"Like the Moon in the Sky" - Chapter 28
Before the afternoon workday was even over, Zhu Jinyue openly left early again, almost wearing the label “connected” on her forehead.
She timed her return to the hospital perfectly to have dinner with Zhu Yuanshan.
The caregiver, Auntie Wang, efficiently cleared away the dishes. After a short break, Zhu Jinyue continued watching TV with Zhu Yuanshan.
The old man loved watching Soldiers Sortie and never tired of it.
The TV turned on, Zhu Jinyue cast the episode from last night for him.
Xu Sanduo’s road, built at the Prairie Fifth Squad, was finally discovered, and he was currently being summoned for a talk by Regimental Commander Wang.
Zhu Jinyue had watched it with him so many times over the years she almost knew the lines by heart. Now, while watching, she slipped back into her game.
On her phone screen, the panda was munching noisily on bamboo. The TV audio reached her ears.
Regimental Commander Wang’s voice, with its distinct accent, “…Between wanting and getting, there are two more words: you must do.”
Hearing this line, Zhu Jinyue felt a slight, inexplicable stir in her heart. Before she could ponder it, the hospital room door was suddenly knocked.
Auntie Wang went to answer the door and soon returned to the room.
“Miss Zhu, President Fu has sent you a bouquet of flowers.”
Zhu Jinyue looked up from her screen to see Auntie Wang walking over with a large bouquet.
Red roses. A very large bouquet, almost twice as wide as Auntie Wang herself.
Zhu Yuanshan had been in the hospital for several days now. His energy was low due to his illness, and his sense of time was somewhat fuzzy.
“Why is someone sending flowers so late at night?” Zhu Yuanshan glanced down at his phone’s calendar and only then realized the date was special. “It’s Valentine’s Day today. Then why did you come straight here after work instead of going on a date with young Fu?”
Zhu Jinyue replied without changing her expression, “Going on a date with him isn’t as important as keeping you company. It’s just a minor Valentine’s Day; there will be plenty more holidays to celebrate in the future.”
This wasn’t even really a lie.
Even if she and Fu Zhiwang hadn’t broken up, she definitely wouldn’t have gone out on a date today.
Zhu Yuanshan, understanding her personality, didn’t suspect a thing. The corners of his mouth, usually pressed into a firm line, lifted almost imperceptibly. “Such a big bouquet, you probably can’t even carry it. Never mind, Xiao Wang, please unwrap it and arrange the flowers in a few vases for her. Take them to her room later.”
Auntie Wang, hired personally by Zhu Qinghao, was highly professional.
She had likely handled get-well flowers many times before. She swiftly trimmed the stems and arranged the flowers quite skillfully.
Looking at the beautifully arranged flowers, Zhu Jinyue couldn’t help but think of the bouquet she received yesterday.
She hadn’t thrown it away. Perhaps it’s just hard for Chinese people to refuse certain ingrained patterns, like: “Since you’re already here…”, “The tickets are already bought…”, “The gift is already given…” and so on.
That bouquet from yesterday had also been trimmed by her and placed in a vase on her desk.
Zhu Jinyue slowly withdrew her gaze, switched away from her game, found Fu Zhiwang’s WeChat, and sent him a message: 【Why did you suddenly send me flowers?】
Fu Zhiwang replied quite quickly too: 【It’s Valentine’s Day. If I don’t ask you out or send you anything, your grandfather might get suspicious.】
Zhu Jinyue’s fingers paused slightly.
It seemed she had guessed half right this morning.
Fu Zhiwang did indeed send a gift aligned with the holiday.
But the self-absorbed young master seemed to have learned a bit of subtlety.
Zhu Jinyue: 【Thanks】
Her finger hovered for a moment.
Before she could figure out what else to say, another message came through from him.
Fu Zhiwang: 【Alright, don’t waste energy thinking about how to reject me again. My memory isn’t that bad.】
Fu Zhiwang: 【Just consider it me helping my grandfather cheer up your grandfather.】
Zhu Jinyue let out a soft sigh.
With him having preemptively shut down further conversation, she really had nothing more to say. She switched back to her game, playing while continuing to keep Zhu Yuanshan company, watching TV.
Ming Chan had given them seven days.
Zhu Jinyue finished her draft rapidly on the first day. From the second day onward, she didn’t touch the draft again, showing no intention to revise it even slightly. She continued playing games on her phone during downtime. To others, it was unclear whether she simply didn’t care about this “small opportunity” or was acting completely “overconfident.”
But when she opened the game this day, she saw the login screen had reverted to the original animation.
Not only was the animation changed back, but the Valentine’s Day limited-edition little hearts above the animals’ heads were all gone too.
When Zhu Jinyue went to the fields, the farming bunny no longer hopped and circled around her like it did yesterday.
In the bamboo grove, the panda had its back to her, noisily munching bamboo. It only turned to look at her after she reached out and poked it.
The sly little fox had started sneaking towards the chicken coop again.
After playing for a while, Zhu Jinyue couldn’t resist switching apps and tapping open a certain someone’s chat window.
Zhu Jinyue: 【When will your little hearts and interactions from yesterday make a comeback?】
Zhu Jinyue: 【Or you could make them into little accessories available for purchase, that would work too.】
The reply came as quickly as ever.
Shen Qinghuai: 【I’ll have someone ask about it shortly.】
Zhu Jinyue: “?”
Zhu Jinyue: 【You’re actually going to ask?】
She was really just mentioning it casually.
Her phone vibrated softly.
Shen Qinghuai: 【Of course we should listen to reasonable suggestions from important clients.】
“Important client” Zhu Jinyue: “…”
As if he didn’t have any ulterior motives.
Well, since the “important client’s” “reasonable suggestion” had been conveyed, Zhu Jinyue didn’t plan to engage further and was about to switch back to her game.
It was as if the other person could guess her reaction, promptly throwing out a new topic.
Shen Qinghuai: 【What would you like for afternoon tea today?】
“?”
She hadn’t told him he couldn’t send afternoon tea yesterday; did that mean he planned to send more today?
Zhu Jinyue: 【Are you that free? Doesn’t your company have work to do? When are the little tiger and panda merch coming out?】
—This was clearly still picking a fight on purpose.
Although Another Village’s revenue was quite impressive for a management game, it couldn’t compare at all to the major titles under his company’s umbrella.
Let alone something as minor as merchandise, that wouldn’t even reach his level to manage.
But her phone vibrated softly again soon after.
Shen Qinghuai: 【Soon】
Huh??
Zhu Jinyue’s eyes suddenly lit up: 【Really?】
Shen Qinghuai: 【Really】
Shen Qinghuai: 【Preparing samples now】
Fang Zhiwei, walking over from a distance, suddenly said, “What are you looking at? A joke? Why are you smiling so happily?”
Zhu Jinyue’s fingers curled slightly. For some reason, she suddenly switched away from the chat interface.
Was she smiling?
Even if she was, it was because—
“The tiger and panda merch is coming out soon.” Zhu Jinyue waved her phone at Fang Zhiwei, who had reached her desk. The little plush fox keychain swung with the motion.
Fang Zhiwei’s eyes also lit up instantly, “Really?! Did your high-level friend from Weizhi tell you that?”
See!
This is the reaction every gamer has!
Reassured, Zhu Jinyue nodded at her.
“That’s great! I’ve had the money ready for ages, I even bought phone cases matching the little tiger and panda colors already.” Fang Zhiwei pulled out her chair and sat down, then suddenly leaned in a little closer, lowering her voice mysteriously. “By the way, has this friend of yours ever seen Shen Qinghuai?”
Zhu Jinyue, “…”
“He’s seen him.”
Sees him every day in the mirror.
Fang Zhiwei, “I heard he’s a super handsome guy, just really low-key. I’ve been working here for almost a year and still haven’t seen him.”
You’ve already seen him, Zhu Jinyue thought.
“I’d really like to sneak into their company for a look if I get the chance. I’ve only been to the open areas on the first floor. I heard their cafeteria is really good too.” Fang Zhiwei couldn’t help but take out her phone as she spoke. “Speaking of which, I haven’t had time to log into the game today. Keep an eye out for me, warn me if the boss comes over here.”
Zhu Jinyue, “…”
Fang Zhiwei quickly logged into the game and suddenly let out a quiet wail, “Wuwuwu, where’s my little heart bunny?”
Perhaps because the money she had set aside could finally be spent, Fang Zhiwei seemed to be in very good spirits over the next two days.
The person across the way, whether in a good mood or not, kept sending afternoon tea her way for several days in a row, each time enough for the entire studio.
This continued until Friday.
Zhu Jinyue, unusually, arrived at the studio right on time. As soon as she reached her desk, she saw Fang Zhiwei with red-rimmed eyes, looking anxious, even panicked, repeatedly trying to call someone.
Since it was just the start of the workday, the others were also at their desks, looking at her with concern or curiosity.
It seemed another call hadn’t gone through. Fang Zhiwei looked like she was about to burst into tears.
Zhu Jinyue asked her, “What’s wrong?”
Fang Zhiwei choked out, “There was an earthquake in my hometown early this morning. I can’t get through to my parents’ phones right now.”
Zhu Jinyue recalled seeing a notification about it this morning. She hadn’t been fully awake and didn’t look carefully, initially thinking it was a minor quake. Now it seemed more serious than she thought.
For some reason, natural and man-made disasters had been particularly frequent in recent years.
“Don’t panic. They might have been in a hurry to evacuate and didn’t have time to grab their phones. Do you have any relatives living near your parents? Try calling them. If you still can’t get through, I can arrange for a professional rescue team to go there.”
Fang Zhiwei must have been truly frantic with worry. She seemed to have a sudden moment of clarity, smacking her forehead, and without even replying, hurriedly dialed another number.
This time, the call finally connected. Whatever was said on the other end, Fang Zhiwei soon let out a huge sigh of relief. After hanging up, she looked at Zhu Jinyue and said, “My parents woke up early today, they’re fine. They just really forgot their phones. Both they and my uncle’s family are okay. They’re helping out a bit nearby right now and forgot to let me know they’re safe.”
Zhu Jinyue nodded. “That’s good to hear.”
Jiang Rui chose that moment to interject with a sarcastic tone: “There are still plenty of other people trapped, you know. Why don’t you dispatch a rescue team to help them too?”
Zhu Jinyue gave him a cold glance.
“You said it yourself, there are plenty of people trapped. If I send one rescue team, who do they rescue first, and who do they not? Can a civilian team, no matter how professional, really compare to the military? Sending too many—is that helping or causing more chaos?” Zhu Jinyue shook her head. “Comrade, your ideological awareness is lacking. You need to trust the government, understand?”
Jiang Rui was left speechless, choking on his words. After a long moment, he snorted coldly, got up, and went to the sample room.
Zhu Jinyue couldn’t be bothered with him.
Fang Zhiwei didn’t get much work done all morning.
Even though her family was safe, her hometown had been reduced to ruins overnight. The familiar landscape was now scarred and devastated. It was impossible for her mood to be good.
She sat at her desk almost the entire time, closely following the disaster updates.
Although it wasn’t as catastrophic or nationally shocking as the major earthquakes in previous years, the magnitude this time was still considerable. Fortunately, it happened early in the morning when many people were already awake, allowing them to escape in time and alert their families and friends.
In the face of natural disasters where humans have little resistance, families like Fang Zhiwei’s, who only suffered property damage, were considered lucky. The truly unfortunate would likely remain buried underground forever.
Major official media outlets began live broadcasts of the rescue efforts. The casualty numbers kept rising intermittently.
Fang Zhiwei sat motionless at her spot, holding her phone.
Zhu Jinyue sighed inwardly, opened WeChat, and tapped on a certain someone’s chat window.
Zhu Jinyue: 【Don’t send afternoon tea today.】
She didn’t elaborate, but the person on the other end easily guessed the reason.
Shen Qinghuai: 【Saw the news?】
Zhu Jinyue typed gloomily: 【Mn.】
Shen Qinghuai: 【Do you need me to call and chat with you for a bit?】
Zhu Jinyue: “?”
Who said she needed him to chat with her?
Zhu Jinyue: 【No need】
Zhu Jinyue: 【Who’s like you? I have to work properly】
This person had been sending her afternoon tea with great fanfare for several days. Zhu Jinyue felt he probably could guess a bit of her plan and should know it was impossible for her to be working seriously here. But when her phone buzzed again, he didn’t expose her.
Shen Qinghuai: 【Okay】
Shen Qinghuai: 【You have my number anyway. If you need someone to chat with, you can find me anytime】
It was as if he was endlessly gentle and never lost his temper with her.
But since when did she have his number?
Zhu Jinyue thought back.
Ah, right. It seemed to be on her first day working at Yuanjiang, when he booked a private room for her. He had sent her a number then.
So.
Did that mean he already had ulterior motives towards her back then?
So… when exactly did he start liking her?
Zhu Jinyue never managed to figure out the answer to that question.
When she returned to the hospital at noon, she saw Zhu Yuanshan also had the TV on, watching live news reports about the disaster.
He was still in recovery. Worried that watching this would distress him, Zhu Jinyue directly changed the channel.
When she returned to the studio in the afternoon, Fang Zhiwei was still sitting at her desk, holding her phone.
Zhu Jinyue pulled out her chair and sat down, checking the latest reports online—the number of casualties had increased significantly.
She slumped over her plush eggplant, lacking even the spirit to play games.
Mid-afternoon, Fang Zhiwei spoke up, “The official donation channels are finally open. I’m going to donate some money.”
Zhu Jinyue looked up, “Send me the account info. I’ll donate a bit too.”
Might as well accumulate some good karma for her grandfather.
Fang Zhiwei sent her the account details and quickly made her own donation to the published account. She didn’t dare donate too much, not knowing the situation with her own family’s house.
After donating, Fang Zhiwei leaned over to look at Zhu Jinyue’s screen, originally intending to thank her again. But one look almost blinded her with the string of zeros.
She counted carefully to confirm the amount , “You call 5 million ‘a bit of money’?”
Jiang Rui, who was also at his desk, heard this and sarcastically chimed in again, “Isn’t 5 million to them about the same as 500 yuan is to us?”
This time, before Zhu Jinyue could respond, Fang Zhiwei couldn’t stop herself from retorting, “And did you donate 500 yuan? If not, then shut up.”
As if he hadn’t expected her to talk back, Jiang Rui was momentarily stunned. He opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing, turning away with a cold expression.
Fang Zhiwei then turned back to Zhu Jinyue, still fuming, “Don’t mind him. Although he’s always been a bit sharp-tongued, he’s never been as annoying as he is now. I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately.”
Zhu Jinyue casually responded with an “Mm,” and asked her, “Do you want to sleep for a while? I’ll wake you when your boss comes.”
The anger on Fang Zhiwei’s face faded, and after a moment of silence, she said, “I can’t sleep.”
Not all the missing persons had been rescued yet.
But night was gradually falling.
That evening, Zhu Jinyue, as usual, accompanied Zhu Yuanshan while he watched Soldiers Sortie.
However, the TV drama had now reached the part where Shi Jin was about to retire.
Zhu Yuanshan let out a soft sigh, “Back when that major earthquake happened, this series had only been airing for a short time. Back then, banners and slogans with ‘Never abandon, never give up’ were everywhere. Your grandmother cried secretly several times. If she hadn’t been tied down by work, she probably would have gone to the scene herself to help.”
Zhu Jinyue gently lowered her eyes.
Truthfully, the one who truly loved Soldiers Sortie and never tired of watching it was her grandmother.
If she missed her grandmother this much, her grandfather missed her even more.
Suppressing the ache in her nose, Zhu Jinyue feigned displeasure and said, “Yeah, and you’ve watched it so many times already. Aren’t you sick of it? Besides, I’ve been watching this show you like with you for so long. It’s about time you watched something I like with me.”
Zhu Yuanshan looked up at her, “What do you want to watch?”
Zhu Jinyue, “Tom and Jerry.”
Zhu Yuanshan, “…”
Without waiting for his agreement, Zhu Jinyue searched for Tom and Jerry herself and randomly selected an episode. The vibrant green military uniforms on the TV were replaced by the cartoon.
The little mouse zipped across the screen, with the big cat chasing frantically behind.
The humorous background music and exaggerated sound effects filled the hospital room, seemingly dispelling the somber atmosphere that had lingered in the air just moments before.
Zhu Jinyue made her grandfather watch several episodes of the cartoon with her until, as usual, Zhu Yuanshan grew tired and went to bed early.
She stayed by the hospital bed a little longer, only returning to her own room after her grandfather had fallen sound asleep.
Because the soundproofing was only average, except for that Sunday outing, Zhu Jinyue usually took a shower shortly after dinner. Now, back in her room, she changed into her pajamas and slipped directly under the covers.
She wasn’t sleepy yet, so she half-leaned against the headboard and opened Weibo, which she hadn’t checked in a long time.
The hot searches were now almost entirely dominated by topics related to the disaster, including many hashtags about donations.
Zhu Jinyue first saw the hashtags about her own family’s company and her brother-in-law’s company each donating 50 million. Scrolling further down, she was both surprised and not surprised to see another hashtag—