422 Arm's length
"Xiu'er, how did you get time today?"Shen Yue asked as soon as she picked up An Xiulan's call. Actually, it should be the other way around. It was her who did not have time for anyone or anything. Song Xueyun had been calling her for a few days to tell her a piece of important news but she had been telling her that she would hear it once she was free. She did not want to hear the big news and then go back to work to exhaustion. She had been trying to make time for herself but she was sucking big time at this.
Today, she had been mentally and physically tired beyond words. She was thinking of talking to someone. But God heard her before she could do anything and made An Xiulan call her. Talking to An Xiulan always helped. The girl might have crazy tricks up her sleeve but she was therapeutic.
An Xiulan was the only friend she would follow or trust with her eyes closed. And because of An Xiulan, she met Song Xueyun who made sure that she did not die alone.
It was bizarre how these three girls shared such a deep friendship despite leaving so far from each other all these years. An Xiulan was in the US while Song Xueyun was based in Shanghai. Neither distance nor timezone could affect their friendship. In fact, their long distance had made their friendship even stronger.
An Xiulan smiled widely and answered, "I always have time for my Yue'er. It is my Yue'er who doesn't have time for me."
Although Amanda had given her the rest of the day off, she did not know what to do. She could not sit still. Thus, she decided to talk to everyone she was not able to get in touch with for the last few days. She recalled how she did not even ask how Shen Yue was doing. She had heard that Shen Yue was working overtime and wanted to know if her friend was doing good.
But hearing Shen Yue's tired voice, she could tell that her friend was not doing that good. She did well by calling.
"Sorry, I can't call you all these days, "Shen Yue said, guilty. She did not like that she did not even have time for herself these days. She wanted to give time to both friends and family but she could not. This sometimes made her feel like a failure.
"No need to apologize, "An Xiulan said, "Mom told me how crazy everything is at the office."
She believed that it was completely normal for a person to forget world affairs when burdened with work. She did not feel bad that Shen Yue could not spend much time with her. She recalled that back in the US her old friends would grumble about how she was always working and did not have time for them. But she understood Shen Yue now as she was once an overworker too. Nobody wanted to work to this extent. Everyone wanted a break but not everyone could get it. Especially youngsters like them who were making a name for themselves in their workspace. It was such a tender age where they could not afford to slack if they wished for a smooth work life later.
Shen Yue sighed, "It truly is crazy."
An Xiulan said, "You are suffering. Today, I will call Lu Xuan and give him a good scolding. But I overused today's quota. He will not take my call."
If she had not called Lu Xuan earlier and made him angry by waking him up in the early morning, she would have certainly called him now and given him a lecture on how he should have given two weeks notice before leaving. Poor Yue would not have suffered that way.
Shen Yue laughed. "No need to scold the poor guy. I am getting paid handsomely to work this hard. If I earn this much in my twenties, I will be able to have a relaxing thirties.
Humans tend to have this ability of consoling themselves. They never wanted to feel bad about any situation. They always had a perfect solution or should I say excuse for every situation they were stuck in. Shen Yue also had the same thing going on with her. She was mentally consoling herself saying that whatever was happening was good for her in the long run even though in the short run all she could see were damages.
She was of the view that if she kept on proving her worth, the next promotion was not far. She had seen a lot of struggles in her life. She wanted to work hard now to have a smooth sailing life. Neither her life was smooth sailing with her father nor was it with her boyfriend. She wondered when it would be like that.
"But if you burn yourself in your twenties, how will you enjoy your thirties?" An Xiulan asked him the most logical question, " You should balance work and everything else."
Shen Yue sighed, "Makes sense."
An Xiulan took a pause and asked her, "How are you?"
Shen Yue did not know how to answer this question. But she found herself saying, "I guess fine? Or maybe not?"
"Yue'er, you have suffered, "An Xiulan said, dramatically. "Your sister can't even do anything for you."
Despite the drama that her tone carried, she cared deeply for her friend.
Shen Yue said much to her surprise, "You can do something."
"What?" An Xiulan quickly said.
"Come over tonight. I will try to get free soon. We can hit a club. Get drunk and wake up early and run to the office."This was Shen Yue's perfect plan. It sounded so much fun and relaxing to her.
An Xiulan stressed, "It's Monday."
"So?" Shen Yue asked. She worked on weekends too. What did she know about Mondays and deadlines?
An Xiulan found herself saying, "Alright. I will drag Yunyun with us."
An Xiulan said, "The three of us will have a blast tonight."
Shen Yue laughed. Look at the girl who previously said that it was Monday and now planning every detail. It was so easy to incite this friend of hers.
An Xiulan added, "You can bring Yan Ge if you want. Maybe Han Nanxian will tag along with Yunyun and Zixin with me."
Shen Yue said, "No male in sight."
She did not want any male in her proximity. She had enough of them. Oh lord, she sounded like a woman wounded by men. But what could she do? All the men in her life were proving why they should not be there in the first place.
If one day she mysteriously died, no one needs to find out much about the death case. The cause of the death would be Men.
"Why so?" An Xiulan asked. Shen Yue sounded bitter, angry and frustrated.
Shen Yue said, "I just don't want a guy on girls' night out."
"Did you fight with Yan Ge?" An Xiulan asked, "I usually behave like this when I fight with Zixin."
When she fought with her man, she would curse and blame 'man'kind. Shen Yue was going through the same phase. She could understand the piled-up frustration. All the men in her friend's life were shitter than words.
"Do you ever fight with Zixin?" Shen Yue scoffed. Could those two even fight? Weren't they the epitome of perfectness? She had never seen those two human beings ever fighting. It just did not make any sense at all.
"All the time, "An Xiulan rolled her eyes, "Why do you think we never fight? We do fight. It's different that we don't stay fighting for long. It sucks. It's better to ask why he is upset than anything else. This saves a lot of trouble."
This was her mantra that had always protected her relationship with Han Zixin.
Shen Yue was silent for a while. What An Xiulan said stirred something inside her.
"Did something happen, Yue'er?" An Xiulan asked quietly. She could sense something off with Shen Yue.
"Why do you think something happened?" Shen Yue questioned.
"You are quiet, "An Xiulan noticed, "Unusually quiet."
Shen Yue's eyes teared up. It felt so nice to have someone who noticed your mood, "I think your brother is upset with me."
"Lu Xuan is upset with you?" An Xiulan furrowed her brows and asked.
Shen Yue answered, "No, Shangyan."
An Xiulan answered, "Yan Ge? My Yan Ge doesn't know how to be upset."
"He is."
"Did you do something?" An Xiulan was surprised, "Or did he say something?"
Shen Yue answered, "No, he behaved politely."
"Then, what's the problem?" An Xiulan questioned.
Shen Yue sighed, "He behaved politely."
She did not like how he was behaving like everything was normal when it was not.
An Xiulan came to the conclusion, "Oh, he is keeping you at arm's length."
She decoded the problem instantly. Gu Shangyan was keeping Shen Yue at arm's length and the latter was not liking it.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l