woman wearing irish linen shirt

Jocelyn pours the wine very restrainedly, as if we are savoring life in some whiskey bar or craft beer house.I don't know if that's how she usually drinks, but after pouring out the wine, Jocelyn was in no rush to drink.The bottle was put back in the cabinet, she shook the glass slightly with one hand, but I took a sip first.

It's really bad.I can't find a second adjective to describe its taste other than "drinkable".

My throat became hot in the next moment, and the blood vessels seemed to open up all of a sudden.My exhaustion did not dissipate, but it seemed to have finally become a heavy burden that could be unloaded. At this moment, I threw it away and kicked it to the corner. As long as I turned my back, I could temporarily forget about it.I lay on the chair, letting the backrest take the pressure off my spine, and dragged my voice: "Long day."

"Yeah." Jocelyn tore off a piece of paper and wiped off her lipstick, took a sip of the wine, and then took another big gulp, "But we should look at the bright side more and think about the bright side, the hardest part has already passed."

"Have you been quietly drinking in the office?" I looked at her.

"I drink a little occasionally when I'm working overtime." She smiled half-smile, "And it's not such a sneaky act, Li Song knows it."

I lowered my eyelids: "The relationship between you should be very close."

"We have worked together for 16 years, from scratch, from zero to one, so close." She nodded, stared at the glass in her hand for a while, "I and his wife are from the same school. They even I introduced you."

I took a sip of my wine and didn't speak.

"You must look down on me." Jocelyn smiled with her head down, not without self-mockery.

"I don't want to judge anyone," I said, "that's their personal life..."

Jocelyn raised her eyelids, and the depth of her eyes was hard to tell: "You are so correct, Yao, aren't you tired?"

I took a sip of my drink. "I don't know why you would do that. Jocelyn, I'm not saying the big boss is unattractive or—well, I don't want to go into details—he's married!"

I stared into her eyes and sighed heavily: "You can have much better choices than this!"

"That's what I told myself." She looked at me, and then looked away, "I don't know what I'm thinking...Forget it. I don't intend to defend myself."

I followed in silence for a moment.I don't want to ask her, but based on my previous understanding, the big boss is not Jocelyn's type at all-I know that she likes to date men who pay more attention to their appearance and are relatively young.It's not Jocelyn's style to eat weeds, not to mention that she cares more about the outside world's opinions than I do: she is heterosexual after all, and Jocelyn doesn't have the capital to maintain freedom.

"I thought you weren't going to get married," I said at the end.

"I still have no plans to get married." Jocelyn clutched her forehead and said nothing for a long time. Finally, she said, "It was a one-time thing. Well, to be honest, it happened twice, and I was too stressed Li Song is not aware of changes in external conditions at all... This is not the first time the core team has encountered a crisis, and he always thinks it is a problem of ideas. How can there be so many problems of ideas? The world does not revolve around ideals. "

I pursed my lips: "Do you have any guesses about how Ms. Cui knew about it? I always have this feeling that she only found out today or recently."

Jocelyn glanced at me and took a deep breath, but I could barely hear her sigh.Jocelyn said: "I haven't verified it, but Lisong should have said it himself."

I frowned slightly.

Now is too critical, no matter what kind of psychological choice the big boss made to confess at this moment, I find it incomprehensible—if he really did that, it would even be called unreasonable.

Jocelyn held her forehead again: "He...he is that kind of person."

I put the glass down: "He doesn't know you're just having fun?"

Jocelyn seemed a little embarrassed, she looked away slightly: "I told you, he doesn't believe it."

I put one hand under my nose and looked at her.

Jocelyn narrowed her eyes: "Okay. Now you definitely underestimate me."

I raised my hands. "I didn't. I was just surprised at the contrast between your work and your personal life."

She raised the glass: "Is this your politically correct speech, or your real thoughts?"

"You know, sometimes political correctness is a way of life," I said.

Jocelyn didn't ask any more questions, and took a sip of vodka silently.When she ingested alcohol, she showed no enjoyment or pain at all, as if she was drinking mineral water.

In other words, she was ingesting some kind of human daily necessities.

After thinking for a long time, I decided to ask her: "Do you think the big boss will choose to divorce?"

"I don't know." Jocelyn answered very quickly, sighed, and said solemnly after a while, "But she definitely will."

"Ms. Cui?" Seeing her affirmation, I was slightly surprised, but I didn't immediately deny it.Not to mention that Jocelyn and Ms. Cui have known each other for a long time, even if I just met Ms. Cui for the first time today, my short contact made me have this kind of guess.

So where is a person who can endure and "sacrifice"?While there are many reasons why people choose to stay in a relationship, and not everyone wants to leave after a sexual infidelity situation, I get the feeling that the soft-spoken, firm woman is not going to For the sake of profit, I choose to compromise.

No matter how big of a benefit that is.

I made up my mind and said, "This divorce case will greatly affect the company's development. If it must happen, it should be postponed until it has to happen."

Jocelyn looked at me: "Now you're right to ditch yours?"

"I'm not 'right,'" I said, "I'm just doing my job."

She thought for a moment, then gently supported her chin: "You're right. But it's always their business. We can give advice from the standpoint of company employees, but that's all we can do."

"Can I..." I shook my hand, "Stand farther away?"

Jocelyn picked up the cup and sipped it lightly. After a while, she said, "I understand your thoughts. Let me talk about it."

I nod.After a moment, I said, "I also want to ask a somewhat offensive question."

"You have immunity tonight."

"You guys met in Sentosa..." I looked at her and didn't finish my sentence.I really don't know what words to follow.

Jocelyn shook her head quickly: "How is that possible? I rarely go there except for the car. I have been there more in the past month, but they are all in the hotel area. It is not convenient to discuss some group matters in the office. Outside You got news?"

She reacts very quickly.

I responded: "There are some rumors that I saw you and the big boss in Sentosa."

"Can you find out who said it?" Jocelyn raised her eyebrows.

I closed my eyes and shook my head lightly: "You know I'm not good at this."

She nodded slightly, was silent for a second, and suddenly asked, "Is there a middleman between you and Kevin?"

I remained calm, looked at her, and swirled the glass: "I thought it was our 'happy hour' after get off work."

Jocelyn was taken aback, then laughed: "Of course."

The alcohol in my blood delayed my fear.I clinked glasses with her, silently swallowing a sip, another sip—while Jocelyn took the vodka bottle out of the filing cabinet again, and she poured exactly a quarter of a glass for me and her.This amount is too much, even if it is not a pure drink, I may not be able to drink it normally: but I did not stop it.

Jocelyn was still drinking her wine as if it were water, which was strange, not as drinking but as tasting water.But gradually, I felt that her appearance was very appropriate, as if it should be like this.

Jocelyn said: "Thank you for bringing this up to me. I will try to find out if it is a fake news deliberately released by the group, but you know my position, and such rumors have never stopped. —I never thought that one day I would prove it in some way—”

I laughed: "That will be the reason for deduction from the result. I rarely have the opportunity to hear the original version of the rumor, but I am sure that its content will be for power and profit, but not for feelings. Or for sex/love itself."

Jocelyn's laughter is also very low today.Alcohol temporarily turns us into two happy fools.

She responded with certainty: "You're right. Even though it's cost us some reliable sources of information...sometimes I'm a little happy that you're also part of the Rumored Women's Club."

"Why do you say there is no Rumor Men's Club?" I touched my face.My face was hot: and then, almost subconsciously, I took another sip of my drink.

Jocelyn shook her head: "They're so ugly."

I laughed.

She said very seriously: "Humans give everything in pursuit of beauty, persecute some specific people, or simply castrate human nature. The most amazing thing is that even this kind of 'castration' is selected and packaged, and it is selective. Yes, class distinctions bring a sense of superiority and satisfaction, but satisfaction is never beauty. In order to pursue beauty, to fulfill the fantasy of self-beauty, some people become distorted and become farther and farther away from beauty—— Gotta be 'ugly.' They're so ugly."

I don't know if it was the alcohol or her words that paralyzed me.I was confused, and finally said: "Are you from a liberal arts background?"

"I majored in financial engineering!" Jocelyn laughed again.

Her thoughts jumped back to the original topic: "In short, uh—you don't have to worry too much, it might just be a coincidence. Standing in our position, there will always be arrows shooting from all directions, you have to learn to identify them direction, learn to distinguish the right from the wrong, and trust your intuition when necessary.”

I nodded: "Is it a coincidence that Ms. Cui came to the company? It just happened to be today..."

"It depends on who told her the news, Li Song, or someone in the shadows." Jocelyn's speech speed gradually slowed down, "I've checked this matter. The front desk knows her, but it is said that she took the initiative to stop The girl at the front desk called to report to me."

She raised her eyebrows at me, with a little deep meaning, and said, "It's 'I have a surprise for Li Song'."