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“Jian Zhaowen is gentle with you, so let me tell you, daring to lay a hand on someone else’s boyfriend will result in this. You’ve broken up but still come to pester and outright snatch, are you sick?”
Jian Zhaowen was busy coding, his eyes glued to the screen: “Lei Zheng is in a meeting next door.”
“Of course I’m not looking for him, I’m looking for you.”
“Looking for me for what?”
“I broke up with my current boyfriend. He was too boring, and his taste in clothes was awful, always liking things that lacked style. I feel girls should date men at least three years older; boys really mature too late and have poor empathy.”
Jian Zhaowen didn’t catch the beginning, only the end, and suddenly chuckled. Qiu Nuo’s voice was crisp, directly asking him, “What are you laughing at? Think I’m childish? I’ve grown a lot too, I’m not the Qiu Nuo you used to know. But I’ve heard about your girlfriend, her reputation isn’t good, she cheated to break up and even snatched clients from her ex-boyfriend.”
“...Where did you hear that?”
“Friends in Beijing.”
“Not a single thing is right.”
“Don’t defend her just because she’s your girlfriend, she doesn’t sound as good as me anyway.”
Jian Zhaowen remained silent, focused on his computer. Qiu Nuo paused for a few seconds, then changed the subject: “Do you know Lei Zheng’s girlfriend is a boy? Your girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, her former client, is now with him. I won’t believe she didn’t snatch him.” Catching Jian Zhaowen’s glare, Qiu Nuo quickly interjected, “I’m just making a reasonable guess, aren’t you even going to let me speak?”
Qiu Nuo’s biggest flaw was that anyone she placed in the position of a rival in love would be relentlessly mocked. Jian Zhaowen didn’t intend to pay her any mind, nor did he want to tell her about Dou Yu, only replying with Lei Zheng’s words: “Snatching clients depends on ability and connections. Unless it truly crosses a moral bottom line, don’t be so black and white.”
“Scumbag.”
Jian Zhaowen sighed. She said she had grown, but this habit of mocking people hadn’t changed at all.
When Lei Zheng finished his meeting and came out, he saw Qiu Nuo sitting on the sofa playing with her phone, and smilingly suggested taking her downstairs for coffee. Qiu Nuo happily agreed: “The capsule coffee in your office is terrible. I really can’t stand this harsh working environment for even a minute. And it’s so cold, how do you guys manage to work with the air conditioning so high?”
“Do you want to put on a coat?” Lei Zheng said, “I have clothes in my office.”
Qiu Nuo didn’t even take Lei Zheng seriously: “No need, I’m going to Réel tonight, they have Moncler there. Since I have to keep an eye on Jian Zhaowen in this room, I need to buy a down jacket.”
If there was a truly “unworldly” girl, it would be Qiu Nuo. She ordered a coffee downstairs and then leisurely came back up. The furry single shoes on her feet were from a Korean designer brand, and her tea-colored hair was curled and pinned on top of her head. Qiu Nuo spent real money on her exquisite packaging, yet there wasn’t much difference between her look and those girls who carefully bought knockoffs and followed online trends to imitate. And she always habitually felt that spending a lot of real money was the first step in drawing a line between herself and ordinary people. Lei Zheng accompanied Qiu Nuo to Jing’an Temple for dinner and even carefully sent his location and photos of Qiu Nuo specifically to please Qiu Nuo’s brother. On the way back, Qiu Nuo carried a large Alexander Wang shopping bag and earnestly held up the clothes to herself to compare: “I told you not to spend money, Brother Zheng, it’s okay for me to use my own card.”
“Since I’m hosting, I’ll do it to the end.”
“I should be glad you’re still my brother’s friend. If I talked to Jian Zhaowen like this, he’d probably be lecturing me to be more independent by now. I spend my own money, and if I occasionally accept a favor, he’d think I’m too willful.”
Jian Zhaowen didn’t speak, only silently worked on the computer doing tests. Saying even one more word would be taking Qiu Nuo’s bait; Qiu Nuo was just looking for an opportunity to get Jian Zhaowen’s attention. After Lei Zheng went home and the employees had all left work, Qiu Nuo had nothing to do in the office and started waiting for Jian Zhaowen to get off work. Jian Zhaowen said, “You’d better take a taxi yourself. I didn’t drive today and won’t take you back.”
“You clearly drove, Shanghai B73D59, an Audi A4. Is it that hard to take me back to the city?”
“I might have to work all night.”
“It’s okay, I’ll wait for you.”
“What exactly do you want?”
“Jian Zhaowen, I want to pursue you, to get you back to my side. What’s so good about that girl?”
“Grow up a little, please.”
“Why say I haven’t grown up? I’m an adult woman with my own career and plenty of money to spend. What’s wrong with asking for a little of your time? When we were dating, we wanted matching rings, and you said you’d transfer money to me and I should pick them myself. Is that something a normal person would do? Ask your current girlfriend if she thinks that’s not loving enough. She just hasn’t recognized the truth yet.”
Jian Zhaowen wanted to laugh a little—he really hadn’t thought about that. If Zhi Mei wanted a ring, he might actually go to the mall and carefully pick one out. On the contrary, Yu Zhimei was deeply moved after receiving it and then quickly forgot where she put the ring, wondering what car to feature in the next episode of her show. Seeing Qiu Nuo still staring at him with wide eyes, he smiled and said, “Well, since you’ve recognized the truth, then don’t come looking for me, right?”
“Why are you so nice to others but ignore me specifically?”
“Because we have no relationship anymore. If you’re tired, please go back to the hotel, okay? I still have a lot of data to test and can’t keep indulging your willfulness—I don’t have the time.”
Qiu Nuo raised her hand and slapped Jian Zhaowen hard across the face with a “smack,” then stormed out of the room, leaving a shocked silence in the office. Qiu Nuo’s way of asserting her ownership wasn’t subtle maneuvering, but forceful seizure, intimidating the day and night shift colleagues, as well as Jian Zhaowen himself. As soon as Lei Zheng entered and saw the handprint on Jian Zhaowen’s face, he couldn’t help but ask, “How fierce was your relationship before?”
In the early hours of the morning, Jian Zhaowen went downstairs and took out his car keys. Qiu Nuo came out of the 24-hour convenience store, her aura imposing: “I’ve been waiting for you for so long! Being in your office is worse than being in the convenience store.”
A Harley was parked nearby. Yu Zhimei walked out from behind her, holding a helmet, also startling Jian Zhaowen. Yu Zhimei wasn’t nervous at all: “You drove today? I just finished filming my show and wanted to give you a ride home.” Seeing Qiu Nuo, Yu Zhimei’s expression was subtle, and Jian Zhaowen felt a headache coming on. But Yu Zhimei wasn’t angry, only calmly said, “You take her back to the hotel, I’ll ride my motorcycle back myself.”
On the road, Qiu Nuo held back her anger, watching the motorcycle driving alone in front and saying, “Is she a driver?”
Jian Zhaowen didn’t answer. Ignorance is malice, and growing up privileged leads to a lack of empathy. Qiu Nuo was used to a life of luxury and didn’t understand why people wouldn’t take airplanes but would take high-speed trains. Seeing people sleeping under the seats in crowded green trains was even more incomprehensible to her. She had once been heavily criticized by netizens on Weibo, and Qiu Nuo still often felt wronged: “How can you blame me? When they’re blaming me, shouldn’t they reflect on why they don’t have money?”
She rolled down the car window and yelled at Yu Zhimei, “Hey, driver, you go back first, Jian Zhaowen and I will drive slowly!”
The motorcycle’s speed suddenly decreased, and it moved in front of Jian Zhaowen’s Audi instead. Jian Zhaowen’s foot was on the brake, not daring to accelerate. Yu Zhimei also slowed down, almost touching the front of the car. Qiu Nuo exclaimed in the car. Yu Zhimei pretended not to hear, went around the side of the car, driving close to the passenger seat and rearview mirror, sometimes far, sometimes near, almost hitting the Audi several times. Qiu Nuo didn’t dare reach out to wave her away, only shouted in fear, “Go away! Don’t make us have a car accident, go away!”
Yu Zhimei wouldn’t leave easily. Black clothes, black leather pants, and a black Harley, circling the Audi like a vulture. Yu Zhimei leaning down to ride the Harley made Jian Zhaowen nervous and scared, after all, he wasn’t a very skilled driver. At this moment, he also wanted to play along with Yu Zhimei. After crossing the Nanpu Bridge into the city, the last few hundred meters of road were clear. He suddenly accelerated; Yu Zhimei quickly caught up, went around Jian Zhaowen, and then lowered her center of gravity, cutting in front of the Audi when the traffic light turned yellow, forcing Jian Zhaowen to stop before crossing the intersection at the last second. Jian Zhaowen looked playfully at the speeding and disappearing motorcycle, ignoring Qiu Nuo’s frantic shouts in the car, and suddenly understood why Yu Zhimei attracted him—her greatest advantage was her decisiveness and lack of need to confide.
This was something that probably 90% of women couldn’t do, like Qiu Nuo beside him, or Sister He who was unhappy in her marriage, and Shi Rui. Because of this, Yu Zhimei had always given him a mysterious and refreshing feeling.
Of course, Yu Zhimei also had烦恼. The client she had painstakingly contacted was attributed by BD to the fact that she was a “woman.” In his view, it was as if her attracting Jian Zhaowen to make videos with millions of views and her getting clients all depended on her sexual charm. She planned to go to Miao Lin Dessert Shop for a drink before going home, but she saw Jian Zhaowen and Qiu Nuo at the entrance of Miao Lin. At first glance, Qiu Nuo did indeed look exactly like a girlfriend, a perfect match for any handsome and clean-cut boy, tall and slender, easily attracting attention. But as she got closer, Qiu Nuo was holding Jian Zhaowen’s arm, seemingly begging for something, and didn’t let go even when she saw Yu Zhimei. Jian Zhaowen helplessly took a step back. Qiu Nuo was just about to reach out again when Yu Zhimei grabbed her wrist, politely and restrainedly pushing her hand back.
“Perfect timing, you’re here too, so I don’t have to look for you. I like Jian Zhaowen, break up with him.”
“Impossible.” Yu Zhimei laughed, “What gives you the courage?”
“Do you know I used to live here too? I was the mistress of this house.”
“So?”
“Then do you know I slapped him today? That’s how we dated. You two probably rarely even hold hands, right? You’ve never heard ‘I love you’ from Jian Zhaowen, have you?”
“You hit Jian Zhaowen?”
“What about it?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Yu Zhimei raised her hand and forcefully slapped Qiu Nuo, accurately speaking, it was a backhanded slap that made Qiu Nuo’s ear red. It was completely unlike the gentleness towards girls. Jian Zhaowen stood there dumbfounded. Qiu Nuo was completely stunned, probably never having experienced such a shock in her entire life.
“Jian Zhaowen is gentle with you, so let me tell you, daring to lay a hand on someone else’s boyfriend will result in this. You’ve broken up but still come to pester and outright snatch, are you sick?”
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