A whirlwind marriage with a high-ranking official: Lights out, don't force me to take the initi

Inside the room, Ding Jiahe and Wang Yingxue had already finished washing up and gotten into bed. The blankets rose and fell slightly with their even breathing, and their heads were half covered by the blankets, so it was impossible to tell whether they were asleep or not.

It was already past nine o'clock.

Ye Wenxi was still sitting at her desk in the room, with a small table lamp with a green glass shade lit, casting a soft halo of light on the wall.

She had a large sheet of white paper spread out in front of her, a pencil in her hand, and was sketching a lane diagram.

She wanted to clarify the design filing process before her business trip ended and reach a consensus with the Light Industry Bureau as soon as possible.

A lane diagram is like the multiple lanes in a swimming pool.

Above the vertical swimming lanes are written the names of different parties: the designer, the Light Industry Bureau, the manufacturer, etc.

Each lane, from top to bottom, is labeled with the tasks and materials each character needs to provide at different stages.

The advantage is that it's very clear at a glance; everyone knows exactly what to do and what to cooperate with at each step.

Ye Wenxi held a pencil and gently rested her chin on it, her brows slightly furrowed as she pondered the process steps.

She would write for a while, then stop to think, and then erase and rewrite.

There were several scraps of paper next to it, covered with signs of alteration.

Ye Wenxi put down his pen, got up, and went to the restroom.

When she returned, she saw Wang Yingxue sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at her.

Ye Wenxi was startled: "Oh dear, Xiaoxue, you're not asleep?"

Wang Yingxue said, "I can't sleep, maybe because I'm not too tired today."

"I think you have something on your mind," Ye Wenxi asked softly as she sat down next to Xiaoxue.

"Wenxi..." Wang Yingxue lowered her head, "Aren't you working too hard so late?"

Ye Wenxi smiled and said, "It's alright. I'm an impatient person, and I'm not sleepy anyway, so I might as well stay here."

"I want to get this in line with the Light Industry Bureau as soon as possible, which will definitely require several more rounds of communication. Since we want to get ahead of the game, the sooner the better."

Wang Yingxue looked at Ye Wenxi, her eyes filled with a complex emotion: "You're really amazing, you've always known what you want."

"Me?" Ye Wenxi leaned back, supporting herself on the bed with her hands. "Maybe it's because what I want is too simple."

"What?"

"To make money."

Wang Yingxue chuckled: "Is that the only reason?"

Ye Wenxi replied with absolute certainty, "Yes!"

"I don't believe it. If you were only doing this to make money, you wouldn't be doing so many things." Wang Yingxue pouted, looking very cute.

Ye Wenxi leaned back, supporting herself on the bed with both hands: "It was just something I did on the spur of the moment, I'm really not that noble."

"But at least... you've always followed your own goals." Wang Yingxue lowered her eyes, paused slightly, "My thoughts are always very vague. Sometimes they appear suddenly, and sometimes they disappear... I can never figure it out."

Ye Wenxi turned to look at her and asked softly, "Can't figure it out? If you can't figure it out directly, why don't you try it backwards?"

"Upside down?" Wang Yingxue tilted her head.

"Just think... what don't you want? As long as the things you don't want don't come near you, wouldn't life be just going as you wish?" Ye Wenxi paused, "If you can't think of anything, it just means you haven't encountered it yet. Don't overthink it."

Wang Yingxue gave a soft "hmm".

She turned her head and looked at the night sky outside the window.

At this time, there were almost no lights in the city, there were still so many stars, and the sky was still so dark that you could see the starlight from inside the house.

Wang Yingxue lowered her head, her fingers fidgeting with the corner of the blanket. She took a soft breath and slowly said, "I know what I don't want."

Ye Wenxi became interested: "What is it?"

"I don't want to suffer like that anymore," she said softly. Wang Yingxue actually smiled slightly. "It's too bitter..."

Ye Wenxi's eyes reddened slightly. She reached out and touched Wang Yingxue's hair, her hand sliding down her hair to her shoulder.

Ye Wenxi said softly, "Hasn't this already been achieved? It will only get better in the future."

Ye Wenxi patted Wang Yingxue's back, helping her lie down, and then returned to his desk to continue drawing the channel diagram.

The lamplight cast a warm yellow glow on the wall, and the pen tip scratched softly.

Wang Yingxue lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling with her eyes open.

Many people flashed through her mind. She blinked, her eyelashes casting a small shadow in the moonlight, unable to truly fall asleep.

Those were a pair of bewildered yet gentle eyes.

At that moment, another pair of eyes were also open in the darkness. The brows were furrowed, and the pupils held an unyielding anxiety.

Xie Linfeng lay on the upper bunk of the temporary dormitory in the military region, the wooden plank bed beneath him causing him bone pain.

He shifted uncomfortably, and the old bunk bed immediately creaked and groaned.

He immediately stopped moving, afraid of disturbing the people below.

He had expected the dormitory conditions to be poor, but he didn't expect it to be like this.

The dormitory housed twelve people, with three bunk beds placed against the two walls, their iron frames rusted and worn.

The mingling of snoring sounds made the listener anxious.

The dormitory was filled with various smells: sweat, foot odor, and coal smell. These odors fermented in the sweltering air, making him feel suffocated.

There are no shower facilities in the temporary dormitory area; to take a shower, you have to go to the public bathhouse inside the military area, and outsiders also need to show their passes.

Xie Linfeng arrived late today and only had time to familiarize himself with the clothing store.

Zhang Yunxia helped him get acquainted with people and went through the onboarding process, introducing the person in charge of each step.

It was quite some time after I got off work that I took him to the temporary dormitory.

By the time he finished packing and rushed to the bathhouse, they had already closed for the day.

He lay on the hard bed, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, his vest sticking to his back.

There was no fan, no window screen, and several mosquitoes buzzing around my ears.

Xie Linfeng sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

But his limbs remained taut, like a string stretched to its limit.

This condition...

He needs some time to adjust. Maybe more than that.

Xie Linfeng didn't know what time he fell asleep.

By the time I heard the sounds of people getting up in the dormitory, it was already broad daylight.

He frowned, opened his eyes, picked up the watch on the bedside table and glanced at it; it was just past five o'clock.

Different types of workers live together, and many people in the dormitory have to get up early to start work.

Every time someone got up, it created a commotion—the sound of stools being moved, basins clattering, and voices mingling together, making a noisy scene.

Xie Linfeng didn't go back to sleep; he got up and dressed.

"Hello, comrade." Someone came over to greet him, looking him up and down. "Your attire... suggests you're involved in cultural work?"

"I work as a clothing designer at a ready-made clothing company," Xie Linfeng said.

"Making clothes, huh?" The man's tone was slightly surprised, and he looked the woman up and down again.

Two more people gathered around, chattering amongst themselves.

Xie Linfeng smiled and nodded, without offering any further explanation.

He grabbed a short-sleeved shirt from the closet, put it on, took out a basin and toiletries, and turned to ask, "Comrade, where is the restroom?"

"The bathroom?" The man paused for a moment. "You mean the sink? Go downstairs, turn right, walk about fifty or sixty meters, and you'll see that long, narrow sink."

Xie Linfeng carried the basin downstairs.