Su Meiqi frowned: "You're smoking in my room again. If my dad sees you, he'll scold me again."
“Just say I smoked it,” Zhou Yi’an said. “Anyway, my dad already knows.”
"You weren't hit?" Su Meiqi sat up, sniffed, and then sneezed. "It choked me."
Zhou Yi'an turned to look out the window, leaving her with only her back to him.
Su Meiqi stood up and tied up her messy hair. "With you here, I can't cry."
"Then eat something," Zhou Yi'an said coldly.
"Are you feeling guilty towards me?" Su Meiqi walked to the table, picked up the small cake, and took a bite. "I'm not angry with you, I'm angry with my dad. He could have let Su Nan get into the company, but he insisted on letting me, even though he doesn't think much of my abilities. I know I'm not as good as you..."
"Even eating can't shut you up?" Zhou Yi'an turned around, the wind blowing her hair, which just reached her collarbone, and letting it fall casually in the wind. Her indifferent eyes were shrouded in bluish-gray smoke.
Su Meiqi was so startled by her that she hiccuped and a tear rolled down her cheek.
Zhou Yi'an: "..."
"You're yelling at me." Su Meiqi said aggrievedly, "I've been bullied like this, and you're still yelling at me? You've yelled at me twice in one day."
Zhou Yi'an: "...Shut up."
Seeing that she was in a bad mood, Su Meiqi stopped talking.
She sat at the table, sobbing as she ate the small cake, leaving the last bite before walking to the window to give it to Zhou Yi'an.
Zhou Yi'an shook her head: "I won't eat."
"You eat it," Su Meiqi sniffed. "It's a trade."
Zhou Yi'an: "?"
The cigarette between Zhou Yi'an's fingers was still half-lit, its crimson glow flickering in the darkness. Su Meiqi fed the piece of cake directly into Zhou Yi'an's mouth, then grasped Zhou Yi'an's wrist, lifted her hand, bent down, and took a drag of her cigarette.
First-time smokers often don't know the proper way to smoke, and they don't even know where the smoke should go in. They just try to imitate what they see on TV, and end up choking half to death on their first puff.
He started coughing while looking out the window, and then a bellyful of cold air came in.
Zhou Yi'an belatedly patted her back, and after she coughed even more violently from the cold air, he turned her body so that she was coughing towards him.
Su Meiqi leaned against the windowsill with one hand, coughing so hard she felt like she was going to cough up her lungs. She squatted down, her face flushed and tears streaming down her face.
Zhou Yi'an quickly stubbed out her cigarette and waved to disperse the smoke.
After a long while, Su Meiqi finally stopped, looked up at Zhou Yi'an with a wronged expression, and said, "Why do you like this kind of thing?"
Zhou Yi'an: "..."
She stood up. "Children should learn less."
“Sister,” Su Meiqi retorted, “I’m only four years younger than you.”
Zhou Yi'an said, "Then don't learn it, it's not a good thing."
Su Meiqi snorted and didn't say anything more. She took out a carton of milk and a bottle of beverage from her cabinet and threw the bottle of beverage to Zhou Yi'an.
She held the milk and drank it herself.
After a while, Su Meiqi asked, "Have you found your first love?"
Zhou Yi'an had just taken a sip of her drink to moisten her throat when she heard this and was taken aback: "Huh?"
"The person you're looking for after returning to China," Su Meiqi said. "Didn't you come back to China for her?"
“Found it,” Zhou Yi’an said.
Su Meiqi immediately asked gossipy, "Where are you? Are you two together?"
"I'm married," Zhou Yi'an said calmly.
Su Meiqi: "?"
"Really?" Su Meiqi asked in surprise, "She didn't even wait for you?"
Zhou Yi'an: "..."
"Let's not talk about this," Zhou Yi'an said. "Mind your own business."
Su Meiqi scoffed, "If I had someone I liked, I would definitely stick by her side. How could you go abroad at that time? You missed your chance."
Zhou Yi'an chuckled, "Then you should stick close to your girlfriend from now on, and don't go out and cause trouble for others."
Su Meiqi proudly tilted her head back: "Of course."
"I wonder which unlucky person you'll end up sticking to," Zhou Yi'an said. "Let's mourn for her for now."
Su Meiqi threw a cushion at her, "Sister, watch your mouth!"
Zhou Yi'an smiled but didn't say anything.
Su Meiqi rolled her eyes at her, "It's because you're so mean that you don't have a boyfriend."
"You have it?" Zhou Yi'an raised an eyebrow.
Su Meiqi: "...Go away!"
//
It was quite late when Zhou Yi'an left the Su family's house. While smoking in her car, she thought of Su Meiqi, but then put her mind to it again.
After finding a job, she moved out of the Zhou family's house.
However, I left after signing a contract.
It has to be said that Xu Qingzhu's trick on her was quite effective. Her father made her sign a contract before releasing her, and the contract included a clause that she would not cause trouble for the Liang and Xu families.
The main reason was to avoid causing trouble for her father.
Sitting in the car, she was completely lost in thought, wondering what would have happened if she hadn't gone abroad.
Perhaps Liang Shi will not marry Xu Qingzhu?
Zhou Yi'an felt tired.
She looked through her phone and sent Liang Shi a message late at night: "Did you only change after you fell in love with Xu Qingzhu?"
//
When Liang Shi woke up in the morning and saw this message, he thought Zhou Yi'an might have been drunk and acting crazy in the middle of the night, so he deleted the message.
She slept quite soundly. After getting up, she did a set of exercises and then went to the kitchen to make breakfast, only to find that Xu Qingzhu was already in the kitchen.
Liang Shi: "?"
She stood at the kitchen doorway and said very seriously, "Teacher Xu, I suspect you're trying to frame me."
Xu Qingzhu turned around, her hair casually tied up with a few loose strands falling in front of her chest. Her clear, doe-like eyes looked over, carrying a hint of confusion, yet giving Liang Shi a sense of pressure. "Hmm?"
"In a world of involution, even getting up early is a struggle," Liang Shi said.
Xu Qingzhu: "..."
She turned back to look at the porridge in the pot, and said indifferently, "Oh."
Liang Shi walked over and teased, "Teacher Xu, in your short first half of life, have you never lost?"
Xu Qingzhu nudged her with her elbow, "Get the bowl."
Liang Shi: "..."
"Stop being sarcastic," Xu Qingzhu said. "I just feel bad because I eat your cooking all the time."
Liang Shi shrugged. "What's there to be embarrassed about? Didn't you wash the dishes?"
"Don't think I don't know," Xu Qingzhu said without changing her expression. "After I wash the dishes, you'll have to wash them again."
Liang Shi: "..."
She touched the tip of her nose sheepishly, "You saw it all."
Xu Qingzhu sneered, "Otherwise what?"
Liang Shi said gently, "Teacher Xu, have you ever thought that someone who can't even wash a dish properly probably can't cook very well either?"
Xu Qingzhu, holding a spoon, glared at her and said, "Teacher Liang, did you sleep too much last night?"
Liang Shi immediately backed away, "No..."
"You seem unusually active today," Xu Qingzhu said. "And especially mischievous."
Liang Shi: "..."
"Alright, enough joking around," Liang Shi said. "How did you sleep last night?"
"It's alright." Xu Qingzhu said, placing the bowl of porridge on the table. It was a little hot. She pinched her earlobe. "Eat up, then go to work."
Liang Shi stared at her busy back, guessing that she was trying to stop herself from overthinking.
So during dinner, Liang Shi tried to distract her, saying, "I'll pick you up from get off work today."
Xu Qingzhu: "Why?"
Liang Shi said, "Let's declare our sovereignty."
Xu Qingzhu asked in confusion, "Nobody's pursuing me, what are you announcing?"
Liang Shi said, "You should make a public announcement."
Xu Qingzhu: "?"
“Zhou Yi’an texted me last night,” Liang Shi said. “For some reason, I feel we need to appear together. What do you think?”
This certainly sounds like something you'd say to a business partner; it's very businesslike.
Xu Qingzhu agreed, "Okay."
Liang Shi also said that he had made an appointment with a real estate agent to view a house today, and they could go together tonight.
Xu Qingzhu agreed.
//
When Xu Qingzhu arrived at work, she didn't see Zhou Yi'an. She asked the department head and found out that Zhou Yi'an had taken half a day off.
She also spoke with Liang Shi: "Zhou Yi'an didn't come to work."
Liang Shi: [He probably drank too much somewhere.]