Qiu Wu had stayed at Luo Bai’s place for two days. On Tuesday evening, Xu Rong came over once more to check on Luo Bai, confirming that her body had fully recovered.
When she arrived, the two of them were eating dessert after dinner.
Xu Rong asked playfully, “This pudding looks good. Can I have a portion?”
This question was directed at Qiu Wu. Before Qiu Wu could reply, Luo Bai, seated beside her, calmly stated, “We only made two portions. There is no extra.”
“My apologies. It was my fault for speaking out of turn.” Xu Rong turned to her, her attitude instantly turning deferential.
After the examination, when escorting Xu Rong to the door, Qiu Wu heard the woman mutter something under her breath in the Luodong dialect.
“Quite possessive, aren’t we?”
On Wednesday morning, Luo Bai dropped Qiu Wu off at school.
“Thank you for bringing me back.”
“Mhm.”
“Then I will head off?”
“Mhm.”
“See you next time.”
“Alright.”
Qiu Wu tilted her head and looked at Luo Bai inside the car.
Luo Bai looked at her expressionlessly.
Neither of them had any intention of leaving first.
Luo Bai seemed a bit unhappy today, the downward curve of her lips slightly more pronounced than usual.
Is it because I am leaving?
Surely it could not be because she had to go to work.
The corners of Qiu Wu’s lips curved upward. She leaned close to the car window, gazed at her very earnestly, and said softly, “I will miss you.”
Luo Bai continued to look at her, a hint of confusion flickering in her eyes.
Qiu Wu sighed. She had never been in a relationship, but compared to Luo Bai, her meager pool of romantic knowledge seemed abundantly rich. “It means I enjoy spending time with you.”
“Is that so?” The woman in the car lowered her gaze as the morning sun swept across her dense eyelashes. She raised her eyes, the corners of her mouth slowly curving upward. “I will miss you too.”
When Qiu Wu walked through the school gate and looked back, Luo Bai’s car slowly began to ascend.
Although it was already working hours, Luo Bai decided to return home first.
Last night, Qiu Wu had prepared today’s breakfast for her in advance. The rice paste had been set on a timer and was still warm, while the frozen steamed buns only needed to be taken out and placed into the steamer to cook. Qiu Wu had supervised her as she programmed the heated bun routine into the housekeeper’s instruction library.
Luo Bai walked to the kitchen doorway holding a cup. She came to a sudden halt when she saw the housekeeper wrapped in steam inside, realizing that since Qiu Wu had gone to school, there was nothing here that required her help.
Why did I come over here?
Luo Bai gazed at the housekeeper’s metallic body shrouded in mist, her thoughts drifting far away once again.
The housekeeper’s design truly lacked aesthetic appeal.
Just as the steamed buns were served on the table, Luo Bai received a call from Luo Wen.
“You did not go to work?”
Though Luo Wen did not care about Luo Bai personally, she had to ensure that Luocheng’s scientific foundation remained flawless.
She knew Luo Bai was sick, and she equally knew that Luo Bai had failed to report to work on time after recovering.
“Mhm. I forgot to request leave, but I will submit the paperwork later.” Luo Bai looked down at the steamed bun in her hand, answering with casual indifference.
She knew Luo Wen was monitoring her and had accepted the other party’s rhetoric of it is all for the city state’s safety.
Conversely, she felt no particular guilt for being absent from work.
The Seventh Research Institute operated independently of Future Technology’s research framework, focusing on the development direction of Luocheng mechas and reporting solely to her. Missing work only delayed her personal research progress.
And right now, she personally felt that eating breakfast was far more important than work that yielded little progress.
“I understand.” Luo Wen hung up the phone and glanced sideways at Luo Cheng, who was standing straight beside her.
“Are you certain that Qiu Wu is not a problem?”
“None,” Luo Cheng replied, shaking her head while placing a stack of paper documents onto Luo Wen’s desk. “Existing records can be traced back to her great grandmother’s generation, and all her relatives are Luocheng residents. Her family has always operated a farm in Luo Xi, and Qiu Wu was only brought to Luo Dong by the Qiu family nine years ago, with no suspicious activities during that period.”
Luo Wen furrowed her brow, flipping past the smiling ID photo of Qiu Wu at the top of the documents. “Yet she is interfering with Luo Bai’s work.”
“Well, I have already warned her, however…” Luo Cheng raised her eyes to quietly appraise Luo Wen, wearing the expression of someone debating whether to speak her mind.
Luo Wen shot her a sidelong glance. “If you have something to say, spit it out.”
“As you know, Miss Qiu is only twenty-one. People at that age inevitably hold unrealistic fantasies, especially regarding romance.”
Luo Wen sneered. “She did not heed your warning?”
“That is a common flaw among young people; they always feel they can save the world,” Luo Cheng gave a bitter smile.
“Make them break up now.” Luo Wen furrowed her brow tightly, curving her knuckles and rapping heavily against the desk.
“I would not advise doing that,” Luo Cheng wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Given Miss Luo’s temperament, she will not accept this handling of the matter. If we forcefully interfere, the losses will outweigh the gains.”
Don’t you know what your own niece is like? If she listened to half a word from you, she wouldn’t insist on dating a penniless little girl, and if you could actually control her, would you still be here bickering with me?
“Let us observe for now.” Although she couldn’t hear the internal complaints, Luo Wen clearly arrived at the same conclusion. The woman massaged her temple with one hand and waved a hand, dismissing her.
Luo Bai stared at the bitten steamed bun in her hand for a moment before sending a message to Qiu Wu.
Luo Bai: Today’s steamed bun does not taste as good as last night’s.
Qiu Wu replied very quickly: How could that be? The filling is the exact same. Take a photo and let me see.
Luo Bai: [Photo]
Qiu Wu: Doesn’t this look fine?
Luo Bai: I do not know why either.
Qiu Wu: [Pat head sticker] If you don’t want to eat it, don’t force yourself. I will make you something else next time.
Luo Bai: Mhm, I won’t force myself.
She had originally been certain the bun didn’t taste as good as yesterday’s, but after chatting with Qiu Wu for a bit and taking another bite, she inexplicably felt the flavor return to normal.
Luo Bai looked around the empty living room. The housekeeper had already reverted to its box form, leaving her as the only living creature in the entire space.
No one would sit beside her, praising her for eating quickly and well.
Was the living room always this big?
On Friday, Qiu Wu received a message from Qiu Qi asking her to return for the family dinner that evening.
Family dinner, what an unfamiliar vocabulary word.
Qiu Wu felt a helpless resignation. Just two days ago, Xiang Xiang had mentioned that Qiu Qi used the Luo family’s reputation to secure several business deals, stabilizing their originally collapsing enterprise.
It seemed the master’s divination had proven accurate after all.
The moment she pushed open the gates of the Qiu residence, all the servants inside were neatly arranged in two rows according to seniority, bowing at a ninety degree angle and shouting in unison, “Good evening, Miss!”
Qiu Wu was so startled she nearly stumbled backward.
Clutching her chest, she forced a smile, wanting to bow back but fearing it would only make the scene worse, leaving her stranded in an awkward dilemma.
“Xiao Wu is back. Today’s meal was specially prepared for you,” a beaming Qiu Qi hurried over, patting her shoulder gently with a warm expression and praising her, “You really are our family’s greatest contributor.”
Our family…
Qiu Wu felt a momentary trance as the smiling faces of her mothers flashed through her mind.
Too much time had passed; she could barely remember them clearly anymore.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Qiu Ji glaring at her malevolently from the end of the line.
Qiu Wu shivered and offered Qiu Qi a strained smile. “You flatter me, it is only right.”
She mustn’t misunderstand; this so called familial affection was entirely aimed at Luo Bai and had nothing to do with her.
Qiu Wu was pressed into the host seat by Qiu Qi, sitting on pins and needles under Qiu Ji’s occasional flashes of malicious intent, completely losing her appetite.
To make matters worse, Qiu Qi kept asking with feigned concern, “What is the matter, does it not suit your taste?”
Can you please have your daughter stop glaring at me first?
It wasn’t until Qiu Qi left the table to take a phone call that Qiu Wu finally felt slightly at ease.
Crash!
The muffled sound of metal slamming against the wooden floor echoed through the dining room as Qiu Ji, sitting at the other end of the long table, sneered at her, “Are you feeling quite smug?”
Not really.
What was there for a sacrificial lamb used in an arranged marriage to feel smug about?
Qiu Wu had never understood the root of Qiu Ji’s malice toward her. When she first arrived at the Qiu family, although Qiu Ji had also worn the demeanor of a benefactor, it had never reached the point of resorting to physical aggression at the slightest disagreement.
She dared not speak. At this moment, saying anything would only add fuel to the fire. Lowering her head, she quietly slid her chair back from the dining table, tensing her thighs in preparation to flee at a moment’s notice.
The atmosphere in the dining room was practically frozen, making even the short vibration of a phone sound distinct.
The highly tense Qiu Wu jumped at the vibration, fumbling blindly to pull out her phone and check the screen.
Luo Bai (Girlfriend): Do you have time for a date this weekend?
Uncommonly, there was even an emoji attached at the end.
Luo Bai had once specifically asked her why she always liked adding images to her messages. After accepting her explanation that conversations are more vivid this way, the woman would occasionally send a few herself.
However, Luo Bai’s choice of emojis always seemed to miss the mark while carrying a hint of peculiar humor, sourced from goodness knows where.
For instance, this time it was an image of a lonely old person sitting at a doorway gazing into the distance, paired with the caption: Everyone is busy. Being busy is good.
“Ahem… ahem ahem!”
Unable to hold back her laughter, Qiu Wu choked herself half to death.