Difficult to Complete chapter 4

Nearly a month later, on a Tuesday, Gu Yan ran into Shen Qi at a Hong Kong-style café downstairs from his office.

Their first date in college had been at this very café. At that time, Gu Yan’s family had cut off his financial support, and that lunch had cost him half a month’s part-time job salary, but seeing Shen Qi enjoy the meal made it all worth it.

This area was the CBD of City A, with hundreds of large and small companies. Many young people who chose to stay in City A after graduation would come here to find work.

Back then, Gu Yan had envisioned their future, saying, “After we graduate, we’ll work around here and come to eat every day.”

Because Shen Qi loved the water chestnut cake and stir-fried rice noodles from this café, Gu Yan worked even harder to earn extra money, willing to eat only buns, steamed buns, and instant noodles himself to afford Shen Qi’s favorite foods.

After graduation, Gu Yan joined a luxury goods company and was recently promoted to the position of Deputy Director of the Design Department in March of this year. Shen Qi, on the other hand, worked at a toy company in the building across from Gu Yan’s office.

The tea restaurant offered special meals for office workers at lunchtime, so they often came here to eat, fulfilling their goal from back then.

Shen Qi still enjoyed the water chestnut cake and stir-fried rice noodles here and never got tired of them.

Gu Yan didn’t really like those overly sweet things. The food at the tea restaurant was also exquisite and looked nice, but the portions were small. Gu Yan didn’t get full, so after dropping Shen Qi back at the office, he often had to buy a sandwich at the convenience store to avoid getting hungry in the afternoon.

Since their breakup, Gu Yan hadn’t come here for a meal. If it hadn’t been for his junior staff wanting to eat shrimp dumplings and salted egg yolk buns today, he might not have come for a long time.

It’s not that he was afraid of the memories or the things that remind him of Shen Qi; he just didn’t like the food and didn’t get full.

When Gu Yan and his group arrived, Shen Qi was already sitting in the lobby. He was likely with colleagues, at a table in the center of the room with seven or eight people.

He was sitting very close to a young woman in a light green dress, laughing and talking with her as if they had automatically blocked out everyone around them, focused only on each other.

As Gu Yan was guided inside by the waiter, Shen Qi happened to look over and they exchanged a glance. Shen Qi smiled at him, but Gu Yan just nodded coldly, acknowledging him.

Gu Yan then walked past Shen Qi and led his group into a private room. The people inside didn’t come out until Shen Qi had finished eating.

“Shen Qi Ge, you’ve been distracted, looking over there since just now. Do you know someone?” Zhao Lingling asked when they were preparing to settle the bill.

Shen Qi shook his head. “No, I was just… thinking about that order from this morning.”

Zhao Lingling took his arm, and though Shen Qi instinctively tried to avoid her touch, she still held onto him.

“Don’t worry so much. Even though my dad pays your salary, he hasn’t asked you to sell your life to him, right? Don’t think about work when it’s not working hours!”

Shen Qi responded with a slight “Mm,” and glanced once more toward the private room before heading out. “I know, let’s go.”

Before the lunch break ended, Zhao Lingling came to Shen Qi’s desk again, showing him photos from last month’s department team-building event.

They had gone to a well-known farm on the outskirts of the city, hiking, barbecuing, and playing some team-building games.

During a three-legged race, Shen Qi partnered with Zhao Lingling. They coordinated quite well, not outstanding but not falling behind either. However, Zhao Lingling’s shoelace came undone, and she accidentally stepped on it, causing both of them to fall, with Shen Qi landing directly on top of her.

The surrounding colleagues stopped playing the game and gathered around them, taking many photos.

Zhao Lingling showed Shen Qi the photos where they were tangled up.

“Shen Qi Ge, you’re really something. What kind of expression is that? Were you so scared to fall with me?”

In the photos, Shen Qi’s eyes were wide with fear, which made Zhao Lingling laugh and say, “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were facing a disaster!”

Shen Qi smiled awkwardly, not saying a word. Zhao Lingling thought she understood him well—though Shen Qi appeared gentle and attentive to everyone, he actually seemed distant, polite yet aloof.

But there’s no stone that can’t be pried open. She believed that one day she would be able to crack open Shen Qi’s stone and enter his heart.

Just like when she confessed her feelings to him for the first time and was rejected, she saw some progress the next time she brought it up.

So Zhao Lingling’s enthusiasm wasn’t diminished. She sent the photos to Shen Qi and set one of them as her phone wallpaper in front of him, then said with anticipation:

“Shen Qi Ge, let’s go out and have fun together again next time, secretly, without telling anyone, to avoid being laughed at!”

Tap. Tap. Tap… Photos kept coming in. Shen Qi held the edge of his phone, rubbing a small chip off the screen with his thumb, and couldn’t help but think back to National Day of his senior year.

At that time, he and Gu Yan were in the sweet period of their romance. They had planned a trip around the area instead of staying at home during the seven-day holiday.

When Tang Yan learned of their plans, he, who was used to being a third wheel, insisted on joining them without any self-awareness.

Gu Yan wanted to kick him into space, but Shen Qi couldn’t bring himself to refuse. In the end, their trip turned into a trio, camping in a mountain in the outskirts of the city.

Gu Yan was quite frustrated about this, but later comforted himself by treating the big third wheel as a human camera. He and Shen Qi played in the front while Tang Yan followed behind, taking photos of them and being criticized by Gu Yan for taking bad pictures.

Tang Yan was so angry that he almost threw his phone and walked away, swearing never to go out with them again.

Gu Yan laughed heartily, embracing Shen Qi and mocking Tang Yan, but he continued to make Tang Yan take pictures.

The two of them went back and forth in this manner, leaving Shen Qi in the middle feeling awkward. He had to threaten Gu Yan to quiet down. Only then did things settle down.

In the end, the arguments were in vain. Tang Yan took hundreds of photos, none of which were good—either blurred beyond recognition or with odd angles and proportions.

Gu Yan remained silent for a long time, his clenched fists hardening.

Halfway up the mountain, Tang Yan, who spent all his time in the dorm playing games and watching anime, collapsed from exhaustion, sitting on a rock and refusing to move his legs. Gu Yan then dragged Shen Qi up by himself, leaving Tang Yan behind.

After all the hassle, when they finally reached the mountain top for camping in the evening, it coincided with sunset. Gu Yan excitedly hugged Shen Qi and took a few selfies in the sunset glow.

Perhaps the sunset in the mountains was just too beautiful, or maybe Gu Yan’s happiness was too genuine. Those casual selfies turned out unexpectedly well.

After returning from the camping trip, Shen Qi went to a photo studio to develop the set of photos. After much deliberation, he chose his favorite one and put it in a special frame he bought, placing it on the nightstand, on the side closest to Gu Yan.

Later, when they moved from their cheap rental to Gu Yan’s new house, the photo was packed up and brought along, still placed on the bedside table on Gu Yan’s side.

Gradually, the photo seemed to become an optional presence in their room. Shen Qi came and went many times every day, but he no longer paid it any attention. In fact, if Zhao Lingling hadn’t brought up their hiking trip today, Shen Qi might have forgotten they had ever taken that photo.

However, once he remembered, the presence of the photo became very strong. Shen Qi felt an urgent need to see it, to have it beside his own bedside table.

This feeling was so intense that, during the afternoon, he couldn’t focus on his work at all, his mind completely occupied with Gu Yan’s smiling eyes under the sunset.

By the time he finally finished work, he realized he hadn’t accomplished anything that afternoon, preoccupied with thoughts of Gu Yan.

He settled for a sandwich and yogurt from the convenience store downstairs for dinner. After arriving home and taking a shower, he sat in the study trying to catch up on work, but still struggled to concentrate.

This was not right.

Shen Qi, feeling defeated, closed his laptop, took a few deep breaths, and then called Gu Yan—

Beep beep beep—beep—

He thought he needed to get that photo from Gu Yan right away, or he would definitely have trouble sleeping tonight.

Beep beep beep—beep beep beep…

“Hello—” The phone rang for a long time before being answered. The moment Shen Qi heard Gu Yan’s voice, he felt like something was stuck in his throat, unable to say a word that would express how uncomfortable he felt.

It wasn’t until Gu Yan on the other end became impatient and said “hello” again that Shen Qi quietly asked, “Gu Yan, can I come by the house?”

The house.

Shen Qi was taken aback by his own words, realizing he had used the wrong term. That place was no longer his home, and he had no right to refer to it as such.

Gu Yan probably thought the same, as he remained silent for a while before asking, “Is there something wrong?” His tone was distant and indifferent.

Shen Qi carefully asked, “I left something at the house… at your place. Can I come by now to get it?”

Gu Yan asked after a pause, “Now? If it’s not urgent, I can bring it to the office tomorrow and leave it at the front desk for you. I’m not at home right now.”

Usually, Shen Qi would pick up on the hesitation in Gu Yan’s tone and would never press the issue, but tonight he was very impatient and said without thinking:

“I want to get it now.”

Only after saying that did he suddenly realize he and Gu Yan had broken up and he shouldn’t be making demands.

He could also tell that Gu Yan wasn’t at home; the background noise on the call suggested he was in a bar or somewhere similar, with people constantly calling his name and urging him to come over.

So Shen Qi suppressed his impatience, curled up on the sofa, and said into the phone, “Never mind, I’ll come by tomorrow. But I won’t trouble you, I’ll pick it up myself.”

After a moment, he added, “Is that okay?”

After all, it wasn’t his home anymore, and he had to follow the owner’s wishes.

“Alright, come by after work tomorrow. I have something else to do later.” The tone remained as indifferent as ever.

As the call was about to end and Gu Yan’s friends were urging him again, Shen Qi couldn’t help but ask, “Gu Yan, where are you?”

It wasn’t really appropriate to ask, but Shen Qi couldn’t hold back.

Gu Yan replied, “At a bar.” Then, without waiting for Shen Qi to say anything else, he hung up.

Shen Qi stared at the phone screen, muttering softly:

“See you tomorrow, Gu Yan.”