Chapter 32

Yu Qing froze for a moment. “All right. I’ll go wash my hands.”

After that, she placed her bag on the chair and went into the bathroom.

The corners of Han Qiuzi’s mouth gradually lifted. She picked up the phone beside her and typed with one hand: “Thanks.”

Send.

After Yu Qing came out, she picked up an apple from the fruit plate, her gaze focused.

Han Qiuzi laughed. “You’re still the same as before. Peeling an apple is like going to war. You absolutely have to peel the whole thing into one complete strip without breaking it.”

“Don’t talk!” Yu Qing stared without blinking, afraid that the peel would snap the moment she got distracted.

Hearing this, Han Qiuzi quietly watched Yu Qing, occasionally revealing a silly smile.

“Phew~” Yu Qing let out a long breath. Satisfied, she held the apple in one hand and the knife in the other. Long curls of apple peel lay neatly in circles on the tray.

“Ah Qing is still so amazing at peeling apples.” Han Qiuzi’s eyes curved downward, her pupils bright as a river of stars.

Seeing such a smile, Yu Qing lost focus for a moment. How long had it been since she had seen Han Qiuzi smile from such a close distance?

“Why do you look so silly?” Han [stolen content]Qiuzi poked Yu Qing’s face with her finger, her eyelashes fluttering a few times.

In a daze, Yu Qing almost thought the two of them had returned to five years ago.

Han Qiuzi naturally grabbed Yu Qing’s hand, brought the apple to her mouth, and took a bite.

Yu Qing’s body trembled lightly. She wanted to pull her hand back, but the other woman held it firmly.

“What are you dodging for?” Han Qiuzi’s pupils showed not the slightest ripple. “Didn’t you say we could still be friends? Do you need to be this nervous just feeding me one bite of apple?”

“I’m just not used to having someone hold my hand.” Yu Qing’s gaze drifted elsewhere.

“Then you’ll get used to it after some practice.” Han Qiuzi took another bite. “I just like holding my friend’s hand.”

Yu Qing: “…” If she still could not tell Han Qiuzi was doing this on purpose, then her reflex arc would be far too long.

Knock, knock, knock.

Han Qiuzi looked toward the door, displeasure rising in her heart. She had no idea who had chosen this exact moment to come make trouble.

But no matter how unhappy she was, she could not lose her manners. Reluctantly, she spat out two words: “Come in.”

Neither of the two people in the room expected the visitor to be Ni Mingxuan.

“Xiaozi, I heard you were injured, so I came specially to see you.” When bailiantales.comNi Mingxuan saw Yu Qing, he subconsciously frowned slightly, but quickly covered it with a smile. “Miss Yu is here too. What a coincidence.”

“Mr. Ni.” Yu Qing stood up and nodded in greeting. “No, I should call you Director Ni now. Congratulations on entering Nijin Group’s board of directors.”

“Thank you.” Ni Mingxuan gave a refined, faint smile. “And congratulations to Special Assistant Yu as well for being the first to eat the crab in Luming District.”

Luming District was a technology industry base the government was about to develop vigorously. Companies that had heard the news had gone early to open connections and claim space, and Yesheng was naturally no exception. The reason Yu Qing had rarely appeared beside Ye Xinuo some time ago was because she had been busy with this matter.

“Director Ni is too polite.” After saying this, Yu Qing turned back to look at Han Qiuzi. “Since you have a visitor, I’ll first—”

“I need to pee!” Han Qiuzi did not care whether there was an outsider present. In her urgency, she randomly found an excuse to keep Yu Qing there.

Yu Qing first looked at Ni Mingxuan’s expression. Embarrassment slowly rose on his face. Then she looked at Han Qiuzi, whose face had not reddened at all.

Han Qiuzi grabbed Yu Qing with her uninjured hand. “Take me to the bathroom.”

Yu Qing was very helpless. She helped Han Qiuzi move her legs out from under the blanket, then crouched down and put slippers on her.

The moment Yu Qing crouched down, Han Qiuzi’s heart swelled so painfully she could hardly bear it. How long had it been since the other woman had spoiled her like this? If she could have this for a lifetime, she would be willing to fall down the stairs every day.

After they entered the bathroom, neither of them seemed awkward at all. Very naturally, Yu Qing helped Han Qiuzi take off her pants, supported her arm as she sat on the toilet, and Han Qiuzi did not feel embarrassed either. She relieved herself as usual.

When Yu Qing helped Han Qiuzi pull her pants up, she discovered an abrasion on the other woman’s thigh. She reached out and touched the skin around it, asking gently, “Does it hurt?”

Originally, Han Qiuzi had not felt much, but when Yu Qing touched her like this, the wound seemed to be electrified. A tingling numbness spread upward from her thigh. Wrapped in this [bailiantales.com]strange sensation, she would rather choose pain instead.

“Cough, cough, cough, cough~” Han Qiuzi suddenly coughed for a while. “It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt. Help me put my pants on. My butt feels kind of cold.”

Only then did Yu Qing realize that their posture was somewhat ambiguous. Without showing anything, she took a step back, helped Han Qiuzi pull up her pants, and smoothed out her hospital gown.

With Yu Qing’s help, Han Qiuzi washed her hands. After washing, she took advantage of the moment to firmly grab the hand Yu Qing used to turn off the faucet.

“Don’t go, okay? I’ll send Ni Mingxuan away, and you stay with me a little longer. My head hurts and I feel like throwing up. I feel awful.”

“You’re almost thirty. Stop acting spoiled like this.” Yu Qing pulled her hand back and used a tissue to dry the water from Han Qiuzi’s hands.

Han Qiuzi’s eyes were full of disappointment.

“Besides, I didn’t say I was leaving. Just now, I only wanted to pour the guest a glass of water.” Yu Qing looked at the person in front of her with amusement. “You didn’t think I was going to leave and used the bathroom as an excuse, did you?”

“How could that be possible!” Han Qiuzi’s thoughts were exposed, and she looked like her fur had been ruffled. “When nature calls, nature calls. I just wanted to pee!”

“You’re still the young lady of a wealthy family, yet you keep saying ‘pee’ every other sentence. You’ve lost all dignity.” Yu Qing put on the attitude of an elder. “Don’t you know it’s disillusioning to realize beautiful women also go to the bathroom?”

“As long as you don’t dislike me, that’s enough.” Han Qiuzi hooked Yu Qing’s pinky. “Then you’ll stay and have dinner with me today, right?”

“We should go out.” Yu Qing reached out and turned the bathroom doorknob. “Otherwise, people will think you were flushed away by the toilet.”

Han Qiuzi made a face at Yu Qing and walked out first.

Ni Mingxuan sat politely and properly on the chair. Seeing Han Qiuzi come out, he showed his white teeth and gave her a refined, gentle smile.

Han Qiuzi perfunctorily tugged at the corners of her mouth, her attitude distant. “Young Master Ni and I have already canceled our engagement, and our relationship isn’t close enough for this. Young Master Ni doesn’t need to go through so much trouble and come specially to see me.”

“The engagement has been canceled, but I seem to have fallen in love with Qiuzi at first sight. So even without parental orders, I still wanted to get a chance to see Qiuzi.”

Han Qiuzi only wanted to seize the opportunity to spend time alone with Yu Qing, so her tone grew increasingly impatient. “I’ve already told Young Master Ni that the two of us are impossible. I hope Young Master Ni won’t waste his time. Besides, a man’s ambitions should lie in all four directions. At your age, you should properly devote your energy to your career and not disappoint your sister’s expectations of you.”

When Ni Mingxuan heard the word “sister,” his expression changed noticeably, and his smile became unnatural.

“Director Ni, would you like something to drink?”

Yu Qing stepped out to smooth things over. “Since you’re already here, how can you leave without even drinking a glass of water? That would make us seem too lacking in manners.”

“No need. It seems Qiuzi doesn’t welcome me very much today, so I’ll come another day.” Ni Mingxuan stood, smoothed the wrinkles at his collar and cuffs, bowed slightly, then strode away. In just a few steps, he opened the door and left.

Yu Qing said, “You should have given Young Master Ni some face. Your families are old acquaintances. In social settings, you’ll keep running into each other.”

“He was once engaged to me. He’s my ex-fiancé. Don’t you feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable?” The little bubbles that had just filled Han Qiuzi’s heart instantly all burst. Her tone was full of anger, but more than that, it was gloom. No matter what, Yu Qing still looked utterly unmoved.

“You’re not a child. You should know that in the business world, outward appearances and inner thoughts are different most of the time.” Yu Qing gently stroked the top of Han Qiuzi’s head. “All right. You’re injured, so I won’t argue with you. Does your head feel uncomfortable?”

“I’m dizzy.” Han Qiuzi was telling ​bailiantales.com​the truth. From the moment she woke up until now, the feeling of nausea and wanting to vomit had been with her the entire time.

“I’ll rub it for you.” Yu Qing sat behind Han Qiuzi, placing two fingers on either side of her temples. Not daring to use force, she only gently circled them.

Han Qiuzi closed her eyes and leaned against Yu Qing with a smile sweeter than cotton candy.

Ning Han rarely had moments when she felt extremely gloomy. This counted as one.

She had originally been playing games perfectly well, only to suddenly be dragged by the big boss to listen to some concert. As someone who had never been able to appreciate this sort of elegant music, her whole being felt unwell.

For the concert tickets Qin Moyan had given her, Ye Xinuo had originally planned to take Yu Qing. But the day before, she changed her mind. Since Lu Mingqi was Qin Moyan’s university classmate, this was just right for testing whether Ning Han was someone he knew.

She had a strong instinct that finding the connection between Ning Han and Qin Moyan was very important.

Ye Xinuo’s seat was right next to Qin Moyan’s. From the looks of it, the other woman had deliberately bought the seat beside her for her.

Before the performance began, the three of them only nodded to one another and did not exchange much.

As for Ning Han, she could not play with her phone either, so she could only sit in the chair and let her mind go blank. Seeing Qin Moyan and Lu Mingqi come over, she also showed no intention of greeting them.

Ye Xinuo deliberately observed Lu Mingqi’s reaction and found that he truly did not seem to know Ning Han.

After Qin Moyan sat down, Ye Xinuo kept smelling a faint, almost imperceptible fragrance. It smelled extremely good, so she could not help sniffing hard and taking in a few more breaths. Afterward, realizing that this made her seem a little like a pervert, she quickly rubbed her nose and acted as if nothing had happened.

After the encore ended, the concert came to a close.

Only after they went outside did Ye Xinuo step forward and chat with Lu Mingqi. “I didn’t expect it to be such a coincidence. Mr. Lu and Miss Qin also came, and you were even sitting beside me. I love this orchestra so much.”

“It wasn’t a coincidence,” Qin Moyan said. “When I bought the tickets, I specially chose the neighboring seat.”

The little person in Ye Xinuo’s heart violently spat out a mouthful of blood. She knew Qin Moyan could not possibly be that kindhearted. It turned out she had come to tear down her stage.

She inhaled, lifted the corners of her mouth, and slapped Qin Moyan on the shoulder. “Hey! When you gave me the ticket, why didn’t you say you were coming too?”

Qin Moyan did not further expose Ye Xinuo’s lie. She turned to Lu Mingqi and said, “The new-energy project we discussed before might be able to bring Xinuo in as well. Since it’s such a coincidence, why don’t we go have a cup of coffee?”

“All right.” Lu Mingqi smiled. “Since Moyan has the intention to make introductions, how could I refuse to give you face?”

When Ye Xinuo heard this, she felt extremely uncomfortable inside. She kept feeling as if the meaning behind his words was that he looked down on her.