CH 182

Chapter 182 – 1992-2020

Facts proved that Xu RenDong was thinking too much.

This is the last level of the last dungeon, how could it let go of him so easily?

As soon as he walked to the front of the manager’s office, the colleague behind him raised his head and said: “The boss has gone out to discuss business and he won’t be back today. What do you need with him?” Xu RenDong turned around and said, “I have something urgent at home and I have to go back early in the afternoon, so I want to ask for a leave.”

The colleague said blankly: “Then you have to finish the work, or the progress will be delayed.” He pointed at his desk and then buried himself in hard work.

Xu RenDong glanced at the desk and saw that several documents had piled up into mountains. This amount far exceeds his usual normal workload. In contrast, there are only one or two documents on the desks of other colleagues, which is much less than before they left for lunch break.

It appears that…they’re passing their jobs on to him.

Lian Qiao also noticed this, and asked: “Do they bully you like this on the outside too?”

Xu RenDong held his forehead: “I don’t feel it when I’m outside. After all, it’s not as obvious as it is now when, after a meal, there will be so much more work …” He was a little embarrassed when he said this, “I just realized now that I am such a failure in life and everyone hates me so much.”

Lian Qiao thought for a while, and said: “This instance is a reflection of reality, and it will magnify reality. I think, people outside may just think that you are not easy to get close to, so here it will be enlarged to… uh…” He hesitated for a while, but couldn’t think of a suitable wording, so he had to smile and said, “It will be enlarged into a cold storage.”

RenDong thought about it and it made sense. Take the rice ball just now as an example, for them it was just a rejection of a rice ball but for colleagues, perhaps it was because he repeatedly rejected everyone’s kindness in the past six months and rarely participated in group activities, so everyone’s attitude suddenly dropped to a freezing point towards him.

RenDong smiled bitterly: “Forget it, this is the end of the matter, let’s go to work honestly.”

He and Lian Qiao returned to their seats together. At this time, the office chairs of the two of them were frozen stiff and it was as if they were sitting on a piece of ice, which felt chilly in their hearts. RenDong shivered involuntarily. Lian Qiao naturally took his hand, put it to his lips and breathed lightly.

This action reminded RenDong that in a certain reincarnation, he was accidentally injured by Lian Qiao and was admitted to the hospital. Lian Qiao came to see him full of guilt and blamed himself so much that he couldn’t lift his head. But when Lian Qiao noticed that he was shrinking from the cold, he also reacted in the same way.

It was almost a physiological reflex, an instinct.

Xu RenDong looked at him and, although his body was still cold, his heart was as warm as though it had been soaked in a hot spring.

Finally, RenDong’s hands warmed up a bit. Lian Qiao got up and said, “You do things first, I’ll look for hot water.”

RenDong felt that the water dispenser would definitely not work normally at this time but,  seeing how Lian Qiao left decisively, he suddenly had a thought in his mind:

Was Lian Qiao also anxious?

Even someone as smart as Lian Qiao couldn’t help him with these financial statements. He could only stay by RenDong’s side, guarding him, at most to warm his hands.

This feeling of powerlessness was uncomfortable. RenDong has experienced it countless times, so he understands it very well.

So he didn’t stop Lian Qiao, but turned his attention back to work.

Although there are no windows in the office, there is a whistling cold wind coming from nowhere. Xu RenDong’s hand, which had just warmed up, quickly became cold and numb again. He tapped the keyboard with difficulty, only feeling that he was about to be frozen into a zombie.

To make matters worse, not only was he frozen stiff, but even the computer was affected by the low temperature and its running speed slowed down considerably. Not to mention the keyboard and mouse, it takes several clicks to respond.

The work was piled up like a mountain and now the computer was also not working well. Xu RenDong’s work efficiency was greatly reduced.

Lian Qiao walked around the office and came back soon. Sure enough, there was no hot water. He could only hug RenDong, trying to reduce the loss of heat from RenDong’s body as much as possible.

Xu RenDong has put all his body and mind into his work, completely oblivious to what happened around him. But office bullying was not for nothing after all. Originally, it was the workload of two or three people, coupled with equipment failure, even if Xu RenDong was as skilled as he was, it was impossible to finish it before gets off work.

Seeing that the time is approaching six o’clock, it is almost time to get off work but there is still more than half of the work left. At this speed, it is absolutely impossible for him to finish before ten o’clock.

Xu RenDong couldn’t help becoming anxious. He worried that if he missed the big truck at ten o’clock, he might miss the elevator forever. What’s more, the office at this time didn’t even have a door and it was surrounded by thick ice walls, so he couldn’t just skip out on work.

He can’t stay like this any longer. RenDong was already physically weak and, after sitting in this environment of unknown degrees below zero for an entire afternoon, his whole body was frozen stiff and he felt that her blood was about to freeze. No matter how much Lian Qiao hugged and protected him, he couldn’t resist the loss of body heat after all. What’s more, if this continues, Lian Qiao’s body will not be able to bear it.

Xu RenDong bit his pale lips, his stiff fingers gradually stopped on the keyboard, showing a thoughtful look.

Although he didn’t say a word, Lian Qiao could read his anxiety from his expression, and said softly: “Actually… I have an idea. I just want you to make a little sacrifice.”

RenDong’s eyes lit up: “What?”

“Just to ask your colleagues to help you share some work.”

RenDong said in surprise: “It was originally a task they pushed to me, will that work?”

“I’m just guessing, after all, the instance will magnify all the details. A rice ball will trigger bullying, a love confession will…” When he said this, he suddenly cut off the conversation.

RenDong didn’t know why he stopped. He cast a puzzled look at him and waited quietly for him to continue.

The muscles in the corners of Lian Qiao’s eyes twitched slightly. He suddenly smiled. His eyebrows are bent, covering the abnormality of the muscles in the corners of the eyes.

“…Maybe a letter of apology can restore everyone’s goodwill towards you?” Lian Qiao said.

RenDong suddenly realized: “You make a lot of sense.” He wanted to write a letter of apology.

Lian Qiao said again: “It’s not necessary to write a letter, maybe you can go and apologize to them in person and the matter will be over. I’m just using an example.”

RenDong stopped writing, and asked in surprise: “Then what is the sacrifice you are talking about?”

Lian Qiao smiled and raised his hand to stroke his frost-covered eyebrows: “Because you have never asked for help in your life and your self-esteem is so strong. I am afraid that you will not be able to lower your head. Why don’t I go?” “

“How have I not asked for help before?” RenDong sighed softly, leaned into his ear, and said in a low voice, “When you put me in an unbearable state, don’t I ask you for help?”

Lian Qiao heard this and was stunned. His heart was itchy and hot like being scratched by a kitten. He couldn’t speak for a while.

RenDong was in a good mood, pinched his face and said with a smile: “I have finally learned this trick. The effect is really outstanding.” After speaking, he got up and walked towards his colleagues.

Lian Qiao’s face was flushed but, after hearing the phrase “learned this trick”, his face changed slightly.

RenDong walked to Liu XiaoQi’s side, bent down and said something politely. Liu XiaoQi didn’t raise her head and she seemed to be indifferent.

RenDong was not discouraged and still talked to her in a low voice. Finally, Liu XiaoQi curled her lips, turned her head and said a few words.

RenDong smiled as if apologizing, took out his phone, tapped the screen a few times and then handed the phone to Liu XiaoQi.

It’s unknown what she saw on RenDong’s phone. Liu XiaoQi’s expression softened a lot. She tapped the screen a few times, said something to the colleagues around her and then handed RenDong’s phone to them.

The mobile phone went around in the hands of colleagues and finally returned to Xu RenDong’s hands. RenDong lowered his head to operate and then chatted with his colleagues for a while. It can be seen that everyone’s attitude towards him has eased a lot at this time.

The surrounding temperature also began to rise significantly.

Lian Qiao, who was watching from a distance, wiped the water from his forehead casually and the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a gentle smile.

When RenDong came back, he asked: “What did you tell them?”

RenDong said: “I ordered milk tea for everyone.”

Lian Qiao laughed: “You actually know how to order milk tea? Why haven’t I seen you drink milk tea before?”

“In fact, my colleagues taught me.” RenDong thought of something and the smile on his face became very distant, “It feels like a long, long time ago… when we just established our relationship.”

“Huh?”  RenDong smiled and had a nostalgic look. He shook his head: “I forgot which instance it was but we were together after it came out. After you moved here, I began to feel… many things that I thought were boring before gradually became interesting. It’s like the original black and white world has become colorful little by little.”

As Lian Qiao listened, the corners of his mouth became more and more raised, but his eyes lowered slightly.

Immediately, as if he had figured something out, a self-deprecating smile flashed in his eyes. Then he raised his hand and gently wiped away the snow on RenDong’s eyebrows.

RenDong smiled and said, “Oh, why am I so silly today. I don’t have time anymore, I have to hurry up.”

As he spoke, he picked up a few documents and handed them over to his colleagues.

Xu RenDong’s fawning behavior was just offering milk tea, so he did not expect to get such a good result. Not only did his colleagues agree to help him share the work but even the surrounding temperature gradually returned to normal.

The frozen bodies of the two finally warmed up again, the blood in their bodies was surging and their skins were itchy due to the heat. The jacket couldn’t be worn anymore, so he took it off.

RenDong was about to put the jacket back into the equipment bag but Lian Qiao said: “No need, don’t bring it.”

RenDong was taken aback and quickly realized.

It’s dark. The ghosts are coming out.

This will be the final battle and no one knows how difficult it will be. The equipment on his body should be simplified if possible, so as to avoid wasting too much energy. If the jacket was stuffed in the bag, it would be inconvenient to find things.

RenDong clicked “Save” in the report file at hand. Not long after, the colleagues also finished the work at hand one after another, stretching their waists one after another.

RenDong raised his head, only to realize that, unknowingly, the office door that had turned into a wall of ice had reappeared.

He glanced at the time, nine o’clock. There is still an hour until ten o’clock.

“Let’s go.” RenDong took a deep breath.

“Yeah.”

The two packed up their equipment and walked towards the door of the office. Their colleagues were joking and chatting at first but suddenly stopped and turned all their eyes to RenDong.

This time, Xu RenDong, who became the focus of attention again, did not feel so disgusted.

He turned his head and smiled at his colleagues: “Goodbye.”

The colleagues also waved to him: “See you tomorrow.”

At this time, Xu RenDong was extremely calm. It’s not the illusion that he has returned to reality, but the calmness after untying the knot in his heart.

But he didn’t notice that when Lian Qiao heard the words “see you tomorrow”, his eyes were suddenly red as if he had been stabbed into the heart by a sharp knife.