Chapter 5

My colleagues who had sent me insulting messages came to apologize as well.

I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Manager Zhao brought me a cup of warm water and patted my shoulder.

“Good thing you got here in time. We cleared up this misunderstanding in less than three hours.”

“Your flight boards at six this evening. Leave early. It’s cold in the Northwest, so bring an extra coat.”

I took the cup and smiled my thanks.

At five, I went through airport security.

I carried everything that belonged to me in this city and headed for the Northwest.

The plane drew a line across the horizon. I watched myself grow farther and farther from the ground.

7

During my three months in the Northwest, I was busy with new projects assigned by the company and rarely heard anything about Fu Sinian and the others.

The only time I did was when the police in Lin City called to tell me Xu Qi had been arrested.

“The man Xu Qi hired was a professional actor. His attack on you on your way home from work constituted intentional injury. During questioning, Xu Qi confessed. She was the one who instructed him to do it.”

I was silent for a few seconds. “Did she say why?”

“She did. Apparently, Fu Sinian hadn’t been paying attention to her at the time, so she came up with this plan.”

So it had only been to get Fu Sinian’s attention.

And she had made me suffer for it.

For a moment, I didn’t know what to say. I could only laugh and shake my head.

The officer also said Xu Qi had asked Fu Sinian to post bail for her. If he could persuade me to sign a letter of forgiveness, she might receive a suspended sentence.

The person on the other end asked if I wanted to know what Fu Sinian had decided.

I said, “No need to tell me. Nothing about him has anything to do with me anymore.”

“All right. We’ll proceed accordingly.”

After the call ended, I stood by the window for a while. Then I decided to change all of my contact information.

From then on, whatever Fu Sinian chose, I would not accept it.

The wind-power project required us to travel to construction sites every day to take screening records.

The Northwest was dusty and windy, and the sun was harsh.

My colleagues were all sunburned, their skin dark and red. Even I had tanned several shades.

Xiao Lin stood beneath a wind turbine and said with a smile, “Jian Xin, the people the company transferred to the Northwest are all from Lin City without any connections. Your family there isn’t badly off. Why come here to do such hard work?”

Two other colleagues chimed in.

“That’s right. When you were in Lin City, you looked like a pampered heiress. Now the sun’s made you look just like the rest of us.”

“Didn’t we hear you were about to get married? Isn’t your fiancé worried?”

I glanced at them, knowing they were fishing for gossip.

After all, the message in the company chat had only been clarified to senior management.

My colleagues still didn’t know what had happened.

I checked the equipment and recorded the data as I answered, “We broke up.”

“Why?”

“If your fiancé gave your wedding to another woman, and your family helped him do it, would you stay with him?”

Their expressions changed.

The teasing in their eyes turned into admiration.

Xiao Lin waved her hand and tried to comfort me.

“It’s all right. Leaving the wrong person doesn’t mean you can’t build a successful career. Once you finish your training, you’ll get promoted when you return to Lin City.”

“Life is long. Wasting it on the wrong person is the real waste.”

I smiled.

“Exactly. So I guess I’m still lucky.”

“Come on, enough chatting. Get back to recording the data, or today’s trip will be a waste.”

Winter gradually came to the Northwest, and the weather grew bitterly cold.

The heated office and dormitory were bearable, but whenever we went to the worksite, our hands turned red and swollen from the cold.

I bought a pile of hand cream and heat patches for myself and my colleagues to bring along on our next site visit.

I had been so busy that my package had sat at the post office for days.

At last, I found a little time to make a trip to the town post office.

I never expected to run into Fu Sinian there. He had been asking around everywhere to find out where my company had sent me.

Our eyes met on the street. He froze for a moment, then ran toward me.

“Xiao Xin!”

When he came close, I stepped back several paces.

His hand, which had been about to embrace me, stopped in midair. My retreat made his eyes turn red at once.

“Are… are you doing well?”