It fell from his fingertips

Staring at her phone screen, Tang Luoqing's hard-won composure was instantly shattered.

Her heart felt heavy and suffocated, and her chest was filled with unspeakable grievances and disappointment, but Tang Luoqing still took a deep breath and answered the phone.

A slightly hoarse voice came from the other end of the phone: "Baby, are you awake? I can't come back to be with you this week, but I'll definitely come back next weekend. You have no idea how busy I was last night..."

Hearing the familiar voice on the other end of the phone, Tang Luoqing's emotions surged. She interrupted him, saying, "Zhou Yanchen, let's break up."

Zhou Yanchen, on the other end of the phone, was taken aback.

He had just been severely beaten by his brother last night for celebrating Su Leqi's birthday, and his face and body were still in pain. This morning, during the senior management's performance review meeting, he had to be fully armed, wearing a mask and hat to cover all the injuries on his face.

He's already in this state, and his girlfriend suddenly wants to break up?

The unexpected news threw Zhou Yanchen into a panic. The fatigue of the past few days, the pain in his body, and the invisible pressure he felt from his brother caused his pent-up frustration to surge out all at once.

Zhou Yan's voice rose, tinged with impatience: "What are you doing now?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanchen felt a pang of anxiety, fearing that he might have truly angered Tang Luoqing.

He immediately apologized: "I'm sorry, baby, I've been too busy with work these past few days. I wasn't angry at you."

"Luo Qing, can you tell me why you suddenly want to break up?"

Tang Luoqing, who had been suppressing her emotions all night, had her defenses broken down by Zhou Yanchen's seemingly casual question.

Her nose tingled, her eyes instantly reddened, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Tang Luoqing's long eyelashes were wet with tears, her chest heaving violently, unable to suppress the surging bitterness and grievances: "Zhou Yanchen, last night... I saw you at the bar... hugging Su Leqi. You lied to me again."

Before she could finish speaking, Tang Luoqing stopped listening to Zhou Yanchen's explanations and hung up the phone.

Then, she blocked Zhou Yanchen's phone number and WeChat account.

After doing all this, Tang Luoqing threw her phone on the sofa and took a deep breath.

After a long while, Tang Luoqing, who had calmed down a bit, got up and went into the bathroom, scooped up some cold water, and washed her face.

When Tang Luoqing returned to the dining table, her eyes were still a little red.

She sat at the dining table, eating the breakfast given to her by her neighbor, her thoughts wandering, lost in her own world.

The day passed quickly.

Midway through, Tang Luoqing rode her family's old electric scooter to the market to buy groceries. After returning home, she checked the third draft of the artwork, confirmed that there were no problems, and sent it to Lu Yu's email.

After finishing my business, it was already 3 p.m.

Not wanting to be idle, Tang Luoqing took out the ingredients for making cookies, such as butter and flour, which she had specially bought from the market, tied on an apron, and busied herself in the kitchen in an orderly manner.

Soon, the crispy and sweet cookies were baked. She divided them into two containers and gave them to the two kind-hearted neighbor ladies who had helped her the night before.

As evening fell, Tang Luoqing had a simple dinner at home by herself, then, carrying milk candy, went to the courtyard.

As night deepened, countless stars twinkled in the sky, and a bright, clear moon hung high above.

Tang Luoqing lay on the old, comfortable recliner, clutching milk candy, as the gentle evening breeze carried the coolness unique to the summer night.

In a daze, fragmented memories came rushing back.

In the summer nights of my childhood, my parents were always by my side, my grandmother would be fanning me with a palm leaf fan, and the whole family would snuggle together in the yard, watching the stars and the moon, our laughter filling the entire yard.

Later, after his parents passed away, only his grandmother remained by his side.

But now, Grandma is gone too, leaving her only little milk candy.

Before this, Tang Luoqing had mentioned to Zhou Yanchen that she hoped he could take some time out of his busy schedule to come back and stay for a night, and lie in the courtyard with her to look at the stars and chat.

But Zhou Yanchen was always busy, so much so that he hadn't been able to fulfill this small wish for so long.

Hot tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. Tang Luoqing hugged Naitang tightly and closed her eyes.

Meanwhile, more than 100 kilometers away in the city center, in the magnificent office of the Zhou Group president, the atmosphere was cold and oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

Zhou Yanchen took off his mask and hat, revealing bruises of varying depths on his face, looking utterly disheveled.

He strode to the desk, slammed his hands on the surface, and anxiously spoke to the man working behind the desk: "Brother, do you know where Luo Qing went? I can't find her anywhere. She blocked me. What should I do? Brother, please help me."

"Could you please send someone to look for Luo Qing?"

Although he is the second young master of the Zhou Group, in terms of connections and speed of finding people, he is definitely far inferior to Zhou Jinbai.

Behind the desk, Zhou Jinchen, dressed in a well-tailored dark suit, exuded a cold and powerful aura.

He was looking down, intently reviewing the mountain of documents piled on his desk, his expression indifferent and cold.

Hearing his younger brother's panicked plea, the man looked up, slowly put down the pen holding his phone, and said in a low, cold voice, devoid of any warmth: "If you really realized your mistake, you shouldn't be like this."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanchen's prominent Adam's apple bobbed violently, and the bruises on his cheeks throbbed with pain as he moved. His eyes were filled with remorse: "Brother, I... please help me. Look at the injuries on my face. I know I was wrong. I really won't do it again. Please help me find her, okay?"

At this moment, Zhou Yanchen was truly panicked.

Even when Tang Luoqing was angry before, she never mentioned breaking up with him, let alone cruelly blocking all his contact methods. But now...

Tang Luoqing's lack of hesitation plunged Zhou Yanchen into unprecedented panic.

Zhou Jinbai's gaze towards his younger brother grew increasingly cold: "The injuries on your face are your own fault. This is not a reason for you to make demands. Get out, I have other things to do."

"elder brother……"

Zhou Yan was anxious to ask again, but when he met Zhou Jinbai's cold and warning gaze, his breath caught in his throat, and he dared not say anything more.

He stood frozen in place for a long time, knowing that he had no way to change his brother's decision. He could only slump his head in despair, turn around, and leave the office.

The room fell silent once more.

Zhou Jinbai stared at Zhou Yanchen's departing vest until the door closed, then slowly withdrew his gaze and picked up the two picture frames on the table.

On the frame, one is Zhou Jinbai, a twenty-year-old devoted to painting, and the other is Tang Luoqing, an eighteen-year-old smiling brightly under a cherry blossom tree.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Jinbai put down the picture frame and slowly walked out of the office.

Nearly two hours later, Zhou Jinbai parked the car in a secluded spot at the entrance of Tuanle Village.

He got out of the car, leaned against the door, looked up, and saw a sky full of dazzling stars and moonlight.