It fell from his fingertips

A chance encounter? At a bar?

Didn't he say on the phone earlier that he was having late-night snacks with his colleagues? How come he's at a bar? And playing Truth or Dare with Su Leqi?

Tang Luoqing's breathing tightened.

Not wanting to wrongly accuse Zhou Yanchen, she nervously clicked into the comments section.

The pinned comment, posted by Zhou Yanchen a minute ago, reads: "Don't be so smug, you'll win next time."

But he called her just ten minutes ago, saying he was too tired and wanted to go back to the hotel to sleep.

So, it was all a lie?

Tang Luoqing stared at the screen for a long time, and soon, she felt a pang of sadness and a tightness in her chest.

After a long while, she took a deep breath and dialed Zhou Yanchen's number.

The phone rang for quite a while before it was answered.

This time, the background noise seemed to be a little quieter, as if Zhou Yanchen was indeed in the hotel room.

"Baby? Why aren't you asleep yet? Are you missing me so much that you can't sleep?"

On the other end of the phone, Zhou Yanchen uttered sweet nothings with practiced ease: "I miss you too, I dream about you all the time."

Listening to the same sweet words every day, Tang Luoqing, who is usually very easily moved, couldn't help but wonder if he really thought about her every day.

Where are you?

Tang Luoqing fought back tears, her voice slightly choked.

"The hotel? I just lay down and was about to go to sleep."

Zhou Yanchen yawned, acting as if it were real: "What's wrong, baby? Is it...?"

Before he could finish speaking, a clear, melodious female voice suddenly came from the side: "Yan Chen, what are you doing hiding there? Hurry up and come drink. Stop dawdling. Luckily, you volunteered to come to this project, otherwise we wouldn't have enough people to get together today, and this game wouldn't be as fun. Come on, we're waiting for you."

Voluntary application?

Tang Luoqing closed her eyes, and a tear fell.

It turns out that it wasn't a task his older brother forced on him, nor a work arrangement he couldn't control; he had applied for it himself.

Zhou Yanchen on the other end of the phone was clearly panicked as well.

There was a rustling sound coming from the receiver, as if he was covering the phone and walking to a quiet place.

A few seconds later, Zhou Yanchen's voice rang out again: "Baby, you misheard, that wasn't calling me..."

"So, you want me to go ask my older brother if it was really him who arranged this business trip for you?"

When Tang Luoqing said this, she thought her voice was calm; at least, that's what she thought.

But in reality, when Zhou Yan heard this, he couldn't help but choke up.

Zhou Yan fell silent on the other end of the phone, knowing he couldn't hide it this time, so he changed his tone: "Baby, I didn't tell you because I was afraid you'd be angry. You're so good to me, I was afraid you'd leave me if you were angry. Besides, I really wanted to prove myself, which is why I chose to come here."

"But when did I ever say I'd get angry if you volunteered to go on business trips?"

Tang Luoqing sniffed, her voice low and soft, sounding especially pitiful: "I'm not an unreasonable person. If you talk to me nicely, I'll understand, but you..."

As she spoke, Tang Luoqing couldn't help but recall Zhou Yanchen at home, repeatedly saying, "It was arranged by my brother, I couldn't refuse, and I also wanted to prove myself," portraying himself as a victim who had no choice in the matter.

Looking back now, Zhou Jinbai was quite wronged, taking such a huge blame for nothing.

"I was wrong, but you know how much effort I put into this project. I really care about it."

Before Tang Luoqing could say anything, Zhou Yanchen's tone softened further: "As for today, it was just an ordinary gathering. We happened to run into Su Leqi. If you mind, I won't go to these kinds of gatherings in the future."

Hearing these words, Tang Luoqing gripped her phone without saying a word, her knuckles turning white.

Zhou Yanchen still doesn't understand that she's unhappy because he lied to her.

Tang Luoqing disliked being lied to the most.

After a long silence, Tang Luoqing took a deep breath: "No need."

Before Zhou Yanchen could say anything more, Tang Luoqing hung up the phone.

She hugged the baby, buried her face in the little one's soft belly, and felt a pang of sadness in her heart, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

Beside her, two more missed calls from Zhou Yanchen appeared on her phone, but Tang Luoqing didn't want to answer either of them.

The next day, she felt listless all day.

Tang Luoqing sat at her desk, staring blankly at the drawing paper all morning. She drew and erased, erased and drew again, but she was never satisfied.

My mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts: one moment it was the photo from Su Leqi's Weibo, the next it was Zhou Yanchen's voice as he lied. I couldn't make sense of it all.

My best friend, Shen Baiyan, called at that moment.

"I'm in Beijing on a business trip! Surprised?"

Shen Baiyan's loud, energetic voice came through the phone.

Tang Luoqing was taken aback: "Where are you?"

"I just arrived at the client's company, and I should be done around six o'clock."

Shen Baiyan on the other end of the phone: "How about we have dinner together tonight, and then go to a riverside bar?"

Tang Luoqing instinctively wanted to refuse; she really wasn't in the mood to play, but Shen Baiyan had come to Beijing so rarely, she couldn't refuse.

Besides, staying at home only leads to overthinking, so it's better to go out and clear your head.

"it is good."

At six o'clock in the evening, Tang Luoqing and Shen Baiyan went to a small restaurant in Jiangnan, had dinner, and then went to a bar by the river.

This is one of Beijing's iconic buildings. The river is wide, the lights are dim, and the sea breeze is gentle, making it cooler than other places and offering a sense of comfort rarely found in the fast-paced life of big cities.

Inside the bar, under the warm yellow lights, the resident singer held a guitar and sang slow songs on stage, his voice very gentle.

Shen Baiyan wore a bright red halter dress, looking radiant, while Tang Luoqing wore a simple white dress, looking sweet and gentle.

The two of them together, just sitting there, are enough to attract attention.

After Shen Baiyan rejected another person who tried to chat her up on her behalf, she took a photo together and posted it on her WeChat Moments.

Soon, a bunch of people below gave it a thumbs up.

Shen Baiyan glanced at her WeChat Moments and looked at Tang Luoqing: "What's wrong? I noticed it while we were eating just now; you looked strange."

"Did that brat Zhou Yanchen bully you?"

Tang Luoqing shook her head: "No, I'm just a little tired."

"Tired my ass, that bastard must have made you angry."

Shen Baiyan rolled her eyes and pushed a glass of pink wine towards Tang Luoqing: "Try it."

Tang Luoqing took a sip; it was refreshingly sweet, with a hint of peach fragrance and a subtle alcoholic flavor—quite delicious.

Out of curiosity, she took another big gulp, but choked because she drank too fast. She coughed several times, and her face turned bright red.

"Drink slowly, no one's going to take it from you."

Shen Baiyan patted Tang Luoqing's back, both amused and exasperated: "You're just too well-behaved usually, you don't even drink alcohol. Tell me, did you have a fight with Zhou Yanchen?"

Tang Luoqing coughed for a while before recovering and shook her head: "It wasn't really an argument, it was just... he lied to me, saying that the project was arranged by his older brother, but actually he applied for it himself. He also lied to me that he was busy with work, but he was actually hanging out with friends at a bar."

"I told you he wasn't a good person, he's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve."

Shen Baiyan slammed her hand on the table in anger: "I told you before that young masters like him are unreliable, but you wouldn't believe me."

Tang Luoqing remained silent.

Yes, everyone said that Zhou Yanchen was a playboy who would never be sincere, but she had seen his sincerity.

"Alright, let's not talk about him anymore, he's a spoilsport."

Shen Baiyan: "We finally get to see each other, let's talk about something happy. I'll tell you..."

Shen Baiyan talked on and on about the interesting things that happened at work, while Tang Luoqing listened to her only half-heartedly.

The music in the bar was soft, and the lights were warm, but she still felt heavy-hearted, as if a stone was pressing on her chest.

After sitting for about half an hour, Shen Baiyan wanted to go to the restroom.

"I'll go outside for some fresh air and come back in later."

Tang Luoqing glanced at the riverbank outside the window.

Shen Baiyan glanced at it and said, "That works too."

The two walked in different directions. Shen Baiyan went to the deepest part of the bar, while Tang Luoqing pushed open the glass door of the bar. The river breeze blew in and felt very comfortable on her face.

There were few people at the riverside railing; it was very quiet, with only the sound of the river lapping against the shore and the distant whistles of ships.

Tang Luoqing leaned against the railing, watching the reflection of the lights on the river.

The lights and skyscrapers were reflected in the water, their images shattered by the ripples of the river, just like her current mood.

She didn't know what Zhou Yanchen was doing, whether he was drinking with Su Leqi and the others again, or... like last time in the office, laughing and joking with other girls.

Tang Luoqing rubbed her temples and closed her eyes, looking rather annoyed.

Little did they know, in a booth by the window on the second floor, Zhou Jinbai sat in the shadows, holding a glass of wine.

Lu Yu sat opposite him, rambling on about the cultural and creative exhibition in the second half of the year. He had been talking for almost half an hour, while Zhou Jinbai responded only half-heartedly, his gaze fixed on the river outside the window, with no particular focus.

He didn't want to come.

It was already past eight o'clock when the meeting ended in the evening. Lu Yu insisted on dragging him over for a couple of drinks, saying that his grandfather had scolded him again for ruining art.

Unable to refuse him, Zhou Jinbai had no choice but to come and sit for a while.

Zhou Jinbai's gaze lingered slightly as he glanced casually at the riverside outside the bar downstairs.

Tang Luoqing was leaning against the railing, wearing a simple dress, her hair was a little messy from the wind, and a few strands of hair clung to her cheeks.

She looked down at the river, her profile expressionless, looking listless, like the little cat in the painting I saw last time that almost got wet in the rain, lacking any energy.

Zhou Jinbai tightened his grip on the wine glass slightly, then relaxed it back to normal.

He withdrew his gaze and continued listening to Lu Yu speak, his expression indifferent, as if that glance just now was merely a casual glance, and he hadn't even seen who it was.

He simply picked up his glass and drank the rest of the wine in one gulp.

The spiciness slid down my throat, burning me.

Zhou Jinbai closed his eyes, the fleeting glimpse he had just caught uncontrollably resurfacing in his mind.

Is her unhappiness related to Yan Chen? Or has she encountered a creative block in her painting?

A series of questions arose, but Zhou Jinbai suppressed them all.

Why think about these things?

She is Yan Chen's girlfriend, and whether she is happy or not is none of his business as her boyfriend's brother.

Lu Yu was still talking on the other side, and Zhou Jinbai responded half-heartedly, tapping his wine glass with his fingertips.

Each beat was half a beat slower than usual.

I drank glass after glass of spicy liquor, but it didn't taste like anything.

After what seemed like a long time, or perhaps only a few minutes, Zhou Jinbai tapped the outside of the wine glass one last time with his fingertips, his knuckles slightly curled, and then put the glass down.

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over the slender figure by the railing downstairs. His Adam's apple bobbed imperceptibly for a moment, then he pushed himself up with his long legs.

"Go to the restroom."

The man's voice was deep and resonant, revealing nothing unusual.

Zhou Jinbai walked out of the private room, his steps steady and without the slightest lapse.

He lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes concealing the emotions within them, while his fingers, tucked into his pockets, clenched tightly.

As I walked into the lobby on the first floor and got closer to the bar entrance, the figures outside the glass doors became clearer and clearer.

Zhou Jinbai's gaze unconsciously darkened, his jawline tightened silently, but his steps remained slow, steadily walking towards the riverside railing.

Just as she was about to step out of the bar, a black figure suddenly ran over from a distance and hugged Tang Luoqing from behind.

It was Zhou Yanchen.

Zhou Jinbai paused in his steps.