CH 1.1

Chapter 1: Embarrassing Encounter (1)

In the air-conditioned office, Ye Yuqing closed the document and leaned back. As her back touched the chair, she let out a long sigh of relief.

Ten seconds later, she picked up the phone and opened her WeChat Moments, sliding her finger upwards slowly.

The whole screen was full of affectionate poses and freshness.

Lin Jie, who was done with her work, was passing by and patted the person who was playing on her phone with her head lowered. “Why haven’t you left yet? By chance, did you not plan for a date with your boyfriend for the Qixi Festival?”

Ye Yuqing looked away from her phone screen and sat up straight.

“We made a reservation in a nearby restaurant. It’s very close. Just two subway stations away.”

Ye Yuqing had made an appointment with her boyfriend at 6.30 pm. She intended to leave around 6 o’clock.

“Tsk, no wonder you have dressed up so beautifully today,” Lin Jie said as she looked at the little girl in front of her.

Ye Yuqing usually wore plain clothes and rarely a red dress. Her complexion was rosy, cheeks like a plump, juicy fruit that made people want to reach out and poke.

Ring! Ring!

The phone rang, Ye Yuqing glanced at it, the caller was Han Chuan.

A smile appeared on the corner of her lips. “Is the road blocked today? What’s your location now?”

“That …Yuqing, I’m going to Beijing temporarily for a business trip. It will take two days to come back. Sorry, I can’t accompany you to dinner tonight.”

Ye Yuqing was slightly startled.

Han Chuan waited for a few seconds, noticing there was no sound, he added: “I’m sorry, can I make it up to you when I come back? Don’t be angry, I also can’t do anything about it.”

Ye Yuqing pulled her thoughts together, and said quietly, “It’s okay; your work is very important.”

Han Chuan breathed a sigh of relief, and then spoke slowly, “I knew my baby would understand. I will contact you when I come back, don’t be disappointed.”

“Okay, be careful on the way.”

Ye Yuqing lay on the table with her chin resting on her hands, staring at the darkened mobile phone.

How could one not be disappointed? She deliberately wore a dress and apart from eating today, she still had something to say to him!

Lin Jie crossed her hands over her chest and clicked her tongue, “tsk”. “Disregarding a little beauty on of Qixi … Your boyfriend is a man who does great things! Does he even think about the relationship between a man and a woman?”

Ye Yuqing raised her head but kept mum, not knowing how to answer those words for a while.

Lu Jie blinked as she was tapping the table with her finger and changed the topic. “Even though his career is important, he shouldn’t give a cold shoulder to his girlfriend on Valentine’s day. You really don’t care?”

Ye Yuqing sat up straight and while clearing the table said, “It’s all right, we do meet usually. He just happened to have something.”

Even as she said those words, she felt something was odd.

Ye Yuqing sighed from the bottom of her heart and only thought that her boyfriend was busy and it couldn’t be helped …

——

Back at home, Ye Yuqing quickly took off her makeup and had a bath. After half-drying her hair, she went to the kitchen to cook herself a bowl of noodles.

While waiting for the noodles to cook, she took out a box of broth from the refrigerator, placed it inside a microwave, and chopped a few green onions along with some coriander.

Usually, once in every fortnight, she would fill a big pot with soup for stewing and then store it in a fresh-keeping box to freeze it. When needed, it was easy to take it out and heat it. It could also be used for cooking noodles or other hot dishes.

After the noodles were cooked, the kitchen was filled with the aroma of the dish. Ye Yuqing took the bowl to the table and turned to look for her tablet.

Recently, she had been watching a variety show during meals, and because she kept drawing an illustration before going to bed, she just would use her tab to watch movies. Using a bigger screen was more comfortable than using her phone.

She clearly remembered that she’d put her tab on her desk last night, but even after searching for it there, she couldn’t find it.

She walked out of the bedroom and searched in the living room carefully, but there was still no sign of it.

Could it have been stolen?

Just thinking about that made her anxious.

Her tab contained all her works over the years and even half-finished drawings. The files were more significant than the price of the tab itself.

But if it was really stolen, why just take her tab, and leave out the other valuable things?

She checked around, and there was no trace that the room had been ransacked.

Ye Yuqing picked up her phone and called Han Chuan.

“Yuqing, is something the matter?”

“Have you seen my tablet?”

Han Chuan: “Oh, I took it away.”

“You have your own computer. Why take mine away?”

Perceiving that the other party’s voice was a little miffed, Han Chuan pondered and then explained: “Lin Lanyue’s tablet is broken. She had a very important document to do yesterday and was in a hurry. I loaned her your tablet. I’ll tell her to give it back to you tomorrow.”

Ye Yuqing rubbed her forehead. “Before you lend my things to others, shouldn’t you ask for my permission first?”

“Baby, why are you angry? We are boyfriend and girlfriend, how can material stuff create a difference between us?” Han Chuan coaxed her subconsciously, but he was somewhat startled.

Ye Yuqing had always been gentle and generous and was the most tempered woman he had ever met. He only thought that lending her tab to someone else without informing her was a trivial matter.

But another reason came to his mind, perhaps because he didn’t spend the Qixi Festival with her, she was moody and took it out on him as such.

“It’s my fault. How about I buy you a new notebook as a Qixi Festival gift?”

“No, you can ask someone to send me my notebook tomorrow. I’m not used to lending personal items to others.”

“Okay, I got it, there won’t be a next time.” Han Chuan promised without taking the matter to heart.

Ye Yuqing suppressed her anger and hung up the phone.  She waited for three minutes, but the other party did not call and didn’t even offer an explanation.

She felt something amiss.

Ye Yuqing took a deep breath and tried to push away the messy thoughts in her heart. Just then she saw an iPad on the table.

Her iPad was in the company, and this one was obviously Han Chuan’s.

Maybe Han Chuan forgot to take it away yesterday. Ye Yuqing also did not think much of it, picked it up, and unlocked the screen.