Not Spare the Years

When Xiao Ai opened the apartment door, Mu Xueyi was sitting in the swing chair in the corner and flipping through a finance-related magazine. The room was very dark, and only a dim yellow light was turned on in that corner, and the people and objects under the light seemed to be covered with a layer of dust.

She lowered her voice and shouted in a false voice: "Second Miss, President Zhou is here!"

Mu Xueyi took the magazine, immediately got off the swing chair, and walked over with bare feet on the floor, with hope in his eyes: "Where?"

Zhou Zhenyue entered the door behind Xiao Ai, frowned when she saw the dark environment in the room, and turned on the light in the living room.

Xiao Ai held several document bags in her hands. After she put the document bags on the coffee table, she said goodbye to the two of them numbly and ran away.

The door is closed.

Mu Xueyi stopped at the partition of the living room, watching Zhou Zhenyue sitting on the sofa, and suddenly did not dare to go forward.

This is the first time in so many years that they are "alone" in the true sense. Although they have been alone in this house thousands of times before, there has never been a gap between them as clearly as today.

Betrayal, time, death, rebirth.

She desperately wanted to save, to make up for it.

But it is too urgent, like a child who has broken a toy, always with a sense of awkwardness.

Zhou Zhenyue habitually sat upright with no expression on her face. She flipped over two glasses from the coffee table, poured water, and said lightly:

"Let's talk."

Mu Xueyi looked at the two cups, and her heart froze instantly.

That's... the glass they used to use when entertaining guests.

She tried hard not to show her emotions on her face, walked over silently, and sat down on the other end of the sofa.

Zhou Zhenyue pushed the glass in front of her, picked up the glass and took a sip. After being silent for a while, she said softly, "I've always wanted to ask you a question."

Mu Xueyi didn't dare to look at her, she lowered her head and held the water glass: "...you say."

Zhou Zhenyue was silent for a while, and the air seemed to stop flowing.

She finally asked: "In the beginning... Did you temporarily have the idea of ​​stealing documents while you were in love with me, or did you approach me just to steal documents from the very beginning?"

Mu Xueyi opened her mouth, her throat choked, she didn't know how to explain. Or rather, there is nothing to explain.

She did approach her with a purpose from the very beginning.

Zhou Zhenyue looked at her, saw that she never spoke, and chuckled: "Sure enough, from start to finish, you were all for that document."

"No," Mu Xueyi said hurriedly, "I actually…"

"Mu Xueyi," Zhou Zhenyue interrupted her, speaking as if negotiating and mediating in the business field, "Since you and I are both businessmen in essence, then some things are much easier to discuss."

She opened a document bag, took out a watch from it, and pushed it in front of Mu Xueyi.

"This is all the property damage Zhou suffered after you leaked the documents."

Mu Xueyi picked up the watch blankly and looked at the astronomical numbers lined up on it.

Zhou Zhenyue: "I don't think I need to bear these losses for you. You have to pay me back the money."

Mu Xueyi never imagined that he would receive a bill, his hand holding the document trembled, he swallowed, and squeezed a few words out of his teeth with difficulty:

"I...I may not be able to..."

Zhou Zhenyue's face was calm, as if everything was under control: "I know, you can't take out so much money."

She opened the second document bag, took out two identical contracts, and handed one of them to Mu Xueyi.

Zhou Zhenyue: "This is a love contract."

Zhou Zhenyue: "Let me tell you, my grandfather is not in good health recently, and his only wish is to see me and you get back together. He doesn't know what happened between us, but you and I both know that until now, it's time to get back together. It's absolutely impossible. I don't want to tell him the truth. I don't want him to be stimulated by his illness, so I asked someone to prepare such a contract. You cooperate with me to act in front of grandpa, so that the old man can feel at ease Spend your old age as a repayment of the money you owe me."

Mu Xueyi's mind paused.

…contract?

She took the document, flipped through it, and was dazed when she browsed to the calculation results on the last page.

five years.

five-year contract period.

Zhou Zhenyue raised her eyebrows slightly when she saw her reaction.

"What, too long?"

"No," Mu Xueyi looked at the complicated calculation formula on the contract, her head lowered, "I just can't believe that I actually caused you to lose so much money..."

much?

Zhou Zhenyue glanced at the string of total numbers on the contract.

This is already the result of her having the accountant move the decimal point forward by two places.

Otherwise, according to the actual loss, Mu Xueyi would have to work for her for five hundred years.

She took out a pen from her pocket and pushed it in front of Mu Xueyi: "Look at the content of the contract, confirm what you need to cooperate with, and sign it after reading it."

As soon as the words fell, Mu Xueyi's fingers tightened while holding the contract paper.

Zhou Zhenyue didn't give her any room for negotiation at all. All she had to do was browse the contract and sign it. There is no possibility of rejection.

She really wanted to get closer to Zhou Zhenyue.

However, rather than relying on this unequal contract to close the distance, she wants to have a justifiable relationship with Zhou Zhenyue.

Zhou Zhenyue saw that she was hesitating, and said calmly, "With your current situation, you should understand that you don't have the capital to bargain with me. Isn't that right, Er...Miss?"

As soon as he heard this, Mu Xueyi understood that Zhou Zhenyue had secretly investigated the matter of her falling out with her family before coming, which was a threat from the sidelines.

Intimidate, beat, press.

She knew that Zhou Zhenyue had always been a calculating businessman, but she didn't expect that one day she would use the means at the negotiating table for herself, and she had no choice but to cooperate obediently.

She sighed between her nose and took the pen resignedly.

Anyway, she owed her what she had originally, and if she could repay some of it in this way, it would be considered a kind of compensation.

After signing the contract, Mu Xueyi held the pen in her hand, feeling a little unspeakably lonely in her heart.

Zhou Zhenyue packed her things, got up and went to the entrance to prepare to leave. When she opened the door, she said, "I'll pick you up at nine o'clock tomorrow morning and go to the hospital to see grandpa."

Mu Xueyi sat on the sofa and re-read the contract.

Maybe Zhou Zhenyue's tone was a little softer when she spoke, or maybe she was sitting on a sofa that was too familiar. The light was warm and the atmosphere settled down. Mu Xueyi didn't lift his eyes, and said a sentence that didn't make sense:

"On the garbage belt."

Just like the days when the two of them lived in this apartment in the past few years.

People who go out always have to take the garbage bag at the door by the way.

The security door closed heavily, and there was only one person left in the room.

It's been a long time.

Mu Xueyi suddenly raised his eyes and suddenly realized—

It seems like he shouldn't say what he just said.

At the gate of the apartment downstairs, at the top of the public trash can, the two bags of garbage that had just been taken down lay there side by side, the pleats all with fresh outlines.

While driving, Xiao Ai secretly looked at the two bags of garbage in the rearview mirror.

Zhou Zhenyue sat in the back row and asked blankly, "What are you looking at?"

Xiao Ai shuddered and quickly retracted her gaze.

She thought of the appearance of Zhou Zhenyue obediently picking up the garbage and throwing it into the trash can just now, she couldn't help but slander: The old man is right.

If Mr. Zhou got married, he would definitely be a strict wife.

Zhou's house.

After Zhou Fengnian was hospitalized, the house was deserted.

Zhou Zhenyue put the key on the shoe cabinet, turned on the light in the living room, and walked slowly to the sofa alone. She bent down and gently slid her fingertips on the position where Zhou Fengnian often sat, her eyes drooping very low.

I don't know what to think.

Footsteps from far to near came from the stairs.

Butler Zhao came over and bowed deeply to her: "Miss, you are back."

Zhou Zhenyue gathered the emotions in her eyes, and sat down sideways unhurriedly, her back was habitually straight, and her manner was excellent: "What's the matter?"

Butler Zhao got closer, his gloved hand took out a white handkerchief from his suit pocket, and handed it to Zhou Zhenyue: "This is the golden bracelet you made for the young lady. You called me in the afternoon and asked for it. I'll take it out of the safe for you first."

Zhou Zhenyue took it and opened the white handkerchief.

She looked at the bracelet and smiled lightly: "Three years, people have changed a lot, but the bracelet hasn't changed much."

Butler Zhao asked carefully, "Yes... is the young lady coming back?"

Zhou Zhenyue didn't answer, just wrapped it back in a white handkerchief.

After a long while, the corner of her lips twitched: "Yes, I'm coming back."

She paused and said in a softer voice: "It seems... Only by formulating a contract, clearly marking the price, signing, and stamping, and turning us into Party A and Party B, can I trade what I want."

Butler Zhao was a little puzzled: "You, what are you talking about?"

Zhou Zhenyue smiled: "It's nothing, just signed a contract that I don't know if it's right or wrong."

Butler Zhao immediately replied: "The business that the lady decides to do will never go wrong."

Zhou Zhenyue was noncommittal, just stood up and bowed her head politely: "You have worked hard, rest early."

Butler Zhao answered "yes" and left quietly.

The night is deep.

Zhou Zhenyue returned to the bedroom, turned off the lights and went to bed after washing.

Before going to bed, she set an alarm clock, slipped her fingers at will, and set it to 7:09.

Lying on the bed, I was drowsy for a while, and I couldn't sleep.

So I dug out my phone and changed the alarm clock to seven o'clock sharp.

Just a pity.

The alarm clock didn't go off at seven in the end.

In the early morning before dawn, she vaguely heard the phone ringing under the pillow in her sleep, and vaguely connected the phone to her ear, and vaguely said "Hello?"

Accompanied by the ups and downs of the ambulance, Xiao Ai's voice sounded in panic from the receiver:

"Zhou, President Zhou, something happened to Second Miss!"