"See, I'm not afraid of you."
Su Qiu didn't know why Zhou Jingqian was praising her cousin.
Her cousin had been handsome as a child, but now—with his explosive red hair and ear cartilage piercings—he'd even gotten a loving coat-hanger lesson from his mother last month for street racing.
Her gaze swept to the side.
People really did have different tastes.
The kind of handsome Su Qiu appreciated was someone like Zhou Jingqian.
She picked up her books and was about to head downstairs when Xiang Yiming suddenly walked up and called out to his daughter.
"Xiao Qiu, wait a moment."
Sensing they needed to talk, Zhou Jingqian said gently, "I'll head down first."
Father and daughter stood at the corner of the spiral staircase. Xiang Yiming rubbed his palms together, his expression slightly tense. "Qiuqiu, has your mother… called you recently?"
Su Qiu remembered the phone call a few days ago—the cold tone on the other end. She'd just woken up then and hadn't even caught what was said before the line went dead.
She lowered her eyes and nodded, then looked up again. "Did she call you too?"
Xiang Yiming nodded, his expression not looking too good.
"What did she say?"
"Ah, nothing much. Adult stuff—you don't need to worry about it."
Su Qiu was silent for two seconds, her dark grape-like eyes staring straight at him. "Dad, tell me."
His daughter was usually as docile as a little ball of cotton, but when she got serious, even old father Xiang Yiming didn't dare talk back.
"She said I shouldn't have found you a husband without asking her opinion first." Xiang Yiming patted his daughter's shoulder. "Anyway, Xiao Qiu, if she says anything to you, don't take it to heart. Dad will handle it."
Su Qiu took a deep breath, her fingertips quietly tightening.
Over the years, her mother hadn't completely cut off contact—she sent gifts every birthday, and on the day of her eighteenth birthday ceremony, she'd flown back to have a meal with her. Though her mother had taken a work call midway through the meal and left, and hadn't smiled at her once the entire time.
Su Qiu tilted her head, looking down at the living room.
Zhou Jingqian had apparently said something to Grandmother, who was now laughing heartily at his words.
Somehow, the faint melancholy in her heart dispersed.
She lifted the corners of her lips. "Dad, thank you."
"Hm? Thank Dad for what?"
"Thank you for finding me such an excellent husband."
Xiang Yiming froze for three seconds, then suddenly puffed out his chest, his voice no longer hushed but bright and clear: "Of course! Your dad's eye for people is spot on!"
His ex-wife accused him of playing matchmaker recklessly, but his sweet, adorable, beautiful, kind, filial, and clever precious daughter was clearly on his side.
Su Qiu placed the two round lop-eared rabbits into a rattan rabbit cage and brought them to their new territory.
The two little creatures trotted around on their stubby legs, sniffing everywhere, and before long were playing with the tunnel toy.
Su Qiu sat cross-legged on the floor, watching them with a smile.
Actually, she and Zhou Jingqian were the same.
Growing up, she'd never had anything she particularly wanted.
No obsession with anything she absolutely had to have.
Until she'd stumbled upon these two abandoned baby rabbits on the film set, and that place in her heart that seemed overgrown with thorns was inexplicably smoothed over by something soft and furry.
After settling her beloved pets.
Su Qiu came out of her room and noticed the light on in the other secondary bedroom down the hall.
She walked over, puzzled.
Just in time to see Zhou Jingqian bending over to arrange a pillow.
Hearing her footsteps, Zhou Jingqian turned around. "Starting tonight, I'll sleep in this room."
"Ah…"
Su Qiu's fingers rested on the doorframe, her face full of bewilderment.
Zhou Jingqian said in a gentle tone, "It was inconsiderate of me. We really should have a gradual transition period between us."
He paused, then added softly, "You can go to bed early tonight."
Hearing this, Su Qiu thought to herself, I actually have some good ideas tonight and was planning to write a bit later.
But that wasn't the main point.
Why did Zhou Jingqian suddenly want separate rooms?
Had last night's shared bed experience not been good?
He probably wasn't used to physical contact with a stranger of the opposite sex either.
That was the only reason Su Qiu could think of.
With that thought, she understood.
After showering, Su Qiu went to the study to work as usual.
Remembering Zhou Jingqian's words about sleeping early, she wrapped up just past midnight tonight.
Back in the master bedroom, looking at the big bed that was hers alone again, Su Qiu lay down comfortably and rolled around twice.
She slept soundly.
Zhou Jingqian woke at seven in the morning, swam two laps, and went back to the secondary bedroom to shower.
During this time, the house was quiet, the master bedroom door remained tightly shut, as if he lived alone.
Auntie Wu came over to make breakfast and asked if she should prepare lunch for him.
Zhou Jingqian said no. "I'll be back for dinner."
He'd promised Su Qiu he'd eat meals with her. Lunch was hard to arrange, but he'd try his best to come back for dinner.
Rui Si Investment Holdings, founded by Zhou Jingqian, had its own standalone building in the CBD commercial center of Ning City.
Four consecutive hours of meetings, even with the people on the video call pressing hard and deliberately making things difficult.
The man seated at the center remained steady and composed throughout.
Zhou Jingqian had deep family connections and a powerful backing. Anyone else in his position might have thrown their weight around and used their authority to pressure others.
But that had never been his style.
The favored son of heaven wasn't without sharp edges—it was that his rationality always prevailed, and he was accustomed to solving problems calmly.
Zhou Jingqian was too steady. He seemed incapable of losing control over anything or anyone.
Finally, the meeting ended and the contract was finalized.
The one who let out a bigger sigh of relief than Zhou Jingqian was the young man seated at his side.
A light pink shirt with a subtle pattern, its top two buttons undone, revealed a thin snake-pattern chain beneath.
You Xun let out a breath and collapsed into his chair, the corners of his peach-blossom eyes tilting upward as he smiled with rakish charm: "After a full two months of grinding, we finally cracked this tough nut!"
The tension between Zhou Jingqian's brows eased slightly as well: "Good work."
"Nothing compared to your hard work, President Zhou."
You Xun twirled his pen: "How about we unwind tonight, grab a drink? Coincidentally, an old college classmate of mine just got back in the country."
"Haven't you been wanting to hire another risk control manager? She's got solid expertise and relevant experience—I'm planning to poach her."
He paused, then raised an eyebrow suggestively: "She's been asking me to set up an introduction, hoping to meet you."
Zhou Jingqian had been single all these years, and as his childhood friend, You Xun had often been asked to play matchmaker.
Of course, You Xun didn't just introduce anyone to Zhou Jingqian—only those he deemed a match in family background, ability, and looks would earn a mention from him.
"The risk control manager is being hired for you to manage," Zhou Jingqian said flatly. "You go ahead. I'll skip it."
"Why not?" You Xun raised an eyebrow. "Got plans tonight?"
"Yeah, I need to go home for dinner."
You Xun clicked his tongue: "I thought it was something important. The way you said it, it sounds like you've got a wife and kids at home waiting eagerly for you to come eat."
Zhou Jingqian was about to respond when You Xun's phone rang, and he stepped away to take it.
Zhou Jingqian smiled faintly and turned back to his office.
At three in the afternoon, You Xun, having finished his work, wandered over again.
As the only vice president at Ruisi who could enter Zhou Jingqian's office without knocking, he settled into a chair with easy familiarity: "What do you think of naming our new project Zhirui?"
"Not great."
"Tsk, you don't appreciate good taste. I had a master calculate it specially—guaranteed smooth sailing."
Zhou Jingqian gave a helpless smile: "Then it's up to you."
He turned his computer toward him, gesturing: "Recompile this page of data for me."
You Xun took the computer and glanced at it, about to say he'd get it done shortly, when his gaze swept across the title of the webpage open in the browser.
"A Guide to Raising Rabbits—what's this?"
"Nothing, just doing some homework."
"Since when did you want to raise rabbits?"
"My wife likes them."
"Oh."
You Xun's head snapped up: "What? Who?"
Zhou Jingqian looked at him with a faint smile.
You Xun: "You have a wife? Where did she come from?"
Naturally, introduced by both families, properly wed through formal rites.
Zhou Jingqian: "Through legal channels."
You Xun: "Where?"
Zhou Jingqian: "The Civil Affairs Bureau."
You Xun: "…"
Zhou Jingqian wasn't the type to joke about such things.
You Xun slowly sank back into his chair: "So you had a whirlwind marriage? How trendy. When are you bringing the little sister-in-law out to meet us?"
Zhou Jingqian paused: "I'll have to ask her first."
Even for his friends, meeting her required her consent first.
He wouldn't force her into his social circle just because of their marital status—if she didn't want to, he wouldn't push her to meet anyone.
Su Qiu slept in until she naturally woke, then enjoyed Auntie Wu's cooking—quite leisurely.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sunlight was glaring. Ning City's temperatures were so high; Jian Yin, holed up in the mountains with her crew, was probably even hotter.
Su Qiu ordered some heat-relief supplies to be sent to the film set. Originally, she and Hao Hao were going to visit together.
Jian Yin hurriedly said don't come, don't come—wait until she switched filming locations and got out of the mountains.
Setting down her phone, Su Qiu bent over and scooped up the two little rabbits sniffing around the sofa into her arms.
The two little ones flopped onto her chest, their pink noses nuzzling against her collarbone.
At six in the evening, Zhou Jingqian returned. Su Qiu was leaning against the garden railing, photographing the sunset, the evening breeze lifting the ends of her hair.
She watched the city's high-rises bathed in an orange glow.
He watched her silhouette.
The two little rabbits lay on the carpet.
The little white rabbit, the moment it spotted Zhou Jingqian, immediately hopped away.
Zhou Jingqian bent down and scooped up the motionless little gray rabbit. The little gray one sniffed his palm and nestled obediently into his hold.
Su Qiu turned and walked inside, and seeing the little gray curled up like a ball in Zhou Jingqian's palm, she smiled with quiet contentment.
Zhou Jingqian stroked the little gray rabbit's head and asked, "Do they have names?"
Su Qiu: "Yes—Little White and Little Gray."
Zhou Jingqian nodded. Truly befitting a cultural worker—simple, clear, and instantly recognizable names.
Zhou Jingqian had never kept pets. His friends raised wolfhounds, cats, goldfish—none of it moved him.
An animal's life was too short; if you never had one, you'd never face the day of losing it.
But at this moment, the little gray rabbit nuzzled softly against his palm, and not far away, his young wife crouched on the carpet, teasing Little White.
That untouched place in his heart was brushed over with something soft and fuzzy.
Auntie Wu had just finished cooking and was about to call them to eat when Zhou Jingqian's phone suddenly rang.
He answered and listened for a moment, his brow furrowing.
"What's wrong?"
"A friend got into a minor car accident."
"Is it serious?" Su Qiu's brows unconsciously knit together.
"It shouldn't be serious. I'll go check it out." Zhou Jingqian glanced at the dining table and said gently, "You go ahead and eat. I might not be back anytime soon."
Su Qiu nodded and watched him leave.
On the way, You Xun swerved to avoid a pedestrian running a red light and crashed into a guardrail. The pedestrian was fine, but You Xun fractured his left arm.
Zhou Jingqian personally drove him home and told him to rest for a while—no need to come into the office.
You Xun was the second-in-command at Ruis, second only to Zhou Jingqian. Now that he could only use one hand, part of his workload was redistributed, and certain decision-making matters had to be handled by Zhou Jingqian himself.
With more on his plate, he naturally couldn't make it back by six to have dinner with Su Qiu.
Su Qiu didn't particularly mind eating alone, nor had she taken Zhou Jingqian's earlier words to heart.
Between the two of them, each busy with their own affairs was the norm.
But no one could have predicted that, because they slept in separate rooms and their schedules were completely out of sync, they wouldn't run into each other for days on end despite living under the same roof.
At night, Su Qiu wore headphones in the study writing scripts, while Zhou Jingqian came home late and went to the second bedroom to wash up and rest.
He left at eight in the morning, when Su Qiu was still wrapped in her blanket, deep in dreamland.
By the time she naturally woke up, Zhou Jingqian had already been through several rounds of meetings at the office.
Moreover, Zhou Jingqian wasn't the type to leave personal items scattered around the house.
So much so that Su Qiu felt like she was back to living alone.
Two more days passed, and Zhou Jingqian finally freed up time, coming home at six to make good on his earlier promise.
They hadn't crossed paths in the house for nearly a week, and the faint familiarity they'd built had reverted to a state of awkwardness.
"You're back…"
Su Qiu stood in the living room, wearing a strawberry ShellieMay headband atop her head, matching her pink cotton nightgown.
Zhou Jingqian was about to speak when his gaze caught her calves beneath the knee-length nightgown. His eyes stopped.
There was a bruise on her left calf, starkly visible against her fair skin.
Zhou Jingqian frowned. "How did that happen?"
Su Qiu pressed her lips together, a little embarrassed as she scratched her head, hemming and hawing without getting a word out.
She had some pride to maintain, after all.
Zhou Jingqian strode closer. "How exactly did it happen?"
The man's tall figure suddenly loomed over her, so close it felt oppressive.
Su Qiu's lashes trembled involuntarily. Reluctantly, she pointed toward the garden pool. "When I was getting out of the water, I accidentally knocked against the pool edge…"
Zhou Jingqian was silent for a moment. "Have you applied any medicine?"
Auntie Wu had given her a cold compress yesterday and said to rub it the next day to help it fade faster, but Su Qiu found it troublesome and didn't bother.
Unexpectedly, what had been a small bruise had spread somewhat, looking even more noticeable now.
Anyone who didn't know better might think someone had punched her there.
They'd need to have someone reassess the safety of the pool edges. Zhou Jingqian said in a low voice, "Go sit on the sofa. I'll apply medicine and rub it for you."
Before Su Qiu could refuse, Zhou Jingqian showed a rare moment of assertiveness—he'd already unbuttoned his shirt cuffs and folded them up twice, then turned to wash his hands.
Su Qiu was wearing a dress and couldn't easily lift her leg. Zhou Jingqian pulled over a low stool and sat on the carpet, gesturing for her to rest her foot on his thigh.
Su Qiu hesitated, then under Zhou Jingqian's gaze, slowly placed her foot down. Instantly, she felt the firmness of his thigh muscles.
When she slipped off her slippers, he saw that the top of her foot was also bruised. Zhou Jingqian's brow furrowed even deeper.
He found the medicinal oil from the home first-aid kit the old lady had prepared for him, pouring some into his palm and rubbing his hands together to warm it.
"It won't hurt much. Don't worry."
With that, the man's warm hand covered her leg, his long, slender fingers wrapping around her calf as he applied even pressure with his palm.
Su Qiu instinctively leaned back slightly, tilting her head to study Zhou Jingqian.
He kept his eyes lowered, massaging her foot, his face showing no sign of reluctance—only focused seriousness.
Hadn't he said they needed a gradual transition period?
Hadn't he said he wasn't used to physical contact?
Was this now—did it mean the transition period was over? Or what?
Su Qiu was lost in thought until Zhou Jingqian screwed the cap back on the medicinal oil.
She still couldn't quite figure it out, so she decided to just ask. "Zhou Jingqian—"
Zhou Jingqian cut her off. "Don't thank me. It's nothing." More than that, it was his duty.
Su Qiu smiled. "I wasn't going to thank you."
She paused, meeting his eyes directly. "I wanted to ask you—why are you sleeping in the second bedroom?"
He'd been sleeping there for a week now, with no sign of moving back.
Zhou Jingqian sat on the low stool, his eyes level with hers. He was silent for a moment, a gentle light shimmering in his deep gaze. "To let you get used to me. So you won't be afraid of me anymore."
Su Qiu was stunned. "I… afraid of you?"
Just then, Auntie Wu finished cooking and came out of the kitchen carrying a soup bowl. "Ma'am, I specially made some Dendrobium and American ginseng soup today. You're always up late writing scripts—this soup is best for nourishing the liver and brightening the eyes!"
If Su Qiu wanted a particular dish the next day, she'd message Auntie Wu the night before.
Auntie Wu had noticed several times that her messages came in the early hours of the morning, so she'd asked about it.
Zhou Jingqian paused at the remark, as if something had just occurred to him. His brow lifted slightly. "So that night you stayed up until three—you were writing your script?"
Su Qiu blinked. "That's right."
That was the only night she had a burst of inspiration; afterward, she went to sleep just past midnight every night.
When she saw him suddenly bring up something from a week ago, her eyes shifted slightly, and she understood what was going on.
Auntie Wu went back into the kitchen, and the living room fell quiet.
Su Qiu picked at the edge of the sofa with her fingertips. After a moment, she looked up. "My leg hurts a little."
"Can you… carry me over there?"
"Okay." Zhou Jingqian didn't hesitate. He bent down and scooped her up in his arms.
The wife in his arms was small and curled up, immediately reminding him of the little gray rabbit nestled in his palm.
His movements were steady, almost effortless—even his breathing rhythm didn't change.
Su Qiu pressed her cheek against his chest, never lifting her eyes.
From the living room to the dining table was only a few steps. When she was set down on the dining chair, Su Qiu's hands were still wrapped around his neck, not letting go.
Taking advantage of Auntie Wu still being in the kitchen.
She pulled him slightly closer to her, the tips of her ears flushing red, her voice soft.
"See, I'm not afraid of you."