It fell from his fingertips

When the back of her hand touched the man's hot body, Tang Luoqing blushed and quickly withdrew her hand, took a step back, and looked up to see that Zhou Jinbai's expression seemed to have improved a lot.

The flush on his face had mostly faded, and the listlessness around his eyes had also subsided, but his gaze fixed on Tang Luoqing became even more profound.

"No, I'm sorry."

Tang Luoqing gave an awkward twitch of her lips: "Well, Assistant Shen said he couldn't get through to you on the phone, so he thought we were painting together, so... he called me instead."

"Are you... alright?"

Upon hearing these words, Zhou Jinbai stared at Tang Luoqing outside the door with an unchanged expression. When he spoke, his voice was no longer as hoarse as before: "Much better. I probably didn't pay much attention because my phone was dead. I'll call him back. Thank you for your help."

Tang Luoqing pursed her lips, gave a faint smile, and shook her head: "It's nothing, you've helped me countless times."

"Um, since you're alright, I'll just..."

Tang Luoqing pointed to her front door and added, "I'm going back now."

Zhou Jinbai nodded slightly: "Mm."

Tang Luoqing turned and walked back to her home. Just before closing the door, Zhou Jinbai, who was standing in the opposite door, tentatively spoke up: "Actually, I mainly wanted to ask you... what are you planning to eat for lunch? You helped me, so I need to treat you to a meal to express my gratitude."

Tang Luoqing: "..."

"No, no need, you should get some rest."

Before she finished speaking, Tang Luoqing closed the door, leaned against the door frame, and slowly exhaled.

At the same time, she kept telling herself that she only cared about Zhou Jinbai because he had helped her many times and saved her twice.

There is no other reason besides this.

No.

Thinking this, Tang Luoqing returned to her study. This time, she picked up a pen, but still couldn't concentrate on painting properly.

Tang Luoqing clutched her head, feeling a headache coming on. She wondered if she had a fever, otherwise why would her thoughts keep wandering uncontrollably?

Fortunately, this situation did not last long, and Tang Luoqing was finally able to force herself to calm down and focus on drawing.

For the next period of time, Tang Luoqing focused on drawing illustrations for Lu's Cultural and Creative Products, while also preparing works for the cultural and creative exhibition. She was extremely busy, so naturally she didn't have much time to think about random things.

Similarly, her contact with Zhou Yanchen became less and less frequent.

It happened to be the weekend, and Zhou Yanchen returned to Beijing, mainly to give a work report. However, Tang Luoqing had her phone on silent and was focused on painting, so she didn't answer his calls. As a result, after several missed calls, Zhou Yanchen, in a fit of anger, chose to call Su Leqi.

Half an hour later, Su Leqi arrived at the bar and saw Zhou Yanchen sitting in a corner booth as soon as she entered.

Zhou Yanchen doesn't seem to be eating well lately; his face has become thinner, and he looks a bit lighter.

At this moment, the dimly lit bar was filled with soft music, creating an ambiguous and extraordinary atmosphere in the large space.

The man in the corner booth had a flushed face and hazy eyes, and the coffee table was full of empty wine glasses.

Su Leqi walked over, snatched the drink Zhou Yanchen was chugging from his mouth, and asked anxiously, "What's wrong? Why are you drinking so much?"

Zhou Yanchen lifted his eyelids and recognized the person. A roguish smile appeared on his lips: "Su Leqi? You're here? Come on, sit with me for a while."

He grabbed Su Leqi's hand, pulled her into his lap, and nestled his alcohol-heated face against the girl's neck, letting out a breath: "You know what? Tang Luoqing isn't answering my calls again, and last time I came back... I stayed with her at the hospital for so long, and she wouldn't even let me kiss her. Why do you think that is?"

Zhou Yanchen couldn't understand, his eyes growing increasingly unfocused: "I don't get it. I just told a few small lies, harmless lies, and I didn't see any other women. Why is she making such a fuss about it?"

"If it weren't for her, if she hadn't kept bringing it up, I wouldn't have... I wouldn't have had a relationship with you, Su Leqi... I'm so angry, I'm really so angry! I love her so much, why does she have to torment me like this? Wouldn't it be better if she just stayed home and waited for me to come back? It's not like I don't love her..."

Zhou Yanchen sighed again, looked aggrieved, and used his palm to turn Su Leqi's face towards him, gazing at her intently.

Then, without hesitation, he kissed her.

On the other side, when Tang Luoqing finally finished drawing something she was satisfied with, she slowly exhaled and picked up her phone, only to find several missed calls, all from Zhou Yanchen.

Worried that Zhou Yanchen might have something important to say, Tang Luoqing didn't hesitate much and dialed the number back.

The phone rang for a very long time but no one answered.

Tang Luoqing frowned and dialed again, but still no one answered.

She gave up, put down her phone, picked up her little candy, left the study, and went to the open kitchen to prepare something delicious for herself.

I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a proper meal, but there wasn't much food left in the fridge, so Tang Luoqing fed Naitang cat food and then went out to an imported supermarket near her home.

This place is exceptionally large. It was Tang Luoqing's first time here, so she pushed a small cart around, buying things as she went, and soon filled the entire cart.

There was nothing she could do; she had only moved in a few days ago and had no belongings at all.

But after checking out and pushing the cart outside the supermarket, she realized there were just too many items for her to carry by herself.

Tang Luoqing was somewhat worried, and in her heart, she criticized herself for her unrestrained spending after being overjoyed with her painting.

But I still need to bring the things home, what should I do?

Or should we call a delivery person?

Just as she was about to place the order, a car stopped in front of Tang Luoqing. The passenger door opened, and Assistant Shen quickly got out. He walked over to Tang Luoqing and smiled politely, "Miss Tang, what a coincidence! You bought so many things? Do you need any help? Our CEO Zhou's car is over there. I'll help you carry them over. He said he'd give you a ride."

Before Tang Luoqing could even refuse, Assistant Shen picked up two large bags from the car and strode quickly toward the trunk of a car parked on the side of the road.

Tang Luoqing stood there in a daze, blinked incredulously, and quickened her pace to catch up.

"Assistant Shen, wait a moment, I can actually manage by myself, I..."

Before she could finish speaking, the back door opened, and a pair of long legs stepped out, appearing in front of Tang Luoqing.

It was Zhou Jinbai.

"Big, big brother..."

The words of refusal that Tang Luoqing wanted to say to Assistant Shen got stuck in her throat.

After realizing what had happened, she hurriedly said to Zhou Jinbai, "I'm sorry, brother, um... I can take it back myself, you don't need to trouble yourself, I..."

"It's no trouble at all."

Zhou Jinbai glanced at Assistant Shen putting things in the trunk, then turned to Tang Luoqing: "It was nothing, if it caused you any trouble..."

At this point, Zhou Jinbai's voice inexplicably became even lower: "I apologize."

Tang Luoqing: "..."