It was not until she got into the car and watched it slowly start moving away from the Zhou Group that Tang Luoqing finally came back to her senses.
“Thank you.”
Tang Luoqing thanked him softly and tried her best to move as close to the window as possible.
Zhou Jinbai sat on the other side of the back seat, leaving nearly half a person’s width between them.
After taking his seat, he accepted the documents Assistant Shen handed him and lowered his eyes to read them.
Hearing Tang Luoqing’s thanks, he simply responded, “It’s nothing.”
The car fell silent, with only the faint rustling of paper as the man turned the pages.
As time passed, a cool and clean scent filled the air. Tang Luoqing quietly raised her eyes and quickly glanced at the man sitting nearby.
Zhou Jinbai’s back rested against the seat. The lines of his profile were cold and sharply defined, while his jaw remained tightly set. Sunlight filtered through the dark car windows and softened as it fell upon the gold rim of his glasses, concealing the emotions in his eyes.
The man was completely absorbed in his reading. His well defined fingers rested against the page, the fingertips slightly pale, and even the simple act of turning a page carried an elegant and restrained sense of refinement.
Without realizing it, Tang Luoqing tightened her grip around the red cord on her left wrist, her fingertips brushing against the tiny goldfish pendant. The familiar touch made her feel a little more at ease.
She really was a little afraid of Zhou Jinbai.
It was not only because he was the person in charge of the Zhou Group, having taken control of such a huge business empire at a young age, with an overwhelming presence that could make people feel short of breath. It was also because he was Zhou Yancheng’s older brother.
Whenever they met, he was always polite yet distant. Whenever his indifferent gaze swept over her, it felt as though he were examining a proposal waiting for approval, making Tang Luoqing instinctively wonder whether she had done something wrong.
Now that they were alone in the same car, she did not even dare to breathe too loudly.
Tang Luoqing quietly turned her gaze toward the window, watching the scenery along the street rush past. She silently counted little sheep, trying to distract herself.
Yujing Bay was quite a distance from the Zhou Group building, and the drive would take around forty minutes. To Tang Luoqing, forty minutes alone with Zhou Jinbai felt almost like enduring a long surprise examination.
What she did not know was that the man who appeared completely absorbed in his documents had been staring at the same page for three minutes without taking in a single word.
From the corner of his eye, Zhou Jinbai watched the slender reflection on the car window.
The girl was looking out at the passing scenery, her fingertips repeatedly rubbing the red cord around her wrist. Her little movements revealed an unmistakable sense of restraint.
He knew she was afraid of him. Whenever they met at family gatherings, she would quietly stay beside Zhou Yancheng, and even raising her head to look at him seemed to require considerable courage.
Yet the more she behaved like this, the more his gaze seemed unable to stop falling upon Tang Luoqing.
It was like a moth flying toward a flame. He knew he was crossing a line, yet he could not restrain himself.
At that moment, a faint vibration suddenly sounded in the quiet car. The muffled noise came from the girl’s pocket.
Tang Luoqing jumped in surprise and hurriedly reached for her phone, afraid that the vibration would disturb the man beside her while he was reading.
The moment she got hold of the phone, she answered and pressed it to her ear, her voice soft and gentle.
“Hello…”
It was the planning editor from the publishing company. Her voice carried a hint of urgency.
“Teacher Tang, the picture book illustrations you promised last time are going into production tomorrow after typesetting. Can you finalize them tonight? Didn’t you say there were only a few details left?”
“Yes, I know.”
Tang Luoqing instinctively turned her body away from Zhou Jinbai, lowering her head as she answered softly.
“There are only the lighting adjustments on the last two pages. I can finish them tonight. I’ll definitely send them to your email before midnight, so it won’t delay the schedule. I’m sorry, Sister Zhang.”
“All right, then I’ll be waiting for you. Don’t let anything go wrong at the last minute. The client is already pressing us.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t.”
After hanging up, Tang Luoqing let out a long breath of relief. When she turned around, she happened to meet Zhou Jinbai’s gaze.
The man had raised his eyes at some point and was quietly looking at her.
His dark eyes were unfathomably deep, like a frozen, bottomless lake.
Tang Luoqing’s heart tightened, and she immediately felt awkward, as though she had been caught secretly talking in class by her teacher.
She hurriedly put her phone back into her pocket and lowered her head.
“Sorry, Big Brother. I disturbed you while you were reading.”
“It’s fine.”
Zhou Jinbai’s voice was low, carrying a faintly magnetic quality from the confined space of the car, yet his emotions were impossible to discern.
His gaze swept across Tang Luoqing’s face before moving downward and stopping on the red cord around her left wrist.
The cord had faded slightly with age, with tiny frayed edges along its surface. A small goldfish ornament hung from it, swaying gently with her movements. Sunlight fell upon the pendant, reflecting a faint, fragmented glimmer.
Zhou Jinbai remembered this red cord.
One night last year, Zhou Yancheng had returned to the old Zhou residence drunk. He had drunkenly waved a red cord in his hand, proudly claiming that he had spent a long time learning how to braid it and had finally succeeded in making it as a birthday present for his girlfriend. He had also said that the goldfish represented the cat she raised, Milk Candy, symbolizing abundance year after year.
At the time, Zhou Jinbai had merely glanced at it before turning around and going upstairs.
But now, seeing the red cord wrapped around Tang Luoqing’s slender wrist and making her fair skin look even paler, Zhou Jinbai felt as though something had pricked his heart.
The pain was faint, yet impossible to shake.
Zhou Jinbai’s eyes darkened slightly. He withdrew his gaze and looked back down at the document in front of him, but his fingers no longer moved to turn the page.
The car fell silent once again.
Tang Luoqing quietly breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back against the seat, but her mind had already begun planning how she would finish her work that evening.
She had been working on this set of picture book illustrations for almost a month. She should have finished them last week, but her grandmother’s death anniversary had delayed her by two days. She was indeed pressed for time now. As soon as she got home, she would have to turn on her computer, and she might not even have time for lunch.
Just as she was thinking about this, a familiar wave of dizziness suddenly swept over her.
The scenery before her eyes swayed as though covered by a thin layer of fog, while a faint ringing began in her ears.
Knowing immediately that her low blood sugar was acting up, Tang Luoqing instinctively reached for a piece of candy. Her hand grasped nothing, reminding her that she had been in such a hurry when she left to deliver the documents that she had forgotten to bring any candy with her.
Tang Luoqing bit down hard on her lower lip and took a deep breath, trying to suppress the dizziness.
But instead of fading, it grew stronger.
Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on Tang Luoqing’s forehead. Her fingertips turned cold, and even her breathing began to weaken. Her lips lost their color as she frowned, her entire body gradually curling toward the car window as though she wanted to hide herself away.
She thought she was being quiet enough, but she did not realize that the man beside her had looked over the moment her breathing became irregular.
When Zhou Jinbai raised his eyes, he saw Tang Luoqing leaning against the car window with her face turned sideways. Her eyelashes trembled lightly, her face pale as paper, and even her lips had lost their color, making her look exceptionally fragile.
The man’s brows drew tightly together.
He put down the document and looked toward Assistant Shen in the front passenger seat, extending a hand.
Assistant Shen met his boss’s gaze through the rearview mirror, and his heart immediately skipped a beat.
Then he looked at Miss Tang’s reaction and instantly understood what was happening. He hurriedly reached into his pocket, pulled out an individually wrapped piece of fruit candy, and turned around to place it in his boss’s hand.
Tang Luoqing was already becoming dazed. Through her hazy vision, she seemed to see a piece of candy.
Before she could reach for it, a well defined hand took it first.
Zhou Jinbai held the candy, tore open the wrapper, and moved with calm efficiency.
Then the man turned slightly toward Tang Luoqing and offered it to her. His voice was deeper than before, with an almost imperceptible tension beneath it.
“Open your mouth.”
Tang Luoqing froze.
She opened her moist eyes and looked at the man who was now so close to her.
He was much closer than before, far closer.
His thick eyelashes trembled behind his glasses, his jawline was tightly drawn, and between his long fingers was a piece of candy still wrapped in its paper.
The next moment, he placed the candy into her mouth.
His movement was quick, yet strangely restrained and measured, so much so that his fingers did not touch Tang Luoqing’s lips at all.
Tang Luoqing’s mind went completely blank, and she instinctively opened her mouth.
The slightly cool candy slipped inside. A sweet peach flavor immediately spread across her tongue, and the sweetness flowed down her throat, gradually dispelling the coldness in her limbs and the dizziness clouding her vision.
Tang Luoqing held the candy in her mouth and slowly blinked. The scenery before her eyes gradually became clear again.
“Th, thank you, Big Brother.”
After recovering, Tang Luoqing thanked him softly. Her voice was still a little weak, and the tips of her ears had quietly turned red.
Because just now, she had actually thought that Big Brother’s gaze looked very gentle, even if it had only been for a fleeting moment.
She must have been so dizzy from her low blood sugar that she had imagined it.
Zhou Jinbai had already withdrawn his hand and returned to his seat. He held the candy wrapper in his palm, his expression giving nothing away as he spoke calmly.
“You don’t need to thank me. The candy belongs to Assistant Shen.”
“Huh?”
Tang Luoqing froze and looked toward Assistant Shen in the front passenger seat. Then she curved her eyes into a smile and sincerely thanked him.
“Thank you, Assistant Shen. I really appreciate the candy.”
Assistant Shen fell silent.
He turned around in surprise, the corner of his mouth twitching almost imperceptibly. He quickly hid the surprise in his eyes with his years of professional training and put on a standard professional smile. Nodding repeatedly, he said, “Ah, yes, yes, my candy. I just happen to like sweet things, so I always carry some with me. What a coincidence. I’m glad you’re all right, Miss Tang.”
Inwardly, however, he was screaming.
This candy had clearly been bought by the boss specifically for her. He had even personally instructed him to buy white peach flavor, with moderate sweetness and individual wrapping, and had ordered him to carry it with him after buying it.
Just now, he had personally witnessed the boss’s tense yet restrained reaction when Miss Tang’s low blood sugar acted up.
Assistant Shen had been following Zhou Jinbai for seven years, and he had never seen his boss care so much about anyone.
The last time he had accidentally encountered Miss Tang eating a piece of candy because of low blood sugar in the corridor of the Zhou family residence, the boss had appeared completely indifferent as he walked past her. Yet immediately afterward, he had ordered Assistant Shen to find out Miss Tang’s dietary preferences, even specifying that her preferred candy flavor should be white peach and not overly sweet.
And yet the boss insisted on pretending that he did not care at all. He even had to use his assistant’s name just to give her a piece of candy.
Assistant Shen sighed inwardly and silently turned back around, staring straight ahead as he tried his best to reduce his presence, afraid that one careless move might expose his boss’s painstaking concern.
The atmosphere inside the car seemed to have changed because of that single piece of candy.
Tang Luoqing held the candy in her mouth as its sweet flavor slowly spread. A warm sweetness gradually flowed through her entire body.
She secretly glanced at Zhou Jinbai.
The man had already lowered his head and returned to reading his documents. His profile was still as cold and sharply defined as ever, his features smooth and composed, giving him the same distant air that kept people at arm’s length.
It was as though the man who had leaned over to give her the candy moments ago had never been him.