Paper Lover At Old Town Bookstore Chapter 43

Are you okay?

As soon as I sent the completed cooperation contract to the legal department, my phone rang rapidly, and the words “Song Zhili” on the screen made my eyes hurt.After hesitating for two seconds, he pressed the answer button and deliberately kept his tone calm: “Hello.”

“Do you know about my marriage?”

His voice came through the receiver, with a trace of imperceptible panic. Before I could even respond, he asked again: “Did Xing Qingru tell you? Or has it already spread in the company?”

I was stunned for a moment, and then I realized – the news of the marriage came so quickly?It seems that the two old men are really determined to move forward.

I leaned on the office chair and tapped my fingertips on the table unconsciously: “I don’t know. What kind of marriage?”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment, as if he didn’t expect this reaction from me, and his tone suddenly darkened: “My grandfather has reached an agreement with the old man of the Xing family, asking me to marry Xing Qingru.”

His voice was filled with suppressed anger and a hint of inexplicable urgency, “Qiu Sheng, I will not agree.”

“This is your family matter and has nothing to do with me.” I interrupted him, my tone as cold as ice, “Mr. Song, if there is nothing else, I still have work to deal with.”

“It has nothing to do with you?” His voice suddenly rose, with a hint of uncontrollable paranoia, “How could it have nothing to do with you? Qiu Sheng, you clearly know how I feel about you, how can you say it has nothing to do with you?”

I held the phone with my fingers so hard that my knuckles turned white, and I felt an inexplicable irritation in my heart.

Whether he is married or not has nothing to do with me, but his eagerness to clear things up makes me feel irritated for no reason.”Song Zhili,” I took a deep breath and suppressed the emotions in my heart, “I am a straight man, and there is no possibility between us. Your marriage and your career have nothing to do with me. You don’t need to explain this to me.”

“Impossible?” His voice was choked with sobs and a hint of desperation. “Just because you are a straight man? Just because I forced you that night? Qiu Sheng, I can wait, wait for you to slowly accept me, even if it takes a lifetime! But I can’t marry Xing Qingru, I can’t marry someone I don’t love!”

The background sound on the other end of the phone was very noisy, and you could vaguely hear his rapid breathing, as if he was suppressing great emotions.I looked at the gradually darkening sky outside the window and felt mixed emotions in my heart.His paranoia and affection are like an airtight net, no matter how hard I struggle, I can’t break free.

“I’m hanging up.” I didn’t want to continue this meaningless conversation, so I pressed the hang up button after I finished speaking.

“Wait!” He suddenly called me, his voice low and urgent, “Qiu Sheng, wait for me to go back. When I go back and handle this matter, I will give you an explanation. Don’t ignore me, okay?”

I didn’t respond and hung up the phone.The moment the phone screen went dark, the only thing left in the office was my slightly rapid breathing.

The news of Song Zhili’s marriage was like a pebble, once again breaking the calm I had deliberately maintained.Is it because of me that he doesn’t want to marry Xing Qingru?But how long can this “preference” based on coercion and entanglement last?And how should I face this increasingly complex situation?

As soon as the phone was put back on the table, there was a gentle knock on the office door. Lin Zhiqing walked in with a stack of documents, with his usual smile on his face: “Brother Song, these are the contract modification opinions reported by the Legal Department. Check to see if there are any problems…”

Before he finished speaking, his voice paused, his eyes fell on my face, and his smile gradually faded: “Brother Song, are you okay?”

I looked up at him and found that my fingertips were still trembling slightly, and my face must have looked extremely ugly.

The phone call with Song Zhili just now was like a tug-of-war, draining all my emotions. At this moment, I still feel an indescribable annoyance in my chest.

“It’s okay.” I suppressed the turmoil in my heart and reached out to take the document. My fingertips were a little unsteady when they ran across the paper. “Put the document here. I’ll look at it later.”

Lin Zhiqing did not leave immediately. Instead, he took two steps closer and said with genuine concern, “Are you really okay? Your face looks pale. When I was on the phone just now, I heard something was wrong with your voice outside.”

He scratched his head and added hesitantly, “Did… something happened to Mr. Song?”

It’s okay that he didn’t mention Song Zhili. As soon as he mentioned this name, the irritability in my heart surged up again.He clenched the document tightly with his fingertips, and the paper was crumpled slightly: “It has nothing to do with him, I’m just a little tired.”

Seeing that I didn’t want to say more, Lin Zhiqing didn’t ask any more questions. He just nodded: “Then you can rest for a while. The documents are not urgent. I will come back later to get them.”

He turned around and walked to the door, stopped again, and looked back at me, “Brother Song, if you have something you can’t think of or need help, just say it, don’t carry it yourself.”

I said “hmm” and said no more.The office door was gently closed, and the room became quiet again, but the confusion in my heart did not ease at all.

Lin Zhiqing’s concern was like a ray of light, which temporarily dispelled some depression, but when I thought of Song Zhili’s phone call, the sudden marriage, and the experience that I still can’t let go, I felt cold all over.

I am a straight man, but I have been involved in such an entanglement that spans sexual orientations and involves family interests. Now even onlookers can see that something is wrong with me, but I still can’t find an outlet to escape.