Lower myself? Faced with this question, Yan had never considered it to be a problem. Thus, she shook her head. “How am I lowering myself? In a relationship, there is no need to be bothered about who gives more.” This was what she firmly believed in.
The rest of the staff members nodded along with her. “That’s true. As long as both are mutually affectionate and like each other, who cares about who gives more in a relationship?”
“Yes, you’re right. Miss Zhou, you have a good mindset.”
Although the staff member who asked the question did not agree, she decided against saying anything more when she saw Yan’s happy expression. Thus, everyone else happily praised Yan for it. Seeing as everything she planned for was more or less prepared, Yan decided to head to the company to look for Han Qing.
Her arrangement for today went like this. First, she would visit Han Qing as usual and pretend as if there was nothing out of the usual. Then, once he got off work, she would follow him out. Afterward, she would claim that she was hungry and bring him here to eat. For the final touch, she would spring her surprise on him. Thus, she went to the office as she usually did. On her way up, she ran into Xu Yanwan.
Xu Yanwan was about to go out to gather information. When she ran into Yan, she immediately understood what was going on after considering what day it was today. “Are you going to celebrate his birthday today? Has everything been prepared?” she asked offhandedly.
Yan nodded. “Yup, everything is ready.”
“That’s good then.”
“By the way, since it’s his birthday today, do you want to join us tonight and celebrate it together?”
Celebrate together? When she heard those words, she seemed rather out of sorts. To put it nicely, they were celebrating together. However, the truth was that she would just be going there to watch the man she loved acting lovey-dovey with another woman. If I go, won’t I be torturing myself? Thus, she shook her head at the thought of it. “No, thanks. I have plans tonight.”
Yan could tell that she wasn’t enthusiastic about it, so she didn’t try to invite her again. “Then, I’ll be going up to wait for him.”
“Wait!” Xu Yanwan called out; she was unable to stop herself as she stared at Yan’s back.
“What’s wrong?” Yan turned her head back and gazed at Xu Yanwan with uncertainty.
Xu Yanwan looked at Yan and hesitated to speak. Her thoughts were very conflicted. Although she desperately wanted to know whether Han Qing had broken his record of not celebrating his birthday, she was afraid the answer she received might not be what she wanted to hear. Then…
As the thought flitted across her mind, she took in a deep breath. Stepping forward, she helped Yan tidy her hair. “Your hair is messy.” In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.
“Ah! Thanks!” Yan didn’t seem to notice anything and even thanked her.
“Go on. I wish you good luck.”
After Yan left again, Xu Yanwan remained standing where she was as she watched Yan walking away. At the same time, her gaze gradually became cold and distant.
She had wanted to give Yan a warning, but after mulling over it, she decided that it had nothing to do with her. Even if she knew that Han Qing never celebrated his birthday, what did that matter? If Yan, as his girlfriend, could not figure out something this simple, then she couldn’t care less about it. From start to finish, she did nothing. If something were to happen between the two of them, it was not her fault. Therefore, she couldn’t be considered despicable either—she was simply staying out of the matter. Thus, she turned around and left in satisfaction.
However, she failed to notice the receptionist who had seen everything taking place. After witnessing everything, the receptionist was panicking because she knew that Xu Yanwan was a cunning person. The gaze she received from Xu Yanwan the other day had scared her badly—so much so that she had gotten nightmares over it. After that, she did not dare provoke Xu Yanwan again.
Still, Xu Yanwan and Yan seemed rather close today—the former even helped the latter tidy her hair with a warm and gentle expression. However, when the receptionist recalled the gaze she received the other day, it made her shudder in fear. As the receptionist mulled over it, she thought, What a strange sight it is for the ex-girlfriend and the current girlfriend to get along so well with each other.
It was so strange that the receptionist suspected Yan was unaware of the relationship between Xu Yanwan and Han Qing. Thus, she felt conflicted over it. In the past, she wanted to stand on Xu Yanwan’s side as she was the original fiancée. Unfortunately, after being terrified by her the other day, the receptionist no longer dared to get on Xu Yanwan’s bad side. Even so, when she saw Yan standing in front of Xu Yanwan, chatting and smiling away in ignorance, she felt that Yan was a little pitiful.
How should she put it? Yan’s ramen was delicious. If she was offed by the original fiancée, would she become so depressed that she couldn’t bear to open her ramen restaurant anymore? After some serious consideration, the receptionist decided to tell Yan the truth. Unfortunately, when the receptionist decided to chase after Yan, she had already headed toward the office, so the receptionist was unable to find her. Thus, the receptionist had no choice but to wait for Yan to come downstairs before she could tell her about Xu Yanwan’s identity. Even so, the receptionist did not expect to see Yan leave together with Han Qing today. Therefore, she had no chance of telling Yan anything.
Yan failed to notice anything and left alongside Han Qing. On the other hand, the receptionist was disappointed. Despite waiting the entire day, she had no chance to warn Yan about it. Still, she decided that it wasn’t a big deal. After all, she had many chances to do so in the future—she just had to tell Yan about it the following day. Unbeknownst to her, the receptionist wouldn’t get the chance to meet Yan again for a long time after this. Of course, this was something to be discussed at a later time.
After Yan and Han Qing left the company, she quietly glanced at him while they were in the car. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but it felt as if the air around him today was very depressed. Besides, he looked like he was not in a good mood. Yan wasn’t sure if she was overthinking it, so she bluntly asked him, “Are you feeling unhappy about something today?”
Han Qing, who was driving, suddenly heard the question the young lady asked him. Then, he saw her glancing over at him carefully like she was afraid of angering him. Seeing that, the depressed aura around him dissipated considerably. Thus, he freed one of his hands and rubbed her head with it. “What are you thinking about? I’m not unhappy; I’m just thinking about something.”
“Okay.” After confirming that he wasn’t unhappy, she stopped worrying. Today was his birthday; if he wasn’t happy, then she had to figure out how to ask him about it. However, she decided that she was overthinking it as the look in his eyes had resumed its usual adoration and warmth. After all, she had broken down crying when she woke up this morning. It had greatly affected her mood throughout the day. Due to that, she had to adjust her emotions herself to maintain her mood.
“The last time I invited you out to eat, you refused. So, why did you suddenly want to eat together today?” he asked nonchalantly.
Thus, she smilingly replied, “Isn’t it because I have not eaten together with you in a long while? So, I specially made some time to spend it with you.” The young lady rubbed against his hand and leaned over, half leaning against his shoulder.
Han Qing had noticed that the dark circles under Yan’s eyes were very severe recently. Moreover, her complexion was not as good as before. “What have you been doing recently?” he asked suddenly.
His question frightened her; thinking that he knew what she was up to, she hurriedly explained, “I have not been doing anything. It’s just that I’ve been sleeping a little later than usual recently.”
“What have you been doing?”
