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Xu Zhiqiao felt light-headed and weak. “I was wrong, Mom. I know I made a mistake. I’ll break up with him.”
“…” Xu Shu’s eyes were clouded with anger. “You need to remember, if someone asks you for money during the relationship, they’re not worth keeping.”
“I understand,” Xu Zhiqiao choked, “I’m sorry, Mom.”
Xu Shu was both worried and angry. “Come back home for a while. Don’t contact that boy anymore.”
“Okay.”
“Huailuo,” Ji Shou spoke up, “If you have time these days, go pick up your sister. If you’re busy, send the driver.”
Ji Huailuo nodded.
It was rare to see him obedient.
The living room gradually fell quiet. Both Xu Shu and Ji Shou had left. Ji Huailuo, feeling disturbed, went to the backyard for a cigarette.
Night had fallen, and no lights were on. The world was just a shadowy outline.
Xu Zhiqiao lowered her head, drained of all energy, sitting weakly.
At some point, a large hand rubbed her head. The man’s voice was low and hoarse. “Don’t lie to me again. Or this will be your lesson.”
Xu Zhiqiao froze like a statue.
“Don’t go against me either,” Zhou Cong’s fingertips dug into her hair. “You can’t win.”
Xu Zhiqiao slowly looked up, meeting his deep, dark gaze.
Zhou Cong held her gaze. “Be good. I don’t want to bully you.”
In the dim light, his silver necklace on his collarbone gleamed coldly. It was such a fashionable and trendy piece, but the sharpness of the gleam was almost blinding.
Xu Zhiqiao’s anger flared up. She grabbed the silver chain, yanked it forcefully, and pulled it off.
Zhou Cong’s neck skin must have been scratched.
However, he didn’t flinch. He gently rubbed her head, murmuring, “If you like it, take it. I have plenty more.”
Xu Zhiqiao’s eyes reddened. “You’re a bad person!”
“Don’t avoid me,” Zhou Cong sighed. “I’m being good to you, okay?”
Xu Zhiqiao sniffled, her voice hoarse. “I like Andy Lau.”
I don’t like you.
“…” Zhou Cong gave a small laugh. “Then should I change to Zhou Dehua?”
Xu Zhiqiao: “Go away.”
Zhou Cong: “Should I text you when I go back?”
Xu Zhiqiao radiated resistance from every pore.
Zhou Cong spoke as if to himself, “Remember to reply, don’t make your big brother angry.”
“…” Xu Zhiqiao was furious, but she had no way to fight back.
This man was terrifying. He was nothing like his appearance. Beneath his charming, youthful exterior was a scheming mind that ordinary people could never match.
—
After finishing a cigarette, Ji Huailuo lightly kicked Er De’s leg with his toe. He grumbled, “It’s so annoying. I don’t even have a girlfriend, and that crybaby actually has one.”
Er De wagged his tail in response.
Hearing footsteps approach, Ji Huailuo looked up. “I say a few words to her, and she blows up. She even dares to hit me.”
Zhou Cong showed no expression. “Mm.”
“How did it go?” Ji Huailuo asked. “Did she take it to heart?”
Zhou Cong leaned against the wall, staring into the night. “She promised that next time, she’ll talk to you first.”
Ji Huailuo raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
Zhou Cong didn’t answer. He reached out for a cigarette.
“…When did you start smoking?” Ji Huailuo tossed him one along with a lighter. “If the old man finds out, he’ll punish you.”
Zhou Cong: “I’m irritated.”
The night carried a breeze, and autumn was showing its marks.
Zhou Cong bit the end of the cigarette, using one hand to shield the flame. He lit it slowly.
“So, how did the blind date go?” Ji Huailuo sized him up.
Zhou Cong exhaled a slow puff of smoke. His chiselled face was half-lit in the dim light, with sharp, clean contours.
“I didn’t feel anything.”
“What kind of feeling do you want?” Ji Huailuo scoffed. “Isn’t that what blind dates are for?”
Zhou Cong lowered his gaze, flicking the ash from his cigarette. “I want someone who can argue with me, someone who can make life more lively.”
“…You’re asking for trouble,” Ji Huailuo cursed.
At that point, he clicked his tongue. “Xu Zhiqiao has that personality, but you probably can’t handle her.”
Zhou Cong: “Why do you say that?”
Ji Huailuo glanced at him. “You, Young Master Zhou, don’t have the patience to coax a girl?”
Zhou Cong: “It depends on who it is.”
“Who have you ever coaxed?” Ji Huailuo started counting on his fingers. “A middle school girl chased after you, and she cried. You said she looked ugly when she cried. In high school, forget about it. A girl confessed to you, and you said you had to go home for dinner. In university, the line of girls waiting for you outside your house almost reached the next street…”
In short, Zhou Cong had never coaxed anyone.
He never bent his back for anyone.
He found it annoying to comfort girls. He found it annoying when girls got mad.
After saying that, Ji Huailuo sighed and looked up at the sky. “Don’t be fooled by how Xu Zhiqiao blows up all the time. I heard she’s suffered a lot from her father. I have to find a good brother-in-law who can take care of her.”
Zhou Cong said succinctly: “A fool has good fortune.”
“She’s not a fool.”
“There are more cunning ones than her.”
“Like you?”
“…Like the guy who borrowed five thousand from her.”
Ji Huailuo grew irritated. “Do you think I should go meet that guy?”
“I’ll go.”
“…” Ji Huailuo stopped short. “You’re going?”
Zhou Cong smiled faintly. “I know some people on the board at Shen University. It’ll be easy to investigate.”
Ji Huailuo, not suspecting anything, said, “Make sure you investigate thoroughly, then sever their relationship.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, what do you think of my sister?”
“……”
What to think?
She’s just like that.
Let him go on a blind date out of frustration, thinking he doesn’t need her.
But when she appeared, for some strange reason, he forgave everything.
Since the second path didn’t work, he would choose the first one.
He was already trapped.
He couldn’t escape now.
—
Xu Zhiqiao didn’t go back to school.
Returning to her room on the second floor, the shopping bags were neatly placed on the desk.
Xu Zhiqiao had no expression on her face as she turned the bags upside down, spilling their contents.
Besides a few lipsticks and lip glosses, there was a brown paper envelope.
She opened it.
Inside was money.
The money she had given to Zhou Cong.
He had returned it to her.
This man was full of schemes.
He was someone she could never afford to mess with.
Xu Zhiqiao sat cross-legged on the floor, her shoulders slumping in despair, lost and helpless.
Trying to make up a fake boyfriend had almost resulted in disaster.
There was only one other option left.
To keep him hanging? To neither accept nor reject?
Xu Zhiqiao didn’t want to think too highly of herself. What could she do to hang Zhou Cong on a string?
Her little tricks weren’t even worth noticing in front of him.
But it seemed like she had no other way out.
There’s only one Andy Lau.
She irritably put everything away, and her phone pinged with a few new messages.
They were from Zhou Cong.
[Home.]
[Did you check the bag?]
[That pomegranate red one suits you. Next time, wear it and let me see.]
Xu Zhiqiao didn’t reply.
She deleted them all.
After a while, Zhou Cong’s message came again: [Baby, say goodnight to big brother.]
Xu Zhiqiao typed each word carefully: [Old pervert! Let a rat crawl onto your bed and gnaw off your ears!]
Zhou Cong immediately replied: [Has it ever happened?]
“……”
Not five seconds later, Zhou Cong sent a voice message.
She opened it, and the man’s voice was cold. “When, who threw you into this kind of house? I’ll help you get revenge.”
Xu Zhiqiao: “……”
This man was too terrifying, too terrifying.
His alertness was sharper than any human’s.
Xu Zhiqiao: [I’m tired, goodnight.]