What was this about?
Zhou Zhuofei tried to let go again, even deliberately tugging at Xiao Wang’s hand to remind him, but the other party remained unmoved.
It seemed it wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed—he just had no intention of letting go.
"Xiao Wang, you’ve been leaving work early lately," Chu Qing initiated the conversation. "Zhuofei’s leaving too?"
As Chu Qing approached, she noticed Xiao Wang first, only then spotting Zhou Zhuofei. It occurred to her that she’d been seeing these two together a lot recently.
Well, "a lot" might be an exaggeration, but Xiao Wang had always been a loner at the company, rarely seen with anyone after hours.
Wait—something felt off.
Chu Qing suddenly realized she’d overlooked something. Her gaze slowly drifted downward, and sure enough, she discovered what she’d missed earlier—their hands were actually intertwined?
Her mind spun, trying to make sense of the situation.
A couple of days ago, while discussing work with Xiao Wang, she’d casually asked how his weekend had been. It was just small talk, but to her surprise, Xiao Wang had answered earnestly, saying he’d been helping his girlfriend with errands.
At the time, Chu Qing’s first thought was that it was an excuse—a way for Xiao Wang to make her back off.
She’d assumed this because Xiao Wang’s social media showed no change, with no signs of a girlfriend whatsoever.
But she hadn’t called him out, only teasingly asking when she could meet this so-called girlfriend.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Xiao Wang replied calmly, showing no interest in further conversation as he walked off hand-in-hand with Zhou Zhuofei. Zhou Zhuofei, however, glanced back at Chu Qing after a few steps.
Now Chu Qing was thoroughly confused. Normally, if a man and woman were holding hands, they were undoubtedly a couple. But could it be that Xiao Wang was putting on an act for her benefit?
She couldn’t tell for sure, but she wasn’t about to chase after them for an explanation.
A person had to maintain some dignity. She’d already made the first move multiple times—if Xiao Wang wasn’t interested, there was no point in clinging to him.
Back in her car, Chu Qing couldn’t shake the thought. She pulled out her phone and checked Xiao Wang’s social media.
Just as she remembered, there was no trace of a girlfriend in his posts.
What about Zhou Zhuofei’s?
She tapped into Zhou Zhuofei’s profile. She’d long since muted her updates after realizing she couldn’t glean anything useful from them—Zhou Zhuofei posted far too frequently.
Now, unmuting it, the feed looked much the same as before.
No carefully crafted captions or meticulously staged photos—just casual snapshots, some even slightly blurry.
Chu Qing scrolled carefully and did notice a few things.
First, home-cooked meals had started appearing more often in Zhou Zhuofei’s posts, and in some photos, two sets of tableware were visible.
Second, last weekend, Zhou Zhuofei had posted a picture of herself playing a video game at home. The screen showed what looked like a two-player game, and the post had gone up at 9 PM.
If it were a female friend, staying that late wouldn’t mean much, but if it were a guy…
Chu Qing left a comment under Zhou Zhuofei’s latest post:
[Wow, that looks delicious! Did you make it?]
"...Did you make it?" Zhou Zhuofei read the comment aloud in the car, then shot Xiao Wang a sideways glance. "Seems you’ve rattled her. She’s snooping around my page for clues now."
"I was just telling the truth." Xiao Wang recounted his recent conversation with Chu Qing.
He could’ve brushed her off with a vague answer, but his time with Zhou Zhuofei had been so fulfilling that he’d felt an urge to acknowledge her existence—even if only indirectly.
"Aren’t you worried she’ll spread it around?"
"She won’t." Xiao Wang had thought it through. Chu Qing wasn’t the type for petty gossip.
Like Jiang Shen, she was smart. At this point, she’d take the hint and back off.
"So how should I reply?"
Xiao Wang shrugged, pretending indifference, though his eyes kept flickering toward Zhou Zhuofei’s phone.
Only when she stopped typing did he casually ask, "Done?"
"Not yet, I’m chatting with Du Yu."
Xiao Wang didn’t press further. By the time they reached their apartment complex, they naturally headed upstairs together.
Conventional dating wisdom said couples should go out to restaurants, but Zhou Zhuofei disliked leaving the house, and Xiao Wang preferred home-cooked meals for their nutritional balance. They’d quickly settled into a routine: Xiao Wang would come over to cook at Zhou Zhuofei’s place.
Zhou Zhuofei had no complaints—she got to sit back and enjoy a meal without lifting a finger. What was there to object to?
Xiao Wang handled all the groceries, to the point where Zhou Zhuofei no longer even knew what was in her own fridge.
Once home, Zhou Zhuofei changed into comfortable loungewear, shedding her restrictive office attire. When she emerged, Xiao Wang was already busy in the kitchen.
She watched him quietly for a moment. Who would’ve thought she’d one day live the dream of coming home to a broad-shouldered, sharp-dressed man cooking her dinner?
After feeding the cat and refreshing its water, Zhou Zhuofei squeezed into the kitchen beside Xiao Wang, playfully demanding to wash her hands.
Xiao Wang turned the faucet toward her, letting her rinse before switching back to wash the vegetables.
"Let me help!" Zhou Zhuofei volunteered.
Xiao Wang stepped aside, letting her take over while he prepped other ingredients.
As they worked, Zhou Zhuofei brought up Jiang Shen’s earlier proposition. She’d spent the afternoon turning it over in her mind and had pieced together a few things.
First, Jiang Shen’s money couldn’t have materialized out of thin air, nor would he have paid her out of his own pocket. Rich people weren’t fools—even Zhan Zilang wouldn’t do something like that.
The only explanation was that the money had come to Jiang Shen because of her—if not directly from Xie Huai, then certainly through his influence.
Zhou Zhuofei suddenly recalled the rumors about a high-ranking Shuirui executive harassing an employee. The timeline matched, but the people involved didn’t.
At the time, Lv Lawyer had suspected the opposing law firm leaked the story—but could it have been Jiang Shen spreading misinformation?
She wasn’t sure what Jiang Shen stood to gain, but looking at how things unfolded, Xie Lan’s complaints alone might not have been enough to push Mr. Xie into action.
The truth was harsh: in Mr. Xie’s eyes, who mattered more—Xie Lan, the daughter he’d only recently acknowledged, or Xie Huai, the son he’d raised with care?
The answer was obvious. Mr. Xie wouldn’t reprimand his heir for the sake of an outsider. His intervention likely stemmed from other considerations, possibly with Jiang Shen’s maneuvering in the mix.
Either way, refusing the money had been the safest move.
This reasoning also earned Xiao Wang's agreement. "That is indeed a possibility..."
Given Jiang Shen's connections, leveraging such information for personal gain wouldn’t be difficult. However, doing so could easily harm Zhou Zhuofei in the process. If things escalated, her identity might be exposed, leading to even greater trouble.
So he couldn’t spell it out directly. If he did, Zhou Zhuofei would become an accomplice...
Just thinking about it made Xiao Wang shudder. Thankfully, the situation had settled, and Jiang Shen hadn’t gone that route. Still, it boiled down to his own failure to protect Zhou Zhuofei. If only he had intervened sooner, warned her earlier...
"Why the sudden silence?"
Zhou Zhuofei finished washing the vegetables and poked Xiao Wang’s arm with her damp hands, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He caught her hand and held it firmly, his expression serious. "Jiang Shen, he..."
"I know, you’ve reminded me plenty of times."
Xiao Wang had warned her from the start. Eventually, Zhou Zhuofei picked up on things herself, and after piecing everything together, she’d reached a conclusion—Jiang Shen wasn’t a bad person, but they simply weren’t from the same world. They just didn’t click.
Still, cutting ties wasn’t so simple. He had helped her before, and turning her back on him outright would be ungrateful.
"It’s more than that. He..." Xiao Wang had sensed Jiang Shen’s interest in Zhou Zhuofei more than once. He wasn’t sure whether their earlier conversation had been enough to make Jiang Shen back off.
Xiao Wang even wondered—if they made their relationship public, if they could openly be together, would these problems disappear?
"What else were you going to say? That he’s interested in me?"
Seeing Xiao Wang’s stunned expression, Zhou Zhuofei knew she’d guessed right. "Oh, so that’s what this is about."
Xiao Wang stared at her in disbelief. "You knew already?"
"Of course. He’s joked about it more than a few times, though you always seemed to miss those moments."
Zhou Zhuofei couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. "Did you really think I was that oblivious? And you’re giving him too much credit. He’s not exactly subtle. Sure, he’s got good looks and decent qualifications..."
She stepped closer to Xiao Wang, her voice softening. "But I don’t like smooth-talkers. I prefer someone like you—someone who cooks for me every day."
Xiao Wang’s chest warmed at her words. He tightened his grip on her hand, but she slipped free before he could react.
In the next moment, she wrapped her arms around his waist and playfully pinched his sides. "You can’t keep cooking in dress shirts. I should buy you an apron. What color do you like? Pink? Blue?"
"Do I have to choose between those two?"
"Of course not. The chef gets the final say." Zhou Zhuofei tilted her head up to look at him, then added, "I already replied to the comments, by the way. I said my boyfriend made the food. If you want to clarify things directly with her—or tell anyone else—go ahead. I don’t mind."
"But you didn’t feel that way before."
"I was inexperienced and afraid of the hassle back then."
At the time, she’d been more concerned about her own situation—avoiding nosy coworkers and office gossip.
But now, Xiao Wang’s love and her own feelings had given her confidence. The stability in her heart made it easier to face the outside world’s judgments.
"I don’t want to sneak around holding hands after work," she grumbled, pouting.
Before, dating someone from the same company had seemed awkward, and she’d worried constant contact would dull the spark. But now that they were together, she couldn’t get enough of him. She wanted to stick to him every second.
No surprise there—someone who got hooked on games so easily would naturally throw herself wholeheartedly into love.
"So... we’ll go public?" Xiao Wang ventured.
Despite her earlier thoughts, hearing him say it aloud made Zhou Zhuofei hesitate. "What does going public even entail?"
"Nothing drastic. We just won’t have to hide anymore." Xiao Wang explained patiently, "I can pick you up from your office openly. No more waiting outside. I can drive you to work in the mornings..."
The more he described, the more appealing it sounded.
"And the downsides?"
"I can’t think of any," Xiao Wang murmured. "Going public would only bring us closer... Are you scared?"
"The last thing I’m scared of right now is being with you. So let’s do it."
Xiao Wang agreed, then realized his phone was in his jacket in the living room. "Then it’s settled."
"But before that..."
Zhou Zhuofei looped her arms around his neck and pulled him down. "Pause the cooking. Kiss me first."
"Once won’t be enough." Xiao Wang obediently lowered his head and pulled her tight against him.
