Chapter 33

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Those of you wondering ‘where the hell has zen been,’ I’ve been wondering the same thing.

“Come here, you have nothing to do at home anyway, it’s better to come out for a drink!” This was the content of Huo Zhenzhen’s routine phone call for the past three days, demonstrating her perseverance.

The background noise was clearly transmitted through the earpiece, and it was obvious that Huo Zhenzhen was also making a lot of noise. Jiang Ci got out of the car and opened the door to enter the house, “You said you would find a way to resolve Xiao A’s matter… Is being drunk every day your solution?”

“What are you talking about, my dear?” Huo Zhenzhen swallowed half a sip of wine, “I am having a fun time, who is this Xiao A, how can such a small thing affect me?”

Jiang Ci’s words pierced her, “Then have you been to the studio these days?”

“Tsk,” Huo Zhenzhen rubbed her forehead to avoid talking, and only kept urging Jiang Ci to go out, “I ask you, will you come!? President Lu is not at home. Wouldn’t it be more fun to come out to play with us than be alone? You know almost all the people here.”

Jiang Ci had consistently rejected her for three days, “I’m too lazy to move.”

Huo Zhenzhen made a fuss, “It’s not like President Lu won’t return, she’ll only be on business for a few days. Why are you too lazy to even play, do you want to be so listless?”

Jiang Ci: “…What logic, I don’t follow.”

Huo Zhenzhen said to herself: “Never before did you stick to her so much.”

Jiang Ci: “……”

Huo Zhenzhen: “Is it possible that you were stimulated by Tong Zhenni’s stockings?”

“You should drink less, it’s only been a few hours, yet you’re so drunk.” Jiang Ci stood in front of the fish tank and threw some fish food for the little guys.

Huo Zhenzhen: “…Oh.”

Huo Zhenzhen: “Speaking of, are you very nervous right now?”

Jiang Ci felt that she couldn’t talk anymore today. Huo Zhenzhen deserved to be a close friend; she had a way to repeat her thoughts.

—She really couldn’t get up for anything because of the separation from Lu Xingxue. When Lu Xingxue was at home, she didn’t get tired of being together all day, even though sometimes they wouldn’t interact from morning to night. When Lu Xingxue was gone, she even felt that Aunt Zhuang’s cooking was not as good as before.

She always thought of Lu Xingxue without warning. What she was doing, whether she had her meal and got to sleep on time, and if she was free, would she also think of herself like that…

The fish were vying for food in the tank, Jiang Ci had a thought, recorded a short ten-second video of them, and sent it to Lu Xingxue.

Not long after, she received Lu Xingxue’s reply: “How about you? Did you eat well?”

“I have,” Jiang Ci smiled, sat down on the sofa with her mobile phone, and typed a line of words: What are you going to do today?

Before pressing the send button, Jiang Ci realized that this was not a good idea, as if she wanted Lu Xingxue to report her itinerary, so she deleted them all.

The chat box showed that Lu Xingxue was typing, Jiang Ci‌ stared at the screen and waited.

1 second, 2 seconds… After 5 seconds, the input prompt ended, but no new content appeared in the dialog box.

Jiang Ci: “……”

She closed and reopened the app, refreshing it repeatedly, and said to herself, “Is the phone broken…”

The new message finally popped out of the chat box.

It was a voice recording.

“The plane is about to take off. I will contact you after landing. I have to stay in City B. You have to stay home.”

At the end, her tone was one used for coaxing children!

Jiang Ci’s face was hot instantly, and she quickly threw the phone away.

She kicked off the slippers, fell on the sofa with her face covered, and rested her feet on the armrest of the sofa. After half a minute, she calmed down and retrieved her phone casually.

“Safe trip.” Jiang Ci said coldly, and also replied with a voice message.

It was 9:30 in the evening, Jiang Ci was sorting out the work arrangements passed by Xiao Chen under the light, and suddenly received a call from overseas. The person on the other end of the call kindly called her, “Ah-Ci.”

“Auntie! I haven’t contacted you for a long time, how are you and teacher?” Jiang Ci threw away the phone in surprise.

When she was not as high as the piano stool, Jiang Lin forced her to play the piano. Not only did she find a well-known pianist to teach her, but even the tuning technician was second to none. However, Jiang Ci was not very interested in playing. Instead, the tuning technician who took the piano apart and corrected each tone one by one, allowing her to listen to the end result, caught her interest.

The tuning technician later became Jiang Ci’s tuning teacher, and he carefully guided and cultivated her. It was also because of his strong recommendation that Jiang Ci was able to become the company’s chief tuning officer at a young age.

After her teacher got older, his hearing gradually faded, and his children developed abroad. Soon after attending the wedding of Jiang Ci and Lu Xingxue, he moved abroad with his wife. The last time Jiang Ci contacted them, he took the time to go on a break with Ye Tao’s orchestra’s global tour.

“We are all good, don’t worry, I just wanted to call you today, nothing else, we missed you and wanted to hear your voice, secondly—”

“President Lu came here, and brought a bunch of gifts, leaving your auntie so happy that her mouth can’t be closed—”

Her teacher interrupted, “Oh! Who do you think of me like that? Where am I? I am happy with the gift, obviously because Lu is good! Will you be able to speak when you are old?”

Auntie: “Of course I know that you are happy when the deer is happy, and you are happy when you receive the gift. Why am I wrong?”

Teacher: “Your main point is wrong!”

The person immediately made a mouthful on the other end of the phone. Jiang Ci opened her mouth but quickly closed it, with a gentle sweetness in her heart, which upturned the corners of her lips and filled her eyes.

She also considered beforehand whether she would trouble Lu Xingxue to pay them a visit for her. After knowing that Lu Xingxue’s schedule was tight, she chose not to.

Who would have expected Lu Xingxue to take the initiative to go!

She glanced over the work schedule inadvertently, Jiang Ci keenly caught the words “City B.” She leaned close to the screen and read the message in detail‌. It was just an ordinary after-sales appointment form. This kind of form would normally not be sent to her. She didn’t know how Xiao Chen would sort it out. Jiang Ci slipped the mouse and skipped this message.

After talking with her teacher and his wife for ten minutes, Jiang Ci turned off her phone and prepared to rest.

The phone on the desk began to vibrate again, and a string of numbers flashed on the screen. Jiang Ci connected, and the other party’s words as if they had taken explosives, “Where is Lu Xingxue!?”

Jiang Ci checked the phone ‌‌number; was it Tong Zhenni? Over the years, she and Tong Zhenni had never been able to communicate, and naturally they had never stored each other’s numbers.

“She is on a business trip,” Jiang Ci said.

Tong Zhenni: “She doesn’t bring her mobile phone on business trips?”

What was the problem? Jiang Ci was left inexplicably curious, “She brought it.”

Tong Zhenni was furious, “Then why doesn’t she answer my call and not return my message?”

…Tong Zhenni was still trying to seduce Lu Xingxue, right?

Jiang Ci thought it was funny, “She is on the plane, if you have to contact her, wait ten hours.”

Tong Zhenni rushed, “She has been on the plane for the past three days? I have been looking for her for three days, and she has not responded at all!”

Jiang Ci: “……”

Jiang Ci: “Oh.”

Tong Zhenni cut the call with a ‘pop’.

Jiang Ci sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes rolled, and she opened the chat window with Lu Xingxue. She converted Lu Xingxue’s voice to text, and then took a screenshot of the message, but out of shame, the last sentence of the voice was mosaiced by her.

Whether it was childish or showing off, Jiang Ci sent the screenshot to Tong Zhenni.

After doing this, Jiang Ci silently counted 3, 2, and 1, Tong Zhenni’s phone number came back within a second.

Jiang Ci did not pick up. Tong Zhenni kept harassing her, so Jiang Ci set the phone to silent.

After seventeen or eight missed calls, Tong Zhenni finally gave up, “I won’t play with you anymore!”

Jiang Ci locked the screen of the phone, and in the darkness, she hugged the cat plushie and fell on the bed, with a pair of bright smiling eyes.

Early the next morning, Jiang Ci contacted Xiao Chen, “I’m going to City B on the itinerary you gave me?”

Xiao Chen said with a guilty conscience, “Director Jiang, I found this error after I sent it to you last night, but it was too late and I didn’t tell you. I know you don’t want to take this kind of order. I’ll change it right away.”

Jiang Ci: “I will go now.”

Xiao Chen suspected that she had misheard, “You’ll go?”

Jiang Ci: “I’m going, but please adjust the time to this afternoon, I’m leaving now.”

Xiao Chen: “Oh, okay, what about Director Jiang’s requirements for board and lodging? How much will we charge the other party?”

Jiang Ci: “No, the other party will pay the tuning fee according to the standard.”

Xiao Chen understood, “That person is too lucky! Director Jiang, do you happen to be going to City B for something?”

Jiang Ci smiled and said, “Thank you for helping me free up my schedule for tomorrow.”

Xiao Chen: “Received!”

Jiang Ci simply packed up and booked a plane ticket to City B. On the way to the airport, she asked Assistant Yao, “Which hotel are you staying at in City B?”

Without a word, Assistant Yao sent the address and room numbers of the hotel that Lu Xingxue was staying at to Jiang Ci, “Keep it secret, right?”

Jiang Ci smiled and said, “Thank you~”

In City B, the sky was overcast, it was windy and gloomy, but Jiang Ci’s mood was bright. After finishing the work, she declined the customers who wanted to invite her to dinner, and directly took a taxi to the hotel to find Lu Xingxue.

She knocked on the door a few times, but got no response. Jiang Ci guessed that Lu Xingxue could still be socialising outside.

After all, she wanted to surprise her, so she didn’t make an appointment in advance. Since she wasn’t here at the moment, she thought to wait a while.

Jiang Ci also booked a room here. After a busy day, it was time to rest.

Thinking like this, Jiang Ci dragged her luggage and turned to leave, but the door rang quietly, and then the door was opened from inside.

“…Jiang Ci?” Lu Xingxue held on to the door, her red lips slightly opened, and she was a little surprised to see Jiang Ci and the luggage at her feet.

She was half wearing a soft dark cashmere shawl, and she had just taken a shower, the tips of her hair had not yet dried out, and were loose on her shoulders.

Jiang Ci’s eyes lit up, and she smiled unconsciously, “I just came to City B on a business trip, knowing that you are here, I came over to say hello to you.”

At this time, a charming female voice came out from the room, “Who is outside?”

anyways, thanks for reading as always

TL: zen

PR/Edit: avel

Thanks to all my caffeine suppliers:

Iris

Cereal

Mel

Messbiscuit

Marcus Saffron

Raiza

qtancestor

mellow

lepsy

sapphic toast

somebody~

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