He Wasn't Him

Luo Xiyun staggered back to her room and slammed the door shut. With her back against it, she slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor.

She drew up her legs, wrapped her arms around her knees, and buried her head against them, letting her wet hair hang loose. Drops of water trickled from her hair onto the floor, gradually forming a puddle.

She sat there without moving. After an unknown amount of time, faint music began playing from her handbag.

A minute later, the music stopped. A few seconds later, it started ringing again.

It rang and stopped, then stopped and rang again. After four or five times, she finally moved, reaching into the bag for her phone. She answered it and held it to her ear.

"Why did it take you so long to answer? So, have you figured it out? Was that person the same one from your dream?"

Liu Yumeng's anxious voice came from the other end of the call.

She was silent for a moment before saying, "He wasn't."

"Oh, isn't that a good thing? Why do you sound so unhappy?"

"I'm hanging up." After saying that, she ended the call, turned off her phone, and tossed it aside.

After a while, she repeated, "He wasn't."

Gradually, a deep exhaustion washed over her. Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. In her haze, she saw Chen Xu again, enunciating every word as he said, "To hell with gentlemanly manners."

That Chen Xu whose heart was harder than iron, who could ignore her for months over a single remark from her.

That Chen Xu who could not stand the slightest grievance, who was more petty than the eye of a needle, who only knew how to snap at her—the absolute worst bastard.

That irresponsible scumbag who, even before dying, had refused to say a single nice thing. He had left her all alone, then hypocritically told her to live well by herself...

"He wasn't you..."

Her barely audible voice sounded in the room.

When Luo Xiyun left, Chen Xu watched her retreating figure. For some reason, a pang rose in his chest, and he suddenly felt the urge to catch up and support her.

Was she sad?

He suppressed that urge, but doubt lingered in his heart. Just then, for a moment, he had actually felt that she seemed deeply sorrowful.

It must have been an illusion.

After her figure disappeared through the doorway, he felt oddly empty inside.

The others, meanwhile, completely relaxed. Under Secretary Guo's guidance, they officially began the games. Without the leadership present, everyone could finally let loose, and before long, laughter and chatter filled the air.

In a way, Luo Xiyun's original goal had been achieved.

Only Chen Xu remained absent-minded, detached from the crowd.

The others understood. After all, it was perfectly normal to be in a bad mood after being publicly criticized by President Luo.

Someone advised him to go back and rest first, and he readily agreed, returning to his room.

He lay on the bed. Once he had calmed down, he seriously reflected on things and decided that he had been thrown into confusion because he cared too much.

Even though he had spent a great deal of time mentally preparing himself beforehand, treating everything as a dream.

How could he possibly forget, or simply cut off, the feelings they had built over several months in that dream?

When they did not interact much normally, it was not much of a problem. But when they faced each other like they had today, he realized just how ridiculously fragile his mental preparation was. He could not help caring about her.

Having figured that out, he sighed and muttered, "My head must have been caught in a door back then. Why did I have to copy someone I knew in reality into the dream?"

The lover he had been inseparable from in the dream had become a stranger the moment he woke up. And he still had to see her every day. Anyone would lose their mind.

"No, I can't stay at this company any longer. After this month, I'll resign."

He made up his mind to cut through the mess quickly. As long as he did not see her, after some time, all of this would become a beautiful memory in his heart.

"Stop overthinking it. She isn't the her from the dream."

He silently told himself that, then gradually drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Chen Xu woke up on time. After a night's sleep, his mood had mostly settled. Once he had washed up, he headed to the restaurant on the second floor, where everyone was supposed to gather that day.

As soon as he reached the second floor, he ran into a colleague and learned from him that Luo Xiyun had fallen ill. Secretary Guo had taken her to the hospital overnight, and she still had not returned.

The news had been posted in the work group, but Chen Xu had not seen it yet.

"Is she okay?" Chen Xu's heart tightened, and he blurted out the question.

The colleague said, "They said she had a high fever. After an IV drip, the fever went down. Secretary Guo is taking President Luo home now. Just check the group chat."

Chen Xu took out his phone and scrolled through the group messages. He happened to see a message Secretary Guo had just sent, saying she had already brought Luo Xiyun home. Only then did he relax.

"What about today's activities?" Chen Xu remembered something.

"I'll ask." The colleague took out his phone and sent Secretary Guo a message.

Very soon, Secretary Guo replied, "Free time."

The structure of their Electronic Sales Department was rather strange. In theory, Liu Kun was the top person in charge, but in reality, Luo Xiyun handled the day-to-day management. It could be said that the entire department was run by the two of them.

Below them should have been Secretary Guo. She was Luo Xiyun's assistant, and many orders were relayed through her to everyone else.

And that was it. The remaining colleagues were all ordinary employees, with no distinction in rank.

Chen Xu guessed that Liu Kun and Luo Xiyun wanted a flat management structure. It was a good idea, but if neither of them was around, things could easily turn into a disorganized mess, with no one knowing who to listen to.

Even now, with Luo Xiyun and Secretary Guo gone, they could not find anyone to take charge. All they could do was have free time.

Chen Xu did not go looking for Dai Zixin. After what had happened last night, she had been avoiding him a little.

Luo Xiyun must have scared her badly last night.

Honestly, he was rather relieved. After reality had taught her a lesson, she was finally no longer as careless and thoughtless as before.

He did not want to stay in the hotel either. Seeing that the weather outside was nice, he casually headed out for a walk.

The surrounding scenery was nice. Before he knew it, he had wandered to the Basketball Court where yesterday's Team Building activity had taken place. Looking over, he saw that those hosts were playing basketball.

They saw him too and all stopped.

"I heard them calling you Chen Xu yesterday." The man who seemed to be their leader took the initiative to walk over and greet him. "My name is Zhao Gang."

Chen Xu gave him a friendly smile. "You guys haven't gone back yet?"

"We're waiting until this afternoon to ride back with you." As Zhao Gang spoke, he pointed toward the court. "Want to play a few rounds with us?"

Chen Xu shook his head. "Forget it. This little body of mine can't take being bumped around by you."

"Come on, we're skill players. We won't bully you with our bodies." Zhao Gang warmly invited him.

Chen Xu was not falling for it. His skills were terrible, and he had no desire to embarrass himself on the court.

"Then how about a shooting contest?" At that moment, the man whom Chen Xu had nearly made question his life with his shooting yesterday suggested it.

Chen Xu glanced at him and thought, Isn't this just asking to be crushed? PS: Seeing so many tips is seriously stressing me out. Enough talking—I'm going to write and stockpile chapters.