She turned unconsciously toward it to glance at the phone screen that had lit up. It was a reply from that woman. It was a simple message with only two letters. “Ok.”
Through the message, Tang Nuan could even envision the flash of malice that crossed the usually gentle demeanor of that woman.
She sure knows how to act… Tang Nuan mocked the woman as she continued to observe Song Qingchun. She picked up her phone and was about to send another message to that woman when the female colleague beside Tang Nuan peeled open a bag of Chili Chicken and, out of habit, passed Tang Nuan one.
Tang Nuan accepted it and threw it into her mouth. She chomped on the delicacy as she typed the reply on her phone. She only managed to key in the word ‘If’ when she suddenly turned around and started to dry heave with her hands over her lips.
The female colleague who gave her the Chicken Feet turned around and asked with concern, “Tang Nuan, are you okay?”
Waving her hands at the female colleague, Tang Nuan replied that she was fine. She placed her phone and the rest of the Chili Chicken on her table before she stood up to rush toward the bathroom.
The clicks of her high heels and the dry heaving that followed were very conspicuous in the quietness of the office.
…
Ever since Song Qingchun caught Tang Nuan cheating on Qin Yinan, Song Qingchun had treated her as air. Even if they ran into each other face-to-face at the office, they would not acknowledge each other with even a gaze.
When she almost reached her office holding the mug in her hands, she was accosted by her assistant. The assistant asked her about the progress on the latest news article, and as she listened to her assistant, Song Qingchun raised the mug to her lips.
The moment the warm water touched her lips, Song Qingchun could hear the sound of vomiting coming behind her. The sound made her feel nauseous as well. She immediately put down the mug and turned toward the sound alongside her assistant. They saw Tang Nuan rush toward the bathroom with her hands over her lips.
The female colleague next to Tang Nuan was close to her, so she stood up to follow Tang Nuan with concern. The female colleague did not go into the bathroom but stood at the door to talk to Tang Nuan.
“Are you okay? Do you want to take a day-off? Shall I accompany you to the hospital? Also… what has been wrong with you lately? I remember this is not the first time you reacted thusly to food in the span of a week…”
Tang Nuan said something back, but Song Qingchun couldn’t hear her over the distance. She could barely hear the female colleague’s reply.
Her assistant already lost her interest. She called out to Song Qingchun and pointed at the computer screen as she continued to discuss the matters of work with Song Qingchun. Song Qingchun turned to look at the computer screen. Amid the droning of her assistant, snippets of conversation from the bathroom would drift into her ears.
“Is it because you drunk too much last week? Tang Nuan, you should listen to me; you shouldn’t drink so often and so much as a woman. It’s very harmful to your stomach and liver…”
Sister Hua, whose cubicle was closest to the bathroom, suddenly said, “Wait, Tang Nuan has been vomiting the past few days?”