Chapter 5

The new boss talked to Yang Bufan. HR talked to her. Colleagues found out quickly. Looked at her with sympathy, pity.
Like she’d fought a silent, losing battle. Defeat meant resignation.
Yang Bufan didn’t explain anything. Just said she didn’t want to work anymore, wanted to rest.
The new boss was happy. He hadn’t won people over yet, was planning to get rid of some hard‑to‑manage old employees, bring in his own people.
So Yang Bufan’s resignation went through easily.
Resigning, breaking up—neither had a special reason. Because all breakup reasons weren’t the real cause.
But her mind kept replaying Mom’s back as she left. She knew she’d lost the excuse to keep falling.
Yang Bufan’s handover could be done in a day. She wrote a handover doc, sent materials to another team, and that was it.
She packed up shoes, water bottle, stationery from her desk. Two boxes. Shipped them home.
At lunch, ran into Yin Yao and Yun Siyu in the cafeteria.
Seeing Yin Yao’s slightly evasive, panicked look, Yang Bufan didn’t go say hi. Didn’t get why she acted like she’d been caught cheating. Was it necessary?
Elementary school?
She didn’t know what had gone wrong between them. Didn’t want to ask. Friendships had honeymoon periods too. After that stage, things went downhill fast. Every time they had a honeymoon period, it was when Yin Yao was doing badly.
Meaning, she only remembered Yang Bufan when she was miserable.
Yang Bufan was just a negative‑emotion dump in her contacts. Only had instrumental value. Maybe nothing else.
She was probably doing well now. Hope she keeps doing well. No need to remember her.
Yang Bufan walked out without looking back. Yun Siyu caught up and called her.
“Why resign suddenly?” Yun Siyu still had red lips, black hair, stunning looks.
Yang Bufan said, “Don’t want to work anymore.”
“About the concert thing—I should thank you,” Yun Siyu hesitated. “Sorry you all had to work overtime. I was in Kyoto that day, didn’t check work messages.”
Yang Bufan laughed. “So polite. You come empty‑handed to thank me?”
After that, they fell into awkward silence. Like they weren’t close enough to joke.
Yang Bufan was about to leave. Yun Siyu suddenly got careful. “You resigning—it’s not because of me, is it?”
“Huh?”
“I thought about it. That bag thing—did I not explain clearly? Make you misunderstand? There were clients there, my dad, lots of people.”
Yang Bufan nodded. “I see.”
Yun Siyu saw she didn’t have much of a reaction, relaxed.
She was used to being free, saying whatever. Sometimes she’d say something, remember much later she shouldn’t have.
She admitted she liked Jiang Qishen’s type. Arrogant, hard to get along with, but principled. Never seen him mess around. Ambitious men were the most attractive. She liked taking apart their principles one by one, watching them get desperate, anxious. That was the most satisfying.
On the other hand, she really hated greedy social climbers. Those unapologetic horny bastards were trash. Only low‑class women liked downward compatibility. Women who did charity work deserved to die.
Her picky father liked Jiang Qishen too. She looked at him more highly. Men were for playing with. But that didn’t mean she liked fighting over food.
After finding out Jiang Qishen had a girlfriend, that vague liking died down. Taken men, no matter how hungry she was, she had no appetite.
There were plenty of men. One woman could have three, easy. Women fighting over them made them seem precious.
Please. She was the one who should be proud. She was way richer than him. Lol.
Yang Bufan glanced at Yin Yao not far away. “Someone’s waiting for you. I’ll go.”
Yun Siyu nodded.
Yang Bufan understood what Yun Siyu meant. But between her and Jiang Qishen, it went way beyond that.
Even if there was something between them, that was Jiang Qishen’s problem. As long as he didn’t act like trash, would others have a chance?
Could a woman rape him?
In the end, it was just a problem between them.
These days she’d been thinking: maybe men didn’t have love. Jiang Qishen wasn’t about not loving her, or who he loved. He didn’t love anyone. Only himself.
Maybe to him, what was the difference between Yang Bufan and Yun Siyu?
Men couldn’t understand love. If he loved her, he’d be more afraid of losing her than she was.
But clearly not.
Of course, none of this mattered anymore.
Back home, Yang Bufan kept packing. Threw out what needed throwing. Shipped everything she could. Jiang Qishen was in Guangzhou on business, back tomorrow. She had plenty of time.
Busy all night, didn’t check her phone. Opened it. Jiang Qishen had called five or six times.
Yang Bufan’s first thought: avoid. If they fought today, she wouldn’t sleep. This might be her last night in Shenzhen. She wanted to spend it peacefully.
Spring sunset fell into the big living room. The jasmine by the floor‑to‑ceiling window had lots of buds. Next to it, a pink panther plant bloomed like pink clouds.
She remembered when she’d brought this pot home. Jiang Qishen said all of Shenzhen’s greenbelts were full of bougainvillea. Yang Bufan said it was different.
Of course it was different.
No matter how many bougainvillea were outside, they belonged to everyone. The one at home was just theirs. A small family’s beautiful symbol in this vast world.
She’d made the place warm and lively, wanted to feel like they had a home. It was all an illusion.
All of it was about to vanish. Yang Bufan couldn’t put words to the reluctance. She’d decided. This last hesitation, she’d leave for tonight.
She texted him: talk tomorrow when we meet. Then shut off her phone. Worked until midnight before sleeping.
Jiang Qishen didn’t sleep well.
Yesterday, when he heard someone in Brand had resigned, he was in a meeting in Guangzhou. Talking about how the company had turned the crisis around, he praised it, used it to motivate colleagues to be proactive and flexible.
Then he saw HR’s monthly personnel changes. He knew about some department optimizations, core business expansions. But when he saw Brand had a batch of new hires, his scrolling slowed.
After asking, he found out the new department head had brought his own team. And Yang Bufan had resigned.
Jiang Qishen finished the meeting as usual, arranged work normally. After he was done, called Yang Bufan. No answer.
She’d bluffed many times. Threatened to break up before. But she’d never just quit without a word.
She’d learned.
Gotten bolder.
He called five or six times. No answer. All the questions he’d prepared had nowhere to go. His chest felt blocked. On the way to a client dinner, the clouds in the sky looked like garbled code, a mess.
Didn’t sleep well that night. Got her message. One short sentence: talk tomorrow when we meet. He called. Phone was off.
She was getting better at pissing him off. He wanted to rush home that night. When he swiped his card to go downstairs, realized he was still wearing hotel slippers in his hurry. Went back up. Looked at the time: 1:30 a.m.
Stayed at the hotel after all.
But he was restless, sweating. Got up to shower three times, washed his hands six times.
Lao Zhang picked him up early the next morning. Got home at eight.
He didn’t even change or clean up. Dug her out of bed.
Yang Bufan wasn’t awake yet. Had worked until late last night, exhausted. Brain still foggy when Jiang Qishen pulled her up.
She came to after a minute. Under his dark expression, quickly sorted out her thoughts.
“You’re back. So early. Only eight. I asked your secretary yesterday. He said you had a meeting this morning, back this afternoon.”
Yang Bufan cleared her throat, tried to seem alert and composed. When facing Jiang Qishen’s pressure, she could stay calm.
But she knew she was saying too much. Especially with Jiang Qishen looking at her like this, well‑dressed, silent. Her confidence kept shrinking.
Yang Bufan despaired.
What woman talked this much nonsense when breaking up?
If you were going to talk, say something cutting. Trade barbs, hurt each other. She despaired at her own stupid brain.
Yang Bufan got up, ready to give herself a moment. But putting on her shoes, she twisted her ankle. Jiang Qishen grabbed her arm, steadied her. She’d been ready to fire a shot, but softened slightly.
“Have you eaten breakfast?”
“Are you treating your career like a joke?”
They spoke at the same time.
Jiang Qishen looked at her imperiously. “Tell me. What’s the reason this time? What are you doing?”
Yang Bufan went a little stiff. Like she’d lost the ability to speak. Said quietly, “Jiang Qishen, could you consider other people’s feelings a little?”
“What feelings? I’m giving you time now. Speak.” Jiang Qishen loosened his tie with one hand, watching her.
If life had a progress bar, Yang Bufan would skip straight to after the breakup. No need to face his condescension and interrogation.
Last night before bed, she’d tried to psych herself up. Hope today she could stay calm, neither humble nor pushy. After all, reacting too strongly made you look weak. Reacting too weakly made you look spineless.
Either way, this was her last chance to keep her dignity in this relationship. No more chances after this.
They faced off a long time. Jiang Qishen turned to go get water. Last night he’d been restless, sweating. His body had lost moisture. Now he was thirsty, anxious.
Then he heard from behind: “Let’s break up.”