"You confessed your feelings to me... last night?"
Jiang Gaozhou nodded. "Qingqing... actually, I've liked you since college. I just never had the courage to confess. I've been looking for you all these years, but I never expected you to have been in Jing City the whole time, let alone that you were married. Now that I've run into you again, I know I can't miss this chance. So I have to say it, I have to tell you I like you, and..."
"Stop! Jiang Gaozhou, wait a minute." Shu Qingqing interrupted his rambling. "So what you're saying is, you didn't dare confess to me in college, but now that you know I'm married, you decided to tell me this?"
"Qingqing, I..."
Shu Qingqing suddenly laughed. "Jiang Gaozhou, don't you think this is ridiculous? You're confessing to a married woman, and calling her husband despicable just because he asked you to leave. Do you think this kind of behavior is moral?"
Jiang Gaozhou grew anxious. "Qingqing, the reason I didn't confess back then was because I was afraid we wouldn't even be friends anymore if I said it."
Shu Qingqing replied, "Then you actually knew that I didn't like you, right?"
Jiang Gaozhou stammered, "Qingqing... I..."
Shu Qingqing sighed. "Look, you knew back then that I didn't like you. Now I'm married, and my husband is tall, handsome, and capable. What makes you think that I would accept your confession now?"
Jiang Gaozhou blurted out, "But he's ten years older than you and already had a son before you got married! How can he give you happiness!"
"So you're saying that someone with a child shouldn't remarry, and that I can only be happy if I'm with you?" Shu Qingqing's face instantly turned cold. "Then do you realize that by confessing to me when you clearly know I'm married, you're destroying someone else's family?"
"Qingqing, I just... I'm just afraid you aren't happy."
Shu Qingqing crossed her arms. "Oh, then tell me, what makes you think I'm not happy?"
Jiang Gaozhou pursed his lips and said nothing.
"See, you can't even say it, can you? You haven't even tried to understand my life, yet you concluded that I'm unhappy. Isn't that a bit presumptuous?"
Jiang Gaozhou said, "Qingqing, I..."
"I what? Then speak." Shu Qingqing was getting genuinely annoyed. If it weren't for the fact that Jiang Gaozhou had taken good care of the original owner of her body during college, she would have turned and left long ago.
"Fine. Since you can't say anything, apologize to Lu Bochuan."
Jiang Gaozhou's head snapped up. "Why should I apologize to him!"
"Because you covet his wife, and because you just insulted him." Shu Qingqing scoffed. "If I wasn't considering you a friend, I wouldn't just make you apologize, I'd beat you up!"
Jiang Gaozhou turned his face away, looking deeply aggrieved.
"Hurry up. What does it mean if you don't say anything?" Shu Qingqing urged him.
Lu Bochuan walked over and wrapped his arm around Shu Qingqing's waist. "Qingqing, let it go... He is your friend, after all... It's okay if I suffer a little grievance."
"You!" Jiang Gaozhou whipped his head around.
Lu Bochuan's words made it seem like he wasn't going to argue, but in reality, he was emphasizing that he had been wronged!
Who would have thought that the dignified CEO of the Lu Group would play the manipulative innocent act!
Jiang Gaozhou refused to let him have his way.
"President Lu, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have insulted you." Jiang Gaozhou apologized loudly, then lowered his voice. "Qingqing, I've apologized to him, so please don't be mad at me anymore."
"Alright then, now that you've apologized, you can go."
Jiang Gaozhou asked, "Huh?"
Shu Qingqing raised an eyebrow. "If you don't leave, are you waiting for us to see you out?"
Jiang Gaozhou wore a dejected expression, seemingly having accepted the fact that Shu Qingqing truly didn't like him.
"Lu Bochuan, if you dare treat her badly, I won't let you off." He took a few steps, then suddenly turned back. "Qingqing... are we still friends?"
Shu Qingqing raised an eyebrow. "If you don't leave right now, we won't be."
Jiang Gaozhou choked on his words, not daring to dawdle any longer, and strode away.
Feng Xiangdi finally breathed a sigh of relief. She had originally thought there would be a massive dramatic showdown, but she didn't expect Qingqing to resolve the matter so easily.
Shu Qingqing pulled her to get into the car, but she felt she should leave the couple some alone time.
"Qingqing, you guys head back first. I just saw a clothing store over there, and I want to go in and take a look to buy a piece of clothing for Xiao You."
Shu Qingqing understood her intentions and didn't force it. "Alright then, take care and be safe."
Shu Qingqing got into the car with Lu Bochuan. Just as she fastened her seatbelt, her hand was caught.
She thought Lu Bochuan would hold it for a moment and then let go, but he ended up holding it the entire way.
Shu Qingqing couldn't help but tease him, "Lu Bochuan, my hand is going numb."
"Sorry." Lu Bochuan let go for a moment, but within a few minutes, he reached for her hand again.
Shu Qingqing didn't say anything more and let him hold it.
Her lips just kept curling upwards into a smile.
She could feel that Lu Bochuan liked her now.
And she also had feelings for Lu Bochuan.
Although neither of them had explicitly stated it in words, physical contact couldn't lie.
No wonder people say the ambiguous phase before officially getting together is the most beautiful.
The next morning, Shu Qingqing didn't dare to sleep in. After getting up, she dragged Feng Xiangdi out shopping.
Xiao Zhao had booked a flight for this afternoon. They had been busy for the past two days since coming to Hai City, so she wanted to have a good stroll around before leaving.
Hai City truly lived up to its reputation as a city at the forefront of fashion. The clothing styles here were incredibly diverse, and the street fashion was remarkably colorful. The two of them not only bought a lot of things but also gained a lot of inspiration.
On their way back, they passed a menswear store, and Shu Qingqing pulled Feng Xiangdi inside.
"Are you buying clothes for President Lu?" Feng Xiangdi asked.
"Yeah." Even though Jiang Gaozhou apologized yesterday, Shu Qingqing still felt that Lu Bochuan had been wronged. The dignified president of the Lu Group had been insulted and couldn't even scold him back out of consideration for her. It was pitiful just thinking about it, so she planned to give him a gift to soothe his wounded heart.
Men's clothing didn't offer much novelty. Shu Qingqing browsed around and finally chose a tie.
Lu Bochuan was indeed very happy to receive the gift. He immediately took off the tie around his neck and replaced it with the new one.
Lu Bochuan looked in the mirror for a while, then took off the tie, carefully folded it back into its original shape, and placed it back in the packaging box.
"Qingqing, can you share Jiang Gaozhou's WeChat contact with me?"
Shu Qingqing found it strange. "What do you need his WeChat for?" Weren't the two of them romantic rivals?
"It's like this: didn't we give them a project yesterday? There's an issue we need to coordinate on," Lu Bochuan explained.
"Oh, okay." Shu Qingqing was busy organizing the things they bought. Hearing it was about work, she didn't overthink it and handed her phone directly to him. "Find it yourself."
Lu Bochuan took the phone, found Jiang Gaozhou's WeChat in the contacts, and shared the contact card with his own account.
The other party quickly accepted the friend request and replied with a question mark.
Lu Bochuan walked over to the coffee table with his phone, snapped a photo of the tie, and sent it over.
[Lu Bochuan: A gift Qingqing gave me.]
Jiang Gaozhou looked at the picture and was just about to lose his temper when the other party suddenly unsent the two messages and sent over a document instead.
[Lu Bochuan: Sorry, I sent that to the wrong person.]
[Lu Bochuan: Here are the notes for the project. Please pass them on to your uncle.]
Jiang Gaozhou: ......
Sent to the wrong person, my ass! Lu Bochuan absolutely did that on! pur! pose!
