It fell from his fingertips

Even in upscale residential areas, the space in front of two apartments with two elevators is only so big. In particular, Zhou Jinbai is tall and imposing, and standing in front of you, he exudes a strong sense of oppression.

The key point is that Tang Luoqing doesn't know why she directly rejected Zhou Yanchen's call.

After their unpleasant encounter at the hotel last time, Zhou Yanchen hadn't contacted her for several days. Presumably, this call was to apologize as before, or to pretend nothing had happened again. But neither of these was a reason for Tang Luoqing to hang up without even thinking about it.

"Did he upset you again?"

The man's voice came from above, and if you listened carefully, you could hear a hint of barely suppressed anger. At the same time, Zhou Jinbai took another half step closer, so that when Tang Luoqing looked up, she met Zhou Jinbai's intense and complex gaze.

Zhou Jinbai is undoubtedly very good-looking; it can be said that every feature of his face fits the public's aesthetic standards.

Her skin was fair and cool, her facial features were smooth and delicate, her eyebrows and eyes were deep, her nose was high and straight, and even her lips, which were usually unappealing, looked very kissable.

The setting sun streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling window next to the elevator not far away, falling on Zhou Jinbai, making his features appear half bright and dazzling and half dark and deep, making people want to get closer.

Realizing this, Tang Luoqing quickly looked away again.

"right."

She lowered her head, avoiding Zhou Jinbai's eyes, but her voice was unconsciously fast and urgent: "He, he made me angry."

Before she finished speaking, Tang Luoqing turned and walked towards the elevator.

The next moment, her wrist was grabbed.

The man's palm was large and warm, and the spot where he gripped Tang Luoqing immediately felt a heat.

Tang Luoqing looked down at her wrist, which was being gripped, and her heart began to race uncontrollably.

She didn't dare look Zhou Jinbai in the eye, but Zhou Jinbai had no intention of letting her off the hook: "This is the third time. I've already said..."

"No, this time, this time he just made me angry. I don't plan to break up with him. So..."

"You just said you were sad."

"No, you misheard me. Oh no, I misheard your question. I'm not sad, I'm just angry."

Tang Luoqing's heart was beating faster and faster, and she had the illusion that her heart was about to burst out of her chest, as if she would die from cardiac arrest in the next second.

This feeling was so chaotic; even when I was with Zhou Yanchen, my heart had never been beating this fast.

Tang Luoqing's chest heaved uncontrollably for a moment, and she had to take deep breaths to prevent her heart from racing uncontrollably again.

Immediately, the man in front of her bent down, bringing his eyes to Tang Luoqing's level, so that she slightly lifted her eyelashes and their eyes met.

In an instant, Tang Luoqing's rapidly beating heartbeat stopped for a moment, then began to pound wildly in her ears.

"Why won't you look at me?"

Zhou Jinbai, who was standing close by, spoke in a gentle voice. His face showed little emotion, yet somehow it made people feel that his increasingly cold aura from a moment ago had been replaced by a hint of good mood.

Tang Luoqing inexplicably sensed the difference in his tone. Curious, she could only bite her lower lip hard until a sharp pain shot through her. Deliberately ignoring Zhou Jinbai's furrowed brow when he saw her biting her lip, she cleared her throat and said, "Because, because..."

A thought flashed through Tang Luoqing's mind, and she blurted out, "I'm thinking about where to paint for you."

Upon hearing this, Tang Luoqing closed her eyes tightly in regret.

Why did she suddenly come up with such an excuse? She could have come up with other excuses.

"So that's what you were thinking? I thought..."

Tang Luoqing opened her eyes upon hearing Zhou Jinbai's voice, looking at him with confusion, waiting for him to continue.

But Zhou Jinbai suddenly smiled, a rare occurrence, and opened his own door, gesturing for him to come in: "If you don't mind, you can come to my house and paint for me. I just bought some new art supplies and paints, but I can't seem to get the hang of it. Luo Qing, is that alright?"

Go to... Zhou Jinbai's house... to paint?

Tang Luoqing's breath hitched, and her previously rapid heartbeat miraculously slowed down.

She had a brilliant idea: "I... I haven't eaten yet. After I eat, how about we find a place outside to paint?"

She had been worried that Zhou Jinbai would object, but to her surprise, he nodded slightly: "Sure, I haven't had dinner either, shall we go together?"

A dozen minutes later, Tang Luoqing glanced at Zhou Jinbai sitting opposite her, wondering why she had agreed so inexplicably.

However, considering that Zhou Jinbai had saved her time and time again, and that she had just refused him once, it seemed really inappropriate to refuse again if they were having a meal together outside.

Fortunately, Zhou Jinbai did not choose a Western restaurant with an ambiguous atmosphere, but instead chose a small Jiangnan restaurant near the supermarket.

Tang Luoqing habitually ordered the same dishes she usually ordered when eating Jiangnan cuisine: steamed sea bass, garlic shrimp, yam and pork rib soup, and osmanthus glutinous rice lotus root. After thinking for a moment, she removed the garlic shrimp and handed her phone to Zhou Jinbai across from her, saying, "Order whatever you like, it's on me."

Zhou Jinbai saved her twice and helped her so many times; it wouldn't be too much for him to treat her to meals again and again.

Zhou Jinbai didn't stand on ceremony. He said "okay," took the phone, ordered the food, then exited the ordering interface and returned the phone to Tang Luoqing.

While waiting for the food, the two sat facing each other in silence.

Actually, Tang Luoqing didn't know what to talk about with Zhou Jinbai before, but back then she was afraid that saying the wrong thing would make the atmosphere even colder. Now... she's afraid that she'll say the wrong thing and make herself inexplicably warm up.

Tang Luoqing lowered her head, pretending to be playing on her phone.

At that moment, Zhou Yanchen's caller ID appeared on the phone screen again.

Tang Luoqing tightened her grip on the phone slightly, thought for a moment, and then answered the call.

As soon as the call connected, Zhou Yanchen's deep voice came from the other end: "Luo Qing, where are you? Aren't you at the hotel?"

Tang Luoqing: "...I rented a house."

This answer was clearly beyond Zhou Yanchen's comprehension, and he was very puzzled: "What? You mean you'd rather rent a place than come back to our house?"

Tang Luoqing was taken aback, then realized what Zhou Yanchen meant, and couldn't help but frown.

She had no intention of going back to Zhou Yanchen's house, but the place she was renting didn't seem to be a good location. Who would have thought that it would be right across from Zhou Jinbai's house?

This is too outrageous.

Compared to Zhou Yanchen's home, Tang Luoqing preferred to live here.

She glanced at Zhou Jinbai sitting opposite her, hesitating about how to answer the question in a way that wouldn't make the man across from her seem suspicious.

After thinking for a moment, Tang Luoqing said, "Zhou Yanchen, I..."

Before Tang Luoqing could say anything, the voice on the other end of the phone rang out again: "Never mind, just tell me where you are now, and I'll come find you."

Tang Luoqing's breath hitched.