After Sheng Tang returned to her room, she sat in front of her vanity table.
She looked at herself in the mirror, trying to recall every detail of her recent encounter with Gu Shiting through the reflection in her eyes.
"Does he hate me?"
Once again, this thought floated through her mind.
She always felt he might hate her, for she abandoned him when he needed her the most.
Sheng Tang didn’t feel guilt or regret, only sadness.
The sadness was simple, lacking any particularly deep content.
"Why did I come here?"
If she hadn’t gone downstairs to throw out the trash, maybe she wouldn’t have met him; and perhaps his purpose for coming here wasn’t to see her.
Did he just want to stand there for a while?
How long had he been there, and when did he leave? What was he thinking about while standing there?
Sheng Tang had too many thoughts before sleep, causing her to dream as soon as she fell asleep. The dreams were bizarre and chaotic.
When she woke up, she no longer remembered what she had dreamed about, only that she felt uneasy and constantly wanted to escape.
Her head felt dizzy and foggy.
Gu Jiahui was already sitting at the dining table having breakfast.
Breakfast was still bought by Cheng Lichuan.
"Brother, do we have any instant coffee left?" Sheng Tang asked.
There was no coffee machine in the apartment because Gu Jiahui didn’t like coffee; Cheng Lichuan himself couldn’t get used to freshly ground coffee and found the taste peculiar.
He actually loved drinking instant coffee with an overwhelming amount of artificial flavors.
Sheng Tang had seen him drink it and told him, "This isn’t healthy, it’s all artificial flavoring. Why not buy a coffee machine?"
Cheng Lichuan refused and continued to buy instant coffee.
Now hearing the question, Cheng Lichuan went to the kitchen drawer to check.
The box was empty.
"It’s all gone." Cheng Lichuan said, "I’ll buy some more later."
Gu Jiahui was elegantly sipping his porridge. When he heard this, it was as if the words "instant coffee" had tarnished his ears, and he frowned deeply.
"Brother, didn’t I tell you not to drink instant coffee? You get a two to three thousand monthly stipend for your project work with the professor; and I give you company dividends, hundreds of thousands annually. Can’t you afford freshly ground coffee?" Gu Jiahui said bluntly.
When he spoke to Cheng Lichuan, he was like an unreasonable child, not bothering with tact, speaking directly without care for whether the other person was happy to hear it.
In contrast, when he usually talked, every word was sharpened, capable of carrying twenty different meanings in one sentence.
"It’s not that I can’t afford it, I just don’t like it," Cheng Lichuan replied.
In this world, there are indeed some people with peculiar tastes.
Just as some inexplicably like the smell of car exhaust, Cheng Lichuan loved the flavor of additives in instant coffee, a taste no other drink could substitute.
"You don’t get it. Just eat your meal!" Cheng Lichuan added, then said to Sheng Tang, "I’ll buy some more in the afternoon and split it with you."
Sheng Tang: "..."
Gu Jiahui signaled to her with his eyes, meaning she should decline.
Sheng Tang laughed.
After breakfast, Sheng Tang still felt tired, so Gu Jiahui suggested she take his car to work.
"What if people at the company see me?" Sheng Tang asked.
"Let them see. It’s not illegal. Our company doesn’t forbid office romances," Gu Jiahui replied.
Halfway there, he spotted a coffee shop.
He stopped and bought her a cappuccino, reminding her, "Stay alert."
After drinking the coffee, by the time Sheng Tang arrived at the company, she felt fully awake.
She had two things to do today: break ties with her former manager, Ye Yongying, and sign a contract with her new manager, Ke Fei.