The Ceo Of The Company Next Door Seems To Have A Crush On Me Chapter 30

Two Tubs of Ice Cream and I Want to Cry

No, this isn’t right.

How can something like this happen in the world?

She only went on a business trip, so how did the world change so drastically?

Jiang Mingyi turned her stiff head, swearing she heard a creaking sound from her neck. At the doorway, that red mushroom squatting on the floor! It was her best friend, her only childhood friend, the Eldest Daughter who always took her side regardless of right or wrong and firmly stood by her—Yan Xucheng!

At the table was the mute good friend of her mama’s boy, useless ex-husband. She forgot his name.

But! None of that mattered!

What mattered was, he, and he—forgive her stiff mouth for being unable to utter the profound word “they” right now.

“You, you, what is going on?!” Jiang Mingyi was truly on the verge of collapse.

The red mushroom at the door moved its cap, glanced at Lu Zhijian, who was so awkward he had turned into a plaster statue, then looked at the collapsing Jiang Mingyi, and finally sensed the chaotic scene, which felt like catching someone in the act.

Heaven is about to bestow a great mission upon this person!

A brave mushroom must dare to face the questioning of his best friend and dare to confront the life of “laying an egg”!

This meant that even if a mushroom laid an egg one day, it had to face reality calmly.

Yan Xucheng steadied himself. Besides, things hadn’t reached the point of utter chaos yet. He needed to quickly pause the brewing explosion while everyone maintained a delicate balance.

He stood up and reached out, attempting to soothe the soon-to-explode Jiang Mingyi. Unexpectedly, Lu Zhijian was faster. He stood still, maintaining a good distance from Jiang Mingyi. His deep brown eyes, illuminated by the light, held a soft, watery sheen. His voice was calm, like lake water surging with the night wind: “I am very sorry…”

He hesitated for a moment, finally choosing a safe address: “Ms. Jiang, I can explain. It was I who first—”

“Jiang Jiang, can you let me explain? This matter, it’s very complicated! It’s absolutely not what you think!”

Yan Xucheng interrupted Lu Zhijian. Having spent so much time together, he knew Lu Zhijian was not good with words. It was truly difficult for him to face such a scene.

Moreover, he was the one caught in the middle. At this moment, he should step forward. What could two people with incomplete information possibly communicate?

He walked closer and pulled Jiang Mingyi.

Great, she moved!

This meant there was room for discussion.

The immediate priority was to separate them. Yan Xucheng chattered away, coaxing Jiang Mingyi while subtly leading her out the door: “Come on, come on, I promise to tell you everything, every single word. You know me, how could I possibly betray the organization? There happens to be a light show by the river tonight, how about we go see it?”

The door smoothly closed. Yan Xucheng successfully led Jiang Mingyi away.

Separating the two of them was the best choice. They weren’t close. Even if Jiang Mingyi was truly angry, she wouldn’t vent in front of a stranger. Lu Zhijian was also a very sensitive person, and their unintentional words and actions might hurt him.

Yan Xucheng sent Lu Zhijian a message, essentially telling him not to worry and to go home first.

Scattered people in the neighborhood were taking walks or just returning from overtime. This was not the place to talk. Jiang Mingyi remained silent, and Yan Xucheng wisely didn’t bother her.

The two got into the car. Yan Xucheng drove, afraid Jiang Mingyi might do something irrational.

There were quite a few cars on the road. Every car on the overpass had its low beams on. Yan Xucheng looked into the distance from the top, where the distant lights lined up according to the shape of the roads, forming winding rivers.

Yan Xucheng drove off the bridge and saw a brightly lit convenience store. He pulled over and told Jiang Mingyi, who was huddled in the passenger seat, “I’m going to buy something.”

Then he deliberately pulled out the car key and ran into the convenience store. As he ran, his trench coat billowed up and fell, like the tail of a swallow, Jiang Mingyi thought.

Hmph, that was also an annoying swallow.

An idea was stirring in her mind. Yan Xucheng had secretly eaten cake with Yan Zhu’s friend, and even brought him home. Why should she wait for him?

No sooner said than done, Jiang Mingyi was too lazy to get out of the car—too much trouble!

She simply swung her leg over and sat in the driver’s seat. Just as she was about to drive away, she reached out and found the car key had vanished without a trace.

Damn it!

Jiang Mingyi swung back into the passenger seat, staring at the gray rear of the white BYD in front, out of sight, out of mind. Her gaze was so sharp that if it materialized, it could carve a flower on the car’s rear bumper.

Yan Xucheng returned quickly, smiling ingratiatingly, and handed her a massive paper tub.

Jiang Mingyi suddenly touched something cold. She looked down and snapped, “Ice cream?”

“Yep!” Yan Xucheng nodded, holding up his own tub of ice cream. “I have an identical one. Let’s eat together, and I’ll explain everything properly, okay?”

Jiang Mingyi looked at hers—it was hazelnut chocolate flavor. She looked at Yan Xucheng’s—it was almond matcha flavor.

For the sake of the ice cream, “Let’s go.”

This meant they could talk!

Yan Xucheng breathed a sigh of relief and headed toward the riverside.

He drove fast, and the convenience store wasn’t far from the river anyway, so the ice cream was still safe when they arrived. There was only a thin layer of condensed moisture on the tub walls. Although not obvious, the tiny water droplets gathered together, leaving a winding water trail on Yan Xucheng’s wrist, which was finally absorbed by his sleeve.

Yan Xucheng hugged the large tub of ice cream and chuckled, “We’re here!”

Jiang Mingyi didn’t reply but followed him out of the car and walked along the riverside sidewalk.

Occasionally, night runners passed them, but only one or two. Jiang Mingyi sternly tore open the lid of the ice cream tub, casually tossed the lid into a passing trash can, and fiercely dug a large scoop of ice cream into her mouth: “Didn’t you say there was a light show? Where’s the show? Where are the people? Why is there not even a ghost here?”

“Hehe,” Yan Xucheng mimicked her, though his action of tearing off the lid was a bit more strenuous, causing him to miss the timing for tossing the lid. He hurriedly threw the lid into the trash can, hugged the large tub, and quickly walked two steps to catch up with the leisurely strolling Jiang Mingyi. “I misremembered, I misremembered. I’ll punish myself with a scoop.”

They walked along the quiet riverside. After a moment of thought, Yan Xucheng spoke: “Actually, I’ve met him before.”

They both knew who this “him” referred to.

“Remember when my phone was snatched when I was talking to you on the phone? He was the one who helped me get it back. Later, I even treated him to a meal…”

Jiang Mingyi hadn’t expected this twist. Yan Xucheng had mentioned it, but she had long since dismissed it as an insignificant interlude. Now, suddenly sweeping it out of the corner of her memory felt somewhat fresh: “That was him?”

“Mhm!” Yan Xucheng nodded. “That was him!”

He continued, “Later, when we went to argue with Yan Zhu, I saw him again. But you were in the middle of divorcing Yan Zhu then, and I didn’t think it was appropriate to mention it, so I didn’t say anything…”

“Then, who knew it would be such a coincidence,” Yan Xucheng looked up at the twinkling stars in the sky. There weren’t many stars now, maybe half as many as in the summer. “My new home is right across the hall from him.”

Yan Xucheng sped up his explanation, sounding a little anxious: “He’s a very good person, very kind, and quite pitiful. He’s usually all alone. And that day, the day we argued with Yan Zhu, didn’t he speak up for us? He’s a very reasonable person—”

“I know,” Jiang Mingyi had also calmed down. She had a strong memory of Lu Zhijian. “Otherwise, I would have already made a move.”

In all fairness, Lu Zhijian was a decent person, with his own principles and bottom line. If she met him at work, she would definitely get along well with him, but not in this kind of situation.

“I just—” Jiang Mingyi didn’t finish the rest of her sentence. She lowered her head, scraping the ice cream in the tub, rolling out a large snowball, and stuffing it into her mouth all at once.

The ice cream ball was truly huge, filling her entire mouth. It was very cold and affected her normal breathing. Perhaps due to the suffocation, Jiang Mingyi’s eyes turned bright red.

She never finished the words after “I just.”

But Yan Xucheng understood. He looked at Jiang Mingyi’s eyes and apologized: “I’m sorry.”

The night wind blew Yan Xucheng’s long hair back. A long strand accidentally swept into Yan Xucheng’s eye, causing his eyes to also turn red.

“Pfft—”

“Pfft—”

They looked at each other’s red eyes and laughed simultaneously.

Jiang Mingyi said, “You can’t hide anything from me in the future.”

Yan Xucheng said, “Mhm!”

Jiang Mingyi added, “No matter who it is—Lu Zhijian, Li Zhijian, or Liu Zhijian—only I am your best friend, your only Eldest Daughter!”

Yan Xucheng said again, “Mhm!”

Jiang Mingyi finally said, “I won’t hide anything from you either in the future. You are also my best friend for life.”

Her words were scattered by the night wind, drifting far away.

But Yan Xucheng, standing beside her, hugging the same large tub of ice cream, heard her. He said, “Mhm!”

They finally stood against the wind, placing their ice cream tubs on the riverside railing, spooning ice cream into their mouths bite by bite. The wind occasionally blew into their eyes, causing physiological tears to stream down their faces.

When Lu Zhijian left, he took the remaining cake to dispose of it. He turned off the lights in Yan Xucheng’s apartment, then closed his own door.

Even now, his mind was a mess. Various unknown voices were talking together in his brain, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying when he listened closely.

His heart felt heavy, like a suffocating sensation.

Lu Zhijian didn’t know if he forgot to breathe when he was sad, or if the feeling of sadness was the same as suffocation.

He only clearly knew one thing: Yan Xucheng had been taken away by his best friend, and he had been left behind.

This was the correct choice, because people’s hearts have a hierarchy of closeness. They were both Yan Xucheng’s friends, but Jiang Mingyi ranked far ahead of him. He knew that.

And Jiang Mingyi was the one who had suffered the greatest shock and hurt. He knew that too.

But he just didn’t know why, he felt a little uncomfortable.

He inexplicably recalled his childhood, standing at the door of his old home with his grandfather, watching his parents take his younger sister back to Jingji.

Lu Zhiyu was crying on her father’s shoulder, calling out, “Gege! Gege!”

Lu Zhijian also wanted to cry watching his mother’s receding back, but he didn’t make a sound.

His grandfather patted his head and said he was very well-behaved.

But Lu Zhijian wanted to cry, very much.