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Zhou Tingyun noticed that Ming Zhao hadn’t come downstairs for quite some time and hadn’t replied to his messages. He walked up to the second floor and knocked on her door.
“Zhao Zhao?”
No response.
His expression remained calm as he was about to ask a staff member to bring a key when, just then, the door opened.
Ming Zhao had changed into casual clothes for dinner.
She wore a camel-colored wool coat over a short skirt, paired with suede boots in a matching tone. Her long hair, slightly curled, peeked out from under a beret, while metallic earrings dangled, giving her a nostalgic, early-2000s look.
She stood there, staring at Zhou Tingyun with a blank expression.
Zhou Tingyun’s gaze fell on her bare knees, and he couldn’t help but frown. “Why aren’t you wearing those ‘bare-leg stockings’?”
Hearing him mention ‘bare-leg stockings,’ Ming Zhao almost lost her composure but managed to hold it in.
“They don’t look good.”
Meeting his chilly gaze, she wrinkled her nose. “There’s heating everywhere anyway. I only have to walk outside for a bit.”
Zhou Tingyun didn’t argue with her and simply asked, “Why didn’t you reply to my messages?”
“I was changing clothes. How could I see them?”
“And you didn’t hear me knock?”
Ming Zhao pretended not to hear. “I didn’t hear anything.”
When they left the villa, she bent down and got into the car. The driver was the Zhou family’s butler.
Right now, she was hypersensitive to anything related to the Zhou family and sat in the back seat silently.
In truth, she wasn’t in the mood to go to dinner. But…
In the past, Ming Zhao always did whatever she wanted without ever worrying if Zhou Tingyun thought she was being unreasonable. But now?
Now, she found herself competing with Zhou Siyu to see who could be more obedient!
Ming Zhao felt utterly frustrated and silently cursed Zhou Tingyun.
Everything was his fault, anyway.
Just then, the butler suddenly spoke up.
“Sir,” he asked, “should we wait for Miss Siyu?”
“No need,” Zhou Tingyun responded, his patience wearing thin.
After spending so many years with her, he could sense every slight shift in Ming Zhao’s mood.
Just as he was about to lower the divider to ask her something, there was a soft knock from the front.
The butler rolled down the window and greeted politely, “Miss Siyu.”
Outside, Zhou Siyu smiled warmly at the butler before turning to Zhou Tingyun.
“Tingyun-ge,” she asked sweetly, “could I trouble you to give me a ride?”
Ming Zhao averted her gaze, her face expressionless.
Ride, ride, just give her a ride then!
Her anger surged, and she was about to tell the butler to open the door so she could get out when she heard the calm voice of the man beside her.
“The Zhou family has already arranged a driver for you.”
Zhou Tingyun knew his usually reserved cousin would never have been bold enough to stop his car, especially not for such a small favor. Thinking back to the ten minutes when Ming Zhao had gone to change clothes, his expression cooled.
For a brief moment, Zhou Siyu’s smile stiffened. “Ting…”
“Tingyun-ge,” Zhou Siyu began again, but Zhou Tingyun’s voice, though gentle, cut her off.
“Siyu,” he warned softly, “don’t play games with me.”
The words landed heavily, and Zhou Siyu’s face turned pale instantly.
Ming Zhao was startled as well. Though she often bickered with Zhou Tingyun, she knew he never truly got angry with her. Even the one time he had been the sternest, he had merely told her to leave with a calm face.
Now, the usually bold Ming Zhao found herself nervously fidgeting with her fingers, feeling unsettled.
The butler, sensing the tension, quickly intervened, his voice apologetic. “Sorry, Miss Siyu. I’ll take Mr. Zhou back now.”
Without waiting for a reply, he swiftly closed the window and started the car in an instant.
As they drove several meters away, the butler dared to sneak a glance at Zhou Tingyun’s face in the rearview mirror, but all he saw was the frosted glass of the privacy screen.
In the back seat…
Zhou Tingyun gently untangled Ming Zhao’s tightly clasped hands and asked, “What did she say to you?”
Ming Zhao froze.
“Nothing…” she replied weakly.
“Nothing, yet you’re angry?”
Ming Zhao, stubborn as always, insisted, “I’m not—”
“Mm, not angry, but you were ready to slam the car door and leave on your own. What would you do if you were angry?”
How did he even know that?
Ming Zhao stared at him, shocked.
After all, she had practically been raised by him. With just a flicker of her eyes, Zhou Tingyun could tell exactly what she was planning. She was puffed up with frustration like an annoyed pufferfish, foolishly thinking no one could see through her.
Zhou Tingyun lowered his gaze, silently signaling her not to lie.
“What else could she say?” Ming Zhao averted her eyes. “She probably just said our dear Young Master Zhou is rich and handsome, gave her an unlimited card to shop with. Oh, how envious I am.”
“She lied to you,” Zhou Tingyun replied helplessly, wondering how she could be so gullible.
Ming Zhao responded with a flat “Oh.”
“And what else?” he pressed. “Don’t bottle it up.”
After a long pause, there was only silence.
Seeing her head droop again, Zhou Tingyun sighed.
He gently cupped her face, tilting it upward slightly.
Her soft cheeks rested in his palm, but her gaze remained downcast, stubbornly refusing to look at him. Her tightly pressed lips made it clear she was upset.
“We’re family,” Zhou Tingyun’s voice was calm. “Why do you always believe what outsiders say?”
“Or are you doing this on purpose, just to vent your anger at me?”
What?
Ming Zhao had just felt comforted by the words ‘we’re family,’ but the second half of his sentence had stepped right on her tail.
How was she deliberately venting her anger at him? This was slander—pure slander.
Feeling wronged, she became agitated, ready to bite him out of frustration. But Zhou Tingyun easily pinched both sides of her cheeks, making it impossible for her to close her mouth. All she could do was mumble incomprehensible curses.
“I still have people to meet,” Zhou Tingyun said.
And so, the bite mark ended up on the back of his hand.
Zhou Tingyun wasn’t resistant to Ming Zhao biting him. When they were children, Ming Zhao used to like biting him. Back then, Zhou Tingyun would gently touch her teeth, thinking how neat and healthy they were.
Now, when she bit him, it meant she was still that domineering young lady.
Thinking of this, Zhou Tingyun furrowed his brows.
He regretted allowing her to interact with the Zhou family members.
It had only been a few days since they returned to the country, and she had already learned to bottle up her frustration inside.
He gently squeezed her hand.
“Let’s not go to dinner. How about I take you home?”
“How could that be?”
Ming Zhao refused, then questioned, “If you don’t want me to go, you’ve got a problem.”
After speaking, she furrowed her brow. “Wait, why do I sound like one of those rich wives who’s always accusing her husband of cheating?”
Before Zhou Tingyun could remind her to watch her words, she quickly took the moral high ground, scolding him with a line she must have seen somewhere online about relationships.
“It’s all your fault. You didn’t give me enough sense of security.”
“I’m going to tell Mommy that you’re bullying me!”
Zhou Tingyun silently watched her little performance before taking out his phone. “Do you want me to help you call Mom?”
The fake sobbing stopped abruptly.
Ming Zhao obediently placed his phone back into his pocket. “Sir, there’s no need for that.”
Amidst their playful banter, the car slowly drove into the alley and came to a stop in front of a wide, golden-gated mansion.
As soon as she got out of the car, Ming Zhao tried to sneak away.
But Zhou Tingyun pulled her back.
“Stand still.”
…Ming Zhao reluctantly stayed where she was.
A long cashmere blanket was wrapped around her waist, covering her all the way down to her boots.
The man lowered his head to tie the blanket, almost encircling her completely in his arms.
The scent of light, warm wood filled the air, offering an unexpectedly soothing sense of security. Ming Zhao, feeling lazy, leaned forward and rested against him.
After a moment, she complained that it was tied too tightly, making it hard to breathe. Then, not long after, she grumbled that if it were too loose, it might fall off.
Zhou Tingyun patted her waist. “Stop messing around.”
He made some space with his knuckles, securing the blanket tightly.
His fingers were long, with wide joints, and as he moved, it was inevitable that they brushed against her waist.
When his hand withdrew, the thin inner layer of her clothes was lifted.
Without warning, the pad of his finger brushed against her delicate, soft skin.
Zhou Tingyun paused for a moment.
It wasn’t that he had never held Ming Zhao before.
The soft, sticky glutinous rice dumpling, her head tilted on his shoulder, her flushed cheek squeezed out in such a way that it made him involuntarily pinch it, like a soft, wobbly pudding.
But the memories should have been warm, pleasant.
Instead, they dragged him back to that humid, suffocating night.
The sweet fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose, and the lace’s texture felt like a needle prickling his fingertips, embedding itself in his heart.
However, he no longer pushed Ming Zhao away as he had last time. As Aunt Lin had said, she was sensitive, and after a few more such moments, who knew how much she might cry.
Zhou Tingyun naturally smoothed her clothes back into the blanket and released his hand.
“Alright.”
His own guilty conscience made him unaware of the girl’s reddened ears.