“Reluctant to leave?” Jiang Zhuo asked abruptly.
“No!” Cheng Sisi quickly denied, which only made her seem more guilty.
Jiang Zhuo comforted her, “You can come over to play whenever you have time.”
“Okay, thank you, Brother Jiang Zhuo.”
In her memory, the phrase she had said most often to Jiang Zhuo was “thank you.”
He had truly helped her a lot, yet she felt she had never properly expressed her gratitude.
Jiang Zhuo possessed an extraordinary ability to read people’s minds, instantly discerning what she was thinking.
He said, “We didn’t get to eat the meal you cooked that day. When you have the chance, you can cook me a meal as repayment.”
“That’s all?” she asked in surprise.
“That’s all!” he affirmed verbally, though his eyes held a hidden scheme.
That alone, of course, wasn’t enough!
However, he would also have many other ways.
Cheng Sisi was moved upon hearing this.
When they arrived home, Jiang Xin had just returned as well, saying she wanted to accompany her while moving.
In truth, all her belongings amounted to just one suitcase, though now she also had a dog.
“Sisi, I originally wanted to stay with you there tonight, but I have a design proposal to work on right now. Jojo needs it submitted first thing tomorrow morning. After I drop you off, I’ll have to head straight back home.”
“You have to submit it tomorrow? Isn’t tomorrow Saturday?”
“No choice, it’s quite urgent. I have to work overtime.”
“Then you don’t need to take me. Brother Jiang Zhuo will go with me.”
“No way. Even if I can’t stay with you, I have to take you there and check out the environment. If it’s not good, I’ll bring you back immediately.”
No matter what, Jiang Xin insisted on going along, clinging tightly to Cheng Sisi’s arm and refusing to let go.
After dinner, the three of them set off together.
The rented apartment complex was fairly decent—not overly luxurious in decor, just an ordinary residential building.
Inside, the apartment was fully furnished. Since the previous tenant was a classmate, they had left all the furniture for Cheng Sisi.
With two bedrooms and a living room, it was more than enough for Cheng Sisi.
However, from Jiang Xin and Jiang Zhuo’s expressions, it was clear they found it rather plain.
Cheng Sisi stopped Jiang Xin before she could speak, knowing she would definitely say the place was no good and suggest finding another one.
But after all, this was where Cheng Sisi would be living, so only she could decide whether it was suitable or not.
Thus, in the end, they had to respect her wishes.
“I’ll use the restroom.”
While the two girls were clinging to each other, reluctant to part, Jiang Zhuo slipped away to the bathroom.
However, he wasn’t actually going to use the toilet.
Instead, he pulled out a small, perforated camera—about the size of a flashlight bulb—from his suit pocket.
When he opened the bathroom door and walked into Cheng Sisi’s room, he showed no trace of stealth. On the contrary, he appeared exceptionally composed, as if he were in his own home.
Upon entering, the little golden retriever came running over, wagging its tail.
He bent down and picked up the dog.
He didn’t seem worried at all that Cheng Sisi might suddenly come in, even taking the time to play with the dog.
Holding the dog in one arm, he scanned the room for a suitable spot.
After a while.
Cheng Sisi suddenly came over. As she entered the room, Jiang Zhuo happened to be walking out with the dog in his arms.
“Jiang…” Cheng Sisi was naturally surprised. “Brother Jiang Zhuo…”
Why was he in her room?
Yet Jiang Zhuo’s expression remained unchanged, calm and unruffled as he said, “I just heard Lulu barking nonstop, so I came to check. Turns out he needed to pee.”
As she spoke, she lifted the little golden retriever, revealing a large patch of odorous liquid on Jiang Zhuo’s suit.
“Jiang… Brother Jiang Zhuo, you should take off your clothes quickly.”
Cheng Sisi took the dog and placed it on the floor, giving its bottom a light tap. “How could you pee everywhere? And you even dared to pee on Brother Jiang Zhuo! Such an unhygienic dog—I don’t like it.”
Then, she immediately stood up.
Seeing that Jiang Zhuo had already taken off his jacket, she quickly took it and walked to the laundry sink on the balcony to start dealing with the clothes.
As for anything else, including whether Jiang Zhuo had really entered her room just because of the dog barking, she never once thought to doubt it.
Jiang Xin followed her out and said, “Don’t bother with it. At worst, we can just discard this jacket. It’s fine, don’t feel guilty.”
Cheng Sisi paused for a moment, realizing she had panicked.
Clothes like Jiang Zhuo’s looked very expensive at first glance. Many of these suits couldn’t be washed with water—they would be ruined immediately.
Thinking of this, Cheng Sisi felt stuck, holding the clothes and unsure whether to put them down or not.
Suddenly, a large hand reached over from behind and took the clothes.
It was Jiang Zhuo!
Cheng Sisi turned to look at him, her face overflowing with guilt.
But Jiang Zhuo didn’t say a word. Instead, he silently filled the laundry basin with water, stuffed the clothes inside, and used his actions to ease her embarrassment.
“It can still be worn after washing. It’s fine,” he said, his voice indescribably gentle.
Jiang Xin, standing nearby, stared wide-eyed, sensing something unusual.
It was too unusual. She had never seen her eldest brother treat a woman so gently before, nor had she seen him lower himself to help Cheng Sisi out of a difficult situation.
Normally, if his clothes were stained with even a speck of mud, let alone dog urine, he would never wear them again!
She looked at Jiang Zhuo, then at Cheng Sisi, and suddenly seemed to realize something.
“Um, Brother!” She rubbed her nose and said, “My design project is quite urgent. Can I take your car back first and have the driver come pick you up later?”
Jiang Zhuo turned to meet her gaze, seeing what seemed like encouragement in her eyes.
He thought to himself, this girl really knows how to read the room.
“Sure!” He nodded. “Be careful on the road!”
“I will!”
With that, she hugged Cheng Sisi again. “I really have to go back. Let’s go out for a meal together another day!”
Cheng Sisi didn’t dare to delay her and immediately walked her to the door.
“It’s fine, no need to see me out. I can go down by myself. You go back inside.”
“Okay!” Cheng Sisi pouted, suddenly feeling a bit reluctant, and hugged her again.
After a long while, the two finally parted ways and said their goodbyes.
Jiang Xin walked to the elevator door, glanced back in the direction of Cheng Sisi’s room, and muttered to herself.
“Why didn’t I think of it? If she can’t be my second sister-in-law, she can still be my eldest sister-in-law! That idiot Jiang Si really has no taste. If I were a man, I’d marry her myself. Does he think such a good girl is easy to find everywhere?”
“Really… it has to be my eldest brother. Eldest brother is truly the best!”
“Ding!”
The elevator arrived, and she strode in with a big smile on her face.
Inside the room.
Jiang Zhuo had already soaked the suit in a basin of water mixed with laundry detergent and was about to grab a brush.
“Let me do it!” Cheng Sisi hurried over to him. “Brother Jiang Zhuo, let me do it!”
She hurriedly ran out, perhaps because she had just arrived and wasn’t familiar with the environment here. In her haste, she didn’t notice the threshold in front of the balcony and kicked right into it.
Immediately afterward, her body uncontrollably pitched forward.
She instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, but her hand grabbed onto something—she clung to it desperately, treating it like a lifeline.
Then came a loud “snap.”
In the end, she still couldn’t escape her fate, crashing heavily onto the ground and unable to recover for quite some time.
At the same time, she wondered what exactly she had grabbed in her hand.
Lifting her eyelids, she saw two pale, bare legs!
And what she was clutching turned out to be Jiang Zhuo’s pants. Most importantly, his pants had been…
pulled down!
It hurt.