TGSS - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Tan Qing

Xiang Qianqian held the things she had packed up. Chen Xinluo was still calculating her pay for the week, but told her to finish the handover today and leave quickly. She looked up and saw the sun hanging in the bright blue sky, then looked back at the building with a thousand thoughts swirling. The ding of her phone made her stop in her tracks. Pressing what she was carrying against her cheek, she struggled to swipe open WeChat, and there was a message from Liang Zhouyi.

"Wishing you a bright and promising future!"

The light was not even that glaring, yet it made Xiang Qianqian suddenly crouch down with tears streaming down her face. Holding the cushion she had taken from her seat, she cried like a child in front of the revolving doors.

Life is like this, a matter of chance and circumstance. You never know when the next time you see someone beside you will be the last.

Xiang Qianqian's departure did not stir up any more waves. No matter how many undercurrents surged in private, Liang Zhouyi's work environment did not change at all, except for the pay that had been docked from her.

"Hey, did you hear? Teacher Tan is joining our company in the next couple of days."

"Which Teacher Tan? Tan Qing!"

"Which Teacher Tan do you think? How many Teacher Tans could there be? Wen Xiaoying's ace photographer, the Tan Qing who became famous young and won awards until his hands were sore."

A chorus of gasps rose around them. When Liang Zhouyi heard the name, she nearly failed to keep hold of the water cup in her hand. She stood there in a daze, listening to everyone heap endless praise on Tan Qing. She wanted to smile and say something, but it felt as if her lips had been sealed shut.

"Who poached him? Does our company have someone that impressive?"

"Who else? Chu He."

Chen Xinluo had drifted over at some point. Seeing how excited everyone was, she said with amusement, "You'll all be colleagues from now on. Get your excitement out today and leave it there. Don't scare Teacher Tan. He's socially anxious."

The socially anxious Tan Qing was sitting with Chu He in the cafe downstairs. Chu He brought over the latte he had ordered and teased the man sitting bolt upright like a primary school student in front of her, "Teacher Tan, it's been so long and you're still the same as ever."

The man reached out to take the coffee. His bangs were long, almost covering his eyes, and his eyes were strikingly clear, as if no filth could hide before him. A smile touched his handsome face. "Chu He, you too. You haven't changed at all."

Somehow that did not sound like a compliment. Chu He sat on the sofa chair, leaning lazily to one side, her long dress piled around her in soft waves. She lifted her arm and asked, "Teacher Tan, are you still single after all these years?"

Tan Qing became alert. "What are you planning? I'm not interested in you."

"As if anyone would want you," Chu He said with a cold laugh. "Just tell me, are you or not?"

"No. My ambitions lie elsewhere," Tan Qing said. He took a sip of coffee, set the cup back on the table, his fingertips tracing the delicate pattern, his expression calm.

"Alright then. I was going to introduce a friend to you," Chu He said, rubbing the jade bangle on her wrist with a touch of regret.

"Since when do you worry about that sort of thing? That's not like you," Tan Qing said, raising an eyebrow with a flicker of curiosity.

Chu He uncrossed her legs and gave a noncommittal response. In the backstory the System had given her, Tan Qing was her junior from university. The two had met once through family connections and later ran into each other at school, gradually becoming friends. Men who did art more or less had their quirks, and Tan Qing was no exception, but his aloof and socially anxious exterior could not hide the halo around him.

After a preliminary screening, Chu He had decided he was a pretty good man as far as she could find, and in any case better than Liang Zhouyi's blind date. So she had poached him intending to set them up, but the plan was going to die before it even started. She was not too disappointed, though. There would be time.

Seeing that Tan Qing had set down his cup and did not intend to drink any more, Chu He stood up to take him upstairs to onboard at the company, but caught sight of a familiar figure in the lobby.

Is that Liang Zhouyi's blind date? Chu He's expression instantly turned ugly. Beside the man stood a middle-aged woman in her forties or fifties. Her face was not clear, but her clothes were plain and refined.

"What's wrong? Do you know them?" Tan Qing asked in confusion, following her gaze.

"It's nothing. Let's go," Chu He said, swiping her card at the entrance. Is this person here to see Liang Zhouyi? Is she really still involved with him? That woman is hard to see clearly, but she seems to share a resemblance with Liang Zhouyi. Could it be her mother? Have things already progressed to meeting the parents?

Tan Qing still looked at her with suspicion when she said that, because Chu He's expression was truly terrible, as if she had seen something extremely upsetting, but no matter how he looked he could not see anything special.

As the silver metal elevator doors were about to close, Chu He saw a figure flash past. She murmured to herself, "Liang Zhouyi?"

"Who did you call?" Tan Qing turned sharply, his voice a little agitated. He took a short breath and stared hard at Chu He.

"I thought I saw an employee from our company," Chu He said, not understanding Tan Qing's out of character astonishment.

"Liang Zhouyi?" Tan Qing enunciated the name clearly and precisely.

"Yes," Chu He said, a meaningful smile appearing at the corner of her lips. "With that reaction, you know her?"

The elevator arrived. Chu He followed closely behind the tall and slender Tan Qing, pressing him, "How do you know Liang Zhouyi?"

"She and I were high school classmates," Tan Qing said, a little distracted, many emotions flickering across his handsome face.

"I see. The person I wanted to introduce to you was her. I didn't expect you already knew each other," she said, and somehow the words carried a strange sourness.

Tan Qing gave a bitter smile. "We were more than just acquaintances. What does she mainly shoot at the company now?"

Shooting? Chu He froze for an instant. She seized on the keyword and asked curiously, "Why are you so sure it's shooting?"

Tan Qing's tone was too matter-of-fact, as if Liang Zhouyi could never have done anything else. Chu He's heart beat fast and her steps felt a little unsteady. She suddenly understood why the System had set Tan Qing as her friend. This person was like a thread, and by unraveling it she could discover Liang Zhouyi's past.

"Since you say that, then it must not be," Tan Qing said with a sigh, looking a little lost and wistful. He did not press further about Liang Zhouyi.

Chu He handed him over to Chen Xinluo. Thinking back on her exchange with Tan Qing, high school classmates, shooting? That meant at least in high school, photography had been Liang Zhouyi's career plan. Come to think of it, her university major had also been in that field.

But in the end she had become a director, churning out scripts for influencers every day, day after day, year after year.

System, is the part about untangling the knot in her heart in the Main Mission related to this? Chu He asked inwardly, staring at the winter holly on the table.

It is.

---

When Liang Zhouyi received her mother's call, she was so irritated she wanted to smoke. In the end she still answered it at her desk.

"Zhou Yi, Xiao Chen and I are waiting downstairs at your company. Let's have lunch together. If you and Xiao Chen have any misunderstanding, just talk it out," Mother Liang advised earnestly.

"Xiao Chen?" Liang Zhouyi took a few seconds to dredge up who that was. She said in disbelief, "I clearly told you I already turned him down..."

She lowered her voice as she walked toward the stairwell. The phone on the other end was quickly snatched away, and Gao Mingchen's voice came through aggressively, "Liang Zhouyi! Get down here. Your mom and I are waiting downstairs today. I'm giving you five minutes. If you don't come down, I'll find a way up myself!"

Liang Zhouyi stared at the phone after being hung up on, quite speechless. She turned toward the elevators and, on her way down, brushed past Chu He.

Mother Liang was sitting on the sofa in the lobby, supported by Gao Mingchen. Liang Zhouyi was in a terrible mood. She strode quickly across the bright lobby, her work badge swinging in front of her. Irritated, she flipped it behind her, and the gray ribbon scraped a red mark across the web of her hand.

"Zhou Yi." Mother Liang, who had been staring blankly at the plants by the window, was nudged by Gao Mingchen. She hurriedly got up and ran toward Liang Zhouyi, her eyes as innocent as if she were not a woman in her forties or fifties. Time seemed to have been especially kind to her, and only the fine lines at the corners of her eyes betrayed that she was no longer young.

Liang Zhouyi gently brushed off her arm and looked at Gao Mingchen. "Do you need something from me? You can call me directly. You don't need to go through my mom."

"Would you even bother with me if I looked for you?" A sinister look flashed across Gao Mingchen's face. "You don't even reply to my WeChat. How can I expect you to answer my calls?"

Liang Zhouyi was almost amused by his self awareness. "Mr. Gao, I think I made it very clear before. We are not suitable for each other."

"Oh, what do you mean not suitable?" Mother Liang clutched Liang Zhouyi's arm tightly and cried out to her, "You two are so well matched. I watched Xiao Chen grow up. His character and family are both solid."

Gao Mingchen raised his eyebrows smugly and sat on the sofa with his legs splayed, his slovenly posture making the blood surge through Liang Zhouyi's whole body. She could hardly suppress a laugh born of fury. "Mom, do you really think he's that good?"

Mother Liang's words faltered and she mumbled, "Xiao Chen's family runs a supermarket. If you marry into it you'll live in comfort. I feel so sorry for you working so hard, leaving early and coming home late. And you promised me you would get married."

Liang Zhouyi could not help covering her face, and said helplessly, "Yes, I did promise you, but that doesn't mean you can drag just anyone over and I have to marry him!"

Hearing Liang Zhouyi's voice grow sharper, Mother Liang clutched her chest in disbelief. "What do you mean? Are you yelling at me now? You should know you are the one who wronged me!"

Those words were like some kind of spell, like a mountain pressing heavily on Liang Zhouyi's shoulders, draining every emotion from her body. She was nailed to the spot. After a long moment she tilted her neck back and drew a breath, all the heat in her eyes pooled in their rims. As if resigned to her fate, she looked at Mother Liang. "Fine, what do you want me to do?"

Mother Liang was startled by her sudden dejection and took half a step back. She slowly loosened her grip on Liang Zhouyi's hand. The sorrow on the woman before her seemed too great for her body to contain. She stood there, eyes red, even wearing a soothing smile, quietly waiting for her answer.

"I... what do I want? You should just get along well with Xiao Chen and not quarrel with him at every turn. It's not easy for young men these days either. If you two get along well, I'll be at ease," Mother Liang said, her face returning to its gentle composure. She looked at Liang Zhouyi with a smile, feigning ignorance as she tried to persuade her to get along with Gao Mingchen.

"Yeah. Liang Zhouyi," Gao Mingchen said with a disdainful laugh. "If it weren't for Auntie's sake, I wouldn't spare a second glance for someone like you. Don't be ungrateful."

"Zhou Yi, so you're here," a clear, gentle male voice suddenly came from behind Liang Zhouyi.

Get instant access to all chapters now.

Previous Table of Contents Next