How Can Two People From Different Sides Ever Fall in Love? - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

◎ Since things have come to this, let’s eat first ◎

Raven raised his hand, but it was a feint; he circled it halfway and tugged at his own hem instead.

“Dream on. Think you can still enslave me after work?”

Hollis gave a light snort, gave him a deep look, then turned to face the camera silently monitoring everything.

Ding—

The elevator arrived, and the doors slowly slid open to both sides.

Raven stepped out first, waving a hand behind him without looking back: “See you, Mr. Councilor. Hopefully next time your tie will be where it’s supposed to be.”

After parting in the parking lot, the two met again in another parking lot.

Seeing Hollis again, the tie had already been taken off and stuffed into his briefcase. Raven quirked an eyebrow at his empty collar.

Hollis looked composed: “Always all talk and no action. You can’t stand the sight of it, yet you won’t do it yourself.”

Raven tilted his head, spreading his hand that held the briefcase: “You must understand—if you want to be well-fed and well-clothed, you have to do it yourself.”

The two bickered over the tie issue all the way into the apartment, until Raven noticed that the small stoneware vase on the dining table was no longer empty.

“This is…” He walked over, leaning down to get closer, “A windmill?”

Inside the small vase stood a windmill crafted in the shape of a flower.

Made of bamboo, its eight petals of varying sizes were painted a pale cyan, while the center and the stem retained their original color. It bore the marks of a handmade item, exuding an infinite sense of childlike charm.

Raven reached out and gave it a gentle flick, saying in surprise: “It spins.”

Hollis suppressed a smile, put his hands behind his back, and deliberately put on a serious expression: “Probably because it is a windmill.”

Raven: “…”

He ignored Hollis’s teasing and gazed fixedly at the suddenly appearing windmill for a moment, then did the first thing most people do upon owning a windmill—

He aimed at the side of the windmill and slowly blew a breath of air.

However, the windmill only wobbled left and right before returning to its original position.

Raven lifted his gaze and met Hollis’s eyes.

Both were stunned for a moment, then looked at each other and smiled.

In the depths of their eyes, the reflections of each other and the windmill were mirrored.

“Alright, stop playing.” Hollis came out of the kitchen carrying a tray. He saw Raven resting his chin in one hand while flicking the windmill petals with the other, over and over, never tiring of it.

He set the bowl and chopsticks in front of Raven. Like a parent who can’t stand a child playing with a phone, he took the vase away from Raven and placed it on a high shelf.

“Eat first.”

Raven looked regretfully at the departing windmill.

“By the way, when did you buy it?”

“During the business trip, in Be’elmiro. There happened to be a market near the hotel I stayed in, so I took a stroll after I finished my work.”

Raven nodded thoughtfully.

Be’elmiro, the art capital of the Olo Federation—it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it the Jerusalem of art practitioners. In today’s economic downturn, it was also the best place for art students and craftsmen to find re-employment.

Raven’s professional habit kicked in, and he couldn’t help but sigh: “There seem to be more and more markets like this in recent years.”

“Mm.” Hollis swallowed his food haphazardly and added, “One must always seek a new way out.”

Raven knew he was talking about the poor general environment; traditional industries were declining, and if various regions wanted to develop, they needed to open up new economic tracks.

“It’s quite lively on the internet, though.” Raven hadn’t been there personally, but he had seen a fair amount on his phone. Having seen too many promotional copywrites, he could identify them at a glance, but as for how it actually was, he harbored doubts in his heart.

Hollis understood what he meant: “I don’t go often either, so it’s hard to compare. For Be’elmiro alone, I feel the differentiation has been achieved. But when all is said and done, you still have to experience it in person. When shall we go for a stroll together?”

His expression was calm, as if speaking casually. Raven was nonchalant, answering perfunctorily: “Sure, let’s go for a stroll sometime.”

In any case, it wouldn’t be now.

Now, they were still at a stalemate due to work matters.

“This year is a cross-party cooperation,” Hollis suddenly stood up from his chair, the hems of his jacket swinging back with two whish sounds. With one hand on his hip, he tapped the table with the knuckle of his other index finger, emphasizing every word with a knock: “There is no reason for the Dawn Party to be invisible during the Light and Shadow Art Week.”

The cause of the matter was the three of them discussing how to present the first day of the Art Week.

According to the tradition of previous years, whichever party organized the event would present that party’s governing philosophy and symbolic logos through light and shadow art on this day.

Following custom, it should have been the People’s Rationality Party’s turn this year, but the sudden cross-party cooperation was undoubtedly a shock to tradition.

Standing from the perspective of the Dawn Party, Hollis naturally wouldn’t let this opportunity pass.

Raven likewise refused to yield: “Are you fighting for fairness?”

Hollis put his hands on his hips: “Shouldn’t I be?”

“In terms of fairness, this year should be the People’s Rationality Party’s home field.”

“The ‘should’ is not reality. The reality is that the situation has changed, and we must adapt accordingly.”

Raven’s voice was as steady as if there were no fluctuations: “The reality is that you have been seconded to the People’s Rationality Party.”

It appeared to be a cooperation, but in fact, there was a distinction between primary and secondary.

Hearing this, Hollis lowered his hands and leaned back slightly, crossing his arms over his chest.

This was a defense mechanism, indicating that he did not agree with Raven at this moment, but also couldn’t think of a reason to refute him.

Seeing this, Raven let out an imperceptible sigh; he didn’t want to make the atmosphere so tense either.

All along, conflict was not his original intent; he didn’t say he was always kind to others, but at least he tried not to argue incessantly.

And this wasn’t the first time they had reached a stalemate.

Previously, they had argued once over the choice of venue.

In a matter like an argument, it’s hard to determine who wins or loses. Even if Raven held the upper hand in the end, he didn’t feel the ease or joy of winning a “battle.”

“Um…” Silver weakly raised her hand. But when four eyes looked over in perfect unison, the argument at the tip of her tongue turned into.

“It’s almost lunchtime. Should we eat first?”

Since things have come to this, let’s eat first.

Hollis dropped a sentence saying “I’m not hungry,” didn’t go to the cafeteria with them, and turned to head to the rooftop.

Raven’s expression finally showed a slight change. Silver’s heart tightened; she wanted to take responsibility for everything and call Hollis back, but she was stopped by Raven raising his hand.

In the end, of the three people, two went to the cafeteria together, leaving one person leaning on the rooftop railing, witnessing the backs of the two as they walked away.

The office space of the People’s Rationality Party was located in the old city area. Two office buildings faced each other across a gap, forming a horizontal “H” shape, connected by a bridge in the middle.

Buildings in the past were generally not high; only intermittent renovations kept pace with the times.

Hollis couldn’t see Raven anymore and retracted his gaze, but the five-story height limited his vision; looking around, everything looked almost the same.

He didn’t know how long he had been looking when a group of people walked across the bridge, clustering around the same person.

Hollis instinctively narrowed his eyes, his left broken eyebrow twitching accordingly. His gaze was sharp, like a predator lurking in the dark.

In fact, he just couldn’t see clearly, but a familiar feeling made him recognize who that person was instantly.

At the same time, a familiar voice from behind pulled back his thoughts.

“You must be hungry; I brought you a meal box.”

Hollis spun around, fixed his eyes on Silver for a moment, then looked behind her.

“The Chairman asked him to go to the office.” Silver knew who he was looking for and quickly shook the packed box in her hand, explaining, “This was specifically ordered by him; he told me to bring it to you.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Silver had the privilege of witnessing several diametrically opposed expressions flow across a person’s face in the blink of an eye.

The clearing of clouds and rain was apparently not just for describing the weather.

Only then did Hollis remember he hadn’t thanked her yet: “Thank you, sorry to trouble you with the trip.”

His expression was still serious, but his attitude was a world apart from when they were in the meeting earlier; only a few traces of deep meaning that Silver couldn’t understand flashed through his eyes.

Silver walked over and handed him the meal box. In her peripheral vision, a group of people was approaching.

She was not nearsighted and recognized the most prominent person in the crowd, Raven, at a glance.

Silver: “…”

Hollis even considerately smoothed things over for her: “I know, he’s on his way to see Chairman Verdi.”

The group under the bridge disappeared into the building they were in. Hollis opened the lid of the meal box and devoured a third of it in the blink of an eye; Raven did not appear.

Silver sat opposite him, watching him devour the food like a storm, not understanding how he could say “I’m not hungry” with such an unchanging face.

Seeing the box reach the bottom, Silver suddenly spoke: “You aren’t angry anymore, are you?”

“I wasn’t angry.”

She had asked Raven the same question; predictably, she received the same answer.

She gave a dry laugh: “It’s just work…”

Hollis nodded.

“Actually, Raven… didn’t mean it like that.”

Actually, he meant exactly that.

Silver couldn’t go on: “Anyway, he didn’t mean to target you. It’s just that this task seems like a lucrative assignment, and it is a lucrative assignment, but once it falls into Raven’s hands, the situation becomes different.”

The underlying meaning wasn’t exactly a secret, but facing an “outsider” like Hollis, Silver didn’t know how to continue.

She licked her lips and suddenly changed the subject: “You two must have a very good relationship.”

At least not as bad as it looked.

Hollis paused his movements. He hadn’t finished digesting the previous content before a new topic was suddenly shoved in; he couldn’t react for a moment: “What do you mean?”

Silver changed her tone, also laying the groundwork for what was to follow, but since Hollis’s residual aura was still there, she first offered a disclaimer: “Don’t be angry if I’m wrong.”

“I won’t.”

Silver took a deep breath, pondered for a moment, and decided to start from specific events: “Look, you often pour coffee for Raven.”

Hollis didn’t understand what was wrong with a “newcomer” showing a bit of diligence: “I asked you, but you refused.”

It was only after Silver indicated she wasn’t used to it that Hollis desisted.

“It’s that you can always be the first to notice when Raven’s coffee has gone cold.” Silver mentioned Hollis’s meticulous actions on the first day the three of them collaborated.

Hollis let out two light coughs, a trace of unease flashing through his demeanor: “I saw your cup was full.”

Silver held her breath for a moment, her surprise beyond words: “Raven said the exact same thing.”

One coincidence after another; even when the other party wasn’t present, they could say the same thing. Silver didn’t believe they were strangers before the collaboration.

Otherwise, if this isn’t a fate destined by heaven, what else could it be!

“You two…” Silver leaned toward Hollis, stopping at an appropriate social distance. Though her volume was low, her gaze was like a torch, “You knew each other before, didn’t you?”

She didn’t care; even an artificially manufactured fate was still fate.