See You Again (Time Already Knows) - Chapter 49
Chapter 49 - “I Want A Life With Both Struggle And Love.”
Shi Jian stood three meters away from Yi Pei, planning to find a reason to leave first. Yi Pei turned his head and looked at her. The sunset glow shone on his face at an angle by chance, making his eyes radiant. “Shi Jian, wait a bit longer,” Yi Pei instructed her.
“En.” Yi Pei told her to wait; it would be impolite to leave.
Shi Jian lowered her head and hid her chin in her down overcoat. Curiously, she suddenly thought of Zhao Wenwen and Zhang Kai.
So annoying. Every time she thought about this, she had no way of facing Yi Pei. It was as if a rabbit was stuffed into her heart. She wasn’t clear on Yi Pei’s feelings towards Zhao Wenwen. Was it deep love? A liking? Or was it the affections of a passionate love? She had gone to their date once before, but that day she was busy contacting the saxophone-playing kid and doing magic tricks, so she didn’t have time to observe them. Actually, even if she had observed them attentively, she probably still wouldn’t be able to tell. Yi Pei’s personality was famous for being deep and difficult to decipher.
More or less, he probably had feelings hidden. In her prominent first impression, the gossip columns often mentioned Yi Pei’s previous fiancée, the lady from the Zhao family that had passed away, with a sigh. This world had always been infatuated with legendary love stories. The story of the original Yi Pei and Zhao Wenwen had been turned into an emotional and ageless tale of love by gossipers.
After all, Yi Pei had never married afterwards. He didn’t even have any dating scandals. The only woman who crawled up and had any relationship with Yi Pei was Zhao Wenwen. Even the secretary Zhao Yilin who had a crush on him had left Yi Mao in the end. The crush was like a ripple in the water, only appearing in words of Zhao Yilin’s personal feelings.
Because of Zhao Wenwen’s early death, the original feelings of Yi Pei towards Zhao Wenwen had a muddled existence. Of course, regarding feelings, the more they stopped at the most beautiful moment, the more they were worth singing praises about, and the more they made a person recall them.
But everything had changed now. Because of her, Zhao Wenwen didn’t go skiing in the United States. Zhao Wenwen also hadn’t established a strong connection with Yi Pei. Naturally, the “Legendary Love Story” in the gossip columns wouldn’t exist anymore. To Yi Pei, the joy that Zhao Wenwen had given him had also probably disappeared.
Thinking about this, Shi Jian slightly blamed herself. Nothing was worse than being a hindrance when you were trying to help.
But, she couldn’t regret saving Zhao Wenwen just because of this. After all, the main reason she saved Zhao Wenwen was to save a young person’s life that ended too early.
If only Yi Pei had no feelings towards Zhao Wenwen. Shi Jian thought this.
The wind blew up on the skyscraper. Shi Jian lifted her head. Yi Pei was still there with a slightly tilted head. Then, Yi Pei’s voice drifted towards her ear like the wind: “Shi Jian, do you know that Vivi and I have ended our engagement?”
She knew…… Shi Jian turned her head, hiding the guilt that she felt, and nodded. She had heard Zhang Kai talk about the ending of Yi Pei and Zhao Wenwen’s engagement. She didn’t want to mention Zhang Kai’s name.
Yi Pei smiled: “Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, Shi Jian.”
Shi Jian: “……” She felt even worse, even more at a loss, at hearing Yi Pei say this. She looked at Yi Pei. His mouth was curved in a self-deprecating smile, as if he was thinking something unfortunate.
“President Yi, why did you and Vivi break off your engagement?” Shi Jian’s brain asked out loud. Immediately after, a buzz sounded by her ear. “Apologies, President Yi,” she apologized.
“Apologies for what?” Yi Pei turned and said. He even comforted her, “It has nothing to do with you.”
Shi Jian softly acknowledged him. Indeed, it had nothing to do with her.
Then, Yi Pei paused again: “Actually, it does have a little to do with you.”
What? Shi Jian coughed in surprise. She was choked by the wind. She covered her mouth with a hand and looked towards Yi Pei. Yi Pei watched her astonished reaction and quickly told her: “Shi Jian, remember what you said last time when you were chatting with Zhang Kai? You talked about the four best parts of life.”
“I said such a thing?” Shi Jian couldn’t recall for a moment.
Yi Pei reminded her: “You said that the best parts of life was happiness during childhood, struggle during early adulthood, love in youth, and stability in middle and late adulthood.”
Oh, she did say this. Shi Jian recalled. It was blather from when she and Zhang Kai were talking about life experiences. So what Yi Pei meant was……?
Yi Pei lightly leaned back on his white chair. The warmth he had when admiring the cityscape seemed to have dissipated somewhat. One couldn’t tell that he would have to attend an annual conference that was like facing a family standoff later from his current relaxed appearance.
“I don’t want to lose two of the best parts of life in one go.” Yi Pei said calmly, “I want both a life with struggle and love.”
This Yi Pei was too conscientious, too genuine. Shi Jian was moved as she listened. After some hesitation, she asked: “President Yi, you and Vivi……” Don’t have love between them? She knew that if the answer to this question was a negative, she would feel less at a loss.
“We aren’t compatible.” Yi Pei replied, the answer simple, “Maybe men are greedy and don’t like feeling incompatible.”
Really? Yi Pei didn’t like Zhao Wenwen? Yes! Shi Jian suddenly felt without a care in the world. Yi Pei looked towards her. Shi Jian collected herself and said with a natural expression: “President Yi, fighting.”
“Okay.” Yi Pei laughed, as if he was promising her to be fighting, “I hope that day will come.”
It will. She didn’t dare to guarantee love, but the Yi family would definitely return to him one day. Shi Jian confidently pursed her lips and said no more. The sky over their heads dimmed. The skyscraper across from Yi Mao Real Estate also slowly faded away in the darkening twilight. It really was beautiful to watch the sunset from atop a skyscraper, but it was only a scene that lasted about ten minutes. No wonder Yi Pei had wanted to wait a little more.
The billboard across from them lit up. Shi Jian calculated the time internally. Wasn’t it time to go? Actually, she still had a few more questions she wanted to ask Yi Pei. This feeling was like finishing a book and having a lasting impression. Now that she finally had the opportunity to talk with him face to face…… But it was better left unsaid. Her questions were too much along the lines of gossip.
She still had high ambitions in the workplace and didn’t want to be on bad terms with her boss. Employees who gossiped too much would die on the beach. Sometimes, they didn’t even know how they died.
Then, Shi Jian didn’t feel that she died on a beach, she was soon about to die inside a lightbulb. At the scene of the annual conference and Forefather Yi’s birthday banquet, the scorching white colored lightbulbs flashed one by one. She followed after Zhang Kai. The two sides of the corridor were already crammed with media crews and journalists. Shi Jian felt that she was about to get a headache. Zhang Kai had taken care of her throughout the process of entering the venue, meticulously helping shield her from some of the cameras. Before they got out of the car, he had even specifically warned her to stand next to him and to put some distance between herself and Yi Pei. Zhang Kai was being considerate and thoughtful, and she understood what he meant.
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So, she followed Zhang Kai with her head lowered the entire time, as if she was a lowly assistant. Zhang Kai had even been afraid that she would be frightened by tonight’s events…… Actually, she could be considered someone that has seen this part of society before.
There really was a lot of people present tonight. Shi Jian had come to the venue before. The space was indeed large, but definitely not as large as what was shown in «Gay Family», where the protagonist’s entrance was neat and orderly, and every shot was bright and clear. Because it was still an annual meeting, more than half of Yi Mao’s employees were convened together. Shi Jian even spotted the manager of the Yi Mao men’s apparel flagship store, Fen-jie, along with another sales assistant.
Two people really were invited from the flagship store this year.
Other than the flagship store, every manager and an employee from each of the Yi Mao men’s apparel stores from all over the country had arrived at the event. This was completely different from the previous years. Clearly, the performance of Yi Mao men’s apparel had been severely declining over the past two years. An event like tonight’s seemed to be proving something to the media.
Shi Jian encountered Yi Biya. Yi Pei personally brought her over. Yi Biya walked towards the seats at the very front arm in arm with Forefather Yi. Even though Forefather Yi was aging, he still looked pretty young, especially in the suit he was wearing tonight. He was in especially high spirits. The Yi clan surrounded Forefather Yi. Each person walked with dignity and was sparkling. Madam Guo wore her jade tonight, so green it dazzled the eyes. In the entirety of the Yi family, Yi Biya was probably the only one that Forefather Yi did not have to worry about. So, the child that Forefather Yi loved most was the little Yi Biya.
Shi Jian thought of Forefather Yi’s rebellious eldest daughter, Yi Pei’s mother. When she listened to Forefather Yi last time, the eldest daughter of the Yi family was still alive, but she heard no news about her. Yi Pei also hadn’t brought up his mother before. Even at such an important conference and banquet, the eldest daughter of the Yi family had not showed up.
“Miss Shi will be troubled later.” Forefather Yi thanked her personally.
Shi Jian replied neutrally. Yi Biya amiably brought her to her seat, then said to her: “Shi Jian, I’ll be relying on you later.”
Yi Biya spoke politely and cutely, but she was only the musical accompaniment. How could she rely on her? Shi Jian gave Yi Biya a polite smile. Yi Biya spoke again: “Oh no, I’m getting more and more nervous.”
Yi Biya really was nervous.
If only this lady of the Yi family had half the bravery Zhao Wenwen did. Shi Jian taught her a way to not be nervous on stage. She also used to have stage fright. The first time she saw Ye Jiacheng, he was chuckling at a mistake she made onstage because of her nervousness.
Her cellphone suddenly dinged. Ye Jiacheng had replied to her text: “Alright, I will come over in a bit.”
Eh? Coming over in a bit? He doesn’t have to be so early.
Shi Jian looked around the entire venue. There were more Yi Mao men’s apparel employees than she’d expected would come. The employees of each store in the country wore a uniform; they were easy to pick out. Shi Jian looked at Madam Guo again. Even though Madam Guo was smiling today, the color of her face wasn’t particularly good. But the person in the Yi family with the worst expression was still Yi Lindong, the person in charge of Yi Mao men’s apparel, and Yi Pei’s da-jiujiu.1
Shi Jian knew why very soon.
Not long after the annual conference started, Forefather Yi had personally declared in his speech that Yi Mao Apparel was formally concluding operating as a family business, terminating Yi Lindong’s board member duties, and at the same time hiring an advanced professional director to manage it……
At the same time, Forefather Yi had announced that their little daughter Yi Biya would enter the company in front of all the employees, but would only start at the basic level. Then, Shi Jian saw that Madam Guo’s face was about to turn green, even greener than the jade she was wearing around her neck.
But, Yi Biya quite liked the idea of working up from the basic level. One could see that Yi Biya was an ordinarily-hearted lady.
Then it was time for Yi Biya to go onstage.
Shi Jian followed her up and sat down in front of the grand piano, facing the tactile black and white keys. She calmed herself down and started playing along with Yi Biya’s mellow and melodious voice. The piece was one liked by both Yi Biya and herself. «The Maiden’s Prayer» 2 was extremely simple to play.
Shi Jian enjoyed playing the piece, up until Yi Biya’s voice suddenly went silent.
What happened? Shi Jian turned her head, and only saw Yi Biya’s red face. Then she continued to recite the poem. Ai, Shi Jian somewhat sympathized with Yi Biya, and tried her best to play the music as gently as possible.
Then, there seemed to be a gaze from the audience that started directly at her. Shi Jian used her peripheral vision to take a few glances. How was it Ye Jiacheng?! She saw that Ye Jiacheng sat in the very front on the left side, his legs elegantly crossed over each other. He was smiling politely yet mischievously.
This scene was just like how they met for the first time in her memory, her on the stage, him in the audience. There was no feeling of destiny between them, yet fate had inexorably pulled them together again.
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