The new week began, and Qiu Mingyue was distracted.—— Despite managing to complete her work normally.
After waking up that night, she found herself unable to sleep deeply, tossing and turning until dawn, and ended up going out despite the scorching weather.
When she went downstairs, Zhou Su's car was no longer there. Without much thought, she went to eat near Zhou Su's neighborhood. She had been to this area before, but this time she felt like a real stalker.
After eating alone, she aimlessly wandered into a supermarket and bought a bunch of random things, ending up with a large bag of purchases and had to take a taxi back home.
Uncharacteristically, she went to bed early that night and again woke up in the early hours.
She didn't dream, but it was precisely the lack of dreams that forced her to confront her own desolate mood. The uneasiness wasn't about endless encounters in dreams, but the realization that her spring feelings were not like flourishing blooms on a branch but more like withered branches and fallen leaves in the mud, with no outcome. Even in dreams, she could only dream of him once.
The darkness of the night inevitably made Qiu Mingyue feel more vulnerable, unable to bear the cold reality. Her unrelieved desires tormented her to the point of madness, her heart numb and hands itching, leading her to spend the sleepless night recalling the previous night's dream and feverishly writing several thousand words of an erotic story, all imagined dialogues of Zhou Su. After finishing, she directly posted it on an adult content app.
Using a purple app designed for R18 content, Qiu Mingyue cautiously registered with a phone number she rarely used, usually just liking and commenting, not posting original statuses. She had written some fanfiction snippets before, had a few followers, but her engagement was minimal, indulging in her own cerebral climaxes, including the regret over the seemingly unfinished dream from last night.
As dawn broke and she became heavy with sleep, she pulled up the quilt and slept until the afternoon.
No matter how disturbed her mind was, she still maintained social norms. After her frenzy, Qiu Mingyue entered a sage-like state of calm, both mentally and physically, deeply realizing and warning herself that she absolutely couldn't continue like this.
Qiu Mingyue originally thought her interest in Zhou Su was merely unrequited admiration, always controlling herself within this boundary, but a dream made her genuinely worry about crossing the line.
She was just a worker, needing to keep working, and tomorrow would be Monday.
Having reflected on her pain, she planned to delete all audio recordings of Zhou Su's voice. However, after several attempts, she couldn't bring herself to do it, feeling guilty like destroying a work of art. Eventually, she compromised by transferring all the files to her computer, compressing them, and storing them on an external hard drive before finally deleting the original files from her phone.
She also hesitated about whether to start a new relationship, maybe a sign to remind her to date.
Jiang Ran noticed her hesitation and, with a mix of threats and inducements, Qiu Mingyue half-heartedly agreed, making Jiang Ran very pleased: "You should have done this long ago. Focus on making money, and then find a relationship to spice up life. Don't worry, I'll arrange a handsome guy for you this week."
Qiu Mingyue chuckled awkwardly.
"Tell me, what type do you like?"
"What type do I like..." Qiu Mingyue repeated, hammering down any spontaneous answers that popped up in her mind.
After replying to her boyfriend's text, Jiang Ran saw Qiu Mingyue's profile picture and asked, "Do you prefer someone gentle and considerate?"
Qiu Mingyue pondered for a while, "It's okay..."
"Like the real-life version of your WeChat profile picture."
Oh, Qiu Mingyue understood Jiang Ran's meaning. Her WeChat profile was a blonde, blue-eyed anime handsome guy from a popular anime, portraying a gentle senior character, thus even Jiang Ran, who didn't watch anime, had heard of him.
But in reality, Qiu Mingyue's true liking was for the character's voice actor... but she didn't plan to elaborate on this to Jiang Ran, vaguely replying, "It's alright..."
Jiang Ran gave Qiu Mingyue a knowing wink, a look that said "I understand your otaku world."
The two chatted while working, and it was Jiang Ran who first saw Zhou Su approaching, quickly signaling Qiu Mingyue to be quiet.
Zhou Su walked up to them, and Qiu Mingyue dared not lift her head,just staring at Zhou Su's leather shoes.
The previous days at work had been nerve-wracking for her. During department meetings, she almost felt as though she couldn't even breathe the same air as Zhou Su. However, by the third day, she felt better, or so she thought. It turned out to be a false sense of improvement, as she became uneasy again as soon as Zhou Su came near.
Zhou Su remained silent, and after exchanging glances with Jiang Ran, she tentatively called out, "Director Zhou?"
Zhou Su frowned slightly, "Inventory check at the warehouse, remember?"
Qiu Mingyue was confused, but it seemed that Zhou Su's remark was directed at her.
"Oh—" Jiang Ran exclaimed, "I'm so sorry, Director, I forgot to inform Mingyue about it."
Qiu Mingyue looked at Jiang Ran, who apologized profusely, "The thing is, we need to do a spot check at the Jiangbei warehouse today, but Lin Jie is on leave, and I have a client meeting later, so I thought of having you go with Director Zhou. I forgot to tell you."
It was the quarterly inventory check, a task usually handled by Mao Linlin and Jiang Ran. Suddenly being assigned, Qiu Mingyue felt a bit flustered, immediately gathering her things, "I'm sorry, Director, I'll be ready soon. Do I need to bring anything?"
"No, just come to the warehouse. The inventory check is time-consuming, you can leave after it's done."
"Alright, alright."
As Jiang Ran continued to apologize profusely, Qiu Mingyue waved it off, "It's fine," and left with Zhou Su.
The weather was exceptionally clear, with a leisurely blue sky and white clouds. Stepping out of the building, the outdoor temperature was surprisingly bearable.
Qiu Mingyue rarely went on fieldwork, and doing so with Zhou Su was a first. Following him to the parking lot, she hesitated upon seeing the familiar black sedan, feeling reluctant under the sudden assignment.
But her hesitation had no chance to linger, as Zhou Su had already unlocked the car and got in. Qiu Mingyue opened the passenger side and sat down.
Even as she buckled up, she questioned whether it was appropriate for her to sit in the passenger seat.
It was the second time, but consciously, she sat in Zhou Su's car, not daring to fidget, look around, or speak out of turn.
The dynamics of human interaction are fascinating. With some people, even silence can be comfortable, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case with her and Zhou Su. Qiu Mingyue stared ahead, trying her best to ignore the seemingly frozen atmosphere in the car.
Zhou Su turned on the radio, tuned to a music program with a male and female host. The female host had a nice voice, but considering Zhou Su was beside her, Qiu Mingyue refrained from commenting on the male host. Her thoughts wandered, wondering if Zhou Su had been part of the school radio team, and if so, his classmates were indeed fortunate.
As the car slowed down for a red light, the male host announced, "...Next, let's enjoy Jacky Cheung's 'All I Think About Is Her'."
During the brief pause before the song, Zhou Su, with a hint of amusement in his voice, said, "Do we really have nothing to talk about?"
Qiu Mingyue turned in surprise, Zhou Su looked at her with a barely concealed smile, noticed the green light, and drove on. Meanwhile, the romantic lyrics of the love song filled the car.
"In my frequent dreams, you still linger before my eyes..."
Although Qiu Mingyue knew the song wasn't referring to her situation, she felt as if her own thoughts were being loudly sung. She struggled to respond, "Haha, no, not really."
Her response was pale and insubstantial, and she added, "I was just thinking about the inventory check later; I've never done it before."
"Don't worry."
Qiu Mingyue obediently acknowledged.
After teasing her, Zhou Su found another topic, "What were you and Jiang Ran talking about earlier? Anime?"
Being pointed out for slacking off at work, Qiu Mingyue felt somewhat embarrassed. She couldn't gauge Zhou Su's attitude, although he didn't seem too upset. She cautiously replied, "Yeah, just some casual chat."
Zhou Su said no more, and Qiu Mingyue asked, "Director Zhou, do you watch anime?"
Zhou Su turned the steering wheel to the right, "Not really."
Qiu Mingyue nodded, which fit his image.
In her mind, Zhou Su was the type who would wear gold-rimmed glasses and read books in his spare time.
Being called out, Qiu Mingyue didn't dare let the conversation lapse again and earnestly tried to keep it going, "Then, Director, what are your hobbies?"
Zhou Su paused for a moment before answering, "Singing."
Qiu Mingyue couldn't hide her surprised expression.
"Does it seem unlikely?" Zhou Su asked.
Qiu Mingyue quickly denied, "No, not at all."
It did seem likely.
Very likely.
An inner compliment of "You have a nice voice" almost slipped out but she held it back, smiling instead, "Maybe we can go to a KTV for our next team building."
Zhou Su responded, "Sounds good."
Their back-and-forth conversation continued until they arrived at the Jiangbei warehouse. Just before reaching, Zhou Su received a call from a warehouse staff member. After getting out of the car, Qiu Mingyue saw him switch into a serious and calm work mode. She put aside all her thoughts and followed him closely, ready to assist and listening attentively to how Zhou Su communicated and confirmed details with the staff.
The warehouse was large, with no air conditioning, only fans. Fortunately, perhaps because it was located on the outskirts and it was a windy day, it wasn't too hot.
After checking off most of the inventory list, Qiu Mingyue began to feel tired.
Unfortunately, she had worn a light-colored dress that day and paired it with low-heeled leather shoes. After much walking, her calves ached. She took a moment to rub her legs when she thought no one was looking, but Zhou Su caught her. Qiu Mingyue quickly straightened up, Zhou Su's gaze lingered on her legs for a moment before he returned to the checklist.
Qiu Mingyue initially felt fine, but after being looked at twice, she suddenly felt extremely embarrassed, as if she had dressed or come wrongly. But in reality, she was just abruptly pulled in for the task. If she had known beforehand, she definitely wouldn't have worn a dress.
Qiu Mingyue felt alienated by her own easily swayed emotions, but before she could gather herself, she heard someone call Zhou Su's name. Both Zhou Su and Qiu Mingyue looked towards the entrance, where a tall woman in a short-sleeved shirt and long pants stood, her hair tied in a low ponytail, dressed efficiently but still exuding mature femininity.
The woman's smiling eyes swept over Zhou Su and landed on Qiu Mingyue, who nodded in greeting. The woman smiled warmly in response, but asked Zhou Su, "A new colleague?"
Zhou Su hummed in affirmation.
Qiu Mingyue introduced herself, "Hello, I'm Qiu Mingyue from the marketing department."
"Hello, what a pleasant name. I'm Meng Yunzhi, Yun as in 'content'."
Qiu Mingyue thought to herself that her name was also quite nice.
She had seen this name in some documents before; Meng Yunzhi was the manager of the company's sales department at Jiangbei. It was perhaps her fragile self-esteem that made her feel like Meng Yunzhi and Zhou Su shared a compatible aura, making her feel out of place even in a regular work environment.
Warehouse supervisor Uncle Chen came over to say that another smaller warehouse was ready for inspection. Zhou Su still had to finish checking the remaining items in this warehouse, so Qiu Mingyue was relieved to leave first.
Halfway there, she couldn't resist the urge to look back but restrained herself. Only after walking a considerable distance did she glance back. The two figures in the warehouse looked small and, due to their size, appeared more intimate.
A cloud drifted across the sky, obscuring the sun and darkening the day, as if a summer rain was imminent.