Difficult to Complete chapter 10

“The rain is really coming down hard. It started as a light drizzle, and who would have thought it would turn into this? I’m soaked,” Zhao Lingling complained as she wiped her face with a dry towel Shen Qi handed her.

They had planned to have dinner in A city, but the heavy rain ruined their plans.

Shen Qi suggested postponing the dinner, but Zhao Lingling, in a fit of temper, refused. After some negotiation at the airport, she changed her mind and insisted on going home with Shen Qi, asking him to cook for her.

“If this deal goes through, we’ll get quite a commission. Shen Qi Ge, what delicious meal are you planning to reward me with?”

Gossip spreads quickly. Within a month, the whole company knew that the big boss’s precious one had her eye on the marketing department’s Shen Qi and wanted him to be her boyfriend.

This made Shen Qi quite popular in the company. Whether they knew him or not, people would greet him politely.

Even their foolish and chubby leader changed his demeanor, flattering Shen Qi frequently.

The project they were discussing in the neighboring city was one the chubby leader intended to assign to Shen Qi. It was a long-time client.

Most of the negotiations were already completed. This visit was merely a formality to sign an agreement, and anyone could handle it easily.

The chubby leader’s move was clearly to give the credit to Shen Qi and Zhao Lingling, providing a reason to promote and give Shen Qi a raise.

The leader couldn’t openly flatter Zhao Lingling, so he chose to promote Shen Qi indirectly, hoping to please the little princess.

This was not a secret; everyone in the marketing department knew, and Shen Qi was aware too. He changed into a sweater and asked Zhao Lingling:

“What do you want to eat?”

Zhao Lingling gave up on drying her clothes and went into Shen Qi’s room to change into a sweater as well.

Although Shen Qi was not tall, the sweater looked oversized on Zhao Lingling.

She couldn’t find suitable pants, so she deliberately went barefoot and stood on her tiptoes, trying to kiss Shen Qi’s face. Shen Qi turned his head slightly, avoiding the kiss.

Zhao Lingling felt a bit unhappy but didn’t show it:

“The omelette rice and vegetable salad you made before were nice. How about making that?”

She was referring to a lunch Shen Qi had brought one day. At that time, he was about to eat when Zhao Lingling came over and wanted to join him. Shen Qi gave her half of his lunch.

But that lunch had actually been prepared by Gu Yan. Not just that time, every time Shen Qi brought lunch to the office, it was made early in the morning by Gu Yan.

It catered to Shen Qi’s taste while ensuring balanced nutrition. Despite this, Shen Qi often complained, saying some dishes didn’t taste good by noon.

Gu Yan often took him to the tea restaurant downstairs, but Shen Qi awkwardly feared being seen by colleagues.

Gu Yan didn’t care about such things and couldn’t quite understand Shen Qi’s concerns:

“What’s there to be afraid of? If you really don’t want people to know, just say I’m your friend. It’s not unusual to have lunch with a friend.”

That was true, but Shen Qi felt self-conscious and was always suspicious, fearing that colleagues might notice.

He was always making unreasonable demands, yet Gu Yan still indulged him. If he said he wanted to have a packed meal, Gu Yan would prepare it. If he wanted to eat out, Gu Yan would obediently pay. If he made plans with a colleague and stood up Gu Yan at the last minute, Gu Yan would just sulk a little. All he needed was a little coaxing and a kiss to make everything right.

So much so that friends often joked that Gu Yan was Shen Qi’s pet little wolfdog.

At that time, Shen Qi didn’t understand. He always felt that Gu Yan wasn’t a little wolfdog but rather a little puppy.

But now he understood. Gu Yan was indeed a wolf, but in the past, he had kept all his claws retracted and willingly acted as a little puppy around him.

Shen Qi didn’t make Zhao Lingling the omelette rice and vegetable salad. He didn’t want to make them, and he didn’t have enough ingredients in the fridge. In the end, he simply cooked two bowls of scallion oil noodles and added a few greens.

Zhao Lingling pouted in disdain: “You asked me what I wanted to eat, but you only made a bowl of noodles with no meat at all. Are you just trying to brush me off with this…?”

After finishing the meal, Shen Qi was cleaning up in the kitchen when Zhao Lingling came over again, trying to take his arm. Shen Qi instinctively took two steps back, avoiding her closeness.

After being repeatedly rejected, Zhao Lingling was very unhappy. Shen Qi didn’t agree to be her boyfriend, nor did he accept her advances. His occasional indulgence seemed more like he treated her as the daughter of an unavoidable boss.

She felt she should make a bolder move: “Shen Qi, let me stay over tonight?”

Shen Qi glanced outside. The rain had already started to ease and would probably stop soon.

A stray cat with nowhere to go was hiding under a parked car downstairs, licking its wet paws one at a time.

That night when he took the drunk Gu Yan home, he secretly hoped he could stay over at Gu Yan’s place for the night.

But… Gu Yan pushed him out and slammed the door shut without hesitation. It seemed he had regained some sense during the drive.

That night, he stood outside that tightly closed door for a very long time, from dusk until dawn, before finally leaving with his stiff, aching legs.

He turned to Zhao Lingling: “I’ll take you home.”

…

December 10th was Shen Qi’s birthday. In previous years, Gu Yan would always be busy preparing things for him.

He wouldn’t go for anything extravagant. It would just be a casual dinner with a few friends, hotpot and barbecue, a bit of drinking, and then the two of them would head home and get cozy. Though simple, it was always lively and warm.

But this year… Shen Qi didn’t plan to celebrate his birthday. He himself wasn’t fond of crowds, so it didn’t matter whether he celebrated or not.

The person concerned wasn’t interested, but Tang Yan remembered. On Shen Qi’s birthday, which was a Friday, Tang Yan showed up around seven in the evening with a bag of beer and a bag of marinated snacks.

The two sat on the living room floor, leaning against the sofa, drinking beer and munching on duck necks, duck feet, and duck bones.

Tang Yan initially didn’t plan to give Shen Qi any beer; it was meant for himself. But Shen Qi said that since it was his birthday, he should indulge a bit. So Tang Yan had to go along with it.

After all, it was just beer, and it didn’t have much alcohol content.

On TV, two well-known crosstalk comedians were lively performing skits. Tang Yan finished his beer and asked Shen Qi:

“So what’s up with you two?”

Tang Yan wasn’t willing to give up on finding out the reason for their breakup. Since he couldn’t get anything out of Gu Yan, he turned to Shen Qi. Shen Qi was softer and more agreeable than Gu Yan.

Shen Qi lowered his gaze and said softly, “It’s nothing. It’s my fault.”

“Figures,” Tang Yan leaned back, resting his arms on the sofa, looking unsurprised.

He waited for more, but Shen Qi remained tight-lipped, only drinking beer slowly.

Even though Tang Yan’s guess was not far off, and he suspected the problem was with Shen Qi, he didn’t press further with the person involved.

But the issue was definitely not as simple as Shen Qi throwing a tantrum or being a bit petty…

“Shen Qi, you haven’t cheated, have you?!” Despite his embarrassment, he couldn’t help but ask.

Shen Qi forced a wry smile: “No, don’t jump to conclusions.”

Just after refuting, Shen Qi felt a pang in his heart. Although the idea of breaking up wasn’t new, Zhao Lingling’s confession was the final straw.

So in a way, he could be considered as having “cheated.”

The wry smile faded, and Shen Qi crumpled the empty can in his hand, opening a new one and drinking half of it in one go.

“Alright, alright, I won’t ask anymore,” Tang Yan grabbed the can from him and handed him a duck foot, tentatively asking, “But do you still like Gu Yan?”

Shen Qi remained silent for a long time, maybe five minutes or even ten minutes. Only after Tang Yan had finished three duck necks did he throw the duck foot back into the box and stared at his greasy hands, saying:

“Tang Yan, you wouldn’t understand.”

Tang Yan didn’t understand; he didn’t get it: “Hey, are you taking advantage of me not having been in a relationship? But no matter what, you still like him, right? If you still like him, why break up? Isn’t that just making things worse for yourself?”

“Do you know how many people there are in the world? Do you know how rare it is to meet someone who likes you and whom you like?”

“Shen Qi, I don’t know what happened between you two, but as a friend, I have to remind you, don’t do something you’ll regret.”

“Do you remember Tan Xiaolei? He’s already set his sights on Gu Yan. If you keep being foolish, it will really be too late.”

Shen Qi fiddled with his fingers, rubbing the greasy spots on his fingertips. He didn’t respond.

Tang Yan was frustrated: “Anyway, think it over. I won’t say more…”