Promised period

Mingtu Building is located in the core business district of Linjiang, on the [-]th floor, facing south, it rises from the ground where every inch of land is precious.

Cheng Yi'an set foot here for the first time today, and the well-dressed and elegant female secretary led him upstairs. Everywhere he went was a spacious fully open office area, tables and pots of green plants, and soundproof conference rooms with frosted glass.

knock --

"Mr. Chen, the visitor has arrived."

Chen Nian came over and opened the door himself.The two looked at each other, she lowered her head first, and then led him to the sofa with her back: "Evelyn, go down first, and ask someone to bring us two cups of coffee."

She was so polite, but Cheng Yi'an's face was still cold, without any warmth at all.

"You sit."

"I won't sit down anymore." His tone was also blunt, "I'll leave as soon as I finish speaking."

She still sat down, wearing an exquisite tailor-made suit, with a brooch pinned to her left breast, and the fine-cut rhinestones on it sparkled in the sun.She put on a light layer of lipstick on her lips, and when she pursed it like that, she lost a lot of her former beauty, and added a sense of guilt and melancholy.

"It's rare to come here, sit down and talk slowly, and have a meal together at noon."

Cheng Yi'an looked at her squarely: "Let's just save on eating, I'm not here to catch up with you today. Xiao Jiu is lost, do you know?"

He obviously has a lot to ask, but for some reason, he just opened his mouth like this.Perhaps the meaning of Xiao Jiu is not just a pet, it is the beginning of Song Ke's attempt to cheer up, and it is also the bond of the relationship between the three of them.

Chen Jue sat there, never looking directly into his eyes: "I don't know."

"Then you know now." He took a few steps in the same spot, turned around and frowned tightly, "Let me ask you, what's going on with your brother and Song Ke recently, Chen Jue, that bastard? What did you do?"

Chen Nian still said, "I don't know."

"Lie!" Standing in front of her, he suddenly became as tall as a mountain, "Do you know what Song Ke has become? He--" he stopped in such a hurry, his always dull eyes stared angrily, He looked like an honest man who was being pushed into a hurry, "You guys are so selfish, you employ people to go forward and don't go back, do you think that Song Ke is an orphan and can be bullied casually? Tell you, there is my big brother who will stand up for him!"

He has always been honest and humble, but she often hurts him with sharp teeth. This is the first time he has been impatient with her since we met.The little assistant who delivered the coffee stood at the door without daring to move, thinking, where did this barbarian come from? How could Chen always tolerate it with such a good temper?

There were outsiders, and the two froze there.

The afternoon sun wrapped around Chen Nian thinly like a veil.Her pretty face was slightly sideways, and she hid herself in that layer of veil. It took a long time before she called her assistant in: "Cancel the afternoon session for me, I have something to deal with."

The assistant let out a "Hey", walked to the door and looked at them again, and then gently closed the door with a creak.

Chen Nian lowered his head and picked up the coffee cup. The wall of the cup was hot, and the coffee tasted extremely astringent.But she held it for a long time before putting it down: "Yi'an, come out for a walk with me."

There is a Linmeng Road near the building, lined with artistically decorated cafes and leather goods stores.Usually, when she is tired from work, she will come here to sit, relax, and walk along the road alone.

Her days have been lonely since her parents left.Her brother was away from home all day, and she was used to being alone, and occasionally went out with Song Ke.Song Ke almost took the place of her brother, took her out for shopping, accompanied her to the playground to watch the castle light show, helped her line up to buy handmade desserts, sent her home to rest when she was tired, and said goodbye to her at the gate of the villa.At one time, she felt that Song Ke was her relative, someone she could rely on and confide in.

After walking for a while, she put her hands in her coat pockets, and confessed to Cheng Yi'an in a very low voice: "You are right, I am indeed a very selfish person. Song Ke treats me so well, but I always Hurt him and force him to keep a secret in front of his brother. I have long since paid off what I owe him in this life, and I don't expect you and him to be considerate, but I really can't help it. "

Her face was calm, but her voice trembled violently.

"Because I have only one brother left. Whether you call me selfish or heartless, I really have no other choice."

There was a car whizzing by on the left side, the wheels were caught in the wind and almost passed her, Cheng Yi'an hurriedly pulled her, "Look at the car!"

Her eyes turned red.

Cheng Yi'an was angry and helpless, and pulled her to his right to protect her tightly, but his tone became more severe: "You only have one brother, what about Song Ke? Have you ever thought that he has been lonely since he was a child? Chen Jue is right What he means, everyone has seen in the past few years, I don't ask you to treat him well, I just want you to be fair to him, okay? Be fair."

Fallen leaves brushed past his feet, Chen Nian didn't make a sound, just walked forward slowly.Cheng Yi'an looked at her from the side, remembering that he met her for the first time a year ago because of Song Ke's relationship. At that time, her eyes could really be described as lacquered and radiant.He called her "Xiao Nian" and she called him "Brother Yi'an". They seemed to be intimate, but they actually lived in two worlds.No matter how rough their life was, she was as delicate, delicate and beautiful as a diamond, a luxury that was beyond reach.

To this day he still thinks she is good.

"If it was you, what would you do?"

"I'll tell your brother the truth."

She shook her head immediately: "No, you don't know many things. My brother finally got out of that matter, we can't force him to remember it anymore. "

"Did he come out? He just forgot and escaped." Cheng Yi'an firmly retorted, "I think you have been deceiving yourself for too long, and you dare not come out of your snail shell."

And only he can be so outspoken.

Chen Nian lowered her eyes in confusion: "Don't force me, okay?"

"I don't force you, will you face it? You should know better than me what kind of person your brother is. He dared to fall out with your father back then, dared to give up billions of net worth to start a business, and would rather sell a car or a house than to Talk at home. If such a hearty and tenacious person remembers everything one day and knows what you and Song Ke have done for him, I am afraid it will be more uncomfortable than death."

After listening to these heartfelt advice, it became more and more difficult for her to make a decision, so she could only stop and hold the bag tightly, "I'm still afraid."

Cheng Yi'an sighed: "Of course I understand what you are afraid of, and I am not forcing you to make a decision right now. But you really have to think about what I said seriously, not to mention Song Ke, even you and I are worried about this kind of thing. , When are you going to live the days of fear and fear? You are so old, you should have your own life, don't worry too much about your brother. "

Chen Nian's eyes were red, and there was really no way to deny his words. After a long time, he said quietly: "Where is my own life? After my parents left, I have already seen it. Brother is enough."

"You, what are you talking about for a lifetime at a young age?" Cheng Yi'an wanted to pull her over, paused, and finally just patted her on the back, "It will be fine, trust me, your brother, Song Ke, and yourself, everything will be fine."

Then there was only silence.

There was a very light melody in the coffee shop. It was an English song. I couldn't make out what was being sung, but the tune was a bit sad, and it flowed slowly between the two of them like water.Chen Nian looked at the middle of the road, there were young men and women sitting in convertible cars passing by by chance, the warm and sunny sun shone on their faces and bodies, and they flowed past like a river.

And so the lunch break passed.

Later, Cheng Yi'an accompanied her to eat, she had a small appetite, so she only ordered a small piece of Napoleon cake with black tea.The two of them sat by the window, and before eating for too long, she stared at the street outside in a daze.Thinking of meeting Song Ke not long ago, and grabbing him to eat cheesecake, he also gave her his own half: "Eat slowly, my half is also yours."

She was so sad that she covered her face with her hands.Cheng Yi'an didn't ask anything, just said: "There is still time for everything, let's find a chance to have a good talk with the four of us, Chen Jue is not the kind of person who doesn't understand things, he will understand you and Song Ke."

She put her hand down: "It's too late."

"what?"

"In order not to remind my brother, Song Ke was so stupid as to take her mother's death on her own shoulders. My brother hates him now."

Thinking of the quarrel in the living room that night, I still feel lingering fear.She choked up and recounted what her brother told her at the time. She lost control of her emotions and spoke intermittently. She didn't finish until the black tea was completely cold.

Cheng Yi'an sank down on the back of the chair: "How could this happen?"

She kept silent because of self-blame.

The English song was sung lower and lower, like weeping, like talking in sleep.People around came and went, but the two of them just sat there, and no one knew how to untie this knot.

I don't know how long it took before he got up and sent her back.

On the way, I received a call from a colleague.The other party asked him for help in a hollow voice: "Director Cheng, you asked me to come to Mr. Song's house to deliver documents. I came, but there is no one at his house."

He stopped where he was, pinched his forehead and said, "Maybe he's gone out, I'll give him a call."

"I called, turned off the phone, and..."

"And what?"

"And when I came, the door of his house was open, and all the ID cards and bank cards were on the table."

Chen Nian couldn't hear their conversation, so it could be seen that his expression was wrong, and he asked in a concentrated voice, "What's wrong?"

He didn't even hang up the phone, he had a bad feeling, and stared at her with his hands on his phone, "Something may have happened to Song Ke."

After hanging up, the two rushed over there.

The half-hour journey was shortened to 10 minutes. Cheng Yi'an was calling that number all the way, but unfortunately he never got through.Climbing up the stairs in two steps in three steps, the colleague was still guarding the door responsibly, and he let out a long sigh of relief when he saw them arrive.

"Is anyone back yet?!"

The colleague shook his head and backed away. The door lock behind him was intact, proving that the home was not stolen.The three of them walked in together, and the afternoon sunlight passed through the curtains of the living room and poured quietly on the carpet, everything was still the same as when Song Ke was there.

Only Xiaojiu's cage was empty, the cat teaser fell to the ground, and there was a stack of cat hunting notices on the table.

"It should be looking for a cat," Chen Nian comforted himself, "I'll call other friends to ask."

Cheng Yi'an had already gone to the side to make phone calls one by one, and came back 10 minutes later, still full of anxiety: "They said they never saw each other."

The colleague who went to the security room to inquire about the situation brought back news that Song Ke left this morning without taking anything, and got into a taxi empty-handed, and never showed up again.It has been almost five hours since the morning, and the phone is probably out of power, so I should come back anyway.

After much deliberation, Cheng Yi'an didn't want to sit still, so he got up and searched for possible clues in the room.As a result, when I entered the bedroom, I saw the messy bedside table at a glance.Inside lay the exact same white pill boxes, opened and unopened, with at least a hundred pills in total.

Shocked and frightened, he shouted: "Chen Nian, Chen Nian!"

Chen Nian heard the voice and ran in, and when he came to him, he was startled for a moment, and then he brought the medicines to look at.

Long paragraphs of medication instructions and side effects are obscure and appalling.However, the symptoms of the treatment are very clear, such as severe depression, hallucinations, and auditory hallucinations.

"When did Song Ke get sick?" Cheng Yi'an regretted deeply, "I'm so useless, I didn't notice it when I worked with him every day, I thought he just didn't have a good rest! And I assigned him so much work, lah Let him work overtime for meetings, and let him go on a business trip alone... If something happens to him this time, how can I forgive myself! "

Chen Nian raised his eyes and looked at him.

Suddenly remembered Song Ke who was talking to himself on New Year's Eve, something was so obviously wrong, and he let it go like that.