While Chu Nanyu was receiving his IV drip, his mother, Zhou Peiyi, called.
After a brief pause, he answered.
Zhou Peiyi’s gentle voice came through: “A-Yu, I’ve arranged for you to meet Xinwei, the daughter of the Meng family. Remember to go when the time comes.”
Chu Nanyu frowned: “Mom, I already told you last time, don’t arrange any more blind dates for me.”
Zhou Peiyi sighed softly: “It’s not that Mom wants to pressure you, but you can’t keep ignoring your own lifelong matters, can you?”
“Look at you, which of the blind dates I arranged before did you take seriously? You’re almost thirty, only focused on work, not dating anyone. It took so much persuasion just to get you to agree to go on blind dates, and every time you just went through the motions.”
Listening to his mother’s nagging, Chu Nanyu remained unmoved: “So please don’t arrange any more.”
“We’ll talk about later matters later,” Zhou Peiyi’s tone remained gentle but carried a hint of insistence, “Xinwei’s aunt and I have always been close. Just do this as a favor for me and go meet her.”
Chu Nanyu rubbed his temples, replying with a mix of resignation and firmness: “Fine, but this is the last time. There won’t be any more after this.”
“Alright, alright,” Zhou Peiyi chuckled, then advised, “Then promise me you’ll put some effort into it this time. Get along well with Xinwei, and don’t always act so cold and distant.”
The door to the IV room was gently pushed open as Tan Qinyin returned from the restroom.
“I have to go.”
After saying this, Chu Nanyu hung up the phone directly.
Tan Qinyin sat down beside him and casually asked, “Who were you talking to on the phone?”
Chu Nanyu lightly tapped the edge of his phone, his expression unchanged: “A work call.”
Tan Qinyin nodded and brought up another topic: “Husband, how long has it been since we visited your parents? Should we go see them together this weekend?”
Chu Nanyu’s eyes flickered slightly, his tone growing somewhat cooler: “They went on vacation to New Zealand after the New Year and won’t be back for a few months.”
“Oh, I see…” Tan Qinyin scratched her temple, “Then let’s go visit Grandma. She gave me such beautiful peonies today, so I should return the gesture.”
Chu Nanyu looked at her and didn’t refuse this time: “Alright.”
“It’s settled then,” Tan Qinyin smiled and linked her arm with his, “What does Grandma like?”
“She loves sweets. I’ll prepare something when the time comes.”
…
Around four in the afternoon, Song Qinghe arrived at Whale Pond Manor in her beloved car.
Butler Li arranged a guest room for her on the third floor, and Tan Qinyin enthusiastically led her upstairs.
“My husband won’t be back for dinner tonight. Let’s go have hot pot later.”
“Sure, sure.”
Song Qinghe discreetly glanced around. Truth be told, this big shot’s taste was really impressive.
“Hey, Yinyin, which room do you sleep in again? I forgot.”
Tan Qinyin pointed: “I stay in the room on the west side of the second floor.”
Song Qinghe casually asked again: “What about the one on the east side?”
“That’s where my husband stays.” Tan Qinyin pursed her lips, “He sleepwalks, so we don’t sleep together.”
Hearing this, Song Qinghe blinked and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
It’s good they don’t sleep together!
After the two of them finished tidying up their things, they headed out to a specialty hot pot restaurant.
Since Song Qinghe was somewhat well-known, it wasn’t suitable for her to sit in the main dining area. As the server led them toward a private room, they encountered two people in the hallway.
“Sister Qinyin!”
Hearing the voice, Tan Qinyin instinctively turned to look.
Lu Yanzhi’s face came into view, and standing beside him was another man.
Zeng Yiyang approached with a smile, “What a coincidence, are you two here for dinner too?”
Tan Qinyin looked at him with confusion, asking uncertainly, “Do we… know each other?”
Zeng Yiyang wore a hurt expression, “I’m your Yiyang-ge, don’t you remember?”
Lu Yanzhi spoke up at the right moment, “This is Zeng Yiyang, he’s friends with your brother too.”
Tan Qinyin nodded in realization and apologized, “Sorry, Yiyang-ge. I had a minor accident a few days ago and hit my head. My memory hasn’t fully recovered yet.”
Zeng Yiyang naturally knew about it and asked with concern, “How’s your recovery going?”
Tan Qinyin smiled, “Just a minor injury, I’m fine now.”
After the two exchanged pleasantries, Lu Yanzhi gently suggested, “Yinyin, since we’ve run into each other, why don’t we eat together?”
Zeng Yiyang chimed in, “Yeah, yeah, let’s eat together.”
Seeing Tan Qinyin hesitate, he put on a pitiful look, “Qinyin-meimei, you’re not going to refuse to eat with me just because you’ve temporarily forgotten me, are you?”
Tan Qinyin glanced at Song Qinghe beside her, seeking her opinion with her eyes.
Song Qinghe naturally had no objections, especially since this chance encounter was something she had orchestrated to help her friend regain her memory sooner.
“Let’s eat together then, it’ll be livelier with more people.”
Seeing no objections from her, Tan Qinyin softly agreed, “Of course not. Then we’ll be intruding.”
“Not at all,” Zeng Yiyang immediately replied with a smile. “We’re thrilled to have the chance to eat with two beautiful ladies.”
He nudged Lu Yanzhi with his elbow, “Right?”
Lu Yanzhi chuckled lightly, “Very happy to have dinner with you both.”
…
Inside the private room, a rich aroma mingled with steam filled the air. Zeng Yiyang, while cooking meat in the hot pot, said to Lu Yanzhi, who was preparing dipping sauce, “Yanzhi, make one for me too while you’re at it.”
“Alright.”
Lu Yanzhi placed the dipping sauce he had just prepared in front of Tan Qinyin before turning back to make one for Zeng Yiyang.
Tan Qinyin stared at the dipping sauce perfectly suited to her taste, slightly taken aback, her eyes filled with surprise.
Song Qinghe was also preparing dipping sauce and had originally planned to make one for Tan Qinyin as well.
She knew her friend’s dietary restrictions all too well—no green onions, garlic, or chili peppers, and absolutely no coriander or celery.
But seeing that Lu Yanzhi had already prepared and handed one over, she quietly finished making her own and returned to her seat.
Tan Qinyin slowly looked up at Lu Yanzhi, then lowered her gaze again after a moment, her fingertips lightly brushing the edge of the bowl.
Zeng Yiyang placed a large spoonful of beef into her dish, “Here, Qinyin-meimei, eat it while it’s hot!”
Tan Qinyin looked up again, smiling softly as she picked up her chopsticks, “Alright, thank you, Yiyang-ge.”
At the table, Zeng Yiyang brought up some light and casual topics, “A few movies just came out recently, have any of you seen them?”
Song Qinghe had only just found some free time in the past couple of days and naturally hadn’t had the chance to watch any, “But I heard one foreign film kept its full uncut version. I should go see it soon before it gets censored.”
“What kind of movie is it?” Tan Qinyin asked.
“I know the one you’re talking about,” Zeng Yiyang said, casually handing the large ladle to Lu Yanzhi as he continued chatting with them about the topic.
Lu Yanzhi quietly scooped up the cooked ingredients and placed them into everyone’s bowls.
With Zeng Yiyang and Song Qinghe around, the atmosphere at the table remained lively.
Halfway through the meal, Zeng Yiyang received a work call and got up to take it outside.
Song Qinghe glanced at the couple who had barely exchanged any words, smiled, and stood up. “I’m going to the restroom.”
In the private room, only Tan Qinyin and Lu Yanzhi remained.
The air fell silent for a moment.
Tan Qinyin felt a bit thirsty and reached for a drink. Just as her hand touched the bottle, another larger hand reached for it at the same time.
Their hands landed on the bottle one after the other, brushing against each other.