HC Chapter 36 Part 1

HC Chapter 36 Part 1: I Don’t Love You (VI)

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When Dong Ci was invited to another interview, she deliberately put on a decorative ring on her ring finger.

The interview went smoothly. The recruitment supervisor was very satisfied with her after going through her resume. When he stood up to shake hands with Dong Ci, she suddenly took off the ring.

“Miss Dong’s tattoo…”

The smile on the supervisor’s face froze as he regretfully retracted his hand, glancing at the tattoo from time to time.

“Miss Dong, I am very satisfied with your qualifications, however, there are still many applicants to be considered. You will receive a notice on whether you got the job within the next few days.”

“…” Dong Ci no longer had any doubts about what Shi Ze said.

Jing, Rong!

Dong Ci slowly said this name in her mind as hatred surged from the depths of her heart. This time, she finally understood why Jing Rong let her go so easily.

When she exited the company where the interview took place minutes ago, she walked past the same place she met Shi Ze last time. It was a prosperous area, with many luxury cars and well-dressed people constantly passing by.

Dong Ci’s expression was dark. She lowered her head and was about to change her direction when she heard a voice calling her.

“Xiao Ci!”

Shi Ze once again found her in this place, on the same sidewalk. He walked up to Dong Ci, looked at the resume in her hands, and asked: “Still looking for a job?”

Dong Ci had a hard time concealing her emotions. As such, Shi Ze knew that the interview didn’t go well. He hesitated, then offered, “Xiao Ci, you should come to my company. Although it isn’t under my control, I am a manager. You could stay by my side and be an assistant.”

It was Shi Ze’s father who started this company. Although its scale wasn’t large, it had stable operations and its prospects were showing an upward trend.

If Dong Ci joined Shi Ze’s company, once Jing Rong found out, he would certainly not let this go. Dong Ci knew that Shi Ze must have been aware of this, and that’s why he hesitated before offering her this opportunity.

But in the end, he did offer it – and it moved Dong Ci’s heart.

“No need,” she refused without much deliberation. She didn’t want to trouble Shi Ze, so she smiled slightly and gently expressed, “I can only make clothes – I don’t have any other abilities.”

She was looking for a job not only to support herself but also to achieve her father’s dreams, which were related to fashion design. Although Jing Rong repeatedly obstructed her even if he wasn’t nearby, Dong Ci wasn’t giving up.

Anyway, her most defining characteristic was probably her stubbornness, so she would find a way to survive.

Of course, Shi Ze also understood her thoughts. A trace of guilt flashed in his eyes. When he noticed Dong Ci’s intention to leave, he instinctively grabbed her wrist.

“Xiao Ci, it’s been a long time since I came back, and I haven’t had time to invite you to dinner. Let’s go today. Just treat it as a reminiscence between old friends… And I want to talk with you about something else.”

“…”

Dong Ci wanted to refuse.

She knew that although Jing Rong let her go on the surface, a black car still constantly followed her wherever she went.

She didn’t have to guess who it was.

As such, she preferred to keep a distance from Shi Ze in order not to affect him with her matters. On the one hand, she was scared of him misunderstanding her emotions when she remembered his past promises. On the other hand, she was afraid that Jing Rong would go mad if he found that they contacted each other too frequently.

“Alright,” Dong Ci replied, trying to ignore the reasonable voice in her mind that was telling her to refuse.

She looked around to make sure that there were no ‘inconspicuous’ black cars nearby and followed after Shi Ze. After all, there were some things that she wanted to ask for years, but she never had that opportunity until today.

Shi Ze took her to a high-end restaurant. He seemed to be very familiar with it. Dong Ci glanced at his expression, which looked very serious because of his pursed, unsmiling lips, and wondered. She felt that he seemed different from her memories.

When she was young, Shi Ze sometimes invited her to dinner, but it had always been to street stalls or small restaurants. There had always been many noisy people around them, and the tables and chairs hadn’t been particularly clean because of their old age.

Even at that time, Shi Ze displayed an extraordinary temperament – despite the crowded alleys and halls. Dong Ci remembered often ridiculing him because of this, saying that among those people, he was like an immortal who descended from the Heavens.

But now?

Dong Ci felt that his atmosphere, and the one of this place, suited each other very well. After all, Shi Ze was no longer a teenager, and even though his face remained the same, the feeling he gave off was slightly different.

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After a bottle of red wine was placed on the table, Shi Ze pushed a glass towards Dong Ci and said with a smile, “Let’s have a drink. I think it will be needed for today’s chat.”

He drank a few sips from his glass first, but when he saw that Dong Ci didn’t move hers, he just sighed and moved straight to the topic he wanted to discuss. “Xiao Ci, after I got the news of your marriage to Jing Rong, I went to find him.”

Shi Ze seemed to be lost in his memories. He bitterly smiled, emptied his glass in one go, and poured himself another one. “You should know that when I was young, my dad started a small company. But with Jing Rong’s power, he could’ve destroyed it with just the tip of his finger. Even at that time.”

“So he forced you to go abroad?” Dong Ci asked without inflection in her tone, though her hands were tightly clenched beneath the table.

Before, she had some vague suspicions, but she wasn’t clear about Jing Rong’s sphere of influence. Later, when she found out more about him, she should’ve guessed that this matter had him written all over it.

Otherwise, how could Shi Ze go abroad so suddenly? In the end, it was she who caused this to happen.

“Forced? I wouldn’t say that.” Shi Ze unexpectedly refuted. He shook his head and directed a deep stare at Dong Ci. His eyes were full of struggling emotions, but the guilt was the most prominent. He tried to open his mouth several times, but no sound escaped.

“I am sorry,” he finally said.

Dong Ci didn’t know what Jing Rong and Shi Ze discussed at the time, but she sensed that Shi Ze was very impressed by that memory, and even… embarrassed.

“I sent you a text message. I thought that you would go to the airport after seeing it, but it wasn’t until I met you again after my return to China, that I suddenly thought that you may not have seen it at all.”

“I did not receive it. Jing Rong was the one who told me the news of your departure.”

“…”

In the end, everything was Jing Rong’s fault, anyway.

Dong Ci was already tired of the hateful emotions brewing in her heart whenever she found out about another matter that was caused by Jing Rong over the years. This time, she felt a little numb when she heard his name again. She released a deep sigh and got up. She had no intention to stay here for dinner.

“There’s more.”

When Dong Ci got up, Shi Ze suddenly stopped her. A few glasses of wine gave him some courage, but it disappeared as soon as Dong Ci’s eyes met his own. Shi Ze turned his gaze away, no longer daring to look at her.

“I don’t want to lie to you. Actually, Jing Rong didn’t force me to go abroad. At that time, I needed space to grow, I wanted to gain more skills. I wanted to become strong, so I didn’t give up the opportunity to go abroad. Jing Rong… he didn’t force me. Everything was voluntary.”

“…”

“Xiao Ci, I am sorry for letting you down.”

After saying those words, Shi Ze finished another glass of wine. He still had no courage of looking at Dong Ci, his head hanging lower and lower. He no longer looked as prideful as when he entered this restaurant with her.

“You don’t have to be sorry.” Dong Ci didn’t know where the sudden serenity came from. She shook her head and said with a wry smile, “You shouldn’t feel sorry for me. You did what you should’ve done at the time.”

She didn’t blame him. She knew that what he did was right.

Although the two of them were close since childhood, Shi Ze had no obligation to throw his life away because of her. After all, he wasn’t alone in his family, and he had to think about himself as well.

Furthermore, Dong Ci knew that Shi Ze didn’t tell her the full truth of the matter, but she could guess it herself. At this moment, as she looked at his guilty expression, she finally realized what was different from their youth.

She understood.

When they were young, they had everything handed out to them by their parents. There was no need to think about responsibility, no need to care about money or power. There was only the pursuit of knowledge and the purity of love. After growing up, there was the realization that those things were important – otherwise, life wouldn’t be good.

One could have no money, no power, no status. But it was very likely that if one was just an ordinary person, they wouldn’t be able to protect and care for the people they loved.

Dong Ci smiled. She picked up the untouched glass of wine and directed it at Shi Ze. “I will drink this glass of wine in the hope that those previous things can be forgotten.”

She would forget that Shi Ze didn’t turn his head when she shouted his name at the time. And she hoped that Shi Ze would also stop feeling guilty about the choices they both made in the past.

One should pay respects to the past, but because it passed, one shouldn’t look back.

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