Yesterday
Chapter 22
昨天 by 風弄 Chapter 22
Yesterday by Feng Nong.
Early morning the next day, YuJiang wakes up and smiles gently at me and gives me a tender kiss. I"m terrified that he was faking his sleep last night, making him fully aware of my furtive kiss. That can only turn into an effective tool for him to control me. I probe him:
"Why are you so happy?" He looks at me lovingly:
"Waking up to see you lying by my side, what else can compare to this to make one happy?" I sneer, if one day you wake up and find me gone without a trace, wouldn"t that be good? Yet another sigh. YuJiang says: "Early in the morning and you"re already giving long and short sighs, ShengSheng, why do you have so much worries?" I say:
"YuJiang, you won"t understand."
"That"s right." He mutters harshly to himself: "I don"t understand you, just like you don"t understand me." I"m seized with terror, unable to say a word. These words are too profound, if you were to consider carefully, it"s as if there is a great deal of complex meaning sealed inside.
I lie on the bed watching YuJiang dress up smartly in a trim suit. As if suddenly remembering something, he turns towards me saying:
"The administrative vice president of Huang enterprise, we should remove him."
"Why?" I ask quickly. The administrative vice president of Huang enterprise is an old friend of my father. He started working at Huang enterprise at the same time as my father, and is almost about to retire. YuJiang says indifferently:
"This person is not suitable, so we should replace him." I say:
"No way, he is an old codger at Huang enterprise, he will not trouble you."
"ShengSheng, this is business, market decisions must take performance into account, not feelings." I refuse to listen to his ruthless business sense so I turn away and look at the small birds chirping outside the window. "OK, I"m leaving." YuJiang walks over and leaves a kiss on my face. I stay silent and wait for the sound of the door closing before turning back to look at the deserted room. Ai, we are after all very different people. YuJiang"s heartlessness is not only directed towards me.
ShuTing came again yesterday, he most probably won"t come again today. I feel extremely depressed. I stand up and open the door and say to the bodyguards outside the door:
"I want to go out, to have lunch." ZhouHeng comes quickly, saying respectfully:
"The car is ready." There is only one place where I can have lunch, the place where I ran into He ShuTing before, the Peninsula Hotel. Without him, this is one of the places where YuJiang allows me to come and go as I please. The other place I can go to for fresh air is Rong enterprise. Ever since I heard the conversation between YuJiang and Jie-r outside the door, and received the shock from heaven"s thunder, I now stay a respectful distance away from Rong enterprise, not daring to approach it rashly. I feel like that place is full of underhanded and dishonest dealings. Therefore, only the Peninsula Hotel remains as a place for me to relieve my boredom. I sit by the window and enjoy the view from up high. I watch the heavy traffic and throng of ordinary people engrossed in making a living. The steak in the middle of my plate still has the same taste. To be honest, it is not as good as the one cooked by the Rong family chef.
ShuTing, when will it be when you start to take action? After escaping, where will I go? How would I start a new life? What about mom and dad? What about YuJiang? He could go crazy and spare no effort to track me down; or maybe he would be like that day, slowly waving his hand, letting me go only to with a flick his hand, once again imprison me under WuZhi mountain. Each time I think of escaping, my heart would be in turmoil. An absolute chaos. Maybe there are too many sticky spider webs on my body such that once I run away, even if I were to escape with my life, I won"t be able to avoid tearing a little skin and flesh.
In the middle of my reverie, ZhouHeng puts a pile of doc.u.ments in front of me. Official doc.u.ments from Huang enterprise. I"m the puppet president, only carelessly signing my name, letting ZhouHeng take care of major company affairs. The affairs of other people should be up to their wishes. I take up the pen as always, *shua shua* signing my name on one piece after another. Signing two to three pieces before handing them over to ZhouHeng at my side, turning back to continue signing, I suddenly stop. The file in my hand states imposingly "Personnel transfer" two words. Due to not applying himself fully in his work, the administrative vice president will be discharged. I put down the pen and look at ZhouHeng.
"This piece of paper, I won"t sign for the time being." ZhouHeng knits his brows and looks at me uneasily:
"I would still like to ask Mr. Huang to sign it. The company administration is waiting for it." His uneasiness is only an act, how can I be fooled? I sneer saying:
"If a.s.sistant Zhou is worried, you might as well impersonate me and sign my name grandly, I"m sure Rong YuJiang will definitely not blame you."
"Mr. Huang, this file, has already been approved by the board of directors ......... " ZhouHeng comes closer step by step, stating clearly between the lines that the power over Huang enterprise is absolutely not in my hands. "It has also pa.s.sed through the approval of Mr. Rong." The words are full of meaning that if I were to refuse to sign, he would immediately let YuJiang deal with me. Such a small insignificant a.s.sistant and yet towards the rightful successor to Huang enterprise, he actually forces me to such an extent! I can"t say that I"m not full of indignation. I can"t say that I"m not heartbroken. I also want to show how I detest my situation, where I can be injected with a sedative without the slightest hesitation to suppress my voice. The raging fire rises in me.
Without a word, I grab the red wine and drain it in one gulp. I coldly confront ZhouHeng with an aggressive look, and biting my lip, suddenly exert force in my hand. A crisp sound. The delicate goblet shatters immediately, the shards of gla.s.s piercing my palm. Looking at my blood flowing freely, ZhouHeng"s face becomes fl.u.s.tered. The bodyguards at the table acted as if they were confronted by a formidable foe and nervously cl.u.s.tered around. I shake my head to warn them not to come over and display my b.l.o.o.d.y dripping palm in front of ZhouHeng for his careful examination. I calmly say:
"My hand is injured, I"m unable to sign my name." Even though my hand hurts, my heart is extremely satisfied. He must definitely be worried, thinking of how he is going to explain this to YuJiang. I can"t help but sigh, when did I learn to hurt myself in order to receive some peace of mind? Being reduced to such a miserable state, how can I not sigh? I return to Rong mansion with everyone cl.u.s.tered all around thinking that I am someone that can smash gla.s.s at any moment.
When YuJiang quickly caught up with me, my hand is already properly wrapped up.
"ShengSheng!" once through the door, YuJiang flies over to me: "How is your hand?" taking my hand and looking at it left and right, dying to pull down the bandages to examine the actual depth of the cut. He angrily asks: "Why did you hurt yourself? Just for a staff member, is it worth it?" His eyebrows are already raised. I say:
"YuJiang, he is not just a staff member. He has watched me grow up, I consider him an uncle."
"Old Chen is already old, his way of thinking cannot adapt to the current business market. I"m just thinking for the benefit of Huang enterprise."
"Huang enterprise to him is his life"s work. YuJiang, you can"t be this heartless." YuJiang looks at me for a long time before raising his hands in surrender:
"OK, OK, I"ll give him double, no, triple the amount of retirement benefits, is that good enough?" I stand up and look at him with grief:
"YuJiang, money cannot replace everything, it can"t heal every wound!" I shout out loud and only realize that I"m not shouting for the sake of Uncle Chen. It"s for me, for the sake of myself. Suffering without a choice, I"m even worse off than Uncle Chen. I"m only shielding someone who is suffering just like me, looking for some comfort, nothing more. YuJiang stands up and confronts me face to face.
"Then what do you want? Tell me." He asks: "How can I heal the wounds, I beg you to teach me. ShengSheng, I beg you to teach me." The scene from that day reappears in my mind, blood and flesh flying in every direction, I think of all of YuJiang"s actions, my heart starts to bleed again. If I could come out of this sea of bitterness, why would I suffer this torment day and night? YuJiang, I can"t even save myself, how can I teach you? My face is all wet, I know that I have again started to cry in weakness. "Fine, let him stay in Huang enterprise. But let me make this clear, this will definitely slow down the progress of Huang enterprise. YuJiang extends his hand and pulls me into his embrace, letting me lean on his right shoulder, sobbing softly.
Finally YuJiang pats my back, one pat after another, like comforting me to fall asleep.
"ShengSheng, even if I want to heal the wounds, the injured person also needs to be willing to accept it, is that right?" There is a profound meaning behind this question. My headache worsens considerably and I cut him off saying:
"Don"t say anymore. YuJiang, let me quietly stay in your arms, and have a good sleep." I close my eyes and yet another tear squeezes out from the rim of my eye.