Hou Zihao accompanied Zhou Leqi all the way back to Tongzhou, and this was also the first time he learned her address in Beijing.

His right arm was still in a sling, but that didn’t stop him from using his left hand to help her carry the suitcase out of the taxi. It was around noon, the weather in Beijing was pleasant, and they stood downstairs at her building preparing to part ways.

He was somewhat reluctant to leave her, and at the same time, he looked up at her floor and hesitated before asking, “How has Auntie been these years?”

This was the first time since their reunion that he had voluntarily asked about Yu Qing.

Zhou Leqi clearly understood what this meant. A faint sense of happiness welled up inside her, along with a mischievous urge to tease him. Therefore, she did not elaborate on the conversation and simply said, “She’s fine.”

He coughed slightly, hoping to hint that she should say more. He particularly hoped she would tell him what Yu Qing thought of him now—whether she had an extremely negative impression with no room for reconciliation or if there was still a chance for him to struggle.

Unfortunately, Zhou Leqi didn’t bite.

So, he could only beat around the bush and asked, “Let me ask this then, is that Arbitrary person Pei Qiming?”

Zhou Leqi didn’t react immediately, so he continued, “The one who always throws coins under Auntie’s videos.”

Only then did she understand, dragging out the word “Oh” slightly, then nodded and confirmed it, asking how he knew.

He snorted coldly, persistently holding onto his dislike for Pei Qiming both seven years ago and now, and couldn’t resist criticizing, “He follows a bunch of financial bloggers, as if he’s afraid Auntie won’t know who’s throwing coins.”

After a pause, he added, “Flattery.”

Zhou Leqi couldn’t help but laugh at his serious critique, but she also didn’t forget to hit him where it hurt, saying, “Well, there’s nothing I can do about it. My mom likes him very much. Just the other day, she encouraged me to get together with him sooner.”

Upon hearing this, he nearly had a heart attack. He thought that seven years ago, Auntie clearly liked him and didn’t seem to oppose their relationship... But now...

He naturally knew that the current mess was entirely his fault, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit stifled. More than that, he felt a strong sense of unwillingness and anxiety, constantly worried that he might never have the chance to redeem himself in Yu Qing’s eyes.

On this issue, he was outwardly confident but inwardly unsure. Though lacking confidence, he still declared to Zhou Leqi, “Auntie has just been temporarily deceived by your classmate. In the end, she will definitely like me more.”

Zhou Leqi smirked, teasing, “So confident?”

He nodded solemnly, looking very certain. Coincidentally, Zhou Leqi spotted Yu Qing coming around the corner not far away, carrying two plastic bags, seemingly returning from the market.

She coughed lightly, pointed behind Hou Zihao, and kindly reminded him, “Alright, here’s your chance—my mom is right behind you.”

…Then he ran.

Although Zhou Leqi had always known that Hou Zihao excelled in sports, she didn’t expect him to run so fast despite having a fractured shoulder. In the blink of an eye, he hid behind a car, disappearing completely.

She laughed so hard it hurt her stomach, but she couldn’t reveal anything in front of Yu Qing. She only got a chance to mock him on WeChat after returning home.

Her: Aren’t you very confident? Why did you run?

Him: …

Him: That’s not called running, alright.

Her: ?

Him: Tactical retreat, to better open up the situation next time.

Her: ??

At this point, he probably started to feel embarrassed himself. He sent over a meme of a fake-smiling boy and began to change the subject.

Him: Auntie didn’t see me, right?

Her: No.

Him: That’s good… Next time, I’ll prepare and find a more formal occasion to greet Auntie.

Her: Dream on. My mom would rather see Pei Qiming than you.

Him: ?

Him: Whose side are you on anyway?

Back and forth they went, endlessly chatting. It was just like every night after school seven years ago, the only difference being that their means of communication had changed from text messages to WeChat.

Even though they were adults now… They still purely loved each other like teenagers.

However, the beautiful days didn’t last long. The next day, when Zhou Leqi returned to the SWD office, she encountered a big problem.

—She was kicked out of the Runyuan project team.

This news came too suddenly, and she hadn’t heard any rumors beforehand. As soon as she entered the office that day, she received unilateral notification from Alvin. He said that this was Runyuan’s request, citing suspicions that she had leaked internal information about Runyuan.

This was absurd.

Zhou Leqi, of course, couldn’t accept it and argued fiercely with Alvin, “Leaking internal information? To whom did I leak it? What loss did Runyuan suffer? On what basis do they suspect me? This is defaming my professional reputation.”

Alvin could certainly understand Zhou Leqi’s emotions, but as an employee, he was helpless. After all, even a well-paid Associate was essentially just another worker. Moreover, the party executing the contract found it difficult to interfere with the client’s decisions. He could only try his best to comfort Zhou Leqi, suggesting that perhaps her sudden leave the past couple of days made Runyuan feel uneasy and advised her to communicate her opinions with higher-ups.

At this moment, Daisy appeared, looking smug and delighted. She flipped her sexy and fashionable long curly hair and sarcastically remarked, “Yes, Lucky, don’t you always have a good relationship with the higher-ups? You can go talk to President Pei. If that doesn’t work, you can always go to President Hou. I’m sure they’d be more than happy to help you.”

Though these taunts were harsh, honestly, Zhou Leqi didn’t care much because her mind was fully focused on the matter at hand.

Why did Runyuan suddenly kick her out? It must be related to Yuan Jianxin—He must know that she had already gotten involved in the case from seven years ago and was closing in on Luo Siyu’s lead. He panicked, fearing she would access more internal information about Runyuan through SWD channels, so he rushed to get her out of the project team. This was a sign of his guilt.

He didn’t want the case reopened, nor did he want any hiccups in Runyuan’s IPO. He just wanted everything from seven years ago to be forgotten so he could smoothly bring Runyuan, fattened by Haoting’s resources, into the capital market and eventually make a fortune, gaining both wealth and fame.

How could she allow such an absurd thing to happen? She had to find a way to stay in the project team, uncover more clues, and block Runyuan’s path to going public. She wanted Yuan Jianxin to return everything he owed to Haoting.

Zhou Leqi fell into deep thought, appearing rather quiet. Daisy had no idea what she was thinking and assumed that Zhou was so upset she couldn’t speak. With a satisfied smirk, Daisy turned and walked away. On the other hand, Cici felt indignant on Zhou Leqi’s behalf and secretly gave her advice, saying, “Lucky, don’t worry. Wait a few days. President Pei is on a business trip to Shanghai. When he comes back, you can talk to him. I’m sure President Pei will stand up for you!”

Zhou Leqi knew that Cici genuinely had her best interests at heart, but the underlying implication of her words was still asking Zhou to use her personal relationship with Pei Qiming to solve a work-related issue. This made her feel somewhat resistant, and she thought that perhaps she would never be able to clarify her relationship with Pei Qiming for the rest of her life.

Beyond that, another layer of doubt crossed her mind: Would Pei Qiming really help her this time?

Not necessarily.

As a VP, he was undoubtedly well-informed. As her superior, any personnel changes involving her would have required his approval. Therefore, he must have known about Runyuan’s decision before Alvin and the others. But why hadn’t he called her beforehand to prepare her? Was his business trip to Shanghai a coincidence, or was he intentionally avoiding her appeals and requests for help?

After all, Pei Qiming wasn’t omnipotent. He also had to survive and thrive in this ruthless workplace. How could he easily go against the client’s wishes? Moreover, above him was Jason, who valued Runyuan as a resource immensely. How could Pei possibly defy Runyuan’s wishes just to protect a mere □□yst?

It was probably better if she didn’t go to Pei Qiming for now.

During lunchtime, she sent a message in the small group chat with Hou Zihao and Yan Lin, informing them about Runyuan’s decision to kick her out of the project. Yan Lin was likely busy and didn’t reply, but Hou Zihao immediately called her.

At first, the sound from his end was a bit noisy, but then came the sound of movement and closing a door. He had probably left the crowd to find a quiet place to talk to her. His voice was gentle as he asked, “Trouble at work?”

She was feeling down, her voice lacking energy, and she only managed a faint “Mm.”

But even that single syllable revealed her emotions to him. He seemed to sigh and asked, “Are you upset?”

Wasn’t that obvious?

She pouted and responded with another “Mm,” this time with a hint of petulance.

He probably picked up on it again because a low chuckle came through the receiver. Feeling truly irritated, she scolded him, “I’m already so annoyed, and you’re laughing?”

He stopped laughing immediately after hearing her tone. After a cough, his voice became serious, and he apologized earnestly, “Sorry… I take it back.”

She snorted, still unhappy.

He sighed again and began to console her, “Well, we can look at this situation positively…”

She retorted, “Is there any positive side to this?”

“Of course,” his voice reached her ear through the phone, as if he were right beside her, “I never wanted you to get involved in this mess. Now that you’re out, I feel much more relieved. It’ll help my wound heal faster.”

…Half serious, half joking.

This was his familiar style.

Hearing this, she felt both amused and exasperated, her emotions complex. At the same time, she worried that he might leave her behind and face danger alone, so her tone became serious as she said word by word, “Hou Zihao, I’m warning you. Don’t think about handling this alone. If you leave me behind again, I’ll block you. We’ll never see each other for the rest of our lives.”

There was silence on the other end for several seconds.

“Is it that serious?” she heard his helpless sigh, “We’ve only been added for one day.”

His voice was tender, but her seriousness didn’t waver, “Don’t joke around with me. I’m not kidding.”

She continued to sternly warn him, which sounded cute and assertive to him. He repeatedly said “I understand” to calm her down. After a while, he expressed his real concern, “Will this project affect your career development?”

He was worried about her future.

A brief question, not revealing too much concern directly, but somehow it eased her frustration a little, and her mood improved slightly.

She pouted and didn’t mention the importance of reputation in the investment banking circle, simply saying, “It doesn’t matter.” Then she told him, “You just handle things on Runyuan’s side. I’ll take care of my own affairs here.”

He sighed, his tone soft and gentle, showing her all his understanding and compliance, “The most worrying thing is you… still boasting here.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Leqi laughed despite herself and couldn’t help but retort, “What am I boasting about? Haven’t I always done my job well? And who discovered Luo Siyu’s lead? Could you have done it without me?”

He chuckled again, starting to coax her with sweet words like, “Right, right, right, we can’t do without you,” “Yes, yes, yes, we’re counting on you,” until she finally calmed down.

Then she started giving him advice again, saying, “I won’t say more. You hurry up and find Zhong Heng. Don’t miss any key details.”