Chapter 16.2

Back home, the living room TV was on, volume low. On the sofa, one person and one dog seemed asleep.

Qin Nanshan clipped shut her leftover dried mango and placed it on the lower level of the coffee table. He opened the window for ventilation.

Then he returned to the sofa and woke her. Wen Yi rubbed her eyes, groggily coming to. Her doe eyes darted around.

He glanced at his watch—eleven thirty. “If you are sleepy, go back to bed.”

“No. Want to eat.” Wen Yi had already smelled the barbecue and forced herself awake.

Qin Nanshan poured two glasses of water, then came back, shooed Summer away, and sat on one side of the sofa.

“I do not want water. Is there soda in the fridge? I want soda.”

He had to go get a bottle of Coke. Wen Yi pulled her legs up, took a sip first, then began enjoying the food with full focus.

Qin Nanshan was no longer the young boy who struggled to find topics back then. When she had eaten enough, he asked casually, “Does this job put a lot of pressure on you?”

Wen Yi glanced up at him, then closed her eyes again. She wiped her mouth with a tissue. “It is okay. Not as much as before.”

“Since you are not from a medical background, why did you choose this industry back then?”

Wen Yi hugged her knees, recalling it herself. Yes, how did she end up in this field?

The living room light was warm, with barbecue and drinks, plus someone to listen to her talk. Wen Yi slowly began, “You know I had no father. Before university, all living expenses came from my mom working alone. When I graduated university, my mom had a tumor—benign, but large. Needed surgery. The fee was not much, fifty or sixty thousand, but back then, that was our entire savings.”

“That time, I ran to the hospital every day. Running often, I frequently saw a beautiful, polished sister coming out of doctors’ offices. Later we chatted once. I learned she was a pharmaceutical rep. She said she could earn thirty or forty thousand a month, sometimes fifty or sixty.”

“My undergraduate major was not one for big money. I asked if I could do it. She looked me up and down and said yes. So after my mom was discharged, I submitted resumes. Started interning at a small pharma company. Small companies had too many shady dealings—I left after the internship.”

“Then somehow got lucky and got into Nu’an on the surface. And I have been doing it for six years.” Wen Yi smiled lightly. “No grand reason. I just wanted to make money. Otherwise, with a few thousand a month, I could not afford my mom’s medicine and checkups, or support our little family.”

Wen Yi looked at him. “Pretty contemptible, right? Not like you all with lofty aspirations and bright futures.”

Qin Nanshan’s gaze was sincere. “Wen Yi, there is no need to belittle this job. A mathematician once said—from a practical viewpoint, a person’s mathematical career value is zero. Compared to me, what you do is meaningful.”

Wen Yi lowered her head and smiled. “What meaning is there in selling drugs?”

“If there is no meaning, why have you done it for six years?”

Wen Yi paused, then smiled faintly. “If you want to convince me, you need your own arguments and evidence—not make me prove it myself.”

Qin Nanshan smiled too, his gaze falling on the remaining barbecue on the coffee table. “Still eating?”

“No more.”

He bent to clean up and said, “Many new formulas and theorems are clearly written in papers, but every math student who reads them will still calculate it themselves once. Personal experience is always more profound than others’ proofs.”

Wen Yi’s mood lightened a bit. She propped her chin and watched him busy. “Qin Nanshan, I discovered you are very good at talking.”

Wen Yi gradually felt that he was like a mountain—solid as rock, eternally standing tall, steady and serene. Occasionally, rare birds would fly out from the mountain, bringing delightful surprises.

“Plucking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, leisurely gazing at the southern mountain.” Did his parents have foresight when they named him Nanshan?

Qin Nanshan glanced at her with amusement. “You are the one who knows how to talk.”

He finished cleaning up, casually taking the trash from the bin and placing it by the door.

Coming back in, the strong barbecue smell in the room became even more pronounced. He frowned slightly and opened the kitchen window too.

By the time the two had tidied up and lay back in bed, it was past twelve. Wen Yi said, “Then I will try harder to fight for it.”

Qin Nanshan did not know what she was referring to and did not ask. He encouraged her straightforwardly. “Mm, you can do it.”

“What if I become unemployed? Would you support me?”

She always liked asking these strange questions before sleep. Qin Nanshan replied helplessly, “If I do not support you, who will?”

Wen Yi sighed, rubbing her belly. “It really is all thanks to the baby’s blessing.”

“Even without the baby, I would support you.”

The light went out, leaving only the pure white moonlight from the window piercing the darkness, casting mountain like shadows on his face.

……

These past two nights, Wen Yi had not slept well and nearly overslept in the morning. Qin Nanshan was in charge of driving her to work so she could use the twenty plus minutes on the road to do her makeup and eat breakfast.

At six in the afternoon, Qin Nanshan arrived downstairs at her company to pick her up and sent a message. She replied: [I’m in the coffee shop downstairs. Wait a bit.]

The weather was bad today. It started raining after noon, and now outside the window, a curtain of rain continued steadily. Qin Nanshan thought for a moment, grabbed the umbrella from the back seat, and got out. She had rushed out in the morning and had not brought one.

There was only one coffee shop downstairs from Nu’an Tower. Thinking Wen Yi might be discussing work with someone, he waited outside.

After a few minutes, the rain grew heavier. He had no choice but to go in.

The coffee shop was crowded. Qin Nanshan scanned around and quickly spotted a man and woman by the window. Wen Yi faced the door, head lowered, stirring the coffee in front of her absentmindedly. She looked in low spirits. He could only see the back of the man across from her—suited and polished.

He intended to head to another side, but before he could shift his gaze, Wen Yi looked up first. Their eyes met in the air. The man turned around. Qin Nanshan recognized him—it was the one they had run into at the hotpot restaurant, her boss.

It would be awkward to leave now. Qin Nanshan walked toward them, stopped by the table, nodded politely to the man first, then looked at Wen Yi gently. “It is raining. I came to bring you an umbrella. You two continue talking. I will wait over there.”

“No need. We are done.” Wei Yuan stood up, straightening his suit, and said seriously, “Wen Yi, think it over carefully.”

With that, he left. Wen Yi’s gaze followed him until his figure disappeared at the coffee shop door.

Qin Nanshan asked, “Did I interrupt?”

“No.” Wen Yi continued stirring the long cold coffee aimlessly. She turned to look at the pouring rain outside the window. “Sit for a while. The rain is too heavy.”

Qin Nanshan sat across from her. Wen Yi forced a smile. “What would you like to drink?” Then she immediately remembered. “Oh right, you do not drink coffee. Why not? Allergic?”

Qin Nanshan shook his head. “No. I metabolize caffeine poorly. Even a little keeps me awake all night. And I do not like the taste.”

“I did not like it before either. It was trained into me.” Wen Yi explained, “Do not misunderstand. I did not order this. Wei Yuan did.”

She looked up at him. “Wei Yuan—the one you met. My ex boyfriend.”

Qin Nanshan was surprised inside, understanding now who she meant by the ex she could not delete due to work.

His hands on the table unconsciously clenched into fists.

Wen Yi needed someone to talk to right now, and he was conveniently across from her. She did not pick her listener and continued on her own. “Successful people have a standard morning routine—a black Americano. When I first started, I could not understand what was good about that bitter stuff. Even now, I still think it tastes bad. But later, going with the flow, it felt like if you did not have an Americano in hand at work, you were not a real urban professional.”

“Wei Yuan loved it and was extremely picky—had to be hand ground, specific beans from certain countries, specific brand of water. I was young then, full of dedication. I practiced diligently for him, treating coffee like water.”

Qin Nanshan moved his hands under the table, his gentle brows lowering slightly. “You loved him a lot?”

Wen Yi laughed silently at the question. “I do not know. But now, all that effort just feels like a joke.”

Wei Yuan had come to her today to persuade her to stay voluntarily, saying that in her current situation, things would be easier under him. Once life stabilized, he would give her another chance later.

Wen Yi felt no particular outrage anymore. After all, they had once shared good times. But in the face of real interests, feelings were worthless. Feelings from years after a breakup were even less than garbage.

Though human nature was like this and should not be dwelled on, if roles were reversed, Wen Yi might not be as cold blooded as a man. She vaguely thought—perhaps pregnancy had amplified her maternal glow, making her more soft hearted and indecisive.

Outside the window, the rain eased into a misty drizzle. The sky remained overcast.

Qin Nanshan looked at her and asked softly, “How did you two get together?”

“It is not important anymore.” Wen Yi adjusted her mood, curving her lips into a smile. “Let’s go. Otherwise the rain might pick up again.”

Qin Nanshan lowered his gaze, picked up the umbrella, and followed her out.

The drive was silent, filled only with the hum of the air conditioner and the rhythmic swish of the wipers against the rain.

The world outside the car was once again drenched.

Arriving at the building downstairs, Qin Nanshan parked but stayed in the driver’s seat, his brows slightly furrowed.

Wen Yi turned her head to remind him. “We are here.”

He snapped back, turned off the engine, grabbed the umbrella, got out, opened it, and walked around to her side.