It fell from his fingertips

Zhou Yanchen seems to have really changed.

During the two days he was back, he spent almost every moment with Tang Luoqing.

All the drinking parties and social engagements that I used to always talk about were now completely avoided.

Tang Luoqing was working on her draft at her easel, so he moved a stool over and sat next to her to look at her documents, even putting his phone on silent.

Even when Tang Luoqing went to the headquarters of Lu's Cultural and Creative Company to deliver the keys to Lu Yu, he insisted on driving her up. When he stood in the reception area waiting for her, his back was straight and his handsome appearance attracted the attention of passing employees.

Zhou Yanchen didn't know where he learned his cooking skills, but over the past two days, the food he made was delicious. The sweet and sour pork ribs were stewed until they fell off the bone and were tender, and the stir-fried vegetables were fresh and flavorful. It was completely different from how he used to be able to burn even instant noodles.

In just two days, Tang Luoqing seemed to have regained the Zhou Yanchen of the past.

It was Sunday, and Zhou Yanchen should have been returning to Haicheng by now.

At the dining table, he placed a piece of deboned fish into Tang Luoqing's bowl, his eyes crinkling with a hint of self-satisfaction: "I specially took an extra day off to come back and spend more time with you."

Upon hearing this, it seemed that all the bitterness Tang Luoqing had experienced at the seaside hotel had finally been torn open by the warmth of the past two days.

"My brother initially refused to approve it, but as soon as I said I was coming back to be with him, he approved it."

Zhou Yanchen spoke again, his tone smug: "You see, that's how much my brother values ​​my little family, which means he values ​​you, his sister-in-law."

Tang Luoqing: "...Really?"

Her fingers tightened around the chopsticks, and she chewed the food in her mouth for a long time without tasting it.

"Yes, that's right."

As they were talking, Zhou Yanchen seemed to suddenly remember something, put down his chopsticks and looked at Tang Luoqing: "By the way, how about coming back to the old house with me for lunch tomorrow? Mom and Dad have been talking about you for a long time, saying you haven't been around lately and they miss you. It's a good opportunity for our family to get together."

Tang Luoqing's heart skipped a beat when she heard that she was going back to the old house.

She looked up at Zhou Yanchen, her eyes flickering with a barely perceptible evasion. She pursed her lips, trying to keep her tone calm so as not to reveal anything amiss: "Yanchen, I've been rushing to finish my drawings lately, so I might..."

The smile on Zhou Yanchen's face vanished instantly.

He reached out to hold Tang Luoqing's hand, but fearing she would pull away, he hesitated, his hand hovering in mid-air. His voice held a hint of grievance: "Luoqing, haven't you... forgiven me yet?"

Tang Luoqing's heart softened.

She quickly shook her head, her tone softening, but still revealing a hint of resistance: "No, I'm just... I've been quite busy lately. How about... next time you come back to Beijing, we can go back together to see your parents?"

Zhou Yanchen stared at Tang Luoqing for several seconds. Seeing her serious expression, he didn't press her any further and nodded, "Okay."

Tang Luoqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It's not that she's really that busy, it's just that if she runs into Zhou Jinbai, then...

Just then, the cell phone on the table suddenly started vibrating; it was a call from Zhou's mother.

Zhou Yanchen answered the phone and had just called out "Mom" when his mother's voice came through the receiver. The volume was quite loud, and Tang Luoqing, who was sitting opposite him, could hear it clearly.

Zhou's mother kept complaining, saying that her eldest son was always out running projects and she could never catch a glimpse of him, and that her younger son had returned to Beijing but never came home. She said that raising two sons was like not raising them at all, and her tone became more and more aggrieved as she spoke.

Tang Luoqing's fingers tightened slightly as she gripped the water glass, the cool glass pressed against her palm, but she couldn't suppress her suddenly accelerating heartbeat.

Is Zhou Jinbai not home?

The moment this thought popped into her head, she couldn't quite tell if she felt a sense of relief.

Before Tang Luoqing could think it over, Zhou Yanchen had already hung up the phone. He shrugged at Tang Luoqing with a helpless expression and said, "Look, my mom is angry. I have to go back tomorrow."

Tang Luoqing was silent for a few seconds, then finally nodded: "...Okay."

Since Zhou Jinbai isn't here, let's go. There's nothing to be afraid of, Tang Luoqing convinced herself.

The next day, Tang Luoqing and Zhou Yanchen arrived at the Zhou family's old residence. Zhou's mother was already waiting at the door. When she saw Tang Luoqing, she greeted her with a smile, took her hand, and led her inside, her tone extremely affectionate.

Mr. Zhou was sitting on the living room sofa reading the newspaper. When he saw Tang Luoqing come in, he raised his eyes and gently called out, "Luoqing is here."

At lunchtime, the table was laden with dishes, and Zhou's mother kept putting food on Tang Luoqing's plate and asking her if she was tired from work.

Tang Luoqing responded to each of them, sitting upright and obediently, but her eyes kept glancing unconsciously toward the entrance.

They were afraid that Zhou Jinbai would suddenly return like last time.

Fortunately, the door to the building on the first floor was not opened again until the meal was over, and Tang Luoqing's tense nerves quietly relaxed a lot.

After dinner, since Zhou Yanchen had an afternoon flight, the two decided to stay a little longer before leaving.

Zhou Yanchen glanced at his watch, then leaned closer to Tang Luoqing and whispered, "Are you tired? How about we sit for another ten minutes and then leave? I'll peel an apple for you."

Just as Tang Luoqing was about to nod, a commotion suddenly came from the entrance of the building on the first floor.

Two servants opened the door, and a tall, imposing man walked in against the light.

His dark gray suit was well-tailored with clean shoulder lines and a tie tied meticulously. Although there was a hint of weariness from his long journey in his eyes, he did not look disheveled at all.

Tang Luoqing paused, her hand holding the teacup still.

Why is Zhou Jinbai back?

Zhou's mother was the first to react, her face full of surprise. She put down her teacup and stood up, her tone surprised: "Wasn't it said you'd be back tomorrow?"

Mr. Zhou put down his newspaper, looked up at the door, and asked curiously, "Is the matter at the branch office settled?"

Zhou Jinbai changed his shoes, his well-defined fingers loosening his tie knot with unhurried movements.

He looked up at the living room, his gaze sweeping over the people on the sofa, not lingering on Tang Luoqing at all, and landing directly on his parents. His voice was low and emotionless: "The branch office matter was resolved ahead of schedule, so I came back early and brought some local specialties."

Throughout the entire process, Zhou Jinbai didn't even glance at Tang Luoqing out of the corner of his eye.

It was just a normal routine to come home and bump into my younger brother and sister-in-law; nothing out of the ordinary.

Tang Luoqing inexplicably felt a tightness in her chest, and her fingers holding the teacup tightened even more.

As soon as he finished speaking, Assistant Shen walked in carrying several exquisite gift boxes, which were neatly arranged on the coffee table. They contained seasonal snacks and dried goods from the south.

Zhou's mother casually opened a box of osmanthus cakes, handed one to Tang Luoqing, and said with a smile, "You'll definitely love this; it's sweet but not cloying."

As she spoke, she pointed to one of the boxes of packaged fresh fruit and instructed Assistant Shen, "Put this box in Yan Chen's car later and have Luo Qing take it back to eat. You can't buy such fresh fruit outside."

Tang Luoqing quickly sat up straight, her lips moved as if she was about to decline, "Auntie, no need, I..."

"Why are you being so polite with your aunt?"

Zhou's mother smiled and patted Tang Luoqing's hand: "It's nothing expensive, just some fruit. You use your brain a lot when you paint, so you probably don't think about eating fruit. Buy it and eat more."

Having said all that, Tang Luoqing had no choice but to swallow back the refusal that was on the tip of her tongue and softly thanked her.

She subconsciously glanced in Zhou Jinbai's direction. The man had already come to the sofa and was talking to Zhou's father with his face turned to the side. His jaw was cold and hard, and his expression was focused, as if everything here had nothing to do with him.

At this moment, Zhou Yanchen, who was idling by, saw the red fruit in the fruit plate and wanted to show off.

He reached out and picked up the apple and fruit knife, his fingertips gripping the handle awkwardly, and said to Tang Luoqing again in a serious tone, "Baby, let me peel an apple for you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the blade went astray, and a large piece of fruit, skin and all, was sliced ​​off and fell onto the coffee table.

Zhou Yanchen frowned and continued peeling, but the more he peeled, the more crooked it became. A perfectly good apple was peeled into a pitted mess, with half of the flesh missing, which was heartbreaking to watch.

Tang Luoqing watched from the side, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper. Finally, she couldn't help but reach out, her tone tinged with helplessness: "Let me do it."

Tang Luoqing reached out to take the fruit knife, and Zhou Yanchen just happened to raise his hand to hand it over, the blade grazing her fingertips at an angle.

"hiss……"

A sudden, unexpected pain struck, causing Tang Luoqing to wince and furrow her brow. A bead of bright red blood immediately oozed from the pad of her left index finger, dripping onto the white coffee table mat and spreading into a small, glaring red spot.

Zhou Yanchen's expression changed. He immediately threw down the fruit knife and apple and came over, reaching out to grab Tang Luoqing's hand, but then hesitated to touch her.

"Luo Qing, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Aunt Zhang, where's the first-aid kit? Bring it here quickly."

Zhou Yanchen paced anxiously around, and Zhou's parents were also surprised to see this, so they quickly asked the family servants to bring over the first-aid kit.

As Aunt Zhang hurriedly brought over the first-aid kit, Zhou Yanchen frantically grabbed some disinfectant cotton, but the more flustered he became, the more he used his bare hands to apply the cotton swabs to Tang Luoqing's fingers. A thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he kept muttering, "It'll stop bleeding soon... Baby, just bear with it, it'll be over soon. It's all my fault, it's all my fault, I shouldn't have peeled the apple..."

Amid the chaos, a deep voice broke through, calm and steady, like a pillar of strength.

"I'll do it."

Zhou Jinbai appeared beside the coffee table at some point, his gaze fixed on Tang Luoqing's bleeding fingertips. His expression was indifferent, as if the injured person had nothing to do with her.

Only deep in his eyes was there a subtle tension.

Zhou Yanchen's cotton swab almost touched Tang Luoqing's finger. Hearing this, he subconsciously moved aside: "Oh, okay, then be careful, brother. Luoqing is afraid of pain."

"Um."

Zhou Jinbai responded and took two steps past Zhou Yanchen to get to the position closest to Tang Luoqing.

Then, as if handling a routine official business, he reached into the medicine box and picked up a new box of iodine disinfectant swabs.

After opening it, Zhou Jinbai naturally squatted down, leaned slightly forward, and approached Tang Luoqing. The man's long, warm fingers grasped Tang Luoqing's wrist, and with his other hand, he picked up tweezers and used them to pick up a sterilized cotton swab.

Tang Luoqing's wrist was suddenly grabbed, and their skin touched. She looked at the profile of the man who was half-squatting in front of her with a focused expression, and her heart skipped a beat.