As Zhou Jiayu was looking for a place to park, he suddenly had a realization.

He looked at the residential complex just a hundred meters from the bus stop and thought he had been foolish.

He should have figured it out earlier—last time, Shen Zhirou had sent him her location from here, which meant she lived close to this bus stop.

So, it was very likely that she lived in this complex!

Zhou Jiayu drove into the complex.

The management wasn’t very strict, and external vehicles and people could enter freely. There was an automatic photo registration system at the entrance, so he easily drove in.

After parking the car, the initial hope in his heart began to wane.

His idea was good, and he was indeed closer to finding Shen Zhirou, but the complex was large and divided into sections A and B. He had no clue where to start looking.

His mood became irritable again.

—

In the hotel room.

As soon as the WeChat notification sounded, Lu Fanghuai woke up immediately.

He could barely open his eyes as he brought his face close to the phone screen to read the message.

Sitting up, he also woke up Fang Wenting, who groggily asked, “Is there news about Lao Zhou’s girlfriend?”

“No, it’s not her adding me; it’s just a public account notification. Damn! I thought she finally added me.” Lu Fanghuai wiped his eyes and prepared to go back to bed.

“Why are you sleeping? Ask Lao Zhou if he managed to contact his girlfriend. There’s been no news all night.” Fang Wenting nudged Lu Fanghuai.

“No news is good news, right? Why ask? He’s the one who used my name to hit on someone. I don’t even know that girl. Using my name—what a joke.” Despite his complaints, Lu Fanghuai still sent a message to Zhou Jiayu to check on him.

Listening to him, Fang Wenting slapped him, “Who knows if you have been fooling around outside? If Lao Zhou didn’t use your name, what if some girl really came looking for you?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. I really don’t know any Shen Zhirou. Don’t accuse me of things! I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d overthink. How many times do I have to tell you? If I didn’t love you, if I were interested in someone else, I’d let you know. No news means nothing has changed.”

“Whatever. If you cheat on me, I’ll pluck all your feathers!” Fang Wenting leaned against him and took his phone to check the friend request he had sent to Shen Zhirou yesterday. She thought she might try sending a request from her own phone.

Opening the app and reading the verification messages Lu Fanghuai had sent, she fell silent.

“Hello, I’m Lu Fanghuai.”

“I’m not the Lu Fanghuai you think I am.”

“I’m Zhou Jiayu’s friend, Lu Fanghuai.”

“I’m your boyfriend Zhou Jiayu’s friend. My name is Lu Fanghuai, not the one you know.”

“Listen to me defending him! I’m Lu Fanghuai, but not your Lu Fanghuai.”

Fang Wenting said, “Don’t ever show Lao Zhou how you tried to add her as a friend.”

“Why?”

“What do you think?” Fang Wenting smiled, reaching out to touch his dull and straight head.

With Lu Fanghuai sending friend requests like this, it was no wonder people might think Zhou Jiayu was a fraud.

She thought that now, even if she sent a request to help verify, it wouldn’t be believed unless they posted both of their ID cards.

“Doesn’t Lao Zhou have any other contact information for her?” Fang Wenting asked, bored, as she scrolled through Lu Fanghuai’s WeChat moments.

As she scrolled down, her finger suddenly stopped.

The head that had been resting on Lu Fanghuai’s shoulder shot up.

“Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh!” Fang Wenting screamed while furiously hitting Lu Fanghuai’s arm, leaving handprints all over it.

“What are you screaming about? If I have an affair, I’ll castrate myself!” Lu Fanghuai said, looking aggrieved as his arm turned red.

“This! Ahhh! This!” Fang Wenting was so excited she couldn’t speak properly.

“What is it?” Lu Fanghuai leaned closer to see, “What’s this? Yaoyao found herself a pretty boy boyfriend? He doesn’t look like much.”

Last night, they had been so worried about Zhou Jiayu that they hadn’t checked their moments. He had no idea his niece had posted a photo with her boyfriend, making their relationship public.

“Who asked you to look at the guy? I want you to see the girl!” Fang Wenting slapped him again.

“I don’t want to look at anyone but you!”

“Look! Yesterday, Xiaoxue said the girl she saw was this one!” Fang Wenting said, forcefully turning Lu Fanghuai’s head to look at the girl in the photo.
_

At the entrance of the residential complex, Zhou Jiayu was standing by the security guard, asking, “Uncle, are you sure you haven’t heard of someone named Shen Zhirou? She might be living here.”

He was clutching at straws when he suddenly received a WeChat message from Lu Fanghuai.

It was a group photo of four people, with Shen Zhirou’s face circled.

Lu Fanghuai: “Is this your girlfriend? I’m not mistaken, right?”

Zhou Jiayu was taken aback and immediately called him, “Where did you get this photo?”

“From Yaoyao’s Moments. My niece. Is this your girlfriend or not?”

“Your niece?” Zhou Jiayu vaguely remembered, “Does she know Zhirou?”

“I don’t know. Have you found her yet? If not, I’ll ask her now.”

“You ask her, hurry up.” Zhou Jiayu hung up and urged Lu Fanghuai to call.

Receiving confirmation, Lu Fanghuai immediately called Zhang Junyao.

Zhang Junyao was just having breakfast in the cafeteria with Xu Yunze when she received the call.

She never expected that by posting a group photo yesterday because she found Shen Zhirou pretty, she would uncover the explosive news that the perpetually single Zhou Jiayu had a girlfriend who was now potentially lost.

Naturally, she had to help. She immediately grabbed Xu Yunze and tried to contact Xu Jia.

Xu Jia, already annoyed by being bombarded with calls, was ready to curse out Xu Yunze and block him. But when she answered, she heard Xu Yunze’s girlfriend’s voice, “Sister! I’m Xu Yunze’s girlfriend. Remember me? The pretty girl we had dinner with yesterday, can you contact her? Can you ask her to add my Uncle Zhou back? He’s looking for her!”

“Who?” Xu Jia was bewildered.

“My Uncle Zhou! He’s the boyfriend of that pretty sister. They had a misunderstanding, and she deleted him on WeChat.” Zhang Junyao was talking to Xu Jia while also messaging Lu Fanghuai, “Hold on, is the pretty sister there? Can you let her answer the phone? Tell her Uncle Zhou’s name is Zhou Jiayu, not Lu Fanghuai.”

Xu Jia: “???”

“Hold on, my uncle will talk to you.”

Xu Jia: “???”

Zhang Junyao put her phone on speaker and held it next to Xu Yunze’s phone. On the other side, Lu Fanghuai continued, “Are you Shen Zhirou’s roommate? Sorry for the misunderstanding, we need to explain. Hold on, I’ll let Zhou talk to you.”

Lu Fanghuai then put Zhou Jiayu and Fang Wenting on speakerphone, passing the message along to Xu Jia.

As a result, the foolish act Zhou Jiayu wanted to keep secret became known to everyone.

By the time Xu Jia found Zhou Jiayu inside the complex, her mind was still reeling from what had just happened.

She took a picture of Zhou Jiayu and sent it to Shen Zhirou.

Xu Jia: “Do you know this person? He says he’s your boyfriend and that you mistook him for Lu Fanghuai. He says his name is Zhou Jiayu.”