A Broken Mirror Never Mends - Chapter 16

Back when the girls at the company had their lunch breaks, they would always gather at the front desk to scroll through short videos, sighing as they watched.

“This is so sad, it’s like a knife to the heart—”

“Kill me now, boohoo—”

Sometimes when passing by, Shi Tian would lean in and curiously ask what they were watching.

Caught by the boss, the girls would feel embarrassed and push each other around for a while. Eventually, they would choose a representative to replay the video for him.

These short videos always used the most popular sad love songs as background music. Heavy rain would be pouring as the female lead broke up with the male lead at a crossroads. After she turned to leave, the male lead would kneel on the ground, looking up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, tears mixing with rain as they slid down his cheeks.

He remembered another one. The male lead broke up with the female lead because he had a terminal illness. After she left crying, the male lead unscrewed a bottle of mineral water in the middle of the street and poured it over his own head.

Drenched and sobbing while clutching his collar, the background music would kick in at exactly the right moment to maximize the atmosphere.

Every time, Shi Tian would finish watching with a complicated expression and then wave his hand for everyone to get back to work.

He couldn’t seem to empathize with these tearful breakup scenes in videos or novels. The “unbearable pain” and “heartbreak” others spoke of didn’t apply to him and Zhou Sifu.

True goodbyes are always quiet.

He still remembered that the day they broke up, it snowed for the first time in this southern coastal city.

Calling it “snow” was a stretch; strictly speaking, it was just tiny grains of ice. But because he had rarely seen snow growing up, he found it very special.

They walked hand-in-hand along the river for a long time until the streetlights on the bank lit up. Zhou Sifu led him to a viewing platform and stopped.

Shi Tian stood on his tiptoes, trying to catch the falling snowflakes, only to find that as soon as they touched his palm, they vanished.

The tip of his nose was red from the cold. He rubbed it with the back of his hand and smiled at the tall boy behind him. “I wanted to go to Harbin to see the snow this winter. The snow there must be very deep.”

“I went there once when I was a kid,” Zhou Sifu said. “If you stay at a rural guesthouse, your knees sink directly into the snow as soon as you step outside this time of year.”

Hearing this, Shi Tian opened his eyes wide in disbelief. “Really?”

Zhou Sifu didn’t answer, but instead pulled Shi Tian’s scarf up to cover the lower half of his face.

“I’ll definitely go see it if I get the chance.”

Gazing at the endless lights of the long street on the opposite bank, he said seriously, “Master Zhou, thank you.”

He leaned against the railing the whole time and never looked back, but he knew the Zhou Sifu behind him was crying.

Of course, this didn’t mean “crying” in the traditional sense.

A person with a personality like Zhou Sifu’s would never shed a single tear even if pushed to a dead end.

Zhou Sifu just stood silently behind him, blocking the biting wind for him. He could feel Zhou Sifu’s gaze passing over the top of his head, looking at their overlapping reflections on the river.

He thought to himself: Zhou, you’re the one who brought up the breakup, so why are you crying?

They stood by the river for two hours without either of them saying a word. Finally, a security guard passed by, holding a flashlight ten meters away and shouting, “The riverside park closes at eleven! Make sure you leave before then!”

Cupping his hands and blowing a puff of white mist, he said to Zhou Sifu, “It’s time.”

Zhou Sifu: “Yeah.”

Five minutes before the park closed, they left the riverside. Zhou Sifu walked him all the way to the bus stop. The number 5 bus to his home arrived quickly.

Before boarding, he pulled a hand warmer out of his jacket and handed it to Zhou Sifu. “Oh, this is yours. I almost forgot.”

Zhou Sifu was silent for a moment and didn’t take it.

Once he swiped his card and got on, the bus driver saw that Zhou Sifu was still standing at the platform without moving. He called out, “Young man, this is the last bus. Are you coming?”

Zhou Sifu shook his head and said, “Go ahead.”

The driver hit the gas, and the bus slowly moved forward. Out of the corner of his eye, Shi Tian saw Zhou Sifu’s mouth move as if saying something else, but he couldn’t see the lip movements through the fogged-up window.

As the bus was about to turn the corner, he turned in his seat and pressed his face against the glass. He saw the tall figure still standing in the same spot, hands in his pockets, quietly watching the direction where the number 5 bus was disappearing.

He suddenly remembered. He had planned to comfort Zhou Sifu, saying that even if they weren’t lovers, they could still be friends. Next winter, they could invite their high school classmates to go skiing in Harbin together.

Not long after he turned back, the bus turned the corner, and the figure on the platform vanished into the thick night.

At that time, he didn’t realize that their story would end that winter.

After finishing breakfast, Shi Tian took the warm water Zheng Ying handed him and swallowed the stomach medicine on the nightstand.

These pills were the kind he usually took; they were much more effective than the ones in his car and started working shortly after he took them.

Wait… car?

Suddenly remembering something, Shi Tian almost knocked over his water glass.

“Sister Ying, have you seen my car?” he asked hurriedly. “It’s a white Audi S6. I fainted in front of it last night.”

“Right, I asked my assistant to knock on your door last night. Did he say—”

“Someone did knock last night,” Zheng Ying said. “Sifu had just brought you upstairs. He heard the noise and came down with me to open the door. That person told us about the money in your car. Sifu told me to stay and look after you, and then he left with that man.”

…Zhou Sifu left with Xiao Chen?

Zheng Ying saw his expression change and added, “Sifu came back once in the middle of the night and stayed until dawn before leaving. I heard his company had something going on. But your assistant didn’t come back, and I haven’t seen the car.”

She paused, looking like she wasn’t sure if she should say the next part. “Xiao Shi, before you woke up this morning, you were talking in your sleep to me and Sifu the whole time.”

“What did I say?”

Shi Tian’s eyelid twitched.

“Right in front of us, you kept counting money in your sleep, saying you owed someone millions, or were short a few million… Then you grabbed Sifu’s sleeve and told him not to feed you medicine because it was too bitter.”

She hadn’t known their history before and thought they were just regular friends when they first met. It wasn’t until she spoke with her sister on the phone last night that she learned about their past relationship.

Shi Tian covered his forehead with his hand. “…”

Great. He had completely embarrassed himself this time.

He found his phone in his pocket to call Assistant Chen. He discovered that the assistant had already called him several times around ten in the morning.

The call connected quickly. Before Assistant Chen could speak, Shi Tian asked hurriedly, “Xiao Chen, where is the cash from my car?”

In the past, a loss of three million would be a small matter. But things were different now; those three million were his only safe and usable assets. The hundreds of thousands stolen last week still hadn’t been found. If the rest of the money disappeared, he would probably sit on the curb and cry.

“President Shi—no, Brother Shi, I was just about to tell you…” Assistant Chen’s tone on the phone was hard to describe. “My umbrella broke last night, so I was delayed a few minutes. When I knocked, I heard you had just fainted. My only thought was that the car was still at the entrance, so I quickly told Mr. Zhou about the cash inside.”

Shi Tian’s eyelid twitched even faster. “And then?”

“And then, Mr. Zhou said the old town is too damp on rainy days and the money would get moldy. He told me to drive behind his car and go to his house.”

Shi Tian couldn’t help himself. “Xiao Chen, you—”

“I told him!”

As if knowing what his boss was worried about, Assistant Chen continued tearfully, “I told Mr. Zhou it was your money and I couldn’t make the decision. Mr. Zhou told me not to worry. He said he would deposit the money into his own account first, and then he gave me an American Express credit card to give to you for emergencies.”

An Amex card is one of the highest-limit credit cards available, with a limit of five million, but it can only be held by specific high-net-worth platinum clients.

Assistant Chen said weakly, “Brother Shi, should I bring the card to you? It feels like it’s burning my hand—”

Hearing everything that happened last night, Shi Tian’s fist tightened.

Taking his money and running, only to throw a credit card back and call it an “emergency fund”—what did Zhou think he was doing?!

However, he was a rational person. Even though he was cursing Zhou Sifu in his head, he maintained his outward calm. “Bring the card to me first.”

“What about the car? Is it in his garage too?”

“The car is with me,” Assistant Chen replied quickly. “Mr. Zhou took the money and told me to drive the car away.”

Shi Tian: “…”

After hanging up, he asked Zheng Ying, “Sister Ying, do you have Zhou Sifu’s phone number?”

Zheng Ying was very surprised. “You don’t have his contact info?”

Shi Tian calmly made an excuse. “My old phone was lost, and I didn’t save it.”

After getting the number from Zheng Ying, he originally wanted to call the man, but then he changed his mind, feeling too embarrassed to do so.

In the end, he decided to send a text first.

Shi Tian: [Give me back my money.]

A reply came back quickly.

Unknown Number: [Not even a thank you?]

“…”

Shi Tian took a deep breath.

Don’t get angry. Stay calm.

Shi Tian: [Taking someone’s money without asking is something you should get permission for first. I believe that is basic politeness.]

The other person went silent.

About ten minutes later, just as he thought the other person hadn’t received the text and was about to call, his phone chimed.

Unknown Number: [Then call the police.]

Shi Tian: “?”

One hour later.

Danofe Asia-Pacific Headquarters, first-floor lobby.

Griping the paper bag tightly to prevent the drinks inside from spilling, Shi Tian handed his business card to the girl at the front desk. “Hello, I’m looking for President Zhou.”

He had bought the milk tea at a random shop by the road.

He had originally intended just to return the card to Zhou Sifu and get his money back. Halfway there, he realized that since this was technically a private visit, he couldn’t show up empty-handed.

The receptionist took the card and was about to ask if he had an appointment when she noticed he was an executive from Fengyu.

The head secretary had specifically instructed a few days ago that if Director Cui or any other high-level executive from Fengyu came looking for President Zhou to discuss data, they should be received immediately.

“Please wait a moment.”

The receptionist dialed the CEO’s office. After a brief conversation, her expression turned complicated.

“Mr. Shi,” she said hesitantly, looking at the name on the card. “President Zhou is currently not in a convenient position to receive guests.”

Shi Tian asked politely, “Is his schedule full?”

The receptionist thought for a moment and lowered her voice. “It seems something happened. President Zhou is throwing a fit in his office.”

Just then, the lobby elevator chimed. The doors slid open, and several figures in suits walked out.

Before Shi Tian could ask for more details, the receptionist suddenly shut her mouth and lowered her head in a panic.

Zhou Sifu walked out of the elevator with a dark face, clutching his car keys.

Three or four people followed closely behind him. The head of the QA Quality Control department held out a report, hurriedly explaining in a low voice, “We’ve already contacted the supplier for the AC fan blades. They said they will release a detailed quality report this afternoon to check which batches need to be recalled.”

“Too late.” Zhou Sifu glanced at his watch. “I want to see the full report within an hour.”

“Yes, yes—”

The QA head wiped away cold sweat and was about to continue reporting when he saw President Zhou stop dead in his tracks.

Looking up from the report, he saw President Zhou standing frozen, his gaze fixed on a young man in a suit standing at the front desk.

Turning away from the desk and seeing President Zhou, the man was clearly stunned as well.

There was a long silence.

After half a minute, the man pulled a cup of milk tea out of the paper bag, held it up, and shook it at the distant Zhou Sifu.

“Strawberry Shake. Want some?”

Shi Tian asked.

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