It fell from his fingertips

"Let's get to know each other again, Zhou Jinbai."

The dim streetlights cast their yellow light on the man's shoulders, outlining his pale profile with a fuzzy edge.

The man had high brow bones, slightly sunken eye sockets, deep and profound eyes, a perfectly high and straight nose, and even the curve of his jawline exuded a sense of noble restraint.

Zhou Jinbai's outstretched hand had distinct knuckles, clean and slender fingertips, and thin calluses from years of holding a pen. When it was laid out in front of her, it was solemn, as if he were extending an invitation.

Tang Luoqing blinked in surprise, completely unexpected that Zhou Jinbai would say such a thing and solemnly extend his hand to her.

Confusion and bewilderment flickered in her eyes, but she still slowly raised her hand, her fingertips touching his palm first before placing the rest on it: "Let's... get to know each other again, Tang Luoqing."

Is that how it's described?

When their hands clasped together, Tang Luoqing realized that the other person's palm was a whole size larger than hers and warmer. He held her very lightly, with restrained strength that made her feel almost pressured, but the point where their skin touched was distinctly clear and impossible to ignore.

Zhou Jinbai lowered his eyes and stared at the two people's clasped hands, a deep, unfathomable emotion hidden in the corners of his eyes.

Then, Zhou Jinbai looked up at Tang Luoqing, his voice softer than the evening breeze: "You can call me Jinbai, or I'm a few years older than you, so you can call me Big Brother, that's fine too."

Tang Luoqing stared blankly at Zhou Jinbai, feeling that the topic had jumped a bit too quickly.

The key point is, didn't she already call Zhou Jinbai "Big Brother"?

Tang Luoqing's voice was soft and hesitant as she tentatively called out, "Big...Big Brother?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jinbai hummed in response, his deep eyes darkening, his prominent Adam's apple bobbing as his deep, magnetic voice reached Tang Luoqing's ears: "Luoqing."

What was originally a perfectly normal form of address sounded strangely hoarse when Zhou Jinbai pronounced it, making one's ears inexplicably itch.

Tang Luoqing's cheeks flushed red at a visible speed, her long eyelashes drooped, and she almost dared not look into Zhou Jinbai's eyes.

My heartbeat quickened by a strange beat.

Unable to recall what had happened to her, Tang Luoqing hurriedly changed the subject, speaking much faster than before: "By the way, didn't you want me to draw you a picture? What kind of picture do you want?"

After a slight pause, Tang Luoqing added, her eyes darting around, "A sea view? Or... something else?"

Zhou Jinbai stared at Tang Luoqing's drooping hair, his gaze growing ever deeper.

The evening breeze, carrying the scent of the sea, brushed against the man's clothes. He remained silent for several seconds before speaking, his voice low and slightly magnetic.

"what ever."

"……good."

The two walked back along the path.

The atmosphere seemed different from when I arrived; I couldn't tell if something had been added or something was missing.

Tang Luoqing walked a little ahead, head down, occasionally tripping over small pebbles, her mind filled with those words from earlier...

"Let's get to know each other again, Zhou Jinbai."

Zhou Jinbai walked a few steps behind Tang Luoqing, not too far, not too close, just enough to see her back.

It was already evening when Tang Luoqing returned to the hotel. She was a little hungry, but didn't have much of an appetite, so she went straight back to her room.

Not long after, there was a knock on the door.

Tang Luoqing thought it was Zhou Yanchen coming to apologize, so she frowned and tried to make him leave, feeling somewhat helpless. But it was Assistant Shen who spoke from outside the door: "Hello, Miss Tang, Mr. Zhou asked me to bring you some dinner."

Tang Luoqing paused as she opened the door, and sure enough, she saw Assistant Shen carrying a food bag.

Assistant Shen handed the food bag to Tang Luoqing, who accepted it with both hands, thanked him, and after Assistant Shen left, she closed the door, carried the paper bag to the coffee table, opened it, and found that it contained some light dishes.

There was steamed sea bass, garlic vermicelli shrimp, yam and pork rib soup, and a osmanthus-flavored glutinous rice lotus root, all of which were Tang Luoqing's favorite dishes.

Tang Luoqing felt a mix of emotions, unable to quite put her finger on what they were.

She took a picture and sent it to Zhou Jinbai: 【Thank you, brother.】

The other party quickly replied: 【You're welcome.】

Despite her good intentions, Tang Luoqing couldn't refuse to eat anything, even if she had no appetite. She had only taken two bites when the knocking on the door sounded again.

Thinking it was Assistant Shen again, Tang Luoqing opened the door directly, only to find Zhou Yanchen standing at the door.

Tang Luoqing frowned, intending to close the door, but just as she exerted force, Zhou Yanchen reached out and blocked the door.

Zhou Yanchen stood outside the door, two buttons undone at the collar of his shirt. His eyes were dark with fatigue, and his usually nonchalant peach blossom eyes were now full of seriousness. His fingers gripped the door frame tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"Luo Qing, let's talk."

Zhou Yanchen's tone was unusually serious, completely different from his previous demeanor.

Tang Luoqing knew that if Zhou Yanchen wanted to come in, she couldn't stop him, so she simply turned around and let him in.

Zhou Yanchen casually closed the door, glanced at the dishes on the small tea table by the balcony, and assumed that Tang Luoqing had packed them herself without thinking much of it.

He walked over and tried to take Tang Luoqing's hand.

Tang Luoqing took half a step back, avoiding Zhou Yanchen's touch.

Zhou Yanchen's hand froze in mid-air, his fingers curling weakly, his voice slightly hoarse: "Luo Qing, you asked me this morning whether I was protecting you or me. I thought about it for a long time, and spent the whole afternoon seriously considering this question. The answer is still: I want to protect you."

"In my opinion, as long as I am sincere towards you and you are the only one in my heart, I will choose to avoid trouble when problems arise. But after what happened today, I realized that it may not be so..."

Zhou Yanchen tried to take Tang Luoqing's hand again, his movements were cautious and pleading, but the other party still avoided it.

The man withdrew his hand and sighed, "I'm sorry, Luo Qing, I was wrong. Please give me another chance, okay?"

Tang Luoqing did not answer the question immediately.

She looked up at Zhou Yanchen, her eyes appearing calm, without crying or making a fuss. However, the corners of her eyes gradually reddened, revealing that she was not at peace with herself.

Even so, it made Zhou Yanchen even more uneasy than hysteria.

After an unknown amount of time, Tang Luoqing took a deep breath, forcing herself to keep her tone normal: "I'm curious, if you truly love me, how could you bear to see me suffer?"

Faced with this question, Zhou Yanchen stood there stunned, speechless for a long time.

Tang Luoqing moved closer to Zhou Yanchen: "You haven't treated me like this from the beginning, haven't you? You've never cared about my feelings from the start. Would you have done this a year ago? Would you have done this the year you were pursuing me?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanchen couldn't help but recall how he had pursued Tang Luoqing a year ago, and how he had gone to great lengths to pursue her during his university years.

Back then, he would panic even if she just frowned.

He would stand downstairs in her studio for three hours waiting for her to paint, even when it was bitterly cold outside.

She would immediately turn cold and unfriendly when her friends joked with her, showing no mercy whatsoever, and openly protecting her own.

He would remember her habit of not eating ginger or cilantro very clearly and repeatedly remind her of this to every restaurant.

He would immediately protect her when she was wronged, shielding her from all the unpleasant things.

At that time, his world seemed to revolve around her. He was too lazy to even look up and accept the flirtatious advances from others. He wished he could have the words "Tang Luoqing is my girlfriend" engraved on his forehead and couldn't bear to see her cry even once.

But I don't know when it started, he began to think: "We've been together for a long time, so we don't need to be so particular about these things." He began to think that there was no need to take his friends' jokes seriously. He began to take her silence as tacit agreement, and her grievances as making a mountain out of a molehill. He even particularly enjoyed seeing her eyes redden and looking pitiful.

At this time,

"Zhou Yanchen, do you still love me?"

Zhou Yanchen was taken aback, looked up at Tang Luoqing, a hint of panic flashing in his eyes that he himself did not realize, and blurted out: "Of course, I love you."

Tang Luoqing pursed her lips, suppressing the surging emotions within her, and said in a seemingly calm tone, "Then prove it to me."

Zhou Yanchen suddenly breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, I'll prove it to you."

As long as they are still willing to give him a chance, that's fine.

Zhou Yanchen wanted to say something more, but his phone suddenly vibrated rapidly. He took his phone out of his pocket and saw that it was a staff member from the project.

The man frowned and answered the phone: "What's wrong?"

It's unclear what was said on the other end of the phone, but Zhou Yanchen's expression grew increasingly serious, a stark contrast to his usual carefree and irresponsible demeanor.

"Okay, I'll book my flight back now."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yanchen looked at Tang Luoqing seriously, his tone slightly apologetic: "There have been some problems with the project, and I have to go back to deal with them now. I will show you the proof."

"Tang Luoqing, remember this, I will prove it to you."

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Yanchen put his arm around the back of Tang Luoqing's head, kissed her on the forehead, turned around, and strode away.

Tang Luoqing watched the man's departing figure, knowing that this project was crucial to him, something he was striving to prove himself for.

but……

Glancing at the light dishes on the small coffee table out of the corner of her eye, Tang Luoqing suddenly wondered if she would never be number one in Zhou Yanchen's eyes? Would she always be the one who was abandoned and then remembered and coaxed again?

Wait a minute, just now, did she, for a fleeting moment, compare Zhou Jinbai and Zhou Yanchen?

Thinking this, Tang Luoqing couldn't help but recall the various ways Zhou Jinbai had taken care of her over the past period of time.

Zhou Jinbai, who was almost always busy with important matters, pointed out the problems with her painting and took her to Lu Lao's studio.

Try harder to recall memories of Zhou Jinbai...

Zhou Yanchen always said that his older brother was cold and strict, never smiled at anyone, and was extremely ruthless and serious. Even towards himself, he was so strict that he was inhuman. Zhou Jinbai was an excellent and even rare mentor in life, but he would never offer any warmth.

But she...

It seems that all we've gained is temperature.

Tang Luoqing had always thought that Zhou Jinbai's care for her was all because of Zhou Yanchen, but...

What if it isn't?

Even Zhou Jinbai wouldn't act this way towards Zhou Yanchen.

Tang Luoqing suddenly felt a little nervous, as if something was about to exceed her comprehension.

Just then, I received a WeChat message on my phone from Zhou Jinbai: [See you at the entrance of Mr. Lu's studio at 8:00 AM tomorrow?]

Tang Luoqing's breath hitched.