“…”
Truthfully, she wasn’t overly worried about her mother showing up. Her mother would only make a scene in private — she would absolutely never cause a public spectacle. Still, Zhu Yun knew she did need to go back at some point. She had to make things clear with her family; she couldn’t keep pretending the problem didn’t exist.
“All right, I’ll go home tomorrow,” Zhu Yun promised.
She set down the phone and took a long breath, leaning back into the café sofa. She turned to look through the glass wall at the wide open sky. The afternoon was wearing on, the sun beginning its descent, lazy clouds resting at the horizon’s edge.
She wasn’t sure how far Li Xun’s conversation with Dong Siyang had progressed, so she didn’t call — she just sent him a short message.
Dong Siyang and Li Xun were in the middle of a meeting. With no space to sit in the office, Dong Siyang had commandeered the delivery company’s front lobby. He was filling Li Xun in on the investment interest that Huajiang Group had recently signaled.
“Apparently quite a few companies have already approached Huajiang — spanning all kinds of industries. Entertainment, services, internet finance, you name it.” Dong Siyang looked at Li Xun. “Your old rivals are in the mix too. Jili getting through the securities regulator review is only a matter of time — they’ll probably list next year. Their starting position is already higher than ours. Their approach is to bring Huajiang in as a direct investor.”
Li Xun gave a casual sound of acknowledgment.
“So that’s exactly what I can’t figure out,” Dong Siyang went on. “Why would you drop the lawsuit? I can see why Zhu Yun would want to — but you? That I genuinely didn’t see coming.”
Li Xun gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Honestly, neither did I.”
Dong Siyang was about to say something more when Li Xun’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out — a message from Zhu Yun:
“I’ve left. The résumés worth considering have been forwarded to the company email. I need to go home tomorrow for a bit — I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Li Xun typed back a single word: “Okay.”
Dong Siyang continued talking about investment prospects, but after a while he could tell that Li Xun was not quite all there.
“What’s going on?” Dong Siyang asked.
Li Xun shook his head. The words “go home” from Zhu Yun’s message kept surfacing in his mind. They brought back the day they had parted all those years ago — she had been going home that day too. Just like now: light, easy, saying she would be right back.
Li Xun tugged at his collar. “What’s the matter?” Dong Siyang asked again.
“Nothing. Let’s stop here for tonight — we’ll pick it up tomorrow morning.” Li Xun rose, his brow furrowed, muttering under his breath: “Damn residual effects…”
Zhu Yun was at her apartment, packing. She wasn’t planning to be gone long — just a couple of changes of clothes.
There was a knock at the door.
She knew instantly it was Li Xun. His knock was unlike anyone else’s — not loud, but entirely without deference, a steady, purposeful rhythm, as though the knock itself were speaking, urging you to hurry up and answer.
Zhu Yun opened the door. Li Xun walked in and surveyed the apartment with an air of proprietary ease.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “Did you finish with Dong Siyang?”
“Done,” he said. He glanced around and his gaze landed on the travel bag she was packing. “How long will you be gone?”
“Not sure yet.”
He made a small, low sound.
“I’ll try to come back soon,” she said.
Li Xun looked at her. “How soon is soon?”
“…”
She studied him for a moment, and slowly began to understand what was written in his expression. She stepped closer and nudged him lightly with her elbow.
“You don’t want me to go?”
She had tried to be playful, but the timing was off — her own face flushed before she could even gauge his reaction. Li Xun watched her eyes slide away in embarrassment, and at last he seemed satisfied. He reached over and grabbed her arm, turned, and pressed her back against the desk.
Zhu Yun’s reflexes kicked in and she tensed — Li Xun was already working at her trousers.
“What are you doing?” she said.
“Making a baby,” Li Xun said.
Three words. That was all it took to ignite her completely. She began to resent how slowly he was undoing the buttons, batted his hands away, and took over herself. She muttered under her breath, “No one’s going to interrupt us this time, right? No calls this time?”
Li Xun said, “Keep your ears plugged. If the phone rings, don’t answer. Whoever comes, don’t care.”
While she was getting undressed, he glanced over at the things on the desk. “What’s this?”
Zhu Yun threw her clothing to one side. “It’s the electronic medical records system I was working on in the States. I paused on it for a while — I wanted to tidy it up and give it to you, in case it’s useful.”
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