The Day He Matured

Not long after I went to the gathering place, Brian appeared. He no longer approached me but stood in the ranks of the senior leaders.

The leader of the group motioned for everyone to be quiet and then informed us about the activities on this tour.

In previous tours, the company did not organize such grandiose events, just went to the beach, ate seafood, played some games, and returned on the same day because the chosen location was always near the city.

We set off early in the morning and when we got home it was around seven at night.

Not far from where we were standing was a large pile of firewood lying on the open ground.

As soon as the whistle sounded, a small fire slid from the high wire to the woodpile and a big fire appeared in the cheers of everyone.

After that, we quickly moved in a circle, surrounded the big pile of firewood, and started singing and clapping.

The dances of the school days are recreated. We held hands, immersed in an atmosphere full of emotion, joy, emotion, and nostalgia for the past.

Through the flickering firelight, I realized Brian’s eyes were still fixed on me.

He did not smile like many people, his face was extremely expressionless.

After all, is Brian traveling or going to a funeral? Who forced him to come here? If he laughs, he’ll lose his job as a sales manager, right?

The deputy general director laughed to the point of revealing his gums, while Harold laughed to the point of narrowing his eyes.

“Okay, the food and coal are ready, you guys choose what you like and serve yourself. You can grill the meat for yourself or you can grill it for someone you love. I know there are many couples and lovers in this group.”

As soon as the leader of the group finished speaking, we quickly dispersed and went to the place where the food was placed and started to choose.

I picked up a quail, a couple of skewers of pork, and two fish and went to the nearby charcoal stove, placing them on the grill.

“How can you be full if you eat so little?” Harold also came forward, put four chicken thighs and six quails on the grill, and asked me.

“These baked goods make me feel full very quickly. I’ll take more meat if I feel like my stomach can hold it.”

“Uh. Girls usually eat less than men. I had to eat three quails at once to get enough of my ration.”

“Yes. These… do you bake them for Mr. Brian?” I was curious, so I asked because I saw that he took a lot of food, exceeding the amount of food he just said.

“No, Brian’s grilling the meat over there. I bake these foods for the deputy general manager, he’s nearsighted and wears glasses, when the smoke rises, he can’t see anything.”

I surreptitiously looked around to find Brian.

He was standing not far from me. Around him are the beautiful young ladies of the marketing department and other departments.

I don’t feel sad or jealous when I see him standing near any girl, except Hellen. But do I have any right to be jealous?

Because Harold grilled a lot of meat, I stayed to help him. I was worried that if he didn’t turn the meat over in time, it would burn.

The scent of sandalwood on his body is now gone, only the smell of smoke, meat, and grease.

“Would you like to sit there with me?” He asked as I picked up the chicken thigh and put it on his plate.

“I will sit with colleagues in the sales department.”

I pointed to the right corner and quickly walked away.

I would not be foolish to sit with Harold, there are many bosses there and most importantly, Brian will surely come and sit with them soon.

I want to eat comfortably, talk nonsense and grin, don’t want to pay attention to my actions and words, and don’t want to be shy and look at their faces.

“Would you like to drink some wine, Bella? Fruit wine is very mild.” Mrs. Erina raised the bottle of wine and winked at me.

Fruit wine. It was also because of the fruit wine bottle that the love affair between me and that man began.

Now that I think about it, I feel like that time was unreal, like a dream.

During the time I worked as a salesperson, my drinking ability increased significantly, but, I only drank for work, while traveling with colleagues, I chose to refuse.

“I don’t want to drink. I want to keep my strength so that I can find the secret letter tomorrow.”

After saying that, I brought the meat skewers to my mouth and slowly savored it.

Tonight, the sky is full of stars, it’s like there’s a glittering jeweled cloth hanging over our heads.

The cold night wind caressed everywhere, making me crave the feeling of leaning against someone, burying my head in his chest, looking for some warmth that no longer belonged to me.

When the campfire gradually faded, groups of people left one by one, returning to the tent to sleep. I also got up and helped the union members clean up.

The dishes and chopsticks are all disposable, so we just put them in the trash bag along with the bottles, so we’re done in just a moment.

Mrs. Erina and a few girls called me to go to a nearby stream to wash our hands together and then go back to our tents.

When I passed by Brian’s tent, I saw him playing with his phone. I guess he’s missing Hellen.

Men are a greedy species. But, why should it be me? He could choose any other girl to flirt with.

Unless he’s trying to make me feel the pain he’s endured.

I think he hates me, no longer loves me. If it were me, I would hate him for the rest of my life, and I don’t want to see him again.

Because I was afraid he would crawl into my tent again, as soon as I got inside, I immediately zipped it up and quickly changed my clothes to reduce the smell of smoke, then lay down and pulled the blanket up to my neck.

I regret it, if only I had had a little alcohol before, I would have slept better. The strange place made it difficult for me to sleep, and part of the reason was the man in the next tent.

Tossing and turning for a long time, I sat up, crept out of the tent, and crept over to the styrofoam box.

Just now, I saw that there were still a few half-empty fruit wine bottles in here. I’ll take a few sips to lull my overly alert head and wide eyes.

“Here it is. Drink some strawberry wine.”

I hurriedly picked up the bottle of strawberry wine, opened the cap, and brought it to my mouth.

However, I just took a sip when a soft call rang out, startling me, spitting out all the wine I drank.

Apparently, when I was going here, I saw that the lights of all the tents were turned off.

“Mr… Mr. Harold.” I was embarrassed and stammered.

“Uh. Can’t you sleep?” He pointed to the fruit wine bottle in my hand and asked.

“Oh yes. I… would you like some fruit wine?”

I just wanted to slap my mouth as soon as I finished speaking.

On a quiet night, I dared to seduce a man to drink with me and he was the general director of Hana Corporation.

Honestly, I don’t have any intentions with him, because I don’t know what to say so I say that.

“Let’s drink together, I can’t sleep either.”

I stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded rapidly, dipped my hand in the styrofoam box, took a half-empty bottle of fruit wine, and gave it to him.

Just now, everyone was drinking together, so we all poured wine into glasses, and he and I would drink from the bottle, anyway, I didn’t intend to leave a drop.

Although I still haven’t had time to swallow it, my feeling is that this fruit wine is very light and it is not a problem for me to drink a bottle alone.

We went to the front, some distance away from the camp, and sat next to the stream, watching the moonlight reflecting on the water.

I smelled the faint scent of sandalwood from Harold again.

“Cheer.” He touched the fruit wine bottle in his hand to my fruit wine bottle, smiling gently.

“Yes, good health and success.”

We drank and watched the stars.

With a little alcohol in his body, he opened his heart more. He told me about his growing-up journey and Brian.

The childhood of the two of them was associated with school, the lessons seemed to never end.

However, Harold was expected more by his parents and grandfather, so he had to try harder to become an excellent and good guy to please them.

“Sometimes I also want to flirt with some normal girls, try to fall in love with them, and try to mess things up to know how that feels, but reason stops me. Till now. Now I can’t even do that. Bella, these shoulders are very heavy.”

The bottom of his eyes seemed to have a thin film of water running through. The moonlight was bright enough for me to see a lot of regret in his eyes.

His and Brian’s childhood and adolescence were different from mine. He can’t do what he wants, always doing what other people want, just to please them.

Perhaps that was the price he had to pay when he was born into a wealthy family. If he hadn’t told me, I would have thought life was unfair. I would have thought that life favored him when giving him all the dreams of so many people.

“I’m jealous of Brian. He followed his mother here and lived as he wanted. Love a lot, can speak a little indiscriminately, can hit someone when angry. Even though I knew it wasn’t good, at least it was what he wanted in that moment and dared to do. Not as me.”

I don’t have enough flowery words to comfort or say anything to Harold at this time. So, I could only stay silent and listen to him.

The two bottles of wine slowly ran out and I remembered the man in that tent again.

Harold will never know that the love affairs that Brian made public were just a way for him to get rid of the girls his grandfather chose for him.

No one wants to fall in love with a bad boy unless the girl believes that she is a good jockey, able to rein in the unruly horse Brian.

“Take a picture, Bella, you and me, under this starry sky.”

I cannot refuse Harold. Within seconds, a selfie of me and Harold appeared, with only two heads and a starry night sky behind.