Chapter 23 Only Dismal

  Remember in one second, wonderful internet for free!

  Ji Siyu suddenly thought of something, and a hint of coldness and self-mockery accumulated in her eyes. In just a few seconds, Qiao Yu had witnessed a change in expression. He was somewhat stunned and carefully asked, "Why did you come to work overtime today?"

  Ji Siyuan regained her cold and noble demeanor, "Do I need to report to Director Qiao whether I work overtime or not? Is this written in the contract?"

  Qiao Yu frowned, "It's not office hours now, no need to call me Minister."

  Ji Siyuan's mouth curved just right, but the gloom at the bottom of her eyes was still so obvious. She opened her mouth indifferently and asked, "Then may I ask, Young Master Qiao, is there anything else?"

  Qiao Yu never understood why Ji Si Xuan suddenly turned hostile and after thinking about it, he could only think of one reason, "You... have your period?"

  Ji Siyuan's mouth twitched immediately, and she stared at Qiao Yu with a complex expression.

  Qiao Yu suddenly realized he had guessed wrong and wisely changed the subject, "A few days ago on a business trip..."

  Qiao Yu was suddenly interrupted by Ji Si Xuan, who didn't even glance at him and had a colder tone, "There's no need to tell me about Qiao Department's business trip."

  Qiao Yu suddenly realized, "You are... angry because I went on a business trip without telling you?"

  Ji Siyun was taken aback, turning her head to one side and frowning stiffly as she replied, "You're thinking too much."

  Qiao Yu Ming obviously saw the unnatural expression on her face, smiled and didn't continue to ask. He took out a small bottle from the drawer by the table, walked in front of Ji Si Xue and handed it over to her.

  Ji Siyuan took it and looked at it. It was a white ointment with very simple instructions, specifically for treating mosquito bites.

  Qiao Yu continued from where he was interrupted earlier, "I went on a business trip to the south a few days ago. The mosquitoes in the south are more rampant than those in the north. This medicine for treating mosquito bites is particularly effective, so I brought a bottle back for you. In the future, when you get bitten by mosquitoes, don't scratch hard and leave scars, or you won't be able to wear pretty dresses."

  She held her breath, a familiar phrase, the day she deliberately said it to him, wanting to make him heartache, now that he said it out loud, the one who was heartaching was actually her own heart.

  Ji Siyun gritted her teeth and smiled with curved eyebrows, but put the bottle back in her hand, "Brother Qiao has a good heart."

  Qiao Yu looked at Ji Siyuan, and after a long time, he lowered his head and let out a helpless sigh.

  He had always known that Ji Si Xuan was the hardest to coax.

  Ji Siyuan's heart suddenly softened at his sigh, and with a glance, she could see the dark circles under his eyes. He lowered his head, furrowed his brow, and hesitated for a long time before suddenly snatching the ointment from Qiao Yu's hand, his voice stiff as he said, "Thank you."

  Qiao Yu glanced at her and smiled to ease the atmosphere, "It's getting late, let's go eat."

  Ji Siyuan was originally here in the cafeteria with Da Miao to get free meals, and upon hearing this, she turned around and walked out.

  Two people met again for the first time and sat at a table to eat, Ji Si Xuan's emotions were not high, she lowered her head and didn't speak, Qiao Yu was unusually talkative.

  "On weekends, I sometimes come to work overtime. The benefits of working overtime are that you can order food. I will order two dishes and a soup, one meat and one vegetarian dish. In the summer, I will order winter melon lotus leaf soup, and in the winter, I will order yam ribs soup."

  After they sat down, a chef came over and asked, "Jo department overtime again? What do you want to eat today?"

  Qiao Yu didn't ask Ji Siyuan's opinion and directly said, "Just like usual, add one more serving of rice."

  The dishes were served quickly. Qiao Yu picked up the extra chopsticks on the table and handed them to Ji Siyuan, "This is what I usually eat, try some."

  Ji Siyuan didn't say a word, and the two of them quietly finished their meal.

  After leaving the cafeteria, Ji Siyu wanted to return to the office but was pulled by him to go outside.

  "There is a small path that leads to where I live, and when I'm not driving, I'll take this path. The place I live now is a house allocated by the department, you left that year I was transferred to the southwest, after coming back, I moved here."

  Ji Siyuan stood still with a look of disgust on her face, "I really have no interest in knowing about Director Qiao's life, may I go back now?"

  Qiao Yu didn't pay attention to what she was saying, and continued walking forward with the big cat in her arms. "We'll pass by the artificial lake soon, the view is pretty good, let's go take a look."

  Ji Siyuan refused to leave, "I'm not going! Give me back my cat!"

  Qiao Yu turned his head and looked at her with a smile, softening his tone to coax her, "Let's go take a look anyway."

  He didn't wait for her agreement and continued walking forward.

  Ji Si Xuan exploded in anger, "You're rich!"

  This time he didn't even look back, his footsteps got faster, "We'll be there soon, if you're tired, hold on a bit, there are benches by the lake where we can take a rest."

  As he was about to walk far away, Ji Siyu sighed and ran a few steps to catch up.

  Later, the two sat on a bench by the lake, with willow branches hanging down beside them. The cat in Ji Siyu's arms was restless and kept reaching for the leaves, but she knew it was futile to resist, so she maintained an uncooperative attitude, her face calm and quiet as she listened.

  "I run around the lake every morning," said Qiao Yu, his voice rising slowly in the gentle breeze. "The porridge at that breakfast shop over there is very good, it's their signature dish, you can try it if you have a chance. Not every day, though - if I had a late night of overtime or socializing the day before, I wouldn't be able to get up early the next morning, so I'd just go to the cafeteria instead."

  Ji Siyuan raised her eyes and looked over, and indeed there was a store. Above the entrance of the store hung a large sign with two words: "Breakfast".

  Qiao Yu pointed to a building closest to the lake, "I live in that building, want to go up and sit for a bit?"

  Ji Siyun raised her eyes and stared at him straight, he had been acting strange since earlier, from head to toe, he had been explaining himself over and over again, finally asking the question she had been wanting to ask all along, "What are you doing?"

  Qiao Yu's expression was serious and sincere, "I just wanted to talk to you about how I've been spending these years."

  Ji Siyun coldly snorted, "Not interested in knowing, may I ask if I can leave now?"

  Qiao Yu nodded, but instead of taking her back the same way, he took another route. "I usually drive to work in the morning and take this road. Sometimes Yin and Chuan come to pick me up by car, sometimes I drive myself there. That car..."

  Qiao Yu suddenly paused, turned his head to look at Ji Siyuan before continuing, "That car was bought the year after you left. At that time, I had just returned from Southwest and happened to pass by a 4S store. Suddenly, I saw it and thought of buying it. The color is your favorite."

  Ji Siyun lowered her head in silence, at that time they had discussed it before, Qiao Yu liked black, but she liked white, that night the sky was very dark, but she still saw that the car was white.

  "In the third year after you left, many things happened that year. My sister had some trouble." Qiao Yu said lightly, but the ink color at the bottom of his eyes became more and more dense. "Later, things didn't turn out well, she wanted to go abroad to study. That day I went to the airport to see her off. She hugged me and cried, looking at her made me think of you. I knew she didn't want to leave, at that time her boyfriend was standing next to her, looking at him made me feel like I saw myself, wanting to stay but not daring to stay. The day you left, I went to see you off, did you know?"

  Ji Siyuan was silent and melancholy, her head lowered and not speaking, it's unknown what she was thinking.

  "That spring I was transferred to the south, and by the end of the year I was transferred back. It was also that year when Xiao Ziyuan and Sui Yi got married. I thought you would come back, but until the wedding ceremony ended, you didn't show up."

  "In the fourth year after you left, news about you gradually increased. During class reunions, classmates who were still in the architecture industry would mention you, saying that you had become a closed disciple of Professor So-and-so, interned at various firms, won newcomer awards abroad, and even had your works displayed online. Coincidentally, I also got promoted that year. That year, my wife gave birth to our child, and I still thought you would return, but you didn't."

  "In the fifth year after you left, my brother handed over his work to me due to poor health. I was very busy, so busy that I didn't even have time to eat. The pressure was great, and I learned to smoke from Xiao Ziyuan. Due to irregular socializing and eating habits, I was hospitalized twice. After that, I dared not be careless again, started quitting smoking, eating on schedule, and exercising."

  "This is the sixth year, something good has happened" Qiao Yuwei smiled slightly as he looked ahead, "You're back."

  "And you?" Qiao Yu turned his head to look at her, the lines of his profile softening, with warm gentleness in the corners of his eyes and eyebrows. "Want to talk about how you've been spending these years?"

  That night there was a heavy rain, and the next day was still gloomy. Ji Siyun woke up very early, staring blankly at the white light that seeped in from the edge of the thick curtains.

  She had a dream that night, in which Qiao Yu's face appeared, smiling and asking her, "And you, do you want to talk about how you've spent these years?"

  After a while, Ji Siyu took out her phone, dialed a number, and after connecting, she said straightforwardly, "I'm taking a day off today."

  She lay in bed like a corpse for most of the morning, didn't get up until almost noon, fed the cat and then lay on the couch staring blankly, finally sat up irritably and took out her phone to summon someone.

  In the afternoon, four women sat leisurely in a cafe, reading magazines and drinking afternoon tea.

  San Bao pointed at a page in the magazine and asked, "Does this skirt look good?"

  Ji Siyun didn't even look at her, "San Bao, what kind of skirt are you talking about? Only women wear skirts. Apart from the fact that your ID card says 'female', what else do you have in common with women?"

  Three Treasures looked at Ji Siyu with a wronged expression, but suddenly smiled, "You demon girl, do you think it's good for me to keep this hairstyle? When my hair grows down to my waist, I'll be a beautiful bride! Then Chen Chou can marry me!"

  Ji Siyun lazily raised her head and looked up and down at San Bao for a long time, sighing and shaking her head. "I think there's no hope."

  San Bao's face was filled with confusion, "Why?"

  Ji Siyun teased her in a slow and deliberate manner, "Because you don't have a waist."

  San Bao was hit by two arrows and immediately threw away the magazine, rushing into Su Yi's arms with tearful eyes to seek comfort.

  He Ge stared at the magazine that suddenly appeared in front of her, unsure what to do. He couldn't throw it away or hold onto it, and his face was filled with terror as he looked at the seductress, sincerely begging for mercy, "Seductress, considering we've lived together for five years, please don't say..."

  Ji Siyun took a sip of juice and made a ruthless move, "He Ge, I'm telling you, if you don't succeed in blind dating again, just convert to Christianity!"

  "What's wrong?"

  Ji Siyuan smiled so brightly it could topple a city, "Because this way you'll have control, okay?"

  He Ge also threw away the magazine and rushed to Su Yi's side, trembling, "A Yi! Look at her!"

  Zuo sat on one side, laughing and holding his sides, "This demon's cultivation is too high, we can't withstand it, hurry up and go get reinforcements."

  San Bao refused to give up and slightly resisted, "You witch, I'm telling you the truth, I really was skinny before."

  Ji Siyun received it calmly, "At 8 jin and 4 liang? San Bao, to be honest, you won at the starting line of life."

  San Bao once again plunged into the depths of his memories, and died with a mouthful of blood.

  Provide a better experience, bookshelf and computer version synchronization.