Seventh Year Of Separation chapter 30

It’s Up to You to Decide

But Gu Jiahe never expected that Li Zhao’s next words would make his spine tremble uncontrollably.

“That afternoon, I came out to my family. I introduced you to them and talked about my future plans. I said I wouldn’t return to Pingcheng. After finishing my postgraduate studies, I would stay in North City to become a lawyer.”

At least until that evening approached, Li Zhao still had hope for their future together.

“I even went to see a bigger house. I thought if you were really going to pursue your studies, we probably couldn’t stay in our little house for long.”

“That house was really nice, with a big window and space for two desks.” Li Zhao’s tone was calm, as if he were telling someone else’s story.

He didn’t dare to ask what happened after that day.

Gu Jiahe felt like he was caught between two sharp knives, and every move he made was dripping with blood.

Gradually, Gu Jiahe began to feel unsteady, his head hung low, his back against the wall. Li Zhao couldn’t see his expression.

After a while, his voice trembled slightly. “I’m sorry, ge.”

Plap—

Li Zhao saw a drop of water on the ground. The ring of moisture spread on the concrete floor.

It wasn’t until a few scattered drops of rain fell from the sky, washing it away.

Gu Jiahe covered his eyes with his hands, his head hung even lower, his throat hoarse. For a long time, he couldn’t speak a complete sentence.

“I’m sorry.” Gu Jiahe struggled to speak, repeating it again.

Then, he kept staring at the ground, repeating it a dozen more times.

The overcast sky seemed to make it harder to breathe.

But Li Zhao’s gaze remained on the back of his head, lingering. He couldn’t help but reach out, almost touching his hair, but then withdrew his hand.

“I don’t want to hear your apologies,” Li Zhao said softly.

Throughout, all he needed was not an apology.

Dark clouds drifted in, and the raindrops gradually became denser.

“Woof woof!” The sound of the stray dog suddenly came. The cold weather made the little dog shiver, curled up in the flower bed. Unfortunately, the withered greenery offered no shelter from the wind. The dog had nowhere to escape.

Soon, a little girl with a backpack ran over from the flower bed. She squatted down to look at the dog, then reached out to pick it up, running towards a nearby high-rise building.

Gu Jiahe turned his head and saw Li Zhao looking at him. He quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve, but his breathing was still difficult to steady.

The two of them locked eyes for five seconds, and the air fell silent.

A familiar voice came from the end of the path, “What are you two doing here? Li Zhao, the meeting is starting soon, hurry up!”

Li Zhao turned his head and saw Qin Yi walking towards them. He glanced at his watch. The meeting was starting in five minutes, so he turned and followed her upstairs.

Gu Jiahe quickly lifted his head, trying to put on a normal expression, but his heart still felt as if it were being squeezed tightly.

He could only gently pat his face, take a few deep breaths, and try to calm himself down.

Qin Yi walked at the front and entered the elevator first, then held the elevator door for Gu Jiahe, smiling at him.

At first, none of the three said anything.

Gu Jiahe stood at the back of the elevator, his heart still beating fast.

It wasn’t until Qin Yi noticed something wrong with his eyes and asked softly, “Manager Gu, are you feeling unwell?”

Gu Jiahe was startled and quickly shook his head. “No, no. Just got caught in the wind.”

“Yeah. The temperature dropped too quickly this year.” Qin Yi nodded, “I have two boxes of flower tea in my car. I’ll bring them to you after the meeting. You can soak them in hot water and drink them to warm your stomach. It’ll be more comfortable.”

“You’re too kind.” Gu Jiahe nodded repeatedly in thanks.

The three of them walked into the meeting room, which was already filled with people.

This meeting was mainly about some supplementary projects to increase the success rate of the review.

When Gu Jiahe went to Lingshang on a business trip last time, he found that the new factory there was working on an advanced technology project, which was quite advanced in the industry. However, this was not mentioned in the previous report. He mentioned this to his colleagues in the project team. After returning, several institutions discussed it and found that it did indeed have some value.

Qin Yi listened to their draft proposals and also nodded in approval. She turned to Li Zhao and asked, “Did you follow up on this at the time?”

Li Zhao looked up and replied, “I knew about it. It would be more beneficial to the company if it were included in the report.”

The colleagues from the audit department also nodded.

In fact, this part of the material had already been sorted out. This meeting only needed someone to make a decision on whether to proceed or not.

A colleague across from them stood up and asked Li Zhao, “Lawyer Li, do you think we should continue with this? Or should we abandon this line?”

Another colleague chimed in, “If we proceed, we’ll have to make major revisions to the original report, and the overall framework will have to change. Time will be tight, and all our arguments will have to be modified accordingly, which could be troublesome.”

Li Zhao sat opposite Gu Jiahe. He closed his notebook, cleared his throat, and said, “This matter was originally brought up by Manager Gu. He is also the representative of the issuing party. Whether to revise or abandon it, let’s leave it to him to decide.”

Gu Jiahe looked up at Li Zhao.

To revise or to abandon. The decision was up to him.

For a moment, everyone in the meeting room turned to look at Gu Jiahe, waiting for him to speak.

Gu Jiahe’s mind raced with many thoughts, most of which had nothing to do with this work. His throat felt dry, and for a moment, he couldn’t find his voice.

Finally, after two minutes passed, he looked at everyone and spoke softly, “Give me some time to weigh my options.”

Li Zhao gave him a fleeting glance, then quickly looked away.

When the meeting ended, it was nearly time to leave for the day. The rain outside had finally stopped, but the sky remained gloomy.

Li Zhao left the meeting room first, with Gu Jiahe following behind him.

“Manager Gu, would you like to come with me to the parking lot? I mentioned earlier that I would get you two boxes of flower tea,” Qin Yi asked with a smile.

Gu Jiahe had already forgotten about it and was lost in thought for a moment. “No need to trouble you. Thank you for your kindness.”

Qin Yi insisted, shaking her head, “Come on, it’s almost time to leave, and there’s nothing urgent. Sitting in the office is tiring.”

Gu Jiahe could only nod and follow her to the elevator lobby.

Qin Yi’s car was parked in a corner of the parking garage, and they walked a long way to reach it.

Gu Jiahe stood by the car waiting for her. Qin Yi opened the car door, leaned in, and took out two boxes of flower tea from the glove compartment.

“You can brew this with hot water, it’ll warm your stomach and soothe your mood.”

“Soothe my mood?” Gu Jiahe took the box.

Qin Yi nodded.

“Manager Gu, I’ll head back to the office now. Feel free to call me if you have any questions. See you next time.” Qin Yi opened the driver’s door and got in, waving to Gu Jiahe.

Gu Jiahe stood still and, before Qin Yi started the car, suddenly stopped her, “Qin Par!”

Qin Yi’s hand paused on the gear lever, and she lowered the car window, “What’s up?”

“May I ask where your office is located?” Gu Jiahe’s throat rolled, then he asked.

“Are you planning to go there, Manager Gu? Shall I give you a ride?” Qin Yi said, about to lean over to open the passenger door for him.

Gu Jiahe quickly waved his hand, “No need, no need. I just wanted to know the exact address. On the business card you gave me last time, Tianhe has three different office locations. Where exactly do you work?”

Qin Yi smiled, “The third one is mine, near Yuping Road.”

“Okay, thank you.” Gu Jiahe nodded and thanked her.

Qin Yi’s car quickly left the garage and turned onto the main road.

Gu Jiahe stood in the parking lot for two minutes, silently repeating those two words in his mind: Yuping Road, Yuping Road.

Five minutes later, he returned to the office, grabbed his bag, and hurried out.

It was an autumn night, just after the rain. The road under the streetlights was bright, the wind had subsided slightly, but there was still a chill in the air.

Li Zhao had just returned to work and had a lot of things to deal with. He still returned to the office in the evening.

At 8:30, he looked up from his desk, shut down his computer, glanced out the window, and saw that it was already dark outside.

He went to the parking lot to get his car and drove out of the office building’s garage.

As he drove onto the road, nearing the intersection, he turned on his right turn signal and subconsciously glanced at the rearview mirror. What he saw was a familiar figure.

The person was sitting on the bench by the roadside, wrapped in a thin hoodie, the hood covering their head.

Li Zhao turned the steering wheel, made a U-turn, and drove back, then pulled over to the side of the road.

The person on the bench was already half asleep, legs curled up, arms wrapped around them. Their head was nodding down slowly, like a chick pecking at grains.

Li Zhao lightly honked the horn.

Honk—

The person on the bench woke up groggily, rubbed their eyes, then lowered their legs and slowly stood up.

Li Zhao rolled down the car window and asked, “How did you end up here?”

The person took a deep breath, as if waiting for themselves to fully wake up, then replied, “I… don’t know how I ended up here.”

“Really? It’s a 12-kilometer walk from your company.” Li Zhao scrutinized his appearance. “Manager Gu, you’ve got quite the legs.”

Gu Jiahe stood still under the streetlight, the cool breeze blowing from the end of the road, slipping into his hoodie.

His face was slightly flushed from the wind, and his fingers were tucked into his sleeves, looking rather pitiful.

“Do you know it’s not safe to sleep outside?” Li Zhao leaned over, opened the passenger door, “You’re being foolish.”

Gu Jiahe hesitated for a moment, then rubbed his face with his hand, took off his hoodie hat. His hair was messy from being under the hat for too long.

Seeing that he still seemed a bit out of it, Li Zhao sighed softly, his tone lightening, “Get in the car.”