Those three simple words were like a basin of cold water poured over his head, and Jiang Xu's anger instantly vanished. He sat quietly in front of the computer for a moment, then ran a hand through his hair and asked Li Si'ao incredulously: Why did you invite him?

Li Si'ao sent back a voice message: Hey, we were just talking about work. He heard we were playing a game and said to invite him along. How could I dare to refuse? Manager Gu is actually a nice person, and he's not standoffish at all. Don't be so prejudiced against him.

Jiang Xu thought, 'Give me a break. It's hard to say which of us is prejudiced against the other.' It was just one game, not worth getting truly angry over. He took out a lighter, lit a cigarette, and smoked it in silence. Only then did he turn off his computer and go to bed.

The next morning, he arrived at the company at seven-thirty. From a distance, he saw Gu Qingzhou at the entrance checking attendance. A few people were already inside. It was Jiang Xu's first time getting up this early, and he couldn't help but yawn, thinking, 'When will these days of waking up early and working late ever end?'

With his hands in his pockets, he lazily walked past Gu Qingzhou. Unexpectedly, he remembered yesterday's events and felt this person was still as childish as before. He took half a step back and said with a half-smile: “Manager, I wasn't late today.”

Gu Qingzhou had seen him long ago. Hearing his words, he tucked his fountain pen into his jacket pocket, his expression impeccable, as if he wasn't the one who had headshot Jiang Xu the day before. He smiled and said: “That's good. Keep it up.”

Back when Jiang Xu was in school, his best record was not being late for two consecutive weeks. Gu Qingzhou planned to watch and see how long he could last.

Jiang Xu was running purely on stubborn pride. He returned to his desk and tore open a bag of bread for breakfast. However, he had barely taken a bite when he saw Gu Qingzhou hand the attendance sheet over to the little admin assistant and return to his own office.

...

Jiang Xu swallowed the bread, his face expressionless.

Fuck, Gu Qingzhou really was waiting at the door every day just to catch me.

Today, Li Si'ao took Fang Qia out to measure a property. Normally, it shouldn't have taken much time, but they didn't return to the company until the afternoon. They were accompanied by a man in a light-luxury style casual suit, who was, surprisingly, Dou Xun.

Dou Xun's family was in the hotel business and had their own dedicated design team, but he felt their style was too cookie-cutter, so he passed on them directly and gave the job to Gu Qingzhou, under the nice-sounding pretext of drumming up some business for his brother. The designer in charge of the project happened to be Li Si'ao.

The young female employees in the office couldn't help but glance at Dou Xun again and again, subtly checking out his clothes. When they saw him enter the manager's office, they began to chat idly. After all, high-quality men with both looks and wealth were truly rare these days: “He's quite handsome. Designer Li, is his family rich? Does he have a girlfriend?”

Li Si'ao sat at his desk and drank more than half a glass of water, clearly exhausted. He caught his breath before speaking: “What family? The man runs hotels. Running around all day nearly killed me. He's quite close with Manager Gu. As for whether he has a girlfriend, you should go ask Manager Gu.”

Jiang Xu remembered how Dou Xun had been flirting with the waitress at the coffee shop yesterday, scoffed, and said lazily while crossing his legs: “So what if he runs hotels? If he's a scumbag, it's all for nothing.”

Li Si'ao laughed and gave him a light push: “A scumbag? Like you?”

Fang Qia, who had been sitting at her desk massaging her legs, turned her head at his words and said: “Jiang Xu is not a scumbag.”

A chorus of teasing boos rose up around them.

Li Si'ao glanced at her, his gaze sour with jealousy. He was about to say something when he heard Fang Qia say teasingly: “Do you know what a real scumbag is? A scumbag has a car, a house, is gentle, considerate, and understanding. He's perfect in every way, except that he doesn't love you. That's what a scumbag is. Someone like Jiang Xu, tsk...”

Her words trailed off, but the expression on her face said it all.

Jiang Xu raised his hands in surrender: “My good lady, I just said a few things to you during the game yesterday. Is it necessary to insult me like this?”

Fang Qia snorted: “It's just the truth.”

Jiang Xu raised an eyebrow: “Houses and cars aren't easy to buy these days. I can't afford them, so I'm just waiting for a rich woman to come along and save me ten years of struggle.”

Li Si'ao wanted Jiang Xu to get a girlfriend more than anyone, so that Fang Qia would finally give up. Hearing this, he suddenly seemed to remember something, slammed his hand on the desk and said: “Perfect, I just remembered. I have a younger female cousin. Her family's well-off, she has a car and a house, and she's pretty and refined, but she's always so busy with work she hasn't had time to find a boyfriend. If you're willing, I'll call her today and set up a meeting.”

Jiang Xu was just speaking casually and didn't expect the other to take him seriously. At his words, he waved his hands and shook his head: “You're really something, willing to push your own cousin into a fiery pit.”

Meanwhile, Dou Xun was in the office discussing matters with Gu Qingzhou. Sitting casually across from him, he looked around at the furnishings, then pulled his chair closer and said attentively: “Hey, my girlfriend is about to graduate from university. She's also a design major. Let her come to your company as an intern, help me arrange it, will you?”

Gu Qingzhou's gaze was fixed on his computer. He glanced up at him upon hearing this: “Girlfriend? Didn't you two break up a long time ago? Where did this girlfriend come from?”

Dou Xun said: “The waitress from the coffee shop. I added her as a friend, we chatted and hit it off. Turns out she was working part-time there for the summer, and yesterday happened to be her last day. I just so happened to run into her. Wouldn't you call that fate?”

Gu Qingzhou gave a half-smile: “She became your girlfriend in one night?”

Dou Xun twirled his phone in his hand a couple of times: “It's just a matter of time, isn't it? I think she's interested in me too. If you help us get together, it'll count as a good deed.”

People in Dou Xun's circle were willing to spend a fortune when chasing girls. Tens of thousands on bags and luxury goods, given away without batting an eye. Arranging a job was really nothing in comparison. It's just that however high they lift you up when they like you, that's how hard you'll fall when they don't.

Gu Qingzhou had never bothered with such matters. He simply said: “Do as you wish.”

“Alright, I'll bring her over tomorrow,” Dou Xun said, snapping his fingers. “Oh right, don't interns need a mentor to guide them? Find her someone competent, so she can learn something.”

At this, Gu Qingzhou raised an eyebrow and looked at him, thinking that Dou Xun was really pushing his luck. A cold smile touched his lips: “How about I have Jiang Xu mentor her?”

Dou Xun looked up: “Who? That ex of yours who dumped you? He's a bit of a flirt, isn't he... Ah, whatever, he'll do. College students these days just want to learn something when they start working. As long as she can learn, it's fine. Besides, my girlfriend is very loyal.”

Hearing this, Gu Qingzhou narrowed his eyes: “Aren't you afraid he'll take a liking to your girlfriend?”

Dou Xun waved his hand dismissively: “Not afraid. My girlfriend's family is poor. Doesn't he love money? He wouldn't be interested.”

Gu Qingzhou: “...”

When Dou Xun left, Gu Qingzhou got up to see him off. Unexpectedly, as soon as they walked out of the office, they heard Li Si'ao busily trying to set Jiang Xu up on a blind date. The moment he saw them come out, he immediately fell silent.

Dou Xun was enjoying the show. With his arms crossed, he lowered his voice and said: “Tsk tsk, looks like your ex is about to find someone.”

Hearing this, Gu Qingzhou's gaze quietly fell on Jiang Xu's back, then silently moved away. He said emotionlessly: “Mind your own business.”

Dou Xun said: “He's about to get a girlfriend, aren't you going to hurry up?”

Gu Qingzhou remained silent, only habitually tugging at his tie, his expression unreadable, hiding all his joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness deep within.

Some people wish their exes well after a breakup; some wish for their exes to be destitute and miserable. Without a doubt, he belonged to the latter category.

Not everyone can walk out of the abyss...

Behind Jiang Xu's playful mask lay a heart that was indifferent and realistic. Both circumstances and time were enough to make him forget the past.

But Gu Qingzhou couldn't. He was still stuck in a mire, unable to pull himself out. The bitterness of the past was like a heavy chain, dragging at his feet. He had once tried to pull half his body out, only to be forcibly dragged back in.

Gu Qingzhou thought, if his own life was so miserable, on what grounds did Jiang Xu get to live a better one?

There was no such logic in this world. He had toyed with his sincere feelings for three whole years, only to throw them on the ground and stomp them into mud. A casual “You're too poor” was supposed to erase all of his past efforts, and after so many years, upon meeting again, he could still speak to him with a smile, thinking a single ‘sorry’ could cover up the past. How was that possible?

There was no such logic in this world, none at all...

Jiang Xu was working at his computer when he suddenly felt a chill on his back. He raised a hand to touch the back of his neck. Looking through the frosted glass partition, he happened to see the backs of Gu Qingzhou and Dou Xun as they left. His fingertips tapped unconsciously on the desk, and he suddenly recalled things from the past.

They say you can't hide it when you like someone. Back then, Gu Qingzhou was genuinely good to Jiang Xu, so good that others almost saw the signs. The teasing remarks from those around them never stopped.

Gu Qingzhou would save his allowance to buy Jiang Xu food and drinks. When Jiang Xu played basketball, he would wait for him silently under the scorching sun. After evening self-study, he would run three whole streets to buy him his favorite fried buns. There were too many instances to count. It was like that for a day, and it was like that for three years. And yet, Jiang Xu clearly knew that he liked him and understood what all this kindness represented, but in the end, in front of his hooligan friends, he'd laughingly say he'd taken on a little brother, the super obedient kind.

Gu Qingzhou was present at the time, and upon hearing this, he just watched him quietly, his eyes dark and heavy, reflecting the scorching sunlight. Though they still held a teenager's sharpness, for some reason, he retracted all his barbs, silently pressing his lips together, leaving only a silent forbearance.

Thinking back on it now, that expression was so complex it was impossible to understand, carrying a weight that shouldn't have belonged to someone of that age.

Jiang Xu didn't like Gu Qingzhou, but he couldn't bear to part with the benefits of being with him. And so, this muddled farce lasted for three years before the curtain finally fell. In those three years, he had exhausted all of Gu Qingzhou's love. Correspondingly, all that was left in the other's heart now was hatred.

No one waits in the same place forever. Now, times have changed. Gu Qingzhou's kindness would be directed at someone else and have nothing to do with him.

When one enters society and begins to mature mentally, looking back on the past, one often feels it was all very unnecessary. But adolescence just seems to be that reckless and impulsive.

Jiang Xu fell silent for no reason and didn't speak for a long time. Li Si'ao turned away from Fang Qia, seized the opportunity to urge him, and said in a low voice: “Hurry up, are you going or not? A grown man dithering over a blind date.”

Jiang Xu didn't react right away: “Huh?”

Li Si'ao said: “What are you thinking about all day? You can't even hear me when I talk to you.”

Jiang Xu said: “You wouldn't understand. I was thinking about my ex.”

Li Si'ao thought for a moment: “...The one with the BMW?”

Jiang Xu was about to nod when he heard Li Si'ao ask: “Are you thinking about your ex, or your ex's BMW?”

Jiang Xu: “...”

Li Si'ao always hit the nail on the head. Jiang Xu kicked his chair: “Go to hell. Am I that kind of person?”

After he spoke, he felt that his current situation wasn't sustainable either. Even Gu Qingzhou was looking for someone; he couldn't lose to him. He leaned over to Li Si'ao and said: “Hey, weren't you going to introduce me to your cousin? When should we meet?”

Li Si'ao was silent for a moment, then said: “Forget it. A man who's still hung up on his ex is no good. I don't want to push my cousin into a fiery pit.”

Jiang Xu choked: “...You're quite humane.”