"How long will it take?" he asked, changing his shoes and looking down.
"About half an hour," Zhao Xiyin said, her head down, busy with her work.
Zhou Qishen walked over. "What is this?"
There were three or four brocade bags on the ground, bulging with Chinese herbs. Zhao Xiyin tied the last one in a knot, put them together and said, "Keep two in the bedroom and take two to the office. The smell of the herbs will refresh you and relieve your headaches."
Zhou Qishen didn't respond. He bent down, picked up all the medicine bags, and took them to the bedroom.
Zhao Xiyin stood by the door and asked, "Are you feeling better?"
Zhou Qishen took off his suit jacket, loosened his collar, and let two strands of his hair fall down. He said, "Not ready yet."
Have you eaten yet?
"No, order me some takeout."
Zhou Qishen sat on the edge of the bed, head bowed, looking very uncomfortable. Zhao Xiyin softened and hesitated for a moment, "I'll just make you something simple."
He looked haggard and sickly, but as soon as the person left, he straightened his back, his expression brightened, and he even had an indescribable smile. The herbal sachets had a strong aroma, and Zhou Qishen grabbed two, took a deep sniff, and felt completely refreshed.
His refrigerator was so meager that he barely managed to make a simple dish of scrambled eggs with tomatoes. Zhou Qishen ate three bowls of rice, not even leaving a single scallion. Zhao Xiyin watched him eat the whole time, her expression focused, as if she were pondering some profound mystery.
Zhou Qishen felt a little uneasy under her gaze. After exchanging several glances, he finally couldn't help but ask, "Is there something you want to say to me?"
Zhao Xiyin said very seriously, "You should practice yoga."
Zhou Qishen choked and coughed repeatedly, clenching his fist against his lips and shaking his head repeatedly.
Zhao Xiyin frowned. "Your body is already like this. You've practiced before, and it was quite effective, wasn't it?"
Zhou Qishen was not happy. "What's wrong with my health?"
"He looks much older than his actual age."
Zhou Qishen paused for a moment, then touched his cheek guiltily.
“You’re always busy, so you should practice yoga to calm your mind. Don’t do cardio, push-ups, or boxing; they won’t help you build muscle.” Zhao Xiyin nodded. “Yoga it is.”
The reason I can say this so precisely is because Zhou Qishen really did train with her.
They weren't divorced yet at that time. When Zhou Qishen had a migraine attack, he would bang his head against the wall even after taking medication. Zhao Xiyin enrolled him in a yoga class and hired a very expensive private instructor. But Zhou Qishen was a tough guy; he had served in the army and endured hardship, and deep down he was still very manly. He could do two hundred one-handed push-ups without stopping. He was inherently averse to yoga, such a girly exercise.
The young couple had a fight over this.
Zhou Qishen was so stubborn; he wouldn't budge, which made Zhao Xiyin cry. She cried for a long time, but Zhou Qishen didn't say a single word to comfort her. In the end, Zhao Xiyin gave in, went to private lessons herself, and after practicing even better than the teacher, she taught Zhou Qishen at home.
Zhou Qishen was bent into all sorts of shapes; a man's bones are hard, so it was incredibly awkward. Zhao Xiyin hardened her heart and would stretch his legs and loosen his muscles whenever she had a chance. Zhou Qishen felt aggrieved, but he had to admit that during that time, his body felt much more comfortable.
Now, when the topic came up again, Zhou Qishen instinctively resisted, but upon seeing Zhao Xiyin, he couldn't bear to let her go. So, harboring ulterior motives and compromising his principles, he granted her wish.
While they were doing it, Zhao Xiyin asked him, "Why didn't you sleep last night?"
"I can't sleep." Zhou Qishen made a perfunctory gesture.
"Then you should have gone to the hospital last night."
"No," he replied lazily. "It didn't hurt last night. I felt refreshed after taking a shower, but after tossing and turning for a while, I couldn't fall asleep."
Zhao Xiyin wanted to ask him what he was up to, but she swallowed the words back.
It's over.
I've shown concern, I've worried, and I've crossed the line.
Zhou Qishen's attitude was improper and he was perfunctory. He went to the bathroom twice in less than five minutes of practice.
Zhao Xiyin sighed inwardly. Men over thirty really do have a lot of problems; their kidneys are all weak.
Zhou Qishen was trying to avoid trouble. He called his secretary behind closed doors and said in a low voice, "Come to my house right away."
Secretary Xu had just arrived at the company when she heard his tone and couldn't help but feel nervous. "President Zhou, has something happened to you?"
Zhou Qishen frowned, looking bitter and resentful, and instructed him, "Change into sportswear. Xiao west is determined to practice yoga with me. You come over and take her to practice on the equipment, and also teach her a set of boxing moves. Just don't hurt her, just make sure she gets tired."
After finishing his phone conversation, Zhou Qishen came out of the restroom. Zhao Xiyin was looking down at her phone and asked without looking up, "Can I borrow your computer for a bit? I need to check an email."
Zhou Qishen pointed to the study, "Use it, it's not closed."
His computer was on 24/7, it had become a habit, and he didn't set a password. Zhao Xiyin sat in her chair, tapped her toes on the ground, and slid the chair forward a little. With a click of the mouse, the screen, which was in sleep mode, lit up.
The brightly lit scene unfolded before her eyes, clear and unobstructed.
The playback page was paused, the progress bar was at 2/3, it was an uncensored, Blu-ray quality, top VIP annual premium member... adult film.
The key point is that this frame is frozen in a very bizarre pose, **, with clouds at dawn and rain at dusk.
Zhou Qishen, who was in the living room, had completely forgotten about this. When he saw Zhao Xiyin running out of the study with a flushed face, he was surprised and asked, "Huh? You're done using it already?"
Zhao Xiyin felt a prickling sensation on her back, her expression a complex mix of fear, coldness, and anger. "So, you're up all night doing this instead of sleeping?"
Zhou Qishen's brows furrowed slightly as he instantly realized what was happening. His heart sank, but he didn't show much helplessness. He was a thirty-two-year-old man who had been single for over two years; how could he not have needs?
Then Zhao Xiyin said in a tone of sudden enlightenment, "With so much trouble, no wonder you have to run to the bathroom twice every five minutes. If you don't have kidney deficiency, who does?!"
Zhou Qishen realized—
Depend on!