“It’s exactly because we are buddies, that I don’t like them to create troubles for you. You don’t know what they did. They were so excited that they didn’t sleep for half the night last night. Hearing them discuss how to spend the money, I just can’t help but feel disgusted. It was Gong Fanlin’s fault that they ended up in the hospital, and although I don’t like that Boss Feng, he was also one of the victims. Is there really a need to rip him off? So there’s no point in visiting them. Besides, they are now sleeping like two dead pigs. They probably won’t like you to disturb their dreams. Let’s go,”


  Yang Wei sighed and said: “Ms. Mo really shouldn’t have said that they will be paid during the hospitalization period. After all, it’s not the company’s fault either. So why should Ms. Mo pay them?”


  “Is that the reason why you want to rush back to work?”


  “One must always be conscientious. Getting paid without working makes me feel very guilty. Besides, It’s not a serious injury.” Yang Wei took out a bulging paper bag from his arms and handed it to me: “Also, I don’t feel comfortable holding this thing; so I’m giving it to you. You can give it back to your friend. Maybe this is his instruction.”


  “What is it?” I asked as I opened the paper bag. There were three stacks of banknotes in it, and it was US dollars!

  “That surnamed Feng came to the hospital after the dinner last night and gave me this stuff in front of Tian Guochong and Sun Zhe. He said it was 30,000, but he constantly gave me eye signals. At first, I didn’t keep it in mind, but when I opened it after he left, I found out that it was US dollars, and it’s almost equivalent to 200,000 Chinese yuan!” Yang Wei looked at me and said, “In all likelihood, it is your friend’s instruction. He must have known about our relationship.”


  It may not be Sang Yingjie’s instructions. Probably Boss Feng just wanted to cozy up with me through him. Boss Feng was a smart businessman. From what Sang Yingjie did last night, it was not hard for him to tell that Sang Yingjie was very respectful towards me. So spending some money to get closer to the people around me was not a bad deal. Anyway, one hundred or two hundred thousand was nothing to people like him…


  I stuffed the paper bag back to Yang Wei and said with a smile: “He said that he would give you reasonable compensation. Since you didn’t ask for it, he probably thought that this is a reasonable amount. So why do you feel uncomfortable?”


  Brother Wei still wanted to decline it, “It would only be strange if I’m comfortable with this amount of money. I can’t even make 200,000 yuan in a year normally. But now, I made this amount of money just because I was injured. If making money can be this easy, who would still want to go to work? Besides… It was Gong Fanlin’s fault, and I was his target…”


  I chuckled and said, “Without Gong Fanlin, the yellow-haired young man surnamed Wang would not stop harassing Qin Lan. You want that to happen?”


  “Of course not… You! Get lost. You are also making fun of me?” Brother Wei quickly realized that I was joking with him and punched me in the shoulder.

  “I am making fun of you?! I think you are just thinking too much.” I chuckled and said, “Just take the money and don’t think too much about it. It is a fact that Boss Feng and Sang Yingjie used the wrong person. It doesn’t matter if Gong Fanlin was there last night or not, you still wouldn’t be able to avoid it.”


  Brother Wei thought for a while, and finally took the paper bag back into his arms. He hesitantly said: “You…you are not angry at me, are you? We are buddies, but I didn’t tell you about the things between Qin Lan and I…”


  Yang Wei couldn’t help but blush. This was something that rarely happened.

  “Why would I…” It was impossible to say that I wasn’t curious, but I couldn’t ask him, because there must be a reason why brother Wei didn’t want to tell me.

  “You know that I’m the only child in my family, right? I’ve been spoiled since I was a child so I don’t know the words ‘sense of responsibility’ very well. All I used to care about was to have fun because I used to think that having a happy and free life is the most important. Now I look back and think about the things I did, I really can’t blame other people for having a bad reputation. I am indeed a frivolous man.”


  Brother Wei smiled self-mockingly and continued, “She is outgoing and careless. Even if Gong Fanlin often slanders her with false accusations behind her back, she still looks like she doesn’t care and never bothers to explain it. But actually, she cares very much. She is just very stubborn. She doesn’t want others to think that she’s scared of those rumors. Chu Nan, you should know how attractive this kind of woman that is strong on the outside but weak and sensitive inside to a man is, right?”


  I smiled awkwardly, knowing that he wasn’t just talking about himself, but me as well. After all, Qin Lan was very similar to Mo Fei in a way.

  “So sometimes I also feel for you,” Yang Wei sighed, and continued on: “After getting to know her, I seem to suddenly understand what sense of responsibility means, and I suddenly have an impulse of wanting to spend the rest of my life with her and wanting to be with her.

  “This is the feeling I have never felt when I was with other women. I suddenly became fed up with my previous self. So, both of us… I don’t know what she likes about me, but I know that I am not worthy of her now. Just my dark history alone already makes me an example of a bad partner. If colleagues in the company know that she and I are dating, there will be a lot of discussions. Although she said she didn’t care, I care. She’s a girl after all, so I’m thinking about changing myself first and keeping our relationship secret at the moment. I don’t want everyone to laugh at her because they think that she found a terrible partner…”


  Some people say that love can change a person. I didn’t believe it because I still haven’t changed, but now, I started to believe it because Brother Wei began to change. He has started to consider responsibility. I missed the old Yang Wei, who liked to fool around and was carefree, but I admired and liked the current Yang Wei more. However, I still almost couldn’t help asking him: “Am I not worthy of your trust?”


  Brother Wei seemed to see through my mind, he squinted his eyes and said solemnly: “But Chu Nan, this is definitely not the reason why I didn’t tell you.”


  “Oh?” I tried my best to pretend to be unconcerned and said, “Then what’s your reason?”


  “Because of Granny Cheng,” Brother Wei smiled helplessly, and said: “You and Granny Cheng all know each other’s feelings, but there’s always a gap between you two. Do you know why? Of course, Ms. Mo is one of the reasons, but the more important reason is your personality.

  “It may be because of how you were brought up, or perhaps it was because you grew up in a single-parent family, and your father was very good at educating people, so you matured much earlier than other people. Moreover, because your stepmother brought your little sister into your life, it made you accustomed to humility and tolerance, and even resignation.

  “Your overly tolerant and gentle character is making you accept everything passively. In my opinion, you belong to the type of person who is comfortable with the status quo unless you feel threatened. You are always maintaining a certain lifestyle or a natural balance of interpersonal relationships, and you are unwilling to take the initiative to make any advances, so I concealed the relationship between Qin Lan and me, saying that I have feelings for Granny Cheng…”


  As I expected, it was for this reason. Seeing Brother Wei’s apologetic gaze, I felt ashamed. This man, who was four years older than me and always looked after, had always been like a caring elder brother, guiding me silently, and guarding Liusu and me…


  ….

  When I returned to the company, I ran into Zhang Mingjie as soon as I entered the lobby. He seemed to have been waiting in the lobby for a while. As soon as I passed the entrance, he greeted me excitedly.

  “Mr. Chu, you are finally here…” Only after Zhang Mingjie walked closer did he finally notice Brother Wei who was walking with me. He put away the panicked expression and said to me in a serious tone while giving me an eye signal: “Is it convenient to speak to you privately for a moment?”


  Brother Wei was very considerate. Hearing this, he said to me: “I’ll go to the office first.”


  “Mhm,” I put my hand on Brother Wei’s shoulder and said, “Tell Ms. Mo that I’ll be there soon.”


  Brother Wei was a smart man. He immediately understood my intentions and nodded: “Okay, but don’t let Ms. Mo wait for too long.”


  From the moment I saw Zhang Mingjie, I knew why he wanted to speak to me, so I deliberately said that to Yang Wei. And Brother Wei could tell that I didn’t want to speak to Zhang Mingjie from my words, so he gave such a response.

  “Mr. Zhang, are you looking for me?”


  “What is it that you want to speak to me about?” I said to Zhang Mingjie after Brother Wei left.

  At this moment, the anxious expression once again returned to Zhang Mingjie’s face: “Mr. Chu, this is not the time for jokes. You really don’t know or you are pretending that you don’t know?”