That meal had an excellent return on investment. His simple-minded coworkers actually stayed up for several nights in a row trying to finish the work. Anyone too exhausted would lie down on the sofa for a while; when they got hungry, they ate instant noodles. After countless cups of coffee, the proposal was finally finished! The zombies did not even have the energy to celebrate. They simply found comfortable places around the office and fell asleep. Mai Ding had dark circles under his eyes and heavy eyelids, yet inside he felt strangely fulfilled. With the last of his willpower, he looked toward An Zi Yan’s office. An Zi Yan was still at his desk making final adjustments to the proposal. He had not rested properly these past few days either. How unfair. Why could Mai Ding not find even a trace of dark circles on his face? Holding on to that utterly pointless thought, Mai Ding fell asleep on his desk, the corners of his mouth unconsciously lifting.
When he woke up, his neck was stiff and his back ached, yet Mai Ding still felt refreshed. The sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that came from completing something together with everyone was impossible to describe. He looked around. Some coworkers were already awake while others were still asleep. Feng Fei Meng, busy with something in her hands, said to him, “Mai Ding, go get the proposal from Yan’s office. I need to take it to President Wang for review.” Mai Ding nodded. There was nobody in the office. He picked up the document from the desk, turned around, and only then noticed An Zi Yan asleep on the sofa. His long legs were slightly bent and one arm rested over his eyes. Mai Ding walked over and looked down at him. Those lips were always tempting people to commit crimes. Mai Ding’s heart began pounding. He glanced outside. No one was paying attention to him. If…
He had tried to resist, but failed, and bent down. Nobody will notice, right? But what if someone does? An Zi Yan suddenly spoke. “What are you doing during work hours?”
“I-I-I didn’t do anything!” Mai Ding fled through the door. The corner of An Zi Yan’s mouth lifted. He shifted into another position and went back to sleep.
In the end, the problem was resolved quickly and perfectly. When President Wang circulated the proposal among the other executives, they had nothing to say and nothing to criticize. After all, they had only wanted to teach An Zi Yan a lesson. There was no point in making life genuinely difficult for a young employee in their own company, since that would benefit nobody. The executives therefore stopped pursuing the matter.
There were always two different atmospheres inside Public Relations. Whenever one side was happy, the other side was angry. After catching up on sleep over the weekend, Mai Ding sat in the office enjoying a brief period of peace. Every time he tried to maintain that peaceful state of mind, someone refused to let him. Bai Xiao Si arrived like an unwelcome guest and snorted at Mai Ding the moment she walked in. “Stinking man.” Mai Ding suffered inwardly. You’re still keeping this act going? If you have that much energy to play around, go find yourself a man. Stop coming after mine.
The moment Bai Xiao Si entered An Zi Yan’s office, she shut the door and lowered the blinds. Fan Shao Jun immediately pricked up his ears, trying to hear something. “Do you think that beautiful woman is Yan’s girlfriend?”
“If she really is, then Mai Ding’s dead. He actually dared to play with Yan’s woman.”
Even though Mai Ding could have explained his relationship with Bai Xiao Si in the office, he never would. Bai Xiao Si had once been An Zi Yan’s girlfriend before Mai Ding stole An Zi Yan away from her, and then Mai Ding had even begged Bai Xiao Si to pretend to be his girlfriend. If he explained that relationship out loud, what would everyone think of him? They might genuinely decide he was some shameless playboy.
More than ten minutes later, Bai Xiao Si came out of An Zi Yan’s office. If his coworkers had not been around, Mai Ding would have liked to call her over. Aside from phone calls, they had hardly seen each other lately. To Mai Ding, Bai Xiao Si was a friend who was very easy to talk to. She played pranks on him sometimes, but most of the time she treated him very well. Unlike certain people. Certain people whose names had three characters. Certain people whose surname was An! That hint was so obvious he might as well have just said An Zi Yan and saved all those words.
The setting sun hid gently behind the distant buildings, while rush-hour traffic packed the roads until they were almost impassable. Sitting alone in a café, Mai Ding kept glancing toward the entrance. Bai Xiao Si arrived ten minutes later than they had agreed.
“You’re really hard to make plans with.”
“Haven’t we both been busy?”
“You had time to go see An Zi Yan at the company a while ago, but suddenly you’re busy when it comes to me?” Bai Xiao Si grinned mischievously and teased, “Are you jealous of me, or jealous of An Zi Yan?” Mai Ding only stared at her without answering. After ordering coffee, Bai Xiao Si asked, “My ex-husband’s all right now, isn’t he?” Mai Ding knew what she meant. He turned his gaze toward the window. “I can’t believe it’s already been two months since Grandpa died. I don’t think he’s completely all right.”
“That period must’ve been hard. Luckily you were there with my ex-husband, so I didn’t worry as much.”
“I’m not that capable.”
“Mai Mai, you are. Maybe to everyone else you’re ordinary, average, someone who doesn’t matter very much. But to An Zi Yan, you’re different.”
“I can’t tell whether you’re complimenting me. What about you? Aren’t you going to find someone you like?” Mai Ding asked. Bai Xiao Si still wore the same careless grin as she stretched. “If I meet someone, then I’ll deal with it. If I don’t, forget it. I’m not that obsessed with romance. I’m used to being alone. Maybe I’m what people call a lifelong single. I’m perfectly happy traveling around and having fun. Once you and my ex-husband break up, I’ll just fill the vacancy.”
“That’s never going to happen!”
“Stingy. If I hadn’t voluntarily stepped aside back then, would you have what you have today? In the old days, I would’ve counted as the first wife. At best, you’d only be the second.” Mai Ding was unconvinced. “So what? I have a marriage certificate.” Bai Xiao Si was not threatened in the slightest and waved a hand. “It doesn’t even have legal force in this country. By your logic, I’m still An Zi Yan’s first love.” Mai Ding had no comeback. Compared with being the worn-out old wife, first love won.
Bai Xiao Si fell silent for a while, apparently hesitating over whether she should tell Mai Ding something. Finally, she raised her head with a serious expression. “Mai Mai, there’s something I don’t want to hide from you. But I’m afraid telling you will hurt you. I think so much time has passed that you probably won’t care anymore, right?” The sudden change in atmosphere left Mai Ding unable to adjust. “What is it?”
“Even though my ex-husband and I agreed while you two were dating that we wouldn’t tell you, you’re my friend now. I don’t want there to be secrets between us.” From her tone, Mai Ding immediately realized it was serious. After a long moment, he finally said, “Mm. I want to hear it.”