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墨書 Inktalez
After handing over the bank card to Xu Wen, Qinglan truly began to live a life without any worries.
After dinner, Xu Wen gave Qinglan a few instructions and then went to the train station to pick up Xiang Yuanqiu.
After sending a text to Xiang Yuanqiu, Qinglan was worried that she would ask too many questions. In high school, Xiang Yuanqiu had left her with the impression of having no major flaws but many minor ones, especially her tendency to pry into others' affairs and secrets. Fortunately, this time she didn't ask anything and cheerfully replied, "It's fine, it's fine. I didn't inform you in advance before coming to Beijing; I was just bothering you. You go ahead with your things, just have Xu Wen give me the keys to your rented apartment. I'm not a child; I'm grateful that you can provide me with a place to stay. I can wander around Beijing and look for a job or something; that sounds good."
After hearing this from Qinglan, Xu Wen finally breathed a sigh of relief. During college, he had only accompanied Qinglan shopping and had never taken any other girl shopping, especially someone he wasn't very familiar with. Now that she was willing to explore on her own, Xu Wen didn't feel the need to insist otherwise; it was nice for both of them.
In fact, during the National Day holiday, as Qinglan mentioned, they weren't completely off work. If there were urgent matters, they still had to check in at the office. Especially since Xu Wen's job was almost like being half an assistant to the director, who was also busy and spent almost every day in the lab. Naturally, Xu Wen couldn't slack off; most of the time was just like regular work hours, even slightly busier than usual. After all, others were somewhat dissatisfied with not having a break during the holiday and would inevitably slack off when their superiors weren't paying attention or sometimes even sneak away. The work they left behind fell solely on Xu Wen.
Assistant Li's girlfriend worked in Fengtai, Beijing. The couple usually didn't live together and rarely had time together. Taking advantage of this long holiday, his girlfriend moved in with him, so Assistant Li had to make time to accompany her. Xu Wen naturally took over all his work responsibilities. "Don't worry, Assistant Li; enjoy your time with your girlfriend; I've got this."
Assistant Li patted Xu Wen on the shoulder and smiled as he entrusted all his tasks to him for these few days.
During this time, Qinglan couldn't contact Xiang Yuanqiu, so Xu Wen occasionally called her to check in. Meanwhile, Simple frequently called Qinglan to share what places she and Chen Yang had visited in Beijing and what interesting things they had experienced. It seemed they were enjoying their time together well, so Simple didn't bother Qinglan too much or repeatedly invite her to join them; she only asked if Qinglan was busy a few times. When Qinglan said she was busy, Simple mentioned that she initially planned for Qinglan to join them for a couple of days but said it was fine if Qinglan preferred not to come along. After some lighthearted exchanges, Simple stopped inviting Qinglan and later just updated her on their outings.
Qinglan was glad for the peace and ease of dealing with them; this is one of the benefits of befriending simple-minded people—interacting with them required little effort and no stress.
However, Xiang Yuanqiu was different. Although after arriving in Beijing she only called Qinglan once that night when Xu Wen treated her to dinner to let her know she arrived safely and thanked her while assuring Qinglan not to worry about her since Xu Wen was taking good care of her.
After that call, there were no more communications from Xiang Yuanqiu as if she hadn't come to Beijing at all. Initially, no news seemed like good news; not receiving calls from Xiang Yuanqiu should have been a relief—less worry and hassle—but thinking about it made Qinglan feel uneasy. On the other hand, Simple's daily calls kept Qinglan feeling somewhat anxious yet reassured.
On the day before the long holiday ended, Qinglan received another call from Xiang Yuanqiu; she would be taking a train back the next morning.
Qinglan patted her beating heart, made a gesture of Amitabha, and finally sent the Buddha away.
She sat by the window, smiled broadly, and said, "I'm really sorry. This time, not only did I fail to host you well, but I didn't even have the chance or time to meet you. It will take me a few more days to return to Beijing. I originally wanted to keep you here a bit longer so that we could at least meet when I come back and spend a few more days together. However, I know that we are both practically half members of society now. We've entered the workplace; even though it's just an internship, we still have to hold someone else's bowl and need them to write a good review on our internship evaluation. Most importantly, I need to leave a good impression for when I step out of school and start looking for a job. So, I have to comply with their regulations. It's not like before when we were completely students and could be a bit more carefree; being late or skipping class for a day didn't matter. So, I can't keep you here; otherwise, it would be me holding you back."
Qinglan rambled on for quite a while, wanting to convey that even if she insisted on keeping her for a few more days, it would be better for her to return to work and continue her internship. That way, she would appear knowledgeable about when to advance and retreat, understanding social etiquette and capable of handling affairs—an image of a future white-collar lady who knows the importance of balance. This was the kind of quality Xiang Yuanqiu always wanted to display in front of others. Qinglan understood this well, so while she spoke sincerely, she was also gauging her thoughts.
These words were well-articulated, making Xiang Yuanqiu nod repeatedly in agreement, "Exactly! You're too polite. Are we really worried about not having opportunities to meet and hang out in the future?"
"That's true," Qinglan laughed heartily.
Thus, the two of them chuckled over the phone for a while.
After they calmed down from laughing, Qinglan asked again, "What time is your train tomorrow morning?"
"At eight forty-five," Xiang Yuanqiu replied.
"Oh right, Qinglan, what should I do about the key when I leave tomorrow?" Xiang Yuanqiu then asked.
"Just give it to Xu Wen. I'll call him shortly and ask him to drop it off for you tomorrow," Qinglan said.
Xiang Yuanqiu didn't refuse because she needed to return the key to Qinglan, so she agreed, saying, "Okay." After a while, both of them fell silent on the phone; the earlier laughter faded into quietness. "Qinglan, can I ask you a question?" After a few seconds had passed, Xiang Yuanqiu couldn't hold back any longer; too many questions swirled in her mind. For someone as curious as her, not asking would make this trip to Beijing feel pointless. "What question?" Qinglan felt her heart tighten; all her senses were immediately alert and ready to respond to whatever question she might pose.
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