It fell from his fingertips

The carriage was unusually quiet, so quiet that Tang Luoqing could faintly hear her own heartbeat, thumping in her ears.

She wondered, what exactly is Zhou Jinbai like? There are other people around, what is he talking about?

Tang Luoqing silently moved closer to the window, trying to distance herself from Zhou Jinbai, as if that would prevent her from being affected by him.

However, for every step she took back, Zhou Jinbai took two steps closer. By the time she had nowhere left to retreat, Zhou Jinbai was already right next to her.

Their knees touched, their shoulders brushed against each other, and Tang Luoqing could smell Zhou Jinbai's familiar scent, which made her even more flustered.

Having no other choice, she could only reach out and push Zhou Jinbai, while lowering her voice and whispering in his ear, "Move over a little and be quiet, or I'll get angry."

"Only those who truly care about you will care about your feelings," Tang Luoqing said. Before she finished speaking, Zhou Jinbai silently returned to his original position.

Tang Luoqing breathed a sigh of relief, lowered her eyes, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

Zhou Jinbai glanced sideways, catching Tang Luoqing's emotions in his eyes. The coldness in the man's eyes, which had been present due to his work, immediately dissipated considerably.

Over the next few days, Zhou Jinbai was on a business trip abroad, and Tang Luoqing simply focused on painting works for the cultural and creative exhibition.

A week later, she finally finished a painting she was satisfied with and sent it to Zhou Jinbai, where it received high praise.

With Shen Baiyan in Beijing on a business trip, Tang Luoqing happily invited her to dinner, shopping, and a movie.

That evening, after the two of them put their things at Tang Luoqing's house, Shen Baiyan looked at the huge house and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "You mean, such a big house, and the rent is only 2000? That's so cheap?"

"Where did you rent it? The rent is so cheap, it makes me want to rent one too."

Shen Baiyan's family wasn't particularly wealthy, but her parents had bought her a house in the city where she worked long ago. Back when she was with her ex-boyfriend, her parents were afraid she would be deceived, so they didn't dare tell her. Later, after Shen Baiyan broke up with her ex-boyfriend and realized that men were unreliable, her parents gave her the house.

However, she disliked Beijing so much. Although she went to university there and made a good friend, Tang Luoqing, she also met her ex-boyfriend in this city and had a very unsuccessful first love. So Shen Baiyan sold her house and used the savings for investment. Even when she moved to other cities, she continued to rent a place to live.

The apartment she's currently renting is about the same size and location as the one Tang Luoqing is renting, but the rent is 10,000 yuan.

So when I heard about such cheap houses, it would be a lie to say I wasn't tempted.

"I was also very surprised at the time. I didn't expect to be able to rent such a suitable house. Fortunately, I was able to move out of Zhou Yanchen's house as soon as possible."

Mentioning Zhou Yanchen, Shen Baiyan couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"I told you long ago that this scoundrel is no good, but you wouldn't believe me. You had to see him hugging another woman before you were happy."

Realizing she had gone too far, Shen Baiyan looked at Tang Luoqing with concern, afraid that she would be upset.

To her surprise, Tang Luoqing showed no sadness at all; instead, she sighed with regret.

"Okay, let's not talk about him anymore. How have you been lately? Have you met anyone you like?"

Shen Baiyan shrugged: "Of course not. Besides, I think it will be hard for me to fall in love with someone again. I think my life is pretty good right now. I'm satisfied with my job and my income. If I want to find a man, I just go to the university town. You don't know, I think those younger guys are really sunny and cheerful. I like them a lot."

After finishing her own story, Shen Baiyan noticed the cat tree on the balcony and asked curiously, "Did you assemble this? I saw on Xiaohongshu that these kinds of cat trees are really hard to assemble. You're amazing! I didn't expect our Qingqing to be so good with her hands."

Tang Luoqing also looked at the cat tree and couldn't help but smile knowingly: "I didn't assemble it, it was..."

Before she could finish speaking, Tang Luoqing abruptly stopped.

She suddenly realized that she hadn't told Shen Baiyan about Zhou Jinbai yet. Would bringing it up suddenly... scare her?

Moreover, it seems like it would be quite awkward.

After all, she had just broken up with her brother, and then she turned around and started having an ambiguous relationship with her brother.

"Not you? What... something's going on?"

Shen Baiyan smiled meaningfully: "Tell me quickly, what's going on? Is there another man? Who is it? I'm telling you, this time you absolutely have to let me help you vet him."

When it comes to "screening", Shen Baiyan couldn't continue talking. After all, she was the one who screened Zhou Yanchen back then, and after a year of screening, he turned out to be a scumbag.

So, men are the same no matter who they are.

For a moment, the large living room fell into a brief silence.

When the familiar WeChat video call ringtone sounded, Tang Luoqing nervously looked at her phone on the coffee table, where the words "【ZJB】" were clearly displayed.

It was a WeChat video call from Zhou Jinbai.

Over the past few days, whenever Zhou Jinbai finished an urgent task or had a spare moment, he would take the time to call or video chat with Tang Luoqing. The time was usually during the daytime in China, which meant it was 4 a.m. where Zhou Jinbai was.

Zhou Jinbai was busy working non-stop so he could finish his overseas project as soon as possible and return home. He went to bed very late every day. Of course, another reason for this was to make it easier to make video calls to Tang Luoqing.

Therefore, if Tang Luoqing always answers whenever she sees it.

But today...

"Why aren't you answering? Who is this ZJB? His profile picture looks so aloof."

Zhou Jinbai's profile picture is a screenshot of a character's background from an old movie. This person is the male protagonist's grandfather in the movie. He seems to have only appeared once or twice, but he is the man who influences the male protagonist's life. This man is strict and serious, and rarely smiles. He has been single for most of his life for the sake of the male protagonist's grandmother. The day after watching his grandmother happily reunite with the person he had waited for for most of his life, he sits alone in the old courtyard where the two of them got married and spends his last evening.

"Tang Luoqing? You're really hiding something from me! Tell me quickly, what's going on?"

Tang Luoqing's thoughts were pulled back. She looked at the three letters on her phone screen, hesitated, and then hung up the phone.

The video call was disconnected, and the other party did not call back.

"Why did you reject the call?"

Shen Baiyan looked at her phone screen, then at Tang Luoqing, puzzled.

Tang Luoqing took a deep breath, grasped Shen Baiyan's hands, and said seriously as if she had made up her mind: "I have something to tell you. I... I might be going to be with Zhou Yanchen's brother."