Not Spare the Years

At seven o'clock in the evening, Zhou Zhenyue brought Mu Xueyi back to the hotel.

There is only one shower room in the hotel, Zhou Zhenyue knew that Mu Xueyi was used to taking a shower every night at eight o'clock, so she went out early.

After leaving the hotel, Zhou Zhenyue called Xiao Ai and went to a nearby supermarket.

Originally, she was wandering with no purpose, but after walking, Zhou Zhenyue walked slowly to the infant and toddler area, and suddenly stood in front of a wall of milk powder.

Xiao Ai asked cautiously, "Mr. Zhou, do you want, do you want to drink?"

Zhou Zhenyue raised her hand and took out a can of milk powder. She picked up the gift pocket next to it. There was a big rubber duck and four small rubber ducks. The yellow ones were the most common in the market.

She smiled gently and asked Xiao Ai, "Do you think it's good to put two in the bath?"

Xiao Ai's mouth twitched: "You have passed this age..."

Zhou Zhenyue stared at the five rubber ducks, "It's not for me."

Xiao Ai extended her final sound, "Oh—" and immediately understood.

"I just think," Zhou Zhenyue put the rubber duck and the can of milk powder into the shopping basket in Xiao Ai's hand, "She likes those two live ones so much, so she should like this one too."

Xiao Ai couldn't help but say: "Mr. Zhou, don't blame me for talking too much. Since you still like the second lady so much, why do you have to be awkward? The second lady also has her own difficulties. There is no way for you to continue like this, only When they are really together, she will slowly open up to you."

Zhou Zhenyue was silent for a long time.

When he spoke again, he did not deny it as firmly as usual: "...Maybe."

She thought that she would not be able to get over the stumbling block in her heart no matter what, but it was only in the past two days that she realized that there is nothing more important than Mu Xueyi being able to stay by her side safely.

She still didn't know if Mu Xueyi came back this time with sincerity.

But Mu Xueyi said yes, why not believe it again?

Xiao Ai gave a big smile: "Aren't you noisy?"

Zhou Zhenyue did not speak. Although he still did not express his attitude, this was the first time he did not deny it.

After returning to the hotel, Zhou Zhenyue put the things she bought on the coffee table. When I was bending over, I saw Mu Xueyi's phone on the desktop was vibrating.

Mu Xueyi was still in the bathroom and didn't come out, so he definitely couldn't pick it up. The name on the caller ID was Zhong Wan, and Zhou Zhenyue knew that this person was Mu Ruqing's assistant and Mu Xueyi's only friend since childhood.

So she thought about it too much, and said to the inside through the door, "You have a phone."

The voice of Mu Xueyi in the door came dimly: "...help me pick it up."

What kind of trust is to be able to allow a person to help him answer calls from whom he does not know.

At the very least, Mu Xueyi, who had an unruly mind in the past, never let herself answer any phone calls for her.

Zhou Zhenyue smiled very lightly, bent down and picked up the phone, put it in her ear after connecting it.

Before he could say "Hello?", Mu Ruqing's voice came from the receiver.

"I don't know if your side is inconvenient. I'll make a long story short. Within three days, I will get the latest price list drawn up by Zhou Zhenyue. This time, this partner is very important, and M Moser must win it over. You should be able to understand it. Don't stay at Zhou's house for too long, forget what you want to do yourself. ... You know my mailbox, I'll wait for your email."

"beep-"

The phone has been hung up, but the fingers holding the phone are still frozen in the air.

Zhou Zhenyue had forgotten to breathe for a long time.

After a long while, she exhaled lightly, only to feel her fingertips go numb.

She didn't seem to know what expression she should make, and the corners of her mouth twitched.

The warmth that had been applied to my heart a minute ago was like mud built up, and its softness was only a momentary illusion. Before it has time to solidify, it has already cracked with muscle and flesh.

Until Mu Xueyi came out of the shower, Zhou Zhenyue sat on the sofa and held the phone.

Mu Xueyi wiped her hair and came over, her drooping eyelashes still wet, "Ayue, who was looking for me just now?"

Zhou Zhenyue didn't answer her question, but just handed the phone to Mu Xueyi, with no emotion in her tone, "...Your phone."

The half of her face turned towards her was expressionless, neither sad nor happy, as if they had returned to the way they were strangers at the beginning.

Mu Xueyi felt Zhou Zhenyue's strangeness, and hurriedly asked her, "What's the matter with you?"

Zhou Zhenyue tried her best to suppress the waves in her eyes, and glanced at Mu Xueyi lightly.

She had just finished taking a shower, and the ends of her hair and neck were covered with small water droplets, and her skin was still pale from the cold rain. Like a sickly deer, with clear and weak eyes.

Mu Xueyi seems to be like this forever.

Every inch of bone felt brittle.

In the end, Zhou Zhenyue still didn't choose to ask anything, she said "I still have entertainment" very lightly, then turned around and left the room.

Only when the door was closed, she could still see her clenched fists.

Mu Xueyi stood at the same place at a loss, watching Zhou Zhenyue's leaving back, she was as immobile as if she had been immersed in an ice bucket.

She clearly felt something was wrong.

She thought of the phone call just now, and hurriedly turned on her phone to check. Seeing that it was Zhong Wan's phone, she dialed it without thinking.

After a short wait, the call was connected.

Mu Xueyi: "Wanwan, did you just call me?"

There was silence in the receiver for a long time before answering: "Yes."

Mu Xueyi hurriedly asked, "What did you just say?"

Zhong Wan took a breath, and when she was about to speak, there was a faint sound of body rubbing. Her breath paused, and for a few seconds she seemed to be hesitant to speak.

In the end, Zhong Wan just said: "...Nothing. If you don't speak, I will hang up."

Mu Xueyi believed in Zhong Wan very much, they were friends with the most secrets when they were young. Even those few seconds of silence did not make her suspect that Zhong Wan would lie to her.

It seems that this is not the reason for the call.

What could be the reason?

Mu Xueyi was suddenly very afraid, afraid that Zhou Zhenyue would suddenly think about it at some point just now and completely let go of all the bonds between them.

What did she do wrong to make Zhou Zhenyue look like this suddenly? A few hours ago, she also gave her two little ducks, and she thought that their relationship had finally opened a gap.

Mu Xueyi frantically crawled through his memories, looking for possible mistakes in his every move. She was so careful, walking on thin ice, but she still did something wrong. What did she do wrong? What can she do wrong?

In the cardboard box by the wall, two fluffy ducklings were quacking, raising their wings and staring at Mu Xueyi foolishly.

Mu Xueyi looked at them, her eyelashes trembling uncontrollably, unable to hide the tears that welled up in her eyes.

Obviously…

Obviously on the way back, Zhou Zhenyue and her helped them name them.

Zhou Zhenyue did have an entertainment in the evening.

She was a little tired of this wine bureau and wanted to tell Xiao Ai to push it away. But now, she was starting to be a little fortunate that there was a wine party that would keep her from facing Mu Xueyi for the time being.

It was a party organized by the subordinates of the branch, and a large private room was reserved to celebrate the preliminary completion of the project. Lu Yan, the vice president and director of the operation department of the branch, is the host.

Lu Yan is Zhou Zhenyue's college classmate in the United States. Because she is very talented, she was hired by Zhou Zhenyue to be the manager of the branch after returning to China.

The two had known each other for more than ten years, and Lu Yan was one of the few classmates Zhou Zhenyue could keep in touch with.

After Zhou Zhenyue entered the private room, she sat alone in the corner drinking, and Xiao Ai stayed by the side, and stopped anyone who wanted to toast.

Lu Yan walked over with a glass of wine, and Xiao Ai immediately greeted him: "Director Lu, Mr. Zhou wants to be alone, sorry."

Lu Yan passed Xiao Ai and shouted to Zhou Zhenyue, "Zhou Zhenyue, you even stopped me?"

Zhou Zhenyue glanced here and waved at Xiao Ai, motioning her to let Lu Yan go.

"What's the matter with you?" Lu Yan sat next to Zhou Zhenyue and touched the rim of her glass with the wine glass in her hand, "No matter how much you don't like socializing, you will also accept a round of toasts."

Zhou Zhenyue pressed her brows and eyes, and said lightly, "I still drink alcohol to prepare for pregnancy."

Lu Yan smiled and rubbed her stomach: "Isn't that the case when you're not pregnant yet, so it's taboo when you're pregnant."

Zhou Zhenyue heard it, and then clinked a glass with her.

Lu Yan took a sip of wine and asked again, "Today's company team building, you didn't even think about bringing your second Miss Mu over here?"

Zhou Zhenyue smiled dispassionately, "You also said that her surname is Mu, so how can she belong to my family."

Lu Yan sat up a little, as if she was interested: "We were chatting in the company a few days ago, didn't you mention that she was quite happy and quarreled again?"

Zhou Zhenyue lowered her head and rubbed the wine glass, but said nothing.

Seeing her like this, Lu Yan sighed: "People have finally come back, just stay together, you can't live without her. I remember the years when she was gone, you had to see a psychiatrist once a month. , Sometimes when I look at you, several times I think you can't hold on anymore."

Speaking of this, Lu Yan couldn't help but ask, "Does she know that you like her so much?"

Zhou Zhenyue put the wine glass on the table, but still said nothing. His eyes were half down, not knowing what he was thinking.

Seeing that she didn't answer, Lu Yan sighed again: "You are a sullen temper, and Mu Xueyi is used to low eyebrows and pleasing to the eye. It's better to make it clear if you have something. You are so smart, don't confuse yourself because of your feelings."

Zhou Zhenyue lightly curled the corners of her lips and said, "I know. I know that what I'm worrying about may be a misunderstanding."

Lu Yan was stunned: "...Ah?"

Zhou Zhenyue raised her eyes and looked at the flickering lights in the distance.

"Actually, in those few seconds, I thought about all the possibilities. Maybe it was a trap... Maybe Mu Ruqing was deliberately provoking... Maybe Xueyi didn't know about it..."

She clenched the wine glass in her hand: "But... even if the probability that she is really lying to me is only one in a thousand, I still..."

"…very sad."

When she said these three words, the emotions that had accumulated in her eyes for a long time seemed to be unable to be suppressed.

Lu Yan looked at her and her heart tightened.

Mu Xueyi may never know how much damage she caused Zhou Zhenyue three years ago. Such a person who is so proud that he can't bear any sand in his eyes is now willing to deceive himself.

Lu Yan seemed to understand this feeling.

Zhou Zhenyue is afraid. I was afraid that when she asked the phrase "did you lie to me", she would get a positive answer.

If you don't question or expose, then the probability of her deceiving her will always be one of the many possibilities.

The private room was very dark, only the screen of K song glowed with colorful lights. Among the noisy voices, Zhou Zhenyue received the least entertainment, but drank the most wine.

After drinking, she felt that she was starting to get drunk. She suddenly remembered the wine her grandfather took her to drink when she was an adult. That was the only time she was drunk.

At that time, my grandfather said to her: I made you drunk this time because I wanted you to know your alcohol limit. You must always remember that you are the future chairman of the first company, and anyone can get drunk in the wine bureau, but you cannot.

She knew where her bottom line was, but she stepped over it indulgently.

In a trance, she seemed to see Mu Xueyi sitting beside her with her curly hair loose, looking at herself tenderly and obediently.

She stared at her, couldn't help but raised her hand to grab her hand, and shouted very softly:

"elder sister."

When the fingers close, they only hold a piece of air.

She blinked and looked again, only to find that Mu Xueyi was not sitting there at all.

As if everything was an illusion.

It was as if she never came back to her side.