It fell from his fingertips

"Broken up with Tang Luoqing? Why?"

Zhou Yanchen wondered if he had misheard. He stared intently at his older brother, who was half-squatting in front of him—a man he had always feared and clashed with—and asked, puzzled, "Brother, did you say something wrong? Tang Luoqing and I..."

"You can't treat her well, and it seems... you don't love her as much as before. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that you no longer care about her feelings. Why don't you break up with her?"

Zhou Jinbai didn't give Zhou Yanchen much of a chance to speak, coldly interrupting him: "Or perhaps you want to continue hurting her? To make her cry for you incessantly? Is this how the Zhou family teaches you to treat your girlfriend?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanchen frowned, his mind went blank for a moment, and his chaotic brain was still trying to figure out what his older brother meant by saying that.

Upon hearing the latest question, he immediately shook his head and denied it without even thinking: "Of course not, how could I be so bad? I just, I just still like Luo Qing, I don't want to break up with her. Brother, why do you want me to break up with my girlfriend? I won't, I don't want to break up."

Zhou Yanchen spoke with absolute certainty, as if there was no room for negotiation on this matter.

But then,

"You're not a bad person, yet you make her cry time and time again? You're not a bad person, yet you're seen kissing other women in a bar? Zhou Yanchen..."

Zhou Jinbai scoffed coldly, his aura dropping even lower, as if he could freeze the surrounding air in an instant. When he spoke again, his tone was so cold it sent chills down one's spine: "You say you don't want to break up, then tell me, what makes you think you can refuse? And what makes you think you can make her sad and cry for you?"

"By...by..."

Zhou Yanchen's legs went weak from the chilling aura emanating from the man.

His breathing became labored, his thoughts a jumbled mess. It took him a while to sort out some of his thoughts, but when he finally spoke, his voice trembled uncontrollably: "Just because I'm Luo Qing's boyfriend, just because she likes me, just because she doesn't want to break up with me, I can stay together. Brother... this is between her and me, can you just leave it alone?"

In Zhou Yanchen's mind, his older brother Zhou Jinbai was always too upright and serious, intolerant of any imperfections, and influenced by his parents' love for many years, which is why he saw love in black and white.

"Zhou Yanchen, what makes you think she still likes you?"

Zhou Jinbai coldly lifted his eyelids, then swung his fist and slammed it hard into Zhou Yanchen's face.

"Tang Luoqing is a human being too. She has joys and sorrows, and she has her own thoughts. If you keep hurting her, why should she... like you?"

Zhou Jinbai scooped his younger brother, whom he had punched, from the ground. Seeing Zhou Yanchen's incredulity and constant pleas for mercy, the man closed his eyes tightly, then casually tossed Zhou Yanchen aside.

"Zhou Yanchen, I'll say it again: break up with Tang Luoqing."

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Jinbai walked towards the door of the boxing gym, and before leaving, he left a message.

"I'll give you half a month to make her give up, otherwise... I'll beat you every time I see you, and you'll no longer have a place in the Zhou Group."

After saying this, Zhou Jinbai walked out of the boxing gym.

Immediately afterwards, a loud "bang" came from the next room as a door slammed shut.

Zhou Yanchen was still sitting or lying on the ground, his hands supporting him behind his back, staring at the empty doorway, his mind a complete mess.

What's going on?

Why did his brother suddenly say that?

Is it to make...make Tang Luoqing give up?

Is it really necessary? So what if Tang Luoqing is hurt by him? It won't affect the Zhou Group at all. His brother is taking it too seriously.

The key point is that if his brother doesn't want him to stay in the Zhou Group, he really won't be able to stay there.

His brother even has the ability to make it impossible for him to make a living in the entire city of Beijing.

Zhou Yanchen became increasingly alarmed as he thought about it, unable to understand why.

Wait, could it be... that Tang Luoqing complained to his older brother? So his older brother was so angry that he simply told him to break up with Tang Luoqing?

But... this doesn't seem logically sound.

Zhou Yanchen had a terrible headache. He scratched his head in frustration, which aggravated his left cheek. He hissed, got up from the ground, and pondered what to do.

He didn't want to break up with Tang Luoqing, and even considered marrying her. After all, Tang Luoqing was soft-hearted, and even if he did something to hurt her, he could just coax her back. But now, it seemed that wouldn't work.

Zhou Yanchen was caught in a dilemma.

On the other side, Zhou Jinbai went into the bathroom, turned on the cold water shower, and after more than ten minutes, came out of the bathroom and dried his hair with a towel.

He walked to the bedside, picked up the phone on the bedside table, and made a call.

Once the call connected, Zhou Siyan instructed, "Keep a close eye on Zhou Yanchen."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Siyan changed his clothes and walked out of the room, only to find Zhou Yanchen sitting on the living room sofa with a worried look on his face.

Upon seeing Zhou Jinbai, Zhou Yanchen jumped up from the sofa, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Brother, I...I know what to do, but...but what about Mom and Dad? They've always considered Luo Qing their future daughter-in-law. If I break up with Tang Luo Qing, they'll be very heartbroken."

Zhou Jinbai put one hand in his pocket and stared at Zhou Yanchen.

The man's eyes remained as cold as ever, but this time they were even colder, and he exuded an indescribable aura of oppression.

The space was completely silent; you could hear a pin drop in the huge living room.

After a long while, just as Zhou Yanchen was wondering if he had said something wrong again and was about to be beaten up by his older brother, Zhou Jinbai sneered silently: "I didn't expect you to make a decision so quickly."

Zhou Yanchen's face flushed at these words, and he lowered his head and muttered in a low voice.

"Isn't it because I'm afraid of you?"

Zhou Jinbai heard the muttering but had no intention of arguing with him. He simply said, "You don't need to worry about Mom and Dad. I'll talk to them."

"It's late, get out."

Zhou Yanchen received the order and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then I'll go back."

Turning around, I walked to the door, opened it, and emerged from the enormous house.

Zhou Jinbai looked at the closed door, and soon after, he also left the house.

An hour later, Zhou Jinbai returned to the apartment complex where Tang Luoqing rented a place.

It was a cloudy day with no moonlight, but the lights in the neighborhood still illuminated the large area dimly, ensuring visibility wasn't at its lowest.

He arrived at the building, looked up, and gazed at one of the apartments on the fifth floor.

The lights were off and the curtains were drawn, so it was pitch black.

Even so, Zhou Jinbai found that the distance between him and Tang Luoqing had never been so close as it was now.

"You can't make up your mind, but I can't watch you get hurt again and again."

Zhou Jinbai murmured to himself, "I'm sorry, I have to break my promise."