As soon as Zhou Zhuofei stepped out of the office, she couldn’t wait to update Du Yu, who was equally thrilled upon hearing Xiao Wang’s response.
[I’ll contact Jiang Shen right away. Thank Secretary Xiao for me.]
[Don’t worry, I already did. Go ahead, and let me know if you run into any issues.]
[Mhm, love you~]
After sending the message, Zhou Zhuofei felt a wave of relief. Now she could genuinely look forward to Du Yu’s birthday celebration.
Humming a tune, she returned to the office, her cheerful mood immediately catching Zhan Zilang’s attention.
Mornings were usually the least productive time, so seeing someone so upbeat was rare.
"Zhou-jie, what’s the good news? You seem so happy."
The moment she saw him, Zhou Zhuofei remembered something and beckoned him over with a finger. "This is something you can hear."
"Oh? What’s up?"
Zhan Zilang took the bait and leaned in.
After a brief explanation, Zhou Zhuofei asked, "How about I take you along to see the fun?"
Since Du Yu wanted to make a scene anyway, bringing one more person wouldn’t hurt—in fact, Du Yu would probably thank her for it.
"Really? That’s amazing, Zhou-jie!"
Zhan Zilang’s voice accidentally rose, drawing curious glances from nearby colleagues.
"Too loud!" Zhou Zhuofei swatted his arm. "Keep it down!"
"Right, right." He immediately lowered his voice. "Should I prepare a gift?"
"Up to you, but the focus that day won’t really be the birthday."
"No problem, I’ll handle it." Zhan Zilang was confident. With hundreds of collectibles at home, gift-giving was his forte.
"Just don’t give her xxx—she hates that."
"Haha, guess I’ll have to pick carefully then."
Their lively discussion soon attracted teasing from coworkers: "What are you two whispering about over there?"
"Huh?" Zhou Zhuofei looked up, confused. Were they talking about her and Zhan Zilang?
The colleague clarified, "You and Xiao Zhan, obviously. Who else?"
Zhou Zhuofei glanced back at Zhan Zilang, who mirrored her puzzled expression.
She asked, "Are we master and disciple?"
Zhan Zilang replied earnestly, "I don’t mind calling you ‘Shifu,’ Zhou-jie."
Zhou Zhuofei’s eyes widened. Though Ye Ru had assigned her to mentor the new hire, she’d never considered herself qualified to be a "master."
In her eyes, one needed at least Ye Ru’s level of skill and experience to earn that title.
So she quickly waved him off. "No, no, I’m not there yet."
Zhan Zilang insisted, "Not at all. You’ve been a great mentor—I’ve learned so much lately."
He was even considering extending his internship.
Originally, he’d agreed to work at Huanyu for a month to appease his parents, planning to make excuses later and slack off with friends.
But after actually starting, he found the environment surprisingly enjoyable—far from boring, with colleagues who were a refreshing change from his usual crowd.
"Thanks, you’re doing great too. Now get back to work." Zhou Zhuofei brushed off the topic with a laugh.
She was far from ready to take on a disciple. A few more years of polishing her skills, maybe.
Over the next few days, Du Yu’s mood noticeably stabilized. Judging by the chat logs she forwarded to Zhou Zhuofei, she was now bantering easily with Han Chubin—even dangling a carrot for him.
Du Yu promised to help resolve his issues with Zhou Zhuofei once she returned from her business trip.
Han Chubin, clearly buying it, remained oblivious to her plans.
After reading the logs, Zhou Zhuofei immediately sent Du Yu a compliment.
[With your determination, you’ll succeed at anything!]
[Haha, love the praise! Keep it coming!]
[But seriously, what’s his deal? Since when do couples make their relationship all about a third wheel? Does he not realize how absurd that is?]
[Don’t bother trying to understand a scumbag’s logic. He probably assumes I’d prioritize keeping peace between my boyfriend and friends, so I’d work hard to fix your ‘misunderstanding.’ But he doesn’t know you—you couldn’t care less.]
[Truer words were never spoken. You get me.]
That weekend, with Du Yu away on her trip, Zhou Zhuofei had no plans. The week-long rain had finally stopped, so she dedicated her time to chores and airing out her apartment.
At noon, Cen Huan dropped off two boxes of salmon sashimi, courtesy of Xie Ya’s seafood wholesaler friend, meant for Director.
"I’ve got plenty more, so let me know if you need extra."
"This is more than enough. I’ll just have a bite—it’s mainly for Director."
Zhou Zhuofei noted the sashimi’s premium quality, rivaling five-star hotel fare.
She couldn’t help but praise, "This looks incredible. Must’ve been pricey?"
Cen Huan explained, "It was free. Xie Ya helped that friend out before, so these are gifts."
"Even better. Thank him for me, will you?"
Since their hotpot dinner, Zhou Zhuofei hadn’t run into Xie Ya or Cen Huan.
Recalling their last conversation, she casually asked, "Has Xie Ya started house-hunting?"
"He’s on it. Today he went out to view places. Before leaving, he mentioned wanting to find something near our neighborhood so we could hang out more."
Zhou Zhuofei mentally added, More like so he can hang out with you.
The more she thought about it, the weirder it seemed.
Xie Ya had other friends—like this seafood wholesaler, who clearly had connections—yet he chose to crash at a woman’s place.
Regardless of Cen Huan’s feelings, Xie Ya’s approach was questionable.
Plus, the guy had a sly, wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing vibe, which made Zhou Zhuofei even less inclined to engage. Work’s annoying enough without watching you put on an act.
Still, one thing had piqued her curiosity for a while.
"By the way, do you know what haircare products he uses?"
Cen Huan thought for a moment. "Huh? I don’t think he uses anything special?"
"Just wondering. His hair looks really healthy. Mine never recovered after bleaching—took forever to get it back to this state."
Zhou Zhuofei ran a hand through her hair. Despite her healthier lifestyle compared to her student days, her hair quality had declined.
"But he just uses my shampoo." Xie Ya had arrived at her place with only a backpack of clothes, so he borrowed her toiletries.
Now that Zhou Zhuofei mentioned it, Cen Huan found it odd too. Bright red hair usually required meticulous care, yet Xie Ya never bothered—yet his hair remained flawless.
"I’ll ask him for you later."
"Thanks. I’m curious too."
After Cen Huan left, Zhou Zhuofei set aside some salmon for Director.
Seeing it eating with gusto, Zhou Zhuofei also tried a slice.
The more natural the flavor, the better one can taste the quality of the ingredients. As soon as the salmon entered her mouth, Zhou Zhuofei realized that its quality was extraordinary. It was the most delicious salmon she had ever eaten so far.
Zhou Zhuofei was so shocked that she was afraid it was just an illusion caused by her lack of experience with good food. She deliberately poured a glass of water, ate another slice without any sauce.
It was still that delicious!
Zhou Zhuofei looked at the few remaining pieces of salmon on the plate. After thinking for a while, she didn't open another box.
She never thought that in her life she could eat such good things thanks to a cat.
However, it was quite strange that Xie Ya knew such generous friends but couldn't find a place to live.
Maybe he did it on purpose.
Such a thought suddenly popped up in Zhou Zhuofei's mind. But even if she knew these things, what could she do?
She was becoming less and less curious and had less and less desire to explore. Let others do as they please. She just wanted to live her own life.
On Sunday, she dragged herself out of bed until noon. She didn't want to cook dinner, so she went out to buy some food and brought it back.
She was holding a bowl of spicy and sour noodles in one hand and a bunch of grilled squid in the other as she walked into the community. It was mealtime, and many families were cooking. The smell of the food wafted in the air as she walked on the road.
Before Zhou Zhuofei reached the entrance of her building, she saw a conspicuous figure. Suddenly, something like a system prompt in a game popped into her mind.
[You've found the red - haired guy.]
It seemed that the other person hadn't noticed her yet. He walked to the roadside and took out something from his pocket. Suddenly, a small flame appeared in his hand, followed by a puff of smoke.
This guy was actually smoking.
Zhou Zhuofei didn't want to say hello to him. All she wanted was to go home quickly and enjoy her spicy and sour noodles, so she quickened her pace, trying to pass by him from behind.
But as soon as she stepped into the area covered by the smoke, her throat immediately felt uncomfortable, and she coughed.
Hearing the sound, Xie Ya immediately turned around. At first, when he heard a female voice, his expression was a bit flustered. But after seeing it was Zhou Zhuofei, his expression relaxed a bit.
"Oh, it's you." He casually put out the cigarette in his hand and waved his hand, trying to disperse the smell of smoke, but it didn't work very well.
"Are you okay?"
After coughing a few times, Zhou Zhuofei felt a little better. She waved to Xie Ya to show that she was fine, then lifted her foot and was about to walk into the corridor, having no intention of communicating with the other person at all.
Just as she took one step, she heard Xie Ya say, "I heard from Sister Huan that you wanted to ask what hair - care products I use?"
Look at that ugly face. As soon as Cen Huan was not around, he didn't even call her "sister" anymore.
Zhou Zhuofei complained in her heart. But she was really curious, so she had to stop and turn around, waiting for his answer.
As a result, the other person said, "Actually, there's nothing special. Maybe it's just because I have good hair quality."
After hearing this, Zhou Zhuofei really couldn't hold back and stared at him with a look of disdain.
Did he think she would believe it?
Look at the state of your hair today. Don't you have any idea how frizzy it was the day you had hot pot?
But she also realized that Xie Ya just didn't want to tell the truth.
So she just said, "Oh." and then turned around and walked away.
Xie Ya didn't expect Zhou Zhuofei to react like this. Come to think of it, this person always didn't play by the rules, which made him very passive.
He didn't know how to explain about his hair because he always went to the barbershop to have it done. Of course, he didn't know what products were used.
But he couldn't say this clearly. Once he did, his lie would be exposed.
So he could only make an excuse to Zhou Zhuofei and try to muddle through. Now it seemed that this excuse had passed, but he always felt something was off.
Since the day they had hot pot, he had vaguely felt that Zhou Zhuofei was not easy to fool. Fortunately, their schedules were different, and they rarely ran into each other on normal days.
A few days ago, Sister Huan asked him if he could get some salmon through his "friends". He quickly ordered some. Unexpectedly, as soon as Sister Huan got the salmon, she said she wanted to send some to the neighbor next door.
He of course had no objection. Anyway, it was all for Cen Huan, and she could do whatever she wanted with it. He was just worried that if Cen Huan got in touch with Zhou Zhuofei too much, she would discover his flaws.
As it turned out, he was afraid of something, and it happened.
It was the same with the house - hunting. Once the other person mentioned it, Sister Huan asked him how the house - hunting was going.
He could handle it once or twice, but as time went on, it definitely wouldn't work.
So Xie Ya thought he still had to come up with some ways to deal with Zhou Zhuofei.
He sorted out his thoughts and quickly chased after her.
"Sister Zhou, wait a minute."
Unexpectedly, Zhou Zhuofei walked quite fast. In just a short while, she had already reached the second floor. He quickened his pace and barely caught up with her.
"What's up?"
"Are you free now? I have something to talk to you about."
Xie Ya's question just now had already annoyed Zhou Zhuofei. Now that he was going to interrupt her meal, she was even more impatient.
So she said bluntly, "I'm not free."
Seeing the other person clearly stunned, she then lifted the bowl of spicy and sour noodles to show him and said, "The best time to enjoy spicy and sour noodles is within ten minutes after they're cooked. If it's not something important, let's talk about it later."
After saying that, as if she was sure that Xie Ya had nothing important to say, she turned around and went upstairs.
The other person didn't follow up, so Zhou Zhuofei was even more certain of her inference. Since the other person wasn't in a hurry, why should she be?
She went home, put the food on the table, took out a can of iced Coke from the fridge, and tuned the TV to her favorite program. After everything was ready, just as she was about to pick up her chopsticks, she felt something was missing.
So she picked up her phone, took a photo, and posted it on the social platform.
The caption read: [Happy weekend!]
Now, nothing was missing!
After a full meal, Zhou Zhuofei was too lazy to move and just slumped on the sofa to take a break.
She casually picked up her phone and wanted to chat with Du Yu. As soon as she opened the app, she found several message notifications, all of which were likes for her post.
She clicked in and saw a lot of familiar names, including Xiao Wang.
Speaking of which, Xiao Wang often liked her posts. But she also often saw him liking other mutual friends' posts. So she suspected that Xiao Wang would open his phone when he was free and just like every post in order.
Although she often saw his name, Zhou Zhuofei rarely saw Xiao Wang post anything. Maybe it was because she didn't often scroll through the posts and missed them.
With a little curiosity, Zhou Zhuofei clicked on Xiao Wang's profile.
He had set his posts to be visible only within the last three days, so there was only one post on his profile, which was posted half an hour ago.
The photo was of a table full of home - cooked dishes. The most eye - catching one was a large basin of spicy crayfish in the middle. According to the text, it seemed that Xiao Wang's mother had cooked it.
Zhou Zhuofei immediately liked the post and left a comment in the comment section: [It looks so delicious!]
After that, she exited and went to chat with Du Yu.
Du Yu mysteriously claimed that he had bought a great thing and also got a copy for Zhou Zhuofei. However, when Zhou Zhuofei pressed him on what it was, Du Yu refused to say.
Naturally, Zhou Zhuofei guessed it might be something like peripherals or game accessories, but she just couldn't get it right. After making several wrong guesses, she simply gave up.
[Forget it. My curiosity isn't that strong anyway. I'll know when you give it to me later.]
[Don't worry. I swear on my life that it's definitely a great thing!]
[It's more important that you come back quickly and hold your birthday party!]
After chatting for a while, Zhou Zhuofei suddenly saw a notification pop up on her phone screen, indicating that a user had replied to her comment.
She clicked in and found that it was Xiao Wang who had replied to her message.
[The taste is really good.]
Zhou Zhuofei checked the time. Only forty minutes had passed. She thought Xiao Wang ate crayfish so fast. So she continued following Xiao Wang's words and asked, [Secretary Xiao, have you finished eating already? So fast! It takes me at least two hours to eat lobsters.]
Meanwhile, sitting at the dining table, Xiao Wang first glanced at the lobsters in his bowl and then looked at his mother standing by the window having a video call with his younger brother. Although he held chopsticks and there were his once-favorite dishes in front of him, he didn't have as much of an appetite as he had imagined.
After hearing the message notification sound on his phone, he didn't hesitate to put down the chopsticks and pick up the phone.
Seeing Zhou Zhuofei's reply, even though the content was ordinary, he focused all his attention on it and replied seriously.
This was good. As long as he concentrated on one thing, he didn't have to think about other problems.
