"Hello, President Lin!"
Hearing Lin Shiya's voice, Zhang Xi quickly looked up and greeted her at the same time.
A trace of dejection flashed across Lin Shiya's eyes. "Why are you here?"
Zhang Xi was an executive secretary—or more precisely, Su Chen's executive secretary.
More than half of the matters handled by Vice President Su went through Zhang Xi's hands.
Su Chen trusted Zhang Xi.
In her work, Zhang Xi was truly Su Chen's right-hand person.
Therefore, Lin Shiya generally gave serious consideration to any suggestions Zhang Xi put forward.
Everyone had witnessed Zhang Xi's competence firsthand.
On ordinary days, it was completely natural for Zhang Xi to be in the vice president's office.
Yet, with Su Chen absent, Zhang Xi standing in front of the vice president's desk seemed somewhat out of place.
"President Lin, I wanted to tidy up some of Vice President Su's materials."
"Weren't they cleared away before?"
Lin Shiya grew even more puzzled.
Zhang Xi straightened up, her voice as gentle as ever.
"President Lin, these materials are for a project Vice President Su was currently researching. Vice President Su gave instructions that in order to let him get into the zone more easily, the documents on the desk should not be casually moved."
"Now that Vice President Su hasn't come to the company—and since this involves company secrets after all—I thought I'd put them away first."
Lin Shiya nodded and let out a lingering sigh.
"I'll do it."
"Alright, President Lin. If there's nothing else, I'll step out. Call me anytime if you need anything."
"Okay."
Approaching the desk, Lin Shiya looked at the unfinished documents.
To call them documents was generous; they looked more like scratch paper.
Every single sheet was densely covered in writing, almost blanketing the entire desk.
"This is..."
Lin Shiya's brow furrowed tighter and tighter, her pupils even contracting.
The draft design schematics before her were almost entirely related to batteries.
All sorts of symbols and precisely rendered lines were intricately and complexly intertwined, yet woven together as if following some underlying order.
"No wonder you've always said you were busy lately. So you were working on designs all along."
Lin Shiya muttered to herself, a growing wave of guilt washing over her.
As vice president, Su Chen already bore a heavy burden. On top of negotiating business and drafting proposals, he had actually managed to squeeze out time to work on designs!
And she, of all people, had been completely oblivious to it all!
All these recent projects had to do with new energy.
Could it be?
Were Su Chen's battery designs also related to new energy?
"So complex—how much mental energy must this have cost him?"
There were numerous marks and revisions visible across the draft diagrams, showing that Su Chen wasn't just blindly referencing previous blueprints, but was actively revising as he designed.
This was actually very characteristic of him.
Su Chen was a perfectionist by nature—both in his work and in his life.
With this thought flashing through her mind, Lin Shiya suffered a sudden jolt.
Ever since their quarrel, she had no idea where Su Chen had gone.
Su Chen had also severed every single channel of communication between the two of them.
Was it because he felt this relationship was already flawed, and so he was truly giving up?
Along the margin of a piece of scratch paper, neat and orderly handwriting once again caught Lin Shiya's eye.
"Charging," "Multi-cycle," "Eco-friendly concept," "High power"...
Slowly seating herself in the office chair, Lin Shiya muttered to herself once more.
"Before leaving, he really was pouring his heart and soul into this."
And what had she been doing?
Thinking of Xu Lang, Lin Shiya felt a flicker of hesitation, her expression turning complex once again.
Picking up her phone anew, Lin Shiya felt a spark of light flash in her eyes.
They say anxiety clouds the judgment—how could she have forgotten about this person?
There was no way he didn't have news of Su Chen!
Hastily dialing the phone number, Lin Shiya pressed the handset tightly against her ear.
Her long eyelashes fluttered like tiny window blinds, and her heartbeat quickened accordingly.
Soon enough.
A somewhat hoarse voice came from the other end of the line. "Ms. Lin, is something the matter?"
A surge of excitement hit Lin Shiya.
"Peng Jian, is Su Chen with you? He doesn't have any other friends in Donghai—is he staying with you?"
"Put Su Chen on the phone. I have something very important to tell him!"
There was a moment of hesitation from the other end of the phone before Peng Jian's voice sounded again.
"Ms. Lin, Su Chen is not with me. You'd better ask someone else."
"Impossible! If Su Chen wanted to go into hiding, he has nowhere else to go. Su Chen must be right by your side! Peng Jian, don't try to lie to me!"
On the other end of the line.
Peng Jian looked at Su Chen speechlessly.
The phone was on speaker.
Every single word Lin Shiya spoke was heard loud and clear by both of them.
Su Chen remained expressionless.
Peng Jian's jaw dropped wide open in astonishment.
Was this really the Lin Shiya he knew? This tone, this attitude—compared to the way she used to be, it was a difference of a hundred thousand miles!
The Lin Shiya of the past spoke softly and behaved with propriety.
Even when she had differences with others, she would simply laugh them off.
Yet right now.
Why did she sound like... a shrew?
Peng Jian blinked continuously, urging Su Chen to take the phone.
The guy simply turned his head away, refusing even to look!
Left with no choice, Peng Jian had to steel himself and push forward again.
"Ms. Lin, I really am not lying. I'm currently looking for him myself. If you happen to get any news of old Su, do let me know, alright? Thanks!"
"You..."
Lin Shiya's voice was choked with anger and anxiety, and then the line went dead.
Peng Jian let out a long breath.
"Old Su, are you really going to hide from her like this? Are you never going to see her again?"
"Better to hold someone in your memory than to meet them face to face. No—having reached this point, even memory is unnecessary."
Her place in Lin Shiya's heart had long since fallen from what it used to be, so why continue deceiving himself?
Everything on Lin Shiya's mind was about Xu Lang, so why should he torture himself within this relationship?
"Have a smoke."
Peng Jian handed over a cigarette.
Su Chen didn't refuse, reaching out to take it.
Yet his arm stopped midway in the air.
On the middle finger of his left hand, the engagement ring gleamed in the sunlight.
For a fraction of a second, Su Chen felt a wave of discomfort; he frowned, narrowing his eyes slightly.
The relationship was broken beyond repair—why keep this thing around anyway?
What a mockery!
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. After I finish this smoke, I'm going out for a walk." Su Chen regained his usual composure and said flatly.
Peng Jian looked a bit anxious. "Where to? I'll go with you."
"No need. I won't go far, just take a stroll around the Moat and I'll be back."
"Old Su, you're not thinking of doing something rash and jumping in the river, are you?"
"Get lost. Can't you wish me something good?"
Being cursed at by Su Chen suddenly made Peng Jian feel immensely relieved.
He reached out and patted Su Chen on the shoulder.
"Alright, then come back early. I'll stir-fry a couple of dishes, and tonight we'll have a drink."
"Mm."
Both of them brought the cigarettes to their lips and said nothing more.
Once the cigarette was finished, Peng Jian headed back to the residential complex.
Su Chen, meanwhile, headed in the direction of the Moat.
Throwing the ring into the Moat would serve as closure for his past relationship.
In the past, Lin Shiya had once asked him:
If one day they drifted apart, and there was absolutely no other way, how should they go about finding each other.
Su Chen's answer had been: go to the seaside.
If he couldn't see her for a day, he wouldn't leave for a day, and would keep waiting until he saw Lin Shiya.
Earlier, he had thought about throwing the ring into the open sea, but on second thought, it wasn't worth all that fuss.
He might as well just toss it into the Moat.
All rivers flowed toward the sea anyway, so throwing it in the Moat amounted to the same thing!
Scenes from the past flashed through his mind once more as Su Chen walked on aimlessly.
Today, the banks of the Moat were exceptionally desolate.
You couldn't spot more than a handful of people even looking far into the distance.
Walking until his legs felt too heavy to lift, Su Chen finally came to a halt.
"Folks, right now, I'm going to introduce everyone to the unique features of this fishing rod!"
Not far away.
A sweet, excited voice rang out.