Tang You was tired of hearing Fang Lai talk like this, so she lowered her head and remained silent.

However, in her heart, she stubbornly believed that Zhou Qinyao was better than anyone here.

But when she thought about how Zhou Qinyao had stayed in a room with that woman for so long on Sunday night, Tang You suddenly felt uncertain. Sighing, she was about to go outside for some fresh air when someone called her name from behind:

“Yomei, long time no see.”

The voice was light and casual, with a hint of teasing. Tang You knew immediately who it was and turned around—

Sure enough, it was Jiang Ding.

He arrived fashionably late, holding a glass of champagne, with his suit half-open and a few buttons undone on his shirt underneath.

He looked as though he had just rolled out of bed and decided to drop by for a meal.

There was not a trace of the demeanor of an award-winning actor.

Tang You was used to his carefree attitude and muttered, “It hasn’t been that long.”

The Jiang and Tang families had been close for generations, so Tang You and Jiang Ding were childhood friends and had a familiar relationship.

Jiang Ding, though young, was already a celebrated actor with a bright future in the entertainment industry. Fang Lai had once considered pairing him with her daughter, but after Jiang Ding was involved in frequent scandals, she dismissed the idea.

This man had naturally charming eyes that attracted women, and he was always surrounded by various fragrances.

He was attractive, but also a bit of a rogue, making people feel uneasy around him.

Seeing a reporter glance in their direction, Tang You deliberately put some distance between them. “Jiang Ding, stay away from me.”

Jiang Ding turned his head and suddenly smiled mischievously. “What’s going on, Yomei? Just a few days apart, and you’re already avoiding your big brother?”

He leaned in closer and lowered his voice teasingly, “Got a boyfriend?”

For some reason, Tang You’s ears turned red, and she turned away from him, ignoring him. She asked Fang Lai, “Mom, are we leaving soon?”

It was almost nine o’clock, and Tang You still needed to catch the last flight back to C City tonight. After being away for two days, she had to return to continue her classes.

Fang Lai glanced at her watch and nodded. “You two can go ahead.”

Tang You was surprised. “We?”

“Your mom can’t leave just yet, and your brother Jiang Ding happens to be heading to C City today as well. I asked him to come and take you along for company.”

“Aunt Fang, don’t worry.” Jiang Ding leisurely set down his wine glass and smiled softly at Tang You. “Yomei, coming with your big brother?”

Tang You: “……”

Since Friday night, when Zhou Qinyao caught a glimpse of Tang You’s back outside the AS club, he hadn’t seen her for two days.

He had tried calling her twice afterward, but her phone was still off.

He even asked Cheng Xuan, who said he hadn’t seen her at school.

In short, Zhou Qinyao had tried every possible way to contact Tang You, but nothing worked.

The employees at AS hadn’t dared to bother Zhou Qinyao these past two days.

His mood was inexplicably dark, as if he was in a terrible mood. His colleagues noticed that every so often, he would take out his phone, seemingly waiting for something. When nothing happened, he would lock the screen again, irritated.

In short, he was like a firecracker with a lit fuse, ready to explode at any moment.

Everyone kept their distance.

In the evening, after work, everyone else had left, but Zhou Qinyao showed no intention of going home. He stayed at the shop, saying he wanted to work overtime on a modification plan for a customer.

Wei Kai, who usually walked home with him, had been observing him for two days and sensed something was off. He cautiously asked, “Yao-ge, are you alright?”

The customer’s car wasn’t in a hurry, so there was no real need to work overtime.

Zhou Qinyao, expressionless, coldly responded with two words: “I’m fine.”

He buried himself in work, leaving Wei Kai unable to figure out what was going on. So Wei Kai quietly stepped aside and called Cheng Xuan, but after discussing it, they couldn’t come to any conclusions either.

Worried, Wei Kai decided not to go home and stayed at the shop, playing games to keep him company.

The two of them stayed like that until 11:30 PM. Wei Kai was getting sleepy and kept yawning. Zhou Qinyao knew that Wei Kai was only staying because he was concerned about him, so there was no point in making his friend waste more energy.

After finishing his last cigarette, he nudged the drowsy Wei Kai with his foot: “Let’s go.”

Zhou Qinyao didn’t ride his bike, and the two of them walked back to Huai Tree Alley in silence.

Wei Kai glanced at him secretly. “Yao-ge, you seem like you have something on your mind.”

Late at night, the streets were quiet. Zhou Qinyao responded calmly, “No.”

But only he knew the truth.

If there was nothing wrong, why had he been keeping himself so busy these past two days?

The moment he had any free time, his mind would wander to Tang You’s face, to the sight of her back as she left that night.

Even he couldn’t deny it to himself—

He really cared about that girl.

This feeling, which had sprouted unexpectedly, was both conflicting and humbling. He once thought it might just be a fleeting impulse, and that he could control it. But as these two days of no response dragged on—

Just two days—

He found that he couldn’t handle it at all.

When they reached the entrance of the alley, Zhou Qinyao stopped and didn’t go in, telling Wei Kai to head home.

Wei Kai asked, “Where are you going this late?”

He replied, “Just going for a walk.”

…

Crossing through the alley led to Huai Tree Street.

Every night for the past two days, Zhou Qinyao had come to take a look, but whether it was bad timing or because Tang You had already gone to bed, he hadn’t heard the usual sound of the piano.

The villa still had only the lights on the first floor turned on. Zhou Qinyao slowly approached, trying to find an angle through the iron gate where he could see inside.

But unfortunately, the front door was tightly shut, and there was no way to see what was going on inside.

There had been moments when he impulsively wanted to ring the doorbell, but he had heard from Cheng Xuan multiple times about Tang You’s family situation. He knew she had a domineering mother, and even if her mother wasn’t home, there was still a 24-hour monitoring nanny, Madam Rong.

So if he pressed the doorbell, it might just cause Tang You more trouble.

Not to mention, she wasn’t answering his calls or replying to his messages, so whether she even wanted to see him was another question.

The shadows of the trees swayed, and under the streetlamp, small insects swarmed in the air.

Zhou Qinyao stood there for a while, as he had grown accustomed to doing.

Hmm, he hadn’t seen her today either.

Helpless, he turned to go home. But just as he was about to turn around, he noticed car headlights approaching from the end of the street. In the next moment, a familiar white van came into view.

The man paused, then quickly stepped back, hiding in the shadows.

The van slowly approached and stopped in front of the villa.

The door opened, and a man and a woman got out.