"I might have eaten something bad, but it's really nothing."
The editor-in-chief's tone grew even more concerned: "You should get home quickly and have a rest. I'll get the office to call you a cab."
"No, no, no. It's really nothing. The boss needs me to send out the record of the meeting. Once it's settled, I'll ask for some time off."
Seeing her resolve, the editor-in-chief obviously had more to say, but only responded with, "Well, if you can't do it, you will have to submit a draft tomorrow. I will let Xiao Ji edit it."
Xiao Ji was also the editor-in-chief's secretary. She wasn't well-known as she worked behind the scenes, and she didn't do things too well. If she did, there would be no need for another secretary, considering the small size of the office.
Pipi firmly shook her head. "Xiao Ji is also very busy today with arranging files. I'm still coming. It would be out of the question to ask her for more help."
Ignoring the lead in her stomach, Pipi steeled herself and wrote the minutes. Even after the draft was finished, the symptoms had still not been alleviated, and the contents of her stomach had already made an exit, so there was nothing more to throw up. Pipi felt that if she continued, she would be making a heroic sacrifice, so she decided to just submit the draft to the secretary. Clutching a plastic bag, and feeling too embarrassed to trouble someone to pick her up but also reluctant to take a taxi, she made her way to the subway station.
At that moment, her phone suddenly rang.
"Hey, Pipi." The voice came from the phone and there was static on the ling along with an audible echo. However, even if it was distorted, she could recognize Tao Jialin's voice anywhere.
"Jialin." Pipi said weakly.
"Did you get the book?"
"Yep."
"Could you drop it off when you're done with work? I'm anxious to get my hands on it."
"Well... okay." Pipi wanted to tell him that she was not feeling well today, but after some consideration, she decided that it was probably only temporary. Thinking she'd probably recover by the afternoon, she agreed to go. It was rare for Jialin to ask her to do something - Pipi could only recall it happening on a few occasions.
"What time will you come? I'll be in my room."
"Alright, I'll see you later."
"Good..." Pipi still wanted to say something, but he'd already hung up.
She didn't know why every call was so short. Barely a full sentence was exchanged.
Maybe it was because they were so familiar. From a young age, Pipi and Jialin had been neighbors and classmates in kindergarten, primary school, middle school and high school. From being little babies to fully grown adults, they'd shared a postcode.
The only difference was that after entering high school, Pipi's performance had plummeted, while Jialin had been top of the class. On top of that, he was tall and handsome, the basketball captain, and had become the idol of countless girls.
However, Pipi did not think that Jialin was good-looking. At least, not to the point where classmates should be calling him "cool" or "handsome". Pipi had seen snot coming from his runny nose, seen him lose his milk teeth, and heard him talk about his farts. Not to mention the fact that his family were all lanky and slender, with heads as big as buckets. It was reminiscent of a big mushroom or some kind of martian. Later, Jialin's upper lip had grown a line of fine black hair, and a rolling lump had appeared on his neck. Pipi had not gotten used to it for a while and avoided looking at his face.
Of course, people who had grown up together would naturally be closer than others.