looking back inadvertently

Liang He didn't have many entertainments at work, and it wasn't completely absent. On a Friday in early November, he and several department members, including the manager, went out to accompany customers for dinner.

Customers can talk and drink, and in a small box, they keep talking loudly throughout the night.Except for a little girl who entered the unit at the same time as Liang He, all the people in the group were boys.

The girl's name is Yan Qiong, and she didn't have to come tonight, but the client asked her to follow by name, and persuaded her to drink several times during the dinner.Liang He was very annoyed by this middle-aged man surnamed Wang, and the manager couldn't see it anymore, and would help him with a few words from time to time, but the other party was a long-term customer of the company, so he couldn't be clearly offended.

"Xiaoyan, let's drink more." The food on the table was almost empty, but the man asked the waiter to open another bottle of XO, "This wine is good, you can try it."

Yan Qiong can still get by with red wine, but this kind of strong wine can't stand a glass at all: "Sorry, Mr. Wang, I can't drink it."

She was indeed embarrassed, and her tone was not blunt, but it was not very good.Mr. Wang's face was dull, and he didn't express his dissatisfaction directly, but he never let go of the hand that passed the wine glass.

Yan Qiong was even more nervous, not knowing how to take the glass of wine.

"President Wang," Liang He stood up, "I'll drink with you." He took the drink before the other party fully reacted.

Although Liang He didn't say anything harsh, he took the wine glass away on his own initiative, and Mr. Wang's face was a little ugly.

"Yes," the manager hurriedly smoothed things over, "Let Liang He drink it, the little girl is really not good at this wine, don't spoil your spirits."

Mr. Wang spent a longer time dealing with the manager, so he would give him some face. After he said that, he went down the steps, but he kept pouring wine for Liang He.

Liang He could only swallow his grievances together with the wine, and took them one by one.In the end, it was the manager who coaxed the other party for a long time, and the chat was happy before he was willing to give up and end the drinking session.

Coming out of the hotel, Liang He thought he would be criticized by the manager. After all, his handling method was not smooth enough just now, which made the client angry.

Unexpectedly, the manager patted him on the shoulder: "Xiao Liang, thank you for your hard work."

Liang He was half stunned: "But I—"

"Okay, I know," the manager shook his head and sighed, "I can't do anything about Mr. Wang. If the higher-ups tell us to make offerings, we have to give. Your reaction is okay."

"Thank you." The fire at the dinner table finally subsided, at least today's manager is more humane.

"Hey," the manager looked at his watch, "Why hasn't Xiaoyan come down yet?"

Yan Qiong went to the bathroom and didn't go with them, but now it's been about ten minutes, and it's time to come down from upstairs.

Liang He had a bad feeling: "Isn't Wang always coming out?"

Upon hearing this, the manager quickly said to Liang He, "Go up and have a look!"

"it is good."

Liang He quickly walked up to the second floor, and at the end of the corridor, turn left and there was a bathroom.Before reaching the corner, Liang He heard the voices of a man and a woman.

"Come back in my car later?" It was Mr. Wang's voice.

"No, thank you." It was Yan Qiong who answered.

"Why not? Someone pick you up?"

"……Um."

"Does anyone really answer so bluntly?" Mr. Wang laughed twice, "Don't lie to me, do you?"

"no--"

Liang He immediately stepped forward, looking at Yan Qiong, as if he didn't see the other person: "Why are you still here? Your boyfriend has been waiting below for a long time."

Both Yan Qiong and President Wang were taken aback.Mr. Wang has never heard of Yan Qiong having a relationship partner; and Yan Qiong doesn't know where he has a "boyfriend".

Liang He winked at her desperately: "There is no parking in front, get off quickly, or he will have to pay a ticket."

Yan Qiong came to her senses, Liang He told a lie to deceive the other party, so she also said to Mr. Wang apologetically: "Sorry, Mr. Wang, my boyfriend is here, I have to go, see you next time."

When she came downstairs, Yan Qiong still felt terrified. After she calmed down a little, she kept thanking Liang He.The manager was also angry when he heard about this, afraid that Yan Qiong would be targeted again: "Xiaoyan, take my car back, don't you live not far away?"

"It's not far, but—" She was a little flattered, "I'll just take a taxi."

"Today is special, take mine first," the manager said, and then asked Liang He, "Why don't you come with Xiao Liang, so you don't have to wait for the bus."

"Thank you, I'm fine," Liang He remembered that the direction of the manager's house was completely opposite to his own apartment, "I'm not in that direction, you guys go first."

He rejected it twice, and the manager didn't insist anymore.After leaving them, Liang He took a taxi alone.His stomach was churning a little, and he didn't have the strength to wait for the bus any longer.

The downstairs of the apartment is a one-way street, Liang He asked the driver to park the car at the side entrance of the small park, and walked back by himself to sober up.

It was more than nine o'clock, and the square dance had broken up for more than half an hour, and the surroundings were deserted.The recent wave of cooling has gradually brought the breath of winter. The bare branches of the trees stretch out to the sky, and they look like monsters with teeth and claws in the dark.The breath out of his mouth also started to turn white, and after Liang He got out of the car, he kept his hands in his coat pockets.

The phone rang, Liang He looked at the caller ID, and picked it up lazily.

"Why are you so tongue-tied?" Wen Hao on the other end of the phone heard something unusual, "Have you been drinking?"

"Well, there is entertainment."

"You don't usually drink, can you bear it?"

"Can I stop drinking at this point?" He was really uncomfortable and barely held on, "It's okay, just get used to it."

"Oh, me too, it's worse than you," Wen Hao sighed, "It's still Shen Zhe's comfortable job and winter and summer vacations."

Wen Hao babbled some gossip, and when Liang He was wondering why he called, he suddenly asked, "By the way, are you free next weekend?"

"Yes, what's the matter?"

"It's just..." Wen Hao groaned for a long time, before uttering a few words, "Are you interested in climbing mountains?"

"We two? Why do you think of climbing a mountain?"

"It's not just the two of us," he paused again, "there are...two girls introduced by Dong Mingpeng."

Listening to this awkward tone is not like ordinary play: "You don't want to go on a blind date, do you?"

"Why are you so vulgar?" Wen Hao retorted, "They are all young people, it doesn't matter if they know each other."

"I dont go."

"Why?" Wen Hao complained, "Why are you so reserved as a bachelor?"

"Who told you I'm a bachelor?"

"Ah?" Wen Hao yelled, "Fuck, when did you fucking fall in love?"

"Last month," Liang He walked through the park along the path, a vague figure was outlined by the lights not far away, with his back turned to him, Liang He slightly accelerated his pace, and continued to say to Wen Hao, "I haven't told you yet. you."

"All right, all right, you're ruthless," Wen Hao didn't forget to dig out the gossip, "Who is your partner? What are you doing?"

"teacher."

"Why don't you go with Shen Zhe?"

Liang He didn't intend to hide it from him: "It's Shen Zhe."

"What? It's called Shen Zhe?"

"Yes, it's Shen Zhe."

Wen Hao took a breath: "Does Shen Zhe know that you have found a partner with the same name as him?"

"It's not the same name," Liang He corrected, "it's the Shen Zhe you know."

There was no movement on the other end of the phone, and Liang He was about to ask him if he was frightened, but Wen Hao said timidly, "I'm sorry, I might have some auditory hallucinations, I'll contact you later."

Liang He hung up the phone speechlessly. He didn't think Wen Hao would reject him, but telling the other party such information suddenly requires a process of digestion.

A gust of cool wind blew by, and Liang He felt his temples twitching. It might be because he drank too much alcohol. He thought that walking would make him feel better, but it didn't actually help.However, he had already approached the street lamp he saw just now, and the figure under the lamp became clearer.

The footsteps are slow and silent.Ten meters, five meters, three meters...one meter.

Shen Zhe turned around.