016 Mr. Rong, accompany me for a drink_1

Jiang Xi stood in front of the elevator, holding a cardboard box, waiting for it to arrive. Soon, the sound of high heels echoed from behind her; Zhang Yaqi and another colleague had also finished their work for the day.

Upon seeing Jiang Xi holding the cardboard box, Zhang Yaqi mockingly said to her companion, "Our Mrs. Gu is truly formidable. She just joined the company, and already she has swept some home-wrecking mistress out the door."

Jiang Xi stared at the shiny elevator doors. She saw the mocking expression on Zhang Yaqi's face but did not speak.

Irritated by being ignored, Zhang Yaqi became even more excited, "Jiang Xi, if you can't find a job, you could try your luck at a nightclub. Who knows, you might snag a rich sugar daddy and be set for life."

Jiang Xi had had enough. She turned her head and looked at Zhang Yaqi, "Zhang Yaqi, did you eat biological warfare for lunch? Your mouth is that foul?"

"I'm just looking out for you, after all, you're used to climbing into men's beds. I guess you've forgotten how to walk upright, right?"

"You..."

Just as Jiang Xi was about to respond, the elevator doors suddenly opened behind her, and a deep male voice rang out, "What are you arguing about?"

Zhang Yaqi saw Gu Bichen standing in the elevator, with Bai Mengmeng right beside him. They stood so close that their arms were almost touching, their posture intimate.

She flashed a knowing smile, glancing over at Jiang Xi with a taunting look, only to see her staring blankly at the floor, her eyes brimming with triumphant amusement, as if she was the one standing beside Gu Bichen.

"President Gu, you're off work. And Secretary Bai, you look really pretty today." Zhang Yaqi complimented, "Standing next to President Gu, you both make such a handsome couple."

Gu Bichen glanced coldly at Jiang Xi, who stood there holding the cardboard box. A sharp look flashed in his eyes, "Who told you to pack your things? I haven't given you permission to resign."

Jiang Xi stared at her own toes, treating Gu Bichen as if he were nothing.

"Brother... Brother Chen, don't be harsh on Jiang Xi." Bai Mengmeng lifted her delicate hand to rest on Gu Bichen's arm, seemingly trying to calm him down, but in reality, she was asserting her own territory.

Cunning as she was, Zhang Yaqi silently retreated to the sidelines to watch the drama unfold.

Now when Jiang Xi saw the two of them, she would always recall their undressed figures in the office. Her eyes stung with pain, and she turned to leave.

Suddenly, her wrist was grabbed.

Without thinking, Jiang Xi jerked her hand back. She then heard a delicate cry of surprise behind her and quickly turned around, only to see Bai Mengmeng sitting on the floor in an awkward heap.

Gu Bichen rushed over in a few quick strides, bent down to help her up, and looked her over anxiously, "Are you all right?"

With tears of grievance in her eyes, Bai Mengmeng shook her head, "I'm fine, Brother Chen. Don't blame Jiang Xi, she didn't do it on purpose."

Her words were loaded with meaning.

It's as if she was suggesting Jiang Xi had intentionally pushed her over.

Jiang Xi, taken aback, heard the insinuation in her words and couldn't help but let out a cold laugh. She turned to leave, but Gu Bichen's hostile voice followed her.

"Jiang Xi, did I say you could leave?"

Jiang Xi didn't stop. She walked away quickly.

A gust of wind rushed by her from behind, and in the blink of an eye, Gu Bichen had blocked her path. He glared at her fiercely with raging anger in his eyes.

"Jiang Xi, apologize to Mengmeng."

Jiang Xi looked at Gu Bichen in disbelief, hardly able to believe what she was hearing, "Why should I apologize to her?"

"You knocked her over. Shouldn't you apologize?" Gu Bichen insisted self-righteously.

Jiang Xi found it laughable and actually laughed out loud. She had thought the person coming to pull at her was Gu Bichen, and she had shaken the hand off with more force than necessary.

Even if Bai Mengmeng was frail, there was no way she could've been thrown to the ground by that.

Such an obvious fake fall, and Gu Bichen couldn't see it. He was so bent on finding fault with her, so biased, that she didn't even know what to say.

"Gu Bichen, don't push me too far!"

Gu Bichen's gaze was icy as he grabbed Jiang Xi's wrist and dragged her towards Bai Mengmeng as if he wouldn't give up until she apologized that day.

Jiang Xi couldn't break free from his iron-like grip; the cardboard box in her hands clattered to the ground, its contents rolling out.

All eyes fell to the floor.

Amid the mess, lay a Lego astronaut split into two, and Gu Bichen's gaze lingered on it without moving away.

This astronaut was a gift from Gu Bichen to her after she first donated blood to Bai Wanwan. She couldn't assemble it, so he sat by the hospital bed and put it together for her.

Back then, he felt both tender and guilty toward her.

If there was anything in the box she didn't want Gu Bichen to see, it was undoubtedly this astronaut.

The astronaut lay bare like her last shred of dignity, now brazenly exposed before Gu Bichen's eyes.

The undisguised astonishment in Gu Bichen's eyes was like a sharp blade ruthlessly slicing open the most hidden wound in Jiang Xi's heart.

She felt a faint pain above her stomach and her throat was dry, making even breathing difficult.

Her face burning, Jiang Xi felt as if she'd been fiercely slapped, her anger burning away her rationality. Unable to contain herself anymore, she slapped Gu Bichen across the face.

A "smack" rang out.

The slap was loud and clear.

Gu Bichen's head turned from the impact, his astonishment slowly turning to fury. But as he raised his hand and saw the pained look on Jiang Xi's face, he could not bring himself to bring it down.

Jiang Xi shoved him hard, bent down to pick up the things on the ground, and left with the cardboard box.

Zhang Yaqi had witnessed the entire scene, her gaze lingering on Gu Bichen and Bai Mengmeng. She truly hadn't expected Jiang Xi to have the audacity to hit Gu Bichen.

Five finger marks emerged on Gu Bichen's handsome, fair cheek. Zhang Yaqi hurriedly approached to curry favor, "President Gu, Jiang Xi went too far. How could she hit you? Your face looks seriously hurt. Should we go to the hospital to get it checked out?"

Gu Bichen paid no attention to Zhang Yaqi's overtures; instead, he stared at the astronaut on the floor, lost in thought.

Jiang Xi had taken all her belongings, except for the astronaut.

A dull ache went through his heart. As he bent down to pick it up, a pale white hand moved faster than him.

Bai Mengmeng picked up the pieces of the astronaut and held them out to Gu Bichen, her eyes curved in a smile, "Jiang Xi left this behind. Let's put it back together for her and give it back later."

Gu Bichen looked down, quietly observing Bai Mengmeng's face, which strikingly resembled Bai Wanwan's. After a long while, he finally spoke wearily.

"Throw it away. She won't want it back."

In the bar.

Jiang Xi downed glass after glass, the fiery liquor burning her throat and scorching her stomach as she mechanically repeated this action.

So, this is what numbing heartbreak felt like, when grief reaches its limit.

Suddenly, a well-defined hand reached over and took the glass from her hand.

"Give me back my drink!"

Jiang Xi reached out to snatch it back, but her body, soaked with alcohol, was soft and limp, and she lurched forward.

About to fall off the couch, she quickly embraced the "pillar" in front of her.

"That was close, didn't fall."

Jiang Xi rubbed her face against the "pillar," her warm breath on it, and she felt something hard prod her cheek.