Chapter 8:008

Jiang Yi dropped Su Xiaomi and Ruan Tian off at their dormitory building before driving directly into the Lanyuan across the street.

While circling the parking lot looking for a spot, his phone suddenly rang in his pocket.

Jiang Yi took out his phone and glanced at it.

Seeing it was an unfamiliar number, he chose not to answer.

However, after a few rings, the call disconnected and immediately started ringing again.

This time, he picked it up.

He assumed it would be an insurance agent or some telemarketer, but to his surprise, a soft and gentle female voice came from the other end:

“Hello, is this Jiang Yi?”

“Yes. And you are?”

“I’m Li Jingjing, a friend of Lu Tu. Lu Tu probably mentioned me to you before, right? He said you’re usually busy with work and might forget to contact me, so he asked me to take the initiative to call you. I hope I’m not being too abrupt.”

Jiang Yi raised an eyebrow, already guessing who this girl was.

She was most likely the friend Lu Tu had persistently tried to introduce to him during their last meal together.

Truth be told, Jiang Yi had no interest in blind dates, but since the girl had taken the initiative to call, he couldn’t embarrass her too much.

So, he kept the conversation light and polite.

However, when the topic turned to meeting in person, Jiang Yi finally apologized:

“It might not be very convenient.”

Li Jingjing knew girls were supposed to be a bit reserved, but good men were a scarce resource these days, and she wasn’t getting any younger.

When she had seen photos of Jiang Yi at Lu Tu’s house, she had already felt intrigued.

Over meals and casual chats with Lu Tu, she’d heard a lot about Jiang Yi—how he came from a good family, but more importantly, he wasn’t some spoiled rich heir.

He had built Yihang Media from the ground up, and it was now one of the top media companies in Songcheng.

Faced with such an excellent catch, Li Jingjing didn’t mind being a little proactive.

So, even after being rejected, although she knew she should politely hang up and move on, she couldn’t help but ask:

“Lu Tu mentioned you don’t have someone you like. If that’s the case, why can’t we meet? Maybe after meeting, you’ll…”

Jiang Yi interrupted her:
“It’s true I don’t have someone I like yet, but recently, there’s someone I’m interested in. Before I’ve figured out my feelings, I think it’s best not to date anyone. It’s responsible for you and for myself.”

Li Jingjing, hearing his honest and straightforward response, finally gave up:
“Then I wish you success in sorting out your feelings soon.”

Jiang Yi finally found an empty parking spot, parked his car, and said with a smile:
“Thank you. I hope you also find your ideal partner soon.”

While Jiang Yi was busy declining a matchmaking prospect, Su Xiaomi was also dealing with her mother over the phone while sitting on a bench outside the dormitory building.

Su Xiaomi hadn’t informed her family in advance about her job change.

It wasn’t until her mother called today that she casually mentioned it, leading to an extended interrogation.

Su Xiaomi didn’t hide anything and answered every question honestly.

As usual, her mother gave her a lengthy lecture about performing well at her new company before inevitably steering the conversation towards finding a boyfriend.

Ever since Su Xiaomi graduated from university, this topic had been a staple in every phone call with her mother.

She had gotten used to her mother’s nagging.

After all, with her mother so far away, all she could do was talk over the phone—there was no way she’d actually come over and drag Su Xiaomi back for a blind date.

So no matter what her mother said, Su Xiaomi just played dumb and brushed it off.

After a long monologue, Mother Su sighed and said:
“I know you don’t like hearing this, but the problem is that you’re alone in Songcheng. There’s no one to take care of you. How can your father and I be at ease? What if one day your father and I…”

Su Xiaomi knew what her mother was about to say and quickly cut her off:
“You and Dad are both healthy. You’ll definitely live long and happy lives.”

Mother Su chuckled in exasperation:
“Yes, yes, your father and I must live long lives—otherwise, how can we see you get married?”

Su Xiaomi was momentarily speechless:
“…You really don’t have to wait that long.”

Mother Su continued:
“Speaking of which, are there any suitable young men at your new company? If there are, maybe you can try getting to know them…”

At the mention of “suitable young men,” Jiang Yi’s face involuntarily appeared in Su Xiaomi’s mind.

She quickly shook her head, as if trying to fling the image away, and only after successfully erasing him from her thoughts did she calmly reply:
“I’ve only been at Yihang Media for a few days. How could I have run into any suitable guys already? Mom, stop worrying. I know what I’m doing.”

After finally wrapping up the phone call with her mother, Su Xiaomi dragged herself back to the dormitory.

She flopped face-down onto her bed, completely exhausted.

But knowing she still had to accompany Ruan Tian to the communal bathroom for a shower, she forced herself to sit up after resting for a while.

Ruan Tian lightly declined her offer, “Thank you, Xiaomi, but I can manage on my own. You don’t need to worry about me tonight.”

Su Xiaomi glanced at Ruan Tian’s sprained right leg and noticed that the swelling had indeed gone down quite a bit.

Without insisting further, she grabbed her toiletries and headed to the bathroom.

By the time she returned after her shower and laundry, Ruan Tian was already asleep.

The next morning, Su Xiaomi was once again assigned to answer calls on the public hotline at the Social News department.

The hotline had been quite busy recently, but most calls were about trivial issues—dead trees in public spaces, traffic congestion due to road expansion, and the like.

After an uneventful morning with no noteworthy news leads, the phone rang again in the afternoon.

It was around two or three in the afternoon, and Su Xiaomi was feeling a bit drowsy when she picked up the call.

However, the caller’s first sentence immediately jolted her awake:

“Someone is attempting to jump from the rooftop of a mall called U9 in downtown Songcheng.”

After hanging up, Su Xiaomi immediately reported the situation to Putao. Putao quickly grabbed her camera, voice recorder, and other equipment, threw them into her backpack, and said decisively, “Let’s go!”

When they arrived at U9, a large crowd had already gathered below.

Police and security personnel had set up barricades and were preventing unauthorized people from entering the scene.

Even with her press credentials, Putao and Su Xiaomi were not allowed access.

Su Xiaomi looked up at the rooftop of U9.

The distance made it hard to see clearly, but she could vaguely make out a girl sitting motionless on the edge of the rooftop, her head lowered.

A few firefighters stood nearby, seemingly trying to talk her down.

Su Xiaomi and Putao split their tasks—one focused on taking photos and recording videos, while the other interviewed onlookers.

They quickly pieced together the general timeline: around 2 PM, witnesses had noticed the young woman on the rooftop.

She had climbed over the railing and sat on an exposed platform with no safety barriers.

Someone had called the police, and both law enforcement and firefighters had arrived shortly after.

However, no one knew why the girl was attempting to take her own life.

Unable to access the rooftop, the interview process seemed stuck.

Just as Su Xiaomi was contemplating whether they could force their way upstairs, Putao discreetly made a phone call.

Fifteen minutes later, Su Xiaomi and Putao were on the rooftop of U9.

It hadn’t felt hot below, but on the rooftop, the sun was glaring, and the wind was strong, making it difficult to keep their eyes open.

The frail figure of the girl sitting on the edge of the platform looked even more fragile under these conditions, like a kite that could snap free and drift away at any moment.

To avoid interfering with the firefighters’ rescue efforts, Su Xiaomi and Putao moved quietly, standing in a corner and keeping a low profile.

They even turned off their camera shutters and flashes to minimize any disruption.

The only sounds on the rooftop were the howling wind and the firefighters’ patient persuasion.

No matter what the firefighters said, the girl remained silent.

Only when one of them tried to approach her did she warily tilt her head, her voice soft yet resolute: “Don’t come any closer. If you do, I’ll jump.”

The standoff continued.

One hour passed.

Then two hours…

Surprisingly, it wasn’t the firefighters who first lost patience—it was the crowd below.

“Just jump already! Are you going to do it or not?”

“It’s been hours. If she doesn’t jump soon, I’ll miss clocking out at work.”

“Seriously, what’s the big deal? Why drag this out for so long?”

Hearing these cold-hearted remarks, Su Xiaomi felt a surge of anger rise in her chest.

The young woman, sitting with her back to the crowd, seemed to have heard their jeers.

Or perhaps, after such a long stalemate, she had finally made up her mind.

Her head, which had been hanging low all this time, slowly lifted, and her stiff body swayed slightly.

A firefighter immediately spoke up, his voice full of concern, “Miss, please stay calm. Listen to me. You’re still young—there’s no obstacle you can’t overcome. As long as you’re alive, there’s always hope…”

But before he could finish speaking, the girl suddenly stood up, preparing to jump.

Reacting instinctively, a firefighter lunged forward, grabbed her arm tightly, and shouted, “Hold on tight!”

The incident happened so suddenly that even though the firefighter reacted swiftly and grabbed the girl’s arm, Su Xiaomi and Putao rushed forward to help pull the firefighter, whose upper body was already hanging over the railing.

Yet, the girl still managed to break free from the firefighter’s grip…

The moment the girl fell, cheers erupted from below, and some even applauded.

On the rooftop, the firefighter, lying over the railing, could no longer hold back his grief and broke down in anguished sobs.

Su Xiaomi stared at the man before her, who was about her father’s age, overwhelmed with despair and sorrow for failing to save such a young life.

Her own tears, which had been welling up, finally spilled over.

On the way back to Yihang Media, Su Xiaomi remained silent.

It was her first time facing death so directly and also her first time witnessing both the best and worst sides of human nature.

The image of the firefighter sobbing helplessly and the crowd below applauding and jeering kept flashing through her mind, leaving her deeply unsettled.

She didn’t want to say anything.

She just wanted to find a quiet corner to hide or drink herself into oblivion.

But she couldn’t.

The report had to be completed tonight and published early the next morning.

So, no matter how heavy her heart felt, and even though her eyes were red when she returned to the Social News Department, Su Xiaomi calmly opened her computer and began collaborating with Putao to sort through the interviews, videos, and photos from the scene.

The two of them worked overtime until past midnight, finally producing a report titled, “What Drove a Young Girl to End Her Life by Jumping?”

By the time they left Yihang Media, it was already past 1 AM.

Putao patted Su Xiaomi on the shoulder and, speaking from experience, said, “Go home, take a hot shower, and get a good night’s sleep. Don’t think about anything. We’ll definitely continue investigating this incident, and who knows—we might uncover even harsher truths. Facing cruelty is sometimes part of our job as journalists. You need to learn how to manage your emotions. If possible, see a therapist. Otherwise, one day, this job might break you.”

Su Xiaomi nodded quietly in agreement.

But when she reached her dormitory building, she hesitated and decided not to go straight inside.

Instead, she headed to the nearby 24-hour convenience store.

She bought some beer and oden, then sat alone on the store’s doorstep, sipping beer and eating one skewer at a time.

At this hour, the streets were nearly empty, and even the traffic had dwindled, so Su Xiaomi didn’t have to worry about being seen by anyone.

For once, she felt a rare sense of relaxation.

It was as if the emotions she’d been bottling up since the scene had finally found an outlet.

After finishing one can of cold beer, Su Xiaomi wisely decided not to drink more and instead focused on eating her oden.

She hadn’t eaten dinner, and though she hadn’t felt hungry earlier, each bite now stirred her appetite.

As she focused on her meal, a pair of polished black leather shoes suddenly appeared in her line of sight.

Su Xiaomi paused mid-bite, slowly lifted her head, and her gaze traveled from a pair of long, straight legs up to a shirt stretched slightly tight across a well-defined chest, and finally to the collarbone peeking through two undone buttons.

She didn’t even need to look further to know who it was.

Under normal circumstances, Su Xiaomi would’ve bolted, but tonight, she felt no such impulse.

Calmly, she finished chewing her fish ball, swallowed, and looked up with a serious expression.

“Mr. Jiang, care for some? It’s pretty good.”

Jiang Yi’s mouth twitched slightly.

Tonight, he had attended a friend’s birthday dinner, followed by a karaoke session, which was why he was only now heading home.

Passing by, he spotted Su Xiaomi sitting on the roadside and initially thought he was seeing things.

But after stopping the car and looking closer, he realized it was indeed her.

This girl was just sitting there so casually, drinking and eating alone on the street in the middle of the night.

Didn’t she realize how unsafe it was?

With that thought, his feet had already moved towards her involuntarily.

Normally, Jiang Yi wouldn’t even glance at oden, but tonight, noticing Su Xiaomi’s fragile state, he didn’t refuse.

Expressionless, he scanned the cup in her hand and casually picked out a skewer of tofu.

Then, without saying a word, he sat down beside her and silently began eating.

Watching him chew with one cheek puffed out, Su Xiaomi couldn’t help but laugh.

Some people have a calming presence.

Just being near them, even without a word spoken, can quietly dissolve your darkest emotions.

The two of them silently shared the cup of oden.

When they finished, Jiang Yi gathered the empty cup and skewers, expertly tossed them into a nearby trash can, and clapped his hands clean.

Then he said, “Alright, tell me—what happened?”

Su Xiaomi hesitated before brushing it off lightly. “It’s nothing, just work stuff. I can handle it myself.”

Jiang Yi raised an eyebrow.

“Work stuff? I didn’t realize you were this dedicated to your job.”

Su Xiaomi: “Are you kidding? I’m the kind of person who draws a bunch of ‘Dedication Blessings’ effortlessly every year, okay?”

Jiang Yi: “…”

Despite her joking tone, Su Xiaomi eventually couldn’t hold back and told Jiang Yi about what had happened at the interview scene today.

She thought she had already adjusted her emotions after so much time had passed, but when she spoke about the moment the girl fell and the firefighter broke down in tears, her eyes reddened again.

And when she described the indifference and cruelty of the onlookers below, her voice trembled slightly.

Jiang Yi remained silent the entire time.

Only when Su Xiaomi had slowly finished speaking did he sigh, stand up, and squat down in front of her.

Su Xiaomi was sitting on the highest step, while Jiang Yi squatted one step below her, making their eyes level with each other.

Su Xiaomi had always thought Jiang Yi’s eyes were the most beautiful she had ever seen—not because they were classic, charming almond-shaped eyes, but because his gaze was always bright and clear.

In those bright eyes, there were almost no traces of time’s erosion.

Su Xiaomi even felt that even if fine lines formed at the corners of his eyes one day, as long as he kept this clarity in his gaze, he would forever remain the 16-year-old boy in her heart.

She stared blankly into Jiang Yi’s eyes for a long while before turning her head away, trying to avoid his gaze.

She had just cried and didn’t want Jiang Yi to see her reddened eyes.

Jiang Yi didn’t force her to look back at him.

Instead, he softly asked in her ear, “Su Xiaomi, why did you choose to become a journalist in the first place?”

Why? At first, it was because she loved it. Later, it might have been for survival, out of habit, or something else.

“My media professor once told me that journalists and police officers are the only two professions that can get infinitely close to the truth. But the difference is, police officers seek the truth behind death—to comfort the dead and bring peace to the living. Journalists, however, seek the truth behind news stories and then reveal the darkness of this world to the public, bringing light to the world. Tears and anger are natural emotions, but for a journalist, they’re also the most useless things. Emotions will cloud your judgment of the truth. You see only one girl’s death, but while you grieve for her loss, somewhere in another corner of the world, another girl might be suffering the same pain. At this moment, on some rooftop, another girl might be trapped in the same life-and-death dilemma. So… don’t cry anymore.”

When Su Xiaomi heard these words, her initial reaction was indignation.

But after that passed, she felt an odd sense of warmth.

Was Jiang Yi… comforting her?

Even if his words of comfort came out so cold and blunt, just seeing Jiang Yi crouched in front of her, patiently trying to soothe her, made her heart feel soft—like a cookie soaked in milk.

On the way back, Jiang Yi drove Su Xiaomi home.

This time, she obediently climbed into the passenger seat without Jiang Yi having to signal her.

The convenience store wasn’t far from Su Xiaomi’s dormitory, so they arrived quickly.

Su Xiaomi thought Jiang Yi would drop her off at the dormitory gate as he had before.

But this time, Jiang Yi rolled down the window, greeted the security guard, and drove directly into the residential area.

Su Xiaomi glanced at him worriedly and stammered, “President Jiang, you can just drop me off at the gate. There’s no need to drive me all the way in.”

Jiang Yi replied, “You’ve been drinking, and it’s already 2 AM. Out of basic humanitarian spirit, I should see this through to the end. Don’t worry, no one will know I brought you back at this hour. Now tell me, which building?”

Hearing this, Su Xiaomi couldn’t argue and obediently gave him the building number.

Jiang Yi had an excellent sense of direction and found her dormitory building easily in the dark.

When Su Xiaomi unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car, she hesitated for a moment before turning back and saying, “Thank you, President Jiang, for bringing me home.”

Half of Jiang Yi’s face was hidden in the shadows, and his expression was unclear.

But his usually calm voice carried a rare hint of a smile: “No need to thank me. I should be thanking you for the oden.”

Perhaps because she had drunk some beer and chatted with Jiang Yi for so long, Su Xiaomi showed up at work the next day with dark circles under her eyes but in better spirits than Putao had expected.

Putao was satisfied.

“I was worried you’d quit because of what happened yesterday. Turns out you’re a bit stronger than I thought.”

Su Xiaomi smiled. “Didn’t you tell me to see a psychologist to sort out my emotions? So last night, I found one!”

Putao raised an eyebrow.

“That fast? What kind of psychologist?”

“Ridiculously handsome, incredibly rich, and most importantly… he’s really good at what he does!”