Love in the Midst of Mistaken Identities

“Receive what?” Xia Ruoxin had not come to her senses yet. She suddenly froze, and then she picked up her mobile phone from the side and read the message carefully.

“Did you remit that ten thousand dollars to me?”

A Sunny Day will Come: “Yes, it’s me. Don’t get the wrong idea. This is our company’s benefit. It all started with this bonus once you joined us.”

Did such a good company exist? Xia Ruoxin couldn’t believe it until now. Ten thousand dollars just like that, and she hadn’t even officially started work. Was the boss from Shi Lan Studio a fool?

She felt that she should return the money. After all, no credit, no gain. She had not done anything to earn it yet so she couldn’t simply accept the money. Yet, she could feel the money in her hands still hot from the bank.

Never in this lifetime had she taken advantage of another. After a second thought, she decided to remit the money back to the company. She simply couldn’t accept it. Otherwise, she would feel uneasy.

She began typing slowly on the keyboard.

Summer’s Not Over: “I am returning the money to you. This is our first collaboration. You can give it to me when I perform well in the future. If I don’t, I won’t be able to spend the money even when I have it.”

She was not dumb. She just felt that she should accept some money, but not this one. Someone was giving her a chance to prove herself. How could she take advantage of it? That must not be the case.

The other party didn’t reply for a long time. Xia Ruoxin thought there wouldn’t be any, and she was going to shut down her computer. Finally, the portrait flickered.

A Sunny Day Will Come: “It’s going to be yours anyway. Just treat it as the year-end bonus.”

Summer’s Not Over: “Then you can give it to me when the time comes for a year-end bonus.” After that, she sent a smiley face.

The other party sent one, too.

Summer’s Not Over: “I’m going offline. I will do my first submission in two days.”

A Sunny Day will Come: “Alright. Goodbye.”

Summer’s Not Over: “Goodbye.”

Xia Ruoxin typed in her goodbye and shut down the computer. She rubbed her neck and wondered how one could sit in front of the computer every day. She had only done it for a short while, and she could feel her neck aching.

She twisted her neck uncomfortably before she stood up and went into the kitchen to cook something while waiting for Gao Yi’s return. Being a doctor was tough. Gao Yi had a surgery today so he wouldn’t be home until it’s late.

She prepared his meal and left them heating in the pots. It would be ready when he came back. She didn’t feel tired so she took out her easel and started painting.

The painting she was doing this time was a reflection after reading the article.

The story had a fairytale feel. The synopsis was about a man reuniting with a woman after they had gone their separate ways due to a dilemma. They encountered each other again a few years later and realized some people couldn’t be replaced... and some things couldn’t be forgotten.

This was why Xia Ruoxin had thought that it was a fairytale. Which lover would still remember each other after going their separate ways for so long? Human beings were forgetful by nature. When one thought one couldn’t forget certain things, one would realize that one had unconsciously forgotten it, including one’s first love.

She drew stroke after stroke. In the past, it was an interest. Now, she had become more professional. She didn’t look up from the easel until she was almost done with the painting. It was almost twelve o’clock. Gao Yi was still not back.

She rubbed her eyes and put the easel away. She stood up and checked on Rainy if she had kicked her blanket away. Her daughter had been good, and she was sleeping soundly with Dolly in her arms.

Xia Ruoxin rubbed her eyes again. She was actually sleepy. Her routine had always been timely; she went to bed early and woke up at about the same time as Rainy. However, she had worked until now unconsciously, and she didn’t feel that sleepy.

The sound of the main door opening and closing came from outside.

He was back. She quickly opened the bedroom door and went out.

Indeed, Gao Yi had come back after a hard day’s work.

“Why are you still awake?” Gao Yi had changed into his slippers. He placed his belongings on the sofa. The shirt he was wearing had crumpled. There were eye bags beneath his eyes, and his hair was messy with its fringe plastering against his forehead.

“I’m not sleepy.” Xia Ruoxin took his dirty clothes from the sofa. She was going to put them to wash.

“I saved you some dinner in the kitchen.”

“That’s nice.” Gao Yi smiled. “I’m famished. There were a few major back-to-back surgeries that I’ve done. There was no time to eat at all. I’m so tired I could hardly move a finger.” With that, he stood up from the sofa as he rubbed his eyebrows. First, shower and then have his meal. Otherwise, he would fall asleep without taking a bath.

When he came out of the bathroom, Xia Ruoxin had already laid the table and brought the food out. There are colorful congee and a few simple dishes. He wouldn’t suffer from indigestion even if he over-ate.

“I am seriously hungry.” He started eating as soon as he took over the bowl. Once he had filled his stomach, he began to feel like a human again.

“What is it? You look exceptionally happy today.” Gao Yi could see that, too. Xia Ruoxin seemed different today. The corners of her lips were curled upwards into a smile. Besides that, her whole being was radiating from happiness coming from inside her.

“I found a good job.” She couldn’t wait to share the good news with someone else. Gao Yi listened as she talked. He, too, felt that it was the right move to send her for art classes.

She needed to find a job, and her own space in order to gain the confidence that no one had given her in the past. While Xia Ruoxin obviously liked her new job, Gao Yi couldn’t help but feel suspicious when she mentioned that the company had given her a bonus of ten thousand dollars which was applicable to all their newly-hired employees. All companies’ priority was to make a profit. Which one would offer their employees bonuses beforehand? Those that did might be a fool like Xia Ruoxin’s boss.

However, he did not dwell on this much longer. Perhaps it was because he was too exhausted that it led to his misjudgment. When he woke up the next day, he felt he had forgotten some things, and he couldn’t remember no matter how hard he thought of it. So he didn’t try to recall anymore. Instead, he spent time playing with Rainy and talking to her and Xia Ruoxin. After that, he went to work at the hospital and forgotten all about it.

A few days later, Xia Ruoxin had completed the first of her paintings. She spent days amending, and finally, she decided to use the very first one that she had drawn. On the painting, the woman was crying on one half of her face. On the other half, she was smiling gently. Her eyes showed her bliss, touched by happiness when she cried, while there was a feeling of sadness, depressed and hurt when she was smiling.

This was how a human was, she thought.

Who would know if one was truly in pain when one was smiling? Or, one was supposed to be crying rather than smiling?