C83. Extra: Wenxu Jiang

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On the day Wenxu Jiang came back from Hangzhou, he nearly screwed himself up. Thanks to Assistant Song, he told Jingwen Zhang to get the spare key from the company after many unanswered calls.

When Wenxu Jiang woke up, his mind still unclear. The strong sunlight made him dizzy but he managed to open his eyes after all. His voice could barely be heard. "Is Zhishu home?" He remembered when he lost consciousness, he seemed to see Zhishu He.

Jingwen Zhang heard him when he came out from the ward toilet. He gently sat next to Wenxu Jiang and said in a mild tone, "Wenxu Jiang, clear your mind, Zhishu He is gone."

Wenxu Jiang, surprisingly, wasn't worked up. He just buried most of his face in the pillow acting tired out. He sounded muffled, "You'd better leave if you are lying to me with them," Then something seemed to occur to him. Wenxu Jiang added, "Don't worry though. I won't give myself a hard time again. I'm waiting for him to come back."

Wenxu Jiang wasn't joking. He did start to wait very patiently. He went back to work after getting out of the hospital. He took his pills on time. He became nicer to employees. He spoke less and hardly laughed. His eyes were so deep when he looked into the distance, filled with solitude.

His vitality and love seemed to be buried by that big snow.

When the winter was past, Wenxu Jiang became much thinner. He really had aged, not in a "mature" way that we would use to describe a successful businessman, but aged into silence and lethargy.

Wenxu Jiang never had another man or woman, not even for fun. Every day, he lived a clocklike life. He just went back home after work with that puppy. In the daytime, all those pet-loving girls in the company and Assistant Song took care of the dog, in the nighttime, Wenxu Jiang did.

Wenxu Jiang had changed a lot. He no longer hated living things with furs, for one thing. Sometimes, he would even sleep with that fluffy little thing in his arms. During the long night, a living creature could reduce the loneliness more or less.

He lived another six months in a walking dead state like this. He was no better than the dead actually.

In the summer, Wenxu Jiang talked business with an acquaintance that tried to please him. They went to Kaiseki. In the end, the bald guy meant to treat Wenxu Jiang with a boy, while Wenxu Jiang didn't show any interest. He just looked down on his watch. It was eight p.m., when he needed to go home early.

The waiter opened the door, a young man in his early 20s came in. He didn't speak, he was ushered to sit next to Wenxu Jiang.

Wenxu Jiang didn't like someone sitting too close to him. He looked at this young man at last and he got light-headed. He saw this face that he was very familiar with and missed very much.

Big eyes, small nose, water caltrop-shaped mouth, white skin, soft black hair. The young man was the spitting image of Zhishu He when he just turned 20!

Wenxu Jiang felt like something clogged his throat, his eyes reddened, fingers shivering. Wenxu Jiang thought he seemed to have had a very real dream.

The bald guy reckoned he had got the right man. He grinned at Wenxu Jiang obsequiously, "President Jiang, have fun with Xiao Yuan. An old man like me wouldn't follow your pace."

"President Jiang." The young man named Xiao Yuan said docilely.

Wenxu Jiang's dream shattered into pieces. The edges cut him relentlessly, making him bleed. That day, Wenxu Jiang went crazy. He just exploded without warning. He kicked the wooden dining table over, saki and daifukus were over the place. He broke that bald man's two teeth with his fist. He felt humiliated as if someone desecrated Zhishu He in his presence. Wenxu Jiang battered the guy in an unclear mind. All he thought was "Zhishu He isn't dead yet. Are you sending me another him? Are you humiliating me or cursing Zhishu He?"

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