It fell from his fingertips

After hanging up the phone, the smile on Zhou Yanchen's lips completely vanished.

He twirled the phone between his fingers, then casually tossed it onto the sofa, clicked his tongue—it felt almost weightless—and lay down.

The music in the private room started playing again. Old Chen, a cigarette dangling from his lips, swaggered over, draped his elbow over his shoulder, and winked, "What's up? Your sister-in-law's checking up on you all the way to Xinwei?"

Zhou Yanchen glanced at him, his eyes narrowing slightly, with the nonchalant air typical of a young master: "She came here to sketch and is staying at this hotel."

Before he finished speaking, everyone in the room was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Someone, not wanting to miss out on the fun, whistled.

"Wow, Mr. Zhou, that's impressive. Even the young lady is chasing after you. You've got some charm."

"roll."

Amidst the laughter, Su Leqi walked over carrying two glasses of wine.

She strolled slowly over to Zhou Yanchen, handed him a glass, and deliberately brushed her fingertips against the back of his hand as she did so. Her eyes crinkled with a teasing smile, and a faint hint of amusement lingered at the corners of her eyes: "So what should we do? Should we pack up and move to another place? We shouldn't keep Mr. Zhou from spending time with his girlfriend."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanchen scoffed.

He took the wine glass, ignored Su Leqi's words, and simply leaned back on the sofa with his legs crossed, looking very relaxed.

However, she had a clear plan in mind: this resort hotel covers a large area, with beaches, restaurants, and entertainment facilities separated into several sections, and there are many floors of guest rooms. Tang Luoqing came to sketch, so she would spend most of her days on the beach and stay in her room at night, making the chances of bumping into her very low.

Most importantly, if it's really because Tang Luoqing came alone that a group of people have to slink away to another place, what kind of impression would that make? Zhou Yanchen isn't that afraid of his girlfriend.

"Why change it? It's no big deal."

Zhou Yanchen raised his eyes and glanced around at the people in the room. Wherever his gaze swept, his laughter gradually subsided.

The man's tone was still casual, yet it still carried the imposing manner typical of a young master, exuding authority without anger: "But I'm warning you, don't go near her unnecessarily. If you scare my girlfriend, I won't let you off the hook."

"Oh, you're feeling sorry for her now? If you'd known she was this precious, why did you come out to play? Wouldn't it have been better to stay home with her?"

Old Chen chuckled and teased, stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray, a spark flying out.

"You don't know anything."

Zhou Yanchen casually retorted, twirling his wine glass with his finger, the ice cubes clinking inside: "If I don't cherish my girlfriend, she can easily become someone else's, understand?"

Su Leqi stood to the side, sipping her wine. Upon hearing this, she pressed the rim of her glass against her lower lip, her long eyelashes drooping down to conceal the emotions in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Tang Luoqing was completely unaware of what was happening in the private room of the lounge bar on the 8th floor.

She had been on a plane for more than two hours today and was a little tired. She had originally wanted to paint the waves at night but didn't have the energy, so she simply took a shower and went to bed early.

The next morning, the sun was shining brightly.

Golden sunlight spilled onto the sea, making it sparkle like scattered gold dust. The salty sea breeze blew by, lifting my hair and feeling cool and refreshing.

Tang Luoqing took her easel to the beach, chose a relatively quiet corner, set up her easel, and began sketching the waves.

She stood in front of the easel, holding a paintbrush in her hand, her brows furrowed, staring at the paper for a long time, hesitant to put pen to paper.

Because the dynamics of the waves are always drawn incorrectly.

Her strokes were either too stiff or too scattered. She frowned at the drawing paper, repeatedly erasing and revising, but she was still very dissatisfied.

An hour later, Tang Luoqing was deflated.

Not far away, in the area shaded by parasols, Zhou Yanchen was playing frisbee with Su Leqi, Lao Chen, and their group.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yanchen glanced up and caught sight of a familiar figure in the shade of the beach. He almost dropped the frisbee in his hand.

Zhou Yanchen tensed up, his smile vanished instantly, his brows furrowed, and his Adam's apple bobbed. He quickly made up a plausible excuse and pulled Su Leqi and the others away.

However, they didn't see that as they were leaving, Zhou Jinbai, who had just finished a project meeting, passed by, glanced at Zhou Yanchen's fleeing vest, stopped, and frowned deeply.

Then, the man walked straight toward Tang Luoqing.

A few minutes later, Zhou Jinbai stood behind Tang Luoqing, watching her paint.

Less than half a minute later, the man spoke: "The light on the crest of the wave is too heavy."

Tang Luoqing was startled, and the paintbrush in her hand fell to the ground. When she turned her head, she saw Zhou Jinbai's tall figure.

She immediately stood up from her chair in surprise: "Big brother? What are you doing here?"

"On a business trip, to discuss a cultural tourism project."

Zhou Jinbai spoke in a flat tone, revealing no emotion. His gaze fell upon the painting Tang Luoqing had drawn on the canvas.

The man took two more steps forward, lightly pointing his finger at the crest of a wave. His voice was deep and magnetic: "At midday, the sun shines down from above, so the crest of the wave is bright, and the trough is dark. Try reversing the light and dark. Also, the curve of the wave—the sea breeze is slanted, so the wave should also be slanted."

A few words succinctly revealed the crux of the matter, and Tang Luoqing suddenly understood, quickly expressing her gratitude.

"Oh, I see. That explains why I couldn't get it right no matter how I drew it... Thank you so much, brother, you're amazing."

Tang Luoqing picked up the pen and made revisions while the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up.

With Zhou Jinbai's guidance, Tang Luoqing's paintings became exceptionally inspired and flowed smoothly from then on.

Before she knew it, evening had arrived. Tang Luoqing put away her paintbrush and paper, rubbed her sore neck, and looked up at Zhou Jinbai, her tone filled with a cautious expectation: "Thank you for your guidance, brother. If you have time, could I treat you to dinner?"

Zhou Jinbai looked at the sunset light reflected in Tang Luoqing's eyes, remained silent for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his deep eyes surged with emotion.

Finally, he nodded, his voice devoid of much emotion, but a closer listen revealed it was softer than usual: "Okay."

·

There is a private kitchen restaurant on the first floor of the hotel, mainly serving seafood, but also offering various other cuisines to cater to guests from all over the world.

Having learned her lesson from the last time she ate Sichuan food and ended up drinking water and crying, this time Tang Luoqing took the initiative to suggest eating Anhui cuisine, which has both sweet and spicy flavors.

At the dining table, Zhou Jinbai watched as Tang Luoqing ordered several dishes she liked and then handed him the menu, so he casually ordered two dishes as well.

In fact, according to Zhou Jinbai's thinking, he didn't need to order spicy dishes separately. He could eat the light dishes that Tang Luoqing ordered. But if he didn't order any, it would be a way of telling Tang Luoqing that his statement when he treated her to dinner last time, "You also have to consider yourself," was a lie.

He didn't want Tang Luoqing to compromise herself, no matter who she ate with in the future.

When they had almost finished eating, Zhou Jinbai's phone rang. It was Assistant Shen calling.

Upon hearing the contents of the phone call, Zhou Jinbai frowned slightly: "Understood. We'll have a video conference in ten minutes. Please wait..."

At this point, Zhou Jinbai looked at Tang Luoqing and said apologetically, "I have a work call that I need to handle immediately. I'm sorry, I'll go out to make the call. You can go back to your room first."

Tang Luoqing was indeed tired, so upon hearing this, he quickly nodded and politely said, "Okay, brother, I'll go back to my room now."

Thank you so much for today.

As soon as she finished speaking, Tang Luoqing stood up from her chair, turned around and left the restaurant, heading straight for the elevator.

A few minutes later, Tang Luoqing arrived at the elevator entrance, pressed the elevator button, and waited for the elevator to open. Just as she was about to step inside, she froze.

Zhou Yanchen appeared alone in the elevator, and a hint of surprise flashed across his eyes, though it was fleeting.

Tang Luoqing looked at Zhou Yanchen in surprise, frowning slightly in confusion: "What are you doing here?"

Shouldn't Zhou Yanchen be in Haicheng as he said?

Tang Luoqing had a vague sense of unease and tightened her grip on her phone.

Zhou Yanchen, who had come back to change his clothes after they were wet by passing tourists, saw Tang Luoqing and a look of panic flashed across his face.

Immediately, the man stepped out of the elevator with delight: "Luo Qing... I, I came to find you, are you surprised?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Yanchen pulled Tang Luoqing into the elevator, his tone incredibly gentle: "After I finished my work yesterday, I kept reflecting on myself for not going back to be with you for so long, so after calling you yesterday, I immediately booked a flight and flew here. I missed you so much."

After Zhou Yanchen finished speaking, he bent down and kissed Tang Luoqing's lips.

Tang Luoqing was startled and quickly glanced at the slowly closing elevator doors, afraid of being seen and feeling embarrassed.

Little did he know that Zhou Jinbai, upon returning from the phone call, would witness the kiss that had just taken place.

Zhou Jinbai frowned deeply, his hand gripping the phone clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white, and the atmosphere around him instantly darkened.

On the other side, just as Tang Luoqing and Zhou Yanchen entered the room together, Zhou Yanchen's phone rang.

He took out his phone and glanced at it, his brow furrowing imperceptibly. Then, looking at Tang Luoqing, he answered the call. After a brief exchange on the other end, Zhou Yanchen said into the phone, "I'm not going. I'm here to see my girlfriend. You guys have fun, don't call me."

Zhou Yanchen spoke with righteous indignation, clearly a good man who would get rid of any messy behavior for his girlfriend.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yanchen looked down at her, as if wanting to take credit, and tried to kiss Tang Luoqing again.

Hearing Zhou Yanchen's rejection, Tang Luoqing thought he had really rejected his friends because of her, and had even come all the way here to find her. Her pent-up feelings from yesterday gradually eased, but when she thought of a question, the smile on her lips faded a little.

She raised her hand to stop Zhou Yanchen's lips from kissing her, and asked in confusion, "Why...did you come out of the elevator?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanchen paused, his palms sweating with nervousness.

But he reacted quickly and immediately covered it up: "Because I came straight in to find you, but then I realized... I forgot to ask for your room number, and I didn't know which floor to press, so I came out again."

Tang Luoqing still felt that something was not quite right.

But Zhou Yanchen had already pulled Tang Luoqing into his arms again and was about to kiss her again when his phone rang just as his lips were about to touch hers.

The man frowned, immediately becoming impatient.

But when Zhou Yanchen took out his phone and saw the caller ID, his anger subsided.

"Hey bro? What's up?"

On the other end of the phone, Zhou Jinbai's voice was cold, like ice, coming through the receiver: "Send me the project's interim closing report before 8 a.m. tomorrow."

"Eight o'clock?"

Zhou Yanchen thought he had misheard, and his doubtful voice rose a little: "So soon? Am I even going to sleep tonight?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Then, Zhou Jinbai's voice came again, this time colder: "Or, come to my room now. I'm curious, you're leaving your job to come and vacation with your friends... are you really capable of doing this project well?"