Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Three Rules
The moonlight outside the window poured down like water, especially bright, and sprinkled into the living room through the window, making the lights in the house slightly dim. And Xu Tianna's beautiful and refined face, under the interweaving of the moonlight and the lights, was even more bright and moving, as if even the moonlight was eclipsed.
Su Ran stared at her intently, only to see that her face was calm, which made Su Ran more uneasy. He secretly thought that perhaps his attachment to this house could not impress the seemingly "cold" woman in front of him.
After a long time, Xu Tianna finally broke the silence and whispered, "You love this house very much."
Su Ran nodded solemnly, and said firmly: "Yes, I love it deeply. In this world, no one will love this inconspicuous place more than me."
Xu Tianna smiled slightly and said, "That may not be the case."
Su Ran was surprised and asked, "Are you the one who loves it more deeply?"
In fact, Su Ran has always been curious about why Xu Tianna bought this house with Lao Li. Although he had secretly speculated that perhaps this was just a kind of performance art of the rich, he knew that the real answer was probably far from as simple as he thought.
Xu Tianna did not respond to his question, but turned to ask, "How long do you plan to live here?"
"Do you agree that I can continue to stay?" Su Ran could not hide his excitement.
"Su Ran, don't be too happy, answer my question directly first." There was a hint of dissatisfaction in Xu Tianna's words.
Su Ran smiled awkwardly and sighed, "So you know my name."
Xu Tianna frowned again, obviously annoyed by his sudden emotion.
Seeing this, Su Ran quickly put away his smile, showed an apologetic look, and said repeatedly: "I will answer the question first, I will answer the question first. I want to stay for another month, is it possible?"
Xu Tianna was silent for a moment, and finally said: "Okay. But you have to agree to my two conditions first."
"Okay, as long as you don't drive me away, I will agree to any conditions, and I will definitely do it." Su Ran patted his chest and vowed.
"Don't be too confident, wait until you do it." Xu Tianna poured a basin of cold water on him mercilessly.
Su Ran smiled awkwardly and said, "I know I don't have much credibility in your eyes. How about this, I will do my best to meet your request, okay?"
"Yes." Xu Tianna paused for a moment and then said, "Let's talk about the first one first: you are not allowed to go to nightclubs anymore, can you do it?"
"Ah?" Su Ran subconsciously exclaimed, he really didn't expect Xu Tianna to make such a request.
Xu Tianna looked at him quietly, waiting for his answer.
Although Su Ran was full of doubts and didn't understand why Xu Tianna had such a request, considering that women's minds are always unpredictable, he didn't want to ask too much about the reason. After all, for him at the moment, being able to continue living here is the top priority. So, he nodded without hesitation and said, "Yes. What's the other one?"
"While living here, you are not allowed to enter my room, and you have to return the key of my room to me."
"This request is reasonable." Su Ran said, taking out the key from his pocket, finding the one in Xu Tianna's room, and placing it on the coffee table in front of her.
Xu Tianna stood up from the sofa and finally reminded him: "Remember what you promised me. If I find that you can't do one of them, you will move out voluntarily." After washing up, Su Ran returned to his room. This should have been a night that made him feel at ease. After all, he didn't have to worry about his residence for the time being, but his thoughts were like a wild horse running wild. There were still four days before Fang Yuan and Yan Yan's wedding. As their long-time friends, this wedding would undoubtedly stir up waves in Su Ran's heart. In fact, Su Ran was not a non-marriageist. He also dreamed that if he could meet a woman with the same mind, he would also be eager to enter the palace of marriage. However, the material conditions of reality were like an insurmountable gap, lying in front of him. He knew that he could give too little to marriage, so the idea of getting married could only be buried deep in his heart for the time being, becoming an unattainable dream. Su Ran couldn't help but think of Lin Yue again. On the day of Fang Yuan and Yan Yan's wedding, they would definitely meet. If she brought her boyfriend, or even married, with her husband, would she fall into a state of collapse again?
Su Ran smiled bitterly and shook her head, thinking to herself that if she really lost control of her emotions at her friend's wedding, it would be too embarrassing.
The next day, Su Ran arrived at the company on time. Fang Yuan had just returned to Suzhou from Shanghai, and the two met unexpectedly by the coffee machine in the lounge.
They each held a cup of coffee and chatted. Su Ran asked, "How is it? Is the project of the gi counter done?"
Fang Yuan smiled with relief and said, "It's done. If nothing goes wrong, we can sign the contract next month."
"Great! You have made an indelible contribution to the entry of a first-line brand like gi into our department store. Comrade Xiao has a bright future!" Su Ran smiled and patted Fang Yuan on the shoulder.
Fang Yuan said to Su Ran with a serious face: "Su Ran, do you have any ideas about work? I can help you fight for it with your superiors."
Su Ran still had a smile on his face and said: "Don't worry about me. I will fight for my ideas myself."
Su Ran knew that Fang Yuan was worried about him. But Fang Yuan had only been the leader of the planning copywriting team for half a year, and his qualifications were still young, and the internal relationships in the company were complicated. In addition, their friendship was well known to everyone. If Fang Yuan stood up for him, it would not be good for himself.
"Forget it, we have worked together for two years. When have you ever taken the initiative to fight for yourself?" Fang Yuan's tone was a little unhappy.
Su Ran smiled nonchalantly: "It's because I don't have any ideas. I think it's good now. I can work easily. Even if the sky falls, it will first hit you hardworking people who are working hard to climb up." Fang Yuan was so angry that he was speechless for a while. After a long while, he sighed: "You are really good. It's been two years." Su Ran interrupted him immediately: "Okay, stop sighing, talk about yesterday. I accompanied your wife to go shopping for a whole day yesterday. You have to compensate me for this hard work today." Fang Yuan nodded and said: "Let's have dinner together after get off work." As the two talked, they walked from the break room to the office with unfinished coffee cups. When they were about to enter the office, Fang Yuan suddenly pulled Su Ran, causing the coffee to spill on Su Ran's sleeves. "What's wrong?" Su Ran shook off the coffee on his sleeves and asked with surprise and dissatisfaction. He always felt that Fang Yuan was a little abnormal today. He noticed it when he suddenly asked about his work ideas just now. Fang Yuan stared at Su Ran with a sharp gaze. After a long pause, he said, "Lin Yue talked to Yan Yan on the phone last night. At that time, she was ready to board the plane to return home and would arrive in Shanghai at about noon."
Su Ran was stunned for a moment, his mind was blank, and he didn't know what kind of emotion he should use to face this sudden news.
Fang Yuan gently patted his shoulder and whispered, "Are you going to Shanghai to see her?"
Su Ran was stunned for a long time and asked back, "How do you think I should meet her? As an ex-boyfriend who has long been out of date?"
"If you feel embarrassed, just pretend I didn't tell you. But we have to meet each other anyway."
Su Ran knew in his heart that Fang Yuan's meeting was at his and Yan Yan's wedding. By then, Lin Yue would attend, and he would also attend. But such a meeting was just a routine, not a deliberate one. He secretly told himself that if he could face it calmly at that time, he would only treat her as a stranger he met by chance, without greeting, let alone heartbreak.
Su Ran spent the whole morning in a trance, and the work in his hands was also carried out intermittently. It was not until noon when colleagues went to the restaurant for lunch that Su Ran lit a cigarette, closed his eyes, lay back in the office chair, and took a deep breath.
In the diffuse smell of tobacco, Lin Yue's face on the day she left kept hovering in his mind like a ghost. His heart was full of pain and confusion, but he didn't know how to dispel the sorrow that was surging like a tide.
Two years ago, Su Ran had already understood that the pain imagined by breaking up was nothing but self-torture and meaningless. But human nature is "cheap", he would rather struggle in this false pain than let it go easily and transcend the quagmire of emotions.