The transparent packaging film was being torn and ripped by her. Chu Yi quickly peeled it off with her eyes downcast, crumpled it into a ball in her palm, and threw it neatly into the trash can.
The series of movements was so smooth that Qiao Anchen felt something was off. He glanced at Chu Yi's expression and probed her.
"Has something happened?"
"What?" Chu Yi paused.
"You seem to have something on your mind," Qiao Anchen said seriously.
"..." Chu Yi immediately deflated.
The waiter brought the menu over, and Qiao Anchen ordered a few dishes, asking Chu Yi for her opinion. She was listless and didn't even want to talk, let alone order food.
She lowered her head, took a sip of water, and waved her hand to indicate that it was fine with her.
Qiao Anchen paused for a moment and handed the menu to the waiter.
During the wait, Chu Yi calmed down a little.
To be fair, the environment here isn't that bad; at least it's quiet, and the furniture, decor, and lighting are all comfortable.
Compared to the outside environment, it's quite exquisite. And the waiters are all very professional.
The dishes were served quickly, and Chu Yi tried a little of everything. They tasted excellent, even better than Qiao Anchen's cooking.
Before she knew it, she had eaten two bowls of rice.
After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, Chu Yi became even angrier when he saw the empty bowl in front of him, with not a single grain of rice left.
She felt like she'd been proven wrong! This perfectly illustrates the classic "I was wrong, but it's actually good" moment.
She must have been so angry and hungry to eat so much...
Yes, that's exactly it! she thought bitterly.
After paying the bill and leaving the house, Chu Yi still kept her lips tightly pressed together and didn't say a word. Qiao Anchen looked at her while driving, but after failing to get any information, he looked away thoughtfully. The car drove along the way, passing through the bustling city center, where couples holding hands and holding roses and flower vendors selling flowers enthusiastically could be seen everywhere.
A sudden thought flashed through Qiao Anchen's mind.
"Are you..." He turned his head to look at Chu Yi, seemingly lost in thought. Chu Yi had already given up hope, but upon hearing this, her eyes lit up again.
Qiao Anchen slowly uttered the next sentence.
"I also want to go shopping."
"..." Chu Yi's heart sank instantly.
She didn't answer for a while, so Qiao Anchen assumed she agreed and continued talking to himself.
"The streets are super crowded today, and there are probably a lot of people queuing inside the stores too. If you really want to go, we can try again sometime."
"Forget it, I don't want to go." Chu Yi interrupted him, hoping he would shut up quickly.
"Go back now, I'm a little tired." After she finished speaking, she closed her eyes, leaned back in her seat, and felt too tired to even look at the world.
Qiao Anchen paused for a moment, then started the car again after the traffic light turned green.
That night, the two barely spoke. Chu Yi took a shower, changed her clothes, and went to bed early. She crumpled up all the lace Cheng Li had given her and stuffed it into the bottom of the wardrobe, guessing that it would never see the light of day again.
Chu Yi's cold war this time was firm and long. Even if Qiao Anchen was slow to notice, he could tell that something was wrong, because Chu Yi had never smiled at him since that day!
Qiao Anchen was very frustrated. Every time he came home and saw Chu Yi's smiling face, it seemed to reduce a lot of the fatigue of the whole day. However, the atmosphere at home was more serious than that at the procuratorate.
He looked worried and, for the first time ever, spaced out at work.
Just as it was almost lunchtime, someone walked in and, upon seeing the scene, looked surprised and made a strange sound.
"Qiao Anchen, no way! You actually have that kind of expression on your face!"
"Absolutely incredible."
"It's like a man who's troubled by an emotional entanglement. You have emotional entanglements? Hahahaha."
His thoughts were interrupted, and Qiao Anchen gave him a displeased look, his tone cold.
"Jin Ran, what are you doing here?"
"I've come to call you for dinner, it's almost time." He glanced at his watch, grinned, and walked up to Qiao Anchen's desk, leaning forward to ask mysteriously.
"Mr. Qiao, what difficulties have you encountered lately? Tell me so I can have a good laugh—"
Qiao Anchen ignored him, only looking at the lower right corner of the computer desktop, her eyes devoid of emotion.
"There's still one minute left before you leave work, Jin Ran, you're leaving early."
"Tsk." Jin Ran shook her head and pointed at him. "I'm telling you, you're just too rigid. I'm still in the office area right now. Wouldn't it be perfect if we waited until you turned off your computer and went out together?"
Qiao Anchen was used to his glib tongue. He watched the time in the lower right corner tick toward the hour, and only after it reset to zero did he lock the screen, push back his chair, and get up.
"Hey, wait for me—"
Jin Ran put his arm around Qiao Anchen's shoulder from behind. After Qiao Anchen tried to push him away but to no avail, he let Jin Ran hook his arm around him and walk out. The two figures gradually disappeared from sight.
...
In the procuratorate's canteen, everyone was eating with their heads down, the clinking of bowls and chopsticks mixed with the sounds of conversation. Jin Ran almost cried out in surprise, but quickly regained her composure, looked around, and then leaned over to whisper.
"What?! You're saying your wife hasn't given you a kind look for days?"
After Jin Ran finished speaking, he couldn't help but laugh, his mouth almost stretching to the back of his ears, slapping his thigh with laughter.
"Hahahaha, this is hilarious, Qiao Anchen! You can't even handle such a soft and cute girl? What did you do???"
Jin Ran had met Chu Yi once at a wedding. She was a cute and adorable girl. When she took a sip of wine, her face would scrunch up and turn red. Her voice was also soft and gentle. Every time she looked at Qiao Anchen, her eyes were filled with girlish infatuation.
When he got back, he was still thinking about how lucky this guy was that such a good girl would fall for a blockhead like him.
Then he thought again that with Qiao Anchen's looks, it would be a piece of cake for him to make girls fall head over heels for him.
Now, looking at Qiao Anchen's post-marriage appearance, Jin Ran couldn't stop laughing. He coughed for a long time, clenching his fists and pressing them to his lips, before finally managing to suppress it.
Qiao Anchen had given up and calmly ate her meal, letting him finish mocking her.
He anticipated this scene from the moment he decided to speak out.
"No, I mean, when did this phenomenon start?" Jin Ran finished laughing and got down to business, trying to help his friend solve his problem.
"The night of Qixi Festival." Qiao Anchen had a good memory and clear logic, and answered without hesitation.
"Qixi Festival—" Jin Ran thought he probably already knew the reason.
"What did you do that day? Tell me." He knew this old colleague he had known for many years too well. After he finished speaking, Jin Ran seemed to realize something and looked incredulous.
"You didn't take her to eat Hunan cuisine, did you?!"
That restaurant was their go-to spot for meals and relaxation. Whenever there was an important event or a holiday, they would get together for a meal after work.
The owner is a relative of one of their colleagues at the procuratorate, and used to give them discounts, but that's not the point. The point is that the food there is delicious, and everyone likes it.
Jin Ran liked her too, but no matter how much he liked her, he wouldn't take her out to eat Hunan cuisine on Qixi Festival. However, he felt that this was something Qiao Anchen would do.
As expected.
The person opposite nodded solemnly.
Jin Ran immediately rolled her eyes, almost kneeling down in gratitude.
...
On his drive home, Qiao Anchen was still deep in thought, replaying Jin Ran's words from noon in his mind.
"For a normal girl's Valentine's Day date, don't even talk about romance. A fancy restaurant and roses are a must, right? I won't ask for a gift, but taking her to eat Hunan cuisine is a bit much."
"Qiao Anchen, if I were your wife, I'd go back and fight you."
He turned his head to look at the bright and beautiful bouquet of roses in the passenger seat, his lips unconsciously tightening, and his heart sinking slightly.
Qiao Anchen left work on time today, and Chu Yi still prepared the meal in advance. Just as she heard a noise from the entrance, she brought out the last soup.
Chu Yi kept her eyes down, setting out the bowls and chopsticks, just like the past few days, without taking the initiative to look at him or greet him.
After changing his shoes, Qiao Anchen saw Chu Yi's indifferent attitude. Holding the roses in his hand, he hesitated and dared not move forward, as if they were something too hot to handle.
Chu Yi was pretending to be very busy. After setting out the bowls and chopsticks, he was about to take a spoon to ladle soup when a bouquet of roses was unexpectedly handed to him.
She was startled and looked up at Qiao Anchen.
"I'm sorry... I didn't send you flowers on Qixi Festival. Is it too late to make it up to you now?" Qiao Anchen pursed his lips, unusually nervous, and his voice even stammered a little.
Chu Yi looked down at the bouquet in front of her, her heart filled with complicated emotions. In the end, she reached out and took it.
"Who taught you that?"
"Hmm?" Her voice was very low, and it took Qiao Anchen a moment to hear her and react. A hint of unease flashed across his face.
"A colleague from our department."
"Male or female?"
“A man.” Although he didn’t know why she asked that, Qiao Anchen answered truthfully.
“I haven’t been in a good mood these past two days. He asked me about it during lunch, and we chatted for a bit.”
Chu Yi's expression softened, and looking at Qiao Anchen's current state, she felt a strange sense of guilt.
...His perceptions and thoughts have always been different from hers. What she might care about is just an ordinary moment for Qiao Anchen.
Because of this, I've been sulking and giving him the cold shoulder for so long.
Qiao Anchen's clumsy attempt to please Chu Yi caused Chu Yi's morale to crumble instantly.
"Let's eat." She took the bouquet of roses and placed it on the cabinet next to her.
The next day, when Qiao Anchen got up, he found a beautiful glass bottle in the dining room. The bouquet of bright and delicate roses from the night before was placed in it, shining in the sunlight and adding a special touch to the ordinary morning.
8. Chapter 8
After this incident, their relationship returned to normal, mainly because Chu Yi's attitude towards him improved significantly. Qiao Anchen was very pleased, and at Jin Ran's insistence, he even treated him to a Hunan meal...
Lancheng is a city of medium size, not as famous as the provincial capital, and has no well-known tourist attractions. Its strength is only average in the country, and its crime rate has been controlled and reduced every year.
Qiao Anchen works in the criminal prosecution department. In August of this year, he finally felt a little more relaxed and could catch his breath.
Chu Yi felt that he had been leaving get off work on time much more often lately, so she spent her days researching new recipes online, with different dishes every week. Qiao Anchen was honored to be her first experimenter and taster.