me, a trace of panic flashed in his eyes, and then he regained his composure and said softly: “I’m fine, thank you.”

Yang Changwen didn’t seem to notice her alienation, and walked straight to her. His tone was a little aggrieved, and he seemed to be telling me: “Actually, it was an accident just now. I didn’t mean to fall on you. Mr. Song may have misunderstood. After all… He was so special to you before, and now he is suddenly alienated, which makes him feel uncomfortable.”

These words seemed to be sowing discord. My eyes turned cold, and just as I was about to speak, I saw Xu Xingruo frowning and interrupting him: “Chang Wen, don’t say that. Qiu Sheng is not that kind of person.” She turned to look at me, with a bit of determination in her eyes, “Besides, what happened just now is over, let’s talk about work.”

The smile on Yang Changwen’s face froze, as if he didn’t expect that she would defend me directly. He was stunned for a few seconds before reluctantly saying, “Okay, you guys talk, I’ll go out first.” Before leaving, he looked at me deeply, with a bit of provocation in his eyes.

The tea room fell into silence again, but this time, she did not pursue the question again. She just sighed softly and said, “Qiu Sheng, I know you have your concerns. But I still like you who would gossip with me and listen to my complaints.” Yang Changwen walked out of the tea room, and the unwillingness in his eyes instantly turned into a sinister look of prey.Instead of returning to his work station, he went around to the rest area and got close to a few colleagues who were chatting. He lowered his voice but deliberately let everyone around him hear: “Did you see it just now? Mr. Song took Xu Xingruo to the tea room to be alone together. They chatted for a long time.”

Someone immediately answered: “Yes, yes, the way Mr. Song rushed to protect Xu Xingruo just now was so different!”

“I see, it’s not a misunderstanding at all,” Yang Changwen raised his eyebrows pretending to be mysterious, “President Song had alienated Xu Xingruo before, maybe he was playing hard to get? Now he might have whispered something in the tea room. You see Xu Xingruo’s face was red when he came out.”

The words seemed to have wings and spread in the work area instantly.My colleagues who were still discussing the “fall incident” immediately turned to me and Xu Xingruo, and their eyes drifted towards the tea room from time to time, mixed with ambiguous, probing and even contemptuous looks.

Lin Zhiqing happened to be coming back from outside. When he heard this, his expression suddenly changed. He quickly squeezed to Yang Changwen and warned in a low voice: “Yang Changwen, you can eat whatever you want, but you can’t talk nonsense! Mr. Song and Intern Xu are just communicating normally!”

“I’m not talking nonsense,” Yang Changwen spread his hands and said in a provocative tone, “Everyone has seen that they have been alone for so long. Who knows if it is normal communication or something else? Besides, President Song was so special to Xu Xingruo before, and now he is suddenly like this, which will inevitably make people think too much.”

The gossip became more and more outrageous, and some even said that “Mr. Song deliberately targeted Yang Changwen for Xu Xingruo” and “the two had a secret love for a long time, but they hid it because of the president’s words.”These words were like needles, drifting into the tea room along the cracks in the door and window, and landed clearly in the ears of Xu Xingruo and me.

Xu Xingruo’s face turned pale instantly, her fingers holding the paper cup trembled slightly, and her eyes were full of confusion – what she feared most was being pointed at.Seeing her embarrassed look, I felt guilty and angry, and stood up suddenly: “I’ll go tell them clearly.”