Chapter 08

After being discharged from the hospital, Mother Jiang continued to stay with Jiang Qiaosheng. Tang Yi still remembered the last incident and, apart from going to work, she basically never left the house.

In order to better take care of Mother Jiang, she even learned to make soup and cook with Mother Tang, which made Father Tang and Mother Tang a little suspicious.

That day was the Winter Solstice, Tang Yi canceled the gathering at the station and went to the vegetable market before going home to buy the ingredients for dinner.

When she arrived home, Jiang Qiaosheng had not finished work yet. As Tang Yi changed her shoes at the entrance, someone walked out of the kitchen.

“Are you Mrs. Jiang?” The auntie, who was about the same age as Mother Tang, was very friendly and introduced herself proactively:  “I am the auntie Mr. Jiang hired to take care of the old lady. I will be responsible for the food and daily life from now on. Dinner is already being prepared. If you have any dietary restrictions, you can tell me in advance.”

Tang Yi was still holding the ingredients she had just bought from the market, two heavy plastic bags that were pinching her hands.

She bent down to put the bags on the ground, and her hands touched the red marks left by the pinching: “I’m not a picky eater, the old lady likes light flavors, just use less oil and salt.”

The auntie smiled: “I know, Mr. Jiang told me about it before I came.”

Tang Yi nodded: “Then you can continue with your work.”

“What about these vegetables?”

“Let’s cook them later.”

Dinner was only Tang Yi and Mother Jiang. Jiang Qiaosheng worked overtime and didn’t return until after ten. After washing up and returning to the bedroom, he asked, “How’s Auntie’s cooking?”

“It’s alright.” Tang Yi paused her typing: “Why did you suddenly hire an Auntie?”

“A colleague at work is resigning and moving to the north, so they wanted to find a good place for the housekeeper. Since we are both busy at work and Mom is alone at home most of the time, I thought it would be reassuring to have someone take care of us.”

“That makes sense.” Tang Yi placed her laptop back on the table, got up to brush her teeth in the bathroom, washed her face, and removed the bandage on her hand from a previous burn.

The scar was shallow, but also hard to fade.

After the new year, Jiang Qiaosheng’s studio and a game company in Beijing collaborated on a new project, and Tang Yi was preparing for a promotion. Despite living under the same roof, they were both so busy that they barely exchanged a few words for several days.

Around the time of the 3.15 Evening Gala, Tang Yi was so busy that she ended up staying in the company’s dormitory.

A wave of exposure of fake news has passed. Pingcheng TV station received a report from an informant that Pingcheng Jianping Pharmaceutical Company was suspected of financial fraud.

According to the informant, Jianping Pharmaceutical Company used improper means to make excessive profits. In order to cover up this behavior, the company transferred its profits through related-party transactions and false transactions to obtain product profits, and committed financial fraud.

After the news was reported, the senior management of Jianping Pharmaceutical Company was investigated and controlled.

A month later, the final investigation results were announced, and Jianping Pharmaceutical Company did not have any financial fraud problems. The so-called informant was also nowhere to be found.

The relevant personnel responsible for the news report were suspended and investigated.

On the weekend, Tang Yi received a call from her father and went back to her hometown. Her father also found out about her suspension, and wanted to ask her what she planned to do now.

“Just wait for the notice from the station, for now it’s just a suspension, the final result hasn’t come out yet.” Tang Yi hesitated for a long time, and then asked, “Dad, I have a question that I’ve been wanting to ask you for a long time.”

“What is it?”

“When I joined the TV station, did you talk to Uncle Ning?”

When Father Tang heard this, he paused for two seconds before saying, “Who told you that? Although your Uncle Ning has a good relationship with our family, I really didn’t mention your entry into the TV station to him. Instead, he saw your information first and asked me about it.”

Seeing Tang Yi silent after speaking, her father smiled and said, “If I really wanted to put in a good word, you would have been able to return after the first year. Why delay another year? Besides, do you really lack confidence in yourself that much?”

Somehow, when Tang Yi heard these words, her nose suddenly felt sour. “No, it’s just that some people in the station keep saying, the more they say, the more I start to believe it myself.”

“Don’t pay attention to these groundless rumors. Focus on your work, and the rumors will debunk themselves.” Father Tang added, “Have you told Qiaosheng about your suspension?”

Tang Yi shook her head, “Not yet, he’s been on a business trip in Beijing recently.”

Mother Tang suggested, “Why don’t you go to Beijing and visit Qiaosheng? It’ll also help you relax.”

Father Tang agreed, “Your mother is right.”

The next day was Sunday. Tang Yi had initially planned to surprise Jiang Qiaosheng but ended up calling him when she arrived at the airport.

Jiang Qiaosheng was surprised and pleased to hear she was coming. “Send me your flight details, and I’ll pick you up at the airport.”

Tang Yi smiled, “Okay.”

The plane landed at 6 pm in the evening.

The night in Beijing on a spring day is bright with lights, the towering buildings that carry the dreams of countless people are like the low-hanging night sky, shimmering.

Tang Yi got in the car and had only said a few words to Jiang Qiaosheng when she started to feel sleepy.

“Sleepy?” he asked.

“A little.”

“Then take a nap first, and I’ll wake you up when we get to the restaurant.” With that, Jiang Qiaosheng reached over and turned off the music in the car.

Tang Yi had thought all night about whether or not to come to Beijing, and it was not until the latter part of the night that she fell asleep, and she had not slept well on the plane either, so as soon as she closed her eyes, she fell asleep.

When she woke up again, she heard Jiang Qiaosheng talking.

She moved, and the suit jacket draped over her fell to her lap.

Jiang Qiaosheng looked over at the sound and said to the person on the phone, “Tang Yi has woken up, I’ll let her talk to you— ”.

He handed over the phone: “It’s Mom’s call, she said she couldn’t get through to your phone.”

Tang Yi answered the phone while looking for her phone: “Mom… Well, my phone was on silent mode, I’ll be back in a couple of days……”

Jiang Qiaosheng parked the car and got out to get something from the trunk.

Tang Yi finished the call, and the phone automatically returned to the previous page.

—It was the WeChat chat page with Jiang Qiaosheng and his college roommate, who was also his business partner.

Qin Chuan: [Brother, where are you and your wife now?]

Qin Chuan: [You said your wife suddenly came to Beijing to find you, could it be that she heard something and came to check on you?]

Jiang Qiaosheng: [Have you eaten too much and it’s affecting your brain?]

Qin Chuan: [Just kidding. Does your wife know about your cooperation with Wen Jing’s company? I’ll let them know.]

Jiang Qiaosheng: [She doesn’t know. Don’t spread rumors.]

Qin Chuan: [Okay.]”

Tang Yi directly switched back to the main interface and looked out the window.

Jiang Qiaosheng was chatting with the old man in the parking lot, wearing the white shirt Tang Yi gave him as a birthday present last year.

The neon lights of the restaurant fell on his shoulders, making his figure even more upright and clear.

It was as if the light hurt Tang Yi’s eyes, she suddenly looked down at the suit jacket on her lap, and tears fell, seeping into the dark jacket.

She knew she couldn’t cry, at least not at this moment.

Tang Yi quickly wiped her eyes, opened the car door and got out, Jiang Qiaosheng turned to look at her, then turned back to say something to the old man, and then walked towards her.

Tang Yi stood still.

The spring wind in Beijing still had the lingering cold of winter, blowing a chill into her heart.

Jiang Qiaosheng walked up to her: “Finished?”

“En.”

Tang Yi handed the phone back to him, Jiang Qiaosheng touched her icy fingertips and grasped them: “Why are you so cold?”

He took the coat from the car and draped it over her shoulders, “Is Beijing much colder than Pingcheng?”

Tang Yi held back her tears and replied, “Yes.”

Beijing was too cold.

Even colder than she had imagined.

–

Tang Yi only stayed in Beijing for two days, less than a third of her planned stay. On the day she was leaving, she went to have lunch with Jiang Qiaosheng downstairs at his company.

After finishing his meal, Jiang Qiaosheng sat across from her and suddenly said, “Or should I take you to the airport first?”

“No need, I still need to visit my teacher on the way and then go to the airport from there,” Tang Yi put down her knife and fork.

He frowned a bit childishly, “Didn’t you say you didn’t have time today and had to rush back?”

Otherwise, this lunch would not have been so rushed and simple.

Tang Yi smiled lightly, “I just found out that my teacher has moved to Beijing, and I thought I’d take the chance to visit her.”

Jiang Qiaosheng could only give up, wait for her to finish eating, and then get up to pay the bill.

Tang Yi accompanied Jiang Qiaosheng to the building of his company. He was busy with work, and these two days were already squeezed out of his schedule. No matter how you calculate this trip, she shouldn’t have come.

Jiang Qiaosheng hailed a taxi for Tang Yi.

Tang Yi sat in the car, passing through the streets and alleys of Beijing. The sunlight shone intermittently on her expressionless face under the tree shade.

She remembered the evening of the second day in Beijing.

Jiang Qiaosheng suddenly received a call from the company, the name flashing on his phone screen, and that night she waited until late at night at the entrance of his company, only to see two figures walk out side by side.

Tang Yi originally wanted to walk straight over, walk up to Jiang Qiaosheng, but at the moment she stood up, she heard Wen Ying call him.

“Ah Sheng.”

After three years of marriage, Tang Yi always called Jiang Qiaosheng by his full name. He also always called her Tang Yi. It seemed that from the beginning, their relationship had never crossed beyond this form of address.

This marriage was like an unbalanced scale.

She was not honest enough, and Jiang Qiaosheng was also hiding things. Neither of them was more straightforward than the other.

After returning from Beijing, Tang Yi accepted the investigation and disciplinary action from the station.

Everyone knows that this Jianping incident is far more complicated than it appears on the surface, and everyone is aware of the darkness within, but no one dares to speak up again.

The station used a combination of public announcements and secret protections, which was already the best solution.

Tang Yi returned to the office where she first worked as a journalist, running around all day and her contact with Jiang Qiaosheng was also sporadic.

It was the beginning of summer in May, which was Jiang Qiaosheng’s birthday.

Early in the morning, he received a call from his mother, learning that she had recently gone back to their grandmother’s hometown with her younger sister. After a brief conversation, he hung up.

From morning to afternoon, Jiang Qiaosheng kept looking at his phone from time to time.

Originally, his colleagues were preparing a birthday party for him that evening, but Jiang Qiaosheng had to rush to catch a flight. He only cut a cake at the office, didn’t even have time to pack his bags, and went back to Pingcheng alone.

The house had been empty for a long time, and the fresh flowers placed in the living room had wilted.

Jiang Qiaosheng casually tidied up, changed flowers, ordered a cake, and waited until late at night, only to hear a simple “I forgot.”

He was overwhelmed by the sudden disappointment and exhaustion, but couldn’t bring himself to blame much.

He still held hope.

But until the end of the day, Jiang Qiaosheng did not hear a “Happy Birthday” from Tang Yi.

She said sorry.

She said she forgot.

She said good night.

But, the only thing she didn’t say was “Happy Birthday”.

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Note: The content related to the Jianping Pharmaceutical Company in the text refers to a research paper “Analysis and Exploration of Financial Fraud Cases in the Pharmaceutical Industry,” and the specific facts and outcomes do not match, it is just a reference.