He clutched the book so tightly that the pages were wrinkled. He finally managed to loosen his grip and, when he spoke again, the sound of his heartbeat in his ears drowned out even the cicadas outside.
“I like you.”
Xie Qiaoqiao was typing, filling out her second choice, her gaze never shifting as she answered calmly, “I know.”
Qi Chen felt dizzy and weak, not daring to look up. His eyes fixed on the spot where their auras overlapped because they were sitting so close together.
His aura, because of his emotional turmoil, was churning like boiling water. Xie Qiaoqiao’s was still—silent, cold, dead.
Nervous sweat trickled over his brow, down to his eye sockets, stinging so much his vision blurred. He rubbed his eyes and flipped another page of the battered reference book, his voice quiet, “I’m not joking. I really like you.”
Xie Qiaoqiao’s tone remained calm, “I’m not deaf. I know—not just now, I’ve always known.”
She’d always known, and had never responded. Other people’s feelings meant nothing to Xie Qiaoqiao—she didn’t care, wasn’t interested, didn’t pay attention, so she never felt any need to reply.
After that, Qi Chen applied to a different university, and finally wasn’t classmates with Xie Qiaoqiao anymore.
“Classmate, do you have a reservation? If you don’t, we can’t let you in.”
The attendant smiled as he stopped the uninvited guest, subtly sizing him up—a young man, tall and slender, with delicate features and memorable single eyelids with drooping outer corners, but dressed far too casually.
It was the first time he’d seen someone walk in wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt, beach shorts, and flip-flops. He looked just like an ordinary college student passing by.
Stopped at the door, Zhang Xueji scratched his head and said, “I don’t have a reservation. Did you switch to a reservation-only policy?”
The attendant kept his polite smile, “Sir, are you sure you’ve got the right place? We’ve always been reservation only…”
He hadn’t finished speaking when the lobby Manager came striding out from behind the entrance, smoothly stepping between Zhang Xueji and the attendant, while keeping a respectful distance from Zhang Xueji.
“He’s new and hasn’t recognized all the members yet. Please don’t take it to heart—Mr. Zhou is already waiting for you. This way, please.”
The Manager’s smile was dazzling, his back bent in a humble posture. Zhang Xueji waved it off, indicating it was nothing, and headed toward the screen with practiced ease.
The Manager fell half a step behind, poked the attendant’s shoulder, and muttered in a low voice, “Didn’t I tell you to memorize all the members’ faces? Why are you still asking about reservations?!”
“Huh?”
The attendant looked down, confused and flustered, thinking: All the photos in the membership records were people in suits—who would’ve guessed someone would show up in flip-flops…
Behind the entrance was a courtyard in southern style, with winding covered walkways, fake mountains, murmuring water, and swaying shade from the trees. Walking through the corridor, each hollowed-out window offered a different view.
Because of the flowing water, the breeze through the corridor was cool—worlds apart from the hot air blowing from the AC units out on the street.
Soon, they reached the private room.
The door by the water was open, and snacks had just been set out—inside, the only two guests weren’t sitting at the table, but had moved two small stools to sit side-by-side at the pavilion’s edge, fishing.
One of the middle-aged men saw the new arrival. His face, expressionless a moment ago, now broke into a gentle, harmless smile. He set down his fishing rod and came to greet him, “Xueji, over here!”
Zhang Xueji strolled over, wearing a smile as well. “Hello, Uncle Zhou.”
Zhou Pengxia pointed to his companion, who had arrived a bit later, and introduced, “This is the Director of Tongxin Hospital, Mao Boming. Boming, this is Mr. Zhang’s nephew—you went to the same university, you know, Xueji’s also a Nanjing University student.”
The elegant man, a bit thin in the face but tall and well-built, smiled as he picked up the introduction, “Then we’re alumni.”
Zhang Xueji didn’t respond to Mao Boming, though his face still wore that calm, springlike smile.
Zhou Pengxia tried to smooth things over, aiming to put an arm around both men’s shoulders, “Why stand outside? Come in—just now I caught a carp, let’s have the kitchen make some carp and tofu stew…”
But Zhang Xueji still didn’t move, and Zhou Pengxia’s arm couldn’t pull him along. After a moment’s awkward pause, Zhou Pengxia smoothly drew his arm back.
The young man had a naturally approachable face, but even when refusing to give face, he did it with a smile and an easy tone, “I already ate with my classmate. I just happen to be nearby, so I’m dropping by to pick up something, then I have to head back to school—got class this afternoon.”
Snubbed by the junior, Zhou Pengxia wasn’t the least bit embarrassed, still smiling cheerfully as he told the attendant by the door to bring out the item.
The attendant quickly brought out a jewelry box. Zhou Pengxia handed the box to Zhang Xueji, “Take a look and see if it’s genuine. I’m not great at judging gems.”
Zhang Xueji didn’t refuse. He took the box and opened it right away.
Lying on the black velvet was a Ruby Pearl Bracelet, a mix of fiery red gemstones and white pearls. The red gemstones glowed with a fire-like fluorescence, the thin, even glow reflecting off the adjacent pearls, giving them a faint reddish tint.
The only thing that might hurt its price was that the red gemstones weren’t very big, about the size of a pinky fingertip, and there were only three of them, spaced out among the pearls.
With a soft click, Zhang Xueji closed the jewelry box with one hand. He looked up and said lightly, “It’s real. Thank Dongwei for me, I’ll treat him to a meal next time.”
Zhou Dongwei was Zhou Pengxia’s son. Zhang Xueji had spotted this Hand Chain on an Auction list, but he had to attend a lecture on the day of the Auction, so he’d asked a friend’s son to bid on it for him.
It had been a simple thing, and they’d already agreed that Zhang Xueji would pay for it.
But for some reason, Zhou Pengxia himself had gotten involved and bought the Hand Chain with his own money, giving it to Zhang Xueji as a gift.
“No need to treat us to a meal. With our relationship, there’s no need for that kind of thing,” Zhou Pengxia said with a smile. “Just hang out with Dongwei more often—seeing him around someone as good at studying as you puts my mind at ease.”
The attendant led Zhang Xueji out, watching as the young man’s tall figure disappeared behind the walkways and trees. The smile vanished from Zhou Pengxia’s face, replaced by a cold, expressionless look.
Mao Boming suddenly spoke. “Isn’t that young man’s personality a bit too arrogant? It’s one thing to be rude to me, but he didn’t seem very respectful to you either.”
Zhou Pengxia walked back inside with his hands behind his back, “Didn’t you go to Nanjing University too? I’ve introduced you—whether you can seize the opportunity is up to you.”
“Your issue still needs Mr. Zhang’s help, so think about it. This time, blocking the search warrant was thanks to just one word from Mr. Zhang, but you only have enough credit for that one word.”
“No search warrant—do you really think they won’t keep investigating? If you get caught again, what will you use to get…to protect yourself one more time?”
Mao Boming didn’t say another word. His eyebrows pressed low, his expression growing darker.
During lunch, Hua Lingyue kept glancing back and forth between Xie Qiaoqiao and Qi Chen.
She tried hard to restrain herself, but to Xie Qiaoqiao, Hua Lingyue’s gaze was still way too obvious.
After taking the last bite of her pork chop, Xie Qiaoqiao looked up and asked directly, “Why do you keep looking at me and Qi Chen?”
Hua Lingyue instantly froze, and Qi Chen was caught mid-bite and started choking, coughing so violently it seemed like his lungs would fly out.
Frightened, Hua Lingyue patted his back furiously—Qi Chen finally managed to catch his breath and glared at Hua Lingyue.
Hua Lingyue stammered, “No, nothing, I was just thinking about, um, is there a way to use both of your abilities at the same time to investigate, uh, that Director!”
Xie Qiaoqiao thought for a moment and said, “There’s no legal way, but there are illegal ones.”
Hua Lingyue had originally been gossiping, but when she heard that Xie Qiaoqiao really had suggestions, she instantly forgot all about gossip. “Really? Wait, wait…”
She hesitated, adding a question, “How illegal are we talking?”
Xie Qiaoqiao didn’t answer, only looked at Hua Lingyue quietly with those black eyes. Hua Lingyue immediately understood, clutching her head and waving her hands, “Forget it, forget it, don’t say anything. I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist the temptation.”
“Sigh, guess I’ll just ask my supervisor. I can’t believe they wouldn’t want to keep digging into this!”
After finishing lunch, Hua Lingyue got up to pay at the front desk—just as someone entered through the main entrance of the restaurant.
He was tall and long-legged, getting to the counter a step ahead of her, speaking in a light tone, “Boss, I’ll take a bottle of Coke. How much?”
“Fifteen.”
Zhang Xueji took out his phone to scan the code, then tilted his head and noticed Hua Lingyue waiting nearby—he seemed a bit surprised, “Qiaoqiao’s sister?”
Hua Lingyue: “…Huh?”
Zhang Xueji blinked, his mind spinning fast, his eyes curving as he grinned, showing his canine teeth, “What a coincidence! You guys having lunch here?”
He was so enthusiastic that Hua Lingyue felt awkward trying to brush him off, “Yeah, our office is nearby…”
While the two of them were talking, Xie Qiaoqiao and Qi Chen had already walked over—so the four of them met right at the door.
Zhang Xueji waved to Xie Qiaoqiao, and the corner of his eye caught sight of Qi Chen standing next to her.
Hua Lingyue quickly paid, pushing Qi Chen and Xie Qiaoqiao outside. Zhang Xueji took his Coke from the counter and leisurely caught up to them, walking beside Xie Qiaoqiao.
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