What Girlfriend?
As a person, Qin Zhenglin was aloof and fond of nitpicking. He often kept the word “disdain” on his lips. In everyday discussions about gender relationships, he also displayed a strong streak of male chauvinism.
But when it came to work, there was nothing to criticize. His teaching quality was good, and his research achievements were also quite impressive.
Overall, his flaws did not outweigh his strengths.
“People are very easily influenced by those close to them. There’s a huge difference between being single and having a partner. Someone like Qin Zhenglin, don’t be fooled by how his thinking seems like it belongs to the old society. Once he gets married, he might very well turn into someone who’s completely henpecked.”
He Zongqin was a know-it-all. In the entire Jiang University circle, there was no one he was unfamiliar with. The topic naturally extended to Qin Zhenglin’s blind date from some time ago. After finishing his analysis, he said with curiosity, “If I remember correctly, you two don’t really have any interactions. Why did you suddenly ask about him?”
Liang Huaixu replied with an unchanged expression, “During the Tibet-aid project two years ago, he was a member of my team. Last time, when I was smoking outside the private room, I happened to run into him and exchanged a few words.”
“No wonder,” He Zongqin nodded, then turned to have Liang Huaixu help him look over a set of drawings.
After getting some revision suggestions, He Zongqin suddenly felt enlightened. “Old Liang, it really has to be you.”
Among the existing architects, the most renowned was still Old Master Yu.
Old Master Yu was born during the years of war and had witnessed different historical periods. Many famous modern and contemporary buildings were designed by him. Yet such a person said that his student, Liang Huaixu, was a once-in-a-century genius in the field of architecture.
This showed just how astonishing Liang Huaixu’s talent was. He was completely at the level of being naturally gifted by heaven. Even without specializing deeply in the architectural industry, Jiang University had still made an exceptional appointment to hire him.
After Liang Huaixu left, He Zongqin revised the drawings according to the suggested changes.
Thinking of something, he raised his head in confusion.
Something did not add up. Talking about being teammates in the Tibet-aid project, put plainly, that was a relationship that barely had anything to do with each other.
Since when did Old Liang have this kind of curiosity?
*
After leaving Jiang University, Liang Huaixu went to Changting again and stayed busy straight through until eight in the evening before getting off work.
When he returned, Zhuang Fuyao was teasing Beiguo in the group chat with Song Qing.
Tomorrow is the Qixi Festival. Malls and the internet were flooded with Qixi Festival promotions.
Last year during the Qixi Festival, Liang Chaoluo had taken Shu Run to the Maldives and prepared a whole room of flowers as a surprise. This year was the first Qixi Festival after graduation, and Shu Run was also looking forward to how they would spend it.
Zhuang Fuyao typed while laughing.
Liang Huaixu glanced at her and stopped Aunt Yuan, who was about to go prepare dinner. “No need to trouble yourself. Just heat up what’s already been made.”
That meant Master was planning to eat Miss Zhuang’s leftovers.
Several of the aunts were astonished when they heard this.
While reheating the dishes in the kitchen, they quietly pulled Aunt Yuan aside to discuss it.
“So who exactly is Miss Zhuang to Master?”
“She doesn’t seem like a junior, and there’s none of the intimacy of a couple either. But the way Miss Zhuang speaks in front of Master is so bold, without the slightest bit of politeness.”
Aunt Yuan was curious as well, but outwardly she coldly cut off their discussion. “Stop worrying about things that aren’t your business. Be careful, you’ll get dismissed if Master hears you.”
Hearing this, several of them immediately fell silent, all afraid of losing this good job.
During dinner, Liang Huaixu had his right arm bound with a support band. His left hand was not very flexible as he used a fork to pick up food. Perhaps his appearance was a bit comical. He noticed Zhuang Fuyao glancing over at him several times, as if she wanted to say something but held back.
Liang Huaixu had been pretending to stay calm, but her gaze grew more and more direct. Feeling uncomfortable, he put down his fork and was just about to speak.
At that moment, Zhuang Fuyao’s phone vibrated several times.
Song Qing: [Human joys and sorrows are not interconnected. Some people are sweetly spending the Qixi Festival, while others still have to miserably go to work.]
Immediately after, she sent a crying emoji of someone taking off sunglasses.
Zhuang Fuyao raised her brows slightly and was amused by the emoji. [What work?]
Song Qing: [Your Qixi, and the brutal competition in our line of work. I still have to go perform tomorrow.]
Thinking she was chatting with Qin Zhenglin, Liang Huaixu averted his gaze and withdrew the question he had just been about to ask.
…
The next day was the Qixi Festival, and it was also Saturday.
After breakfast, Zhuang Fuyao wore her earphones and scrolled through short videos, while Liang Huaixu sat not far away reading the newspaper.
Suddenly, a message from Qin Zhenglin popped up, asking whether she had any plans today.
Zhuang Fuyao frowned slightly.
As she hesitated between continuing to ignore the message and rejecting him, Qin Zhenglin sent another message: [Miss Zhuang, you don’t need to feel any burden. Even if the blind date didn’t work out, we can still be friends.]
This was the tactic his friend had told him. Take a step back to advance. Start as friends first, then slowly work on winning her heart.
Qin Zhenglin thought he had things completely under control, but Zhuang Fuyao did not buy into this at all.
Everyone already had friends. Why would she need to turn a blind date into a friend?
She had seen this kind of tactic countless times back when she was studying. Even the wording was exactly the same.
Just as she was about to reply, a message from Beiguo popped up:
[Happy Valentine’s Day, sisters!! I bought flowers for you all~~]
Almost at the same time, Aunt Yuan came in carrying a huge bouquet of Freudian roses. “The delivery courier just brought these. He said they’re for Miss Zhuang.”
As she said this, Aunt Yuan discreetly observed both Master and Miss Zhuang.
Unfortunately, there was nothing unusual on either of their faces.
Master looked very calm, while Miss Zhuang showed normal delight and asked, “Aunt Yuan, do we have a large vase at home for conditioning flowers?”
Aunt Yuan replied immediately, “Yes!”
The bouquet of Freudian roses was simply too large and had to be divided among several vases. Zhuang Fuyao helped handle it together with her. After everything was done, she took a photo and sent it to the group chat:
[So beautiful, I love them so much! Thank you, Beiguo!!!]
After conditioning the flowers, she went to the construction site to take a look and also bought some coffee and fruit for the workers.
By the time she returned, it was already seven in the evening. Liang Huaixu was not in the house. Zhuang Fuyao assumed he had gone out on a date with his girlfriend. Although she was trying to adjust, that feeling of emptiness still surfaced uncontrollably.
She decided to go take a walk in the garden to clear her head.
She vaguely saw a soft yellow light lit in the pavilion in the south garden. When she walked closer, she saw that it was Liang Huaixu.
His back was straight as he sat in front of the tea table, using one hand to brew tea for himself. His movements were not as smooth and flowing as when his hand was fine, but they were still very elegant.
The air was filled with the mixed fragrance of tea and woody incense.
Zhuang Fuyao asked, “Why are you here?”
“I had nothing to do,” Liang Huaixu said, making a gesture inviting her to drink tea. “This pot of tea is just ready.”
Zhuang Fuyao said, “You can still sleep after drinking tea at night?”
It was indeed not easy for Liang Huaixu to fall asleep after drinking tea at night, but today his thoughts were in complete turmoil. Even without this cup of tea, he would still be sleepless.
He shook his head. “It doesn’t affect me much.” Then he removed the teacup in front of her. “But it really isn’t suitable to drink tea at night. I didn’t think it through.”
Zhuang Fuyao snatched the teacup back irritably. “What’s suitable or not? I drink coffee and milk tea like water. I’ve long been immune.”
She drank the tea in silence, then suddenly said, “By the way, I’ll be moving out after a while.”
Ever since Liang Huaixu learned that she had gone on a blind date, he had known that she would move out sooner or later.
But hearing it so abruptly still brought up a kind of near-panic sadness.
What was he sad about?
Old He was very good at judging people. Although Qin Zhenglin had some minor flaws, they did not outweigh his strengths. His past romantic life was also simple. He should be a fairly good marriage candidate.
He should not feel sad.
Liang Huaixu restrained his emotions and smiled faintly. “That’s good.”
That’s good?
Zhuang Fuyao really wanted to slam the table and leave.
Although her original intention was to avoid suspicion, she had thought he would at least try to keep her. Instead, he seemed eager for her to leave so he could spend time alone with his girlfriend.
As she thought this, she also felt that Liang Huaixu was truly a bastard with no sense of boundaries.
Since he already had a girlfriend, why did he agree to let his ex-wife move in? How was his current girlfriend supposed to feel about that?
After thinking this through, she noticed that Liang Huaixu was still wearing the same loungewear he had worn in the morning. It looked as though he had not gone out at all that day.
It was the Qixi Festival, and he was actually leaving his girlfriend aside, leisurely drinking tea here!
In comparison, Zhuang Fuyao felt even more indignant on behalf of his girlfriend. Her expression was unpleasant throughout as she said, “It’s almost eight already. You’re still not going out?”
Liang Huaixu raised his eyes. “Today is Saturday. I don’t have any work arrangements.”
“What about personal arrangements? Are you celebrating the Qixi Festival or not? Do you even want your girlfriend anymore? If you’re dating someone, then date properly. Acting like this and making someone feel wronged, even I can’t stand watching it…”
After being scolded by her at length, Liang Huaixu finally found an opening to speak. He looked at her with a strange expression. “What girlfriend?”
Zhuang Fuyao changed the term. “An ambiguous partner.”
Liang Huaixu realized that she might have misunderstood something. He was silent for a moment, then answered seriously, “I don’t have an ambiguous partner. I don’t know why you think that. Is there some misunderstanding in between?”