Chapter 51: The Past
After that sentence, they were both silent for a moment.
Huai Dan looked at the stunned Luo Jing for a while, then said with a smile, “Remember to come back to work after you finish your coffee,” and left the break room.
Leaving Luo Jing standing there alone, holding his coffee, lost in thought.
He even forgot to call Luo Feng.
He instinctively took a sip of coffee and was jolted back to reality by the heat, then looked down at the brown liquid in the cup.
It was the same coffee as before.
For some reason, Huai Dan’s words from last night, “It seems it did burn you after all,” echoed in his mind.
Luo Jing closed his eyes, his ears turning slightly red.
So, did he mean… what did he mean?
What did “How can a person not have emotions” mean?
Was he just refuting the employees’ comments about him?
But… but what did he mean by “I think I’ve always forgotten to explain this to you” earlier?
He didn’t have to explain at all.
Unaware employees gradually entered the break room with their cups, and Luo Jing’s chaotic mind slowly cleared. Standing there in a daze was too conspicuous, so he left with his barely touched coffee.
…What strange switch had been flipped in Huai Dan? Why did every word he said make him overthink so much?
It had never been like this before.
Was his ability to overinterpret things getting stronger, or did Huai Dan really mean something else?
Returning to his workstation, still lost in thought, Luo Jing saw Assistant Yan sitting there, his expression serious, typing rapidly on his computer, looking very busy.
Seeing him return, Assistant Yan looked up from the screen and said apologetically, “Are you okay? I didn’t see Mr. Huai coming in just now…”
Seeing his expression, Assistant Yan paused. “Did Mr. Huai scold you?”
“…No,” Luo Jing replied, slightly embarrassed.
“That’s good. He didn’t look angry when he came back just now,” Assistant Yan muttered, then looked at him again. “By the way, your workstation is over there.”
He pointed in a direction, and Luo Jing looked over, seeing Huai Dan’s office.
“?” Luo Jing looked puzzled.
The office was quiet, and Huai Dan was sitting at his desk, meticulously reading the financial reports.
After entering, Luo Jing silently went to his own desk, sat down, and, trying to minimize his presence, started organizing the meeting materials.
But Huai Dan didn’t show any signs of awkwardness. He simply handed over some tasks to him and then didn’t say anything more.
As if the words he had spoken in the break room were just casual remarks, and only he himself cared.
Luo Jing lowered his eyes and started working on his assigned tasks.
Perhaps because it was his first day as an intern, and Huai Dan didn’t want to put too much pressure on him, Luo Jing was only assigned the task of organizing meeting materials, which he quickly finished.
So after transferring the files, Luo Jing sat there, a bit at a loss for what to do.
As he sat there idly, his gaze drifted towards Huai Dan again and again.
…What did he mean?
Had he really been overthinking?
As he watched, Luo Jing’s gaze was drawn to Huai Dan again.
He was wearing a dark blue shirt today, paired with a plain black tie. His expressionless face while working and the blue-light-blocking glasses perched on his nose were quite misleading.
For some reason, Huai Dan seemed even more handsome today than usual.
Luo Jing unconsciously stared for a long time.
Until.
“Luo Luo.”
Huai Dan’s eyes were still on the computer screen, but he suddenly spoke.
As if reminding him to stop staring.
Luo Jing flinched, then quickly looked away, pretending he hadn’t been doing anything, and replied nervously, “Huh?”
Huai Dan was silent for a moment, put down the proposal he was reading, stood up, and walked over to him, bending down slightly to look at his computer screen.
“Encountering any problems?”
“…No, everything’s going smoothly,” Luo Jing replied, subtly moving away from Huai Dan.
“Really?” Huai Dan looked down at him. “Tell me if you have any problems, otherwise I won’t know.”
Luo Jing: “…”
Because he had been with Huai Dan all day, and because he had been overthinking so much, it wasn’t until after work, after dinner, and after returning home and closing his bedroom door that Luo Jing remembered to confront Luo Feng.
When she received the call, Luo Feng had just gotten her coffee and was about to take a sip.
Seeing the caller ID, she raised an eyebrow and answered: “Hey, how was your first day at work?”
There was a moment of silence, then Luo Jing’s voice came through the phone, sounding unhappy.
“Are you hiding something from me?”
It was an assertive tone, suggesting it wasn’t a small matter.
Luo Feng: “?”
She quickly recalled her recent actions, but couldn’t think of anything she had done to wrong Luo Jing.
“Think carefully,” Luo Jing said, petting the dog, his eyes narrowed.
Plastic Bag also seemed to sense the impending storm and lay quietly on Luo Jing’s lap, letting him pet it.
“I can’t think of anything. Just tell me, how did I offend you again?” Luo Feng found a seat in the cafe and sat down, ready to have a good talk with her brother.
There was another moment of silence.
Luo Feng thought this silence meant guilt, that Luo Jing was simply bored and looking for a fight, so she rolled her eyes: “Can’t make anything up now, are…”
“Brother said you lied to me. He never dated you.”
“…” Luo Feng was instantly speechless.
Luo Jing also knew his sister’s character very well. Seeing her silent, he knew it was basically true.
“Explain,” he said with a straight face.
Luo Feng remained silent for a while, even taking a sip of her coffee. Luo Jing didn’t speak, just waited for her.
“About that,” Luo Feng paused. “Didn’t I tell you? I thought I had already told you.”
“No.”
“Oh, then I must have forgotten.”
Luo Jing: “…”
Why did this conversation sound so familiar?
After a pause, perhaps feeling guilty, Luo Feng said, seemingly confidently but actually feeling uneasy, “Wasn’t it because you said when you were little that I would never find a boyfriend, and he happened to be staying at our house…”
So I just went along with it to fool you.
Who knew you would believe it for so long?
Seeing Luo Jing silent, she changed her tone: “It’s not a big deal, it’s not important, did it affect you in any way? No.”
“And he even played with you for a whole winter vacation, how nice.”
Luo Jing: “…”
Although her reasoning was sound and almost irrefutable, Luo Jing was still a bit angry.
Then he extracted a key piece of information from her words.
“So why did he come to our house that winter vacation?” he asked.
Luo Feng was silent for a while, as if struggling with whether to tell him, then sighed softly.
The Huai family’s company was founded by Huai Dan’s grandfather. After his most business-savvy son—Huai Dan’s father—took over, the business continued to flourish, benefiting the entire family, and they became very prominent.
Many people were envious, but no one thought they could replace Huai Fu’s position.
Huai Dan had always been a top student since he was young. Although his personality wasn’t very outgoing, he was flawless, and everyone believed he would naturally inherit the Huai family’s enviable wealth when he grew up, and Huai Dan’s excellence proved this point.
Until an accident took the lives of his father and mother.
Huai Dan was only twenty years old at the time, just starting university, when this tragedy struck. Although he handled it calmly, he was inevitably distraught.
Instantly, undercurrents surged within the family. The funeral was grand, but few people were genuinely saddened by the death of his parents, instead setting their sights on this seemingly vulnerable young man.
Old Master Huai was nearing the end of his life. After learning about this, he became even more bedridden, looking much older, but he still insisted on transferring all company ownership to Huai Dan.
But being young and inexperienced, and having lost his parents, Huai Dan seemed like a child who could be easily manipulated. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie, or even to take everything for themselves.
Suddenly, all the burdens fell on his shoulders, along with the obstacles others deliberately placed in his path. He was never at peace, constantly dealing with company matters, while also having to keep up with his studies.
Everyone was waiting to see him crumble under the pressure and give up, then they would naturally divide everything among themselves.
No one could imagine how he persevered at the time.
He quickly consolidated his power within the company and purged those who had tried to take advantage of him. The company’s top management underwent a major reshuffle.
In just a few years, he firmly secured everything that should have belonged to him.
It sounded like everything went smoothly, but no one could imagine what he had gone through during those years.
He never told anyone.
That winter vacation was the first year after his parents’ death. Huai Dan didn’t want to feign pleasantries with those so-called family members or spend the New Year with them, so he cut off all contact with them.
That holiday was his own, a time for him to finally catch his breath.
Hearing this, Luo Jing was silent for a while, a dense ache spreading through his heart.
So there was an explanation for why Huai Dan was always so busy. What Ye Lin had said, that no one could help him, was true.
“So be nice to him,” Luo Feng said, unusually serious, a hint of sympathy in her voice. “He’s only willing to play with you.”
Luo Jing lowered his eyes, stroking Plastic Bag’s fur.
Plastic Bag also seemed to sense its owner’s low mood and rubbed against Luo Jing’s shoulder, wagging its tail.
“I will,” Luo Jing replied.
“Okay, then I’ll hang up. There will be traffic later,” Luo Feng said, relieved that Luo Jing was no longer dwelling on the past.
The call ended, and Luo Jing sat on the bed in a daze for a while. Then there was a knock on the door.
He opened the door, and Huai Dan, in his home clothes, stood outside, holding a glass of milk.
Seeing Luo Jing’s expression, he paused slightly, then gently rubbed the corner of his eye with his thumb.
“Have you been crying?” he asked.
