Chapter 30: It Should Be Something Between the Two of You

Her skin brushed against his fingers, which bore slight calluses, and Xu Wu was momentarily stunned for a few seconds.

She didn’t pull away.

So, the king crab he had given her last time was indeed Zhou Jinye’s intention.

It was deliberate on his part.

All this time, she had followed their unspoken agreement to interact with each other as neighbors. Whenever he gave her something, she always found a way to return it in another form.

Over the years, Xu Wu had been busy studying, graduating, and working. She liked picking out groceries but generally chose the simplest meals to cook. As long as she ate something for every meal, she rarely indulged in elaborate dishes. Over time, she had grown much thinner.

That king crab he had sent over was meant for her to eat, and he still remembered what she liked.

Xu Wu looked up at him, her heart slowly filling with warmth like honey being poured in: “Thank you.”

“Well, last time when you set up that light tree outside, I spoke harshly. I should thank you too.” Zhou Jinye didn’t release her face; his expression was unexpectedly serious. “Let’s not dwell on those things anymore. Look forward from now on. In the future, we’ll move forward together.”

She remembered when Zhou Jinye once asked her if she was doing well, and she hadn’t responded.

A seed of something was slowly pushing through the fog. After their breakup, she had wrapped herself up again, immersing herself in busyness. After graduation, the company made things difficult for her, and her roommate was unreasonable. She hadn’t been doing well at all.

Now, Zhou Jinye had reappeared before her, telling her to look ahead together with him.

She, who had always avoided and hidden her emotions, had taken the initiative to clarify things with him just a few hours ago.

With Qin Shili’s existence, Xu Wu no longer wanted to keep running away. She nodded in response to him.

Zhou Jinye gently pinched her cheek, his eyes filled with tenderness: “Don’t do that. Just tell me clearly. No matter what happens in the future, don’t push me away. Can you promise me that?”

After coming out of the shower, she still hadn’t uttered that promise.

His hand left her face, leaving a faint pink mark on her fair skin. She looked at him and promised: “Alright, I won’t do it again. After all, I still have to chase after you now.”

“Xu Wu, I don’t think you need to do that anymore.” Jiang Zihan, who had come out of the room, leaned against the doorframe without them noticing, watching them with a slight smile.

Xu Wu belatedly realized that she rarely showed such a shy expression, given her usually calm demeanor.

“Alright, I understand.” Jiang Zihan walked towards the kitchen: “It should be something between the two of you.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Wu quietly continued cooking, her ears slightly tinged with pink.

Zhou Jinye glanced at her and smiled.

At this moment, as he turned to continue with his tasks, a message came in.

________________________________________

Later, he went out to take a call and only returned when the dishes were served.

After the meal, Zhou Jinye applied some medicine to his hands and returned to his own home, leaving Jiang Zihan behind to help Xu Wu clean up and wash the dishes.

“So the two of you are together now? Does that mean you’re at the stage where you’ll soon discuss marriage? If so, you’ll have to meet his father. I imagine he won’t be easy to deal with,” Jiang Zihan said while washing the dishes, thinking back to their earlier discussion about Qin Shili.

Xu Wu paused for a moment, drying the water off a dish. Her voice was calm: “We’re not at that stage yet, and I don’t want to meet Qin Shili.”

No matter how strained Qin Shili’s relationship with Zhou Jinye was, they were still legally father and son.

He was like a devil crawling out of hell, breaking every promise he’d ever made. With his dark personality, he wouldn’t let them live in peace.

She needed to find the right opportunity to talk to Zhou Jinye about this. She planned to investigate the incident with the falling curtain last time. She couldn’t accuse him without evidence, so she first had to prove it wasn’t an accident.

Across from the simple kitchen wall, Zhou Jinye had just sent the address information and dialed the overseas number again.

“I’ve already sent you the address. Once you’ve organized everything, send it to this address.”

The voice on the other end was low but heavy: “I know. Don’t let that madman find out, or we’re both done for.”

“I know,” Zhou Jinye replied, leaning against his desk, his eyes opening under the light, which seemed brighter than usual. “I have someone I need to protect. I won’t give him the chance. Besides, he doesn’t have that kind of power here.”

Though his face appeared defiant, the light reflected in his eyes. Despite the warm lighting, there was no warmth in his gaze: “I will send him away. You won’t have to follow his orders anymore.”

________________________________________

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After deep autumn arrived, the LUNAR and Fan Xiang auto expo officially ended, and all related machinery and equipment were packed up.

In recent days, there had been a lot of people coming and going.

A few days ago, when the partner in charge of dismantling the exhibition equipment was removing the mechanical gear, Xu Wu had come to observe. She noted that there were only three cameras inside the exhibition hall.

While the staff were dismantling the equipment, she went to inspect the position where the curtain had fallen, looking closely at the iron frame above.

The screws that had been reinstalled were different from the others. Xu Wu easily recognized them—they were the ones she had brought over.

When arranging the equipment for the exhibition, she had carefully checked the box containing the screws, so she knew exactly how many there were. She remembered clearly that there were no missing screws in the first-floor exhibition hall. The only missing ones were for the second floor, which she had brought over, and those screws were used in setting up the second-floor exhibition.

Thus, there shouldn’t have been any missing screws in the first-floor exhibition hall, and no issues were found during their previous inspection.

The workers were all arranged by her partner, so there shouldn’t have been any mistakes.

This time, after the entire exhibition hall had been cleaned, Xu Wu had just finished reporting on this period’s work and was investigating the surveillance footage.

“Master, can I ask you for a favor?” She approached the surveillance room. “Can you help me retrieve the footage from when the exhibition was being set up?”

Seeing the person opposite her deep in thought, she added: “You see, I need that video. There was a problem during the setup of the exhibition, and I want to review the surveillance footage of that incident.”

The surveillance operator found her familiar: “Are you the person in charge of setting up the LUNAR and Fan Xiang exhibition area?”

Xu Wu nodded, half-surprised: “Yes.”

“No wonder you look familiar.” He spoke with a hint of Linjing dialect.

Having lived there for over nine years, Xu Wu could still understand it.

Now that she realized this matter was more complicated, she started paying attention, including to the people around her.

He spent days monitoring the screens, so it made sense that he would recognize her after seeing her so often.

But...

Xu Wu hadn’t worn her work badge today. How did he know she was the person in charge if he had been in the surveillance room all along?

She asked him: “How did you know?”

He pointed to the surveillance monitor beside him: “Someone else also came to ask us to investigate the surveillance footage of that accident. We’ve already saved that day’s footage. Let me find it and send it to you.”

Someone had already investigated it and hadn’t deleted anything.

So, that person also thought the accident was suspicious.

Xu Wu asked: “What did the person who came to check the video look like?”

“He looked like a typical office elite. He sent someone to inquire about it.” He thoughtfully replied.

If that video had already been extracted separately, then it was even better.

________________________________________

On the way back, Xu Wu held her phone horizontally, using her slender fingers to zoom in on the frames of the surveillance footage.

Unfortunately, the position behind the curtain in the surveillance footage was completely obscured, so she could only pause the video just before the accident scene.

With two fingers, she zoomed in on the paused image until she could see the back third of the curtain.

Behind the curtain, a large black dot appeared. She focused on the one-third portion visible behind the curtain.

If her memory served her correctly, that spot hadn’t had any black dots before.

She adjusted the frame backward a few frames. The video showed that the black dot disappeared, and only then did the curtain fall along with the iron frame.

Given the limited surveillance inside the exhibition, the black dot seen moving behind the curtain was likely a person.

As she suspected, it was human intervention.

The workers installing the equipment had been there for days, and Xu Wu hadn’t offended any of them—there was no reason for them to harm her.

Carefully recalling the image of Qin Shili appearing publicly after returning to the country, she didn’t know his face but recognized his surname.

Qin Shili had already returned to the country before their collaboration, though he hadn’t shown up in public during that time—he had stayed in the shadows.

Before confirming whether the person under the hat was Qin Shili, Xu Wu could only call the master who had been responsible for installing the equipment last time.

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“Thank you. Sorry to bother you during work hours. I understand now.”

After receiving the master’s reply, the call ended, and Xu Wu turned off her phone screen.

There were always people who took leave due to illness or other reasons, asking others to replace them. She had seen this happen during her time organizing events.

The replacement happened to occur on the same day as the incident—it was too coincidental, and such coincidences often held the biggest breakthroughs.

After obtaining the contact information of the person who took leave from the master, Xu Wu contacted him. As expected, the person didn’t know the master personally.

However, that person hadn’t asked for money. Instead, they offered to help, hoping that the master could recommend future job opportunities. Since they were guaranteed a salary regardless, they agreed.

Xu Wu got to the point and asked: “Since you’re helping him find work, did you keep his contact information?”

“Yes, I did.”

She gripped her phone tightly, worried that he might say otherwise—it would be hard to find another lead if he didn’t have it.

Upon hearing his answer, she asked: “If his number is still saved in your phone, could you send it to me? I have something I need his help with.”

The number was quickly sent via text.

The phone number started with a new series of digits—it seemed to be a recently acquired SIM card.

She called the number from another phone she rarely used.

Both parties remained silent on the call, neither speaking first.

The second hand on the clock at her workstation completed a full rotation before the other party finally spoke: “Seems like someone dialed the wrong number.”

The familiar voice came through the receiver.

It was Qin Shili’s voice.

The evidence was conclusive.

Xu Wu didn’t speak. After hearing the voice, she hung up.

She gathered her thoughts and opened her eyes.

Her expression on the pitch-black computer screen was no longer calm and gentle—it was cold and distant.

________________________________________

Another phone on her desk vibrated.

She had set it to silent mode while working, so vibrations usually indicated messages from special contacts.

Notifications appeared directly on the interface.

zjy: [Are you still finishing work at the usual time today?]

Ever since she had taken that step last time, whenever he messaged her, Xu Wu had taken the opportunity to change his contact name.

[Yes, same as usual.]

A reminder popped up at the top.

Besides work-related timers, some trivial matters were also recorded.

It was reminding her now.

[After work, let’s go to the supermarket to buy something. Pudding’s bath was too chaotic.]

Less than a second after sending the message, he immediately replied.

[Alright, I’ll pick you up when it’s time.]

He even sent an emoji: a dog giving a heart.

Xu Wu couldn’t help but smile as she saw the emoji in the chat.

Her mood brightened considerably at this moment.