It fell from his fingertips

Tang Luoqing was startled and subconsciously turned her face to look at Zhou Jinbai.

The man held the steering wheel with one hand, seemingly driving calmly, but his jawline was taut, his eyes were dark as he looked at the road ahead, and the atmosphere around him seemed to have dropped several degrees.

"Have you made up your mind?"

Zhou Jinbai's prominent Adam's apple bobbed imperceptibly, his voice low and slightly hoarse: "Tang Luoqing, are you sure you want him to hurt you again?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Luoqing was slightly taken aback.

She glanced at the still-ringing phone screen, felt the warmth of Zhou Jinbai on her wrist, and her throat tightened.

Zhou Yanchen asked her to give him another chance, because she had to because of her grandmother.

A long silence fell over the carriage, except for the incessant ringing of the telephone, which was particularly clear in the quiet carriage.

I don't know how much time passed, until the phone automatically hung up near the end of its ringtone, and then the same ringtone sounded again...

"I see."

Zhou Jinbai gradually loosened his grip on Tang Luoqing's wrist, slowly withdrew his hand, and gripped the steering wheel.

The man's jawline tightened further, and the coldness in the corners of his eyes intensified.

Tang Luoqing took a deep breath and answered the phone.

Zhou Yanchen's deliberately gentle voice immediately came through the receiver, with his usual coaxing tone at the end: "Where is the baby? Why didn't you answer the phone? Are you coming home for dinner? I made a lot of your favorite dishes, including sweet and sour pork ribs, and..."

Tang Luoqing couldn't hear what Zhou Yanchen said after that.

From the moment she first heard Zhou Yanchen reciting the names of the dishes, only one thought echoed in her mind: Su Leqi's words from the riverside restaurant last time.

"If he's happy, then I'm happy."

Tang Luoqing suddenly felt sorry for Su Leqi, and then realized that she herself, who had been deceived by her boyfriend time and time again, seemed to be in a pretty bad situation too.

On the other end of the phone, Zhou Yanchen spoke for a while, but seeing that Tang Luoqing didn't react at all, he unconsciously frowned: "What's wrong? You... don't like it?"

Tang Luoqing tightened her grip on the phone slightly: "No, I'm just curious, did you really make those dishes?"

Upon hearing this question, Zhou Yanchen on the other end of the phone paused visibly for a few seconds before speaking again, his voice carrying a faint laugh: "Of course I did it. If not me, then who else could it be?"

Upon hearing this answer, Tang Luoqing closed her eyes.

Her throat itched even more, and each word she uttered seemed to be squeezed out of her throat, tinged with a slight hoarseness: "You asked me to give you another chance, and I did, Zhou Yanchen. I hope you... won't disappoint me again."

After saying this, Tang Luoqing suddenly felt very tired and simply hung up the phone.

Zhou Yanchen, on the other end of the phone, frowned deeply as he looked at the phone screen where the call had been disconnected.

Thinking back to how happy Tang Luoqing always was when she ate his cooking, why did she suddenly ask today if he made the dish?

Regardless, looking at the table full of dishes that he had painstakingly prepared, Zhou Yanchen irritably tugged at his collar and then made a phone call.

The call connected, and the man's voice was even more irritated: "Su Leqi, come out and have a drink with me."

On the other end, Tang Luoqing hung up the phone and gripped it tightly.

Too many trust crises will not be eliminated by repeated forgiveness, nor can the past deceptions be erased simply because of Grandma's words.

On the contrary, after the last time, Tang Luoqing found that she could no longer trust Zhou Yanchen.

Although Zhou Yanchen's mistake didn't seem like a big deal, Tang Luoqing's eyes welled up with tears when she thought about the past. She forced them back.

She turned to look out the window, not wanting to let her emotions show.

But at that moment, the car slowly came to a stop on the side of the road.

Zhou Jinbai stared ahead, his prominent Adam's apple bobbing forcefully. After a couple of seconds, he spoke: "If you need to adjust your emotions, you can go to Qinyuan later."

Without saying another word, he unbuckled his seatbelt, deftly opened the car door, and got out.

Tang Luoqing was left alone in the car for a moment.

Looking at the man standing outside the car door with his back to her, she knew he had deliberately left her enough space to be alone. The sourness in Tang Luoqing's nose lessened, and the tightness in her chest dissipated a bit. Suddenly, she didn't feel like crying anymore.

It seems that whenever Zhou Jinbai is around, he always puts her feelings first.

As soon as the thought popped into her head, Tang Luoqing quickly closed her eyes, took a long breath, and forced herself to bring her thoughts back.

About ten minutes later, there was a knock on the car window. Tang Luoqing turned her head and met a pair of unfathomable eyes.

Zhou Jinbai leaned down, his gaze level with Tang Luoqing's, his voice low and gentle, like a breeze rippling across a lake: "Are you feeling better?"

Tang Luoqing nodded.

Zhou Jinbai then reopened the car door and got back in, and the car restarted.

Half an hour later, the car arrived at Qinyuan.

Surprisingly, Lu Yu, who had set off early in his car, had not yet arrived.

The old man played a game of chess with Zhou Jinbai. When he made his move, he glanced at Tang Luoqing with a smile and said he was tired. He then asked someone to help him downstairs to rest and asked Zhou Jinbai to teach Tang Luoqing how to play chess.

For a moment, only Tang Luoqing and Zhou Jinbai remained in the pavilion. A gentle breeze blew by, and the atmosphere became strangely stagnant, even more awkward than when they were in the car.

"Actually, Milk Candy is still waiting for me."

Tang Luoqing bit her lower lip, her eyelashes drooping low.

Seemingly afraid that Zhou Jinbai would offer to take her again, Tang Luoqing simply stood up from the stone bench and said, "Brother, please tell him for me when Grandpa Lu wakes up. I'll head back now."

As soon as she finished speaking, Tang Luoqing quickly walked down from the pavilion, not even daring to look back.

After coming down from the second-floor pavilion, she left Qinyuan Garden directly.

Zhou Jinbai's gaze followed Tang Luoqing's slender figure intently until she hailed a taxi and the car quickly disappeared at the end of the road. Only then did the man withdraw his gaze, ask the housekeeper of Qinyuan to inform the old man, and then drive away.

Meanwhile, Tang Luoqing returned to the hotel, packed her luggage, checked out, and took a taxi. The car drove all the way to the entrance of Tuanle Village, where she got out and went home.

After picking up the milk candy from the neighbor's house, Tang Luoqing prepared some dinner. After eating, she lay down on a deck chair in the garden. It was already past seven o'clock in the evening.

The moon was bright and the stars were few. It was very quiet around her. Tang Luoqing held Milk Candy in her arms, her mind in turmoil.

She gazed at the stars, her nose still stinging, but her tone was so calm it was as if she were talking about someone else: "Grandma, I don't think... I'm as sad as I used to be."

Time truly is the best medicine to heal all wounds.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of Tuanle Village, Zhou Jinbai leaned against the car, an unlit cigarette between his fingers, looking up at the stars in the sky.

Just then, his phone vibrated urgently. Zhou Jinbai looked away, took out his phone, and heard Assistant Shen's voice on the other end: "Mr. Zhou, Su Leqi went into Mr. Zhou's house around 1 p.m. and hasn't come out yet."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jinbai gripped his phone tightly, his aura instantly plummeting to freezing point, and his eyes darkened.