Chapter One Hundred and Ninety: From Triumph to Sorrow (II)
There was a special day at the end of August.
In reality, everyone had a day that was special to them, a day that would come every year.
Xiao Yu rarely ever celebrated his birthday. When he had been a student, August was that awkward time at the end of their summer vacation. There were always those who needed to finish their summer homework, and others seized their last opportunity to go have fun. Thus, it had been hard to gather people to celebrate his birthday. On top of that, people in his family normally didnât remember his birthday, and after a while, Xiao Yu didnât care too much about it. After heâd gone overseas, there was even less of a reason to celebrate such a trivial matter. Then, when heâd started work, every day was spent on drawing designs until the middle of the night. His supervisor wouldnât approve any vacation, and heâd missed observing the anniversary of his fatherâs death several times, not to mention his own birthday.
This year, Xiao Yu had forgotten that his birthday was coming up. His birthday hadnât been celebrated for over twenty years, so it wasnât a big deal to miss another. He hadnât expected that someone else would remember.
While reviewing some documents, Yan Jin said, âOh, isnât your birthday on the twenty-seventh?â
Xiao Yu stuck his head out from behind his monitor and silently looked at Yan Jin, who was sitting close by.
âHmm? How come you arenât saying anything?â Yan Jin also looked up.
âAre you asking me?â Xiao Yu said.
âIs there anyone else here?â
âIt didnât sound like you were asking me about my birthday.â Xiao Yu grumpily retreated behind his monitor.
ââŚSo is that a yes or no?â
âYes, yes, yes. What do you want to do?â
Xiao Yu gave Yan Jin the middle finger.
âSo troublesomeâŚâ Yan Jin muttered and went back to reviewing the documents.
Their conversation had started randomly and now ended randomly. It really was quite confusing.
Perhaps Yan Jin understood what had happened, but Xiao Yu definitely didnât.
Furthermore, Yan Jin had only brought it up that one time. He didnât say anything about it for the next few days until they were leaving home together on the twenty-seventh.
Xiao Yu had wanted to bring up the topic many times but had resisted the urge in the end.
He didnât care about his birthday.
Twenty-six years had gone by without celebrating it. One more time wasnât a big deal.
âThatâs why youâre here so early showing off your love life?â Jing Mo facepalmed after listening to Xiao Yuâs entire story. He was tactfully indicating that he wanted no part whatsoever in Xiao Yuâs love troubles.
âIâm not showing off my love lifeâŚâ Xiao Yuâs weak denial only strengthened Jing Moâs point. âIâm just, Iâm just curious what Yan Jin is up to. If he hadnât brought it up, I would have forgotten about it. What do you think he meant?â
âIt doesnât matter what he meant. At the very least, it shouldnât be anything bad.â Jing Mo sighed and analyzed, âMaybe he just wants to surprise you?â
âThatâs not how it sounded though. What did he mean by âso troublesomeââŚ?â Xiao Yu refused to give up.
âI will tell you one more time what I think: itâs just a surprise. Stop worrying about it and go back to work.â
The entire morning had been wasted by Xiao Yuâs antics, and Jing Mo hadnât even started on any work. He had wanted to send Xiao Yu off, but after seeing Xiao Yuâs pitiful expression, he softened his voice and said, âWhatever it is, youâll find out by the end of the day. Just wait a little bit more.â
âHe didnât show up in the office this morning and isnât answering his phone either though.â
ââŚYouâve been here harassing me since 9 in the morning, okay? Maybe heâs back now?â
âBut he hasnât replied to my messages.â
Jing Mo had no words left. He picked up his cellphone and checked the time. Then, he helplessly said, âAlright, fine, itâs already twelve. Letâs go grab a bite to eat. Itâll be lunchtime soon anyways. Iâll come with you to find him.â
âYes, really. Now letâs go already.â
As Jing Mo pushed Xiao Yu out, he opened his phone to check QQ.
Xiao Yu began to count off on his fingers the good food available to eat in the cafeteria this week. âItâs Thursday today, so unfortunately thereâs no fruit. Oh, but I think thereâs some dessert? YLâs cafeteria is worlds apart from SIâs. What should I eat? I heard the fried noodles are really goodâŚâ
Jing Mo had come to a stop and was staring at his phone.
âWhatâs up?â Xiao Yu looked back at him, puzzled.
âI think I know what Yan Jin is up to.â
Jing Mo held up his phone vertically for Xiao Yu to see.
Xiao Yu stared blankly at the posts scrolling down the screen for a while, but didnât know what they were talking about.
It was the internal employee QQ group. During working hours, the group usually didnât have many messages. When there were, they were usually gossip about personal events. When Jing Mo had looked at his phone, there had been a screenshot there. However, in a few short seconds, the screenshot had been pushed down by ninety-nine other messages.
Xiao Yu never had the opportunity to see the screenshot. He could only see all the replies that had buried it. They were all very strange; it wasnât too much to describe them as gibberish.
What the heck was âI can die happy nowâ, âUnheard ofâ, âCall me your Daddyâ, âPigs have flownâ, âIRL Tagging @Chairman Yan @Chief Xiaoâ, and âMom is asking why Iâm kneelingâ?
Then, just when he had opened his mouth to ask Jing Mo what it meant, there was an explosion inside the office.
To be more precise, it wasnât the office that exploded, but the employees inside that did.
There was suddenly an uproar.
It was already time for the lunch break, so it was reasonable to expect some noise. Some went to eat together, some chatted with each other, some made fun of the leadership team, and others went to go play games.
Some noise was normal, but this intensity definitely wasnât.
It wasnât an exaggeration that Xiao Yu thought the building had caught fire.
âWhatâs going on out there?â
Xiao Yu was stunned by the noise and his attention was diverted from Jing Moâs phone.
Jing Mo realized that the screenshot had been buried, so he went to the group files and retrieved it. He then held up his phone again for Xiao Yu. âLook here.â
Xiao Yu looked at it, and thenââ
The screeching shriek was lost within all the noise that had reached levels resembling a food market inside the building.