In the afternoon, the sun was warm but somewhat glaring. The Spider Plant on the window sill was lush with growth; when the breeze blew the leaves rustled, emitting a "shasha" friction sound. Touched by the sunlights, the leaves glowed green.
Looking at this plant, Qiao Xinwei couldn't help but remember the person who gave her the plant - the man who had accompanied her throughout high school and four years of college, who had planned to marry her after graduation, but had just recently broken up with her.
The office of the Yat-King Corporation’s planning department was quiet, with some colleagues not yet back, while others were taking a nap at their desks. No one would have thought that just a week ago, right in this office, a melodramatic pleading and apology had taken place.
Now, everything seems so calm as if nothing had ever happened.
Her colleague, Yun Qing, tapped lightly on Qiao Xinwei's desk with a "du du" sound, drawing back her wandering thoughts.
Yun Qing passed over a parcel and whispered, "Stop daydreaming. Here is your courier, I signed for it while passing by the dispatch office."
Qiao Xinwei gratefully accepted the package, expecting important documents sent by a client. "Thank you, I was waiting for this," she responded.
With a sharp utility knife, she opened the thick paper bag and calmly pulled out the contents. But it wasn’t a contract or a file, it was an invitation. A wedding invitation with the Chinese "double-happiness" symbol printed in bright red.
She held her breath, as though she had forgotten to feel her heartbeat. With trembling hands, she opened the invitation to see the names of the couple -- the groom, Ji Xiaohai, and the bride, Sun Rongxuan.
The groom Ji Xiaohai and the bride Sun Rongxuan. One was her boyfriend of seven years, and the other was her once best girlfriend.
Yun Qing also saw the glaring red invitation, and she blurted out, "How dare these two send you an invite!"
In the silent office, Yun Qing's suddenly loud voice echoed especially loud, waking up all the napping co-workers.
A new wound was abruptly torn open over her still healing heartbreak, and her long-suppressed sadness started gushing out. Before she could even clean up her disheveled feelings, they had sent a wedding invitation.
One week, she didn't even have enough time to lick her wounds.
Their speed, it was too quick.
Yun Qing angrily grabbed the invitation, hissing twice as he ripped it in half and mercilessly threw it into the trash can. "Xin Wei, these two despicable people are doing this on purpose. Just ignore them."
"I...I'm fine..." she managed to choke out the words, but her tears betrayed her. In a flurry, she stood up and ran to the restroom. She couldn't bear to expose her wound in public, and she couldn't bear the sympathetic and pitiful gazes of her colleagues once more.
From high school to university, and then to searching for a job after graduation, she and Ji Xiaohai had always been together. She thought she would never part with this man in her lifetime.
But right when she was gleefully preparing for her wedding, waiting to become Xiaohai's bride, an unspeakable and ugly truth was laid bare before her eyes. She had never expected that her boyfriend of seven years would sleep with her best friend while she was working overtime. She had never expected that such a cliché thing would happen to her, she believed in Ji Xiaohai so much.
"Xin Wei, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. Rong Xuan's already pregnant, I must take responsibility for her." Ji Xiaohai's apology echoed in her ears. Just one week ago, right here, Ji Xiaohai and Sun Rongxuan knelt in front of her, begging for her forgiveness. They pleaded with her in tears in front of all her colleagues and company leaders.
Turning on the faucet, she scooped up some water and splashed it on her face three times. The cool water chased away her tears but could not soothe the pain in her heart.
Seven years of the most beautiful time of her youth, in the end, it only amounted to an apology.
After that day, Ji Xiaohai and Sun Rongxuan left the company, and she stayed, bearing all the suspicion and pity. She stayed due to the trust of her superiors, and due to the unfinished projects she was handling.
She could only console herself with the thought, 'Who hasn't loved a few jerks when they were young?'
It's at this moment, she suddenly realized that a woman needs to love herself more.
Tightening the faucet, she lifted her head. Suddenly, a stern and unfamiliar man appeared before her. He was standing behind her staring at her. Startled, she spun around, and stammered, "Sir, can I help you?"
This man looked much taller in the mirror. He must be above 1.8 meters. His piercing gaze was like two sharp knives. His innate grandeur was suffocating. His stiffness showed immense curiosity. Qiao Xinwei dared not challenge this kind of grandeur, and she really didn't know who this man was. She had been working here for nearly half a year and had never seen such a stern-faced man who was scarier than her boss Ruan Bin.
"Can I help you?" She asked again. She was just a woman crying in the bathroom, was it really that intriguing?
The man put away his curiosity and went to the sink next to her to wash his hands. He didn't utter a word.
Qiao Xinwei looked at the man in a puzzled way. Apart from his unfriendly expression, his appearance alone could qualify him as the office's top eye candy. She doubted that she could find another guy as handsome as him in the entire Yuan Da Corporation. If his features weren’t surgically altered, then it could be said he was created with godlike mastery. Looking from the side, the full forehead, the high nose bridge, the deep gaze, even the proportion of his lips and chin could be considered perfect.
Seeing his silence, Qiao Xinwei asked again, "Mister, are you new here?" She kindly reminded him, "You've got it wrong. This is the ladies' toilet. But it's no big deal if you get the place wrong on your first day, you'll get used to it eventually."
The man indifferently pulled a paper towel, wiped his hands while speaking, "Miss, I think you're the one who entered the wrong place. This is the men's restroom."
"Eh... Men's restroom?" Qiao Xinwei felt like ten thousand horses were running wildly in her heart. She hadn't forgotten that she was sobbing like a lunatic while splashing water just now. She thought the restroom was vacant. She numbly turned around and looked at the mirror. The person in the mirror was wet, her clothes and hair drenched, makeup smeared, and eyeliner smudged. What's even worse was that her appearance accentuated the presence of the man standing next to her even more. It felt like a real-life scene of "Beauty and the Beast".
Shame and embarrassment weren't sufficient to describe Qiao Xinwei's awkwardness. After working here for so long, she can't believe she could even mix up the restrooms.
While her initial agony hadn't yet worn away, the shame in front of her made her want to find a hole and bury herself in it. She quickly pulled out a few paper towels, covered her face, and ran out.