It fell from his fingertips

Zhou Jinbai's fingertips had slight calluses, and the warmth was transmitted through his skin. Being so close, the fresh scent emanating from him unexpectedly lingered at the tip of my nose.

For a moment, Tang Luoqing was extremely nervous.

But Zhou Jinbai kept his eyes down, his long eyelashes casting a small, light shadow under his eyes. He didn't look at Tang Luoqing's face at all, his gaze only falling on her fingertips.

When the disinfectant cotton was pressed onto the wound, he could clearly feel Tang Luoqing's fingertips twitch in pain.

The man's movements were steady and gentle, unlike Zhou Yanchen's hasty actions. He disinfected, stopped the bleeding, dried the wound, and applied a band-aid in one smooth motion.

Zhou Jinbai pressed the edge of the band-aid down so that it covered the wound perfectly, neither too loose nor too tight.

After doing all this, Zhou Jinbai immediately released Tang Luoqing's hand, his fingertips not lingering for a moment, as if he had touched an insignificant object.

"alright."

The man uttered those two words in a low voice, stood up, and walked straight to the study on the second floor. His back was straight and aloof, as if that brief touch just now was nothing more than a trivial matter.

Tang Luoqing sat on the sofa, looking down at the neatly applied band-aid on her fingertips, while the spot on her wrist where her hand had been gripped was still burning hot.

Zhou Yanchen, who was standing next to her, was completely oblivious to anything amiss. He leaned closer and examined Tang Luoqing's fingers from left to right: "Luckily, the wound isn't deep. Don't get it wet when you get back. It's all my fault. Why did I have to peel an apple like that..."

As Tang Luoqing listened to Zhou Yanchen's ramblings, her gaze involuntarily drifted towards the study on the second floor.

She suddenly remembered that night at the coffee shop in Xinwei, when he did the same thing, saying he would relinquish his status as the older brother, and he did so decisively, gracefully, and calmly.

When they came out of the Zhou family's old house, Zhou's mother held Tang Luoqing's uninjured hand and escorted her to the car door. She turned around and glared at Zhou Yanchen, who was following behind her, and said in a genuinely reproachful tone, "Look at you, you can't even take care of a person properly. I heard Luoqing say that you've been cooking quite well these past few days, but you can't even peel an apple properly."

Zhou Yanchen scratched the back of his head and smiled apologetically. He naturally put his other arm around Tang Luoqing's waist and led her to the car, looking like an obedient student being scolded. He pleaded in a tone of mercy, "Yes, Mom, you're right. I'll practice from now on and make sure I master knife skills."

As he spoke, he opened the car door, shielded the roof of the car for Tang Luoqing to sit inside, and then went around to the driver's seat and got into the car himself.

In front of the French windows of the second-floor study, the curtains were slightly ajar. Zhou Jinbai lowered his eyes and looked at the car that was slowly starting up downstairs in the front yard. He watched the car drive out of the gate and disappear into the end of the road. His slender fingers gripped the curtain fabric tightly until his knuckles turned white.

On the way home, soft pop songs were playing in the car.

Tang Luoqing leaned against the car window, her injured fingers resting on her knees, still feeling a slight, dull ache. But the scene from the living room kept replaying in her mind.

The man lowered his eyelashes, his slightly warm fingertips holding her wrist, and when he gently wiped the wound with a cotton swab, the pressure was neither too light nor too heavy.

Recalling the flamboyant and intense paintings on the second-floor wall of Lu Lao's studio, Tang Luoqing felt a surge of curiosity and couldn't help but wonder: what a moving sight it must be when those hands, capable of turning the world upside down and signing acquisition deals worth hundreds of millions or even more in a matter of minutes, wielded the paintbrush with unrestrained strokes.

"What are you thinking about? You seem so engrossed."

Zhou Yanchen turned his head and glanced at Tang Luoqing.

Tang Luoqing snapped out of her daze, her tone carrying a barely perceptible hint of panic: "It's nothing."

Tang Luoqing paused slightly, then changed the subject: "How are you getting to the airport later?"

"Old Chen gave me a ride; his car was waiting at the entrance of the residential area."

Zhou Yanchen didn't notice Tang Luoqing's unusual behavior. He smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair, saying in a relaxed tone, "I'll apply for leave next weekend to come back and spend time with you."

Tang Luoqing hummed in agreement and turned her gaze to the rapidly receding street scene outside the window.

She had actually been thinking about getting a driver's license recently, so it would be more convenient to go out, but when she looked at Zhou Yanchen's nonchalant profile, she swallowed her words and didn't tell him.

The car quickly arrived at the residential area. Zhou Yanchen unloaded the box of fresh fruit that his mother had given him and delivered it to his home. He then carried his suitcase downstairs.

Tang Luoqing escorted Zhou Yanchen to the entrance of the residential area, where Old Chen's car was indeed parked on the side of the road.

She waved and watched the car drive away before turning back.

Unbeknownst to them, in the back seat of the car on their way to the airport, Zhou Yanchen had just closed the door when he took out his phone, his fingers flying across the screen, a relaxed smile playing on his lips.

[Thanks so much for your cooking these past few days, I'm incredibly grateful. It's your birthday in a few days, I'll definitely stay up all night with you.]

On the other end of the chat window was Su Leqi.

It turns out that the delicious and colorful dishes on the table these past two days were never Zhou Yanchen's doing. They were simply prepared in advance by Su Leqi and delivered over, which he then plated and put on the table, naturally taking credit for it and thus softening Tang Luoqing's heart.

A few days later, Tang Luoqing received her payment for the second installment of her artwork. When her mobile banking app popped up with the notification, she was staring blankly at the artwork. She clicked on the number and saw it was almost a third more than the first installment.

Of course, a small portion of it was commission from the sales of the first phase of merchandise. Mr. Lu said that the merchandise sold far beyond expectations, and the commission was very generous.

Looking at the numbers popping up in her bank account, Tang Luoqing couldn't help but have a thought pop into her mind: Should she treat Zhou Jin to a free meal?

Back then, he specifically set aside most of the day to critique her drafts one by one in the shared art studio, explaining things in detail and with great clarity, which enabled Tang Luoqing to successfully complete the second draft.

But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, Tang Luoqing frowned.

Given the current situation, it's really not appropriate to invite Zhou Jinbai to dinner.

Zhou Jinbai had already taken the initiative to back down, but she took the initiative to invite him to dinner. What was going on?

But if I don't invite them, I'll feel really bad.

Tang Luoqing sighed and spread out all five drafts from the third phase on her desk, looking at them one by one.

At first, Tang Luoqing only felt that some of them were a little lacking, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong. But one day, she suddenly had a whim and imagined how she would look at these paintings if she were Zhou Jinbai.

Surprisingly, some problems were actually discovered.

However, Tang Luoqing still couldn't quite pinpoint the difference between the two remaining seascape photos.

In the past, she might have asked Zhou Jinbai a question.

But now, she can't ask anymore.

After staring at the sketch for half an hour without any clue, Tang Luoqing threw down her paintbrush and prepared to go out to find inspiration.

The theme of the third episode was the sea. Since Beijing is not by the sea, she couldn't find a real-life setting to find inspiration. After thinking about it, she simply went to a small restaurant by the river.

This shop is very close to the river. If you grab a bite to eat and then stroll along the river, you might just find yourself feeling the waves.

Inside the restaurant, the melodious sound of a heartbeat drifted through the air. Tang Luoqing chose a corner seat on the first floor, ordered some light dishes, and looked out the window.

I'd only been sitting for ten minutes when I heard a conversation from the next table. The man's voice was tinged with resentment, both bitter and muffled: "You, every day you cook for a guy to appease his girlfriend, what are you getting out of it?"

Tang Luoqing didn't pay much attention at first, but then another female voice rang out: "I just want him to be happy. If he's happy, I'm happy."

The man scoffed, even angrier: "Fine, whatever you want."

After a two-second pause, the voice came again, this time with a hint of resentment, its volume uncontrollable, clearly reaching Tang Luoqing's ears:

"No, what exactly is it about me that I'm inferior to him? Aside from not having a powerful older brother, what do I lack compared to Zhou Yanchen? Su Leqi, can't you even turn around and look at me?"

As soon as Zhou Yanchen and Su Leqi were mentioned, Tang Luoqing froze, her fingers tightening around the glass, and she even paused for a second.

She slowly turned her head and looked towards the next table. The warm sunlight from the window shone in and fell on the girl's profile. The girl was resting her chin on her hand, and her profile was exquisite. It was none other than Su Leqi.

Tang Luoqing's heart sank.

She turned her head almost immediately, and before there was any further movement, she stood up and quickly walked out of the restaurant.

After leaving the restaurant, Tang Luoqing walked slowly along the riverbank. The sand sank into the soles of her shoes, soft but feeling like she was walking on cotton, her mind blank.

It turns out that all those stewed sweet and sour pork ribs that were so tender, all those stir-fried vegetables that were cooked to perfection, all those dishes that Zhou Yanchen kept saying he had "learned for a long time" were fake.

No wonder Zhou Yanchen always finds various excuses to get her to go out half an hour before mealtime. One minute he'll ask her to go downstairs to buy a bottle of soy sauce, the next he'll say a package has arrived and ask her to pick it up. By the time she comes back, the food is just being served.

Tang Luoqing naively believed that Zhou Yanchen had truly changed and was genuinely trying to learn to cook to appease her, but it turns out...

My chest felt like it was blocked by something, a sour and astringent feeling, a dull ache.

A gust of river wind blew, and Tang Luoqing's eyes reddened, tears welling up in her eyes, but she forced them back.

But whenever I think about this, the feeling of tightness in my chest grows stronger and stronger, and I can no longer stop the tears from falling.

Just then, a little girl with pigtails came running over, holding up an unopened pack of tissues, and handed it to Tang Luoqing.

Tang Luoqing was taken aback, wiped away her tears, looked down at the little girl, and said in a hoarse voice, still trembling from crying, "Little girl, you..."

The little girl tilted her head, pointed her chubby finger far behind her, and said, "That uncle told me to give it to you, but he wouldn't let me tell you."

As the little girl spoke, she looked behind Tang Luoqing and exclaimed, "Strange, where's Uncle? He was just there a moment ago."

Tang Luoqing's heart skipped a beat.

She turned around and looked in the direction the little girl was pointing. At the end of the riverbank stood a tall and upright figure.

The man was wearing a white shirt with clean, sharp shoulder lines. One hand was in his pocket, and the sleeve of the other hand was rolled up to reveal a well-defined wrist bone. He was turning to walk towards the roadside with steady steps. His wrist bone and back view were so familiar that they made her heart tremble.

Tang Luoqing stood there, clutching the warm tissues the little girl had given her, and a lump formed in her throat.

Is it Zhou Jinbai?

How could it be him?