After dinner, Shen Qian conscientiously gathered the dishes and went to the kitchen to wash them.
Ji Qingtang had wanted to stop him and say that a cleaner was coming tomorrow, but thinking that he was surely just trying to linger a little longer to pry for information about Lu Xingye, she silently kept her mouth shut.
But even after Shen Qian finished washing the dishes, wiped the table, and swept the floor, she still never heard him ask a single thing about Lu Xingye.
Ji Qingtang thought about it—maybe he felt it would be too obvious, too easy to give himself away.
When he finished cleaning, Shen Qian was holding a garbage bag. “Thanks for your generous hospitality. I’ll repay you.”
Ji Qingtang: ”?” No need, really.
Back in his own home, Shen Qian bounced around excitedly. He had actually eaten a meal with Ji Qingtang!!
He really couldn’t believe it was real.
He carefully set the garbage bag by the door. He figured he must have gone crazy—actually thinking it wasn’t trash, but a treasure.
Shen Qian took out a mirror and checked himself. Hmm, not a bad look. She must have been charmed by him, right?
Otherwise, why did she keep looking at him so strangely during dinner?
His phone chimed. It was a message from Xie Yu.
“How did it go?”
Shen Qian typed a few words: “Thanks, bro.”
Scrolling up, their chat history showed:
“What should I do?”
“Go have a meal with her. Nothing builds a connection better. You give a little, she gives a little—getting together just happens naturally, doesn’t it?”
Early the next morning, while Ji Qingtang was still asleep, the doorbell rang nonstop.
Suppressing her morning grumpiness, she got up to answer the door.
She shuffled over slowly.
The moment she opened the door, there he was in a black athletic outfit—he seemed to especially love wearing black.
Shen Qian looked fresh and energized, a bit of sweat on his forehead, a few strands of bangs sticking damply to his skin, softening his usual sharpness and making him look almost… well-behaved.
Slightly out of breath, before Ji Qingtang could say a word, he shoved everything in his hands into her arms.
Then he said teasingly, “Still sleeping? You are—”
Ji Qingtang’s gaze came up. She was wearing fluffy pajamas, her brows furrowed with annoyance at having a lovely dream interrupted. Her features were clean and fresh, her cheeks a little flushed, like a glistening peach.
Shen Qian paused, then changed tack. “Put these in the fridge. I’m going to take a shower first, then I’ll make you breakfast.”
With that, he gave Ji Qingtang no time to refuse and immediately turned back to his own place.
Ji Qingtang’s head was still foggy as Shen Qian rattled on and on. She only saw his mouth opening and closing, without hearing a single word he said.
Once he was gone, she shuffled back to the living room, tossed the things in her arms onto the dining table, yawned, and went back to bed to keep sleeping—to finish the dream she’d left incomplete.
After showering, Shen Qian changed into casual clothes and stood in front of the bathroom mirror, frowning.
Then he picked up the perfume on the shelf—so neglected it was nearly gathering dust—sniffed it, and his brow furrowed even deeper.
He hesitated a moment, but sprayed a few times anyway.
He pressed Ji Qingtang’s doorbell again. He waited, but no response.
He pressed again. Still nothing.
Shen Qian: “…”
Had he scared her earlier?
Was things moving too fast?
Shen Qian took out his phone and agonized for a while.
Finally, unable to stand his own indecision any longer, he muttered a curse under his breath and dialed the number.
He had memorized her phone number long ago, back when he first saw Ji Qingtang’s team profile.
Ji Qingtang had only just managed to fall asleep when her phone rang again. She pulled the blanket over her head, but the phone kept ringing on and on beside her.
Annoyed, she grabbed it—a string of unfamiliar numbers. “Who is it?”
So early in the morning, ruining a perfectly good dream.
On the other end, he seemed not to have expected her to be this angry. After a two-second pause, a voice came through. “Your neighbor. Open the door for me.”
Ji Qingtang’s sanity slowly returned, but there was still a fire burning in her chest.
Suppressing her temper, she got out of bed again. “May I ask what President Shen needs?”
Coming over so many times this early in the morning.
Shen Qian, one hand in his pocket, ignored her question, walked straight in, and headed directly for the kitchen.
“Hey—hey, you!”
Ji Qingtang was stunned by the sheer audacity of the man. Had she even invited him in?
Shen Qian looked at the large bag of things set on the dining table and sighed. He had made a special detour to the supermarket on his way back from his morning run to buy these things for her.
When he came over yesterday, he had noticed that her fridge was completely empty except for a single expired cup of instant noodles—nothing about it suggested someone taking proper care of herself.
Ji Qingtang followed Shen Qian into the kitchen and watched, wide-eyed, as he skillfully arranged the items one by one into the fridge.
Now she was truly, completely awake.
“Wait, what are you doing?!”
Shen Qian didn’t pause. “Go back to sleep. I’ll call you when breakfast is ready.”
Ji Qingtang: “??”
There was no way she could go back to sleep now. A whole grown man—a man, no less—was in her home. How could she possibly sleep through that with a clear conscience?
Though, given his sexual orientation, she was safe.
At that thought, Ji Qingtang suddenly realized—could this guy have gone to all this trouble just to dig up information about Lu Xingye?
She sighed inwardly with pity. He was even more devoted than she had been. Even she had given up, yet he was still holding on. Loving someone you knew full well you could never have—what a shame.
After all, the two of them were practically comrades in suffering. By now, Ji Qingtang had mentally filed Shen Qian under “brothers.”
She walked over and patted his shoulder. “Give it up. You and him—it’s never going to happen.”
The words were a bit cruel, but they’d help him face reality.
Shen Qian, who had been secretly keeping an eye on Ji Qingtang the whole time, turned around at her words, lifting his gaze. His light brown eyes reflected the person standing before him as he frowned.
“What’s never going to happen?”
Ji Qingtang sighed. “Lu Xingye likes women. You and him—it’s impossible. Stop coming to me for information.”
The moment those words left her mouth, the air went dead silent.
Ji Qingtang stole a careful glance at Shen Qian.
His face showed no expression at all, as if what she’d said were no more remarkable than a comment about what to have for breakfast.
“You think I’m getting close to you because I’m interested in Lu Xingye? Because I’m trying to get information out of you?”
His calm tone made Ji Qingtang doubt her own theory.
She said nothing, but the expression on her face made her meaning perfectly clear.
Shen Qian was so exasperated he actually laughed. “Ji Qingtang, listen carefully.”
“I. Like. Women.”
He had no idea what went on in that little head of hers from day to day—how could she possibly lump him together with that scumbag?
Ji Qingtang stared at him blankly. “Oh… so you like women…”
Shen Qian let out a soft breath. He had originally planned to take things slowly, but she was driving him insane. After waiting all these years, he had finally appeared in her life—only for her to think he liked men.
He didn’t want to wait anymore.
Hadn’t he waited long enough all these years? When had he ever become such a coward?
Rather than continuing this hopeless waiting, it was better to take the initiative.
Otherwise, she would only keep hiding inside her shell.
“Yes, I like women. I like you.”
He stared unblinkingly into Ji Qingtang’s eyes, refusing to let a single shift in her emotions escape him.