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Chapter 1
Xu Huan worked overtime extremely late. When she left, she was the only one left at the company. The sky outside was completely black, and the weather carried the first hints of winter along with it. Xu Huan felt a bit cold. It was difficult to call a taxi on this street, especially when it got late. She had already been standing at the intersection for half an hour, but she hadn"t seen even one taxi.
Xu Huan rubbed her hands together, her heart filled with a bit of anxiousness. She wasn"t the only one waiting for a taxi either; the man next to her had waited even longer than she had. Even if a taxi did come, she would have to let the other person take it first, and then continue to wait for the next taxi.
This situation made Xu Huan feel dispirited. As she sighed, a taxi just happened to pull over, propelled by the traffic. Xu Huan turned her head and looked at the man standing just a few paces away from her, her eyes filled with admiration.
He could finally absolve himself of this issue, while she would have to continue to wait.
Xu Huan turned back around, sorrowfully sighing into her hand. She wanted to make herself warmer, but no matter how much she breathed into her hand, the chilliness still swirled about her.
She suddenly heard something.
"Are you trying to take a taxi?" She a.s.sented and looked up to see who was talking to her. It was that man. "You should go first. I can wait for the next one." Through the faint yellow streetlights, Xu Huan vaguely made out a smile on his face.
Xu Huan hesitated. "That… wouldn"t be nice right? You"ve already waited for such a long time…"
"No problem." She finally saw him clearly. He was indeed smiling. "You"re a girl, and it"s already so late. Waiting by yourself isn"t such a good idea, so you might as well go first."
While he said this, he waved his hand at her to gesture her over.
Xu Huan quickly ran over. He had already opened the car door for her.
Sitting in the car, Xu Huan looked up and thanked him. "Thank you!"
The man gently smiled at her again. "It"s fine. You don"t have to be that polite."Xu Huan became a little lost in his smile.
He was such a handsome and dashing fellow, especially when he smiled. The tips of his brows and the implications hidden in his eyes made him indescribably enchanting.
He closed the car door, and waved goodbye to her. He waved at the taxi driver again, as if to tell him that he could start driving now.
The taxi began to set off, as it slowly moved forward. The driver didn"t drive too quickly, because an accident had occurred in front of them, and there was a bit of a traffic jam. Xu Huan watched the man through the gla.s.s window. He was also rubbing his hands together.
In an instant, Xu Huan became at a loss.
He had waited there longer than she had. Even though he was a man, she was wearing a big jacket, while he only wore a suit. He must be colder than she was.
The cars were jammed in front of them, and since the taxi was moving along slowly, they weren"t too far from where they had just left. Xu Huan was conflicted for a moment, but she finally somewhat rashly called out to the taxi driver. "Driver, could we turn around at the intersection in front and go back to where we just came from?"
The driver was a bit flabbergasted. "Sure.." The next moment, he seemed to have thought of what Xu Huan wanted to do. "Are we going to pick up that gentleman?"
Xu Huan smiled, embarra.s.sed.
The taxi returned to its initial position. Sure enough, that man still hadn"t managed to get a taxi, and he was currently standing by the road rubbing his hands and stamping his feet.
When he saw that the car had turned around, he felt it extremely strange. Xu Huan opened the car door and said to him, "Get in the car! Very rarely do taxis stop by here at this hour, so let"s just go together!"
The man hesitated for a moment, but he finally opened the car door on the driver"s side.
"Then, thank you!" He smiled at Xu Huan, and told the driver, "Driver, drop her off first!" Then, he told him his address. "Then me!"
The driver thought about it and couldn"t help but say, "Dropping you off first will be better. If I take her home first, I"ll have to make a detour."
Xu Huan immediately interjected, "Then please drop this gentleman off first!"
The man was resolute. "It"s not an issue, please take her home first!" He turned around and smiled at Xu Huan. "Don"t argue with me. You"re a girl so we should go this route."
Xu Huan looked at his handsome smile. Her heart was a little moved. This society had become more and more materialistic, until one"s benefit became more important than anything else. The truth often wore thin with each pa.s.sing day, and sometimes even colleagues who had known each other for a few years would never speak any genuine words to each other. However, she never would have thought that today she would feel the urge to modestly decline another person"s generous proposition, and the need to care for this person.
On the way to her home, Xu Huan kept stealing glances at the man"s face. She was fortunate that he hadn"t discovered her intermittent glances…
The next day at work, Xu Huan was filled with vexation and disappointment.
She regretted that she hadn"t summoned the courage to ask that man what his name was, or what his cell phone number was… She hadn"t thought that she would keep constantly thinking about a stranger whom she had just met to this extent.
She began to work overtime everyday. Even if she had already finished all her work, she wasn"t willing to leave early. She would wait until the exact same time that day and go out to get a taxi, hoping that this would allow her to meet him again.
However, it was a great pity that her wish would never be granted. Though she froze herself many nights in a row, no one was willing to give her the opportunity to ride in a taxi first. Usually, everyday she would have to wait an average of forty minutes before she could get home. Xu Huan"s hopes slowly vanished. On these chilly nights, on this street in a modern city, she would always stare at the backs of the people who had raced in front of her to steal the taxi away.
She persisted in this manner for ten days. On the eleventh day, she decided not to work overtime any longer, and began to clock out at a normal time.
Over the past few days of hailing taxis, she had embraced a beautiful dream and a fascinating beginning. Unfortunately, this experience hadn"t fulfilled her wishes of being reunited.
Xu Huan thought about it. Life was realistic, so she decided to do away with her little wistful thoughts and decided to stop indulging in fantasies.
She did not know whether this counted as a small unrequited lost love failure.
Recently, the company had transferred some people out. The general manager of Xu Huan"s department and his family had all emigrated away. A new boss was about to take on the task immediately.
Everyone was curious about the new boss. During lunchtime, when they all ate together, they all asked incessant questions about the boss to a small worker in the Human Resources Department, Li Feifei.
Li Feifei didn"t mind being asked so many questions, but in the end, she could only give them a few hints.
"Your new boss is someone who the company dug up from the filthy building next door, and he is someone extremely famous. Now that I"ve pointed this out, if you guys can"t figure out who he is, then you guys are too stupid!"
She had just finished speaking, when someone called, "Wan Songtao? Could it be Wan Songtao?"
Li Feifei picked at her eyebrows and rolled her eyes, as if she was giving her tacit agreement. Her colleagues immediately became excited. "It"s really him? Omg, it seems the company has really spent a TON of hard-earned capital to get him over here!"
Xu Huan had just graduated, and she hadn"t been working for a long time. It was evident that everyone had become excited once they heard this name, but her reaction was more sluggish and perplexed.
"Is Wan Songtao very outstanding?" She asked a colleague next to her. The colleague immediately shot a complicated glance at her. "Xu Huan, your question is literally like you"re asking me whether Steve Jobs, who made the iPhone4, is famous. Of all the workers in the company, who doesn"t know about Mo Songtao?! I feel ashamed for you!"
Xu Huan immediately went online and checked. Then, she really did feel ashamed of herself. Mo Songtao was like a flag of the industrial world. Even though he was young, he had managed to rise up quickly, and his performance was remarkable. If someone had came into this division, but didn"t know about Mo Songtao, they had practically committed a huge crime.
And along with this shamefulness of not knowing who he was, she also felt shock, excitement depression, and expectation all at the same time.
When she looked at the picture on Baidu, that person"s suit, charming smile, and wise and shiny eyes twinkled with firmness and confidence. This made Xu Huan feel as if she knew him, yet as if she did not really understand him at the same time.
The person whom she had waited for for ten nights was currently smiling back at her from the computer screen.
Translated by tranzgeek
Edited by Ely