He didn't send a message, unable to find a suitable excuse to disturb her, thinking she might be tidying up or studying.
It wasn't until dinner time that he couldn't bear it any longer. He hadn't seen her for a full five hours, and he didn't know what to eat for dinner.
Should he use this as an excuse to invite her over?
Jiang Jingyu completely abandoned his pride and, after much deliberation, sent her a message on WeChat.
"How are you planning to solve dinner?"
A minute, two minutes, ten minutes, half an hour, an hour passed after sending it, but Tong An'an hadn't replied.
As if something had happened and she had vanished, Jiang Jingyu stared at his phone, growing more agitated and overthinking with each passing moment. He couldn't help but take the elevator downstairs.
It was already dark. If someone were home, light should have been visible through the crack in the door.
He glanced at Tong An'an's apartment. It was pitch black. Could she be asleep?
He forced himself not to overthink. She was sleeping. He picked up his phone and went back.
After enduring for another hour, he looked again, and the apartment was still dark.
He couldn't help but press the doorbell, but there was no response after several attempts.
Now he was certain: Tong An'an wasn't home.
Jiang Jingyu couldn't help but feel a bit angry. He was pouring his heart out, thinking about her every second.
He had thought that no matter how slow Tong An'an was, she should have some feelings for him.
Yet, she acted as if nothing had happened. If he didn't contact her, she wouldn't give any response, just living her life as usual. This was incredibly frustrating for Jiang Jingyu.
He returned home in a huff, losing his appetite. He opened a bottle of red wine and drank it down glass after glass. He paced the room in frustration, wishing he could find someone to yell at.
Just then, his phone, lying on the table, pinged.
He lunged for it as if it were a lifeline, but upon grabbing it, he saw it was a spam message.
He was utterly furious. He threw his phone onto the sofa, yanked open the door, and was about to go out.
He was going to see what Tong An'an was so busy with! Pretending not to see his message!
There wasn't another employee as bold and dismissive of him as her in the entire Zhan Group!
The door was pulled open with a bang. As he stepped out, he almost collided with someone.
Looking down, it was indeed Tong An'an.
She was holding a large plastic bag and was startled by Jiang Jingyu's sudden appearance.
Her face was filled with alarm as she looked at him, and it took her a couple of seconds before she dared to speak.
"Mr. Zhan, what is this..."
Jiang Jingyu's face was flushed from the wine. Although he wasn't drunk, far from it, his red face and the smell of alcohol, coupled with his overwhelming anger, had certainly startled her.
His immense anger dissipated by more than half the moment he saw her petite figure.
Even though Tong An'an hadn't said or done anything, Jiang Jingyu couldn't help but revert to his usual tone.
"It's so late, what can I do for you?"
The way he said it made them seem like strangers, and Tong An'an felt awkward.
It was already ten o'clock at night. It was indeed not good for a female employee to come knocking on the CEO's door. Moreover, judging by his demeanor, the CEO was in a very bad mood.
She had thought sharing snacks from her hometown would be nice, but now she suddenly felt they were too common and wanted to hide them.
But it was too late. She could only brace herself and say,
"My brother came to pick me up this afternoon. I went back to my hometown with him, and we were cooking and eating. On the way back, I was chatting with my brother and didn't have time to check my phone, so I delayed your dinner. Have you eaten?"
"These are snacks my mom brought me from home. If you don't mind..."
So that was it. She hadn't gone out partying with friends, nor was she engaged in the decadent activities Jiang Jingyu had imagined.
She had simply returned to her hometown with her brother.
He suddenly felt he had been overly sensitive.
They say people's IQ drops to zero once they fall in love. If it weren't for Tong An'an, he wouldn't have realized that after so many years, he would still be so childish and impulsive when it came to matters of the heart.
"If you have something to say, come in."
He stepped back into the doorway, waiting for Tong An'an.
But she didn't want to go in.
Jiang Jingyu's distant demeanor just now made her realize she had gotten a bit carried away recently.
Her boss simply thought she was a good dining companion who ate heartily and a virtuous woman who kept a tidy home, hence he had shown her some favor.
Tong An'an had actually thought they were friends!
Fortunately, she came to her senses in time. If this continued, she would definitely cross the line.
"No, I have to work tomorrow. You should also rest early. Take the things if you want them, but if you look down on them..."
Jiang Jingyu could tell she wasn't in a good mood. Her expression was dejected, and her tone was listless.
"What's wrong? Is something wrong back home? Why don't you seem very happy?"
He was giving her that impression again.
He was the one who had been in a bad mood just moments ago.
Tong An'an thought to herself with annoyance, "Mr. Zhan, can you please stop this? Please draw a clear line between us and maintain a proper distance as your female subordinate! If you keep acting like this, I don't know how I should treat you!"
"No, I'm just a bit tired, and I want to sleep."
She handed the bag forward.
"So, do you want to eat them?"
Seeing that she was tired, Jiang Jingyu didn't dare to say more. He reached out and took the bag.
"Then you should go back and rest early. Thank you for the snacks, see you tomorrow."
See you tomorrow, did that mean they would go to work together again tomorrow?
Tong An'an didn't want to continue like this.
She owed him more and more favors. Even if he didn't ask her to repay them, she would feel embarrassed.
He was a wealthy person who had the right to spend his time and enjoy life. She was different.
She needed to utilize all her time, work hard, and build her career.
Although she disagreed inwardly, she didn't say anything out loud and returned home with a dejected back.
She hadn't slept well all night and woke up at five in the morning, reviewing vocabulary words while getting ready.
As dawn broke, she started running outside the villa, considering it exercise. She thought as she ran.
She took the bus to the company, ate in the cafeteria, and began analyzing various excellent case studies accumulated by the department.
By the time people were already looking at case studies, Jiang Jingyu was just getting out of bed.
Since his residential area was very close to the company, if there was no traffic, it wouldn't be too late to leave at 7:30 AM.
As a result, after he got ready and took the elevator to Tong An'an's floor, he rang the doorbell for a long time only to find that she wasn't home again.
The feeling of annoyance from the previous night returned. He stood at the door and called Tong An'an.
"I'm at your door. Where are you?"
Tong An'an looked at the case study and replied, "I'm already at the company. Thank you for your kind offer to give me a ride, but I don't think it's good to continue like this. What if colleagues see us... So I won't trouble you anymore. I need to sleep and wake up early from now on, so I'll walk out myself. You should hurry and get busy."