Sweet as Honey and Sugar - Chapter 8:
Chen Mingxing was a little surprised. For the first time that night,
the cold stillness on her face softened with a trace of warmth.
She had imagined countless possibilities for this evening but not this.
She hadn’t expected it to be her birthday.
Her throat tightened. Her lips moved, as though to speak,
but the words dissolved before they could escape.
Chi Jiayi stood there with the cake in her hands, gazing at her steadily.
Her eyes shimmered, misted over with stubborn emotion that refused to hide.
The others in the room exchanged awkward glances, all at a loss for words.
The air felt heavy, strange, caught between embarrassment and tenderness.
Someone spoke first, urging her to blow out the candles before they melted completely.
The rest immediately followed, echoing the call, their voices overlapping to ease the tension.
Chi Jiayi lifted the cake a little higher, holding it out toward her and
asked if she wanted to make a wish.
Chen Mingxing softly agreed.
She closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them again.
With a quiet breath, she blew out the candles.
You really put effort into this, she said gently.
Thank you.
Chi Jiayi nodded and placed the cake on the table, telling her to come and cut it.
After saying that, she raised a hand and wiped the corner of her eye.
She was crying.
The others stirred, wanting to comfort her, but He Qingrou discreetly stopped them.
With a small gesture, she urged everyone out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.
They understood instantly and left one by one, even closing the door behind them.
Soon, only the faint hum of the hallway filled the air.
In the lounge area outside, He Qingrou didn’t join the group. She sat quietly by herself,
until a short-haired woman came over and sat down beside her.
The woman greeted her politely, introducing herself as Wu Jin.
He Qingrou recognized her as one of Chi Jiayi’s friends,
though they had never spoken much before.
Wu Jin asked if she was He Qingrou, and when she confirmed, Wu Jin smiled,
saying they had met a few times but wasn’t sure if she remembered.
He Qingrou nodded, recalling the welcome dinner for Chen Mingxing where
Wu Jin had also been present.
Wu Jin said she had wanted to get to know her but didn’t want to seem too forward.
He Qingrou gave a polite smile, unsure what to say in return.
Wu Jin continued, mentioning that she heard He Qingrou had moved to the old city district,
and that she lived nearby too. She suggested they could meet for coffee sometime.
He Qingrou nodded out of courtesy. Before she could think of what to say next,
her phone buzzed. It was Lin Nai calling.
She excused herself quickly, saying she needed to take the call.
Wu Jin gestured for her to go ahead. He Qingrou got up and stepped into the quiet hallway,
lowering her voice as she answered, asking what was wrong.
There was no reply at first, only the faint crackle of static. Then, after a few seconds,
a calm voice came through, explaining that she had just passed through
a tunnel and lost signal earlier.
He Qingrou responded softly.
Lin Nai continued, saying that the next day she would need to accompany her
on a business trip to Hexin International. Their flight would be at nine thirty in the morning.
Lin Nai said she would bring all the documents, so there was no need for He Qingrou to
return to the office first. She should go straight to the airport and wait.
He Qingrou frowned slightly, asking how long the trip would take and what it was about.
Business trips rarely came up so suddenly unless something unusual had happened.
Lin Nai explained that it would only take half a day and they would be back by evening.
It wasn’t a big deal, just a visit and a briefing. She had only received the notice a few hours ago.
He Qingrou agreed softly, saying she would wait at the airport.
The other end went quiet, but the call didn’t end. He Qingrou switched the phone to her other ear
and for a moment thought she heard a faint sigh, so soft it might have been the wind.
Lin Nai had just exited the expressway. She slowed down the car and cracked the window open,
letting the cool wind rush in.
Turning up the Bluetooth volume, she waited for He Qingrou to speak but
couldn’t help breaking the silence first.
She asked what He Qingrou had been doing before she called.
For a while, there was no sound. Then came He Qingrou’s quiet voice,
gentle and almost teasing, saying she was talking to her.
The answer made Lin Nai’s hands tighten on the steering wheel.
Her tone softened as she clarified that she meant what she had been doing
before answering the phone.
He Qingrou hesitated, then replied vaguely that she was at a small gathering
with Jiayi and the others. She asked what Lin Nai was doing.
Lin Nai said she had worked overtime all day and was driving home now.
Her voice carried a kind of weary calm. She could have texted about the business trip earlier,
but she didn’t want it to sound so distant.
He Qingrou searched for something to say but found nothing.
After a pause, she asked gently if there was anything else.
If not, she said she would hang up.
Lin Nai hesitated and then asked if she was angry.
He Qingrou frowned, confused by the sudden question.
Lin Nai mentioned what had happened the night before.
Maybe she had been too impulsive, too forward.
Realization dawned on He Qingrou. She looked around to make sure no one
was nearby before replying quietly that she wasn’t angry.
If she were still in her early twenties, maybe she would have been. But now,
almost thirty, she had learned to see such things calmly.
Desire wasn’t shameful, and it didn’t make her reckless or naive.
It was simply part of being human.
Lin Nai started to say something but stopped herself. Instead,
she asked how the decelerator project was going.
He Qingrou said it was done and that she would submit it the next day.
Since she would be traveling, she still needed to message
Wan Keyin to hand over the documents and manage the follow-up.
Lin Nai said it should go smoothly and that the review wouldn’t take long.
They might get the results before Friday.
He Qingrou sighed softly, saying she hoped it passed.
The whole department was anxious, and some senior staff weren’t happy about it.
They had been nitpicking her work ever since the project was reassigned to her.
If it passed, the bonus would be substantial, at least twenty thousand, maybe more.
No wonder people were watching her so closely.
She mentioned that the wind on Lin Nai’s end was too loud, making it hard to hear.
Lin Nai rolled up the window and told her that once the project was done,
she should remember to thank Vice Manager Yao and Master Jiang.
He Qingrou asked why.
Lin Nai explained that they were the ones who recommended her.
The department had planned to choose someone else, but they had
gone out of their way to put her name forward.
He Qingrou was caught off guard. She hadn’t known that.
She nodded softly and said she would remember to thank them.
Lin Nai reminded her not to stay out too late and to get some rest.
She told her not to be late the next morning.
He Qingrou agreed and waited until the call ended before lowering her phone.
As she walked back toward the lounge, she saw Chen Mingxing step out of the room.
Her face was flushed, her breathing uneven, and her clothes slightly disheveled.
When she saw He Qingrou, she froze, then quickly turned back inside.
He Qingrou frowned and glanced at the door. Through the narrow gap,
she caught a glimpse of white fabric, and then came a sharp, low voice telling someone to let go.
Moments later came another muffled shout, angry and breathless.
The soundproofing was poor. Faint, hurried breaths mixed with soft gasps reached her ears.
He Qingrou blinked once, her expression calm, and turned away as though she had heard nothing.
The next morning dawned bright and clear, sunlight spilling across the city like liquid gold.
By the time their plane landed in Beijing, the general manager of
Hexin International was already waiting to greet them.
There was no time to rest. They went straight to the company’s factory complex.
Two others accompanied the manager, a department head and a young man
from R&D, probably twenty-three or twenty-four, articulate and energetic.
He spoke at length, explaining everything from company structure to
product development with ease.
Midway through, the general manager took a phone call. After a brief,
hushed exchange with his colleagues, he excused himself and left.
The purpose of Lin Nai and He Qingrou’s trip was to inspect Hexin’s new energy vehicle,
the S57 model, part of a growing collaboration between the two companies.
But after half a day touring the factory, no one had mentioned the car.
Finally, He Qingrou exchanged a glance with Lin Nai and spoke directly,
saying they wanted to see the S57 new energy model.
The young employee stiffened and looked uncertainly at the department head.
The man forced a smile and said that it was almost lunchtime, suggesting they eat first.
Lin Nai frowned slightly and told him to just say what the problem was.
He hadn’t expected her to be so direct. After a pause,
he admitted that one of the components had developed a minor issue.
He quickly added that it wasn’t serious and would be fixed by tomorrow.
The young employee jumped in, smiling brightly, and suggested that since they had come all this
way, they could use the evening to visit the Forbidden City or walk down Chang’an Avenue.
He Qingrou didn’t respond, leaving the decision to Lin Nai.
Given the months of cooperation between their companies, waiting an extra day wasn’t
unreasonable. Lin Nai eventually nodded in agreement.
The department head let out a sigh of relief and sent the young man to
arrange their accommodations.
Unfortunately, his arrangements weren’t ideal. He booked them a double room.