Tenant's Secret Love

Chapter 145: Old Times

I was afraid that Renee would not want to take me, so I sprinted over to her car, opened the passenger door and sat down. I quickly fastened my seat belt and felt safer.

Renee looked at me helplessly and said, "Why are you always so jumpy?"

"You never pay any attention to me, okay? If I don't pester you, we'll just be looking at each other from across a great chasm."

"Who wants to look at you from across a great chasm!"

"You're so insensitive. Just imagine the scene: so helpless, so tragic..."

"And so sad!"

Seeing that Renee had been successfully drawn into the conversation, I raised an eyebrow and said, "That's why you don't want to look at me across the abyss, because you won't be able to see the whole of me, and you'll be so sad!"

Renee glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, but ignored me, and then started the car, following the flow of traffic on the winter afternoon road.

The sunlight shining through the car's windows cast a warm glow on us, driving away some of the winter chill.

When Renee pulled the car into a simple driveway, I asked her, "I heard that Mark will be the executive vice president of Jumei Department Store in Suzhou?"

Renee nodded, confirming the truth of the news.

"...It's hard to imagine that the interest groups within Jumei will easily support your decision, after all, executive vice president is not an ordinary position!"

Facing my doubts, Renee said calmly, "This time, it's mainly because they've met the right time. You should know that Jumei's shopping mall in Shanghai will be put into operation soon, and the headquarters will also be moved to Shanghai, so it leaves a lot of opportunities for Suzhou..."

Renee didn't continue, but I vaguely understood some of the reasons. I asked, "In the future, will your uncle focus more on managing the Shanghai headquarters, while you will be mainly responsible for Suzhou?"

"You could say that."

I once again experienced Darren's old cunning. He was gradually stripping Renee of her power, because Jumei in Suzhou was in no way comparable to Jumei in Shanghai.

And after being isolated from each other, it is even more conducive to Darren cultivating his own system. Perhaps this is the motivation behind his insistence on launching the "big city" strategy. After all, if a shopping mall is set up in a top-tier city like Shanghai, it would be logical for the headquarters to move there as well. On the contrary, if development takes place in a second- or third-tier city, the headquarters will remain in Suzhou, which will not be conducive to him getting rid of Renee's constraints.

Of course, I can think of all this, and Renee must have thought of it as well. After a moment of silence, I asked her, "So, how are you going to respond?"

Renee looked at me and said, "I don't want to talk about this with you."

I felt a bit self-deprecating, but I still had the nerve to pursue, saying, "Then what was the point of delaying your meeting with Mark and Harlan for a week? You could have told me that, couldn't you?"

"You're not a party to this, so why would I tell you?"

Her attitude left me speechless, but I vaguely understood that it might be because I had repeatedly refused to join Jumei.

I knew I wouldn't get anything out of her, so I finally stopped asking. Renee also accelerated, as if she was eager to get me to my destination and get rid of me.

But last night we happily collaborated on a song called "Elopement" using WeChat, so why was she so cold today? Women's minds...I really don't understand!

Renee dropped me off at my place and left, then went to Shanghai again. I'm not sure if it was for Abner or work.

.......

In the evening, I had dinner with Harlan, Mark and Jack. This time Jack will also follow Harlan and the others to Jumei. After all, in Poly Department Store, he also belonged to Mark's faction. When Mark collapsed, he naturally couldn't stay there anymore, and following Mark and Harlan was a good choice for him. At least he wouldn't be in a lower position at Jumei than he was before at Poly.

During the meal, Mark and Harlan both expressed their deep gratitude to me, and of course, they didn't hold back on the wine, and the meal didn't end until they got me drunk.

On the way home, I didn't choose any form of transportation, but instead, I wandered along with the crowd, digesting the accumulated alcohol in my body.

When I got tired of walking, I sat on the sidewalk curb and stared at the passing crowd. I didn't like this night alone at all, because after drinking, I always have so many complaints to make, but now who wants to listen to these complaints?

So I missed my life in college again. No matter how much wine I drank, there was always someone who would stay with me until the end, patiently listening to my nonsense...

Thinking about those old times, I can't help feeling sad, so I lowered my eyebrows and lit a cigarette for myself, remorseful in my heart that I shouldn't have drunk that wine, because a person is so lonely after drinking.

I took out the transparent film on the cigarette pack and covered my eyes, then looked up at the stars in the sky, but I could no longer see that city and the woman with long hair falling down her shoulders. Instead, I attracted the disgusted stares of passers-by, who avoided the drunkard sitting on the roadside.

They know shit! They're all a bunch of philistines drowning in life, so they'll never see that city in the sky, but I will, even if it's only occasionally!

The night gradually drifted into my mind. In order not to collapse on the street, I had to sing even if I didn't have a guitar. I took out my mobile phone from my pocket, found the voice recording of yesterday's conversation with Renee, and pressed and held the voice button and sang out loud.

I sang a song for Renee called "Old Times" tearing my heart out as I sang, "The most beautiful treasures in life are those days of old, even though we were poor we were happy, wearing old clothes, in the snowy winter of Hailar, came the sound of singing from the three-wheeled cart, and on a gentle summer night by the Yimin River, the sound of the accordion drifted by. Now we have changed our appearance, and we are busy every day just to make a living. But whenever we think of the old days, your eyes will light up. The most beautiful treasures in life are still those old days. Friends raise their beers, and there is only half a sausage on the table..."

After singing, I looked at the message I had sent out a little lost in thought. I was lost in thought because I was immersed in the lyrics. My eyes were a little hot, and I thought of the lovers I had once loved dearly, and those best of friends. But just as the lyrics sang, we have all changed in appearance now. Those carefree years together are ultimately fixed in an untouchable time and space, making me miss them dearly at this moment!

A moment later, Renee replied to the message: "It's clearly a gentle and nostalgic song, so why did you sing it with such a heartbreaking voice?"

"To disgust you!" I messaged Renee without any logic.

"It doesn't disgust me, on the contrary, it's very nice... Guess which line I like from the lyrics?"

I went over the lyrics in my head again, and regardless of which one Renee liked, I sent my favorite one: "The most beautiful treasures in life are those old times, when I was so poor I had nothing but happiness and old clothes on my back."

I lit another cigarette and waited for Renee's reply, but also examined myself. In the past, I really was so poor I had nothing but happiness, but now I'm so poor I have nothing but sadness, so I long even more to return to those old times!